Los Angeles Lakers face difficult choice between offense and defense with Isaiah Thomas

With Isaiah Thomas now in the mix, the Los Angeles Lakers have a decision on their hands the rest of the season regarding their fourth quarter lineups.

The Los Angeles Lakers have been riding a nice wave of positivity since the calendar turned to 2018. They’re 12-8 since Jan. 1, their young players are making strides and they recently fulfilled their season-long goal of shedding Jordan Clarkson’s contract off their books, picking up a first round pick along with Isaiah Thomas and Channing Frye and their expiring contracts.

While Frye expects to make his impact mentoring the young Lakers roster on the daily grind of professional basketball, IT figures to slide into a larger role on the court. Isaiah immediately replaces Clarkson’s sixth man role off the bench, and would be an upgrade if he can regain any of his form from recent seasons.

Thomas got things started in his first game for the team he rooted for growing up, scoring 22 points and seven assists in 30 minutes of action in a Feb. 10 loss at the Dallas Mavericks. It was nice to see him operate in an offense that revolved around him and showed that he could be an exciting player for the Lakers in the final two months.

But for all of the excitement regarding Isaiah Thomas’ offensive game and personality brings to a fifth straight postseason-less campaign (barring a crazy run by L.A. and collapse by others), the Lakers must keep their focus on youth development and stressing the importance of defense.

Heading into the fourth quarter of that Mavericks game, the Lakers were down 100-97 — not exactly a defensive struggle. Things didn’t get better in the final frame, with the Mavs scoring 30 in the fourth, eventually pulling away and winning 130-123.

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The Lakers have been strong defensively, playing lineups with switchability and size across the board. Brandon Ingram has been the main ball-handler (shouldering more than Clarkson) for the offense, which allows head coach Luke Walton to play his 3-and-D guards Josh Hart and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. This is a strong group of perimeter defenders.

These lineups are strong defensively with plenty of offensive firepower. Kyle Kuzma and Julius Randle are the usual frontcourt duo, and present plenty of space for Ingram and the guards to operate. Ingram and Kuzma drive and kick well, and Hart and KCP are solid drivers attacking closeouts.

Which brings me to the defensive problems in that fourth quarter in Dallas. Hart didn’t play until checking in with under 20 seconds left, and Isaiah Thomas played the whole frame. This would be understandable if the Lakers were struggling to score and have been recently, but choosing Isaiah’s offense over Hart’s defense should be an easy one given their production of offense and defense in this game.

Dallas spent a majority of the fourth quarter attacking IT off the bounce, often forcing him to switch onto larger defenders and battle them in the post. It’s pretty clear to see that this strategy worked and will probably be duplicated as long as Thomas is on the court.

I am a fan of Isaiah’s story and how fun of a player he can be when he’s cooking, but I’d like to see Ingram continue to get experience running an offense in the final frame. Or Hart play in crunch-time situations. Or even a consistent offense for defense substitution pattern where Hart comes in on D and IT subs in on offense.

Isaiah was feeling it on offense, but he was careless with the ball, committing six turnovers on the night. There are touches to be had with Clarkson’s 12.6 field goal attempts per game now up for grabs, but I’d like to see Hart with the ball a little more given how well he’s playing since being inserted into the starting lineup.

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It was only one game and IT was playing well offensively in his first game in the purple and gold, so I understand the reason for sticking with him. But I hope that the Los Angeles Lakers continue to value defense over offense in the fourth quarter, and keep an eye on the future with their lineup rotations.