MAVS -at- LAKERS - 1-17-24 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Back to .500... The Lakers need to string some wins together. They’ve stepped up to the challenge the last couple games.

As the Lakers went to their first substitutions tonight, they rattled off an 18-4 run to take a 9-point lead late in the first quarter. Credit AD for being the hub of the offense during this stretch.

The Lakers bench unit to start the second quarter had their lead trimmed as they missed a number of shots from three (including two airballs). By halftime, the Lakers trailed 55-53 as Luka scored 20 points.

Russell throttled up the scoring in the third quarter, and the Laker three ball that was missing early on now was connecting. Meanwhile, the Mavs perimeter shooting was abysmal. The Lakers quickly built an 18-point lead in 6 minutes after they turned defensive effort into pace.

“Us getting stops, holding them to one possession and us taking care of the ball were the key factors,” Ham said.

They took control of the game with the 42-27 third quarter. Russell came back early in the fourth to break the Mavs’ backs with a couple more buckets, extending the lead to 23.

The Lakers did a great job of turning rebounds into fastbreaks. They dominated the break 32-7 on their way to the 127-110 win.


LeBron -- -- Some of the passing tonight was superb. He’s a great passer, but he was a maestro out there tonight: A no-look two-handed bounce across court to Vando on the break for a dunk. A behind-the-back feed to Reaves trailing the break behind him for a three. He threaded one to Reaves rolling from the sideline PnR action. A long outlet to AD for a layup. Finding Russell for threes or Vando in the paint for FTs. The up-tempo ball helped. Scoring-wise, his first step looked great. He and AD really attacked the pressure with consistency tonight. Bron made 3-7 from three (got a kind bounce on one of them). Reaves, Russell and Bron sank a combined 10-16 from three. That was 7 more than the Mavs trio of Luka, Kyrie and Hardaway, who went a combined 3-21. That probably sums up the game right there. Combine that with the fastbreak ball and the Lakers cruised. The Stats: He scored 25 points on 10-19 shooting (3-7 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 8 boards, 8 assists, 1 steal, 3 turnovers and 1 foul in 33 minutes. He was a +20.

Davis -- -- One assist shy of a triple-double again. He could have easily gotten it tonight. He started his scoring with a dunk off the Bron/Russell short-roll on our first possession. He had 10 points, 5 boards and 3 assists in the first quarter. I’m really loving his passing out of the post. The Lakers are killing it with the help beater cuts as he’s just picking apart those double teams. He hit Russell in the paint (after D’Lo faked a pin-in screen, then cut down the lane for a layup). AD posted up and hit Bron cutting for another layup. He found Vando cutting baseline for FTs. He hit Russell for a three. If you are going to double a pass away, you’re in trouble. Really good efforts on the offensive glass throughout the game. On occasion, the Mavs would switch, so AD could overpower smaller guys. But he was just in general getting after the boards with more activity. Scoring-wise, the perimeter shot was there. If you pushed up on him, he was ready to go off the dribble and that caused a lot of issues for the Mavs. The Stats: He scored 28 points on 12-17 shooting (4-5 from the line) to go with 12 boards (5 offensive), 9 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 33 minutes. He was a +21.

Russell -- -- Last 5 games coming into this one, he was scoring 19.2 per game. Tonight, he dropped 29. When he’s scoring like that along side the usual from Bron, AD and Reaves, this team is tough. The worry is you get these great games in the regular season, but can they get him to pop a few with some consistency in the playoffs? That’s why you have the trade rumors. Throw in another guy who can score 20 in that environment around our three other consistent scores and you should be cooking. Dominant third quarter for Russell after a 13 point first half. He was burying threes, hit a hook and buried the Mavs in that third quarter. In the fourth, he made what I can best describe as a “scoopy hook” around a big on a step-through move. Then, he followed that up with a pull-up three in transition. That last one was pretty much the dagger as they went up by 23. Keep it going. The Stats: He scored 29 points on 11-20 shooting (5-7 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 3 assists, 1 turnover and no fouls in 36 minutes. He was a +16.

Reaves -- -- Fairly efficient night, sinking both three’s he took and scoring 14 on 6-8 shooting. He got the Kyrie assignment. Some really good challenges. His best defensive play was jumping a passing lane for a steal, staying inbounds along the sideline before throwing “lowercase lob” as someone called in in the postgame show to Prince who was trailing the action and filling the lane. Reaves would also score a layup on the break early on, sidestepping the D nicely before the finish. Some good two-man actions again with Bron. Early on, they ran that and he hit Bron for the open three on the pick and pop. Later, Bron would run the sideline pick and roll with Reaves and thread it to Reaves rolling for a layup. Those two have nice chemistry. Glad to see it more consistently used these days. Good read by Reaves late in the game to hit Christie cross-court for a corner three. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 6-8 shooting (2-2 from three) to go with 3 boards, 7 assists, 1 steal, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 30 minutes. He was a +20.

Prince -- -- Early on, he took a couple of threes trying to side step the fly-bys, but the defense was able to recover decently and he didn’t get clean shots off. Later on, he started attacking off the three line and that opened things up for him. He drew FTs attacking off the three line. He had a nice layup, curling off a handoff with speed. He probed and hit a pull-up in the middle of the lane. He picked up a flagrant on the perimeter, shoving a man down after fighting through a screen. Solid two-way minutes, having some tough defensive work with Luka. I liked the number of minutes (21) he played in this one. I think that’s more ideal. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 3-8 shooting (0-3 from three, 3-5 from the line) to go with 1 board, 1 assist and 4 fouls in 21 minutes. He was a +13.

Hachimura -- -- He swished a three straight away on his first touch (he’d later airball a wide open three). He’d miss another three and get the board for a throwdown. A couple of steals and a good challenge at the rim on another play on the defensive side. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-6 shooting (1-4 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 1 assist, 2 steals and 1 foul in 22 minutes. He was a -1.

Vanderbilt -- -- He must be feeling good because he’s been spry and playing with a lot of energy in the past couple. He was so disruptive tonight. If he wasn’t turning pressure on the perimeter and passing lanes into turnovers or hustling for loose balls and offensive boards, he was getting to the line with consistency. He just made the Mavs very uncomfortable. One play in the fourth, we got the board, advanced it to Bron, who then bounced it cross-court to the streaking Vanderbilt for a dunk. Really good job changing ends. On another, he kept an offensive board alive on one end, then hustled back in transition shortly later to chase down Luke and prevent a layup. Vando’s one assist was a long pass over the D to AD on a rim run in transition for a dunk. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 1-3 shooting (0-1 from three, 5-8 from the line) to go with 9 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 26 minutes. He was a +10.

Wood -- -- Quiet night as he missed his threes. He hit a pull-up in the paint on a couple long steps for his only score. He also lost the ball on a gather under the hoop. That second quarter shift by the team wasn’t that great. They settled a lot. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-5 shooting (0-3 from three) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnover and no fouls in 17 minutes. He was a -6.

Christie -- -- I feel like most nights we should probably choose one of Vando or Reddish as our defensive stopper and then run Christie to fill in the minutes around that. He gives that two-way game and has more ability to stretch the floor. The team plays well with him on the floor in a simple role. He scored at the rim, attacking off the three line and elevating over the D. He hit a corner three on a kickout in the second half. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-2 shooting (1-1 from three) to go with 2 boards and no fouls in 14 minutes. He was a +4.

Hayes -- -- In for garbage time, he missed a hook. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-1 shooting to go with 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 foul in 5 minutes. He was a -6.

Mays -- -- He banked in a pull-up jumper straight away, not intended. He missed a pull-up wing jumper. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-2 shooting to go with 1 assist and 1 foul in 5 minutes. He was a -6.

Ham -- -- Key Moment: That opening 6 minutes of the third quarter. The Lakers dominated. Russell set the tone as they were connecting from downtown or getting out on the break. When that happens, basketball gets fun, and the team got into the flow in front of the home crowd.

Key Substitution: Again, Vando’s energy in this game was so disruptive. He had the Luka assignment or Kyrie on occasion off the bench, but was kind of everywhere. I like that we’ve settled a little into some rotations with this group. They seem comfortable and are playing their roles.

Key Stats: The Lakers won the break 32-7, getting 8 steals and getting out in transition. They outshot the Mavs 12-28 from three (43.9%) compared to Dallas’s 11-40 shooting (27.5%). Luka, Kyrie and Hardaway shot a combined 3-21 from three.

[Cutheon]

We’re beating better teams. Tanker might be turning…reddish please stay on shore.

[JM]

Tnx

[DrDent]

Thanks DB, much appreciated!

Question: Post game on radio, the announcers were heaping praise on the "new" starting 5, meaning usage of the Dlo / AR back court with AD, LBJ and Prince upfront...BUT, this lineup was used to start the season, and the back court duo was getting creamed on defense which ultimately led to various lineup changes and of course, eventually, using Cam Reddish in the back court.

Is this recent praise just mere hyperbole in your opinion or has something changed with the Dlo / Reaves back court since the beginning of the season?
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"One thing I admire about Kuzma is his unwavering confidence. He truly has no idea that he’s not as good as he thinks." - Killer_Z

[mhan00]

[slavavov]

[tox]

Thanks DB!

Not Lakers related, but Luka split a double team in the 4th (3rd?) to find an open shooter and it reminded me so much of Kobe :'(

[governator]

I think we are actually contesting the threes better, I saw everyone fighting thru screen and rotated hard including AD. Hope we’re ‘there’
On the other side, feeding AD is a trend, mega trend, it’s working! And having shooters (hachimura/prince) alongside DLo/AR who also can shoot to spread the floor allow Vando to hide on offense (he crash the board hard every time and his 90feet defense from last season is back!)

I’m rooting for you Ham!!!

[Laker7]

Lakers shot 4 for 16 from 3 and lead by 2 at the half.
Lakers hot 8 for 12 from 3 in the second half and won by 17.



Agree with DB regarding Christie. Either Vando or Reddish as the defense off the bench and Christie gets the other backcourt assignment. Not both (Vando and Reddish as the same time).

While Wood did not have a great game, he has been involved and active and getting rebounds. Needs to continue to come off the bench while we have him.
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Darvin Ham is an idiot!

[Nobody]

Solid win, let's keep it up! Wasn't pleased with the minutes to Rui and Wood, but perhaps it was a matchup thig.

[A Mad Chinaman]

Vando’s energy is what the Lakers need

If Ham needed to have a lineup to play suffocating D, would this lineup be effective for short periods of time?

Vando
Reddish
Prince
Vincent
AD