Lakers Need To Do More Defensive Work Early

You know the old adage about post defenders needing to do their work “early” to get their man off their favorite spot? The same applies to pick-and-roll coverage. Right now, the Lakers need to do more to dictate where the Thunder must go on the pick and roll instead of expecting to be able to cover it simply by reacting.

One idea: pick a side and force all the picks that way. They can’t do it quite as easily as the Spurs did it with the Clippers, because the Clippers run more side pick and rolls than the Thunder, but they can do more than they’re doing.