Lakers hold themselves back with poor transition defense – Orange County Register

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Late in the second quarter of the Lakers’ 131-114 road loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on WednesdayGrizzlies big man Jaren Jackson Jr. grabbed a defensive rebound in the restricted area under the Lakers’ basket after Jaxson Hayes’ errant layup attempt.

Jackson immediately passed the ball to fellow big man Brandon Clarke who flanked his left sideas Hayes and LeBron James jogged back while Gabe Vincent, D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves waited in the frontcourt for Memphis’ transition offense to cross half court.

Grizzlies star guard Ja Morant cut to the middle of the floor just a few yards past halfcourt, drawing the attention of Vincent, Russell and Hayes, who failed to deflect Clarke’s pass to Morant.

As Russell performed a stunt on Morant, Jake LaRavia ran down the right wing, with Russell’s back turned to the Memphis forward. And within a second of grabbing the ball, Morant quickly passed it from just above the top of the three-point arc to LaRavia in the paint with no Laker within arm’s reach of him, converting an uncontested dunk that put the Grizzlies ahead 52- 48.

Reaves was the only Laker in the paint when LaRavia made the layup, with James just crossing half court, Vincent and Hayes near the three-point line and Russell several steps behind LaRavia.

Although it was just one play, it was one of many examples of an issue that has plagued the Lakers this season: poor transition defense.

The Grizzlies, one of the league’s best transition teams, scored 27 fastbreak points against the Lakers, allowing a career-worst 21.5 fastbreak points per game. They allowed it at least 21 fastbreak points in six of their eight games.

Their opponents have picked up on this weakness and exploited it during the Lakers’ five-game road trip, which has seen the Lakers fall 1-4 to 4-4 on the season entering Friday’s home game against the Philadelphia 76ers.

“We will have to,” Cleveland Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson responded when asked about picking up the pace ahead of their Oct. 30 game against the Lakers. ‘They are too good in the half court. They have one of the best rim protectors in the league, excellent perimeter defenders. And they are smart too.

“If we don’t get out of transition, it will be difficult to score against them.”

The Cavaliers accomplished their goal by scoring 26 fastbreak points against the Lakers en route to a 134-110 win. The Lakers did that allowed 23 fastbreak points per game since that matchup.

Transition defense had been a topic of conversation at almost every media presence Lakers coach JJ Redick had during the road trip.

Still, he answered flatly “no” when asked before Wednesday’s game if he felt his team was making progress with transition defense after multiple practices and shootarounds during the trip.

“It’s concerning because it’s not good,” Reaves said of the team’s transition defense after the loss to the Grizzlies. “Eight games have been played now, so it’s not like it’s the end of the world. Ultimately it is up to us to implement that. It sucks because you want to win every game and that’s one of the reasons, along with many others, that we haven’t been able to win these games on this road trip.”

As for Atkinson, the Lakers, that one entered Thursday at No. 28 in defensive rating (points allowed per 100 possessions) of 118.8, were solid when they were able to get their defensive set. Their halfcourt defensive rating of 101.5 is ranked number 8 in the competition according to Cleaning The Glass.

But teams have been able to score at will against the Lakers if they can escape — which happens often.

The Lakers entered Thursday allowing 31.3 points in transition per game, the league’s second-worst mark behind the Utah Jazz (36.3). The Jazz and Lakers were the only teams to allow more than 30 transition points per game. Teams complete possessions in transition 22% of the time against the Lakers (the third-worst mark in the league) and score 1.25 points per transition play against them (the second worst mark in the league).

There are several reasons for the Lakers’ struggles.

Even he was unavailable against the Grizzlies due to a bruised left heel and is an elite defenderAnthony Davis is often behind the play as the Lakers get back into transition, especially when he makes a shot near the basket. Opponents are more likely to get out of transition when Davis is on the ground instead of out, especially when there are live rebounds, taking advantage of the fact that he is usually not near the rim in these situations.

Until Cam Reddish’s debut in the rotation in Monday’s loss to the Detroit Pistons, the Lakers generally lacked the speed and athleticism to stay ahead of ballhandlers who push the pace, especially in their backcourt.

The Lakers have done a better job of staying out of limbo — between crashing the offensive glass and getting back on defense, which often happens with the 39-year-old James — but aren’t consistently letting the second play play after slowing down the first attack.

“What we see on film as a coaching staff is what happens when we get back in terms of matchups, loading the basketball, our attention to detail in scoring points against certain players,” Redick said Sunday. “That’s really where I think we can improve.”