LeBron struggled on Christmas Day against the Warriors, as he was “held” to 20 points, six rebounds and six assists – with seven turnovers – in a 99-92 defeat. The Warriors swarming defense blocked eight shots, led by Kevin Durant’s five.
The Cavs blocked zero.
The website 538 broke down the defense on LeBron, and it’s nothing earth-shattering, and nothing he hasn’t seen before.
So what was different this time? Rookie Jordan Bell played more minutes (26) than veteran Andre Iguodala, and with Stephen Curry out injured, Patrick McCaw is a defensive upgrade.
Also, no Kyrie Irving left a major void offensively for the Cavs. I certainly don’t think Isaiah Thomas will be able to come close to duplicating what Irving brought to the table.
Keeping in mind that LeBron has the option of being a free agent in six months, there’s one team in the NBA that has the length defensively to switch on everything, the salary cap money to afford him and a friend, and is a city LeBron would want to move to for the next stage in his career: The Lakers.
Lonzo Ball, 6-foot-6
Brandon Ingram 6-foot-9
Kyle Kuzma 6-foot-9
You toss in LeBron and Paul George (6-foot-9) and you’ve got a potentially killer defensive team that can make screening irrelevant for a defense where everyone can guard.
The question will be offensively, are Ball and Ingram good enough shooters yet? The answer is a resounding no. Lonzo is shooting 29 percent on 3-pointers; Ingram just 34 percent.