The Lakers 2nd Half Woes Have Been Problematic

We've been there before; the Lakers start the game well, usually leading by close to 10 points after the first quarter, only to have the lead cut in half by the half. The Lakers come out of the locker room looking lethargic, slow and lazy, often times giving up the lead in the 3rd quarter and playing catch up for the rest of the game. The Lakers problems then become even bigger when the ball stops moving and sticks to Kobe Bryant's or Nick Young's hands in an attempt to cut the deficit.

2013-2014:

As you can see, the 3rd quarter has been a major problem for the team, scoring the least amount of points in a game with only 22.7 points and shooting the lowest percentage from the floor (41.6%), while also having the worst +/- in a game with -2.2. The Lakers assist numbers are also at it's worse in the 4th quarter, though I am struggling to find a plausible reason because Kobe Bryant has only played in 6 games this season and has been a willing passer to start the year.  Is this a coaching problem? Does the team come out of half-time flat and tired under Run N' Gun coach Mike D'Antoni? Here's the data for the past four seasons:

2012-2013:

2011-2012:

2010-2011:

2009-2010:

I know those are a bit hard to read, but the data tells me it isn't a coaching thing; the Lakers have struggled in the 3rd nearly every season and it's kind of a mystery because the same unit that jumps out at the beginning of the game in the first quarter, also plays the 3rd quarter. We can also see how awful the bench was after trading Lamar Odom; the two worst 2nd quarters came in the two seasons after Odom's trade. A noticeable trend that forms in the 3rd quarter is the decline in 3 point percentage and the decline in assists; every single year, the Lakers average less assists per 3rd quarter than in the first two quarters, setting up a huge fall in this category for the fourth quarter, where the Lakers usually average their least amount, consistently less than 5. Compared to the team averaging over 6 assists for the first quarter every year, this is a massive drop off.  Combined with less assists, there is not a major decline in turnovers, while simultaneously showing a decrease in steals and blocks.

So if it isn't D'Antoni's fault, then what is it? For one, the Lakers have historically relied on the brilliance of Kobe Bryant to help try and close out the game, often times letting Bryant run isolations at the top of the key or in the post. While Bryant is very effective in this role, it also leaves the rest of the team standing and watching, which was a notorious problem during the mid 2000's, as the team would stand around and watch "The Kobe Bryant Show". While this did lead to some spectacular individual seasons from Bryant, including the highest scoring average since Michael Jordan's 37.1 points per game in 1986-87 with 35.4 points per game, it also led to some very frustrating losses, as the Lakers off-ball movement would stop almost entirely.

During the past few seasons, "The Kobe Bryant Show" hasn't been on full display, as Bryant has made an effort to get everybody involved and would only try to take over the game whenever necessary, or in crunch time, which would explain the Lakers lack of assists in the 4th quarter. However, when Bryant starts to play in this way, the team will still not move well without the ball and, should they get the ball during this time, they'll often hoist up a bad, contested shot because they feel like they won't have another chance to get the ball. In years past, this wasn't as big of a problem, because Bryant was the best scorer since Jordan, and he could put the team over the top when he needed, but now, with Bryant out with a fractured knee (and before that, a torn Achilles), the Lakers have been trying to play "Hero Ball" with the assortment of misfits they signed this off season, namely Nick Young. This isn't anywhere near as effective, because Bryant is still a brilliant playmaker at times, while Young is almost strictly a scorer. It makes the offense extremely predictable and it makes beating good teams a lot harder than it should be.

This is a problem that will persist until the Lakers completely change their mind-sets in the 4th quarter, or until they get a more effective No. 1 option than the 35-year old Bryant. It may be a few years until we see see better 4th quarters out of this team; hopefully, it'll happen if the Kevin Love rumors come true.