Game Debrief: What Went Right And What Went Wrong?

Did I just watch the Lakers win a game with their defense???

 

You sure did. Let's hope this is a trend.

 

Great win. We have to build on this one.

 

Finally, a statement win!
Finally, we play good defense against a good team!
Finally we rebound well against a team that is one of the strongest in that department!

 

probably one of the better games of the season. stray, disconnected thoughts:

luka and AR both had some WTF moments, but for the most part were really good. i liked seeing luka give up the ball to start possessions in the middle quarters and thought it helped the offense (he got it, just later, after folks had to move and think).

the announcers would have you believe it was just hot shooting from us, but we got a TON of great looks throughout, and had kennard canned a couple of shots that he hits in his sleep, i'm not sure luka has to check back in after the 3rd.

smart was crap from three (they left him as if he were vando), but this was a laravia/smart/vando game. all three made several plays that had me clapping. LOVED vando just bulldogging alvarado out there. you have to match those hyperaggressive types, and he did it with the benefit of being a foot taller.

the center trio was solid, each in their own ways. i thought ayton looked energized in his minutes for a change.

for all the luka complains too much...watch brunson. his a** is flopping like a fish out there while the ball goes the other way, too. not a word from the fans/media about it, though. wonder why? (jk i know the reasons)

why does KAT constantly nut-kick people on his drives? this is a thing. a weird thing.

i love josh hart and he should play here again.

i've flipflopped 11 times on mikal bridges (ask svtzr), but i'm back to...he gets paid too much to do what he does.

mike brown is still a good offensive coach. he got a bit of a raw deal here for reasons beyond his control, but he makes some stuff happen schematically everywhere he goes (but here, lol). knicks had a couple ATO possessions that were just really nice.

the crypt crowd sucks. i tuned in and thought i was watching a game at msg until after halftime when the announcers were talking about it and i finally noticed the court instead of bill maher's daughter/girlfriend.

rui has a weird insistence on rhythm dribbling into more difficult shots. he makes a lot of those, so i won't whine, but it's odd to watch.

 

Good win, but I’m skeptical because Eastern Conference teams by and large are overrated. Hopefully it’ll propel them to beat a Top 5 team in the West.

 

The one where KAT lead with an elbow and the foul was on us was stupid.
The one where he lead with his knee and the foul was on us was even worse.
These types of bad calls make me believe that a lot of these refs have big money on the game.

 

eh, towns just has a weird style of driving. I think he’s learned to be aggressive, but he can’t really get and keep a step on anyone, so he goes through them. And leading with the knee protects him—plus he doesn’t really jump. So his size and weird play style lead to this, imo. But yeah, it’s up to refs to just call the offensive foul and make him adjust.

 

I thought this was a luka win for the most part - superstar carried your team. Knicks basically got back in the game when he was out and then when he came in blitz the s*** out of him. Lakers looked lost when the Knicks sold out to stop Luka. Luckily Knicks got cold

Good for him to step up after the Denver game where Jokic outsuper starred him

 

Some good commentary already here, so Imma just say: we played 48 mins, on both ends. Held NYK under a hunnit. Effing rawked to watch.

Up 23 and I thought, If we relax and let them get it to 9 in 3 minutes, it's curtains for this Lakers team this year. Well, it got to 9...and we just bumped it back up to 15 with 3 mins left.

This win made me think we could win a series.

 

I hate to say it, but it’s becoming increasingly obvious we’re better without LeBron. Luka and Austin look so much more aggressive and comfortable without him out there. LeBron has been great, he brought us a title, he made us relevant again, I think it’s time to move on after this season.

 

Good win against a good team

Big 3rd leads the way to victory 34-20

Got out scored in the 4th 28-22

Don't like that they took their foot off the gas and allowed the Knicks to cut the lead

Seems to be an issue with this team, not finishing off teams when they have them down

We've been talking about rebounds and it looked like in the 4th Q we didn't want to get any. NY was working hard and was getting most of them

Role players

Rui 13 pts 7 reb 2 ast 1 blk nice to see him get more rebounds

LK 12 pts 2 reb 1 ast 1 blk

JLR in 13 minutes 6 pts 4 reb 3 ast

Hayes in 17 minutes 5 pts 4 reb 1 stl

 

Hate to say it but this team plays better without LeBron!

Ball moves around and Luka+Reaves play with more confidence. With LeBron there, they feel like they have to play under Lebron's guidance out of respect for him and because he can't shoot the ball, there's not much value he is providing just standing there watching when he doesn't have the ball.

The sad part is LeBron is still a good player but just not a good fit. Wish LeBron the best but if the Lakers can S&T him for some key pieces, it's a better option for both parties moving forward.

 

Minnesota needs a PG. Weird they didn't fix that at the trade deadline.

 

Weird, intense, great game. Lakers beat MIN 120-106 at the Crypt. Didn't score a point in the 1st Q until something like 4 minutes had passed, when Marcus made a driving layup and the crowd cheered with some sarcasm, but they played good D to keep it close.

They played really good defense for most of the game, plus I just think MIN is in an offensive lull recently. I mean, Ant shooting 2 for 15 and 1 for 10 from long: good defense, but also: just got lucky. He'll go off for 55 against someone in the next two weeks.

Play of the game: AR's first 4 point play.
2nd best play of the game: AR's second 4 point play.

Hope we enjoyed Ayton's game because he just doesn't bring it like that every night. But he did tonight.

Everyone played defense and we actually looked like a Top 4 team in the West. I don't even know what to think or how to act after that. They actually played D for the game. Wow. Lakers play defense with that intensity for the rest of the season and I really don't know what their ceiling is. I don't know.

Am still in a bit of shock that Bam dropped 83 today. I heard it and thought, That guy must have misspoke...the Heat scored 83? I musta misheard of missed some part of that. Bam's been playing well and has 83 over the last three games? Then I looked it up. WTF? Freaky bizarre jit. He's not even in my Top 20 current players sho might score 60 in a game. WTactualF?

 

Good win against a good team

3rd Q propelled them 39-23

Role players

LK 10 pts 2 reb 2 ast 1 blk

Jake 8 pts 7 reb 4 ast

Ayton woke up and scored 14 pts 12 reb 2 ast

 

i think dosunmu was supposed to be the solution to that, but he's not really a pg. they traded future 1sts for dillingham to replace conley, but dillingham wasn't ready. then they moved him for dosunmu, who's not really a pg (but is a better, more useful player than dillingham right now, by a wide margin). in fairness, there wasn't much in the way of true pgs on the trade market this year. like, tyus jones wasn't going to be the answer. though i wonder if they had moved dillingham for jones if they might have been able to recover a few seconds instead of sending out 4.

 

Another great win. I’m honestly just going to enjoy these while they last.

 

Two wins because of Great Defense against good teams?
What kind of bizarro timeline did we step into?
I will be convinced if they play defense like this throughout the rest of the season.