The King may be back, but JJ Redick and the Los Angeles Lakers still have plenty of work to do.
Yes, they erupted in the second half, and, yes, they eventually dusted the Utah Jazz to improve to 11-4, but the team’s offense lagged early in LeBron James’ highly anticipated regular season debut. Eventually, the Lakers prioritized ball movement and found their rhythm. But – and the sample size is so small that it’s almost unfair to assess Los Angeles in its first game at full health – a potential concern emerged in the victory: the Lakers, by and large, struggled Tuesday night when both James and Luka Dončić were on the floor.
This was most evident early in the game, when sluggish defense and stagnant passing curbed Los Angeles.
What’s most interesting was that Los Angeles did particularly well when one of James or Dončić was off the floor – regardless of whom it was.
Take Tuesday night’s on/off numbers: in the stretches when both Dončić and James played together, the Lakers posted a net score of -11.
Yet, when Dončić was on the floor without James, that number ballooned to +17.
Similarly, when James was on the floor without Dončić, the Lakers also outscored Utah by 17.
Again: tiny sample size.
This shouldn’t be a signal that Redick, the Lakers coach, needs to reassess or scrap his plan, but – rather – that it’s going to take time and effort to integrate James.
After all, he only practiced with his teammates for the first time Monday, Nov. 17, after nearly two months spent treating a sciatica issue on his right side.
James finished with 11 points and 12 assists, six of which came in the fourth quarter on consecutive Lakers field goals. He was an efficient 4-of-7 from the field and appeared to settle as the game went on, when the ball was swinging far more freely.
‘When you have Luka and what he’s doing on pick-and-rolls and his ability to gravitate so many players around him, I can just sit back and wait for the ball to be swung to me,’ James told reporters after the game. ‘And then I can play the pick-and-roll game as well.’
James’ debut was, by most measures, a success.
Los Angeles entered Tuesday as the NBA’s top-ranked shooting team, converting shots at a 50.4% clip; against the Jazz, the Lakers blistered the net, draining a ridiculous 59.5% of their attempts. They dominated the paint (outscoring Utah 74-56) and their bench dropped 40 points.
The 140 Lakers points marked a season-high.
But, with his team now at full health, Redick is going to have to address some questions:
Will he need to intentionally manufacture offense for guard Austin Reaves, who entered Tuesday averaging 28.3 points on 17.9 field goal attempts per game?
Will opting to start forward Rui Hachimura over the more defensively minded Marcus Smart make it too easy for opponents to score?
And, most importantly, can James and Dončić not only co-exist, but simultaneously thrive?
Reaves did score 26 against the Jazz, though he took just 11 shots.
The starting lineup allowed the Jazz to catch fire from 3 in the first quarter before Utah sprinted out to a 71-point first half.
But the largest conundrum facing Redick is that both Dončić and James are most comfortable with the ball in their hands.
Dončić is a ball-dominant volume scorer who needs time to get to his spots. He’s also an ingenious passer who sucks in defenders, allowing his teammates to find open creases.
James is the smartest basketball player of his generation. His spatial awareness and vision remain unrivaled, and he rarely makes mistakes; not only did he lead all players in assists, he committed just one single turnover. But, when he’s relegated to standing in the corner, he loses some of that magic.
It’s incumbent on Redick to continue scheming ways for players to move without the ball and to stimulate James’ play-making ability – something his age has not yet stripped. It’s also incumbent on him to encourage Dončić to be more dynamic off the ball.
This may also require either or both to slightly tweak their games.
It’s important to point out, once again, that this was merely one game, and the Lakers, frankly, should be encouraged. One of the best stretches the two had on the floor together came at the end of the third quarter – a period the Lakers won by 15.
This was always going to take time.
‘After the game, just waiting on the guys to get back to the locker room, the word we were using as a coaching staff was our poise,’ Redick said. ‘Not overreacting, not pulling apart, problem-solving – all that stuff in real time – just continuing to play.
‘That, at times, was missing last year, and for us to get that on the first night was really good. It’s good to see, first game back with everybody healthy, a collective spirit, a collective pull all in the right direction.’