The Los Angeles Lakers have been on a roll post the All-Star break with six wins in seven games, and a lot of their success can be credited to their defense. The Lakers have been putting the clamps on their opponents, and their defensive stats since the break are ridiculously good.
For starters, the Lakers have allowed just 101.0 points per game on 40.7% shooting from the field, both of which are the best marks by far in the league in this time frame. The Portland Trail Blazers are a distant second in both categories, allowing 106.0 points per game on 42.8% shooting from the field.
With that kind of advantage, it should come as little surprise that the Lakers have the best defensive rating post the break, too. Theirs is 103.5, with the Trail Blazers again being second with a rating of 105.0.
For some context on how impressive the Lakers’ rating is, the Oklahoma City Thunder have the best defensive rating this season at 105.8. They’ve defended extremely well, but it speaks to their struggles before the break that they still don’t rank high for the season.
The Lakers have a 113.9 defensive rating in 2024-25, which ranks 17th. They’ve allowed 112.5 points per game, which ranks 12th, on 46.7% shooting from the field, which ranks 17th. It has been quite a turnaround after the break, and the shocking part about that is that this stretch comes without Anthony Davis.
Davis was easily the best defensive player on the Lakers and was their anchor on that end of the floor. They were expected to struggle a lot defensively without him but have surprisingly been even better after trading him away.
A chunk of the credit for that should go to Dorian Finney-Smith, who has been immense defensively after a slow start. Finney-Smith is the kind of 3-and-D player that this team sorely lacked in recent years, and trading for him is one of the better decisions made by this front office.
Another big reason for this defensive improvement is LeBron James. Lakers head coach JJ Redick believes James has been playing at an All-Defensive level, and while one might disagree with that, you can’t deny he has been great defensively. The arrival of Luka Doncic has lessened the offensive burden on the 40-year-old and has allowed him to focus more on the defensive end.
One other individual who deserves credit for the Lakers’ excellence on the defensive end is Jarred Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt is one of the better defensive players in the NBA, and his return from injury in January has given the Lakers a huge boost on that end.
These three, along with Gabe Vincent and Jordan Goodwin, form an impressive defensive lineup for the Lakers. You’d like this group’s chances of getting a stop, no matter who they’re going up against.
If the Lakers continue defending this well, you’d have to give them a good shot at getting to the NBA Finals. You know the offense is going to operate at a fairly high level with James and Doncic, and if the defense is the best in the league by a mile, too, they’ll be very hard to beat.
The Lakers’ excellent recent play has seen them climb to second in the West with a 38-21 record, and you’d fancy their chances of holding on to that spot. They’ll be in action next against the New Orleans Pelicans at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday at 10:30 PM ET and should get another win there.
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