BLAZERS -at- LAKERS - 1-21-24 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Blowout Win... Nothing like a 5-win road team visiting your house to help get the bad taste out of your mouth.

The Lakers starters (with Rui in at SF and Prince resting tonight) pulled out to a 17-6 start, forcing an early timeout. As soon as L.A. went to their subs late in the quarter they gave up a 9-0 run. (Vando, Reddish, AD all on the court at the same time is not a good idea offensively.) They added some better floor spacing to end the quarter and led 36-31 after the first.

They’d extend that lead to 13 by halftime, forcing turnovers and not turning the ball over themselves (just 3 in the half). The Lakers turned steals into fastbreak opportunities and dominated the break 19-4 in the half.

They didn’t slow down in the second half. Russell and Reaves cooked in the third, hitting threes and scores in the paint. They extended the lead to as many as 22 in that quarter.

Russell was smoking, sinking 6 threes, making highlight plays on the break and taking advantage of Blazer miscues.

Easy night for the Lakers as we saw a half quarter of garbage time. They cruised to a 134-110 win over the Blazers. They'll need their A game for the next one.


LeBron -- -- Highlight play of the game was Bron tapping a loose ball ahead to Russell, who then waited for Bron and bounced an oop to him for the dunk. Russell used Bron later in the second half on a decoy to fool the D for a breakaway score. Great job getting out on the break and destroying the Blazers. The Lakers were getting downhill with consistency and Bron is just a beast in those situations. “Only way to get fastbreak points is to defend,” Bron said. The Stats: He scored 28 points on 8-16 shooting (3-8 from three, 9-10 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 5 assists, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 31 minutes. He was a +28.

Davis -- -- Perhaps the best stat of the night was the 26 minutes for AD. He battled on the glass, pulling boards down in a crowd. He drilled Walker at midcourt with a screen. It’s been a while since I’ve seen someone on our team deliver a good one like that. He was on the receiving end of a pass from Bron getting doubled in the post as AD made a nice dive cut and Bron found him for the finish. Lately, it’s been the other way around. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 4-7 shooting (0-1 from three, 6-6 from the line) to go with 14 boards (3 offensive), 3 assists and no fouls in 26 minutes. He was a +3.

Russell -- -- On fire tonight. AD said Russell has been playing free. He had 13 points on 6-9 shooting in the first half, just getting warmed up. Unlike the last game where our offense lost its way, the ball found him. He caught fire in that third and stayed hot. He and Reaves were bombing threes. On the break in the fourth, he went behind the back to himself, faking the pass to freeze the D and he scored a layup. Big time scoring night to lead the team. But he was also finding teammates. He spotted AR for some threes, he hit Christie filling the lane for a dunk, he setup Bron on the bounce pass lob, he also hit him with a nice pocket pass for another dunk. Killed it with 34 and 8. “He’s just being aggressive looking for his shot and we continue to try to find him, especially in transition,” LeBron said. Defensively, some better reads on D and he stayed focused on that end. Got a push off foul on his man and met more of the challenge tonight on that end. The Stats: He scored 34 points on 14-21 shooting (6-11 from three) to go with 1 board, 8 assists, 2 blocks and 2 fouls in 34 minutes. He was a +29.

Reaves -- -- He and Russell set the tone in the third quarter. Much better energy by the team than the last game out of halftime. Reaves had the three ball going tonight. He also attacked aggressively in transition for a couple of layups, as well. He and Russell combined for 9-15 shooting from three. We got our guards shooting like this tonight and we’re tough when we have any semblance of defense. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 5-10 shooting (3-4 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 26 minutes. He was a +4.

Hachimura -- -- So despite no Prince, Ham has avoided adding Vando to the starting lineup. I’m okay with that. I want to see more of the starting lineup we saw tonight. You have the big salary guys and our four most effective players in the playoffs…and Russell who has been hot lately. This is just playing your best players. I do think ideally you have a better two-way SF in that starting lineup, but I want to see this unit more. The Blazers struggled to find a defender that could matchup strength-wise to Rui. That allowed Rui to cause some problems or force doubles. He sank a corner three in transition and found Bron out of a double for a three. He also made an extra pass to Russell in the corner for a three in the second half. Better involvement and usage of him. We could do better, but I’d really like to give this unit more run. “We did an awesome job of communicating,” Ham said when asked about the starters. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 2-7 shooting (1-3 from three, 4-5 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 23 minutes. He was a +15.

Vanderbilt -- -- On the good side, he gave us that activity for extra possessions or regaining those 50-50 balls. He tapped out a board to Russell for a three. He hustled for another loose ball and hit Russell for another three in the second half. He had a pick six for a dunk. The offensive decision making when he tried to do too much wasn’t great (some sketchy passes and a charge). Great energy that this team really needs. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-3 shooting to go with 4 boards (2 offensive), 2 assists, 2 steals, 3 turnovers and 1 foul in 21 minutes. He was a +8.

Wood -- -- Superb defensive shift in the first half with a couple of steals and blocks. That was key in the Lakers getting separation. He was blocking shots and getting his hands on passes and loose balls. Really good job with that and it allowed the Lakers to get out into transition. He’d score a couple of layups, one off a great bullet feed from Bron, another on a horrible pass from Vando that he tapped to himself. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-3 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 6 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, 3 blocks and 2 fouls in 18 minutes. He was a +20.

Christie -- -- He couldn’t find his shot in this one and also got blocked a number of times. I think one of those was a goaltend, but nothing clean. He struggled with some reads against the zone. Right idea on one seeing the high-low from Wood to Vando, but he didn’t see the help D that jumped the lane that he passed to. Another turnover from the same post a little bit later. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 1-7 shooting (0-3 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 1 board, 2 assists, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 22 minutes. He was a -1.

Reddish -- -- Good job finishing around the rim tonight. All five of his buckets where layups. His best was probably a baseline drive where he kind of Euro-stepped around the big to score the layup. Some good D deflecting passes or getting a steal in the backcourt. It’s been a while since we’ve seen that. He did have some fouls on a three shooter and getting caught off balance for an And-1. I like him coming off the bench. I’m not so sure about doing that at the same time as Vando. We did it with AD, too, which really hurts the floor spacing. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 5-8 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 4 boards, 1 assist, 2 steals and 2 fouls in 21 minutes. He was a +10.

Hayes -- -- Garbage time run. He hit a jumphook in the middle of the paint. He attacked off the dribble and hit a jumphook. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-2 shooting to go with 1 board and 2 fouls in 4 minutes. He was a +1.

Hood-Schifino -- -- He turned the corner on a screen and scored a layup. He also picked his man on the perimeter for a steal. He drew FTs on a drive. Unforced turnover losing the ball on a behind the back dribble. Despite, that better minutes finally. Hopefully, the G-League is helping build that confidence back up. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 1-1 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 1 board, 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 turnover in 6 minutes. He was a +1.

Castleton -- -- Good to see us getting him some minutes again. He grabbed an offensive board and scored a floater on the baseline. He also drew some FTs. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 1-1 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 4 minutes. He was a +1.

Lewis -- -- He got Castleton an offensive foul not waiting for him to fully set the screen. The Stats: He had no stats in 4 minutes. He was a +1.

Ham -- -- Key Moment: The Lakers killed it on the break tonight. I really liked that defensive effort by the second unit early in that second quarter. That got the Lakers out in transition and this team is tough in that scenario. When you run offensive sets and don’t default into iso mode, they shoot and score much more effectively in the halfcourt. “We’re a hard team to guard when we move the ball,” Russell said after this one.

Key Substitution: Bron subbing himself out of the game up 23 midway through the fourth. AD only playing 26. Good to see those guys having an easier night. Credit the bench for allowing that. CWood was great tonight defensively, especially in that first half being disruptive. I’d like to see more of the starting lineup we saw tonight. See if teams can adjust to that size.

Key Stats: The Lakers had a 35-8 advantage on the break. That’s the most points on the break this year. Good D plays to our strengths running the floor.

[Dr. Laker]

First!

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".

[pio2u]

Thx DB!.... any win is a good win.

[Laker7]

Thanks DB!
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Darvin Ham is an idiot!

[Halflife]

We are the Dallas cowboys
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Kobe.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/Clw9scopegx/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

[A Mad Chinaman]

Hopefully Christie and Vando learned from their numerous offensive miscues against a medicore team

DLo's talk with Ham that triggered a good stretch of play has provided the foundation for consistent production to the end of the playoffs

Hopefully Rui and CWood's outside shooting (along with DLo) will provide what this team needs, hence not needing a trade for Murray and/or others

Will this team embrace the needed standards to be a legitimate title-contending team, since their current record accurately reflects their current status.

[ribeye]

I think Dlo likes it in LA....
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"A metronome keeps time by using a Ringo"

[Cutheon]

I saw on social media yesterday post game - mostly on Reddit - that the guys were acting….odd Post game. Lot of body language experts - guys hugging too long, seeming sad despite the win, etc. people were speculating the guys knew that a trade was going down.

I’m ready to discount all this as just typical social media stupidity - but curious if anyone here saw anything like that…?

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks DB! Good to see a win, excellent T&R as always!