3 areas of improvement for the Los Angeles Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers have had a roller coaster ride in the early part of the season. After having a torrid 2-5 start to the season, the Lakers have recovered to win 9 out of their next 12 matches.

The Lakers are currently sitting at the seventh position in the Western Conference standings with an 11-8 record. The West is loaded this year with as many as 14 teams with a decent chance of making the playoffs.

The Lakers have been inconsistent with their performances this season, and despite having LeBron James in their ranks, they need to improve in a lot of areas. In the first match the Lakers started off missing their first 15 shots from beyond the arc. But since then, the Lakers have improved massively from the 3PT line and are currently in the top 10 in the league from the 3PT line.

Here are some of the other areas that the Lakers need to improve upon if they dream of making it big this year:

#3 Defensive intensity:

Tyson Chandler has been a good addition for the Los Angeles Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers are a bottom 10 side when it comes to points allowed per game. Some of that can be attributed to the pace with which they play, which allows the opposition more possessions per game. But still, the Lakers haven't played good defensively as a team.

They were torched by their oppositions early on in the season and the signing of Tyson Chandler has made them more stable at the center position, but the players at other positions also need to step it up defensively.

The Lakers were a very poor defensive side last season, but they didn't have huge expectations. The signing of LeBron James has returned the spotlight to the most glamorous franchise in NBA history and they need to do much better this season. They have some good individuals with very high defensive potential.

#2 Turnovers per game:

Brandon Ingram needs to fit nicely with LeBron James

The Lakers need to start valuing the basketball more. They have been very careless with the basketball and that is costing them matches.

The Lakers are a bottom 5 side in turnovers per game. That has led to many easy points for the opponents. They have been unable to blow away the opponent because of this. In the last two games against the Utah Jazz and the Orlando Magic, the Lakers finished with 24 and 18 turnovers respectively.

These turnovers keep the opponents in the game by giving away easy buckets. The high turnover rate also create a lot of defensive pressure with the defenders always trying to track back on transition. LeBron James and Brandon Ingram have been guilty of most of these turnovers.

If the Lakers want to take that next step forward, they need to start taking care of the basketball better.

#1 Free Throw Shooting:

The free throw shooting is one of the biggest concerns that has arisen from this early part of the season. The Lakers have been a very poor free throw shooting team with none of their starters averaging more than 75% from the 3PT line.

They are the 25th ranked team when it comes to free throw shooting. They struggle even more when it comes to clutch free throw shooting.

LeBron James has been particularly guilty of being poor from the free throw line during clutch moments. He missed both the free throws in the final minute and lost the game against the Spurs. He again missed both free throws against the Hawks in the final minute but was in the perfect position for a putback dunk that won the match.

Brandon Ingram is shooting only 67% from the FT line and Lonzo Ball is doing even worse shooting 57% from the FT line. The Lakers need to improve their FT shooting to mount a serious challenge in the Western Conference.