The Los Angeles Lakers are looking nowhere near the contenders they are supposed to be on paper, but Hall of Famer and LA great Magic Johnson thinks it's not too late for them to turn the season around.
However, according to Johnson, the Lakers must focus on their defense and address three key things in order for them to win the NBA title: individual defense, team defense and, most importantly, transition defense.
If the @Lakers are going to turn their season around there are 3 things they must do on defense. First, they must play better individual defense. Second, play better team defense and third, transition. They must improve their transition defense!
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) December 7, 2021
The Lakers rank 16th on defensive rating this 2021-22, but they know very well they can't win a title with that. After all, during their championship year in 2019-20, they rank in the top three in defense. In fact, they were the best defensive team in the league in the previous campaign as well.
As Magic Johnson emphasized as well, the Lakers need to focus on their transition defense. After all, they allow the fourth-most fastbreak points in the NBA–only behind the Houston Rockets, Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76ers.
At 12-12 for the seventh seed in the Western Conference, the Lakers have a lot of work to do to turn things around and start stringing wins together. Prior to the season, there were concerns about how the team will fare in a grueling 82-game season, and by the looks of it so far, it's not going very well.
For what it's worth, though, LeBron James has expressed his confidence to the team when asked if he thinks roster changes are necessary, adding that they just need more time and repetitions to develop that chemistry and start winning.
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