Lakers News: LA Ramping Up In Key Category With Postseason Just 5 Games Away
The Los Angeles Lakers are fresh off a 5-1 road trip that has seen them playing some of their best basketball of the season. Despite all of the inconsistency that has taken place throughout the year, Los Angeles has seemingly found a nice rhythm of late.
It's the perfect time for this team to gel on the court with the postseason coming down the line in a few games. Los Angeles only has five games left on their regular season schedule, so the pressure is on to continue this hot finish to the year.
Despite this, the Lakers are still battling for a playoff spot. They currently sit in 9th place within the Western Conference, showing how dominant the conference has been all season long. But what has sparked this new run for the Lakers has been their performance on the defensive end of the floor.
"That extra attention to detail has shown up most defensively – an area of struggle for multiple months that has been cleaned up over the last couple of weeks. The Lakers’ defensive rating (points allowed per 100 possessions) of 108.3 over their last seven games ranks No. 4 after their defensive rating of 118.4 from Dec. 10-March 16 (45 games) ranked No. 24."
The Lakers have started to play much better defense, giving their offense a major boost as well. It's been a solid combination for the team and has resulted in them winning more games.
“The things we have to do, our laundry list, has been simplified,” Ham said. “And we know nothing else matters if we don’t take care of our own business. And you feel that playoff smell. … You have that smell in the air of the playoffs and the postseason rapidly approaching.
If Los Angeles can keep up this performance, they may be able to move up the standings slightly. But each game is magnified at this time, giving them very little margin for error.
