LOS ANGELES — The Lakers might have had an uptick in offensive production over the last month, but it hasn’t changed their goals of being a defense-first team.
After having a bottom-10 offensive rating (points per 100 possessions) for most of the season, the Lakers have found their groove after the last month.
They entered Tuesday’s home game vs. the Detroit Pistons with an offensive rating of 119.1 over their last 15 games – the league’s sixth-best mark during that 9-6 stretch.
They had an offensive rating of 112 – 24th in the 30-team league – through their first 39 games.
“Not turning the ball over,” Coach Darvin Ham said about the biggest areas of improvement.
The Lakers had a turnover percentage of 14.1% in their first 39 games (20th in the league) compared to 12% (the league’s fifth-best mark) in the previous 15 games before Tuesday.
“As much offensive talent as we have, when we don’t take care of the ball, we minimize that drastically,” Ham continued. “Our ability to take care of the ball means everything. Great defense usually leads to easy offense. So those two things: getting stops, forcing teams into turnovers and not turning the ball over ourselves.”
The Lakers have also been one of the best teams with setting one another up for scoring opportunities.
They’ve been second in assists per game (30.3) since Jan. 13.
“It’s a realization that no one man is gonna get it done by themselves,” Ham said. “It’s gonna take a full unit. [LeBron James], [Anthony Davis], they draw a lot of attention consistently. Anywhere from two to four bodies and two directly on them, two more tilting toward them in an area. So just those guys being able to make the right reads, [D’Angelo Russell] being deliberate and decisive, [Austin Reaves] being deliberate and decisive. Now we add Spencer [Dinwiddie] to that.
“Taurean [Prince] being more aggressive off the bench to score. He can do both. He can play good defense and provide…
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