What are the improvements of the Lakers and Cavaliers on offense?

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In the victory over the Cavaliers, the Lakers showed two major improvements from last season.

In this game, the Lakers' offensive efficiency was 114.2, including 103.4, which exceeded 73% of the league's teams - compared with last year's two games with an offensive efficiency of more than 100, the offensive efficiency of positional warfare can only exceed that of 10-18% of the league's teams, which is a significant improvement.

The Cleveland Cavaliers were an explosive team, scoring 40 points in the first quarter and 71 in the first half — which was enough to take away a lot of teams with poor offense in one wave — but the Lakers survived with [the offense].

Considering that James scored only 21 points in the first half (which was not in great form), the Lakers' ability to complete the [matchup] with the Cavaliers shows that their overall offensive level has improved this season - it's not just about offensive efficiency stats, but more importantly, they don't rely so much on James (direct scoring).

Come and see the game.

Here's the first quarter of the Lakers' "show progress" round.

Just like last season, the Cavaliers didn't respect the Lakers' outside shooting — Strus opted to get around under cover when Davis and Prince played back, and Allen chose to sink completely (giving Prince a shot).

But we can see that Prince didn't hesitate to shoot and punish that style of defense – he has a poor shooting resume this season, but that doesn't change the essence of what he is as a shooter.

And Prince began to hit and soon had an impact on the Cavaliers' defense.

This round, Davis got the ball in the low post, and the Cavaliers shrank and helped defend - which was their experience last season.

But because Prince had just hit a three-pointer, when Davis made a pass in Prince's direction, Mitchell had to choose to leave the help defense position and move two steps in the direction of Prince to prevent Davis from passing the ball to 45 degrees (ready to save a three-pointer) - and it was the two steps he left that Christie in the bottom corner found the opportunity to cut in.

Russell is also an important improvement - he is a dangerous shooter and opponents need to squeeze through the screen to defend him, which creates a position advantage (making it impossible for the opponent to block the breakout from below), and Davis' down-to-bottom is so dangerous that it also keeps Allen at bay, so Russell can get an easy layup.

It's the same when Reaves plays pick-and-roll — he was an out-and-out role player against the Cavaliers last season, and he's now one of the Lakers' leading ball handlers.

When Reeves plays a pick-and-roll, the opponent also needs to squeeze through the cover to defend the shot, which allows both Reaves and Davis to get a route to the basket - which makes the Cavaliers have to shrink the defense, and it can be seen that it is precisely because the defender in the bottom corner moves a step inside to do a swipe to help defend that Christie in the bottom corner gets a chance to shoot.

Shooting ability opens up space for the frame, and the ability to attack the frame feeds back the shot – that's why it's important to have both the ability to shoot and the frame.

This round is also an example of "shooting a buff to the frame".

Davis made an elbow zone cover for LeBron, so that LeBron could turn around and go straight to the middle - if it was last season, LeVert would definitely stand in the middle to block LeBron's breakthrough route, and even Garland would come over to help defend with a card.

And this season, because of the Lakers' lineup, the two players on the weak side are Reaves and Christie, both of whom have good shooting ability, so LeVert and Garland's co-defense did not dare to be too strong, and as a result, LeBron was killed, and Allen hurriedly made up for LeBron, but this season, it was not the small man who ambushed the Lakers in the dunk position but Wood - Allen could not complete one defense and two defenses, and Wood dunked successfully.

This is another improvement for the Lakers: [size].

Niang also played a defensive style of bypassing Reeves from below in this round - also being punished by Reeves.

Last season, the Cavaliers defended the Lakers by defending their shots and shrinking the interior crazily, and this season they can't do that anymore.

This left the Cavaliers a little "unfocused" on the defensive end — instead, the Lakers began to find holes in the Cavaliers' defense.

Section II.

Allen went to rest, the Cavaliers entered "single tower" mode, and LeBron performed the trick that Cavaliers fans were most familiar with:

A guard with a "triple threat" who can shoot and break through comes up to cover and create James's "roll call" to the small guard - if the opposite side changes defense, James will eat the misposition; if the opposite side delays and does not change the defense like in the GIF, then the cover man will be dismantled at the moment when James breaks through (it can be played outside, or it can go directly to the inside like Reeves) - because the opposing guard needs to give priority to delaying James' breakthrough, it is usually difficult to return to the quickly disassembled screener- And as long as you're in the lead, then James' pass will find you.

James was able to take advantage of the gaps that appeared when opponents were delaying their return to position and penetrate the defense with his passes, leading the way and creating two-on-one opportunities for the guards and the inside of the dunk position.

"Roll call" tactics.

Once you succeed, you have to take advantage of the victory to pursue.

In the next round, James sacrificed the same tactic again, Oklo desperately squeezed through the cover, hoping that Porter Jr. would not delay and stay in front of Reaves, but the result was even worse - no delay, James went straight to the inside, and the players on the inside of the Cavaliers could only shrink and make up for the defense, and the basket was still created to play more and less.

This time Hayes cut to the basket.

James "named" a triple hit.

This time, the Cavaliers chose to change the defense in advance, and after hindering James from breaking through at the first time, they quickly switched back when he was in the "forward swing" stage of the single - it was already a very smart defensive method, cracking the Lakers' first block and pick-and-roll initiation, but then Reaves did another cover - this time knowing the Cavaliers' strategy, he went directly down at the moment when the opponent was ready to change defenses, and Niang in the bottom corner had to shrink the defense, so Wood in the bottom corner got a three-point big opening. (It's a pity I didn't put it in)

James continued to use the "roll call" tactic, and this time it was Christie who came up to cover.

Garland and Okro tried to replicate the "short switch and then return" strategy they had used with Porter Jr., but it was clear that Garland didn't grasp the essence of this strategy - he didn't switch when it was time to change guards, and as a result, the Cavaliers turned into a free Christie and a bag of James.

James' ability to read the bag was so great that he immediately found Christie, and Christie made the right defensive reading again (the first time it was an assist for Hayes) and gave the ball to Reaves on the perimeter, who attacked Porter Jr. for a close-out layup. (There are two big men standing under the Lakers basket, and Mobley doesn't dare to make up for it too quickly)

In this round, the Cavaliers found the wrong person in the retreat, and even let Garland face James, and James naturally couldn't ask the little man to cover the opportunity for the Cavaliers to get back, and he blocked and punched the frame directly.

Although the "roll call" is good, James also has to save energy in the first three quarters, so the Lakers began to take advantage of other advantages on the court.

In this round, James was in charge of the "top of the arc deal", Reeves and Wood made off-ball cover in the middle and then targeted Porter Jr. - Reaves used a little position advantage to go straight to the basket, Mobley in the bottom corner to make up for the defense, but his defensive Hayes also cut in - Hayes just hit a shot in this way, and Niang rushed to help Mobley to defend Hayes - and in this way, Wood at the top of the arc was empty.

Reaves showed excellent passing vision, flicking the ball wide to the top of the arc and Wood hit a three-pointer.

As we said, Wood's [spatial attributes] were a big part of the Lakers' twin towers.

When caught in the opposite side of Reaves, Wood can also take short passes and dribble inside to make more difficult finishes — the difference between him and the average pie-eating center, like Jones last season.

After two rounds of rest, James once again played a roll call, and the Cavaliers still couldn't figure it out - this time Wood hit a three-pointer from the bottom corner.

Then entering the lineup rotation stage, James continued to play blocking and dismantling with Russell, who was replaced on the court - the Cavaliers had already used LeVert to play against Russell in advance, trying to weaken the power of James's "roll call", but LeVert was also unable to stop James and was killed under the basket and caused a foul.

Spain blocked, James did not choose to pass out of the vacant Russell, but chose Davis under the high hanging basket, and the empty catch was pressed by Allen, but fortunately, the second offense was still played.

At this point, LeBron used his blocking ability to withstand the most ferocious period of the Cavaliers' offense, and chased the difference to two points.

Next is someone else's time.

Davis singled Mobley to the ground, note that Russell took Strus to the bottom corner to open up space, and Hayes managed to take Allen out of the assist position with a well-timed cut, which created a comfortable one-on-one space for Davis (and Prince in the bottom corner also helped a lot with the space).

[2.5 space points], remember this theory? Speaking of which, this is still inspired by the knight.

When your space is compatible with the twin towers, the twin towers will show you their strengths in turn - what if Russell Davies doesn't create a clear chance in the pick-and-roll? Hayes came in from the outside and used his height advantage over Niang to score.

Davis is in the low post, and the Cavaliers are going to wrap it up, and Hayes in the bottom corner of the weak side cuts in and takes off!

This is the Twin Towers! This is how the Cavaliers played the Lakers last season, and the Lakers have also given the Cavaliers a taste of the Twin Towers this season.

In the transition, they all went to Davis Russell to hit a three-pointer on the counter.

The space is compatible with the twin towers, and the threat of the twin towers under the basket will also feed back to the shooter.

This round is even more typical of the best - Reaves' shooting threat caused Strus to try to squeeze through the cover early, only to misjudge, Reaves passed through the gap, and Niang made up for the basket?

The combination of shooter + twin towers shows the advantages of the "single height team" vividly.

In the fourth quarter, helping the Lakers win the three key offensive rounds of the game is also inseparable from the role of [space].

Davis' key low-post singles — were able to get this opportunity without being caught precisely because the other four players on the Lakers court were all outside shooting threats at this time.

James' cover and backrun cut into the score - this opportunity was also obtained because Reaves' shooting threat forced the Cavaliers to switch defenses, and Christie's threat in the bottom corner also made Mitchell dare not help early.

Finally, James's back-running dunk that almost sealed the game - we can see how empty the Cavaliers' basket is, precisely because of the Lakers' shooting threat.

summary

Long before the start of the season, we said in our preview that the Lakers' most important "upgrade" this offseason is their improvement in [space] - although this has not been as obvious as we expected this season, it has shown the need for this in some key games. And I believe that with the gradual return of the leading defenders, the defensive pressure on the Lakers' "shooter group" will decrease, and we will see more and more such [high-quality offensive games with the blessing of space].