PISTONS -at- LAKERS - 2-13-24 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Dinwiddie Debut... The Lakers are hoping they lucked up on a big contributing piece by landing Spencer Dinwiddie in the buy-out market.

They threw him into the mix tonight against the Pistons. Nothing like an 8-win team to get some reps in.

The Lakers got out running early as Reaves and Bron set the tone on the break as the team turned defense into offense. They quickly built a 25-11 lead, making 10 consecutive shots at one point early.

In the second quarter, a 14-2 run helped the Lakers stretch the lead to the 20-point range. From there, they were able to cruise most of the night, holding on to a 125-111 win over the Pistons, resting AD all fourth quarter and limiting LeBron’s minutes.

Dinwiddie had 7 assists off the bench while feeling out the offense and his role. In the second half, after the Pistons ran off a 16-4 run to cut the lead to 12, he had a couple of three-point plays to help push the lead back up to 20.

The Lakers will likely be without LeBron in the next game as they head to Utah. Hopefully, they can grab another win before the break.


LeBron -- -- Pretty light night for LeBron (you can see this in the 1 rebound). He fumbled a couple of turnovers away to start, then got warmed up. The Lakers had fun early in this game getting out in transition for scores. Once they were cruising, Bron didn’t have to shift it into another gear. He buried back to back threes at a key juncture to help push the lead back to 20. Some excellent finishes at the rim. Once he gets downhill, he’s layup package is tough to challenge sometimes. Crazy how well he finishes at age 39. The Stats: He scored 25 points on 9-15 (3-6 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 1 board, 8 assists, 4 turnovers and no fouls in 31 minutes. He was a +9.

Davis -- -- He had 4 blocks in the first half, but his best two might have been early in the third quarter. Duren tried to score at the front of the rim and AD sent it out of bounds on one. On the other, he was the only man back on a three-on-one break. It didn’t matter, he rejected and controlled the shot. They should have sent more men, lol. Beastly. He had 18 of his 20 points in the first half. The jumper was falling from midrange and he knocked down a three, as well. He was active around the rim, drawing FTs. He didn’t need to play the fourth quarter, so we got some early rest. The Stats: He scored 20 points on 6-12 shooting (1-3 from three, 7-7 from the line) to go with 14 boards (3 offensive), 4 assists, 6 blocks, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 28 minutes. He was a +12.

Russell -- -- Bombing the three ball again. He sank a corner three and a wing three off swing passes. He hit another three off the Dinwiddie/AD two-man action. Then hit another three off a Bron double team. Note all those makes were on the catch. I think you get more of that with more playmaking now in the mix. Also, a little less playmaking for Russell, as well, I’m sure as he can play off ball more. Just 3 assists tonight, including a sweet one he threaded over a defender’s shoulder to Rui for a layup. The Stats: He scored 21 points on 8-18 shooting (4-9 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 3 assists, 1 block, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 32 minutes. He was a +7.

Reaves -- -- Great passing first quarter. He helped set the tone offensively as he was aggressive and just doing a superb job setting up teammates. One of the plays of the game, he went behind his back to a trailing LeBron filling the lane for a slam. LeBron would return the favor on the next possession no-looking to Reaves filling the lane for a reverse layup. Shades of Showtime right there. Reaves also had a great pushout, attacked the paint, bumped a defender, then threw a no-looker behind a defender (almost an over-the-shoulder type feed) to AD for a dunk in transition. On the next possession, he’d find Bron for a drive and score. Then, he’d take contact and try for a behind-the-backboard shot (expecting a call that didn’t come). The shot hit the top of the backboard and dropped in, but didn’t count. He buried a couple of threes and did a great job getting to the line. He was a +32 in the first half before finishing with a team-high +25. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 3-9 shooting (2-5 from three, 7-7 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 6 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls in 32 minutes. He was a +25.

Hachimura -- -- I loved them going to the post early on. We are going to have a size advantage between one of LeBron or Rui every night. They are starting to recognize that and letting Rui cook. So a few scores with him going to the muscle/spin combos on the block. He had some nice cuts, as well, where both Russell and LeBron found him. Hard to read a lot out of this game because it’s the Pistons, but it definitely felt like there was some intention/purpose behind integrating Rui tonight. I need to see it with consistency. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 7-10 shooting (0-2 from three, 1-4 from the line) to go with 5 boards (2 offensive), 2 assists and 1 foul in 30 minutes. He was a +13.

Dinwiddie -- -- Great pick up for the Lakers (no assets used and the clever work with the exception to give us a little extra cash available). The Lakers are very, very fortunate to have a player of this caliber on the buy-out market. We’ve been missing that extra ballhandler and playmaker all season. I think this is going to positive impact a number of guys. As we saw from Russell tonight, he got moved into a lot more of the catch-and-shoot, off-ball work. He needs more of that around him. Typically, we’ve found more success when we’ve kept one of LeBron and Russell on the floor to keep the offense running. Now, we’ll have a lot more options to mix things up. This will also help Reaves defensively. First, he’ll be able to play a little off the ball more and save more energy. That will allow him to chase or take on point of attack defense with a little more energy/effort. Second, Dinwiddie is stronger and can take on some of those matchups where they try to bully Reaves. Another area, I think we should see Prince’s minutes reduced into more what he’s used to. Prince had 23 tonight. We don’t need him playing the SG as much as we’ve used him now. It didn’t show it tonight, but Dinwiddie is probably also our best lob passer. So our bigs should enjoy that. Lastly, LeBron is always looking for another playmaker to give him rest to close games. We’ve got that. As for the action, on Dinwiddie’s first touch, he fired a pass to Wood rolling for a layup. He found Russell, Reaves and Prince for threes. He had 7 assists tonight and a few turnovers. Those turnovers will drop as he gets used to playing with the team. Scoring-wise he iso’d at the top of the key, attacked and hit an And-1 floater (drawing contact on the gather with the off arm…showing his craft at getting to the line on drives). He also knocked down a three (got tapped on another three that went down and out). The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-6 shooting (1-5 from three, 1-1 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 7 assists, 2 steals, 4 turnovers and 2 fouls in 31 minutes. He was a +5.

Prince -- -- Russell and Dinwiddie found him for threes. Defensively, he had a pass deflection and stripped a ball off a man for another stop. This is about the minute range I’d like to see him in. Hopefully, too, we will see him less as a point of attack defender. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-5 shooting (2-3 from three, 0-1 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block and 1 foul in 23 minutes. He was a +6.

Wood -- -- He scored a layup working the two-man action with Dinwiddie. He’d get another layup in transition on a couple big steps. He’d attack off the three line for a layup. And he’d hit a three when Reaves found him open. We seem to have settled into him as the backup PF as Hayes is manning the C spot with some good defensive energy. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 4-6 shooting (1-2 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 1 steal, 1 block and no fouls in 13 minutes. He was a -1.

Hayes -- -- Some nice hustle plays, saving a loose ball to a teammate to get a stop. He broke up a lob pass to ignite a break. He rejected a shot out of bounds behind Reaves to get another stop. And he hit the glass well with 7 boards in just 13 minutes. He’s carved out a spot for himself with keeping the mistakes low and winning the possession battles. The Stats: He scored 2 points on a 2-2 FTs to go with 7 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 13 minutes. He was a +5.

Hood-Schifino -- -- He came in with 2:18 left to run garbage time. He scored on a sort of dunk attempt off a drive and dish from Dinwiddie. The Stats: He had 2 points on 1-2 shooting and no other stats in 2 minutes. He was a -3.

Castleton -- -- “Sir Basketball” as Mrs. DB calls him (she thinks his name sounds English). He came in for the final 1:25. Nothing to report. The Stats: He had 1 foul in 1 minute. He was a -5.

Lewis -- -- Nothing to report. The Stats: No stats in 2 minutes.

Ham -- -- Key Moment: The Lakers got rolling in that first quarter, turning defense into offense. They had the crowd behind them, were entertaining and the Pistons were on their heels. They scored 34 points and followed that up with 37 in the second quarter to take a 20+ point lead. That’s what you need to do with a 4-21 road team.

Key Substitution: Dinwiddie is going to give this team a ton of depth. The Lakers have three very versatile guards who can drop high assist games and 20+ point scoring nights. For some reason, though, I really do worry about the process we will go through before we get to where we need to be. Yes, we will likely see the three guard lineups. We will probably see some odd defensive matchups. But maybe over the break, the coaches really dive into the Dinwiddie tape and see what he can and can’t do. Tonight was good, but it was against the Pistons. A good opportunity to get some reps in without too much pain.

Key Stats: I like the 11 blocks from the team tonight. Very nice work by AD and the team challenging shots.

[JM]

Thanks

[danzag]

Thanks, DB!

Great to see AD and LBJ playing 28-31 minutes

[tox]

Thanks DB! Nothing like playing bad teams
I have no opinion myself but could've sworn Dinwiddie was supposed to be poor lob thrower

[Laker7]

Thanks DB. Missed the first half due to work so thanks for the recap!
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Darvin Ham is an idiot!

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks DB! Encouraging debut for SD.

[pio2u]

THX DB!!

[ribeye]

Great write-up, especially on Dinwiddie. Your analysis of his potential impact on the team is the best I've seen or read from any of the "experts".
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"A metronome keeps time by using a Ringo"

[deal]

Thanks DB. Definitely a good game for SD to debut in and he made
it work.
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Lakers need to build a freaking team !

[governator]

Dinwiddie looked good? In shape?
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“The main goal for the Lakers is to win a championship. All I care about, all we care about, is to raise another banner in the rafters.“

[Lakesh0wtime]

Great to see Rui adjust to his role and play better.

People here were killing him after the Denver game even though it was only his 3rd start and wasn’t involved in the offensive game plan at all.

[Dr. Laker]

Thanks, DB. For the first time in a long time, I watched an entire quarter+. The team has worked my nerves so much that I can only take them in small doses.
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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".

[A Mad Chinaman]

Thanks to DB and Mrs DB!!

Current rotation has Prince playing limited minutes against opposing teams’ bench players (to eat up some minutes where he can succeed) hence facing players that he can be successful.

AD’s defensive and rebounding success is allowing players like Rui to leak out to provide quick offense.

Rui’s growing aggressive play has led into the team’s confidence of his effectiveness.

Dinwiddie (congrats to Rob to being a shrewd and tactful trader) will allow AR and DLo to thrive. With 6’5” Spinwiddie who has shown to be successful as a shooter/passer/defender that be trusted - this will allow Ham to rest DLo, AR and LBR so that they are fresh at the end of games (even closing games). Spencer will limit Prince’s responsibilities to be the “Head of the Snake” defensively.

AR was cooking

DLo was effective defensively and offensively

AD and LBR were doing their usual super hero stuff

Hayes (thankfully) is embracing Vanderbilt’s energy-filled mentality to earn well-deserved minutes

CWood will, hopefully, benefit by playing with a player he has played with before

Our next opponent, Jazz, will provide (along with the absence of LBR) to provide evidence of how dedicated this team is in being professional of taking care of business