Lebron James Old Reliable Action Becomes Pivotal Against Houston

An 82-game regular season packed with turbulence ended with 53 wins and the fourth seed in a brutal Western Conference race. Following a blowout of the tanking Utah Jazz, the Lakers playoff reward is home court advantage against the physically imposing Houston Rockets.

Very few pundits give them a chance to compete in the series, let alone win, due to the injuries to the backcourt of Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves. The absence of their star guards returns LeBron James to his vintage self as the lead shot creator.

Right behind him, with the biggest difference in their previous roles, is Luke Kennard. The two-man game between them and an old reliable action for LeBron goes from a useful option to an offense-defining play for the purple and gold in this series.

LeBron and Kennard played 27 games together, posting a net rating of +8.7 in just over 300 minutes. ​LeBron is no stranger to initiating actions with marksmen, dating back to his Cleveland days with teammates such as Kyle Korver and JR Smith. Kennard steps right in as one of the best he’s ever played with, percentage-wise.  

LA added Kennard as their only deadline move in a swap for Gabe Vincent. He ingratiated himself as a key rotation player and expanded LA’s playbook with his gravity. Head coach J.J. Redick constantly highlights that Kennard is the only “movement shooter” on the team.

​What first makes this go is Kennard’s ability to make quick reads dependent on how the other team defends the action. Watch in the clip below as he operates in the middle of the floor. The Mavericks opt not to switch the screen, steering clear of having Max Christie defend the bigger, stronger LeBron.

Kennard gets downhill with nothing open. The Lakers adapt seamlessly.

The pair flip the screen and Kennard sets a ghost screen — a fake ball screen where the screener quickly moves away — and pops to the 3-point line. That second of indecision opens up the driving lane for the dunk.

“A Lot of it does depend on coverages, whether or not teams are in a shock (at the level of the screen) or they’re red-ing (switching) it,” Redick said. “I think Luke has as good an off-ball feel as anybody for when to set, when to go, when to change pace, create a little separation. When he gets separation like a number of great shooters, there’s an overreaction to that.”

​Without Luka and Reaves to create those overreactions, the team will rely on Kennard’s ability to do so.

When teams do decide to switch the duo’s pick-and-roll action, the Lakers instantly clear out to put LeBron in the post, as shown below. Watch as they run their “88” action, or empty-side screen and roll.

A post entry is thrown with two shooters on the opposite side and the center positioned to the other side of the key, allowing LeBron to drive and score against single coverage.

“We can also hunt mismatches if they are red-ing and get LeBron down at the post or get him at the nail where that’s advantageous basketball for us, and he’s just going to make the right decision,” Redick said. “ LeBron as a screener, we’ve seen it already.

“Against Dallas, it allowed Luke to touch the paint. It allowed Luke to create offense for us, and then LeBron catching the ball in the pocket is in a four-on-three situation.”

An underrated aspect of Kennard’s game is his added playmaking ability. The three games following the loss of their backcourt racked up 28 assists in his move up the playmaking hierarchy.

He showed good feel all year on making the extra pass to a teammate, whether that be to the three-point line or soft touch lobs to his bigs like he throws to Deandre Ayton in the clip below.

LA leverages the dual threat of LeBron and Kennard off-ball, getting Kennard to “touch the paint” and find his big man.

Many of the teams LA closed the season with are nowhere close to the defense Houston will present. They roster a host of physical defenders, including Amen Thompson and Tari Eason. LeBron and Kennard will be one and two in the pecking order of which ball handlers they look to frustrate with physicality and full-court pressure.  

This is the mountain the Lakers have in front of them, a steep one to climb. To have a chance, they need this two-man action, LeBron’s bread and butter, to be impactful.

You can follow Raj on X at @RajChipalu