Refining their offensive identity
Though NBA teams have moved toward shooting 3-pointers in bunches, the Lakers are in a sense quasi-traditional.
The Lakers have 3-point shooting threats in Danny Green, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Avery Bradley. But at the same time, their offense isn’t geared toward shooting a plethora of threes. The Lakers rank 24th in 3-point attempts per game (30.9), and they’re ranked 13th in 3-point percentage (36.3).
What the Lakers thrive on is using James’ and Davis’ prowess in the pick-and-roll to create space. Davis is scoring 3.7 points as a roll man this season, according to NBA.com. With that pick-and-roll, the Lakers’ shooters have room to score.
Though Kuzma is the only players besides James and Davis averaging double figures, the Lakers have six players averaging seven or more points.
LBJ with the tough take to close out the 1st half on ESPN. đź’Ş@Lakers 61@nuggets 55
Anthony Davis: 15 PTS, 5 REB
LeBron James: 13 PTS, 5 REB, 6 AST
Nikola Jokic: 15 PTS pic.twitter.com/zTDueVjvh2— NBA (@NBA) February 13, 2020
As perhaps the best playmaker ever, James has been in arguably his purest form as a facilitator this season — and his teammates have benefited more than ever. Howard, who is the Lakers’ ultimate rim runner, has shot a career-high 82.9% from within 0-3 feet of the hoop, per Basketball Reference.Â
Assist points created, which records points a player or team creates through assists, shows how James makes his teammates better. According to NBA.com, James ranks first in assist points created with 27.0.
While the Lakers can make threes, they are built to score points in the paint — and they need to keep it that way. They rank second in points in the paint, averaging 53.6 points a game.