Lakers need better perimeter defense in light of size disparity

MINNEAPOLIS — After the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Lakers in Game 1 of their ongoing best-of-seven first-round series, Timberwolves wing Jaden McDaniels provided insight into how he scored a then playoff-tying career-high 25 points in Minnesota’s victory April 19.

“I just noticed at certain times when they had no rim protector in the game, when [Lakers starting center] Jaxson Hayes wasn’t on the court … if he’s not on the court, I’m basically the tallest person out there,” the 6-foot-9 McDaniels said at the time. “I don’t think no one can really rim protect me [when] Jaxson Hayes wasn’t on the court. Just picking my spots at the right time.”

His words were relevant again less than a week later, with the Lakers’ size disadvantage being exploited in Friday’s 116-104 Game 3 loss to the Timberwolves at Target Center, putting Minnesota up 2-1 in the series, with Game 4 scheduled for Sunday afternoon in Minneapolis.

McDaniels scored 22 of his playoff career-high 30 points Friday inside the paint, being one of the main catalysts of the Timberwolves’ attack on the Lakers’ rim.

Minnesota scored 56 points ins the paint on 28-of-45 shooting in the area in Game 3, compared to the Lakers’ 26 points in the paint on 13-of-28 shooting.

But more concerning than the Timberwolves’ scoring output near the rim was the ease in which they got inside the teeth of the Lakers’ defense, with the Lakers regularly conceding blow-bys on drives, leading to shots at the rim, kick-outs for 3-pointers or being put into rotation.

“We couldn’t contain the ball,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “Our closeouts in the first quarter were god-awful. We did a better job in the second quarter. The fact is we don’t have ‘rim protection’. So if you give up blow-bys, we’re gonna give up something. We’re gonna give up a 3 or we’re gonna give up a shot from him at the rim.”

And that was a scene that played out throughout Friday, with the Timberwolves constantly in attack mode.

The Lakers didn’t help themselves by turning the ball over 19 times, directly leading to 28 Minnesota points and contributing to the Timberwolves’ 21 fastbreak points.

But even in the halfcourt, the Lakers struggled to keep Minnesota drivers in front of them.

The Timberwolves had a series-high 58 drives on Friday, directly leading to 30 points.

“Just got to do a better job of standing in front of the ball,” Dorian Finney-Smith said. “I feel like we were just giving up too many blow-bys. And it really ain’t had nothing to do with our size. It was just the on-ball defense and rotations outside of when we got to scramble, I felt like we didn’t have the sense of urgency the whole game and they did.”

Whether Hayes, the Lakers’ tallest rotation player, has been on the floor hasn’t appeared to negatively impact the Lakers’ rim protection effectiveness. In a small statistical sample, the Timberwolves have actually been less accurate with converting shots at the rim when Hayes isn’t on the floor (55.1% vs. 64.3%), according to Cleaning The Glass.

The problem for the Lakers is that nearly 36% of the Timberwolves’ shots have come near the rim when Hayes isn’t on the floor vs. 31.4% when he’s on the floor.

Both figures aren’t good. And while the Lakers’ defensive rim protection frequency without Hayes would’ve been the league’s worst mark if extrapolated over the course of a regular season, both numbers being poor highlights the team’s issue with preventing opponents from getting inside the paint.

“We’ve done it all year: when we’ve been at our best, we’ve been able to be physical on the ball,” Redick said. “And not allow blow-bys and also have sort of a cover mentality, multiple effort and it was there at times [on Friday].”

Lakers guard Austin Reaves added: “You have to do a good job guarding five guys and continue to keep bodies in front of bodies. And when you do get into some type of rotation, the rotation’s got to be sharp and you can’t basically go for a shot fake, get yourself out of a play. But even if you do get into rotations, your rotations have to be sharp and on that second side you have to close out to shooters but, also, keep them in front of you.”

Hayes’ role has been scrutinized in light of his lack of playing time.

He’s scored five points on 2-of-6 shooting to go with five rebounds in 17 combined minutes across Games 1-3. His rim protection has regressed in the playoffs after statistically having his best regular season in that area.

When asked whether he’d considering playing center-less lineups full-time, Redick responded: “We’ll look at everything … but still still believe in Jaxson.”

GAME 4: LAKERS AT TIMBERWOLVES

What: Western Conference first round

When: 12:30 p.m. PT Sunday

Where: Target Center, Minneapolis

TV/radio: ESPN, Spectrum SportsNet/710 AM