WARRIORS -at- LAKERS - 3-16-24 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Missing AD... Not a lot of analysis needed in this one to see where this game went south for the Lakers.

Anthony Davis got popped in the eye in the first quarter. Once he went to the locker room after that first quarter, the Warriors went right to the paint. I’m not sure I’ve seen Curry with that many layups in a quarter as he did in that second quarter.

The early lead the Lakers had was trimmed away. They trailed by a point at halftime. To open the second half, the Warriors just picked up where they left off. Between the second and third quarter, the Warriors outscored the Lakers by 15.

The Lakers had too many point of attack defenders out and too many bigs missing in this one.

They didn’t give up or go away, though. Down 9 heading into the fourth quarter, they had no choice to run the small ball. As the lead extended to 12, the Bron/Rui bigman unit helped cut the lead to 4 at one point on an And-1 runner by Reaves.

They gave up back-to-back layups right after that, struggling again to defend the paint, and the Lakers called timeout.

The Lakers fell 128-121. Enough points offensively, but just too little resistance in the paint. With AD, I think they take this game and probably with some ease.

“I don’t know the last time we won in here against them,” Curry said afterward.


LeBron -- -- He picked up the scoring with AD not out there. Really good job using his strength and size to get to the rim. When he gets into freight train mode and downhill the Warriors have few answers for that. Sometimes, they’ll throw a smaller defender on him so they can try to use bigger defenders on the guards. So Bron needs to take advantage. He could bully his way on the drive or in the post. Good effort trying to get after it in this one. He had what could have been a huge three that would have cut the lead to 4 with a couple minutes left and the Lakers with the ball. But that was overturned as they reviewed it later and he stepped out of bounds with his heel. The refs really sucked the air out of the game in the last few minutes (along with the Lakers clocks not working well). Awful. The Stats: He scored 40 points on 15-23 shooting (3-5 from three, 7-8 from the line) to go with 8 boards, 9 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 4 turnovers and 1 foul in 38 minutes. He was a -6.

Davis -- -- Hit in the eye at end of first quarter and the game changed from there. It was noticeable on the number of times and ease of which Curry was able to get to the rim. The Warriors had 20 of their 24 first half points in the paint in that second quarter when AD did not play. It was also noticeable in some of the two-man D where AD can take on defending a couple of players at once, allowing teammates to recover. The biggest part of our D, though, is our ability to be disruptive off of Draymond. Give Green open looks and sag off to be disruptive everywhere else. The Lakers couldn’t execute that like they normally do. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-6 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block and no fouls in 12 minutes. He was a +6.

Russell -- -- While he was able to put up some points, it wasn’t an efficient fourth quarter. That really hurt the Lakers cause. He missed multiple shots to start the fourth, knocked down a midrange, then missed some more perimeter shots. Had he made just a couple of those, could have been a different close to this one. Some good work running the two-man action with Hayes for a couple of dunks. There was a nice sequence out of a timeout where Dinwiddie started with the ball in his hands to run a two-man game with Hayes. Russell circled around to take the pass back from him, then flowed into the two-man action for a lob dunk. Good job passing with 13 assists and no turnovers. The Stats: He scored 23 points on 9-21 shooting (3-10 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 13 assists, 1 steal and 2 fouls in 40 minutes. He was a -14.

Reaves -- -- Not a good shooting game from Reaves. He missed some of those midrange paint shots, but also just a few too many missed threes. He did have a big And-1 runner in the fourth off the glass. In the fourth, he and Bron were also arguing about how to cover Steph on the high screen with Green after a breakdown. Needed more from him tonight. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 4-13 shooting (2-9 from three, 1-1 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 3 assists and 3 turnovers in 34 minutes. He was a -5.

Hachimura -- -- A lot of lob dunks and finishes by the Warriors at the rim with our backline defense compromised with our small lineups with Rui at the C. Rui at the C works when we have AD at the PF. We went through the Bron/Rui stuff a lot this time last year. No choice tonight. Offensively, he had some midrange action going. Favorite players were where the Lakers put Bron in the post, drew the double, kickout, swing-swing to Rui and he attacked off the three line for a dunk with his left. He also had a nice Euro in transition for a layup. And another play where he hit Bron with the shovel pass for an And-1. Defensively, he also had a nice track down block. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 7-10 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 4 boards, 2 assists, 1 block and 3 fouls in 30 minutes. He was a -4.

Dinwiddie -- -- Defensively, he tried to crowd Curry but with no help behind him, it turned into a lot of layups for the Warriors and Curry got past him with some ease. We really could have used some Vando here with his ability to crowd but also recover with length. He hit a wing three on a catch and shoot from Bron. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 2-2 shooting (1-1 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards and 2 fouls in 19 minutes. He was a +5.

Prince -- -- Watching Klay lighting up Prince early on or just having those Prince at PF lineups again were painful. He had a nice stretch late where he hit a wing three off a Hayes offensive board. And then shortly later he missed a jumper in the paint, got it back and scored the pushback. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-8 shooting (2-5 from three) to go with 2 boards, 3 assists, 1 block and 1 foul in 30 minutes. He was a -7.

Christie -- -- Some troubles trying to finish in the paint. He liked to power up with both hands, which can be good. But it’s not always the right choice and give the D a chance to recover versus finishing a layup faster with one hand or going into a floater when you don’t have a real advantage. His one bucket was a wing three early in the fourth to cut the lead to 7. The Warriors could hide CP3 on him without paying the price defensively. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-4 shooting (1-2 from three) to go with 1 board and 1 foul in 10 minutes. He was a -2.

Hayes -- -- Big minutes for Hayes in this one to fill in for AD. While he did a decent job on the boards, we had very little interior defensive presence. He had no blocks. Some good two-man action as usual with Russell. The Lakers had very little playing above the rim in this game with AD out. Hayes even backed away from powering up at one point and turned it into a bad airball jumphook that wasn’t close. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-5 shooting (1-3 from the line) to go with 12 boards, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 28 minutes. He was a -8.

Ham -- -- Key Moment: Obviously, when AD didn’t return in that second quarter. Ham has used injuries as an excuse a lot this season. Often, to cover up some of his own shortcomings. In this one, however, the Lakers just had one too many key players gone. Maybe with a Wood or Vando, they could have had enough to handle the Warriors.

Key Substitution: Hayes, Prince, Christie, Dinwiddie, Russell to start the fourth. Then Bron in for Hayes as the Lakers were down 12. Lakers were super small. Then, we switched to Rui at the C spot. Really no choice. That unit cut the lead down, but the Warriors were able to score at the rim and pushed the lead back up.

Key Stats: The Warriors had a 14-8 advantage on the offensive glass and a 62-54 advantage on points in the paint. Both teams had 20 assists in the first half. The Warriors finished with 38, the Lakers with 32.

[slavavov]

Thanks DB, but with all due respect, blaming this loss on AD's injury is an excuse. Their effort and execution defensively were ass down the stretch.

I'm starting to wonder if the Lakers are starting to subconsciously give up. They know it's almost a lock they'll be in the play-in tournament, and they now have no chance of moving into eighth place thanks to their self-imposed problems.

Do they have any incentive, from their point of view, to play well the rest of the regular season? They do, because you need to build momentum going into the postseason. But it seems they don't see it that way. This team, collectively, just seems too cool for school, and that's been the case for most of the LeBron era.

We're now 6-6 since the All-Star break. There's a good chance we won't make the playoffs given the teams we'd have to beat in the play-in tournament. Maybe missing the playoffs yet again would give management the proverbial taser shock it needs to make the changes it needs to make this summer.
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Lakers 49ers Chargers Dodgers

[eddiejonze]

I didn’t watch the game, who poked AD in the eye?
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Creatures crawl in search of blood, To terrorize y'alls neighborhood.

[Laker's Fan]

Hard to enjoy the games when the team is so disorganized and in many instances dispirited. Had to choose watching the second half or going to swim some laps. Wasn’t a tough call honestly (and I watched every game during the years post Magic retirement).
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Austin Reaves keeps his game tight, like Kobe Bryant on game night.

[Nobody]

The defensive ineptitude will be this team's undoing. Such a painful game to watch with all the uncontested layups and open threes. DLO, Reaves, Prince, even James are simply bad defenders. Ham managed the game perfectly again with his inability to call a timeout.

[A Mad Chinaman]

Lakers is now entering the journey to travel through the Miami Heat-like run through the playoffs with one of the easiest schedules ahead of them.

Recognizing (the obvious) how critical it is to have AD healthy and production when he is resting - how will Ham utilize these potential/available big men combos from Hayes/Rui/LBJ, AD/Rui/Hayes, AD/CWood/Hayes, AD/CWood/Rui, AD/Vanderbilt/CWood, etc

Who are our energy players - Vando, Hayes, Cam and Christie (are there any others?????

How can Ham make their guard rotations of AR, DLo and Spencer more effective/productive?

When/If the best way to maximize the effort/limit the damage of our triple threat (No Offense, No Defense and No Rebounds) Tauren Prince

Who will be our “Point of Defense” player if Vanderbilt is not available - Cam, Spencer, Christie or ??????

How will Ham develop and use Giles/Christir given our injury woes and the ability/potential to provide instant energy with their fresh legs

With the (hopeful) return of Vanderbilt, Vincent and CWood - how does Ham provide the needed PT to successful integrate these players

What schemes will Ham develop that will address matchups where AD is not to our advantage and/or at a disadvantage like Jokic to Sabonis.

How will Ham manage LBJ’s MPG to keep him fresh and productive given that he is the only Laker who will always show and can always get his shot during clutch time

Given the remote possibility to get to 7th/8th position, look forward to how Ham will have the team be firing on all cylinders WITHOUT burning out LBJ/AD while keeping them fresh and ready to beat the Dubs

[danzag]

So (bleep) tired of this Ham's Lakers

[pio2u]

Thx DB.

[PenG_]

lol brutal season

[Laker7]

Thanks DB!
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Darvin Ham is an idiot!

[JUST-MING]

Ugly game to watch. 3 after 3. It’s embarrassing that’s what the NBA has devolved into.

[DancingBarry]

[DancingBarry]

[A Mad Chinaman]

[A Mad Chinaman]