THUNDER -at- LAKERS - 2-7-23 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

The All Time NBA Scoring Record... I remember watching Kareem set the record and wondering at the time who would be durable enough and good enough to break that record? There have been many great players, but it takes that very rare combination talent and health to even get in the top 10, let alone set the record.

Kareem and LeBron had that all-world talent -- amazing players from a young age. LeBron came into the league with more hype than we’ve ever seen. He lived up to it and surpassed it ages ago.

Late in the third quarter, he stepped back into an elbow fade near the end of the third quarter and swished. Points 38,388. And with that, he stepped into his own stratosphere.

L.A. erupted. The game stopped. You’ll see that shot forever.

The emotion from LeBron ran the range -- hands in the air in celebration, then relief, then it hit him during the ceremony and came the tears. History made once again in the purple and gold.

As for the actual game, it was a rather disgusting defensive effort by the Lakers. The perimeter defense was awful. It was a shootaround for the Thunder, making 12-19 from three to lead 76-66 at the half. L.A. had momentum anytime LeBron would score it seemed, and carried a little of that into the fourth quarter where they tied up the Thunder at 106-106. Then they proceeded to give up a 12-0 run as the guards coughed up turnover after turnover. They dug too deep a hole to dig out of despite a good effort in the final minute. They fell 133-130.


LeBron -- -- They cheered for his first bucket, a three 5 minutes into the game. They cheered for freethrows. They boo’d refs when he wasn’t given freethrows. They roared when muscled a player in transition for an And-1 off glass for his next score. They were on their feet when he attacked off a high screen next time he touched it and scored another And-1 bank. He drilled a three. Attacked, spun and drew more FTs to M-V-P chants. He bullied his way to the rim in transition for more FTs. That would give him 20 points on 6-10 shooting with 6 minutes left in the first half. He’d get back in for the last minute of the half but not get off another attempt. To start the second half, he missed a jumper, then draw FTs in transition. The crowd was buzzing when he stepped into a three and buried it shortly later. He pulled up in transition and swished another three next time down and the crowd was on their feet as the Lakers needed a spark. Russ would find him trailing a break in transition and he’d slide around a defender for a layup. Fans stayed on their feet after he returned from a short break. He’d score on a backdoor lob from Russ, laying it in. He’d score his 34th point on the break, laying it up off the pass and forcing a timeout. Then it came. LeBron took a pass at the elbow, worked across the lane to the other elbow and went into his step-back fade. Swish…38,388 points. The place went nuts. It will probably sink in for him in multiple ways over the next few days, weeks, months. LeBron and Kareem invested a lot of time and effort into their bodies. Talent and durability like no others. Who knows when and where this record will be broken or if it ever will? I imagine advances in medicine and healthcare will someday allow athletes to be ultra durable and play even longer. But LeBron still has several years in him to bury this record. I won’t be threatened for a long, long, long time. “I’ve sacrificed a lot,” LeBron said. “The most thing I sacrificed, that was very tough to sacrifice, was time away from my family.” The Stats: He scored 38 points on 13-20 shooting (4-6 from three, 8-10 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 3 assists, 4 turnovers and 3 fouls in 34 minutes. He was a +8.

Davis -- -- What an awful game. He was sleepwalking out there. It felt like he wanted to make sure it was LeBron’s night so he’d stay out of the way offensively. But he never got engaged. Just 7 points on 3-6 shooting in the first half. Another 6 points on 3-3 shooting in the second half. A nothing game. He had a great hustle play to save a ball on the sideline and ignite a break for a LeBron score. We needed more of that effort from the team, for sure, but just more hustle on both ends from AD. Again, I’m just going to chalk this one up to the spectacle of the night and getting caught up in it. After, he definitely seemed annoyed at the loss. Hopefully, he brings it to help us string together wins. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 6-9 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go with 8 boards, 2 assists, 3 steals, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls in 31 minutes. He was a -4.

Hachimura -- -- He was a bit too passive early on. When he got more aggressive later in the game, we had a little run off it. He iso’d with the shotclock low and hit a midrange pull-up. He attacked from the corner shortly later to muscle in a layup and tied the game up. He’d later swish a wing three. We need him more aggressive along side the stars. It was good of guys starting to look for him a little more when they saw him stepping up. Hopefully, he gets into a comfort zone quick because the team needs to get some Ws. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 5-7 shooting (1-1 from three, 3-4 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 1 turnover and no fouls in 26 minutes. He was a -11.

Schröder -- -- His three ball was not falling for him. The Thunder were leaving him and Westbrook wide open. At times, Dennis gave up his open three to give Russ a chance at his open three in the first half, and it was the right call as Schröder was 0-3 and Russ 3-6 in the first half. He had a chance to hit a huge one late in our last ditch effort to pull off a comeback. Nope. That would have cut it to 2 with 30 seconds left. He’d finish 0-5 from three. Some nice attacks off the dribble, including a high-speed spin into a layup for one bucket. He also killed us late with some sloppy passing, as well. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 4-9 shooting (0-5 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 3 assists, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls in 32 minutes. He was a -11.

Beverley -- -- I was hoping his bark would help whip some guys into better defensive efforts this season. We deserved Pat Bev getting on guys after last year’s effort. There was a sequence in the second half that describes the Pat Bev bark this season. He had to match up with a player he wasn’t assigned to because Rui didn’t. Bev tried to pressure his man on the perimeter and drew a foul. He then barked at Rui for not matching up. They then took their men to defend the subsequent inbounds. Bev watched the play unfold, didn’t watch his man, and let him cut backdoor for an easy layup. All bark, no bite. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 2-3 shooting from three (1-2 from the line) to go with 1 board, 5 assists, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls in 24 minutes. He was a +1.

Westbrook -- -- He was waving guys off trying to get the ball to LeBron for that record-scoring bucket. You wondered who would get it to Bron, but it makes sense it was Russ as the point guard. He came out firing from three and connected on 3-6 in the first half. The crowd was a bit uneasy on those shots, that’s for sure, but happy when they dropped. He’d add a dunk to it in transition for his 11 points in the half. Defensively, a couple steals and a block in the first half (nice help D rejection from behind early in his first shift). Too many turnovers as the game went along, but some good energy when we weren’t getting a lot of that. Down the stretch, he was able to score a few layups and get to the rim for FTs and cut the game down to 4 points with 20 seconds left on a 9-0 run. Strong close, but we were a disaster in this one as a collective. Welp, I thought the last one might be his last, but the Kyrie trade didn’t happen. Let’s see what the Lakers decide now. Was this his last game as a Laker? The Stats: He scored 27 points on 10-19 shooting (4-7 from three, 3-6 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 8 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 6 turnovers and 1 foul in 28 minutes. He was a +4.

Walker IV -- -- The shot was looking good to start. He sank a wing three on a swing pass. He swished a corner jumper on an inbounds. He then sank a wing three over the zone on another swing pass. Then he was a bit of a mess from there. Nothing going on in the second half. They even set up plays specifically for him on ATOs. He gave them nothing on either end. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-7 shooting (2-5 from three) to go with 1 board, 3 assists, 1 turnover and 2 foul sin 19 minutes. He was a -5.

Reaves -- -- Back on the court with 4 minutes left in the first quarter. It kind of seemed like he was feeling things out a bit, but started warming up on the defensive end. But that would be it. Just one shift. Maybe they are easing him back in. Maybe they are featuring other guys. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-2 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 1 board, 1 assist and 2 fouls in 7 minutes. He was a -7.

Brown -- -- Some nice cuts for teammates to find him. He also buried a three and attacked a seam for another layup. Good all around effort on both ends. He led the team with the +9. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 4-6 shooting (1-2 from three) to go with 6 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 foul in 22 minutes. He was a +9.

Bryant -- -- I’m not going to say he outplayed AD tonight, but AD was playing so poorly at times, I was pondering it for sure. Bryant did a pretty poor job on some of that perimeter D in the first half. I hate that we get slaughtered at times in drop coverage without mixing things up. We did see a little bit of switching, but it really felt like you could have gone with Gabriel and done more switching in this one early on. We were getting torched from three. He’d score on a dunk off a feed from Reaves in the first half and had an offensive board putback for his other score. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-3 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 5 boards, 1 assist, 1 block and no fouls in 17 minutes. He was a +1.

Ham -- -- Key Moment: We tied it up at 106-106 early in the fourth quarter. Then gave up a 12-0 run. That was the ball game. Trade hoops, hold the line, get any kind of defense and maybe you have a different close to this game. The turnovers were painful in that stretch.

Key Substitution: I think I’ll give him a pass on some of these lineups until the end of the trade deadline. Let’s see what happens. We might be featuring some guys. This team really needs some defensive impact and energy. We scored 130 and lost.

Key Stats: The Lakers had 20 turnovers. Awful. We sank 14-31 from three (45%). That would have been an easy win early in the season if we got that kind of shooting. We gave up 17-34 from three. Poor shooting from the line from the Lakers (18-26, 69%). Thunder shot 18-20 for 90% from the line. Hit your freethrows, please.

Coach’s Challenge: Successful challenge with 26 seconds left when Bev went for a loose ball and was called for a foul. It was overturned and we had a jumpball at center down 6. We won that. Just too big a hole late in the game to dig out of.

[Dr. Laker]

First.

We suck. Punt to next year.

Thanks, DB!
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On Lakersground, a concern troll is someone who is a fan of another team, but pretends to be a Lakers fan with "concerns".

[Hanging from Rafters]

That's it guys, that record breaker was what was signed up for this year...along with avoiding the repeater tax. Shame...could have been more.

Help me Obi Wan Milwaukee...you're my only hope! against stopping the evil empire...buck foston.

Thanks for the write up DB!
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“When it looks as if it is a realistic possibility, I want to focus on winning a ship like it’s a goal that can’t be denied. I didn’t see that this off season.”

[Hanging from Rafters]

Lebron is not the goat and this game is a good example of why not...he doesn't show that rabid obsessive hunger for winning like other goat candidates. He got the record on 36 points in three quarters but with the game on the line in the 4th quarter he was nowhere to be found to impact the win scoring only 2 more points after getting the record...on a loss. Not his fault, 36 efficient points he did his part, just not good enough to get the win.

Lebron's impact just doesn't result in the amount of wins that should go with his accomplishments.

Still...Lebron is one of the most amazing players to ever play the game. Congrats to him for breaking the record. With the right players around him the Lakers could win at least one more championship.
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“When it looks as if it is a realistic possibility, I want to focus on winning a ship like it’s a goal that can’t be denied. I didn’t see that this off season.”

[mad55557777]

[Halflife]

[Hanging from Rafters]

[CandyCanes]

[mad55557777]

[slavavov]

Congrats to LeBron, but I only feel frustration and disappointment right now because we lost. We have given up over 130 points in back to back games, and Stu Lantz said something during the game about how the team just doesn't seem motivated to play defense.

With Rui on board, we have just enough length and size in the frontcourt to get stops. Maybe we're not ready to hold teams under 110 points a game, but we can surely hold teams under 115-120 points, which these days is often enough to win.

What Hanging from Rafters said above is a good point. The way things are going, the critics will be able to say that LeBron gunned for the record but that he didn't care enough about the Lakers winning, just based on optics.

[PenG_]

Here come the “mentality” hardos arguing about who’s the GOAT. So much insecurity on this forum it’s wild.

No one asked

[mad55557777]

[sonic the laker]

Thanks, DB! And, congrats to LeBron for breaking the scoring record.

That said, this game was another disappointment, in a loooong line of disappointing games. For mostly the same reasons. Lack of execution on offense or defense. Lack of valuing possessions. And, lack of coaching.

AD was very quiet this game, but that's understandable. From jump, you could feel that the energy of the game was more focused on LeBron breaking the record, instead of playing quality basketball and winning the game. That meant instead of getting AD early touches, and having him establish a rhythm, we were forcing the ball to LeBron. The whole mood of the game had a more celebratory feel to it, as opposed to a desperate feel of a tam fighting to get into the post season. And, it showed in the absolute lack of effort.

It is what it is, and no matter that the numbers say we're not out of the hunt, I just don't see us making the requisite push needed to get us into a play-in spot. Much less a top 6 playoff spot. Trade, or no trade. Still looking forward to next season, and hoping for the best. Lakers!
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ZOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!

[A Mad Chinaman]

[governator]

Another bad loss, time is running out

[TDRock]

So yeah...

But Thanks DB

[Lakers#1Team]

Thanks DB! I’ve been selectively watching recorded games to maximize my sleep time the last couple months (Central time zone). And avoiding LG (game threads) to maximize my sanity. But I watched this one live and joined the game thread. Nice to see Bron break the record.

Feels like we are 10 games back but it’s only a few. It would be a nice surprise if the Lakers can get some added help at the trade deadline.