{"id":123862,"date":"2026-05-07T23:48:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T02:48:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ubirataonline.com.br\/courtside-chess-inside-the-lakers-defensive-plans-to-slow-shai-gilgeous-alexander-and-give-themselves-a-punchers-chance\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T23:48:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T02:48:15","slug":"courtside-chess-inside-the-lakers-defensive-plans-to-slow-shai-gilgeous-alexander-and-give-themselves-a-punchers-chance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ubirataonline.com.br\/en\/courtside-chess-inside-the-lakers-defensive-plans-to-slow-shai-gilgeous-alexander-and-give-themselves-a-punchers-chance\/","title":{"rendered":"Courtside chess: Inside the Lakers’ defensive plans to slow Shai Gilgeous-Alexander \u2014 and give themselves a puncher’s chance"},"content":{"rendered":"


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OKLAHOMA CITY \u2014 <\/strong>Lakers<\/a> head coach JJ Redick<\/a> could only look toward the sky midway through the third quarter, uttering a slew of words not suitable for a national broadcast as he watched his defense momentarily break down, resulting in a wide-open Lu Dort triple and a Cason Wallace<\/a> point-blank layup.<\/p>\n

A deficit that had been as small as four points in the second half had ballooned to double digits in the span of two minutes, a less-than-ideal swing against the best team in basketball. But Redick\u2019s frustration, while temporarily fixated on the Lakers\u2019 mistakes, wasn\u2019t solely attributed to them. Tuesday night was a night rooted in opportunity cost, a successful strategy in slowing down superstar guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander<\/a> \u2014 which ultimately is their best path to an upset \u2014 but also a display of Los Angeles<\/a>\u2019 offensive woes, sponsored by a combined 7-of-31 shooting night from Austin Reaves<\/a> and Marcus Smart<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\u201cYou\u2019re playing the world champs, your margin for error in terms of mistakes is not that high,\u201d Redick said following the Lakers\u2019 108-90 loss in Game 1<\/a> of the second-round series. \u201cYou can make mistakes \u2014 basketball is a game full of mistakes \u2014 but just too many tonight. But there were some good things, we held Shai under 20 and the guys played hard. Just gotta do a better job of execution, which comes down to attention to detail. We\u2019ll clean things up and be better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gilgeous-Alexander\u2019s output is buried within Redick\u2019s eulogy but considering the reigning regular-season and Finals MVP\u2019s impact on Oklahoma City\u2019s halfcourt execution, it\u2019s worth exponentially more than a passing statement. Gilgeous-Alexander is the best scorer in basketball on the most dangerous team in the league. A plethora of defenses have tried to stop or slow him down and many have failed.<\/p>\n

What the Lakers were able to achieve, holding SGA to just 18 points in 35 minutes \u2014 he hasn\u2019t scored under 20 points all season and it\u2019s the fewest he\u2019s scored in a game since Game 3 of last year\u2019s conference finals against Minnesota<\/a> \u2014 is more than just a silver lining. It\u2019s probably their best shot in this series. Gilgeous-Alexander missed nearly as many shots (seven) as he made (eight) and coughed up the ball seven times, constantly being rushed into decisions and making a litany of mistakes rarely seen of a player his caliber. Gilgeous-Alexander also took just one outside shot and attempted three free throws, two key rhythm areas that were shut off. The Lakers have been one of the most stringent halfcourt defensive units in the postseason<\/a>, allowing just 84.9 points per 100 plays and limited the Thunder to just 94.3 points per Tuesday night. For context, Oklahoma City came into the\u00a0 game averaging 112.2 points per 100, 10 points higher than its regular-season mark. Its Game 1 output was on par with a bottom-five offense<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Yahoo Sports had a unique vantage point Tuesday evening, within earshot of the Lakers bench, allowing for the unpacking of an aggressive, timely scheme aimed at delaying, denying and diverting Gilgeous-Alexander away from the action.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s dig in.<\/p>\n

Principle 1: Compactness and timing<\/h2>\n

With regard to Gilgeous-Alexander, it\u2019s important to limit his operating window and vision. The Lakers understand that in order to control possessions like the one below, all five players need to be in a close enough proximity to be able to send help. This compact shell isn\u2019t something Los Angeles does often \u2014 the Lakers are just 21st in frequency per Synergy tracking data \u2014 but it allows just 1.042 points per chance (ninth in the NBA) and is tops in opponent turnover rate when it uses it.<\/p>\n

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