LeBron James and Anthony Davis have been sidelined with injuries in recent weeks, leaving the Lakers hurt ahead of the final stretch of the season. These two are the biggest figures of the team and their absence will always be felt. However, not everything has gone wrong for the purple and gold in recent days.
Redditor “kokin33” found out that the team’s defensive rating has gotten better following their injuries. First, it was bad only with LeBron leading the team but after the King suffered a high ankle sprain, their numbers got a lot better.
The Lakers played 8 games since Anthony Davis got injured and had a 108.8 defensive rating.
The Lakers played 8 games since LeBron also got injured, their defensive rating has improved a lot to 103.5 which is good for 2nd in the league in this stretch.
To be fair, the Lakers’ defensive rating is 105.6 right now. Not the same as 103.5 but still good to rank first in the league. Nevertheless, the results haven’t gone in their favor, losing five of their last seven games in the association.
Even if that means having a worse defensive rating, Frank Vogel and the rest of the team would prefer to have Bron and AD on the court. As long as they are playing, the Lakers will have a chance to compete and win.
