The Biggest X-Factors for the Lakers in the Playoffs
After their gritty 108–102 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Play-in Tournament, the Lakers are playoff-bound once again, facing the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round.
Here’s a look at the team’s biggest X-factors as they face a young and hungry Memphis team and look to pull off the 7-vs-2 upset.
Role Players
As the story has been told throughout the second half of the season, the Lakers’ supporting cast has been phenomenal. The trade deadline acquisitions of D’Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura, Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt have done wonders for the team, and have each played an integral part in LA’s recent success, helping them to being tied for the best record in the league post-All Star break.
Russell has been LA’s third option and is arguably the best one they’ve had all year. His averages of 17.4 points, 2.9 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game (on 48–41–73 splits) as a Laker have helped the team immensely — potentially earning himself a new deal with LA once the offseason comes.
Hachimura is a midrange maestro, shooting 58.6% on shots between 16 feet and the three-point line. He has put up 9.6 points while shooting 49% from the field, 29% from three and 72% from the free-throw line, and has been known to become hot in a hurry, as evidenced by his 20 points in 24 minutes off the bench against the Rockets last week.
Beasley is the flamethrower the Lakers have needed, and his three-point shooting has come just at the right time.
Beas has boasted an average of 11 points per game while shooting 35% from long range with the Lakers. After scoring 13 points while making three of nine triples Tuesday night, it’s no secret that he is unafraid to fire and can make key threes as well.
Jarred “The Vandolorian” Vanderbilt has played a pivotal role in the Lakers front court. He has put. up seven points and six rebounds per game but is unmatched in his hustle. According to NBA Stats, Vando leads the team in deflections (2.4 per game), is third in loose balls recovered (0.7 per game), fourth in screen-assist points (1.7 per game) and sixth in contested shots per game (2.8 two-pointers, 1.4 threes). He also has a clear chemistry with LeBron James, as the duo has posted an offensive rating of 131.7 and a defensive rating of 109.8.
There are two more Lakers who will be equally critical this season. Austin Reaves has increased his per-game averages in points (7.3 to 13), assists (1.8 to 3.4), and shooting (45.9% to 52.9% FG, 31.7 to 39.8% 3PT, and 83.9 to 86.4% FT). He has taken on increased responsibility, has time and again displayed a desire to win, and has overall made the leap into a starting-caliber player on an arguably title-contending roster. Dennis Schröder — who buried what would been the game-winning three if Davis’s mental mistake didn’t force overtime — excelled not only Tuesday night but throughout the whole year. He has starred in whatever role has been placed in, averaging 12.6 points, 2.9 rebounds and 4.5 assists on 41–33–85 splits. His experience and overall play in crunch time will benefit the Lakers greatly, as he looks to avenge his subpar postseason performance from two years ago.
Beyond the players, however, they will need to thrive in certain areas to succeed in their championship run.
Transition Play
The Lakers were tied as the fifth-fastest team in the league this year, splitting the pace mark of 103 with the OKC Thunder. On the other side, unfortunately, they were tied for 19th in terms of offensive efficiency, sharing that mark with the New Orleans Pelicans.
The LakeShow has been known to thrive in transition. 18.4% of their posessions are on the run, and they scored 14% of their points on fast breaks. They also posted 1.13 Points Per Possession while scoring 23.7 points per game in that department. Lastly, they finished sixth in the league in transition field goals made (8.8 per game) and made 56.4% of their attempts.
However, as great as those stats are, they are not needed to emphasize that the Lakers will simply need to outrun Memphis — who boasts the third-fastest pace (103.1) and third-highest percentage of transition possessions (19.8%), all while scoring 25.8 points per game in the open floor.
Players like Russell, James, Reaves and Davis will be essential in dominating the Lakers’ transition play. The entire team has been working to build their chemistry in their short time together, and what happens on those fast breaks is one solid indicator of that.
The bottom line is, this series will be a game of runs, and the Lakers must take advantage on every fast-paced trip down the floor.
Rim Protection and Outside Shooting
In an area the Lakers have revamped, the team’s rim protection will be vital against a team that has two stud big men (Jaren Jackson Jr. and Steven Adams) and the high-fly act that is Ja Morant.
The Lakers had boasted the best Defensive Rating in the league post trade-deadline, and the fact that their rim protection has improved recently gives hope that they can succeed in this series. Since the trade deadline, they ranked 16th in blocks per game (4.7) and third in defensive rebounding (35.3 RPG). Opponents shot 63.3% at the rim against them — good for 10th in the league. All of these are respectable marks for a team that has added length with Vanderbilt (7'1" wingspan), Mo Bamba (7'10" wingspan), and, as of Easter Sunday, Tristan Thompson (7'1" wingspan).
Memphis poses a key challenge for the Lakers front court, as nearly half of their points came in the paint this season, and they have multiple weapons — Ja, JJJ, Adams, Dillon Brooks, and more — who can easily get buckets at the rim.
On the other side, when facing a team that finished the season third in defensive rating (110.7) and tenth in blocks per game (5.1) with a Defensive Player of the Year candidate (who put up three swats a game), the three ball is going to have to fall. The Lakers only scored 27% of their points from triples, shooting 34.6% from deep this year and 37% post All-Star break. As mentioned earlier, the Lakers have a number of weapons who can fire from deep at will, including Beasley, Russell, Schröder, and, of course, LeBron. In the season series vs. Memphis, LA shot a mediocre 32% from deep. That number will have to increase if they want a better chance of beating the Grizzlies and ending this playoff series early.
Dynamic Duo Getting Hot
After all is said and done, the biggest key to the Lakers taking the first-round series is the play of both LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
The duo has been through all of the peaks and valleys in their time in LA so far — from winning a championship to being bounced on this very stage two years ago and then missing the postseason entirely. Now, they have a clean slate and are more motivated than ever to hang banner #18 in Staples Center.
Here are their per-game stats from the regular season series vs. Memphis:
LeBron (one game, Jan. 20, 2023): 23 points (8–21 FG, 1–5 3PT, 6–7 FT), nine rebounds, six assists
Anthony Davis (two games): 29.0 PPG, 20.5 RPG and 3.5 BPG; 55% FG, 33% 3PT, 77% FT
For a better perspective of how they have been clicking at the right time, James averaged 25.8 points, 7.9 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game in his final ten games, while Davis put up 26 points, 13.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game in his last ten. To make things even better, LeBron offered a detailed breakdown of the Grizzlies rotation before joking, “Obviously, I haven’t thought about Memphis one minute.”
The Lakers will have to ride on the shoulders of James and Davis if they truly want to take care of business against Memphis, which is all the more important as they are LeBron’s first underdog team in his career.
The Lakers have all the tools to succeed in the postseason: a red-hot superstar duo, a supporting cast who stars in their roles, and all of the momentum on their side. It’s a matter of putting everything together and relying on principles that have gotten them to this point to make a deep postseason run and defy the odds.
They had a 0.32% chance of making the playoffs earlier in the year. With all of the changes and success since then, the sky is the limit.
