When the Los Angeles Lakers turned on the jets and worked their way back from a 20-point deficit to cut the Denver Nuggets lead to three points in the fourth quarter, they did it in large part thanks to their defense. But in the other three quarters, their defense was littered with poorly executed double-teams, lazy switches, and ball-watching that got the Nuggets a bevy of easy buckets to build their lead to 20 points. For the Lakers to win in Game 4, they have to be better in their defensive execution, even in the zone that helped them towards the end of Game 4.
The Lakers were frequently switching anything involving Nikola Jokic. But in switching back or trying to get the defense in a stronger position, they would make awful mistakes that led to wide-open shots for the Nuggets, like this corner 3 from Monte Morris created by a poorly communicated switch back involving Markieff Morris.
Including the poor switches, we also saw some odd choices from the Lakers when going for a trap or a double-team. Nikola Jokic has been getting occasional doubles when not guarded by Anthony Davis, which is understandable and the same goes for Murray. But trapping Gary Harris in the corner?
Harris’ offense has bounced back in these playoffs, but what is Anthony Davis doing here? The Lakers were aggressive defensively in their rally, but this was a clear mistake. But whether it’s ones like the open Morris 3-pointer, or this overhelp from Davis opening up a driving lane for Grant to hit an important runner to help put the game away, the Lakers Game 3 performance was littered with mistakes the Nuggets never failed to take advantage of.
The Lakers need to clean up the sloppiness or Jokic, Murray and the young Nuggets will even this series back up.
