CLIPPERS -at- LAKERS - 1/15 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Smoked... The river awaits. You're glad to be back in the big city, but it will be a short stay. Get supplies, gear up and treat your wounds. It's almost time to go to war, and the river awaits.

After treating the blisters on your feet and getting your back torqued and popped by a guy who said he was a chiropractor, you're feeling a little better. While buying supplies from the street merchants, you spot something.

The Horsemen have tied up their mounts outside of a building down the street. Moments later, smoke billows from the windows and doors. It looks like that restaurant with the nautical theme that served you up a plate of charred Fish a while back.

Meh, the chef is just cooking up dinner, you think. That is until the chef, himself, runs screaming from the restaurant with his ass on fire. He bolts down the street with a trail of black smoke. Dude was like Wile E. Coyote. The guards politely open the city gates, and he keeps on running.

By the time you look back, the Horsemen are gone. You stroll over to the restaurant. It's as blackened as that Fish was. Written by hand on the soot in the window is a note from DancingBarry:

The Horsemen were here. All of them. They feasted, then feasted some more. They have some more business to take care of, then the road awaits.

I will continue to track them.

The Lakers outscored the other team from L.A. 73-36 in the second half. That is, for lack of a better phrase, a serious ass kicking.

With Pau back in the lineup and Kobe looking a little more like himself by the game, they thumped the Clippers with a 40-point beatdown, winning 126-86.

"We were aggressive defensively and that changed the whole concept of the game," Phil said of the second half. They didn't do too badly on the offensive end, either.

The Lakers put together a balanced attack with accurate outside shooting and deep, effective post position -- a deadly combination. When they missed, Pau seemed to be there to draw fouls and get to the line. Without their bigman, the Clippers had to be more perimeter oriented. They were destroyed.

"Last game on their court, they beat us. They beat us good," Shannon Brown said. "We knew we had to come out and rebound the ball better. We had to defend better. We had to execute our offense. I think we pretty much did that tonight."

Yep. And then some.


Kobe -- -- Kobe was an insane +41 tonight. I'm guessing that's the single game high in that stat for a Laker this season. Slowly, he's starting to look like the Kobe of old. It's like ice thawing as he looks a little looser, a little more fluid by the game. The back issues seemed most noticeable defensively. He looked very stiff to react at first. He seemed to loosen up, but he had to fight screens like crazy at times. He didn't do a lot of attacking offensively, but did probe on occasion. He did most of his damage with his perimeter J. He was splashing some long ones. Hopefully, he continues to improve and doesn't see any setbacks.The Stats: He scored 30 points on 10-20 shooting (4-7 frmo three, 6-8 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 2 fouls. The Action: He posted on the wing, saw Andrew cutting weak to strong and hit him for the dunk. He missed a turnaround from the midpost. He swished a long sideline jumper on a kickout. He missed a long three on a kickout. He was fouled in transition for FTs, he made both. He swiped a kickout pass. He missed a baseline turnaround. He swished a pull-up wing jumper on iso. He drained a wing three next time down. He missed a three on the next trip. He was blocked on a reverse attempt. He was swatted on a triple team, points the other way. He swished a baseline jumper off the Bynum hand off. He bricked a tough wing jumper in early offense. He found Powell in the corner for the open three. He had 11 points on 4-11 shooting and was a +16. Second Half: He attacked and kicked to Pau for the jumper. He hit a tech FT. He hit a pumping wing jumper with his toes on the three line. He curled into the lane and took the feed from Ron for the layup. He missed a baseline jumper. He rattled in a three from the top of the arc. He inbounded to Fish, stepped in, took the return pass and swished the long wing three. He missed a three out of a timeout. He missed a high arching turnaround jumper. He attacked and drew FTs, he made both. He had 12 points on 4-7 shooting in the third. He iso'd on Novak and hit a runner. Next time down, he stepped behind the three line in transition and swished the wing three. He jab-stepped and drew FTs from the three line, he made two of the three.

Gasol -- -- He looked a little slow to get after it, but heated up as the game went along. Eventually, his size just overwhelmed the Clippers. He was getting on the offensive glass and drawing fouls, turning Laker misses into FTs. That will kill a team. He and Drew looked very good out there together. The Lakers milked the post advantage a lot in this game and that helped. Kaman being out probably also helped. "The ball was moving really well," Pau said. Great to see him back. Hopefully, the Lakers can string together another win streak. It's going to be tough with the road heavy schedule. The Lakers are 20-3 with Pau. The Stats: He scored 20 points on 4-10 shooting (12-12 from the line to go with 6 boards (4 offensive), 3 assists, 3 blocks, 1 turnover and no fouls in 30 minutes. He was a +22. The Action: He missed a turnaround from 10 feet out. He ran the floor, posted up Baron in transition and drew FTs, he made both. He scored a layup off the DFish dish in semi-transition. He missed a pumping jumper, short. He missed a FT jumper. He hit a lefty jumphook in the middle of the lane. He swatted Baron to ignite a break. He challenged another drive to get a miss and draw a foul on the rebound, he made both FTs. He had 8 points in the first quarter. He missed a running hook after passing on a wide open 12-footer. He hit Ron across court for an open three. He had just 1 board in the half, but 3 blocks. Second Half: He hit a lefty jumphook to start the half. He sank a 17-footer on a Kobe kickout. He missed a wing jumper. He handed off to Kobe, rolled to the rim, grabbed the miss and drew FTs, he made both. Baron swung an elbow at him on when he trapped him in the corner, Pau got back into Baron's face with DFish. Pau hit the flagrant-1 FTs. (Pau on the Baron elbow: "We got them by 40 points. That's the best way to get them back.") He grabbed a Kobe miss and drew FTs. Back at the line, this time on a Brown missed jumper, he made both FTs. He had 12 points in the third.

Bynum -- -- With Pau gone, the Lakers had to lean heavily on Bynum. And Drew, in turn, had to step it up and meet the challenge. With no Kaman in this game, the Lakers looked to the post early and often. Drew did most of his damage in the first quarter. He used his size well and threw in a little more hustle on the boards than we've seen with him and Pau on the floor. There was a brief play where both Drew and Pau set up on opposite blocks looking for a post feed from the top of the arc. That seemed to show the mindset in this game. Some excellent footwork at times by Drew in the post to make a good shot, a great one. With Pau back, Bynum can get a little more aggressive on D and on the offensive boards. Hopefully, we start to see that. The Stats: He scored 20 points on 8-13 shooting (4-4 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 2 assists, 2 blocks, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 30 minutes. He was a +13. The Action: He faked the pinch post hand off and attacked from the elbow for FTs on the first play, he made both. He was blocked on a turnaround on iso. Great footwork to get low position and a layup. He worked the ball across the paint, tried to go up and under but was denied, so he just shot over his man and scored. He missed a turnaround. Low position, he took a pass from Pau and powered up for a layup. He cut weak to strong, took the Kobe pass and dunked (he needs to do more of that with Pau out there). He blocked Camby near the rim. He had 10 points on 4-6 shooting in the first. He missed a short jumphook, way long. Nice challenge on Smith's drive to get a miss. He kept a Kobe miss alive and it led to Luke FTs. Power drop-step to the baseline, he stepped through and dunked with both hands. He missed an FT jumper. Nice hustle to rip away a defensive board in transition (more please). He took the post pass, attacked, drew a crowd and FTs, he made both. Nice challenge on Baron's jumper on one end, he slammed in transition on the other. He had 16 points on 6-10 shooting, 4 boards and 2 blocks. Second Half: He dunked off the drive and dish from DFish. He hit an easy jumphook over Smith. He took the repost, faced up and missed the short runner.

Artest -- -- This was more like the Artest we saw pre-concussion. With Kobe down in the previous games, he got more aggressive. With Kobe able to do more and Pau now back, Ron slid back into that role player mode where he locked down on D and didn't try to do too much on the offensive end. He spaced the floor and hit some threes. He fed the post and cut. He threw in some occasional work in the paint. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 3-9 shooting (2-6 from three, 2-3 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 3 assists, 1 block and 2 fouls in 26 minutes. He was a +25. The Action: He posted up Gordon and flipped up the ball as soon as he caught it for the And-1, he made the FT. He drained a wide open three off a skip pass from Pau. He missed a three with the shotclock low. He had 6 points on 2-3 shooting. Second Half: He sank a measured three on a kickout from Pau. He got tapped on a sideline three. He posted up and fed a cutting Kobe for a layup. He was fouled in transition and made sure to throw it up to get FTs, he made one. He bricked a drive in transition. He missed a three a few seconds later. He swatted the ball off Butler. He got swatted on the break, but LO cleaned it up.

Fisher -- -- Fish must have stole some of Sasha's mojo and used it to get under Baron's skin. Baron threw an elbow on Pau when he and DFish trapped him in front of the Laker bench. Double techs and a flagrant-1 for Baron. The game started out with Baron going after Fish similar to the last game, but Fish picked up two fouls and had to sit. In the second half, they just clamped down. Not having Kaman out there to hit that midrange made the job a lot easier. The penetration was cut down quite a bit. Strangely, DFish led the team in rebounds (and also assists). The ball just seemed to find him. Little tips outs, extra bounces, it just always ended up in his hands after a miss. Stealing boards from Drew, LO and Pau...I like it. That's a season-high for Fisher. The Stats: He had 4 points on 2-5 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 8 boards, 6 assists, 2 steals, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 20 minutes. He was a +28. The Action: He attacked off the three line on a kickout and scored a layup. He pushed up a rebound and fed Pau for a layup. He missed a wing jumper. No box out on Bynum's man when he helped Fish, dunk for Drew's man. He picked up his second foul midway through the first quarter and sat. He was hit on a toe-on-the-three-line jumper, made the hoop but didn't get a call. He hit Bynum in transition for a dunk. He swiped a pass, great play. He then got swatted in transition against two defenders, not a great play. He led the team with boards (5) and assists (3) in the half. Second Half: Horrible defensive angle on the first stand to usher Baron right into the lane and draw a foul for the Clippers and FTs. He attacked off the three line, drew a crowd and dished to Bynum for the dunk (looked like a true point there). Great anticipation on the 3-on-1 break to swipe a pass and save a hoop (he's one of the better fastbreak defenders in the league). He had some words with Baron after BD threw an elbow on Pau when they double teamed him on the sideline. Fisher didn't play in the fourth.

Lamar -- -- Lamar picked up a couple quick fouls in the first half and that kept him watching from the bench for most of the half. He got a few more minutes in the second half and was able to do a little more. With the big lead, Phil then sat him again. He managed to scrape together a few points in his brief time. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 2-4 shooting (0-1 from three, 3-4 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 11 minutes. He was a +16. The Action: He was fouled on a dunk attempt right after entering the game, he made one FT. He missed a three (seems to be jumping differently lately on those). He picked up two fouls after just a few minutes of action and sat. Back in and he missed an elbow jumper. He played just 3 minutes in the half. Second Half: He swished an open 17-footer when his man sagged off. He pushed up the break and was hacked, he made both FTs. He was called for a travel when the passing lane closed on him and he tried to dribble. Ron got swatted on the break, but it went right to LO and he quickly flipped it in.

Luke -- -- Luke managed the only negative number for the Lakers on the +/-. He was part of a Bynum, Pau, Brown, Farmar unit that just got killed to start the second quarter. Phil had been running one of Kobe or Artest to start those quarters in the past. He quickly went to Kobe for Farmar and balance was restored. I suspect Phil will want to work Luke into the mix, but keep one of those two out there. That may mean sitting Artest a little sooner and letting Luke get more run in the first quarter, then later giving Artest a brief breather in the second when Kobe is out there. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-1 shooting (0-2 from the line) to go with 1 board, 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 turnover in 7 minutes. He had a -7. The Action: He hit the side of the board with a three attempt. Bad pass to Bynum in transition for a turnover. He was hit on a drive down the lane to draw a foul, he missed both FTs. Great effort to deflect a pass when his man tried to cut backdoor, he then went to the floor to recover it. He drew an offensive foul on Thornton next time down. Second Half: Nothing to report.

Brown -- -- Joel said Shannon was putting some extra time before the game on his midrange jumper. He's been pretty steady with it all season. That's what you want to see from both Shannon and Sasha at that backup SG spot. There's a lot spaces to work in this offense to get those types of shots. Tonight, Shannon had a few of those looks and ended up leading the bench in scoring. Phil played him at both the SG and PG spots. Defensively, he's a better match up for us against Baron. Asked if he was anxious about knowing whether he will be in the dunk contest, Shannon said, "I got to worry about the Orlando Magic...if the dunk contest happens, we'll definitely be better for it." The Stats: He scored 11 points on 3-5 shooting (5-6 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal and 1 block in 24 minutes. He was a +15. The Action: Nice rotation to deflect a pass off Camby (should have been Laker ball). No box out and his man got the rebound. He swished a toe-on-the-three-line jumper from the corner. He sank a pull-up, 18-footer in semi-transition next time down. Second Half: He missed a baseline jumper. He took a bounce pass from Powell, elevated and just missed an And-1, he made both FTs. He swished a 13-footer attacking across the lane. He missed a layup on a drive. He iso'd and drew FTs on a jumper, he made one. He took the outlet, elevated, hung and again missed the And-1, he made both FTs.

Farmar -- -- Closing this game didn't mean a whole lot. There was a brief stint, however, where things were still up for grabs in the first half and Phil benched Jordan for Kobe. The Clippers had an 11-0 run to start the second quarter. After the game, Phil mentioned that was the reason he played Kobe to start the fourth quarter later despite the big lead. Not sure whether he specifically was pointing at Jordan for not orchestrating the offense well as lead guard, but that's what it seemed to suggest. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-4 shooting (1-2 from three) to go with 2 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal and 1 foul in 21 minutes. The Action: He kicked out to Kobe for a jumper. He missed a three. Second Half: He swished a baseline jumper working off the screen. He missed a long wing jumper. He swished a wing three in transition.

Vujacic -- -- He came in for Kobe after a few minutes in the fourth quarter and 30-point lead. Dare we suggest he was back in Machine mode, complete with Sick Jumpers of Death? He managed to get into double digits in just 8 minutes. The deep bench ended up stretching that 30-point lead to 40. Well done. He gave some good hustle and didn't seem to play like the game was a blow out. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 3-5 shooting (2-3 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 1 board and 1 foul in 8 minutes. The Action: He did not play. Second Half: He swished a long wing jumper on a kickout from DJ. He missed a wing three. He drained a wing three a step behind the line. He sank another three a step behind the line while working off a screen. He drew FTs spitting a double team, he made both.

Powell -- -- He drained another short corner three and held the pose for my buddy Zev. It seems he's got that down. Now, if we could work on some kind of a rebound pose he can hold after pulling down a board. Maybe something like "The Atlas" where instead of chinning the board, he hoists it up to the back of his neck like he's holding the weight of the world. Okay, I'll move on. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-2 shooting (1-1 from three) to go with 1 board, 2 assists, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 16 minutes. The Action: He clanked a 16-footer off a great set-up by Kobe. He couldn't secure a defensive board (not for a lack of trying, just length), second chance and FTs for the Clippers. He drained a corner three on a Kobe kickout next time down. Second Half: Nothing to report.

Mbenga -- -- Mbenga picked up where the other Laker bigmen left off. He had his best scoring game since the Dallas blowout. No coincidence there. Looked good on his stroke tonight. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-4 shooting to go with 1 board and 1 assist in 9 minutes. He was a +10. The Action: He did not play. Second Half: He kicked out to Sasha for a wing jumper. He faced up and hit a 12-footer from the wing. He missed a 16-footer next time down. He swished a 16-footer flashing from the weakside. He posted up, spun on his man and banked with one hand.

Phil -- -- Pau makes things so much easier... The Clippers went right after Fish again to start this one. Fish got into foul trouble and Phil went to Farmar midway through the quarter with a 2-point lead... The Lakers offense ran every possession through the post early on... With LO getting 2 quick fouls, Phil went to Powell. He had a Pau, Powell, Kobe, Shannon, Farmar lineup... The Lakers led 28-25 after the first. The Lakers had 16 points in the paint, seemed like more. They went 10-11 from the line in the quarter... Phil ran a Bynum, Pau, Luke, Brown, Farmar unit. They were getting torched... Phil called a timeout after an 11-0 run for the Clippers to start the quarter... He sat Farmar for Kobe... The Lakers went with a Bynum, LO, Artest, Kobe, Fisher lineup down by 4. They tied it up... The Lakers led 53-50. They shot 44 percent (19-43), the Clippers shot 45 percent (19-42). Both teams had 3 offensive boards. The Lakers had just 3 turnovers (but that led to 7 points). The Clippers had 8 turnovers which only led to 4 points... Hamblen said he hoped Pau got the rust off in the second half... The Lakers pushed out to a quick 14-point lead after just a few minutes. Pau with some early action, no rust there... Phil brought in Lamar for Bynum, then Shannon for DFish... The Lakers won the third quarter 36-17 to lead 89-67 going into the fourth. They just dominated both ends... The Lakers started a Bynum, Powell, Kobe, Brown, Farmar lineup... Phil sat Kobe after a few minutes and a 30-point lead. He said it is important to have him as a stablizing figure on that second unit. He didn't want to see the 11-0 run that the second unit coughed up in the first half... The Lakers continued to crush the Clippers into the ground. The deep benched pushed the lead out further with a 20-2 run... The Lakers held the Clippers to just 11-35 shooting in the second half, 31 percent... The Lakers made 34-41 from the line to go with 41-82 from the floor...

Game Flow -- LINK -- A whole series of runs by the Lakers after the Clippers got a brief lead. The Lakers led by as many as 45.

[City_Dawg]

Thanks DB!
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*sighs*

!...

[KoPauChicken]

YAY! Aw thought I got first, but it's okay!

I went to the game, pretty awesome.
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[City_Dawg]

BTW DB that Shannon quote is missing a few "you know"s
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*sighs*

!...

[uberzev]

Nice work as usual DB!

Also appreciate the shout-out.
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Lakers Gonna Lake

[lounger]

Good hustle from Sasha even when the game was obviously done. We need that.

All in all, good team effort and not too much forced issues. We are on track once again!

Thanks DB!

[JTS1]

i always rush in to make the top 5.

tonight, i think a proper, 'thank you DancingBarry', is in order.

you put out a lot of effort, games like tonight are probably easy to write about. the loses like portland would be polar...

but you do this for every game. folks who visit are very fortunate.

thank you.
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'How many kids can say growing up that they'll turn pro and play for their favorite team in the world and spend your entire career there? IT'S BEEN A DREAM!'-Kobe Bryant 11.29.15

[DancingBarry]

Thanks, JTS1 (and others).

Toughest games are: 1. When the Lakers play stupid. Those are a grind. 2. Fourth game in five nights or something like that. Again a grind. 3. Overtimes. They take exponentially longer to do...but are usually very entertaining.

[LakerSanity]

[DancingBarry]

Uber mensch. Yeah...those were tough this year. I was still feeling a little burn out just prior to the season. Previous preseasons weren't as tough.

Glad we had Ron in the lineup this preseason. That helped a lot. Just looking at a different type of player than before.

[lounger]

well you know, it never feels complete after a game without having to wait for and read DB's write-up.

[Ray_Gonzoles]

Thanks again DB.

Lakers now running on all cylinders and showed which team really rules in this town.

Glad to see the bench showing some good play, especially with the long road trip looming.

Farmar and Shannon seem to be clicking together as a unit, the team will need that effort in the future.

Onward to next Mondays game.
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"Just show up ready to work, ready to play, Have your big boy pants on, leave your diaper at home." Kobe Bryant
Anything less than a championship is a failure. Period.

[limchrc]

thanks, nice win.

[John O]

Thanks, DB. I always come here first to check if our boys won. There's always a moment of anxiousness, usually following by a calming effect caused by your happy smilie.

[JM]

Yup, thanks DB. I always read your comments, even if I have seen the game on the tube. The point of view you bring in summary is helpful to get a flow of the season. You stream themes related to players' season-long progress and/or regression etc. It's different than what one reads in the paper (does anyone actually read papers anymore?)

[ChefLinda]

[rmonkey]

Atlas Powell?

I like it.

(I like rebounds even more)

[angrypuppy]

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks DB! Great analysis; these T&Rs give a more complete picture of each game and each player than can be found anywhere.

Also - and with a beating like last night I'll bet that cook is still running...

[golakersgo121]

[AJLakerFan]

[JTS1]

[A Mad Chinaman]

Glad that these type of games are easier on you, considering the always long grind it is to follow the Lakers - hey, that is the burden when you have the team that have a great tradition of getting to the Finals!

This was a good hard practice game (especially with Kaman out) that allowed Drew and Pau to start getting that chemistry to another level. Wonder why they don't alternate setting up on the High and Low posts more often that would provide more room on the box while opening passing lanes? On one sequence, Paul took the ball on the wing, pivot, then tried to find Drew on a dive - wow! It is interesting that Drew isn't getting more boards with all the double teams going to Pau first - he should be wiping up on all the misses (at least, one would think that).

Great to see that DFish didn't want to get punked by BDiddy, hard to imagine Farmar or Shannon doing that at this stage of their careers. Despite all the rumblings of having DFish out, his toughness and presence is needed.

Farmar - if the Lakers win another title and he is a strategic part of that, he will get a great contract. If he is building his stats, Phil will start cutting down on his PT (even though his stats might be high) and his next destination will be places like the Warriors, Bucks, Wizards and other delightful places that will never go deep into the playoffs - though he would be a star.

Sasha - maybe he has to scream like Maria does (no - not where you think?!) on the tennis court.

[StuLantz#1]