Lakers without Anthony Davis: What we know about the team sans a star

June 01, 2024

On the surface, the Lakers haven’t faltered when Anthony Davis misses games this season. Their 112-104 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday bumped the Lakers’ record to 5-1 without Davis. However, dig a little deeper and that record isn’t as remarkable as it seems.

Here are the Lakers’ four opponents across those six games: Timberwolves (twice), Bulls, Pistons and Thunder (twice). Those teams are a combined 38-74 (.339 win percentage). The Pistons (15th), Thunder (14th) and Timberwolves (15th) are at the bottom of their respective conferences.

Essentially, these are games a LeBron James-led Lakers squad should be winning — with or without Davis. The Lakers can’t control their schedule, and some of Davis’ absences have seemed strategic, with him sitting out one end of a back-to-back three times.

But the Lakers haven’t been winningly these games convincingly. Only one of the wins was by double-digits. The loss, to the Pistons, was by double-digits. The other four wins came in crunch time, including two overtimes against the Thunder. With that context, the Lakers have actually been somewhat unimpressive without Davis.

The Lakers’ upcoming schedule, starting with the Nets on Thursday, should prove more of a challenge. Along the journey, the Lakers are trying to establish rhythm and comfort within their crowded rotation, providing their role players opportunities they wouldn’t normally get if Davis were playing.

“All these guys that are going to get a little extended run here, more opportunity, are going to catch a better rhythm that they may not have been able to get when we’re at full strength,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said. “So, it’s a silver lining thing. But the key is that we really just got to have a no-excuse mindset and continue to go out and win games each night.”

Tuesday’s tilt offered a glimpse into the Lakers’ strategy with Davis out for the foreseeable future. Here are five things we gleaned.

Schröder is emboldened with more responsibility

Dennis Schröder was the biggest beneficiary of Davis’ absence against the Timberwolves, posting a season-high usage percentage of 34.8 percent, according to NBA.com.

Schröder tied his season-high for field-goals made (nine), while also scoring his second-most points of the season (24) and attempting his second-most field goals (15). Basically, he’s James’ sidekick now. And he thrived in that role.

This was Schröder with the aggression slider turned all the way up. He only attempted one 3-pointer, instead relentlessly attacking the rim or driving into lightly contested mid-range jumpers.

One action that stood was Schröder’s two-man game with Marc Gasol. There were nine possessions that ended in pick-and-roll action between Schröder and Gasol, per Synergy Sports.

Schröder made 5 of 6 shots, with four of those makes mid-range jumpers, and was fouled once. Gasol went 0 of 2 in the actions.

This is a delicate dance, with Gasol setting a “Gortat” screen — walling off his man on his roll to give Schröder space — that gives Schröder enough daylight to get a decent look.

The Lakers also used James, who’s somewhere between the point guard and the power forward in a Davis-less starting lineup, as an on-ball screener for Schröder. It’s a fun, and dangerous, duo.

Few players draw as much attention from an opposing defense as James does. Regardless of where he’s on the floor, he’s going to have multiple eyeballs on him. Using him as a screener can throw a defense off and open up several counters.

In this instance, the Timberwolves’ defenders miscommunicate, afraid to leave James open as he pops, and Schröder coasts into an open floater.

On this possession, James rolls to the free-throw line and catches a needle, drawing the attention of two help defenders. James instantly fires a bullet to Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in the left corner.

Schröder’s self-confidence is no secret. He’s surely enjoying his increased responsibility. He’s overburdened as a No. 2 offensive option long term — he had five turnovers and only three assists on Tuesday — but his scoring outbursts will be required over this stretch.

Gasol will be an offensive focal point

Gasol received the highest jump in touches with Davis (and his 60.0 touches per game) out of the lineup. He touched the ball 59 times, nearly 30 more times than his season average (29.9 touches per game entering Tuesday).

“Obviously, he’s out there with AD and Bron a lot and he thinks, ‘Facilitate,'” Vogel said. “He’s so selfless. But during this stretch, we’re going to need everybody to pick up the slack on that just a little bit.”

Gasol enjoyed a season-high in minutes (30) and tied his high in field-goal attempts (seven) while reaching double-figures in points for just the second time this season (11 points).

The Lakers used him as the primary screener with the starting group. As he roamed the elbows and top of the 3-point arc, he screened for James and Schröder, reset the offense and sought out cutters and shooters. When Gasol was open, he actually shot the ball, which has been an issue for him, at times, this season.

Without Davis, the Lakers are running a full-on five-out offense. Gasol’s shooting, passing and screening inject spontaneity into the attack. He’s no longer a spot-up shooter that the Lakers occasionally turn to every six to eight possessions.

Vogel opted to ride Gasol’s hot hand over playing Montrezl Harrell for more minutes, hoping to re-establish Gasol’s confidence in his shot.

“The early part of the season, really just to his credit, just trying to fit in in the minutes that he’s getting in,” Vogel said. “We know we slide AD over to the five a lot late, which leaves him out of the game. So I think it has been difficult at certain times to really catch a rhythm.”

Caruso’s defense should earn him more playing time

Near the top of the list of facets of defense that the Lakers will miss without Davis is his playmaking: blocking shots, stealing passes, deflecting dribbles, taking charges, etc.

To offset the loss, the Lakers need to consider more minutes for their second-best defensive playmaker: Alex Caruso. Caruso’s defense swings games. By on-off metrics, he’s the Lakers’ most impactful defender — and it isn’t close.

With Caruso on the floor, the Lakers allow 98.5 points per 100 possessions. That’s an incredibly stingy number. With Caruso on the bench, the Lakers allow 106.7 points per 100 possessions. That’s still an elite figure, the 8.7-points-per-100-possessions swing is the largest in the Lakers’ rotation.

Caruso’s defensive instincts are uncanny. Here are some of his highlights from the Timberwolves game. It was difficult to whittle them down.

Caruso has added the chase-down block into his defensive repertoire, taking a page from James’ playbook. It feels as if no fast break is safe when he’s trailing the action.

Despite his impressive vertical, Caruso’s even better at recovering in the half-court when he’s beat and tipping live dribbles.

In this clip, he closes out well and then swipes from behind, tapping the ball out to Markieff Morris.

His defense doesn’t always show up in the box score. And even if it does, it’s sometimes him creating an opportunity for a teammate to get credit.

Watch Caruso’s on-ball defense here against 2020 No. 1 overall pick Anthony Edwards.

Caruso navigates three different ball screens from Karl-Anthony Towns, mirroring Edwards’ movement the entire way, and then knocks the ball loose — with an assist from Gasol. Schröder recovers the ball and is attributed the steal.

Caruso’s expertise might be his charge-taking. He’s 10th in the NBA in charges per minute among players that have played 400-plus minutes.

This play as valuable as a blocked shot, if not more, depending on who the offensive player is.

Caruso’s limitations as a scorer, playmaker and shooter — even though he’s shooting 44.0 percent on 3s, defenses tend to leave him open — ultimately cap his role.

But the Lakers desperately need his defensive playmaking during this period. If there was ever a time for him to play 24 to 26 minutes in the regular season, this is it. Caruso deserves more playing time.

The non-James minutes are still an issue

The non-James minutes remain a struggle for the Lakers this season. Los Angeles has a -2.2 net rating in the 406 minutes James has been off the floor. For context, the Lakers have a positive net rating when any other player is off the floor. Even when Davis is on the floor and James is off of it, the Lakers have a -3.7 net rating.

The Lakers are worse on both ends without James, but the most prominent drop-off comes at the offensive end. The Lakers score 113.3 points per 100 possessions with James on the floor, and just 102.4 points per 100 possessions when he sits. That’s a 10.9-point swing — a considerable difference.

The troubling trend continued on Tuesday, when the Lakers posted an 87.0 offensive rating in the 10 minutes that James was on the bench. That figure would rank last in the NBA by nearly 17.0 points per 100 possessions. Meanwhile, during the 38 minutes that James was on the floor, the Lakers had a 122.7 offensive rating — a ridiculous 35.7-point swing.

James can’t play 38 minutes every night. It’s not sustainable. But the Lakers can’t score at that rate, or even at their season-long 102.4 offensive rating without Hames, and expect to win critical minutes against good teams. Davis’ injury merely amplifies the team’s inability to conjure up productive lineups that don’t include James.

Help defense remains a work in progress

The Timberwolves’ 27th-ranked offense hung a 106.7 offensive rating on the Lakers, a mark that would rank 26th in the NBA. By that measure, Tuesday’s victory was a solid defensive performance by the Lakers.

But the Timberwolves, one of the worst 3-point shooting teams in the NBA, also made 16 of 34 3-point attempts, a sizzling 47.1 percent. One could simply chalk that up to a flukey shooting night for the home team, which seemingly happens on a nightly basis.

But this isn’t a random development. Opponents’ percentage of 3-point attempts increases when Davis is off of the floor, per Cleaning The Glass. The Lakers allow 3.9 more attempts per 100 possessions when Davis is off the floor, per NBA.com. Overall, the Lakers allow the fifth-fewest 3-point attempts and the third-worst percentage, so this appears to be more a Davis-less issue.

The Lakers had multiple breakdowns of both extremes on Tuesday. In certain instances, the Lakers failed to rotate entirely, with the weak-side help defender sticking with his man in the corner and allowing a Timberwolves ballhandler to waltz to the rim uncontested. In other cases, the Lakers eagerly overhelped, leaving the Wolves’ shooters wide open. Neither decision is correct.

One of the principal reasons the Lakers’ No. 1-ranked defense has struggled to protect the rim, aside from the decreased shot-blocking from their new center tandem, is their improper backline rotations, which Vogel and players have referenced several times. Davis’ all-world defense could sometimes save his teammates’ mistakes. But without him, the Lakers’ margin for error is practically nonexistent.

“It’s next man up,” James said. “… We all can do more. We all can collectively do more and that’s our job.”

(Photo: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

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