LAKERS -vs- CELTICS - 7-12-23 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Summer League Game 5... Don’t like losing to the Celtics. Even in summer league.

The Lakers were dominating early on, getting stops and hitting threes. They gave up a 10-2 run early in the second quarter to lead by just 5, but pushed it back up behind some excellent guard play.

They’d build up a 14-point lead with 4 seconds left in the first half but gave up a 4-point possession to lead 53-43 heading into the half.

The Celtics picked up the energy behind some good two-way play from Jordan Walsh and outscored the Lakers 31-17 in the third.

The Lakers were missing everything from the perimeter and midrange. In the fourth, they made just one three and missed a ton of shots in the midrange at the top of the paint.

Closing quarters was a big issue in this game. They lost the ball at the end of the first in the backcourt to give up a buzzer-beating three. They had that 4-point possession in 3 seconds to close the first half. And, they gave up an And-1 with 0.5 seconds left in the third. So about 10 points in a total of about 4-5 seconds. That cost them.

Down the stretch, they struggled to make up the small lead the Celtics built and fell 95-90.


Christie -- -- He led all scorers with an 11-point first quarter. He showed the ability to be effective on all three levels, sinking threes, hitting pull-ups and turnarounds in the midrange and attacking the rim for FTs. He’s really starting to throw his added strength around with bumps on drives to try to get some separation. Walsh gave him some trouble, however, when he started applying pressure D on the perimeter. I think you probably should add 5 more points to his total (so more like 29 instead of 24). He had an obvious goaltend early on that wasn’t called. He was also hit on a three that also seemed pretty obvious. That’s why it’s summer league for the refs, too. Great job rebounding, as always. He wins tough ones, too. Turnover-wise, he had the issues ball handling against Walsh, but he also had a few passes where he got into trouble without a good plan. This is a case of seeing what you can do in the summer versus what you will likely see during the regular season. Sometimes you try to outrun guys to beat them instead of using craft. I think that’s where working on his handle will be key to how his game progresses. Really strong outing again despite the outcome. Just think where he was last year and how he was still able to contribute a little during the regular season. He’s head and shoulders above that now. The Stats: He scored 24 points on 7-14 shooting (2-5 from three, 8-8 from the line) to go with 8 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 5 turnovers and 1 foul in 35 minutes. He was a +2.

Hood-Schifino -- -- Tale of two halves. Strong first half offensively with 9 points on 4-7 shooting. He knocked down a step-back three. He hit a couple of floaters as well as a midrange pull-up. Just some excellent work navigating under control off the screens. He did have trouble when he tried to go to the rim where he’s been challenged quite a bit on his finishes. But overall, things were going well in that first half. In the second half, particularly the fourth, he was coming up short on everything as he went 3-13. The team looked tired as a whole, but JHS had no legs it seemed to finish this one out. He’d choke a key layup down 5 with about 3:30 to go. No one challenging him, just couldn’t get it over the rim. That felt like a momentum killer. He’d then miss a bunch more shots. He made 1 of his 2 attempts from three. He actually hit a couple more threes, one he stepped on the sideline and the other was erased by a moving screen. So for the second game in a row, the three ball looked solid. I’d rather see him aggressive and missing than disappearing and not trying to get after it. I usually think that’s a good sign. Defensively, it felt like a step backwards from the previous game. He gave up too much penetration. He even got beat after going under a screen. Unfortunate that he couldn’t build on that last game on that end of the floor. Ham had some good words about him. “Can’t speed him up. Can’t slow him down,” Ham said. He added JHS has the potential to help the team immediately. He shot just one FT and like previous games, he missed short on that first attempt. Crazy how many of those first FTs he’s missed just like that. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 7-20 shooting (1-2 from three, 0-1 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 3 assists, 2 turnovers and 5 fouls in 29 minutes. He was a -5.

Castleton -- -- This was his weakest game of the summer league, but then you look at the stat sheet and he still had 9 points, 8 boards, 6 assists, 2 steals and a block. Passing wise, some good work finding cutters from the high post for easy scores. He also works those DHOs really well. Some really solid screens to free up teammates. He took a few jumpers in this game and went 1-3, sinking an elbow jumper. His touch around the rim has been amazing in the summer league. This game, he missed a few chippies. I did like seeing him got to the step-through for the first time for an And-1. That’s a finesse move that can counter some lack of strength and athleticism in the post. Defensively, I think he was really trying to make an effort to not foul in this one. The lack of anchoring was felt, however, in the first half. In the second half, he was a bit under siege in the paint. Some better challenges to force misses. He had a couple of bogus fouls that erased great defensive plays. The Lakers had Christie bulking up and looking stronger pretty quickly after summer league last year. Curious to see what Castleton can do between now and October. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 3-9 shooting (3-3 from the line) to go with 8 boards (2 offensive), 6 assists, 2 steals, 1 block and 4 fouls in 31 minutes. He was a -2.

Hodge -- -- He’s just getting better and better by the game. He led all Lakers with 14 points on 5-10 shooting in the first half, hitting 4-8 from three. Some of those threes got out of his hands fast. He has such a quick release on those kickouts that’s really going to translate to some excellent gravity to space the floor. His other bucket in the half was a backdoor cut against the perimeter overplay and Castleton found him for the layup. He’s made some great cuts and those two have teamed up multiple times in the summer league for buckets. He’d knock down a couple more threes in the second half and also score on a tip in at the rim. He missed a half court heave at the buzzer, so his three shooting was more like 6-12. Volume and efficiency. Great two-way signing here. The Stats: He scored 22 points on 8-16 shooting (6-13 from three) to go with 4 boards, 1 assist,1 turnover and 4 fouls in 30 minutes. He was a -4.

Swider -- -- Another one where it was a tale of two halves. He and JHS just didn’t get it done in the second half at all. And here Swider was putting together a good two-way first half. He had some actual moments on D in that first half, stopping Walsh on an iso drive, stealing a cross-court pass. He was doing well. Then the second half Swidering started. Here is where he misses shot or makes crazy turnovers or bad decisions that have you shaking your head. The Swidering is often stringing together multiple bad plays, too, so they stand out more. Too bad. They needed someone to step up. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 4-8 shooting (2-6 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 25 minutes. He was a +0.

Lewis -- -- A big nothing game from Max today. Really lost out there. His best play was probably a drive and dish to Fudge who choked the dunk. But really no presence in this one. He missed his only three and a leaner off a screen. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-2 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 3 boards, 1 assist and 1 foul in 20 minutes. He was a -11.

Baugh -- -- Not too much going on in this one. He hit a rainbow floater on a probe and sank a corner three. I liked the speed he played at. Walsh tried to put pressure on him and he just blew past him. The other guys like Christie and JHS weren’t a threat to play with that speed so Walsh was able to really pressure them. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-4 shooting (1-2 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 1 board, 2 assists, 2 blocks and 1 foul in 13 minutes. He was a -1.

Fudge -- -- We saw Sacha and played smaller with Fudge at the backup center. Offensively, Fudge was awful. He choked a dunk and a putback layup right after that which was almost a Shaqtin’ possession. He missed a three on his only attempt. Nothing was working that end. Defensively, though, he had a couple of spectacular blocks. He covers so much ground, has that length and athleticism that you just rarely see guys get to those shots he blocked. One I think he missed a shot on one end and managed to hustle all the way back and block the transition layup attempt. The other he came out of nowhere to save a layup on a help D block he had no business getting to. So you see the potential there and why they were interested in him. He’s young and just needs to put in work the next couple of years and see if he can carve out a role for himself through the G-League. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-4 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 2 boards (1 offensive), 1 assist, 2 blocks, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 9 minutes. He was a -3.

Hamilton -- -- He didn’t score on some wild drives (blocked on a floater, stripped off the leg on another). The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-3 shooting to go with 3 boards, 2 assists, 1 turnover and no fouls in 9 minutes. He was a -1.

DuBois -- -- The team looked really tired to close this game. They had some extra time between games, but just flamed out as the game went along. Maybe some hard work in practices or late nights in Vegas. Awful second half… The Lakers ran more zone than they have in previous games… No Killeya-Jones. We went with the smaller Fudge. The team really lacked some size out there… Not a lot of getting to the rim by the team…

[pio2u]

THX DB!

[iam]

Thank you always sir. I look forward to your recap after every game.

[deal]

Thanks DB !!! Great comments as always.

Christie and Hodge have really looked good and that's good news for our NBA team.

Castleton, Lewis & Fino; will need more time in the g-league. They have to build constancy. I have my question marks about each one, but hope they can turn it on.

Swider, is a black hole right now. I hope he can start playing full games the way he did the 1st half of this one, he's no longer a rookie. He should be killing it day in and out.

And Fudge is so long that I hope our g-league can help him put it all together, but, not as a backup C, he should be defending SF's @ 6'8". Using him as a C will not help him on the O-side of the court.
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Lakers need to build a freaking team !

[deal]

Another thought; while watching the game last night I saw they have two
big C's that basically neutralized Castleton.

Although they are just your basic rim protector, don't know if one of them
could fit deep into our bench in case of injuries.

Udoka Azubuike, for example, is a big strong dude with not much basketball in him but he can do the dirty work. Just a thought; LOL don't kill me.
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Lakers need to build a freaking team !

[Laker7]

[LakerDYnasty72]

I realize it was a loss. But some of ya'll owe DB an acknowledgement for his work. The summary page recieved 500 views to this point, but only five or six acknowledgements.

Some of ya'll read his work and went to the next thread w/o saying so much as bad loss, but good work or something. Don't read his work and forget to gratefully acknowledge it. Even in a loss. It's still work!

Thanks DB!

[Dennis_D]

Thanks, DB, for your great summaries. There's nothing like them on the Internet.
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<-- My avatar is Margaret Nolan from one of the Carry On films. She was the girl who got painted gold in "Goldfinger". Thanks to CaliRyderX for identifying her.

[tox]

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks DB. Good writeup on what looked like an easy win to start with. I have to wonder if a night out on the town had something to do with the second half flameout.

I look forward to seeing Max Christie contribute as a 4th guard on the Lakers. Everyone else needs a bit more time in South Bay IMO, at least at this stage.