If the Los Angeles Lakers are eliminated at some point in the NBA playoffs and don’t actualize their goal of winning the championship this season, it’ll probably look a lot like Thursday’s 123-116 loss to the Golden State Warriors.
As the Warriors demonstrated, the blueprint against the Lakers is to try to force their stars into contested jumpers with a switch-heavy scheme and also funnel the ball to their non-star shooters and scorers. Then, on the other end, push the ball in transition and early offense, target Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves and use speed, movement and screening to exploit Los Angeles’ lack of rim protection.
Lakers coach JJ Redick insisted his group was prepared for Golden State’s attack on both sides of the ball, stating that the Lakers failed to execute their game plan. But the fact that the Lakers knew what the Warriors wanted to do against them and still couldn’t stop them is somewhat troubling.
“It was not what they were doing,” Redick said. “It was what we were doing.”
To Redick’s point, the Lakers had plenty of self-inflicted wounds, particularly on the defensive glass. They matched the Warriors’ 14 offensive rebounds, but the eight-point difference in second-chance points (23-15) was one of the key differences in the game. Los Angeles would play good defense for an entire possession only to watch one of the Warriors’ guards or wings come crashing in to grab a loose ball.
Offensively, the Lakers would run a beautiful action or successfully hunt an advantageous mismatch, only to miss a wide-open 3-pointer or another high-percentage look or turn the ball over. They got within five points twice in the fourth quarter but couldn’t make it a one-possession game as Golden State always answered with a big play of its own.
“The big, momentum-changing sort of a stretch, we just couldn’t muster,” Redick said.
The Lakers have struggled against switching schemes since Dončić’s arrival. They often devolve into seeking out the weakest or slowest defender and trying to drive past that player or create separation for an uncontested jumper.
The problem, especially with Dončić and LeBron James, is that when they don’t create enough of an advantage, they can bail out the defense by attempting high-difficulty contested jumpers. When they make them, it looks great. When they don’t, the group can go scoreless for over six minutes, as they did to close the first quarter and begin the second quarter Thursday.
“I think we just got a little stagnant,” Redick said. “Didn’t wanna move. You gotta move. You gotta play with force. You gotta get to the next thing.”
The offense eventually broke out in the second half, scoring 69 points, including 39 in the fourth quarter. But it was too little, too late with the double-digit cushion the Warriors had built and their incredible level of shot-making down the stretch.
Dončić suffered through his worst game as a Laker — on both ends of the floor. He finished with 19 points on 6-for-17 shooting (to go along with eight rebounds and seven assists), struggling to beat Warriors defenders off the dribble or create separation at the 3-point line.
Dončić went 0-for-6 on 3s, snapping his 114-game streak of making at least one 3-pointer dating back to April 7, 2023. It was the fifth-longest streak in NBA history.
Off-nights happen, but the defensive end was far more concerning. The Warriors relentlessly targeted him, bringing him into seemingly every screening action. Curry, in particular, was ruthless. He blew by Dončić at least a dozen times, waltzing to the rim and forcing the Lakers into rotation, which led to open 3s and offensive rebounds.
