NBA Playoffs 2024: Top 5 weak links of LA Lakers

With three games to go Los Angeles Lakers are looking settled to finish the regular season on a better note than last season. The team has won 45 and lost 34 games in the ongoing season and would like to improve before the NBA playoffs.

However, there are some issues that the LA Lakers will need to address to confirm their playoff berth. The team needs to fight these situations if they are looking to continue their dominance. The team will be looking at the title and that would only come if they address these issues.

Here, we will try to list issues that the Lakers need to work on:

5. Challenges in Power Forward and Center Roles

The power forward and centre positions are one of the biggest issues for the gold and purple team. At the start of the season, there was a lot of buzz for several players but they failed to fore as per the expectations.

Apart from Rui Hachimura not a single frontcourt player has performed as per the expectation. It will cause a difficult situation if LeBron James or Anthony Davis misses a game in the playoffs. The team will look at Christian Wood, Jaxson Hayes, Taurean Prince and Cam Reddish to perform in the remaining games of the regular season.

4. Young Guns Missing in Action

The young guns are still the issue for the LA Lakers. After the power forward position, a single player had helped Anthony Davis in Point-of-attack defence. Cam Reddish and Christian Wood were supposed to do the job but they have missed most of the NBA regular season due to injuries.

The lack of defence has helped relatively weaker teams to get past the Lakers’ defence and score crucial points. This might cause a huge problem for the gold and purple team as they are eyeing at a berth in playoffs and then on the title.

3. Lakers' Long-Range Woes

The LA Lakers are also facing a tactical error in the ongoing regular season. The team has surprisingly failed to convert or score 3-pointers. With their 3PA Lakers are 29th 29th-placed team in the ongoing tournament. So far this season they have converted just 37.8 percent shots beyond the arc.

With the majority of teams living and dying at 3 3-pointer line, it will be difficult for LeBron James, Rui Hachimura and others to convert it for the Lakers. Notably with 41.3 and 42.7 percent conversion rates James and Hachimura are the top 3-pointer scorers for the Lakers.

2. Jarred Vanderbilt's Absence Leaves Defensive Gap

The Lakers are extensively missing Jarred Vanderbilt in the ongoing season. The man has missed the majority of the regular season due to injury and is still far from a comeback. His absence in the forward has affected the tackling plans of the Lakers.

The team will be keen to get a fully fit Vanderbilt in the squad ahead of the playoffs as he might play a crucial role in the defense. His ability to lock players irrespective of their presence makes him a vital asset for the Lakers who might draw against Denver in playoffs.  

1. Lack of Scoring Support Beyond James and Davis

The secret of the LA Laker's success this season is the performance of the superstar duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis. The duo has been phenomenal and has kept the Lakers in the race for playoffs single-handedly. Davis and James are scoring 24.5 and 25.4 points per game respectively in the ongoing season.

Apart from them, just D’Angelo Russell has scored with an average of 16 in the ongoing season. This reveals that LA Lakers are heavily dependent on the duo and if they miss just a few minutes of action against top-tier teams it will be shutdown for the Lakers.