LAKERS -at- PELICANS - 4-16-24 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Ready or Not Here We Come... The play-in games are here.

Back and forth with a quick pace from the Lakers and Pelicans to start this game. They played even early on until the bench units came in for their first shifts, and the Lakers went scoreless for a 3-plus minute stretch in the first quarter. The Lakers trailed 34-26, despite 13 points from D’Angelo Russell in the first quarter.

They flipped the tables in the second quarter with a 12-0 run with the Hayes/Bron/Prince/Vincent/Russell lineup. They turned defense into offense and had the Pelicans on their heels.

The Lakers rattled off another 13-0 run late in the quarter, winning the break, keeping the turnovers low and dominating with a 34-16 second quarter to lead by 10 at the half.

In the third, they looked like they were on the verge or running away with it as they pushed the lead to 18 points, but the Pelicans weren’t going down without a fight. They trimmed the lead in half to close the quarter.

With Zion going to work in the fourth and the Pelicans hitting threes, they rattled off a 9-0 run to catch the Lakers. They had the crowd and the momentum. LeBron looked tired. AD wasn’t imposing himself on either end.

The Laker guards came up big with Reaves finding Russell on a drive and dish to the corner for a huge three with 50 seconds to go in front of the Pelican bench. That put the Lakers up 4.

The Pelicans scored and LeBron tried to get it back. Late in the shotclock, he missed a tough corner number. AD grabbed the rebound and drew the foul with 14 seconds left. Now, the Pelicans were in trouble. The Lakers hit freethrows, protected the three line defensively and closed them out to hold on to the 110-106 win. Credit Reaves and AD for clutch FTs in those final seconds.

The Lakers secure the seventh seed and the Denver Nuggets in the first round.


LeBron -- -- There is no way the basketball gods were going to let Bron lose this game after the old man stood in front of Zion to take a big charge. Then, later in the quarter took another charge on help D. Love it. We ran a lot of offense through Bron in this game and not as much through AD. We got perimeter switches of smaller defenders, then tried to draw doubles and work off that. It seemed like as the game wore on Bron was more tired than usual possibly because of all that. We need guys to step up. Thankfully, Reaves and Russell made something happen on that key bucket with a minute left as Bron was settling a bit from the perimeter. Bron didn’t score until late in that fourth with some FTs and jumper. We really need to refine our end-of-game scenarios for Denver. They know exactly what they want to do. The Lakers need to meet that and execute. Can’t take plays off, so guys need to help Bron with the heavy lifting. Near triple-double tonight, despite the poor shooting outing. The Stats: He scored 23 points on 6-20 shooting (1-5 from three, 10-10 from the line) to go with 9 boards, 9 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks, 2 turnovers and no fouls in 41 minutes. He was a +11.

Davis -- -- Let’s start with the big plays late in the game. LeBron missed a shot up against the shotclock with 14 seconds left. AD got the board and was fouled. He made both clutch FTs. Just a huge possession that changed the end-of-game scenario. AD would also hit a couple more FTs with 2.7 seconds left. Good job by the team in that foul situation hitting all their FTs. Now, prior to this, I was really thrilled with the game from AD. Zion was scoring at will around him. AD was also giving up offensive boards. He wasn’t imposing himself and seemed to fade away from the challenge quite a bit. Which does make you wonder just how well he felt. He didn’t have that bounce in his step like you want. We have some chance for some rest for him. Hopefully, he goes nuts in the next series. The Stats: He scored 20 points on 6-16 shooting (8-10 from the line) to go with 15 boards (6 offensive), 1 steal, 3 blocks, 3 turnovers and 4 fouls in 40 minutes. He was a -5.

Russell -- -- He picked up a pretty bogus tech after Alvarado instigated extra contact with him early in the game. That made for a great game within the game. Russell had his way early on with 13 points in the first quarter, hitting from three early and often. In the second half he missed a few threes before coming up big in the fourth. He’d sunk a big one when Bron drew attention with 10 minutes left. Alvarado for his part, was making plays for teammates and hitting some big shots himself. After he got Russell in jail and fed a teammate for a score, he was yapping at Russell again. D’Angelo would come up but late with a steal of an Alvarado kickout as Reaves and Russell were covering for each other. And then Russell would hit one of the biggest shots of the game. Reaves would draw the defense to him, find Russell in front of the Pelican bench and Russell drilled the clutch three. Russell said there was nothing but love as he respected the competitive nature. Now on to Denver. Can he shake loose from last year’s weak outing against them? We got to have him play big. The Stats: He scored 21 points on 7-14 shooting (5-11 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 6 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 37 minutes. He was a +16.

Reaves -- -- Aggressive take in the final minute with the ball in his hands, he drew the D to him and then found Russell for the open corner three. I love seeing Russell on that strong side off that action. Give him that open look and he came through. Bron was struggling in that and AD wasn’t taking any of the burden offensively. Big play there. Big FTs with 10 seconds left, too. Nice having a dependable freethrow shooter in those situations. He set up our three shooters quite a bit in this game. He found Vincent, Rui and Prince for threes earlier. He had one of our few lobs, hitting AD for a dunk. He also had a nice no-looked to Rui cutting for FTs. Reaves also hit an open three when Bron drew a double and found him cross court. He hit another corner three to start the half. This was kind of a two-game series against the Pelicans and Reaves did an excellent job on CJ, who had some big games heading into these. The Stats: He scored 16 points on 5-11 shooting (2-5 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 6 assists, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 36 minutes. He was a +4.

Hachimura -- -- He knocked down both threes he took, one off a Bron double that went to Reaves who found him. Another wide open one from the wing. The cuts that we were killing on in the last game were there with as much frequency. The Pelicans cleaned that up in the second half of the last game. We did find Rui for some FTs on one of those. He had a nice face up drive to his right to muscle his way in for a layup. Next game, we likely try him on Jokic again for stretches, so AD can roam weakside. He and Bron will need to impose their size whenever they have advantages. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 5-6 shooting (2-2 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 1 board, 1 assist, 1 steal and 2 fouls in 33 minutes. He was a -6.

Dinwiddie -- -- We played both Dinwiddie and Vincent in the first half. Gabe had the better half and got the minutes in the second half. Spencer missed a pull-up on the baseline, a three and then a heave at the buzzer. He did find Russell for a three and also drew a moving screen foul on Zion to get a stop. Look to see if Ham does that again in the next game if one of the two plays well. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-3 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist and no fouls in 5 minutes. He was a -9.

Prince -- -- Some moment for Prince out there. He stripped a handoff away from the Pelicans on the perimeter and that led to a Hayes dunk in transition. He also rejected a layup in transition D. We brought him in for some defensive subs late and the Pelicans picked on that with CJ for an easy bucket. He also lost Alvarado defensively to give up a layup. Offensively, he hit a three on a Russell kickout. He attacked, gave it up and relocated to get it back and swish a three. Another guy we didn’t have last year against the Nuggets. We missed getting production from his roster spot. Hopefully, he can give the team a lift this time around. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-7 shooting (2-6 from three) to go with 4 boards, 1 steal, 1 block and 2 fouls in 22 minutes. He was a +1.

Hayes -- -- The team had an excellent first shift with Hayes. We were down 8 when he entered and tied when he left with 7:14 left in that second quarter. He got a dunk in transition off a LeBron feed off a Prince steal. The Lakers didn’t have their lob game going like the last one. In the second half, you saw more sagging off of Hayes and Hayes ending up in no man’s land a lot. Not having Wood to space the floor will likely be an issue. But Hayes plays that vertical threat better than Vando did in our sets. We will really have to be dialed in on the execution in order for the offense not to have issues. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-1 shooting to go with 1 board in 8 minutes. He was a +8.

Vincent -- -- Great first half in this game. He swished a three to start the second quarter on a kickout from BRon. He then hit the floor for a loose ball to get a stop on D. He’d sink a wing three on a kickout from Reaves. Lakers were down 8 to start the second quarter, then up 5 by the time he left in that first shift. He came up in a little bit of pain slipping at the end of that shift. He did come back in the second half and moved fine. In the second half, he missed an easy layup curling into the paint. He’d miss an open wing three, as well. But he came up with a nice And-1 layup, concentrating on the contact in transition. We’d bring him in for offense-defense subs. Last year, we had Dennis in the playoffs to try to make up for some of Russell’s disappearing. Now we’ve got Vincent and Dinwiddie. Both are bigger, stronger guards, but their offense hasn’t been on point compared to Dennis last year. Can they give us enough with as little action as they’ve had with this team? The Stats: He scored 9 points on 3-6 shooting (2-4 from three, 1-1 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal and no fouls in 18 minutes. He was a +0.

Ham -- -- Key Moment: The Lakers had an excellent defensive second quarter, with some huge runs. That was the only quarter they won in this game (34-16). The Pelicans played with much more force and aggression, but when the Lakers locked in on D in that quarter, it looked like the last game for a stretch. Can they pull off any similar stretches against the Nuggets?

Key Substitution: Vincent in the first half gave the team some spark off the bench. Closest thing we’ve seen to him last year. Let’s hope he’s one of those guys that always elevates his game in the playoffs. We need another guy or two who can do that.

Key Stats: The Laker efficiency in this game was fairly strong with 110 points on 84 shots. They made 14-35 (40%) of their threes and 26-29 (89.7%) from the line. Great numbers on the road. They also had just 8 individual turnovers, as well. They lost a few possessions on the glass. The Pelicans had a 10-6 advantage on the offensive glass. No one outside of AD had an offensive board for the Lakers.

[Lakers#1Team]

Thanks DB! 7th Seed! On to Denver!

[samnizam]

First…

I’m glad the coach benched denwidee indefinitely

[ReaListik]

Great win - glad we are getting a rematch. You have to go through Denver at some point anyway.
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"We are the goodest." - Shaq ESPN interview

[mad55557777]

3-0 in playins games,

[Dr. Laker]

Just win, baby!

Thanks, DB!
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On Lakersground, a concern troll is someone who is a fan of another team, but pretends to be a Lakers fan with "concerns".

[Hammett]

No tanking! LFG!

Thanks DB.
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Lakers. Built different.

[slavavov]

It was great to see Gabe play well. I wouldn't be surprised if he comes up big in the series against Denver.
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Lakers 49ers Chargers Dodgers

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks DB! Great to see DLO and Reaves contributions today. I hope AD gets that hip feeling good going into Denver. LeBron is still a force to deal with, out muscling Father Time just a little longer.

As for the bench, we're going to need players to find another gear there, good to see Vincent step up. We're going to have to go more than 6 deep to beat Denver. Here's hoping, and in the meantime enjoying this win.

[Nobody]

Great win. I thought they would run away with it, but they Pels finally showed some fight. The DLO corner three was a thing of beauty.

Go Lakers!

[sonic the laker]

I won't say it was a "great" win by the Lakers. But, it was definitely a gritty win. Not happy with the execution on offense, in the second half. The Lakers stopped moving players/ball, and settled into "prevent offense", when they go up by almost 20. This allowed the Pel's to get back into the game. That was horrible coaching by Ham. No timeout to stop the Pel run, and get our guys refocused/reorganized. Possibly even make some subs if certain guys are gassed. Nope. Just famous "hands in pockets". If that kind of coaching follows us into the matchup with Denver, we're cooked before the game even tips off.

I hope that's not the case, and that this close call serves as a wake-up call. We'll see...

That said, I'm glad for the win. And, definitely glad we get another shot at the Nuggets. We should want all the smoke! Lakers!

And, also, thanks as always DB!
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ZOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Laker7]

Thanks DB! Excellent write up!
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Darvin Ham is an idiot!