HEAT -at- LAKERS - 1-4-23 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

32 Points From Schroder... With just under 6 minutes left in the game, Dennis Schröder, who had been playing inspired ball all night, badly turned his ankle on a drive. It looked like a full roll and he went down in pain.

Ham was ready to pull him.

“I told him to trust me,” Schröder said. “I will be great.”

He stayed in the game, hit a couple freethrows and then a huge transition three on the subsequent offensive possession.

Multiple times down the stretch, he came up big, whether it was drawing freethrows on a three, blowing past his man with 43 seconds left to draw more FTs on a near And-1 or hitting the final two FTs with 3 seconds left.

There were big plays by everyone to take this win. Thomas Bryant beasted in the paint. Reaves found Russ for a big And-1 layup on an inbounds with 15 seconds left. But Schröder’s season-high 32 came at the right time as LeBron sat this one out (along with AD and Walker). The Lakers beat the Heat 112-109.


Schröder -- -- He had that extra gear tonight. The Lakers did a good job getting the Heat to switch and that allowed Schröder room to blow past defenders or hit threes. When we had signed him this offseason, there was a lot of talk about how he carried his national team. He took on that leadership role in this one. He buried 4-7 threes (and was fouled on another). Getting to the line, though, was key…especially down the stretch. The team runs so much through LeBron, so having someone who can manufacture some FTs (he had a swing through in the first half in the bonus) so we can scratch out some points some way is huge. Defensively, he had 4 steals to lead the team. I’ll be curious to see if he can play in the next game because that ankle turned looked serious. You can play on it, but it will swell up after. Hopefully, we catch a break. The Stats: He scored 32 points on 8-15 shooting (4-7 from three, 12-14 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 2 assists, 4 steals, 1 turnover and no fouls in 40 minutes. He was a +6.

Bryant -- -- What’s most impressive to me is how much he’s imposing himself on opponents. He’s competing with anyone and everyone right now and not backing down. Early on he attacked against some pressure D by Butler and slammed down the middle of the lane for one of our first scores. Defensively, he forced a turnover on a switch and then hustled down court for a putback. He had 13 points in the second half (8 points on 3-5 shooting and 6 boards in the first half). Anytime he had a mismatch, he finished over them and often after pulling down an offensive board. He had multiple big scores down the stretch, including a reverse jam that showed some athleticism as he was behind the board. After that, he had a jumphook off the two-man sequence with with Russ (a tricky shot over a challenge). That was a big one with 3:46 left. He get a dunk off a drive and dish from Russ a little later. The Stats: He scored 21 points on 9-11 (3-3 from the line) to go with 9 boards (3 offensive), 1 assist, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 28 minutes. He was a +3.

Reaves -- -- He struggled a bit with the three ball, but led the team with a +15. There was a pass on an inbounds with 15 seconds left that was super sketchy. The Heat were in a foul situation so all you have to do is inbound and we’re getting FTs. I think the Heat maybe wanted to bait a pass to Russ, but Russ cut down the lane and was wide open. Reaves fired a pass to him, past the fingernails of a defender and Russ scored a big And-1. It was a great pass. Sketchy. But great. The 11 points he scored in this one were the kind you see from a vet when his game is off. He scratched out some points off FTs being crafty. He scored a layup on a short-roll (ball faking the defender and then scoring around him). Then had a putback score off his own miss. Nothing smooth, but scrappy enough to find his way to double digits. He took a hard hit from Bryant in this one as he was setting a screen. Might be a little sore tomorrow on that. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 3-11 shooting (0-4 from three, 5-5 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 3 assists, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 32 minutes. He was a +15.

Beverley -- -- Not a lot of noteworthy plays in this one. He struggled a bit with Butler’s physicality in the second half near the hoop. The Heat were able to get some easy ones as a result. Bev had our first score, and attack for one of his running hooks. Later in the first half, he hit a turnaround jumper off another attack and stop. Again, not much in the second half. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-5 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 1 board, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 26 minutes. He was a -9.

Toscano-Anderson -- -- Into the starting lineup and we now had our 20th different starting lineup this season, most in the NBA. Just like last year, no continuity. He gave the team a little pressure D. His best play was a steal in the backcourt after the Heat took a defensive board. That led to Bryant FTs. He’d score his only hoop on a reverse layup against the zone on a Schröder drive and dish. He had the team-low -18. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-2 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 3 boards, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 23 minutes. He was a -18.

Westbrook -- -- He came through late for the team. He had 12 points, 5 boards, 6 assists in the first half and a whole ton of turnovers. Almost all of his 7 turnovers were in the first half. The Lakers were playing decent, though, when he was out there early on despite those turnovers. They needed to get up and down court on the break to get some easy ones, so he helped keep the pace quick. He sank a couple of threes early on (a deep one and then another when they left him open). He destroyed Oladipo on a crossover in the first half that looked like young Russ. That was an easy layup. He had a couple other scores where he dribbled around a defender. But, again, it’s about those closing minutes where we really need him to step up and he made some big plays down the stretch tonight. He wasn’t dominating the action and Schröder was being aggressive, but he got in on some key plays. He setup Bryant on the two-man game for a jumphook late. He attacked the paint, up-faked to get two defenders in the air, then scored the And-1. He hand a drive and dish to Bryant for another crunchtime dunk. Then he scored that big And-1 layup off the Reaves pass with 15 seconds left. Needed to shoot better from the line, though (3-6). The Stats: He scored 21 points on 8-18 (2-6 from three, 3-6 from the line) to go with 8 boards, 9 assists, 3 steals, 7 turnovers and 3 fouls in 36 minutes. He was a +10.

Gabriel -- -- A few plays tonight where it was Gabriel going to work a bit versus being setup for easy ones (he did get set up for a layup and some FTs by Russ, but a couple more plays by Gabriel just doing some work in this one). He had a curl into the paint off a handoff that he turned into a layup. He had another iso that he hit a jumphook over his man. He made his only three in this one, a corner three of a wild push up the floor by Russ at the end of the first quarter and Gabriel sank the buzzer beater. Defensively, he had a nice rejection of Bam out of bounds. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 4-6 shooting (1-1 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 1 block, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 20 minutes. He was a -2.

Brown -- -- He went back to the bench in place of Reaves in this one as the Lakers wanted to get more playmaking in the starters with Bron not in the mix. Troy had a layup off a bullet feed from Russ early on and a nice challenge on Bam to force a miss. But his minutes were cut short with injury. I didn’t hear details on it. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-2 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 4 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal and no fouls in 14 minutes. He was a +9.

Nunn -- -- A little bit of scoring punch from him off the bench. He sank a three in early offense when given some room. He attacked off the three line for a floater. He hustled down court to tip in a missed Reaves layup in transition. And he also hit an elbow pull-up working off a Gabriel screen. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 4-9 shooting (1-3 from tree) to go with 3 boards and no fouls in 15 minutes. He was a -6.

Christie -- -- Not a great game. He had a bad turnover on a pass out of the corner. Missed both threes from the corner. His best play was a nice help D rotation that forced a brick in the paint. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-2 shooting from three to go with 1 board, 1 assist, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 7 minutes. He was a -1.

Ham -- -- Key Moment: He didn’t want Dennis playing on one leg after that ankle twist, but he listened to his player. It looked like a bad twist, for sure. Dennis asked him to trust him, so Ham kept him in after that and Dennis tore it up from there.

Key Substitution: With no LeBron, AD, Walker, maybe you think of starting Russ. Ham didn’t mess with temptation and kept Russ coming off the bench. Near triple-double from Russ with 21-9-8 (and pretty close to a quadruple double with those 7 turnovers).

Key Stats: Most of the team stats are very similar in this one. Both teams shot just under 30% from three. Similar steals and blocks. Close on points in the paint and on the break. Freethrows were one big difference. The Heat shot 15-21, the Lakers made 9 more at 24-30. Credit Schröder for drawing nearly half of those (12-14). That made the difference.

Coach’s Challenge: With 39.5 seconds, it looked like Reaves drew a charge on Oladipo in transition. The refs called a foul on the Russ up 3. Ham challenged it, thinking it was a charge. Refs called the foul on Reaves instead and the Lakers kept timeout but not the ball. Only one made freethrow for the Heat after all that.

Note: I'm traveling during the next game and won't be able to catch it. It will be a DIY night.

[vasashi17+]

Suite victory!

Went to the game tonight! Was upset that Bron was MIA, but happy with the dub vs MIA!

Too lit to give an official play by play…no Barry or Yinoma, but I’ll just say we played OK.

One month from the trade deadline tho, so we better trade away…
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[Dr. Laker]

Thanks, DB!
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[DShotMaker1824]

Great team win!
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"Through the legs to the left, through the legs to the right, we don't run them Laker plays, we just Kobe fadeaway..."

[A Mad Chinaman]

team learning how to impact their will on teams

hopefully Ham has more confidence in the supporting players that will allow LBJ and AD to play less MPG.

Bryant/Gabriel > Myles Turner

Schroeder > Hield

[mad55557777]

That Reaves pass scared me after I watch the replay, if Bam tipped that, Miami would have a 4 on 2 break the other way. Although the result worked, but Reaves should’ve known better. He missed DS going to the back court which would’ve been the best play.
https://twitter.com/pausatecnica/status/1610900096979464193?s=46&t=UoZSqWEXA-8RfIZOZJBpow

[sonic the laker]

[PenG_]

What a win!!

Hell of a game from Dennis, even put the clamps on Herro.

[pio2u]

LAKERS FOR THE WIN!!!

>>>>>>> LET'S GO LAKERS!!

Thanks DB!

[TDRock]

And you thought you were gonna have to skip this one! What a fun game!

Thanks DB!

[danzag]

Thanks, DB

We have some good role players, we still need a better 3-6 rotation after LBJ and AD.

Hopefully we can keep TB, Reaves, Schroeder, etc. Continuity is important

[joeblow]

Great all-around team defensive response out there. I'll give primary credit to Ham and his staff for holding the Heat's offense in check for most of the game (the Heat gets credit as well for being a small ball team).

[governator]

Wenyen-Bryant… I like this front court energy

[LakerSD]

https://twitter.com/hmfaigen/status/1611049014346285057?s=46&t=J1qvBvrqodXPeycakL1gOg

This is good
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2 star model (Lebron/AD) in 2023-24 = no playoffs, again.

[DancingBarry]

[jodeke]

I know Bron is essential but the team seems more fluid when he's not in the lineup. Bron is a ball stopper.
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[PenG_]

[Rek]

[Halflife]

pau gasol calling it best win of the season is nice.
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Kobe.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/Clw9scopegx/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

[TDRock]

[A Mad Chinaman]