Lakers' defense has Warriors on edge of elimination

When the Lakers have won during the 2022-23 playoffs, they have actually been stingy defensively. They have given up an average of 102.7 points throughout their seven victories over the Memphis Grizzlies in the preliminary and the Golden State Warriors in the second.

When the Lakers have lost throughout the playoffs, they have actually been substantially less protective. They have quit an average of 115.3 points during their 3 losses to the Grizzlies and the Warriors entering into Game 5 against Golden State on Wednesday night at Chase Center in San Francisco.

Anthony Davis has actually been at the center of the Lakers' protective efforts from start to end up. He's been the Lakers' prominent rebounder with an average of 14 per game. He's also blocked approximately 3.7 shots, although he didn't have one in the Lakers' triumph over the Warriors in Game 4.

However regardless of Davis' supremacy in the paint and specifically in front of the rim, this hasn't been a one-man clampdown for the Lakers. There's been a group buy-in that begins with Davis and extends to LeBron James, Jarred Vanderbilt, Austin Reaves, D'Angelo Russell and the bench.

Darvin Ham's background-- as a hard-nosed gamer with the 2003-04 NBA champion Detroit Pistons and, more recently, as an assistant coach with the Atlanta Hawks and Milwaukee Bucks-- assisted to develop the Lakers' protective identity in his very first season as their head coach.

It's not constantly pretty basketball, but it's a tried-and-true formula for success, specifically in the playoffs.

" I just believe the relentlessness brings a smile to my face and makes me feel warm and fuzzy," Ham said after a gritty 104-101 victory Monday in Game 4 at Crypto.com Arena gave them a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. "It all starts on the protective end, and that offers you a chance each and every night."

The Grizzlies, particularly guards Ja Morant and Desmond Bane, provided Ham and the Lakers with one kind of a protective challenge. Morant and Bane were bound and determined to drive towards the basket for their shots. Border jumpers, consisting of 3-pointers, were secondary alternatives.

The Warriors play a different game. Steph Curry and Klay Thompson look for 3s initially and they're in continuous motion searching for open opportunities. Covering them can be like running through an obstacle course of screens by their colleagues, which can lead to layups and dunks if not effectively safeguarded.

For the Warriors, stalling is a sin.

" There's no other team in the world that plays the method they play and puts you into precarious positions that they do," Ham said of the Warriors. "They have fun with such speed-- east, west, north, south. Their IQs, I imply, their chemistry, that rhythm, and when they're striking (shots), like they were, specifically the 3rd and 2nd quarters (in Game 4), you know, it's overwhelming,"

The Lakers have done well enough to have pressed the Warriors to the brink of removal from the postseason, however. Golden State is balancing 113.5 points overall in the playoffs, but just 109.3 versus the Lakers through the first 4 video games of the series.

Curry is averaging 30.6 points in general throughout the playoffs and 25.3 in the four games against the Lakers. Thompson is balancing 20.3 points total and 19.8 versus the Lakers. Andrew Wiggins, the Warriors' third-leading scorer is balancing 16.9 points general and 14.8 in this series.

Ham described the Warriors as "the monster we're dealing with" when he was asked about liquidating the safeguarding NBA champions in Game 5. He likewise stated, "It's absolutely going to be a battle. You know that we simply want to head out there and do what we require to do to be the very best variations of ourselves."

" I don't even know what today is, but whenever Game 5 is, it'll be another chance for us to continue to grow as a ballclub," James stated, clearly in a playoff fog after the Lakers' success Monday in Game 4. "So, I think we'll be ready. One thing about when you play Golden State, you do not have an opportunity to unwind. You simply do not. I'm not fretted about us going in there (Chase Center) being comfortable.

" You just can't do it versus Golden State. It's not possible."

Davis, seated next to James, said just, "Same.".

Video game 5: Lakers at Golden State (Lakers lead 3-1)

When: 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Where: Chase Center, San Francisco.

TV/Radio: TNT/ESPN LA 710.