The basketball gods are happy with the Los Angeles Lakers as they enter the last chapter of the regular season with the healthiest roster they have had all season long. If the Purple & Gold list all players available for the tip-off against the LA Clippers in the next game, it will be the first time that the Lakers will be fully healthy. In the pivotal moment before the playoffs, things couldn’t get better for the Laker Show.

Before the season started, Austin Reaves playing alongside LeBron James and Luka Doncic projected a lot of promise for the team, especially on offense. However, first James missed the start of the season, and then Reaves was out of action for over a month, missing many games with the trio playing together. After 54 games, the trio has played together in only 10 games.

“You have those games from last year, but obviously, you still have a learning curve of how to play alongside one another,” Reaves said when asked about building chemistry with LeBron and Luka before the postseason. “That’s for everybody else on the team as well. Just continue to build that continuity and confidence in every single position. We’re locked in with the five guys that are on the court.”

However, as much as the chemistry between big stars on the roster matters, as we saw in Brooklyn with James Harden, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, the Lakers have a bigger fish to fry before April. They are in a dire state to address their defense.

It’s hard to put it more mildly than to say that the Lakers have natural defensive liabilities. Before the All-Star break, the Lakers were 23rd in defensive rating, and that’s certainly not the recipe for a deeper playoff run. However, over the last few weeks, JJ Redick improved his output through heavy zone defense, and Reaves found himself on board with the idea of using a similar defensive strategy in the playoffs.

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“I think it’s just the way we communicate in the zone. Five guys are locked in every single possession, talking,” he said about the sustainability of zone defense in the postseason. “Obviously, there’s going to be breakdowns. Nobody’s perfect, but for the most part, the communication’s high and the effort’s high as well.”

However, there are still doubts about the sustainability of the Lakers resorting to such a defensive strategy. Despite a positive outcome, they might still face issues against high-caliber teams.

Can the Lakers’ zone defensive strategy work sustainably?

Before mid-January, the Lakers’ average use of the zone defense was just 6.9 percent. However, since the game against the Toronto Raptors, its usage increased to 17.6 percent, the highest in the league. Despite its obvious lacunas, the strategy has paid off for the Purple & Gold, allowing only 0.86 points per possession. 

The Lakers have primarily relied on a 2-3 zone defense, with two perimeter defenders backed by three backside players. The strategy was highly impactful against the Dallas and Toronto games. Moreover, it has most certainly improved the Lakers’ defense, while simplifying the players’ defensive roles. 

Despite the profit, zone defense cannot be a sustainable, reliable option for any team in the playoffs. It can work against teams with a lot of bigs and force them to eat up a lot of time on the clock. However, it can be an expensive choice against an efficient 3-point shooting team. Moreover, with no assigned box-out responsibilities, the board becomes more susceptible to offense.

However, so far, the strategy has been effective against 3-point shooting teams. Redick has used zone to disrupt the opposing team’s 3-point shooting. “I think some of the underperformance from three has to do with just breaking up a little bit of the flow of the game,” he told reporters. While it has been true in some cases, high-caliber 3-point shooting teams like the Denver Nuggets, Knicks and the Clippers have used it to their advantage.

There is no denying that the zone defensive strategy has worked for the Lakers. As far as finding out different strategies goes, they can make some alongside a high-powered offense to increase their chances in the playoffs.