LAKERS -at- HAWKS - 12-30-22 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

 
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DancingBarry
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 30, 2022 9:01 pm    Post subject: LAKERS -at- HAWKS - 12-30-22 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

Birthday Bron... The man officially turned a year older, but looked as good as ever as he dropped 47 points, 10 boards and 9 assists on the Hawks in the Lakers 130-121 road win.

The Lakers were down 13 midway through the second quarter. They fought back behind LeBron as he got downhill and to the rim for layup after layup to cut it to 5 by the half.

A slow start by the Lakers to start the third, but they held serve early on, which is a win this year.

As LeBron sat down 9, the second units stepped up. JTA and Schröder helped fire up the team with some key production and energy on both ends. By the time LeBron returned, the Lakers were down by just 1.

They’d lead by 3 heading into the fourth and stayed even while LeBron got a brief rest. Back in, he’d start putting on a show. He drained a big three on his first touch after that timeout.

The Lakers couldn’t get separation until the final minute. Russell Westbrook came up with a big sequence, scoring a layup past his man, then stealing the ball on the other end and hitting Bryant changing ends for a layup. Ball game. That was the dagger as the Lakers went up by 7 with 55 seconds left.

Nice to see the team pull through, especially off the magic night Bron delivered on his 38th birthday.


LeBron -- -- Three types of plays for him tonight on his way to 47. After a slow start, he picked up speed and started bullying his way to the front of the rim for layup after layup. The Hawks couldn’t handle him getting to the rim. Later in the game, it was the three ball that started dropping. And, then both early and late he hit the baseline turnaround after dribble across the bottom of the lane and going up for the turnaround fade all in one motion. The Atlanta crowd has always been the closest thing to a home game on the road as you find for the Lakers. They didn’t disappoint and only got louder as Bron would knock down big buckets on iso. Bron felt the emotion, too. With 2:20 left, he got downhill again, took contact as a crowd of defenders converged on him. He’d hit the back and then the floor, pounding his heart after the And-1. The arena went nuts. Great energy from Bron tonight. There was another play in the second half where he took a deflected pass, missed the layup in transition, hustled back inbounds to recover it and score an And-1. He had a goal for a big scoring night and delivered that and the W. But this was also pretty much a triple-double, one assist shy. Just huge numbers. The Stats: He scored 47 points on 18-27 shooting (4-6 from three, 7-9 from the line) to go with 10 boards, 9 assists, 1 block and 5 turnovers in 39 minutes. He was a +12.

Bryant -- -- Huge night with 19 points and 17 boards. Honestly, it felt like he had more points. He finished the first half with 11 points on 4-4 shooting and 9 boards. He scored on the roll, spinning and scoring at the rim. Dennis set him up a couple times on scores. Bryant also changed ends with speed to put himself in position for transition scores, as well, including that last one with 55 seconds left off the Russ steal. When he wasn’t scoring, he did a good job controlling the defensive boards. Ham mentioned his rebounding on the defensive end afterward, saying it’s been one of our biggest weaknesses. (He also mentioned the importance of the guards helping out.) The Stats: He scored 19 points on 8-10 shooting (0-1 from three, 3-3 from the line) to go with 17 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 34 minutes. He was a +12.

Reaves -- -- The slump continues. He couldn’t hit squat tonight. He made one three (9 attempts). Missed a couple other shots he usually had been automatic on. Everything is just off. Anything that can go wrong seems to go wrong for him in the last couple. As a result, he didn’t close the game again. Hopefully, he gets his confidence back again and into contributing positively soon. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 1-13 shooting (1-9 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 1 assist, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls in 26 minutes. He was a -6.

Schröder -- --The 9 assists tonight were big. He was putting a lot of pressure on the D and finding teammates. There was a big stretch in the second half where he came up with a steal and hit JTA down court for a layup. The next play, he found Bruant filling the lane in transition for a layup. He’d find JTA for a big three, as well. He was activating the role players. Late in the game he knocked down a big baseline pull-up with 30 seconds left. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 5-12 shooting (1-5 from three, 1-1 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 9 assists, 3 steals, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 32 minutes. He was a +0.

Beverley -- -- Strong first half with 10 points on 4-5 shooting and 1 block. His three shooting helped the Lakers actually have a perimeter presence in the half. But really nothing in the second half. He had a steal on a dig down, but the Lakers played better without him. His best play on the night might have been one of his assists. Bron found him open on the perimeter, instead of taking the three, he spotted Bron cutting and wide open under the hoop. He hit him for the easier layup. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 4-5 shooting (2-3 from three) to go with 2 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block and 3 fouls in 25 minutes. He was a -10.

Westbrook -- -- As mentioned, he was big in that final minute with a huge score in the paint, then a subsequent steal on the other end (his man might have stepped on Russ’s foot). He pounced on that loose ball, jumping over his man, pushing it out and finding Bryant for the finish with 55 seconds left. That was the backbreaker. Earlier in the second half, he also had another nice score. He attacked across the lane, stopped, pivoted and somehow scooped in a layup behind the defender. Just a couple boards shy of a triple-double. He and Gabriel had some nice chemistry going tonight. Russ could break down the D and find him on multiple occasions. His best pass might have been one where he no-looked to a trailing Bron for a dunk in the second half. A little turnover prone tonight and they seemed to come in bunches, like a couple at a time. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 6-12 shooting (0-3 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 8 boards, 11 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 6 turnovers and 1 foul in 29 minutes. He was a +9.

Brown -- -- Another big three late in the third quarter, but not a huge offensive night like the past couple. He didn’t connect with multiple threes tonight. Still, that late third quarter seems to be the time in the game he’s been flipping the switch and becoming a bit of a game changer lately. His size on the floor has been useful and he led the team with a +16 tonight. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-6 shooting (1-4 from three) to go with 5 boards and 1 block in 25 minutes. He was a +16.

Gabriel -- -- Short but impactful minutes tonight. Strong effort on the offensive glass (he had 4). He and the guards worked well tonight. Dennis found him for a dunk and Russ set him up multiple times for scores. Gabriel also had a putback on a Russ drive, as well. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 5-8 shooting (1-1 from the line) to go with 5 boards (4 offensive), 1 block and 1 foul in 14 minutes. He was a +0.

Toscano-Anderson -- -- Some excellent energy out there, especially in the second half. The team was a +13 in just 15 minutes. He had some good pressure D and challenges, including some tricky minutes against Trae. Early in his second half shift, he had a layup leaking out off a Schröder steal. He hit another corner three on a kickout. Good effort, kind of filling in the vacuum that Reaves is leaving right now. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-3 shooting (1-1 from three) to go with 3 boards, 1 steal and 3 fouls in 15 minutes. He was a +13.

Ham -- -- Key Moment: Bron had so many huge scores down the stretch in the fourth. Threes, the And-1 drive he banked and the fade on the baseline drive. But the dagger was that score by Russ, then the subsequent steal he got that turned into a Bryant score. The Lakers were up just 3 and then those quick two scores with 55 seconds left to go up 7 took the game.

Key Substitution: No one on the bench was a negative in the +/-. That’s huge when Bron sits. Russ and Schröder have keyed the offense to keep the scoring going. Those two had 20 of the Lakers assists and kept the Laker offense rolling.

Key Stats: The Lakers had 34 assists tonight and cut down on the turnovers (16).
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mhan00
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 30, 2022 9:05 pm    Post subject:

Hopefully Ham stops trying to play 4 guards all the time with JTA getting healthy and Brown starting to show a pulse again.
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Hammett
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 30, 2022 9:19 pm    Post subject:

Let's get a damn win streak going!
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slavavov
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 30, 2022 9:55 pm    Post subject:

This game shows what the Lakers are capable of when they have a positive mindset, play defense and control the defensive boards.

We had 23 fast-break points and outrebounded the Hawks by 14, two things we haven't done a good job of lately.
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RI Laker
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 31, 2022 2:51 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB. Any win is nice. Bryant getting confidence and really playing well (and should be a perfect compliment to AD). Few have given him props, but Bev has really played much better the last month.
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TooMuchMajicBuss
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 31, 2022 7:22 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB! Great to see a game like this out of the Lakers, and a win on the road with AD down. Also, what an awesome way to celebrate a 38th birthday, wow.

I'm glad we got Bryant back. Sorry to see Reaves struggling right now, but it's good to see JTA filling in the void. I really like energy and intelligent play from the supporting cast on both ends of the court, good game by JTA and Schroder, and Russ gets some credit here too. Not a fan of the WB turnovers, but he did indeed come up big, particularly in the final minutes of this game.
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A Mad Chinaman
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 31, 2022 8:50 am    Post subject:

Any win is a good win for this Laker team

Fascinating that as bad and inconsistent as this team has been, they are just 3.5 behind Dubs and 5 games out of the playoffs - with many saying that the WC has many strong teams

Roster obviously has flaws, every team does

Should Rob be focused on bringing players to

compete when AD is injured
compete because LBJ can’t completely carry a team to the playoffs
win a title now because LBJ is 38 and danm the future
build to realistically win a title next season
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TDRock
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 31, 2022 9:20 am    Post subject:

Yay Winning!

Thanks DB
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Inspector Gadget
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 31, 2022 12:34 pm    Post subject:

Just realized that Capela and Hunter weren’t playing probably because I was so shocked that the Lakers came back in the 3rd quarter to make it a game, it was still a nice win especially on LeBron’s birthday...
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A Mad Chinaman
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 01, 2023 1:32 pm    Post subject:

Inspector Gadget wrote:
Just realized that Capela and Hunter weren’t playing probably because I was so shocked that the Lakers came back in the 3rd quarter to make it a game, it was still a nice win especially on LeBron’s birthday...
Capela and Hunter = AD?
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