THUNDER -at- LAKERS - 3-24-23 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

 
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 24, 2023 10:13 pm    Post subject: THUNDER -at- LAKERS - 3-24-23 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

.500!!...Finally!... It wasn’t going to be easy. The Lakers would have to pursue that .500 without D’Angelo Russell, who sat out with hip pain

The Lakers went up by 11 early off a flurry of AD activity. They extended the lead when he sat behind Reaves distributing and shooters knocking down good looks. The Lakers were up 41-25 after a strong opening quarter. They had a 15-0 bench scoring advantage in that season-high first quarter.

But this OKC team is scrappy. The Lakers struggled to get stops in the second quarter, giving up 41 points themselves. The size of the lead would come and go depending on AD’s assertiveness. If it was destroying worlds on offense, the lead edged back up. If not, the lack of defense kept the Thunder right there.

They were going to go as far as he could carry them tonight it seemed. The Lakers led 74-66 at the half.

In the third, the Lakers were getting out-hustled on loose balls and the lead was just 1 point heading into the fourth.

With AD resting, Dennis Schröder took the attack to his old team. He strung together multiple buckets during the opening minutes of the fourth and had the crowd going.

Down the stretch, they’d lean on Dennis and AD to bring them home. Big buckets by both and Lonnie Walker hit a key three for his 20th point as the Lakers edged out a small lead. They were able to hold onto it, helped by a key miscue by the Thunder. With 25 seconds left, they threw an inbounds away to waste a big possession while down 5.

The Lakers took the 116-111 win and slid into the 8th seed with their 37-37 record.

Can they stay above .500? Can they get healthy?


Davis -- -- He came to play. Beast mode. They needed all of it. Strong start to the game as he helped the Lakers to an 11-point lead in the first quarter. He had 15 on 6-7 shooting. He cleaned up several Laker mistakes with his activity, but also just called his own number a few times. Some quicker attacks on the catch, as well, before the D could load up. He’d have 23 points on 9-11 shooting by half time. The Thunder went some zone for some stretches and were also three-quarter fronting AD at times with help zoning behind it. This is where we really missed DLo. The actions we were running in the last game that allowed for legit threats on both sides of the court weren’t there and things got clunky trying to get AD the ball. At times the clock would wind down late in the game and put us in bad position after failed actions to get AD the ball in a decent spot on the floor. AD was just too big and too skilled anytime he could get the ball in good position. Late game, again some issues with that FT shooting, he made just one with 25 seconds left to go up 5. The Stats: He scored 37 points on 15-21 shooting (0-1 from three, 7-11 from the line) to go with 14 boards (4 offensive), 1 steal, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 36 minutes. He was a +8.

Schröder -- -- He came to play late in that second half. It wasn’t like he was dogging it or anything, he had 8 points on 3-6 shooting in the first half. But he was punching back in this dog fight. Let’s go to a sequence late in the third. The ball bounced out to midcourt and Dennis dove to recover it. The crowd went nuts, but the play wasn’t over. As the Lakers couldn’t score and the ball quickly went back to OKC, they outlet down court and Dennis hustled back again at midcourt to flag down the pass for a steal. Dennis then attacked and drew FTs and the building was roaring. To start the fourth, Dennis got us going with a layup on a drive, then he hit a wing three next time down on iso. Shortly later, he blew past his man and scooped in a layup high over the help defender, tough make, but a bit one. This was a key stretch as AD was out (again no DLo, no LBJ, we’re just missing a ton of impact). Later in the quarter, he bounced off his defender and hit a jumper. He got middle and hit a freethrow jumper before getting knocked over with no call with 1:17 left. He’d then setup Vando for FTs on a lob and hit his own FTs with 20 seconds left. Just a tremendous stretch of ball there with no DLo, no LeBron, Reaves missing shots. He and AD brought them home for the big W. Defensively, he had the Giddy matchup. Quite a size difference there. The Stats: He scored 21 points on 8-14 shooting (2-4 from three, 3-4 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 6 assists, 2 steals, 1block, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 37 minutes. He was a +4.

Reaves -- -- At one point in the first half at a timeout, Reaves went through the motions on his floater at the opponent basket. It just wasn’t connecting and he was a little down. (Later in the next half, he’d hit a floater from that exact spot he just practiced to barely beat the shotclock.) Without Russell in the mix, maybe Reaves felt like he needed to playmake and get others shots a bit more in the first half. He did have an overpass at the rim on a kickout to a shooter that usually he tries to finish. But I think he just wasn’t feeling the shot tonight. Even still, 11 points, 9 assists, 6 boards when you are cold shooting is more than decent. We’ll need him to pick the scoring back up for the next one. The freethrow shooting is under the microscope by fans, so let’s cover that a little. Reaves had one drive challenged and overturned by OKC. It was a bit different than the usual whistles, Reaves cleared out with an off arm, so two FTs were erased there. No stopping on a dime to get the defender to crawl up his back types of plays in this one, so no FTs earned from that. I think he had one pivot type play in the paint but kicked it out. The Thunder were packing the paint a bit, too, tonight which made it tough for the Lakers to get all the way to the rim. We missed that balanced attack with DLo on one side and Austin on the other to open the floor up. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 3-12 shooting (1-5 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 6 boards (3 offensive), 9 assists, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls in 38 minutes. He was a +4.

Vanderbilt -- -- He got the SGA assignment. He had some strong defensive moments in crunch time. If you can force a pass or get a miss in a few possessions late, that can get you through a close one. The Lakers held the Thunder to just 19 points in fourth quarter, including a several minute stretch where they helped them scoreless. With no Vando, we’re getting lit up instead of clamping down. Offensively, he scored his only point on a freethrow with a minute left after getting fouled on a lob attempt. He missed some chippies for sure. The Stats: He scored 1 point son 0-5 shooting (0-1 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 9 boards (3 offensive), 1 block and 3 fouls in 28 minutes. He was a -7.

Brown -- -- He knocked down a couple of threes in this one, his only makes in 10 attempts. Some frustrating play late in the game, He had an iso fallaway in crunch time where our offense went completely to hell. I think that was after a deadball, too, so the Lakers executed especially poorly on that possession. He also tried threading a pass through defenders under the hoop for a late turnover. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-10 shooting (2-7 from three) to go with 2 boards, 2 assists, 2 blocks,1 turnover and no fouls in 27 minutes. He was a -3.

Hachimura -- -- One bucket in this game. He faced up and attacked from the wing in the first half to overpower his man on a drive for the And-1. Other than that, not much action offensively. He went to the floor for a steal in the second half. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-1 shooting (1-1 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 14 minutes. He was a +1.

Beasley -- -- Great first shift as he scored 10 points in just 9 minutes. Some excellent play calls to get him good looks. The double-drag sequence had him coming off a screen weakside after the initial action to get the ball at the top of the arc. He hit a three off that. The Thunder would lock into that as the game went along. Beasley also had some probes for scores, as well. He led the team in the first half with a +13. Nothing in the second half. He missed a three and a floater. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 4-11 shooting (2-6 from three) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 2 steals, 2 turnover and no fouls in 18 minutes. He was a +13.

Gabriel -- -- A rare make from three for Wenyen to start this game. This time last year, he was actually knocking some of those down with some consistency. He drew FTs on a dunk attempt. In the second half he had a great tip-in for a score that an OKC player was about to rebound. Good energy. There was a point there where the Thunder were beating us to just about every loose ball. We were not matching their energy. Gabriel helped clean up some of that. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 2-4 shooting (1-2 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 8 boards (2 offensive) and 2 fouls in 18 minutes. He was a +6.

Walker IV -- -- Huge game tonight from Lonnie. He said he’s been up and down and hasn’t been himself the last few weeks, but he was ready. He came in with 3:36 left in the first quarter as Russell wasn’t playing. The Lakers were up 8 and he helped them double that lead early. We got him a great look on his first attempt, an open sideline three which he knocked down. He’d sink a couple more threes and had some finishes using that athleticism around the rim. He’d lead the bench with 15 points on 6-9 shooting in those 11 minutes and get a couple steals, as well. In the second half, he’d knock down a big three that started with an AD post up opposite that was kicked out, a swing-swing later and Lonnie was wide open for it with 3:45 left. From not playing to finishing for the team in a massively important game. It wasn’t without some rust. Multiple times in timeouts, the coaches immediately went to him to go over some execution that he wasn’t doing. I suspect it was on the offensive end. I think it was related to screening for AD. “I love these guys and am happy to be playing with them. Just taking it game by game,” he said afterward. The Stats: He scored 20 points on 7-12 shooting (4-8 from three, 2-4 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 3 steals and 1 foul in 24 minutes. He was a -1.

Ham -- -- Key Moment: That stretch where Dennis came out to dominate the first few minutes of the fourth while AD sat was big. Ham got a little rest in for him, then brought him right back. He set the tone and the Lakers were able to get AD some decent rest for the last push.

Key Substitution: Lonnie was the man tonight. No cobwebs that were too apparent, dropping 20 to replace DLo’s scoring. Just huge to get that from an out-of-rotation player.

Key Stats: The Lakers led by as many as 17 in this one, the Thunder just 2. Lakers had a 41-point first, the Thunder a 41-point second. The Laker had a 19-point third, the Thunder a 19-point fourth.


Last edited by DancingBarry on Sat Mar 25, 2023 9:21 am; edited 1 time in total
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Halflife
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 24, 2023 10:17 pm    Post subject:

Wenyen is a keeper
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 24, 2023 10:46 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB! Excellent to see this a win!

GREAT game AD, and Schroeder as well!! Brown, Vando and Gabriel were all solid as well.

Even though Reaves didn't score efficiently he still had plenty of assists and rebounds. It looks to me like Austin was missing the pressure DLO puts on defenses, both players are intelligent and crafty, they both can take advantage of a defense, and they seem to be on the same page even when they improvise.

Hope DLO's back for the road trip.

.500!!! Great to see that barrier broken, now finish above .500 Lakers!
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 24, 2023 10:49 pm    Post subject:

THX DB!
Much needed victory, now bring on "da Bulls!"
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 24, 2023 11:05 pm    Post subject:

That was nerve racking down the stretch. It felt like we might blow yet another close game (we’ve lost sooooooo many this season).

Schroder plays hard and does it while accruing more minutes than anyone. His energy, speed, and ball handling is so valuable. We really lucked out that he agreed to comeback to us for vet min.

It was an off night for Reeves and that could have cost us the game. Fortunately, AD, Dennis, and Lonnie were able to keep us ahead.

Vando is such a difference maker. His ability to slowdown the other teams best player wins us games. He’s still young and I have hope he can improve offensively as well.

AD was beasting, I just wish we could find ways to get him touches in the paint more. We are just to predictable in how we do it now, so he gets swarmed and pushed out way to far.

Great Win!!!
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 24, 2023 11:26 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB!

Even down the stretch when the game was very close, I felt fairly confident that we would win. I guess some of that was because OKC just isn't that good, but we've had trouble winning games like this all season long.

AD was back to his old dominant self tonight, and Schroder filled in admirably for DLO. Reaves shot like crap and wasn't able to draw fouls, but he still helped out with nine assists and six rebounds.

We're now 10-5 since the All-Star break and 12-6 since the players from the Russ trade debuted. Most of those games have been without LeBron, meaning we could easily be something like 14-4 with our new players if LeBron didn't get hurt.
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 24, 2023 11:50 pm    Post subject:

So umm…am I seriously the only one that sees the error in the title?

Lakers at Lakers.
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 25, 2023 12:48 am    Post subject:

Startrout wrote:
That was nerve racking down the stretch. It felt like we might blow yet another close game (we’ve lost sooooooo many this season).

Schroder plays hard and does it while accruing more minutes than anyone. His energy, speed, and ball handling is so valuable. We really lucked out that he agreed to comeback to us for vet min.

It was an off night for Reeves and that could have cost us the game. Fortunately, AD, Dennis, and Lonnie were able to keep us ahead.

Vando is such a difference maker. His ability to slowdown the other teams best player wins us games. He’s still young and I have hope he can improve offensively as well.

AD was beasting, I just wish we could find ways to get him touches in the paint more. We are just to predictable in how we do it now, so he gets swarmed and pushed out way to far.

Great Win!!!


How many have we lost this year in the final seconds...like 8 or something?

Crazy that this team started 2-10 and is now at 500 despite the heartbreaks, the injuries, the Westbrook, and the maddening losses like Houston.
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 25, 2023 1:44 am    Post subject:

Totally missed the game but man Dennis has some serious grit, love to see him ball out. Hope he gets paid next year even if it means he's not in LA
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 25, 2023 4:56 am    Post subject:

Only 2 games behind the 4th seed

LETS GET GREEDY

GO LAKERS
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 25, 2023 5:12 am    Post subject:

Quote:
LAKERS -at- LAKERS


Could have gone either way, but I was rooting for both of these anyway
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 25, 2023 8:10 am    Post subject:

Chronicle wrote:
Quote:
LAKERS -at- LAKERS


Could have gone either way, but I was rooting for both of these anyway


Win-win situation.
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 25, 2023 8:27 am    Post subject:

Reaves looked tired or hurt last night IMO.
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 25, 2023 9:14 am    Post subject:

Quote:
The Stats: He scored 11 points on 3-12 shooting (1-5 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 6 boards (3 offensive), 9 assists, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls in 38 minutes. He was a +4.


This was an off night for AR. He had a lot more on his plate because Dlo wasn't there. You could see he was pressing. He's growing. I hope because he's been playing well LG doesn't expect too much of him, or ask too much of him too soon. When a player doesn't live up to LG's expectation the bashing begins.
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Last edited by jodeke on Sat Mar 25, 2023 9:45 am; edited 1 time in total
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 25, 2023 9:23 am    Post subject:

Megaton wrote:
So umm…am I seriously the only one that sees the error in the title?

Lakers at Lakers.


Forgot to fill out my title in my template. Wrong date too.
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 25, 2023 10:50 am    Post subject: Re: THUNDER -at- LAKERS - 3-24-23 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

DancingBarry wrote:
DavisHe cleaned up several Laker mistakes with his activity, but also just called his own number a few times.

SchröderBut he was punching back in this dog fight. Let’s go to a sequence late in the third. The ball bounced out to midcourt and Dennis dove to recover it. The crowd went nuts, but the play wasn’t over. As the Lakers couldn’t score and the ball quickly went back to OKC, they outlet down court and Dennis hustled back again at midcourt to flag down the pass for a steal. Dennis then attacked and drew FTs and the building was roaring.

ReavesWe missed that balanced attack with DLo on one side and Austin on the other to open the floor up.

Walker IVFrom not playing to finishing for the team in a massively important game. It wasn’t without some rust. Multiple times in timeouts, the coaches immediately went to him to go over some execution that he wasn’t doing. I suspect it was on the offensive end. I think it was related to screening for AD. “I love these guys and am happy to be playing with them. Just taking it game by game,” he said afterward
Great that at key times, AD was demanding the ball

DS's hustle, effort, energy and urgency was on full display to inspire the others on the court to bring their very best

Reeves' "off-day" found him trying to impact the game in other ways - props to him for influencing the game. Still a very good and strategic move to have AR in the starting lineup

Hopefully DLo, LBJ and Bamba will be back soon. When LBJ is back, there might be some rust but he will be rested mentally and physically. Plus, AD & LBJ (along with Ham) has seen that they will not be required to always play heavy minutes and they have shooters in the starting lineup and on the bench.

With Vando (along with others from Gabriel to Brown and others) defending the opposition's star players, AD/LBJ can concentrate on what they do best

Side Note:
Glad that our Lakers are giving "thanks" to DB's consistent work by providing a much better product to cover
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 25, 2023 10:57 am    Post subject:

DancingBarry wrote:
Megaton wrote:
So umm…am I seriously the only one that sees the error in the title?

Lakers at Lakers.


Forgot to fill out my title in my template. Wrong date too.


Haha it’s all good man. Your posts are always gladly appreciated!
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 25, 2023 11:18 am    Post subject: Re: THUNDER -at- LAKERS - 3-24-23 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

A Mad Chinaman wrote:


Side Note:
Glad that our Lakers are giving "thanks" to DB's consistent work by providing a much better product to cover


Same here!
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 25, 2023 1:14 pm    Post subject: Re: THUNDER -at- LAKERS - 3-24-23 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

TooMuchMajicBuss wrote:
A Mad Chinaman wrote:


Side Note:
Glad that our Lakers are giving "thanks" to DB's consistent work by providing a much better product to cover


Same here!


Agreed. Thanks, DB!
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