LOS ANGELES — The last time the Lakers matched up with the Pacers before hosting them on Sunday at Crypto.com Arena can serve as an inflection point of their season.
After beating the Pacers to win the In-Season Tournament on Dec. 9 in Las Vegas, the Lakers’ defensive rating (points allowed per 100 possessions) of 110.3 through their first 24 games ranked seventh in the league and was borderline top-five.
Since then: a 117.6 defensive rating in 47 games entering Sunday, which ranked 23rd – a larger sample suggesting they’re a below-average defensive team than the sample that showed they were a high-level defensive team.
So, with 11 games left in the season after Friday, the question remains how – and if – the Lakers can get back to playing that level of defense before the season ends.
“Just the pride that goes into that end of the floor is something we touched on in the three days we went without having a game,” coach Darvin Ham said. “It’s something we broke down in our defensive breakdown during practices, the film room, all of that. It’s just trying to get better and being conscious of it consistently.
“And it starts with transition and guarding the ball. Pick-and-roll, we can figure that out – our shifts and activity behind the pick-and-roll, behind the iso, we can figure that out. But just being good at transition, being good on the ball and then again, finishing the possession by gang rebounding. Everybody participating on the defensive glass.”
The Lakers’ defense has been hurt by missing some of their best defenders for significant stretches of the season.
Jarred Vanderbilt, who remains sidelined with a sprained right midfoot, has only played 29 games.
Gabe Vincent (left knee ailments) has played just five games. Christian Wood, who was in the rotation earlier in the season and one of the better defensive rebounders, has been sidelined for 1½ months and had left knee surgery earlier this week.
“We need to get back to getting healthy,” Ham said. “Being healthy, that makes a little bit of a difference too.”
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RUSSELL OUT
Starting guard D’Angelo Russell was ruled out against the Pacers two hours before tipoff because of a non-COVID illness.
The Lakers entered Sunday 0-5 in the game Russell didn’t play.
Spencer Dinwiddie started in place of Russell, alongside Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Dinwiddie, who scored 11 points on Friday’s home win over the Philadelphia 76ers, had 12 points by early in the second quarter for the most points he’s scored with the Lakers since joining the team last month.
