Defense Is Still Work in Progress

When, exactly did defense become the occasional dalliance of the Lakers, rather than the compulsion?

Through 20 games, the Lakers ranked first in the NBA in scoring and 26th in points allowed, ahead of only Seattle, Denver and Golden State, and 18th in field-goal percentage allowed.

Last season, when Kobe Bryant was first-team all-defense and Shaquille O’Neal was second-team, the Lakers ranked sixth in points allowed and first in opponent field-goal percentage. It won them a championship.

“The disappointing thing about it is we step up when there’s a big challenge ahead of us,” Bryant said. “For instance, we had a huge challenge going up against the 76ers and we stepped up and did our jobs. Now, that probably took a lot out of us, because coming out against Golden State we were flat. Golden State was a team that played a similar style as Philadelphia in that they just run the ball up and down the floor and try to get a lot of transition baskets.”

The Lakers held the 76ers to 85 points, then gave up 125 to Golden State, 107 in regulation, when Antawn Jamison and Larry Hughes seemed on an endless fastbreak.

“Against Golden State we did a subpar job,” O’Neal said. “We still had opportunities to win. We just haven’t stayed focused for a long duration of time.

“It’s a team issue. We have to help each other. We have to rotate. We have to talk on defense. We have to do a lot of things.”

Part of the problem is the number of easy baskets the Lakers give up.

“Our weakness is transition defense right now,” Coach Phil Jackson said. “Errors lead to run-outs and scores. That’s where we have to button it up a little bit. We had a great defensive game against Philadelphia. We knew we were going to be in a tight game. We can do it. We know we can do it. And then we just relax against teams we have, I think, less than a challenge from. Knowing who we are, what our strengths are, that we’re past champions, sometimes we just let our guard down a little too far.”

Sometimes, literally. When Bryant goes to the basket, as he often does, opposing guards have made for the other end, looking for long outlet passes.

“There’s that,” Jackson said, “and the proposition that when you do get back on defense you protect the basket first and live with the outside shot second. A lot of times we’re matching to players rather than protection ideals, basic protection principles.”

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Isaiah Rider is interested in old Chicago Bull films because he’s hoping to discover where the shots are. And, apparently, he’s not getting a lot of inside information.

Jackson said he recently asked Bryant if he had shared tips with Rider, the newcomer.

According to Jackson, Bryant said: “Yo, man, I had to figure it out. He can figure it out on his own.”

When the laughter died down, Jackson said, “Now that’s a great teammate, right? Actually, I think that’s Kobe preserving his ability to get 30 shots in a game.”

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Like Bryant, Michael Jordan found shots. Before Jamison went for 51 on Wednesday, the last time an opponent scored 50 or more points against the Lakers was Nov. 20, 1992, when Jordan had 54 at the Forum. The Lakers won the game.