SACRAMENTO – The question that was asked to LeBron James after the Lakers’ 120-107 loss to the Sacramento Kings was not only applicable to his team, but it was relevant given how Wednesday night’s game went.
When a team makes a play or an offensive set that makes it look good, even if they miss shots, how can you stay disciplined to keep trying that?
For James, now in his 21st NBA season, moving away from actions that create what the team is looking for, even if it doesn’t result in immediate success in games, is a trend he’s noticed over the course of of recent seasons.
“But that’s pretty much our league,” he said. “No one ever sticks to what works. People want to be cute and try new things, but our league has always been like that lately. [years].
“When I came into the league, it was like if one thing works, we’re going to run it until you stop it. And even if you stop it, we can come back to it. But that’s how the league is now.
And it was also an issue for the Lakers against the Kings.
Moving away from successful offensive plays wasn’t the only or main reason the Lakers lost. They became too careless with the ball in the third quarter, turning it over six times in a quarter they lost 28-17.
The Kings grabbed well-timed offensive rebounds to secure second-chance points. The Lakers’ help defense and closing out against Sacramento’s shooters were lackluster for significant stretches. Their top three scorers – James, Anthony Davis and D’Angelo Russell – also missed the looks they usually sport.
But they didn’t help themselves by moving away from what was a success, at least for a few periods.
The offensive action that produced Austin Reaves’ first 3-pointer – a throwing action in a Russell-Davis pick-and-roll with Reaves setting a screen for James on the weak side before popping over the top arc for a 3-point shot – did not happen. ‘doesn’t appear to be used again after the Lakers’ first few possessions.
Rui Hachimura scored 20 points, including nine in the second quarter. He benefited greatly from the Lakers running a James-Davis pick-and-roll, which allowed the Kings to replace Domantas Sabonis with James and Harrison Barnes with Davis, with Davis posting Barnes.
When the Kings teamed Davis, Hachimura made himself available for a pass by cutting into space or being stationed where Davis could find him. He scored seven straight points for the Lakers after Davis posted up Barnes and came out of the post, finishing the first half with 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting.
Hachimura made just one shot – a corner 3-pointer assisted by Russell – in the second half.
The Lakers tried to put Davis against Barnes in the second half, but not with the same success. The weak side’s actions were not as effective or present as in the first half. And they mostly gave up on forcing that change in the fourth, going for different plays — like the guards guarding James, which produced a pair of James dunks and other open shots.
Russell declined to answer when asked if the team could have done more to keep Hachimura involved offensively in the second half.
“Yeah, I’d rather not go,” Russell replied. “It’s a good match for Rui.”
James added: “Obviously when a guy is in trouble you always want to try and find him. But the game was — I’ll have to watch it again and see if there were ways to get him the ball — but teams make adjustments as well. Very good teams make adjustments. If they have guys, X-factor guys that are up to the task, they’re able to make adjustments and take some of the looks that he was taking away from him.
Once the Lakers fell behind, they too often strayed from the off-ball actions that helped create good looks earlier in the game.
They have the talent to produce an effective and efficient offense, but on a night where most of their main scorers struggled, they could have done more to make the game easier.
“One of the things I just told them is I can’t skip details,” coach Darvin Ham said. “We had guys that weren’t shooting the ball well, but looked great like they usually do. But just in a team basketball sense, you just have to continue to have a next-door mentality game.
“Do it as a unit, not just trying to go at it individually. If you’re trying to get started and stay organized as part of what we’re supposed to do, then great. But we cannot ignore the details.
