The Lakers have been one of the most disappointing teams to watch this season while the Chicago Bulls, one of the best. A former Laker Alex Caruso has a significant part in their early success.
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After acquiring some serious talent this offseason, every NBA fan and expert expected the Chicago Bulls to play decent basketball and qualify for the playoffs by the end of the season. But within no time, the Bulls are proving to be a team that can challenge anybody in the NBA right now, even the top teams.
Their offense is packed with proven All-Star scorers like Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, and Nikola Vucevic leading the pack from the front. But it is on the defensive side that the Bulls have surprised everyone, led by former Lakers stars Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso.
Also read: Anthony Davis gives his honest take on LeBron James’ Lakers title aspirations amid a subpar start
While Chicago Bulls are enjoying tremendous basketball even after having a tough schedule Lakers are struggling to get their chemistry together, having one of the easiest schedules in their first 13 games. And the defense is where they are struggling the most.
The Lakers are missing the likes of Alex Caruso on defense
The Los Angeles Lakers since Frank Vogel’s arrival were among the best defensive teams, but that has changed since the team’s overhaul this offseason. If trading a defender like KCP was not enough they let Alex Caruso go for free to the Chicago Bulls. And apart from the Lakers front office, everyone has missed him since.
Nicknamed “GOAT” by the fans and his teammates, Caruso was one the best Laker defender coming off the bench. Even though Caruso wasn’t a starter for the Lakers in their title-winning 2019-20 campaign, he ranked highly in plus-minus (+3.8) and net rating (+9.8), the latter of which he led the team in. The next season, the team struggled with injuries throughout the regular season and in the Playoffs as well. Caruso still delivered a plus-minus of 2.1 and a net rating of 5.5.
Only Malik Monk and Austin Reeves have better ratings than that this season, but their defense is barely comparable to Caruso’s on-ball defense. Also, he is way ahead of them in steals per game. The guy averages 2.5 steals a game for the Bulls. In twelve games thus far, he already has 3 games of 4 or more steals including 6 against the Mavericks on Wednesday.
And this is where the Lakers are missing their fan-favorite GOAT apart from his combination plays with LeBron James. While the Bulls are among the top defensive teams, the Lakers are dwelling at the bottom in all defensive statistics. In their seven wins, they have 3 wins where it was just a 1 possession game and 3 wins where it went to overtime, all because of their weak defense.
The Lakers are allowing their opponents more than 112 points per game and League’s worst 31 points per game in the third quarter. Going a step further last night they gave away 40 points in the 3rd to the Timberwolves who were struggling to get a win for their last 6-games. Lakers lost the match 83-107.
As much as the Lakers are missing the arguable GOAT LeBron James, they are also missing their fan-favorite GOAT to show up defensively for them every night. The “Caru-show” will be showing up at the Staples Center on Monday but not wearing Purple and Gold.
