One thing was made clear about the Los Angeles Lakers game strategy against the San Antonio Spurs after the first playoff game; get the ball inside to Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol, often and always. Since the absence of Kobe Bryant, the Lakers have become an inside-out team now, and Coach Mike D’Antoni is going to stick with it.
Howard and Gasol play a huge part in the Lakers offense as they both accounted for 28 of the Lakers’ 73 shots during Sunday’s game (38.4%) but also contributed 10 of the Lakers’ 18 turnovers.
Their approach of how they get Howard and Gasol in Game 2 will be tweaked in order for them to be successful against the Spurs. The problem is if you go to the well one too many times against a solid, well-coached defensive team such as San Antonio, the predictability will hurt the Lakers. Gasol states:
Howard and Gasol play a huge part in the Lakers offense as they both accounted for 28 of the Lakers’ 73 shots during Sunday’s game (38.4%) but also contributed 10 of the Lakers’ 18 turnovers.
Their approach of how they get Howard and Gasol in Game 2 will be tweaked in order for them to be successful against the Spurs. The problem is if you go to the well one too many times against a solid, well-coached defensive team such as San Antonio, the predictability will hurt the Lakers. Gasol states:
"Let's see if we can have a little bit better ball movement before we try to get the ball in, because if we try to fight it too much and force it too much is when the turnovers came in, most of them. So, we just got to move their defense a little bit better and swing the ball; then try to post the ball up into Dwight or myself. Then it won't be as easy for them to front or make things hard for us."
Coach D’Antoni plans for the next two practices before Wednesday’s Game 2 is to “clean up the offense.” This means that the Lakers will have to cut down the turnovers and also shoot the ball better. The Lakers shot just 41.1% overall from the field and a horrifying 3-15 from behind the arch. Coach D’Antoni says:
"A lot of it is just not being familiar with what we’re trying to do, putting in new sets, guys not being in the right spots. A lot of it is [the Spurs] are active and they're good. We have to be a little bit smoother in what we're doing in trying to clear out. Again, we're trying to put the ball inside all the time into a tight spot. We got a lot of guys in there, so it's just trying to clean and do a better job. Some of it was we just mishandled the ball. We just got to be a little more careful with the ball."
Fighting back with force is a tricky tactic. L.A. is already undermanned without Kobe Bryant out there. Should Howard foul out; coming close in Game 1, picking up five, they'll be putting even more pressure on their role players to play over their heads.
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