Magic Johnson lays out blueprint for Luka Doncic, LeBron and co ahead of crunch Indiana Pacers encounter

Magic Johnson wanted to make sure that his Lakers team stood tall on the defensive end, based on his latest tweet.

Magic Johnson lays out blueprint for Luka Doncic, LeBron and co ahead of crunch Indiana Pacers encounter

Magic Johnson laments the Lakers first loss in the Playoffs (Images via IG)

There isn’t much of a doubt that the Los Angeles Lakers are going to be in the thick of the Western Conference playoffs. With two amazing heliocentric offensive engines in Luka Doncic and LeBron James, the team is primed for a deep playoff run. However, their concerns will mainly be on the other end of the floor, where most experts agree they are a bit shorthanded.

The Lakers will be starting Jaxson Hayes at the center position in all probability, barring injuries and fitness concerns. The team’s defensive focus will be avoiding switches on to Austin Reaves and Hayes, who are the two weak links of their starting lineup defense. While Doncic is not a bad defender per se, his lack of lateral agility has often been his Achilles heel on the playoff stage.

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The Lakers are also going through a lean patch of form at the time of writing. They have lost two games on the bounce – one on the road against Orlando, and one at home against the Chicago Bulls. Both teams had the length to bother the Lakers’ own long lineups, while they exploited their defensive problems readily and made the team pay for lax defending.

The Bulls, who are 9th in the Eastern Conference and 9 wins below .500, hung 146 points on the Lakers at Crypto.com Arena. This prompted Magic Johnson to send out a tweet bemoaning their defensive effort. The greatest point guard of all time wanted to make sure that his Lakers team stood tall on that end, based on his latest tweet.

All I want to see from the Lakers tonight is DEFENSE DEFENSE DEFENSE DEFENSE DEFENSE DEFENSE DEFENSE DEFENSE DEFENSE DEFENSE DEFENSE DEFENSE DEFENSE DEFENSE DEFENSE DEFENSE DEFENSE DEFENSE DEFENSE DEFENSE DEFENSE!

Magic Johnson tweeted ahead of Lakers vs Pacers

How valid are the Lakers’ defensive concerns Magic Johnson is talking about?

One of the Lakers’ defensive frailties comes from a surprising source – LeBron James himself. The 40-year-old is still spry on both ends of the floor, but he’s often been spotted being lazy on transition defense, opting sometimes also not to play help defense despite being in position to. His offensive stats are as good as ever, as are his rebounding stats, but the team is clearly missing his defensive thrust.

James’ plus-minus of -70 this year, as well as his negative net ratings while on the floor as the team turns positive with him off it, is just one part of the puzzle.

The Lakers will also need to cover for the lack of defensive prowess by their starting guards, Luka and Reaves. Neither of these players has shown to be a consistently positive defender through the course of their careers. While the team was able to put schemes together to hide them during their eight-game winning streak, their inability to do so during their 3-7 spell in the last 10 games suggests more problems due to come – especially against athletic opponents like Memphis, Houston and OKC in the playoffs.

They will depend heavily on the likes of Jarred Vanderbilt and Dorian Finney-Smith – two of the NBA’s most switchable defenders, to cover for their two defensive weak links. They will also need James to start pulling his weight – something that should be a minimal concern during the postseason.