The Lakerhead

Lakers’ Pack-It-In Defense Effective Against Hornets…But What About the Celtics?

In the NBA, it’s all about matchups.  Lamar Odom can burn the Jazz for 20 because Boozer and Okur don’t have the foot-speed to stop him.  Put him in against Kevin Garnett, however, and his long arms and gliding layups disappear.

But besides individual matchups, teams can be perfectly matched.  Take the Los Angeles Lakers against this New Orleans team.  When Devin Brown (Peja Stojakovic was injured) is your weak side offensive player, you can bet not only did the Lakers funnel Chris Paul’s pick and roll, they sent a 3rd defender to the box.

This defensive packing strategy worked: Chris Paul was 6-16 for 17 points, and didn’t cut up the Lakers for layup after layup as he usually does with most teams.  James Posey also couldn’t find the range from downtown (1-5), and Chris Paul was frustrated into taking his own three-pointers (was only 3-8).

The question is, however, what happens when the Celtics’ Rajon Rondo brings the ball up on Christmas day?  Ray Allen and Paul Pierce are not players you can ignore and give up threes.  The Lakers can’t just decide to not pack it in either, because Rondo will get layup after layup if Fisher attempts to play straight up man defense against the quick Celtics point guard.

So how will the Lakers attempt to slow down the Celtics?  We’ll find out on Thursday.  Remember, it’s all about matchups on paper, but they still have to play the games.