The most sensible Western Conference seed has finished its regular-season series. The Lakers and Clippers can end the rivalry for now, as they will in the remaining seven games in Orlando. For the Lakers, their No. 1 seed is necessarily in the bag. The Clippers, on the other hand, are willing to put their full rotation in order, with Montrezl Harrell still missing for non-public reasons and Lou Williams returning for 40 days.
In aspects like the 2018 warriors-Rockets edition, those squadrons are definitely on course in collision. Regular-season games are not indicative of what will happen in the playoffs, however, let’s take a look at the top five intriguing figures that have resulted from their 4 games:
Specifically, this is the harrowing procedure of protecting Anthony Davis and Kawhi Leonard. Which, by the way, is rarely very absurd that Davis’ trio, Leonard and LeBron James may have been something last summer. Good night. The league would have no way of handling them unless the warriors avoided their wounds and the exits of loose agencies.
Anyway, all four games, Davis was sent 47 times to the free-throw line. For the context, James Harden also had a four-game pattern opposite that of the Clippers and attracted 56 trips to the line.
In Davis’ case, his free-kick attempt rate (the number of free kicks consistent with a normal basket attempt) 0.618, an incredibly higher number that far exceeds his 0.468 rate during the season.
Between Ivica Zubac, Montrezl Harrell, JaMychal Green and Marcus Morris, the Clippers have tried many other features and policies opposed to AD. The challenge with his defense, however, is that he is lucky to have other styles of play that make it increasingly complicated for other matches. If the Clippers deploy their great classics, Davis is a pick-and-roll master who can almost prevent it when he has an open track. Therefore, this puts a lot of tension on the edge, and the invitations touch those cannon possessions.
If Clippers work with a variety of small balls, the challenge is to force them out of the low block. The ideal situation for Clippers is to pressure Davis to perform head-on jumps from prolonged medium diversity, however, he’s so adept at putting the ball on the floor that it’s not really a simple thing to predict. Discover a way to touch and win gifts through your skills and flexible moves. It also doesn’t help when the Clippers get the bonus at the start of the fourth, and then Davis commits ballless fouls intelligently, either with his cuts at the right time or his rebound efforts.
Leonard fits this field too. Just as the Clippers have little or no response for AD, the Lakers have been most fortunate to keep Leonard under his MVP prestige in the Finals.
In all four regular-season games, Leonard hit 39 shots in 72 placement attempts. That gave him a loose-shot rate of 0.542, which is Leonard’s third-highest rate against opponents. The only groups that put you on the line more often, compared to your box placement attempts? The Raptors (.560 in two games) and the Timberwolves (.645 in 3 games).
The game in the game is a laughing dynamic. Seeing who can play the most productive defense against those two talented national scorers, without rescuing them, is the first thing to look for in the playoffs.
The Clippers outperformed the Lakers by 5.8 points in a hundred possessions, a margin that is not surprising, but it’s also big enough not to rule it out, with Leonard in the game. In the early minutes, his offensive performance resembles what the league’s 12th offense showed throughout the year (an offensive score of 111.3). Again, it’s not the biggest, but you shouldn’t ignore it either.
During the 52-minute break, the Clippers’ offensive suffered a crisis. It falls off a cliff. It turns into a burning fire of garbage. Insert the incredibly disastrous result here. While they have no challenge in getting enough saves to remain competitive, they allowed the Lakers too many grueling races when Leonard is on the bench.
In the playoffs, the apparent therapy is to change Leonard and George the game and increase Leonard’s minutes to 39 or 40 consistent with the game. In this season series, he played 34.9. Actually, it can be so simple to win or lose on the sidelines.
I don’t think you’ve noticed as much a replacement in a player’s belief in the first three years of his career as Kyle Kuzma.’ This season has been more of a roller coaster for him than last year, and that didn’t seem possible.
Although objectively wrong for much of the normal season, Kuzma at least assumed a specific role for the confrontations with Clipper. He played only 3 of the 4 games, with the opening night short of the opening night in October, however, he canceled 8 of his 20 3-point attempts. Shoot 40% of 3 and make strong and decisive shots towards the hoop, that’s all they needed from him for the offense. Until now, the effects opposed to their greatest risk in the West can be positively perceived.
In his 82 minutes of play, Kuzma scored 49 points (a rate of 21.5 each and every 36 minutes) and the Lakers were 21 with him on the ground. In the brief minutes LeBron will want to rest in playoff time, Vogel would be extremely happy if Kuzma could reflect something that opposes the Clippers’ bench units.
This will be said to be done. If there’s one thing we know about Kuzma’s career so far, it’s that consistency is rarely used as a descriptor of his game.
Due to the Clippers’ favorite attack taste, extensive use of pick-and-roll with an interlaced ISO game for their two players, there is a huge advantage. With the attention Leonard and George absorb when they sneak into the paint or hit their big men with pocket passes, the corners open naturally.
When Clippers’ ball handlers are able to execute the right passes at corners, or when their big ones do the right reading in short-run situations, they get cash from one’s places. The numbers confirm that.
In all 4 games opposed to the Lakers, they fired 25 in total in 3 corners (6.3 consistent with the game). They controlled 52% of them, which is shocking. Doc Rivers deserves to locate tactics to get more than six or seven of those types of looks at each and every game, especially if he has Beverley on the court.
For the season, Beverley has 28 out of 67 (41.8%) corners and 47 of 113 (41.6%) with at least six feet away between him and the nearest defender.
Of the 3 during the break in this game, the Clippers performed particularly poorly. That’s 29 out of 97 (29.9%) in all the outdoor shots that don’t come from the corner, which is the sixth-lowest percentage a team has shot against the Lakers.
This is vital because it’s the same kind of look that Leonard, George and Lou Williams try to get. With the way George has looked so far during the Orlando reboot, this is probably not a long-term concern.
In the clashes, the Lakers did not hesitate to stick to their game plan. Head coach Frank Vogel tried to attack the deficiencies every time they appeared. For the most part, it with Davis guarded through a large minor or less agile.
Against Clipconsistent’s teammates, they recorded 17.5 times consistent with the game (not just for Davis, but for any player). Of all the Clipconsistent opponents they’ve faced, this is the maximum number of post-ups an opponent has tried. Even more than Denver (16.0), which has one of the league’s top scorers and effective pins, Nikola Jokic.
These 17.5 post-ups do not necessarily mean that this has resulted in so many shooting attempts, to be clear. Subsequent opportunities can lead to double groups and, in all likelihood, open shooter passes. Even then, the Lakers attempted 8.3 consistent shots of the game from the opposite pole to the Clipconsistent withs. It is also the maximum Clipconsisist with opponents.
How effective were they? Of the 8.3 attempts from the pole, they changed 57.6%, far more than the Lakers’ season average in the post-ups. In their 64 games in total, The Lakers average only 5.8 post-ups consistent with the game at a rate of 47.8%.
You can say that this is his greatest strength against his local rival, and that it could be his clearest way to excel if those two players are in the playoffs. In the past, he noticed that LeBron James endured his post-post competitive techniques until the chips run out and his team is in danger of wasting a series. The structure of this Lakers team, now with Davis, makes me curious to know what kind of James we’d see this time in the important moments.
I’ve written about the NBA for over five years, lately in the Louisville/Indianapolis area. My platforms beyond come with BBallBreakdown, HoopsHabit,
I have written about the NBA for over five years, recently founded in the Louisville/Indianapolis area. My platforms beyond come with BBallBreakdown, HoopsHabit, ClutchPoints and The Cauldron. After graduating from the University of Louisville in 2017, I am an independent professional who likes to analyze professional basketball through the goal of X and O, complex research and all the other human elements involved in charming play. He’ll track me down covering NBA schedule games and occasions in various cities. My purpose as an editor is to bring an exclusive, nuanced research point on the floor to an audience that needs it. I’m a fan of back screens and motion violations.