They saw how “contagious” it was when playing defense at a high level against the Suns and how Jarred Vanderbilt lit the fuse to ignite things for the Lakers in their last victory over Phoenix.
And for the Lakers to maintain that defensive mindset, stars Luka Doncic and LeBron James also have to be committed to that end of the court.
That was the message from Lakers coach JJ Redick to Doncic and James.
“Yeah, it was good,” Doncic said. “We talked about a lot, not just that, but he was right. You got to get a little big more, especially from the star players. So that’s on us. That’s on me. And we just got to give more, especially at the start of the game. We got to start the game better. But I think in Phoenix, we did a pretty good job. The plan was focused on ourselves and [our] defensive mentality, so I think we did a pretty good job.”
The Lakers will be tested again on defense by the Utah Jazz Thursday night in Salt Lake City.
The Jazz have a developing star in Lauri Markkanen, a difficult matchup at 7-foot-1 who is ninth in the NBA in scoring at 27.8 points per game, and a young talent in guard Keyonte George, who is averaging 23.5 points and 6.8 assists.
Utah is fourth in the league in pace (102.98), ninth in scoring (119.0), second in assists (29.8). The Jazz are fifth in rebounds (45.7), eighth in offensive rebounds (12.6), and 12th in field-goal percentage.
“The way we play, we got to approach every game the same,” Doncic said. “In the NBA, every team is dangerous, so at some point somebody can go for 40. They have Markkanen, and then George. They can go for 40 on any night. So we just got to work on ourselves and approach the game, make everything the same.”
The all-out energy and effort by Vanderbilt off the bench was the catalyst for the Lakers against the Suns.
In his 15 minutes of action, he had seven points, seven rebounds, two steals and one blocked shot.
Vanderbilt had played only three minutes and eight seconds over a 10-game stretch prior to that point.
“Vando’s minutes were huge,” Gabe Vincent said. “He came in and does what we all know he’s very capable of doing and being disruptive on the defensive end, crashing the glass, getting extra possessions for us, all of which we desperately needed. You know what I mean? So his spark off the bench was huge for us.”
Now it’s about sustaining that defensive intensity, the Lakers say. And about playing with that physicality, the Lakers say.
“Yeah, when you guys asked me this the last time, it’s effort,” Jake LaRavia said. “If we just go out there and we give that kind of effort every night…We got a lot of guys on the team. Some guys might not be having it and, like you said about that contagious word, that really helps out. [Marcus] Smart does it sometimes. Vando does it sometimes. I would say I do it just being a contagious type of person to help lead the team and just being extra physical.”
The Lakers are ranked near the bottom of the league in some defensive categories, which means there remains room for improvement.
They are ranked 17th in the league in points allowed (116.7), 24th in field-goal percentage (48.1%) allowed and 28th in three-point shooting (38.1%) allowed.
“You just got to go out there and do it,” LaRavia said. “It’s not anything a coach can say. It’s not anything a player can tell another player. Yeah, it’s like the individual player’s job to go out there and give effort on defense and that’s contagious. It just goes around.”
Deandre Ayton wins award
Lakers center Deandre Ayton on Wednesday was named by the NBA and the National Basketball Players Assn. as the winner of the Bob Lanier Community Assist Award for November. Ayton was recognized for his philanthropic work across the Bahamas, which is his home country, Jamaica and Los Angeles through the Ayton Family Foundation.
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