ESPN: Lakers should make more use of James & Doncic pick-and-roll, Cavaliers LBJ & Irving pick-and-roll more

Today ESPN wrote an article talking about the key data of each team, suggesting that the Lakers make more use of the pick-and-roll of James and Doncic.

The Lakers have two superstars, Luca Doncic and LeBron James, and in theory they can play difficult to defend. For a long time, the pick-and-roll coordination between James and talented defenders has often created misalignment and achieved miraculous results. However, after the big deal last season, the Lakers did not frequently use the pick-and-roll of this pair.

According to statistics, in the regular season, James sets 3.8 screens for Doncic every 100 rounds, while Doncic sets 0.6 times for James, a total of 4.4 times per 100 rounds. By comparison, James and Kyrie Irving set 15.1 screens against each other every 100 rounds in the last two seasons in Cleveland. During his time with the Lakers, James and Austin Reeves set 11.3 screens against each other every 100 rounds.

To be fair, the Lakers were adapting to a whole new situation last season, and the pair's pick-and-roll frequency in the playoffs has increased significantly, from 4.4 per 100 possessions to 9.2 (although it's almost always James sets screens for Doncic). This obviously brings a lot of scoring opportunities, and when Doncic James' pick-and-roll directly leads to a shot, foul or opponent's turnover, the Lakers average more than 1.2 points per attack. Therefore, the Lakers should let them pick-and-roll more.