LAKERS -at- SUNS - 11-26-24 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

NBA Cup Game 3 -- Ugly... A second-straight awful third quarter by the Lakers allowed their opponent to run away with it again.

The Lakers led 25-24 with a minute left in the quarter. AD led the Lakers with 12 points in the quarter. They sat him for that minute and suddenly trailed 31-25 after the quarter.

The Suns were up by as many as 9 points in the second quarter, but Austin Reaves brought them back with a series of scores to help retake the lead. The Lakers trailed 62-60 by halftime.

The third quarter funk hit the Lakers hard again. Both teams traded hoops and leads to start the second half. Nurkic, however, scored 10-straight points abusing Laker switches. Then Booker heated up with 11-straight himself, and the Lakers were down by that many when JJ called a timeout.

The Lakers offensively disappeared with turnovers, poor shot selection, and the team got doubled up 36-18 in the third to trail by 20.

They started the fourth denting the rim on three-point chucks and faded even more. That was the ball game. The Lakers fell 127-100. This cup game puts them in a bad position with the loss and the differential.



LeBron -- -- That -30. Ouch. Between the big turnover numbers and early offense chucks from deep (maybe three logo threes?), a lot of poor possessions. Great ones, too, but it’s hard enough on the road to win without making it even more difficult on yourselves. He started the fourth with a couple of deep clanks from three. Earlier in the second half, he hit the side of the board on a corner three, got his own rebound and dunked. But the three ball was not working. Some really good work in this one on those two-man action with AD. The Stats: He scored 18 points on 7-16 shooting (2-7 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 8 boards, 10 assists, 5 turnovers and no fouls in 35 minutes. He was a -30.

Davis -- -- Strong first quarter where he scored 12 points. He cleaned up an AR missed drive (might have been a pass off the backboard) with a putback jam. AR also found him on a lob dunk. Max hit him on the two-man action for another score next time down. Both he and Bron had cherry picking dunks, not getting back after miscues. He had 17 points on 8-12 shooting in the first half. Some buckets off two-man action with Bron, but not really anything to be concerned about for the Suns. We were down 23 with 9 minutes to go in the fourth quarter when we brought AD back. Probably should have rested him for the next one. The Stats: He scored 25 points on 10-19 shooting (0-2 from three, 5-7 from the line) to go with 15 boards, 5 assists, 1 steal, 4 blocks, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls in 35 minutes. He was a -24.

Reaves -- -- Great shift to close the half. The Lakers were down 9 when he returned to the game. He scored off a handoff fake on an inbounds. He stripped Booker on iso D. He sank a quick-release three on an AD kickout. Next time down, he attacked off a screen, went behind his back to change directions, drew a foul and threw it up and over his head for the And-1 layup. On the final possession of the half, he pushed the ball up with 6 seconds left, spun at the elbow and hit a hanging jumper to end the half. “Just playing the game the right way,” he said of that stretch. He had 12 points on 5-6 shooting and 2 steals in the first half. He drilled a three to start the second half. The Lakers would then make 1 of their next 10 threes in the third. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 6-12 shooting (2-6 from three, 1-1 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 turnover and no foul in 31 minutes. He was a -16.

Hachimura -- -- His finishing left something to be desired early on, blowing a couple of layups in the first half. He did hit a pull-up at the elbow and knocked down a corner three on a kickout in the half. Really nothing in the second half. He got overpowered by Nurkic on switches in the paint. Need better from him. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-8 shooting (1-4 from three) to go with 1 board, 1 assist and 1 foul in 23 minutes. He was a -10.

Reddish -- -- A couple of steals, including going to the floor for a loose ball, but no offense at all in this one. Really didn’t make a lot happen. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-3 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 2 steals and 3 fouls in 23 minutes. He was a -1.

Russell -- -- Aggressive first half off the bench. He sank a pull-up three off the two-man game (more of that, please). He hit a floater off the two-man game. He got downhill with speed for a layup and drew some FTs for 9 points in the first half. Really ineffective in the second half. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 5-13 shooting (1-6 from three, 4-7 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 29 minutes. He was a -24.

Knecht -- -- Not a lot of attempts in the first half. He was completely tapped on a three that went down and rattled out. He dunked off a SLOB inbounds lob pass from Bron. He also drew some FTs in the first half, but not a lot of attempts. We set up a three for him on an ATO straight away and he knocked that one down. Wonder if we see some Dalton back in the starting lineup in a few games if Rui or Cam are sub par. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 2-7 shooting (1-4 from three, 2-3 from the line) to go with 4 boards and no fouls in 19 minutes. He was a -20.

Hayes -- -- Hello and goodbye. Back in the mix, he came in with a minute left in the first quarter. With a minute lef tin this game, he powered up for a dunk and hurt himself. You could see he didn’t want to land on his right leg. Went down and then was helped into the locker room. Game action-wise, he was quickly called for a turnover, unable to handle a pass cleanly. He coughed up another pass in transition later in the fourth. He also fumbled a defensive board out of bounds. Guess the timing of things wasn’t quite back for him. He had an offensive board and dunk in garbage time and another on that dunk he went down with. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 2-2 shooting (3-4 from the line) to go with 4 boards (2 offensive), 1 block, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 17 minutes. He was a -8.

Vincent -- -- He had the team-high +2. He sank a three and had some poor quality attempts on a couple of his misses from behind the arc. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-4 shooting from three to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 1 block and no fouls in 14 minutes. He was a +2.

Christie -- : -- Some moments in the first half, dunking on an inbounds play. He drew an illegal screen for a stop. He hit AD on the two-man game. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-1 shooting to go with 1 assist, 1 block and 2 fouls in 13 minutes. He was a -11.

Koloko -- -- In for garbage time. Nothing to report. The Stats: No stats in 1 minute. He was a -2.

Redick -- -- You certainly need better effort from guys in the hustle department, but I think it was the lack of intelligent effort by the team that hurt them in the third. A lot of poor quality possessions offensively. Defensively, they were torched again. A 26-8 run in that third for the Suns… So much for the differential in those cup games… The Lakers shot 8-34 from three (23.5%). Suns had just 9 turnovers… The Lakers lost the break 19-5… The Lakers have 5 games in 7 days. They need to dig in here… "They kind of got whatever they wanted," JJ said. He mentioned maybe needing to rethink their defensive schemes against high scoring teams...

[Theseus]

Thanks for the taking one for the team and writing this one up. Maybe the only bright spot of the thing

[JerryWest_44]

same old Lakers the past few years -- "rinse, wash, repeat" -- they are a great first half team then they fade like a motha in the 3rd quarter particularly old man Lebron.

[miggz23]

[pio2u]

Dismal 3rd quarter meltdown 😤
Thx DB

[TDRock]

I'll read this in the morning

Thanks DB

[PLATNUM]

This team is good for a few highlight plays, and gimmicky fanfare to keep "fans" in the seats and thats about it.
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"No amount of money ever bought a second of time."

[Nobody]

With a roster this defensively challenged, It's a wonder we have the record that we have. They offer absolutely no resistance, are slow-footed and get burned time and again - a couple of ball reversals or timely picks and it's open threes/layups galore. Just painful to watch really.

[Laker7]

Thanks DB!
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Fire Rob Pelinka!

[Halflife]

I loathe skip bayless - but this is the pattern:

SB
-Right now the Lakers aren’t responding to JJRedick’s coaching. Maybe he and LeBron should just go back to doing the podcast together so they can remain friends. Remember, the “GOAT” always needs a scapegoat. -


JJ needs youth to be effective - he has to teach a lot of old dogs that don't seem interested anymore - this was always going to be the problem out of the gate for him
Hes Young
zero experience
and jumped over a lot of bodies to get this prestigious job.

Hopefully, we go on a run soon because I have always said that late in the year will be a problem for us. but Its sports- anything is possible -
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Iman Shumpert, believes LBJ's decision to constantly team up with other All-Stars eschewed the idea of superstars continually adding layers to their repertoire.

[PenG_]

If the players don't care, I don't care either. Plenty to do in this world.

[Halflife]

[unleasHell]

I always get a kick out of "Stu's Key to Victory" notes before each game, control the paint, guard the 3-point line, etc, etc.

I would like to see him go with:

"OUTSCORE THE FREAKIN' OPPONENT"
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NOT A THING COMES TO MIND...!

[MJST]

JJ has about 2 more games to realize that Rui needs to be sent back to the bench and the team needs Knecht starting.
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How NBA 2K18 failed the All-Time Lakers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxMBYm3wwxk

[Hanging from Rafters]

[A Mad Chinaman]