Four peculiar storylines worth watching

A grab bag of observations about the Los Angeles Lakers, the Orlando Magic, three-pointers, and more

I’m back from surgery! They had to make it an open surgery instead of an arthroscopic one because my meniscus was apparently in several different places (none of which were appropriate), but other than that, the procedure went well — thanks to those of you who reached out! I watched a lot of basketball through a painkiller-induced haze in the last few days, so here are a few opioid-induced observations that I’m pretty sure are true.

The Lakers’ offensive revival

The Lakers are 10-4 and riding a six-game winning streak, although it must be noted they’ve faced a cupcake schedule during this stretch: the putrid and injured 76ers, the putrid and injured Toronto Raptors, the feisty but injured Memphis Grizzlies, the Spurs (a solid win), the putrid and injured New Orleans Pelicans, and the extra-putrid Utah Jazz.

But even with that shakerful of salt grains, the Lakers are a top-five offense fourteen games into the season. That’s worth exploring.

As always with a LeBron James offense, the team generates oodles of free throws, leading the league in FT makes per 100 possessions. But unlike in previous years, they’re taking care of the ball (a top-ten turnover rate) and attacking the offensive glass (average, after being second-to-last the previous season).

For all coach JJ Redick’s pretty plays and preseason talk, they rarely launch threes compared to their peers, and their shot distribution looks remarkably similar to last year. The Lakers remain an entirely rim-oriented team. That can be a successful strategy when you have Anthony Davis and LeBron smashing their way into the paint like rhinos with a drop-step.

To get more granular, JJ Redick has put the ball even more into the hands of his stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis, who are both touching the ball about a half-dozen more times than last year (although James’ total time of possession is down). Austin Reaves has seen the largest increase in that regard (77 touches per game compared to 61 last season) as he’s become the clear third banana on the team. Reaves is jacking up threes like a Splash Brother, although his 37% accuracy is more moist than wet.

James is shooting less often but averaging 9.4 assists per game, which would be the second-highest of his illustrious passing career. He’s clearly ceded ground to his younger teammates, focusing more on screen-setting and cutting:

AD, on the other hand, is being far more aggressive with the ball. He’s averaging a career-high in points and FG% while maintaining his dominant defensive and glass-cleaning efforts.

A recent ESPN report (I’d do terrible things to get access to Second Spectrum data) corroborated the eye test. The Lakers are utilizing a boatload more off-ball action and cutting into their offense to ignite last year’s pick-and-roll-centric offense. Look at this nonsense:

I should also spare a word for Dalton Knecht, the rookie who nailed nine threebies last night. That brings his mark up to 46% from deep on the year on impressive volume after a slow start. He doesn’t do much else besides launch and cut, mind you, but the Lakers have plenty of guys who want the ball; Knecht is already the team’s most dangerous shooter and spacer, and that’s more than they could have hoped for with the 17th pick in the draft. (We’ll deal with his defense another day.)

If nothing else, I’d expect Redick’s influence on the offensive system to hold steady throughout the year. Whether it remains this effective against better defenses remains to be seen, but Lakers faithful have to enjoy what they’ve experienced so far.

OKC’s defense hasn’t slipped too much without Chet — yet

The Thunder were flirting with defensive history to begin the season. A crew of mean, unshakeable ball hawks swooped around an elite rim protector in Chet Holmgren, creating a wall of limbs between ballhandlers and the basket.

Holmgren’s injury, however, put OKC’s top three centers on ice. Rather than trading for yet another big body, the Thunder have run with 6’5” wings Jalen Williams and Alex Caruso at center (with spare minutes for Ousmane Dieng and the returned Kenrich Williams). And so far, even though those lineups have rebounded like the younger brother in a sibling one-on-one game, the defense has mostly held firm!