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Miami does an extraordinary job of capitalizing on defensive mistakes, and the Lakers made quite a few of them in Game 5. Here's a thread of plays where they capitalized on our inattention.
On this play, Danny Green turns his head and Duncan Robinson loses him on the relocation.
On this play, Danny Green turns his head and Duncan Robinson loses him on the relocation.
Rajon Rondo is focused on telling Kuz to run back in transition, and in doing so he doesn't pick up Robinson. These step-in 3's are high percentage looks, and especially harmful because of the size discrepancy. Rondo's closeout won't bother Robinson at all if it's late.
Kieff & Kuz are on different pages here. If Kuz is supposed to send Nunn baseline, Kieff is lined up on the wrong side of Jimmy & should be containing that drive instead. If Kieff is lined up on the correct side that means Kuz is supposed to send Nunn middle, but allowed baseline
You have to put a body on Miami's shooters in transition, especially when there's a size discrepancy. Alex Caruso drops too far back into the paint, so Herro uses Jimmy's cross screen to get space at the top of the key. AC eats up most of the distance, but it's not enough.
This is another "not on the same page" play. If Rondo is supposed to chase Nunn over the top of this screen, LeBron should be there to hedge. If we don't want LBJ to leave Jimmy, then Rondo should be going under this screen. The result is a wide-open, elbow jumper. Way too easy.
Rondo needs to fight to put a body on Nunn as soon as this shot goes up. Can't just stand there and hope the ball caroms in the right direction.
Rondo decides to double team Nunn on the perimeter but his gamble for the steal comes up short, leaving Jae Crowder alone for the floater.
This is another "not on the same page" play, although credit to Spo for putting LAL players in unfamiliar positions
Nunn & Herro switch spots here, & Rondo follows Nunn while KCP stays in his spot. The result is both KCP & Rondo on Nunn, leaving LeBron on Jimmy & no one on Herro
Nunn & Herro switch spots here, & Rondo follows Nunn while KCP stays in his spot. The result is both KCP & Rondo on Nunn, leaving LeBron on Jimmy & no one on Herro
The key to plays like this is communication. You can see Rondo tell AD to help off of Iguodala to Herro, but you can also see that KCP/Rondo/LeBron aren't talking to each other. That's how you end up with two on Nunn, but no one on Herro.
This play brings us to halftime. Miami scored 50 points from the field and 10 points from the free throw line in the first half.
The plays in this thread so far constitute 20 of the 50 points we gave up on field goal attempts, on what I'd described as mostly unforced errors.
The plays in this thread so far constitute 20 of the 50 points we gave up on field goal attempts, on what I'd described as mostly unforced errors.
LeBron's man is Crowder here, while Dwight is on Bam. LeBron switches for some reason and starts to track Bam. You can see Dwight pointing and telling LeBron to get back to his man, and LeBron tries to do it, but it's too late and we pay the price with the 3.
Duncan Robinson relocates and makes KCP pay for ball-watching
You want the big man who's hedging on a handoff to have his feet set before the ball-handler turns the corner. AD is jogging to his spot a couple seconds before this play (sorry, I don't have the footage) and gets there late, so he doesn't get set before Herro turns the corner.
This causes the defense to collapse, so even though Herro misses, the offensive rebounding opportunity is there as DG is late with his box out on Jimmy.
This is where I think AD's injury impacted him the most. There were several plays where he was just a little late on defense.
This is where I think AD's injury impacted him the most. There were several plays where he was just a little late on defense.
He had to give Jimmy a little more space on the perimeter than he did in Game 4 as a result, and Jimmy hit a few more jumpers on him as a result.
LeBron can handle much of the offensive load if ADs hobbled, but AD's top gear on defense is irreplaceable. How close can AD get now?
LeBron can handle much of the offensive load if ADs hobbled, but AD's top gear on defense is irreplaceable. How close can AD get now?
Dwight does a good job of showing high and not allowing Duncan Robinson to get a clean look off of the handoff, but after a solid effort there, he jogs back to the defensive glass, then exacerbates that with the flagrant foul.
He gets this rebound if he's giving his best effort
He gets this rebound if he's giving his best effort
This play in particular was a huge momentum swing. I believe we gave up three 4+ point possessions, which is indicative of how undisciplined we were in this game. Can't be giving up a 4-point play here and a 6-point play there in an environment where every possession is crucial.
AD gets beat to a rebound that he would normally grab. There's no way of knowing how much his foot injury is a factor on this play, but I'd imagine that trying to box Jimmy out puts a lot of pressure on your heel. AD doesn't get any explosion and Jimmy wins the physical battle.
We're not even halfway through the third quarter btw
KCP backpedals in transition rather than trying to match up with someone. Dwight has Bam and AD has Jimmy, so who is KCP supposed to be guarding? KCP eventually realizes his man is on the other side of the court, and gets caught in a scramble that he never really recovers from.
AD reacts toward Nunn, even though KCP is in a good lock & trail position and Nunn isn't a sniper like Robinson or Herro. That leaves Jae Crowder open on the wing.
Rondo tries to help, but makes matters worse with a flyby closeout in front of the shooter instead of behind him.
Rondo tries to help, but makes matters worse with a flyby closeout in front of the shooter instead of behind him.
Kuz jumps into Robinson's airspace, drawing the 4-point play. Have to jump straight up and down on these contests, or fly by behind him and apply back pressure.
This is a nice adjustment by Spoelstra. Kuzma shows too early, and Jimmy/Crowder adjust the step up screen to send Jimmy in the other direction.
The problem is more that this worked AGAIN in the 4Q, when Morris showed too early and the same thing happened. Gotta adjust quicker.
The problem is more that this worked AGAIN in the 4Q, when Morris showed too early and the same thing happened. Gotta adjust quicker.
That brings us to the end of the third quarter, and Miami had 88 points at this point. Can't allow your opponent to average nearly 30 pts per quarter in a Finals game.
The Lakers made fewer mistakes like the ones in this thread in the 4th quarter, although there were still a few
The Lakers made fewer mistakes like the ones in this thread in the 4th quarter, although there were still a few
Here's the play where AC & KCP ran into each other. Credit to Robinson for v-cutting off of KCP and running him into Caruso, but if KCP's in full ball denial as he should be in a late shot clock situation, Robinson wouldn't have been able to do that.
The fact that this thread is long and irritating is the point. These types of plays happen to every team, in every game. Lapses of focus and attentiveness are part of the game. But it's the volume of these mistakes that the Lakers made in Game 5 that are notable.
Miami doesn't make these types of mistakes to nearly the same degree that the Lakers do. They are almost always locked in for close to 48 minutes, so while they may lose games, they don't shoot themselves in the foot nearly as often as most other teams do.
There are many other aspects to this series in terms of scheme and personnel, but I believe that our defensive attentiveness is the biggest factor at play. That's the paradox of this Lakers team. We've been dominant, but we haven't put a full 48 minutes together many times.
We usually dominate by going on some insane run where we put the opponent away during a 10-minute stretch, and then coast to victory off the strength of that. We tried to do that last night in the 4Q, where there were far fewer mistakes like these. But just the 4Q isn't enough.
So the question is, why are we making so many focus/attention mistakes in Game 5 of the Finals? My impression is that we had a very "we got this" approach to this game. We'd just taken control of the series in Game 4, going up 3-1, and felt very comfortable that we're gonna win.
But the problem when you do that is that you're not completely in the moment. Part of your mind is on the result rather than the process. Our best basketball is better than their best basketball, which is why a Lakers victory has looked very likely at points of this series.
But if we don't focus on the moment and let Robinson get free, not hustle for a defensive rebound, or not communicate on pick & roll coverages, Miami will beat us because they are pretty much always locked in to what they do.
So that's our challenge going forward.
So that's our challenge going forward.
It's encouraging in some sense, in that many of our mistakes are fixable, and just a matter of being more present. Losing yesterday was tough and AD's heel is certainly a concern, but I believe we're in good shape if we can reduce the types of mistakes we make in this thread.
But this is also the closest thing to adversity that the Lakers have faced, and that's always a power ingredient to throw into the mix. The team will have to rely heavily on cooperation and communication to get the work they need to get done over the next couple of days.
There needs to be accountability in the film room and on the floor in Game 6, and a commitment from each player do be more present. Adversity can fracture groups of people who aren't close, so the guys will have to stay together to win one more.
They've been tight-knit all year, and moments like these are when that matters most. Go Lakers. /thread
