NBA: Preseason Fact And Fiction

The Los Angeles Lakers will have the worst defense in the league

The Lakers were the 29th ranked defense in the league last year, giving up 109.2 points per game. The only defense that was worse was that of the Tankadelphia 76ers, who gave up 109.9 points per game. So far in the preseason, the Lakers have been giving up 105.9 points per game, which ranks ahead of only the Oklahoma City Thunder and Los Angeles Clippers, two teams who haven’t been playing their starters that often.

The Lakers, meanwhile, were playing their starting lineup for most of an overtime loss against the Phoenix Suns’ second unit Tuesday night. In other words, they’re trying, which makes those defensive numbers look so much worse. Kobe Bryant’s days of caring about defense are over, Jeremy Lin simply can’t stay in front of his man without fouling and guys like Carlos Boozer and Robert Sacre aren’t stopping anyone down low. Could this be the worst defense in the league next season?

Verdict: Fact

This is a tough one. The Sixers will be even worse this season than they were last year, but picking the Lakers as the NBA’s most porous defense feels like the right call, if only because we already know Philly isn’t even trying in 2014-15. The Lakers? They’re under the impression they can sneak into the playoffs. (Don’t laugh.) And since they were only like 60 total points short of being the NBA’s worst defense last year, let’s ignore the Sixers like they want to be ignored and give this one to a team that’s never shy about attracting attention.