The Los Angeles Lakers' deficiencies and concerns are well-documented. They have had problems on the defensive end of the court, and offensively, they lack 3-point shooting and the ability to consistently play up-tempo or fast-break basketball.
However, they do have as much star power as any other team in the NBA — when healthy. For Friday's game against the Los Angeles Clippers, they're fully healthy, and if that holds up, they should be able to build on a decent 33-21 record.
The Lakers have won nine of their last 14 games, and coach JJ Redick said that he has seen some signs that they may be turning the corner.
“Defensively, since we went to zone the last 14 games, we’ve been much better,” Redick said. “When we have been in our zone, started possessions in our zone, we’ve been the number one half-court defense. Our transition possessions allowed are going down. I think a lot of that has to do with sprinting back into our zone.”
On the season, the Lakers are 23rd in defensive rating and 16th in fast-break points per game allowed. But in those last 14 games Redick alluded to, they're 13th in defensive rating and tied for 14th in opponents' fast-break points per game.
On the other end of the court, Redick pointed to something that has been a strength for the Lakers over the years: getting into the paint.
“Offensively for us, we’ve had some of our highest paint touch rate games and we’ve proven that when we touch the paint, we’re elite, and we’ve got to continue to build on that. And I think, we’ve shown that when we pass the ball and we trust each other and we generate not just potential assists, but assists and connect that way that we win basketball games.”
The Purple and Gold cannot be considered an elite offensive team, but they do rank first in overall field-goal percentage. When they're successful offensively, they attack the paint, have ball and player movement and put together adequate spurts of up-tempo basketball.
With 10 of their next 13 games at Crypto.com Arena, this is the time for them to make a serious move in the Western Conference standings.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: JJ Redick on how Lakers have improved their play of late