How can the Lakers get their offense going?

Despite LeBron James, Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves playing heavy minutes for the Lakers, they could not generate enough offense against the Magic.

A four-game road trip began in Orlando, with the Lakers seeking their first road win since defeating Denver in late February.

Luka Dončić came out hot again, as we are now accustomed to seeing. He scored 21 points in the first half, carrying the team to a nine-point lead with just over a minute remaining in the second quarter.

A collapse ensued as the Magic went on a 7-0 run and pulled ahead in the second half. Los Angeles couldn’t pull out the victory, making it three straight losses and the second consecutive defeat against a below .500 team.

When looking at why Los Angeles lost on Monday, there are plenty of culprits to choose from, but their offensive struggles in their third quarter were the biggest perpetrators.

The Lakers managed to score just 18 points in the third quarter.

Following his dominant first half, Doncic shot just 2-for-7 from the field during the period. LeBron James hit all of his shots but only attempted three.

Austin Reaves made 2-of-4 attempts but did not get to the free throw line. The trio contributed just three assists during the third as the team went 2-of-9 from 3-point range.

The Lakers will only go as far as the trio of James, Reaves and Dončić offensive prowess takes them. The second half revealed that there are still significant areas for improvement needed in that department.

The Magic, a strong defensive team, comfortably switches on all screen actions. A switching scheme aims to entice an offense to play one-on-one basketball. The Lakers complied, employing a turn-based system in the second half, hoping the tough shot-making would persist.

Watch the play below as Dončić gets the switch he wants, clearing out on the wing. James and Reaves stand on the weak side wing and corner, observing. All ten eyes of the Magic defenders are focused on Dončić.

Luka can make this shot and has earned the right to exploit mismatches as he wishes. That said, it’s a tough diet to maintain, and it seems to be taking a toll. In his last five games, Dončić averages 21.6 points in the first half compared to just 8.6 in the second.

The same situation occurs in the play below, but now with James. The Magic start Wendell Carter Jr. at center and utilize his mobility as a switchable big.

Even though this ends in a basket, it remains a defensive win for Orlando. James must use multiple dribbles while they cut off all passing lanes and force a contested fading two.

In the above play, there’s no ball movement or cutting happening. Reaves and Dončić drift away while they watch James “cook.” These are bailout baskets achieved through sheer talent.

The Lakers living on these cookouts and feasting on these plays is a perfect recipe for stagnation.

Reaves maintained the theme in the third by taking his turn to attack the synchronized switching defense. He made straight-line drives without any cutting or side actions to force the defense to shift.

“What did we score, 18 points? That’s not good enough in today's NBA,” Reaves said. “We got to figure out how to be better, especially against a switching group. We got to continue to play with the pass. Make defenses play in the blender. Get downhill, get a guy to help, swing, swing, attack the closeout. We didn’t do that in the third quarter.”

The Lakers have demonstrated that they have some answers to their offensive woes but have used them sparingly.

One approach is to have an organized offense with all three players involved in the action. This creates more indecision with multiple screens and causes tougher communications on switches.

Watch the play below as the Lakers execute a double-drag action. James and Reaves screen for Dončić, who finds Dorian Finney-Smith in the corner.

Another play run against the Magic features a ram-action where James comes off the Reaves screen and then sets an on-ball screen for Dončić. Watch the play below as it gets Dončić going downhill into a mid-range jump shot.

Monday’s game against Orlando was only the 11th for the trio of James, Reaves, and Dončić. According to the NBA's tracking data, they currently have a -5.1 net rating. This is a small sample size but a concerning number considering this trio's offensive talent.

While more ram-actions and double-drag screens might not be the ultimate solution to turning the trio’s negative net rating into a positive one, it provides a means to combine their talents effectively when isolation scoring begins to stall.

They allow for a level of organization the team can fall back on and have the trio build together instead of operating as separate islands.

LeBron, Luka and Reaves are all capable as individual scorers, but as we saw on Monday, finding ways to collaborate against top defenses will be necessary for them to maximize their potential and win games down the stretch.