LAKERS -at- BLAZERS - 11-17-23 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Road Win No. 2... The Lakers traveled to Portland for another in-season tournament game looking to bounce back from the sluggish performance in the last one..

They pulled out to a 28-15 first quarter lead as Bron ignited the break on multiple occasions and Russell drained threes. Once those two sat with 4 minutes left in the first, the Lakers only scored one bucket. They’d still win the quarter 30-23.

The Lakers once again pushed the lead out to 16 in the second quarter, but failed to close the half, allowing the Blazers to go on a 6-0 run in the final minute and trim the halftime lead to 60-50.

Early in the second half, the Blazers sank a three off an offensive board, then got a 4-point play next play down, and the lead was now just 3.

LeBron helped spark the Lakers back in the third quarter with 12 points, including three bombs behind the arc and a lob dunk off a feed from AD. Another sensational effort by Bron with 35 points and 9 assists.

The Lakers put together their best defensive quarter of the game in the fourth, highlighted by some Reddish steals and a block. Despite scoring just a bucket in the final 2 and half minutes of the fourth, they’d hold on to the 107-95 win.

They are 3-0 in the tournament games and a +42 -- the best differential in the tournament.


LeBron -- -- He led the Lakers with 16 points on 7-11 shooting at the half. He’d carry that over to lead the team in scoring in the third quarter. He had the crowd buzzing after back-to-back threes, including a deep one on his way to 12 points in the third quarter. Add in moments of getting downhill for scores, leading the team out on the break and finding guys open after drawing attention in the half court (Prince for a three after he attacked across the paint and a no-looker to Rui for a dunk). He was just a one-man wrecking ball on offense. He’s getting downhill and to the rim a lot this season. Last season, he had Russ on the floor and that was clogging the paint. In the second half of the season, Vando didn’t space the floor and Bron was recovering from injury, so it was limited. Right now, if he’s got single coverage and room to get downhill, it’s over. The Stats: He scored 35 points on 13-22 shooting (5-9 from three, 4-6 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 9 assists, 2 steals, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls in 35 minutes. He was a +18.

Davis -- -- Triple-double pace with a 10-point, 7-board, 5-block first half. The blocks didn’t keep up in the second half, although he still had some great challenges that were as good as blocks. Really slow scoring half, though, to start. He made one bucket 3 and a half minutes into the game on a lob from Bron, then got his second score with just under 4 minutes left in the half. He was involved setting a lot of screen and rolling to the hoop. The Blazers switched a lot and left some good opportunities for others on those. He missed a lot of jumpers before finally sinking a couple late in the game. I’d like to see more post-ups for AD when Bron sits and we need a little more paint touches for the team. Low freethrow number for AD which usually equates to some lack of aggression or touches. The Stats: He scored 16 points on 8-19 shooting (0-1 from three, 0-1 from the line) to go with 14 boards (4 offensive), 2 assists, 3 steals, 5 blocks, 6 turnovers and 5 fouls in 35 minutes. He was a +1.

Russell -- -- He’d hit 3-5 from three in the first half on his way to 11 points. Early in the second half, he’d hit a three off a high screen pull-up straight away. Then it would be kind of a quiet night the rest of the way. Glad to see the three balls dropping from him with frequency now. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 5-10 shooting (4-7 from three, 0-1 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 6 assists, 4 turnovers and 1 foul in 29 minutes. He was a +2.

Prince -- -- He struggled with the three, missing some wide open great looks. Finally, late in the game he buried one from the corner. A couple steals tonight that led to Laker breakaways. On one, he pushed the ball up court and went behind his back to AD trailing for the And-1 layup. Any time we get killed on the offensive boards, I want to see what Prince typically didn’t contribute with there. No defensive boards for him tonight in 35 minutes at the SF. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 3-7 shooting (1-5 from three, 3-3 from the line) to go with 1 offensive board, 3 assists, 2 steals and 5 fouls in 35 minutes. He was a +10.

Reddish -- -- Three steals tonight, including a couple in the fourth quarter and a block. He had a pick six on a sideline inbounds. As mentioned, it seems like he gets either one of those or a backcourt steal per game. I think he got both tonight with a steal in transition from behind in that fourth in the back court that would lead to a LeBron layup. He sank another three. They need his energy on defense out there while we are missing our other energy guys in Vando and Vincent. Hard to recall a player more energized just by teammates giving him positive vibes. Hopefully, we are seeing him grow into a guy who finds his role and place in the league. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 2-4 shooting (1-2 from three, 3-4 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 3 steals, 1 block and 1 turnover in 31 minutes. He was a +1.

Reaves -- -- He made just one shot tonight, a layup off a cross and rock-back dribble that froze a defender before he exploded to the rim. He’d get to the line, though, which is something we haven’t seen as much of this season. A few hits to the face usually come with that. Defensively, he had some plays that forced turnovers and bricks. Good to see the disruption there. We missed his big rebounding games fo late as the Blazers were getting a lot of second chances. Last year, he took a lot of charges. That was one of his defensive moves against players who were stronger than him. I think he’s been worried about being labeled a flopper so he has backed away from that. I’m curious how that will trend this season and if he actually picks that up come playoff time after avoiding it during the regular season. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 1-4 shooting (0-1 form three) to go with 2 boards, 4 assists and 3 turnovers in 18 minutes. He was a +10.

Hachimura -- -- Bron assisted on all three of Rui’s buckets tonight. The first was on a leak out when Bron got the board and outlet to him for the dunk. Another was a no-looker from Bron as he whipped a bullet to him cutting from the corner for another dunk. And the last was another open corner three that Bron fed to him. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-5 shooting (1-2 from three) to go with 5 boards, 3 assists and 1 foul in 26 minutes. He was a +9.

Wood -- -- Good to see an active game from him. He had 7 boards in his first 9 minutes and would finish with 10 to go with his 10 points. Offensively, a lot of points in the paint. He got a small in the post, spun on him and scored a layup. He tipped in a miss. He scored a layup off a Prince drive and dish. He sank a midrange against the shotclock. He got another dunk in the post when the defender was out of position going for the post feed. Three ball wasn’t finalling, but a double-double in short minutes is what we want from him with more regularity. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 5-9 shooting (0-3 from three) to go with 10 boards (2 offensive) and 1 foul in 10 minutes. He was a +5.

Hayes -- -- He missed a freethrow and had a steal. Also got in a nice challenge at the three line to force an airball. Quiet night. No Reaves/Hayes chemistry going tonight. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-1 shooting from the line to go with 1 board, 1 steal and no fouls in 8 minutes. He was a +4.

Christie -- -- He came in for the minute of garbage time and missed a step-through layup. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-1 shooting and had 1 board and 1 turnover in 1 minute. He was a +0.

Lewis -- -- Another garbage time minute, another turnover. He somehow didn’t get credit for it. I think Christie did so maybe I didn’t see it right. The Stats: He had no stats in 1 minute. He was a +0.

Ham -- -- Key Moment: Bron had some flurries of great plays in this game. When the Blazers trimmed the lead to just a bucket in the third, he helped carry the scoring. Late in the game, he’d drain another three, but finding Rui and Prince for multiple scores had the offense flowing for the team. That energy kept the Blazers at bay and allowed the Lakers to grab their second road win of the season. They’ve got to clean up the turnovers and offensive boards, though, especially on the road.

Key Substitution: Wood gave the team a double-double in 19 minutes and some life we hadn’t seen from him for a while. Just 18 minutes for Reaves (+10).

Key Stats: The Lakers won the points off turnovers battle 17-6 in the first half. Just 7 turnovers in the first half for the Lakers, but they gave up 12 offensive boards. For the game, they’d get 26 points on the break as they had 11 steals. They gave up 19 offensive boards and 18 offensive boards. That kept things closer than it should have been.

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks DB!!

[pio2u]

THX DB!

[Dr. Laker]

Thx, DB!
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[A Mad Chinaman]

Good game against an opponent that they should beat

LBJ showing again that he is Da Man

AD confirms that he is “Robin.” HOFers from Bird to Magic to Kobe to LBJ are always adding to their game. Wonder what AD has added to his game that would make him effective when he is injured - as he is often is in the past and now

Cam has taken full advantage of his opportunity

AR is still making an impact on the game despite his shot not falling

DLo is thriving against lessor teams. Watching when he faces the upper echelon teams

Wood is earning more PT if he is consistent

Prince is providing some D

[RI Laker]

Thanks DB. I agree they should beat the Blazers (and maybe it was a must win). I have to admit, the Blazers will have a nice team when everyone is healthy. They have amazing young talent, a ton of picks, and should be in good cap shape in the near future.

[av3773]

This team is way to reliant LBJ, he’s nearly 40, I’d rather see Bron scoring in the low 20s or even high teens and we should still be able to win comfortably….right now if Bron went out for extended time it feels like this team will sink and that’s a problem

[ThreePointBomber]

[Halflife]

We need to beat the teams we are better than on paper. So far so good. And get some wins against those we are not on the road . We did against Suns.
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Kobe.
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[TDRock]

Yay

Thanks DB
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#IStillBelieveTaurean

[A Mad Chinaman]