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.
