WARRIORS -at- LAKERS - 11/21 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Perfection... In a span of two games, the Lakers saw two of their own turn in a perfect shooting performance. Matt Barnes, of course, went 7-7 from the floor and 5-5 from the line a game ago. Tonight, it was Pau Gasol's turn.

Pau hit all 10 attempts from the floor and all 8 from the line. The last Laker to do that was Byron Scott in 1986.

Barnes and Charles Barkely were the only players ever to produce games of at least 20 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists without missing on at least 5 attempts from the floor and the line. Now there is a third.

"Matt told me, 'Welcome to the club,'" Gasol said. "I said, 'Happy to be in there.' It's kind of weird that it happened that way. It's weird, but it's obviously a good sign."

The game tonight was over early. Perhaps, even before it started with David Lee and an assortment of other Warrior bigmen unavailable.

The Lakers could have played down to the competition. They could have eased into this one and coasted. Unfortunately for the Warriors, they didn't. The Lakers had a 30-point lead in the first half and kept it that way for most of the game, winning 117-89.

"We did what we were supposed to do," Pau said afterward.

Perfectly stated.


Kobe -- -- Pau will take the stat of the night with the perfect line, but how sweet is it to see Kobe run just 24 minutes? With Shannon playing like a legit backup SG and the second unit extending leads, these kinds of games allow Kobe long rests early and some icing down for the entire fourth quarter. Kobe spearheaded a multi-prong Laker attack. Some excellent passing that set up teammates right at the front of the hoop. He was only given 5 assists, but he dished several others that led to fouls or FTs. Meanwhile, Monta Ellis went 2-10 for 5 points. He wore down under Kobe's size and athleticism. The Stats: He scored 20 points on 7-16 shooting (0-2 from three, 6-6 from the line) to go with 6 boards (3 offensive), 5 assists and 3 fouls in 24 minutes. He was a +23. The Action: He missed a turnaround after backing his man down on the first possession. He attacked and hit Lamar cutting for the slam. He hit Fish and LO for leakout hoops. He drained a baseline jumper off the pinch post with Pau. He missed in the paint, battled like mad for the ball and missed a couple more attempts in the process before Pau finally scored. He attacked on the break, ball-faked and banked an And-1 layup, he made the FT. He took the Artest pass in transition, up-faked and made the layup looking for the call. He sank a 20-footer after returning to the floor from a long rest. He missed a three. He reverse slammed off the interior feed from Pau. He had 13 points on 6-13 shooting. Second Half: He missed a wide open 19-footer to start the half. He overpowered Ellis from the elbow and drew FTs, he made both. He curled into the lane and hit Pau for the layup. He set up Lamar for FTs off the two-man game. He missed a wing three. He attacked from the wing, took contact and got clobbered to draw FTs, he made both. He missed a post up fallaway. He scored an And-1 leaking out when Blake spotted him, he made the FT. He hit Pau trailing the break for a dunk.

Gasol -- -- Barnes tallied the perfect stats in the last one, Pau managed to drop 28 in perfect fashion tonight. Some great passing by teammates to set him up for easy layups and dunks on many of those. He also hit a couple jumpers and what looked like his version of a skyhook. He didn't miss from the charity stripe, either. Only five other Lakers have had perfect nights on 10 or more field goals. The Lakers just chewed apart the Warrior D and all that was left half the time was for Pau to finish. He gave praise to his teammates for that passing. Defensively, some nice moments anchoring the paint in this one. The Stats: He had 28 points on 10-10 shooting (8-8 from the line) to go with 9 boards, 5 assists, 4 blocks, 1 turnover and no fouls in 30 minutes. He was a +27. The Action: He hit a cutting Lamar for FTs. He hit an easy turnaround over Vlad. He sank his version of a skyhook from the right block. He made the post entry to a sealing Ron for a layup. He scored on the drive and lob from DFish in transition. He swished an open wing jumper off the Lamar rub screen. After the Lakers pounded the offensive glass for several boards, Pau finally cleaned it up with a turnaround on the baseline. He drew FTs off the Kobe pass in transition, he made both. He got cracked in the face on the break when LO set him up, he made one. He scored a layup trailing the break with Fish. He hit Kobe with an interior feed for a slam. Another layup off the lob from Fish on the break. Just too low of position and Kobe found him for the layup. He had 20 points on 8-8 shooting. Second Half: He powered in layup off the interior feed from Kobe, he wanted the foul. He drew FTs on the offensive boards, he made both. He swatted a man on one end, took the Kobe pass on the other and dunked. He was fouled while pulling down a defensive board at the end of the quarter (no credit for the board), he made both FTs.

Lamar -- -- The Lakers had 22 points on the break in the first half. Lamar was pushing tempo off the boards, he and Pau helped shove the speed game down the Warriors collective throats. The Warriors had no answer for bigs that move like that. And LO running in our two-guard front in the half court just opens things up so much for the rest of the team. A long PF who plays like a PG is such an advantage. This team also has some horses to run the floor with him this year. When he is going full-time with the bench, that should be fun to watch. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 5-8 shooting (1-2 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 10 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 5 turnovers and no fouls in 27 minutes. He was a +27. The Action: He swatted his man off the backboard on one end, trailed the action on the other, took the pass from Pau and drew FTs, he made both. He swiped a kickout pass, then was called for a carry pushing it out. He rattled in a short fade in the paint. He slammed with both hands, cutting off Kobe's penetration. He dunked on the leakout and outlet from Kobe. He pushed up the break, faked like he was going to kickout, then hit Pau ahead of him for FTs. He scored a layup. Second Half: He was blocked on the layup attempt. He scored a quick-hit 7-footer right off the inbounds of that block. He drew FTs on the two-man sequence with Kobe, he made both. He drained a three straight away, great form. He missed a flip in while cutting off the pass from the post. He roofed Wright on the perimeter to get a jumpball, which he won. He missed a corner three.

Artest -- -- There are certain defensive plays that only he makes. Not too many guys have as strong and fast of hands as he does. He seemed to dig in defensively in this one and looked to defer to teammates on the other end as much as possible. His only bucket came when he sealed a smaller man in the post and scored easily. Love that the team and Ron quickly take advantage of those situations. They seem to be much better at that this season. It used to be that opponents would hide smaller defenders on our SF spot in order to go with length and their best defenders at the SG against Kobe. They just can't do that easily any more if we exploit the post and Ron's strength there. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-3 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 3 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 21 minutes. He was a +21. The Action: He switched and swiped the return pass from his man. He blocked Ellis right out of bounds as he started to rise up on a jumper. He sealed his man for an easy layup off the Pau post entry pass. He missed a sideline three. He missed a corner three at the half. Second Half: He blocked a jumper. He overpassed and drew a 3-second call.

Fisher -- -- Strong game from DFish on both ends. Some of those easy scores for Pau were set up by Fish getting into playmaker mode. He was aware of the size advantage the Lakers had and tried to go over the top of the D at times to get his bigman. Meanwhile the Curry/Ellis combo on the other end was held in check by the Laker backcourt. Without them, the Warriors slim chances in this game quickly turned into no chance. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 4-6 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 2 boards, 4 assists, 3 steals, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 23 minutes. He was a +24. The Action: He dribbled to the baseline and promptly threw the ball away. He leaked out and scored a layup off the Kobe outlet. He probed in transition and threw it up to Pau for the easy layup. He stripped the ball off Vlad on help D. He kicked to Barnes for a corner three. He missed a corner three off the kickout. He took it himself from the other corner next time down and missed. He hit a trailing Pau for the layup. He found Pau for another layup, going over the D with the lob on the break. Luke somehow threaded the needle to Fish for a layup in the paint. He drained a pull-up 17-footer on the break. Second Half: He had Pau wide open for a lob and over-threw him. He let his man fly by and swished the sideline jumper.

Blake -- -- He led the team in assists in limited time. There are some passes that you would be lucky to get from our backup PG spot last year -- halfcourt, on the money to guys who still have defenders near them. When the offense slows down in our triangle sets, he still pulls defenders and finds open men. This kind of unselfish play and his floor general work overall allows for big nights for others. And when they leave him, he goes into shooter mode, taking shots that keep the D honest. Barnes and Brown certainly elevate the second unit this year, but the bench isn't playing like idiots for stretches. either. The result is extending leads and taking care of business. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-4 from three, had 4 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, 3 turnovers and 1 foul in 19 minutes. He was a +9. The Action: He blindsided Biedrins and tied him up (Barnes got to the jumpball). He sank a three. He hit Shannon for back-to-back threes. Second Half: Perfect chest pass to Kobe ahead of the pack for an And-1 on the break. He missed a corner three, tried to fake a shot and hit Pau a second later and Pau wasn't looking for it. He hit Ebanks from halfcourt for a lob. He missed a wing three. He swiped a pass at midcourt, pushed it up and hit Barnes for three. He drained a corner three over the zone.

Barnes -- -- He's made 10-13 threes in his past four games. That's like a freethrow shooting percentage. He continued to knock them down tonight, getting set up for some good looks and draining a couple. The second unit forces very few shots and generally gets good looks. He and Blake play very unselfishly. The $3.9 million spent between him and Shannon this season is easily among the best free agent money dished out. Loved this signing during the offseason. Loving it each day more and more as the season goes along. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 3-6 shooting (2-4 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 20 minutes. He was a +14. The Action: He snagged the Blake vs. Biedrins jumpball and found Brown for a score. He opened the second with a score in the paint. He made one FT after getting fouled off a steal. He sank a corner three on a kickout. Second Half: He was blocked on a three attempt. He sank the corner three on the kickout from Blake. He missed a three straight away. He was called for a flagrant-1, dumping Vlad from behind on the break.

Brown -- -- His stroke looks so smooth this year. He had a three in this game from way beyond the arc where he simply squared up and shot it almost flatfooted like a freethrow. He had more points than anyone in the opposing uniform. He sank all three attempts from three. He was aggressive, but under control. You just wait for him to explode these days. When the Lakers have big leads, there are also points in games where you want Phil to rest the Killer B's, too, but he's got to always play at least one of them. The Stats: He scored 17 points on 7-10 shooting (3-3 from three) to go with 4 boards, 1 assist, 1 turnover and no fouls in 19 minutes. He was a +10. The Action: He lost Ellis overpowering him on the perimeter, then hit the pull-up 18-footer. Barnes found him and he scored 30 seconds later. He attacked and lost the ball looking for a foul. He sank a 17-footer. He made a three of the pass from Blake. He had 11 points on 5-7 shooting. Second Half: Horrible post entry (bad angle, too low) and it went right out of bounds. He drained a 30-footer like a freethrow, barely leaving the floor. He sank another wing three with ease. Nice try, nearly tipping in a Caracter miss after hanging under the rim.

Vujacic -- -- The Lakers were up by 31 when he entered the game in the second half. Sasha was only a -3 in this one. Not great minutes, but his one make was under control and the proper shot to take. He, Luke and the two rookies aren't going to be real pretty on the floor. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-3 shooting (1-2 from three) to go with 1 board and 1 foul in 7 minutes. He was a -3. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: He fumbled a rebound out of bounds. He attacked and hit the side of the backboard on a fallaway chuck, uggh. He didn't shoot with the shotclock expiring, team turnover. Good effort to try to track down a loose ball, but he couldn't get to it as he went to the floor. He missed a chuck from 30 feet out, not a good idea. He sank a better look next time down on the pitch out from Shannon.

Walton -- -- He didn't hit anything in two midrange attempts and one three. He takes the Adam Morrison award for the only Laker not to scratch. So who was center for the final minute? Luke or Ebanks? DC fouled out and Phil went to the uber-small Walton/Ebanks combo for a minute. Luke got to run with the some starters to close the first half, Lakers already up huge. Then later was in the deep bench garbage time. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-3 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 1 board, 2 assists and 1 foul in 11 minutes. He was a -3. The Action: He threaded a needle to Fish in the paint for a layup. Second Half: He spun to lose Vlad, then bricked badly. He missed his turnaround on the baseline. He missed a corner three.

Caracter -- -- A lot of whistles surrounding his play tonight -- turnovers, committing fouls and drawing some fouls on the other end. He fouled out with 50 seconds left. The stats were pretty ugly. Against the Warriors, you'd like to see him overpower them more and make an impact. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-5 shooting (0-1 from the line) to go with 1 board, 1 block, 4 turnovers and 6 fouls in 17 minutes. He had a +/- of 0. The Action: He was blocked on an 11-footer. He was called for three seconds. Second Half: Sloppy backscreen for Shannon, turnover. He was blindsided and lost the ball. He had Warriors flying all around him and bouncing off him as he banked in an And-1 on an up and under, he missed the FT. He spun and missed a 9-footer. He missed a pull-up at the FT line. He swatted dribble penetration. He was called for a charge trying to power spin under the hoop.

Ebanks -- -- Tough night from the FT line. He had been knocking them down nicely prior to this one, making all 7 attempts in his brief NBA career. Just wasn't automatic there tonight, which would have gotten him to double-digit scoring. Good garbage work on a few plays, especially the offensive glass. Always strong effort on D and his length seems to come into play whenever he's out there. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-5 shooting (1-4 from the line) to go with 5 boards (4 offensive), 1 block and 1 foul in 14 minutes. He was -6. The Action: Nothing to report. Second Half: He tried to power up along the baseline and was blocked, but drew a foul on the follow, he then missed both FTs. He finished a halfcourt lob from Blake. He swatted Vlad at the rim. He crashed the glass and put back in a missed FT. He crashed the glass again for another putback layup. He drew FTs attacking off the baseline handoff, he made one.

Phil -- -- The Lakers took an 18-10 lead with quick transition scores, forcing a Warrior timeout midway through the quarter... 22 of the Lakers first 29 points came in the paint... With 2 minutes left, Phil brought in the Killer B's up 31-17... He sat Lamar for Ebanks 30 seconds later... The Lakers led 37-21 after the first... The Warriors had just three hoops in the first half of the second quarter when Phil brought back in Kobe, Pau, Luke and Fisher to run with Barnes. Long rest for the starters and they watched the lead stretch to 52-28... They extended the lead to as many as 30... The Lakers led 69-41 at the half. The Lakers shot 66 percent (29-44). They had 22 points on the break, the Warriors just 2... The Lakers led by 32 when Phil sat Barnes for Artest, Fish for Blake with 4:33 left in the third... Phil called a timeout with 1:19 left to get the rest of his subs in... Up 91-60, Phil ran a Pau, Ebanks, Barnes, Brown, Blake unit... The Lakers led 95-60 heading into the fourth... Phil swapped out Pau for Caracter and kept the rest to start the fourth... The Lakers shot 56 percent, the Warriors 35 percent, including just 3-20 from three...

[AutoShackMotorSports]

first!!!

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Second!!

Thanks DB! Glad to see you back!

[JTS1]

wow, that was fast!

thanks db!
_________________
'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

[Cutheon]

[markjay]

Great write-up as usual. It's terrific to see the Lakers roll like this.

Did Pau get robbed of a double-double on that last play he was fouled on at the end of the third quarter? Or did they credit him with a rebound on that and he still came up one short?

[Shaber]

Thanks, DB!
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.

Lakers depth chart

PG Johnson / Goodrich
SG Bryant / West / Scott
SF Baylor / Worthy / Cooper
PF Mikkelsen / Hairston / McAdoo / Gasol
C Chamberlain / Abdul-Jabbar / O'Neal / Mikan

[LakerSanity]

Disappointed with Character. He needs to slow down. He's trying too hard out there. Same can be said for Ebanks, but to a lesser extent.

I'm tired of Sasha. if we don't trade him by the deadline, I'm at the point where I'd almost like to see him waived. He's a black hole out there and he's given up on this team. It looks clear to me and that can't be good. He's part of the selfish bench, along with Farmar, last year and I've come to the point where I want him gone.
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[Katarin]

Yay, thank you!

I think Fish had a perfect shooting game in Minn as well, yeah? Just < 20 points.

[markjay]

[LakerSanity]

^Fisher, Blake, and Brown can all play the 2 if we needed them to. So could Artest, or even Ebanks. With our glut of SFs, I would have no problem pushing Ebanks or Artest into the 2 spot if need be. My guess is that when Bynum comes back, Sasha may be a prime candidate to be inactive anyway.
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[lounger]

Sasha and Luke have regressed so much.

[Tanlentueux]

[ucgamerz]

[mhan00]

[heatseeker08]

What a game. Thanks DB.
_________________
Ron Artest: "SAY QUEENSBRIDGE"

[lounger]

[stare_at_GOATs]

Sasha:

[Wilt]

We've always known that if Sasha's shot disappears, he'd become useless. His "defense" was a myth, and mostly ended up in stupid fouls in midcourt. On top of it, we have improved our bench, so he can't get any rhythm at all. If he got more minutes, I still think he can be valuable for a team, but not for us. At least he has a hot fiance.
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¡Hala Madrid!

[wolfpaclaker]

Hey now. Sasha has some value. It's down the stretch in a big game in a playoff series. We have a foul fest going on and need to put guys out there who can make FT's.

I'd say Sasha has some value there.

Other than that, pretty much the rest of the season he should be this year's Adam Morrison.

[dj vitus]

Said it before and I'll say it again: Blake's passing is just a thing of beauty to watch, esp in transition. I don't think we've had a PG pass this well since Nick Van Exel.

[revgen]

[prisma8slg]

thanks DB!

glad to see we didn't play down to our opponents and that we managed to keep the lead all night
_________________
"I define success by championships, by winning..." Kobe Bryant

"I've seen it all. Sasha dunked on somebody," Kobe Bryant said. "I'm ready to retire now."

[All Net]

Thanks DB

[hoopschick29]

Caracter was definitely trying to do too much. But he's a rookie. There's hope.

Sasha is not just bad. He's PROFOUNDLY bad. I didn't think it was possible for me to think any less of him as a player. But he has somehow managed to out-do his usual putrid-ness.
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So glad we gave you your flowers while you were here, Kobe.