Expect the pick-and-roll to be a strength for LeBron James and Anthony Davis when the playoffs arrive for the Lakers, not a weakness.
The Los Angeles Lakers lost to the L.A. Clippers on Christmas, though stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis once more showed their potential.
This marked their second loss of the year to their crosstown rivals and their fourth consecutive game without a victory. It has been a tough stretch for the Lakers, as many predicted December would be due to the tough schedule.
James ended the game with 23 points as well as 10 assists while Davis put up 24 points. It was not enough to get the win, though, which is what many fans will remember from the game.
Others, however, may recall some strange comments from broadcaster Mark Jackson. He asserted that the Lakers did not have a pick-and-roll threat and asked broadcasting partner Jeff Van Gundy if he thought this would hurt their chances as contenders.
In fairness, despite the deadly combination, Los Angeles has not been a team that relies on the pick-and-roll very often.
But the Lakers (24.1 percent) have run this play more often this season than the Milwaukee Bucks (23.9 percent) as well as the Houston Rockets (22.0) and the Philadelphia 76ers (20.7 percent) so far in 2019-20. Note that these are four of the five top current betting favorites to win the NBA title in 2020.
For more on why this is absurd, just look at some of the comments from Davis from earlier this season. After the first game of the season, the big man spoke about the duo’s strength on offense and the challenges defenders will have when they are tasked to guard the pick-and-roll (via Lakers Nation):
“It’s tough to cover. You know you got a guy like him going downhill and a guy like me who’s me rolling… who’s a lob threat, you gotta pick your poison. He’s getting to his strong hand, he’s in the paint, and then you got me rolling behind. So either he’s gonna go finish, pocket pass, or a lob. Especially when it’s a clear side, it’s a tough play to guard.”
During their second regular-season game as teammates, James and Davis faced the Utah Jazz. Davis was guarded by Rudy Gobert, the back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year.
But because of their lethal presence as a pick-and-roll combo, Davis showed exactly why the front office sacrificed so much to acquire the superstar in the offseason. Watch him showcase his unique athleticism as a lob threat against Gobert:
When including passes like the one above, pick-and-roll sets from James have led to 380 points so far this season. That currently ranks ninth-best among all players in the Western Conference, per Synergy.
Before the season began, Pete Zayas (creator of Laker Film Room) described Davis as a “one-of-a-kind” threat in the pick-and-roll. Back in October, Sam Quinn also wrote about why the two of them would be so hard to contain (via CBS Sports):
“James has run pick-and-roll with dozens of centers in his career, and he had plenty of success with Chris Bosh and Kevin Love on pick-and-pops … But Bosh and Love simply took the open shot. Davis will too, some of the time. Some of the time, he will explode to the basket … And no defense in the NBA can be prepared for both, just as no defense in the NBA can defend James, Davis and three shooters at the same time.”
Zayas and Quinn have proven to be far more in touch than Jackson as Davis has scored 114 points in pick-and-roll sets for the Lakers — which currently ranks as the fifth-best in the West.
The big man has connected on 22-of-28 (78.6 percent) attempts specifically when he has rolled to the basket. Among all players who have had as many possessions, only two players in the league have been more accurate. Davis, similarly, is averaging 1.50 PPP on these opportunities — which ranks in the 90th percentile among all NBA players.
So when the postseason arrives, expect pick-and-roll to be a strength for the Lakers … not a weakness.
This post will be updated with a video of Jackson’s comments as soon as they are available
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