LAKERS -at- NETS - 3-31-24 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Making It Rain... Can’t get off to a better start than they did today.

The Lakers got out to a 17-0 lead in this game, switching on D and disrupting the flow of the Nets offense.

They’d push the lead to 24, but would have that cut in half by mid second quarter. That didn’t last long as they’d push the lead back up to 67-44 at the half, tying their largest halftime lead for the year.

Sloppy third quarter by the Lakers with 7 turnovers in the first 7 minutes. After fouling to give up three FTs, and then giving up a 4-play, the lead was cut to 11, heading into the fourth.

The nets hit a three to start the fourth and the once-26-point lead was cut to 8.

LeBron James was making rain today. He immediately answered with back-to-back threes. He’d sink two more before the quarter was over as he went 9-10 from three. Those next two had the crowd buzzing -- one a fading, off-the-dribble corner three, and the other an iso between-the-legs pull-up three from the wing.

Bron had a bounce in his step tonight to help the Lakers bounce back with the 116-104 road win over the Nets.


LeBron -- -- He had 25 points in the second half. First half, he buried three straight from behind the arc during one stretch, before missing his fourth. He wouldn’t miss from three again. Huge threes early in the fourth to ease the pressure off the team. Then he put on a show with the next two, as mentioned. He’s just put in the work there and was on fire. The road crowd was buzzing (a lot of Laker fans, for sure), but he got a standing ovation when subbed out late in the game. Earlier in the game, he missed a massive dunk, switching to his left hand and trying to hammer. He’s had some crazy athletic plays like that this season. Too bad that one didn’t fall. The passing in this game was sensational, as well. You’d see some of those rebounds and immediate QB chucks down court to guys leaking out. He also had a 40-foot lob to AD, as well. The Stats: He scored 40 points on 13-17 shooting (9-10 from three, 5-6 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 5 assists, 4 turnovers and no fouls in 37 minutes. He was a +22.

Davis -- -- He had 20 of his 24 points on 8-10 shooting in the first half. He had a couple leakouts for dunks. He also buried another three. Vincent, Rui and Bron all found him for lobs. Defensively, several blocks, including one on Dennis at the three line. The Lakers defense was switching a ton early on and that had the Nets out of sync. Tough to attack when you’ve got a guy as mobile as AD switching on your guards. He and Bron ended up as kind of a one-two punch tonight. AD early, Bron late. The Stats: He scored 24 points on 9-12 shooting (1-3 from three, 5-6 from the line) to go with 14 boards, 3 blocks, 4 turnovers and 3 fouls in 35 minutes. He was a +18.

Russell -- -- Russell had a steal jumping a passing lane and made the extra lob on the break for AR trailing for the oop. Not sure we’ve ever seen that from those two. That was 1 of Russell’s 4 steals on the game. Unfortunately, we were a bit sloppy in this one and Russell had 4 turnovers, as well. We ran Russell on a short-roll and he found Rui cutting baseline for a dunk. We’ve been getting the ball more to our guards on those inverted screens with odd man advantage lately. He also had a nice find of AR curling around a screen and rolling for a layup. Good job knocking the three ball down, some on the catch and a pull-up working the two-man with Castleton. The Stats: He scored 18 points on 6-13 shooting (4-11 from three, 2-4 from three) to go with 6 boards, 6 assists, 4 steals, 4 turnovers and 3 fouls in 32 minutes. He was a +5.

Reaves -- -- He swiped the ball blindsiding a man, took it the distance for a layup, and then Russell immediately stole the inbounds and scored a layup. Those two were having fun. Some nice two-man work with AR in this one. He drew the D and hit Rui open baseline for a dunk on sideline pick and roll. He missed a three and lobbed to Rui for a dunk on another play. A team-high on the +/- with a +26. Three ball not dropping for AR. Some good moment defensively challenging his men and staying with them on screens. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 5-11 shooting (0-4 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 6 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and no fouls in 35 minutes. He was a +26.

Hachimura -- -- Good job again making an effort to get to the glass. He had a double-double, third time in the last four games. “It’s something that we constantly challenge him on,” Ham said. With Hayes out, Rui had to make it a focus, for sure. Offensively, he had that midrange going and did a good job attacking off the three line. He had 12 points on 5-7 shooting in the first half. Some nice passing in this one. He got an offensive board off his own miss and hit AD with a lob. He also got the ball in the middle off the short roll, surveyed the D and hit Russell for the corner three. The Stats: He scored 20 points on 8-12 shooting (1-4 from three, 3-4 from the line) to go with 10 boards, 4 assists, 1 block and 3 fouls in 37 minutes. He was a +9.

Dinwiddie -- -- Not a great night with 3 turnovers and an airball from three. On that airball, he made an extra pass to Vincent in the corner for a three and was expecting him to fire it up. Vincent fired it back and Dinwiddie airballed and looked annoyed at Gabe for not letting it fly. Defensively, he had a nice strip block off a man in transition to get a stop. “It didn’t feel like we were shot ready on a couple possessions,” Ham said of the Lakers offensive flow. The Stats: He did not score on 0-2 shooting from three to go with 2 boards, 2 assists, 1 block, 3 turnovers and 1 foul in 21 minutes. He was a +1.

Prince -- -- He took a shot to the ribs in the third that dropped him. Quiet night. His first shot hit the side of the backboard and led to a dunk the other way. We went back to playing him at PF by not staggering Rui and Bron as much with Hayes out. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-2 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 2 boards and no fouls in 15 minutes. He was a -5.

Vincent -- -- He got the Lakers only bench points today. It was a fading bank across the lane after a couple minutes of action. The bench shot blanks the rest of the way. He came in with 3:30 left in the first quarter to run with AD, Prince (uggh, sitting both Rui and Bron at the same time again), Dinwiddie and Russell. Later, we added Castleton for AD for some all new lineups. He’s on a minute restriction and played 14 tonight. It’s going to be tricky to get him up to speed. Until Hayes, Wood or Vando return, we’re going to probably lean into small ball more with all our guards. We saw him feel out the game early in the season, taking a while before he started to look comfortable. Hopefully, he fits in fast. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-4 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 1 board, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 14 minutes. He was a -1.

Christie -- -- He came in for the final minutes of garbage time in this one and missed a couple threes and picked off a pass. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-2 shooting from three to go with 1 steal and no fouls in 3 minutes. He was a -4.

Reddish -- -- In for AR with 2 minutes left. Nothing to report, except that with Vincent and Dinwiddie, his possibilities for minutes are really squeezed. The Stats: No stats in 2 minutes. He was a -3.

Castleton -- -- Some early action for Castleton in the first half with Hayes out. He helped free up Russell with a screen for a three. He had his short-roll pass picked off and then was called for a take foul. A bit foul prone. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-1 shooting to go with 1 board, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 6 minutes. He was a -4.

Lewis -- -- He threw a kickout away, missed a three and blocked a drive. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-1 shooting to go with 1 block and 1 turnover in 3 minutes. He was a -4.

Ham -- -- Key Moment: Crushing opening 6 minutes to the game for the Lakers. They had everything clicking. Best start of the year. The defense was on point, the offense was quick to take advantage of the stops. Let’s string together another win streak.

Key Substitution: Having Vincent back in the mix. I don’t feel comfortable at all with Ham trying to find out how to make it all work at this stage, but let’s see how it plays out. Great to have another option. We just need our bigs!

Key Stats: The 19 individual turnovers were a bit too much. That kept the Nets from behind down 30+ all game. Good to see the three shooting bounce back, with the Lakers going 15-40 (37.5%).

[Dr. Laker]

First!

Thanks, DB!

Just keep stacking wins.
_________________
On Lakersground, a concern troll is someone who is a fan of another team, but pretends to be a Lakers fan with "concerns".

[deal]

Thanks DB!


Another good game.
_________________
Lakers need to build a freaking team !

[Laker7]

Thanks DB!
_________________
Darvin Ham is an idiot!

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks DB! Nice win! LBJ, AD, DLO, AR and Rui getting it done.

[joeblow]

OK... "LeBron for three!" has now improved to the second worst sentence in the English language.

[slavavov]

Good to see the Lakers take care of an inferior team early in a game for a change. Hopefully they'll keep it up.
_________________
Lakers 49ers Chargers Dodgers

[A Mad Chinaman]