Lakers believe zone defense’s effectiveness puts them among NBA title contenders

After an abysmal start to the NBA season defensively, the Lakers turned a corner on that end of the floor over the last month, and they’re confident the reasoning behind the turnaround can help lead to further success. 

With respect to their roster construction, the Lakers’ defense wasn’t expected to be a top-tier unit entering the season. But they started off even worse than anticipated. 

The Lakers’ defensive rating (points allowed per 100 possessions) of 117.9 through their first 40 games ranked 26th — a bad sign for their chances of contending for an NBA title. 

They rebounded the ball well defensively, didn’t foul a lot and forced turnovers at a decent rate in the first half of the season.

But they were one of the league’s worst teams at protecting the rim and limited 3-pointers. And in addition to their troublesome transition defense, they were giving up points in some of the worst ways.

Thanks to their zone defense, the Lakers have made improvements, helping them have an above-average defense (112.7 defensive rating, which ranks 13th) in their 14 games leading into the All-Star break.

And for a Lakers team that’s expected to be led by its offense, above average should be more than good enough.

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“It just gives us a different look,” Austin Reaves said Thursday of the team’s zone defense. “And an opportunity to kind of mix it up and fly around and get our defense started that way.”

During a pregame segment ahead of the Lakers’ home win over the Mavericks on Feb. 12, the “NBA on Prime” studio show highlighted the Lakers’ uptick in usage of zone defense.

The Lakers deployed a zone defense on a league-leading 17.6% of possessions in the 13 games leading into the matchup against the Mavericks — significantly higher than the league-most 10% of possessions the Bucks used zone defense this season through Feb. 12.  

And it’s been effective, with the Lakers allowing just 0.86 points per possession when playing zone. 

Although opponents shot similarly at the rim against the Lakers during the 14-game stretch leading into the break, the Lakers have been better at contesting 3-pointers. 

“It starts with setting our defense and just eating up some clock,” coach JJ Redick said. “We looked (Thursday) morning, we did a bunch of stuff with our analytics group, it’s not like teams are vastly underperforming from the midrange or from 3. Some of the underperformance from 3 has to do with just breaking up a little bit of the flow of the game, if that’s what you mean by throwing it for a loop. It’s been a good tool for us, and we recognize that.”

Redick reiterated that the Lakers will have to use a variety of strategies for defensive success. 

“We’re going to have to play man at points,” Redick said. “We’re going to have to play 15 at points and switch 1 through 5. We’re going to have to play some zone at points, and we’re going to have to put two on the ball at some point against certain players. With this group, it’s not going to be one thing. We’ve got to continue to be adaptable and search for the right answer in the middle of the game.”

There are many league-wide notions about what’s effective in an 82-game season vs. the playoffs, including the effectiveness of zone defense.

The Lakers are confident the strategy can be relied upon in higher-stakes postseason games.

“It’s just the way we communicate in the zone,” Reaves said. “Five guys are locked in every single possession, talking. Obviously, there’s gonna be breakdowns; nobody’s perfect. But for the most part, the communication’s high, and the effort’s high as well.”