Grizzlies must make Luka Dončić work on defense

The Memphis Grizzlies will kick off the new year with a mini-series in Los Angeles against the Lakers. The latter has some weaknesses, but they have been far away a better team this season. Additionally, this won’t be easy because the Lakers are on full alert after getting embarrassed in their last two home games by the Houston Rockets on Christmas and the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday.

In Memphis’ case, they’ve struggled to get over the hump of Play-In seeding and have failed to get back to .500 whenever there’s a chance. One of the important things they’ll need to do on Friday is defend without fouling, since the Lakers are top-three in free-throw attempts. They can’t be permitted to slow the game down or put players in foul trouble, which would only bring in inferior subs for Memphis. 

Here is what you need to know. 

Make their stars work on defense and push the pace 

Luka Dončić is having one of his worst seasons guarding, and that’s saying something, because he is one of the laziest defenders in the NBA, so the Grizzlies should try to involve him in as many actions as possible by putting him in screen rolls or attacking him when he’s hiding on the corner man. LeBron James is another one who will try to hide on the weaker players and save his legs for offense.  His weak screen navigation must be exploited.

Furthermore, one of the ingredients for victory will be getting out in the open court as much as possible because the Lakers are poor at guarding transition. This is a great opportunity for Ja Morant to use his speed to be a bigger factor as a playmaker for his teammates.

Rebounding and guarding the 3-point line 

The Grizzlies should be able to outwork the Lakers on the glass, especially if they are getting the same effort from Cedric Coward that led to 16 boards and 12 from Jaren Jackson Jr. against Philadelphia. They’ll need a higher effort to deny them extra opportunities.

On top of that, the Lakers are a poor 3-point shooting team, yet the Grizzlies are not good at long-range disruption, allowing 21.8 wide-open 3-point attempts. The latter will have to cut those down to avoid open shots in transition or being burned through the corners. 

Give Morant and Jackson some help

Of course, Morant and Jackson will have to do a lot of the heavy lifting, but the background players stepping up by hitting open 3-point attempts could take this from a close game to a boat race for Memphis. The Lakers are bad in the half-court and will eventually overplay the main threats. Cutting lanes will be open, too, so they'll need to move well without the ball.