NBA rewind: Lakers offense gets facelift under rookie coach
Intensity, tight games and several that verged on playoff-like atmospheres marked the first week of the 2024-25 NBA season.
And while the Boston Celtics have erased any concerns about a championship hangover, a few intriguing matchups headline the second weekend of the season.
The 3-1 Orlando Magic and 4-0 Cavaliers, two teams that have flashed improved play thus far, meet Friday night in Cleveland before the Cavs face a quick turnaround; Cleveland then heads to Milwaukee to face the struggling Bucks Saturday night on a back-to-back.
Friday also provides a rematch of the most compelling playoff series from last year, the Western Conference semifinal between the Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves.
Yet, before we get to the weekend, here are some takeaways from the first week of the NBA season:
Lakers offense gets facelift under JJ Reddick
It was the second possession of the second game of the season, and the Lakers jogged calmly up the floor.
D’Angelo Russell underhanded the ball near midcourt to Anthony Davis, who then tossed it to Austin Reaves on the extended wing in one quick motion. The ball then found LeBron James (at the top of the key), who then fired it back to Davis (now on the left wing), who then no-looked a bounce pass to a rotating Reaves (now in the left corner). A quick return to Davis let Reaves shed his defender for a give-and-go feed.
Seven passes, four dribbles and an easy bucket with six seconds left on the shot clock.
JJ Reddick’s imprint on the L.A. offense has already been palpable in his first week: the Lakers will operate through Davis — often from the top of the key — emphasizing motion and off-ball movement, cuts and quick passes.
L.A. ranks sixth in the NBA in scoring (117.3 points per game) and fifth in offensive rating (117.3). It ranks fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.20), one season after finishing 12th in the same category.
Perhaps put more simply: the Lakers are moving the ball more this season, ranking ninth in passes made per game (300), up from 25th last season (267.5).
Davis leads the league in scoring at 32.8 points per game, which would represent a career best, and is shooting 55% from the floor. This production should sneak him into MVP consideration. Reddick’s free-flowing, pass-happy philosophy has also extracted more from Reaves, who’s averaging 19.3 points per game — up from last year’s mark of 15.9 — and forward Rui Hachimura (17.5, up from 13.6).
More importantly, Los Angeles is 3-1, started 3-0 for the first time since the 2010-11 season, and has already felled the Timberwolves, Phoenix Suns and Sacramento Kings — all of whom are expected to seriously compete in the Western Conference.
Cavs make the case for running it back
Cleveland is running it back another season, with one massive exception. New coach Kenny Atkinson has embraced spacing, behind the progression of Evan Mobley as an inside-outside threat, to open lanes for Darius Garland to attack and Jarrett Allen to dominate in the low block.
Star guard Donovan Mitchell’s scoring is down — from 26.6 points per game last year to 23.8 — but the Cavs (4-0) have posted the top true shooting percentage (64%) this season and the NBA’s second-best offensive rating (122.3). Garland is shooting a career-best 50% from the field and Allen is putting them in at a remarkable 80.6%.
In fact, in a 135-point Cleveland outburst against Washington, Allen converted all 10 of his attempts.
Cleveland’s victory Monday over the Knicks was certainly impressive. Still, it’s far too early a sample size, and the first three Cavaliers opponents (Raptors, Pistons, Wizards) indicate that more accurate barometers lie ahead.
A Wednesday showdown against the Lakers should be telling.
Tyus Jones has stabilized the point guard position for the Suns
A team the Lakers have twice faced, the Suns, have found the answer to their point guard problem. Offseason signing Tyus Jones has stabilized the position, allowing Devin Booker and Bradley Beal to revert to their more natural positions.
Jones, as he has in his career, is an ultra-efficient distributor, and already has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 8.0, which ranks fifth in the NBA.
Perhaps one unintended consequence of all this, however, is that Booker and Beal still haven’t quite found their chemistry when Jones is on the floor. When one has played well, the other has had to defer.
Booker and Beal have played three games together this season; in those games, the lower scorer between the two has contributed just 15 points. This is a good problem to have, one that percolates when a team has three legitimate scoring options.
Paolo Banchero breakout season incoming?
He was always a rising star in the NBA, but, in Year 3, Paolo Banchero may be on the verge of elite superstardom. Banchero, 21, is tied for 11th in scoring (28.5 points per game) and has become far more efficient, particularly with his 3-pointer. He’s hitting them at a 39.1% clip, which is 5.2 percentage points more than last season.
His 50-point outburst against the Pacers was a career high.
With his vision and passing, body control and improving shot, his game is reminiscent of a young LeBron James. Banchero is averaging career highs in points, assists (6.0) and rebounds (9.3). He’s getting to the free throw stripe at nearly double the rate (13 attempts per game) than he did last year.
Defensive issues, lack of chemistry compounds slow start for Bucks
Milwaukee, stuck in a three-game losing streak, has several problems. Its defense, specifically its lack of perimeter defense, has allowed opponents to pop off for big shooting nights; in a Friday loss against the Bulls, Chicago laced 21 3-pointers on 44.7% shooting from beyond the arc.
In fact, the Bucks rank 26th in the NBA in defended field goal percentage (39.3%) on shots 15 feet or more from the basket. Defensive physicality and effort has been unacceptable, and the Bucks often look lost in help rotations.
Offensively, the ball stagnates. Milwaukee ranks 23rd in passes per game (268.5). Sometimes, the actions run through Giannis Antetokounmpo and other times it’s Damian Lillard. Yet, aside from the pick-and-roll, the two still haven’t played well off each other with consistency.
It may get worse. Milwaukee is entering a six-game stretch in which it plays the Grizzlies, Cavaliers (twice), Jazz, Knicks and Celtics.
