TWOLVES -at- LAKERS - 3-10-24 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

27 Points, 25 Boards, 7 Steals... Behind a monster night from AD, the Lakers handled the undermanned Timberwolves team.

It took until the fourth quarter, however, before they could take control of the game.

Early on, a lot of sloppy offense. The Lakers finished with 21 turnovers, which led to 28 points. That kept Minnesota close.

In the third quarter, the Lakers tried to pull away with a 14-2 run, but immediately gave up a 14-1 run to the Wolves and it was evened back up.

The Lakers came out in the fourth with AD, LeBron, Prince, Reaves and Russell. That unit would tally off a 21-4 start to the quarter to take control of the game. When the Lakers missed shots, it seemed like AD was there every time to grab the miss and score or get fouled.

Ham stayed with that unit the entire quarter, until garbage time and the Lakers won 120-109, pulling their record to 36-30.


LeBron -- -- Back in the mix with a near triple-double. He sank a couple of threes, but did a good job on some his attacks off the three line tonight to get all the way to the rim (his best was a ball fake, attack and hammering a dunk). Later in the game, he muscled guys to get to the rim for layups. Early on, he was setting the table quite a bit, even overpassing perhaps a little, before he got focused on scoring. By the end of the night, he led both teams. “Too many unforced turnovers out there,” Ham said. Bron led the way there with 5 tonight. That sloppy play by the team kept the Wolves closer than they should have been. The Stats: He scored 29 points on 10-16 shooting (2-4 from three, 7-9 from the line) to go with 8 boards, 9 assists, 5 turnovers and 1 foul in 38 minutes. He was a +14.

Davis -- -- Crazy stats tonight. He had 5 steals in the first half, 4 of those came in the first quarter (career high for a quarter). Good hands under the hoop to strip a couple of players and another jumping the passing lane to get out on the break. He’d get a couple more steals in the second half. Throw in multiple blocks, as well. But his work on the glass was crazy. Early on, the Lakers were giving up some offensive boards in the first quarter. I’m not sure if that had him turn up the effort, but late in the game he was dominating. The Lakers would miss, he’d be there for a putback or drawing FTs or both. That just overwhelmed the Wolves as the game went along. Naz Reid also had 21 points in the first half. That might have fired up AD a little more, as well. Reid had just 4 points in the second half. Some good passing from teammates to set him up for dunks and layups (Russell, Bron, Prince all finding him). He got blocked a few times under the hoop tonight. More than we usually see, that might have also played into everything. But by the end of the night, 27 points, 25 boards (10 offensive) and 7 steals is crazy. His 12th 20-20 game of his career and numbers not seen since tracking steals and blocks. The Stats: He scored 27 points on 9-17 shooting (9-13 from the line) to go with 25 boards (10 offensive), 5 assists, 7 steals, 3 blocks, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 39 minutes. He was a +15.

Russell -- -- With Bron back in the mix, a quieter night for Russell. He had some good work on the two-man action tonight, especially with Hayes. Some bad angle post entry passes tonight for both of his turnovers. He sank a couple of threes, hit a fade on the right side and got to the rim after splitting the D for a layup. He led the team with the +21. A few pass deflections but no steals. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 5-12 shooting (2-5 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 6 assists, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 34 minutes. He was a +21.

Reaves -- -- The Lakers starters made 10-20 from three, Reaves with 3-6 of those. He had a couple of the pull-back-dribble variety. His best play of the game, was some craziness with his handles. I love when guys try to pressure him and he burns them with a dribble. His man tried to get up on him, Reaves went behind his back to shake him, let him recover, then spun away from the D as he tried to jump over the screen and took it in for a layup that had the arena roaring. “I workout with Phil Handy,” Reaves said, crediting him with the handles improvement. I love Handy, man. If you’re a guard on this team without handles, you aren’t putting in the work. Defensively, really solid night individually with a lot of minutes matched up against Edwards. He drew an offensive foul on one drive, cutting him off along the baseline. Where he could have done better was on some of the team D sequences. He tried to help AD twice and his man scored as a result of leaving him. Let AD take care of his man on iso D. He doesn’t need help there. A bit turnover prone tonight, as well. The Stats: He scored 19 points on 7-13 shooting (3-6 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 4 assists, 4 turnovers and 2 fouls in 36 minutes. He was a +10.

Hachimura -- -- He had all 15 points in the first half, sinking 3-5 from three. He also scored on another mismatch in the post against Conley, which he dunked on, after running the court to force the mismatch coverage. He also scored on a leakout and long outlet from Bron. His minutes were cut short in the third in place of Prince. Felt like Rui had more than 1 turnover in this one. Defensively, not as good a night as the last one, but he did hit the floor for a loose ball recovery on one play. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 5-10 shooting (3-5 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 3 assists and 1 turnover in 24 minutes. He was a +3.

Dinwiddie -- -- Quiet night as he missed all the shots he took. He was whistled for a few fouls and took exception with one to the point where he got T’d up. I think also on one of those misses of his, he looked completely fouled with no call. So that may have played into some of it. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-3 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 1 board, 1 assist, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 17 minutes. He was a -5.

Prince -- -- Some really good fourth quarter defense tonight. He blocked a layup in transition and controlled it. He had another good stop against Edwards on iso D. Again, we avoided that small ball, playing Prince at the SF tonight with real PFs out there. He missed all his threes he took tonight, but had multiple scores attacking off the line to get to the rim. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-6 shooting (0-3 from three) to go with 3 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block and 1 foul in 24 minutes. He was a +11.

Hayes -- -- Some really good chemistry with Hayes and Russell has been developing. The two-man play is looking flawless. Russell had a lob for Hayes that allowed him to run under it for the slam. He hit him rolling for an And-1 layup and another for a dunk. Hayes got his other bucket on a putback jam. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 4-4 shooting (1-1 from the line) to go with 5 boards (2 offensive), 1 block, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 15 minutes. He was a -2.

Christie -- -- He scored a layup getting out on the break with Bron for his only attempt. A turnover on an outlet attempt earlier in the game and another in garbage time. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-1 shooting to go with 1 boards and 2 turnovers in 8 minutes. He was a -2.

Mays -- -- Haven’t seen him for a while. In for the minute of garbage time. Nothing to report. The Stats: He had 1 board and 1 steal in 1 minute. He was a +0.

Giles III -- -- Bright pink shoes, he came in to replace AD with a minute left in the game after a full quarter of run for AD. He threw up a wild shot on a drive and missed. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-1 shooting. He was a +0.

Lewis -- -- Helped the team keep tacos in the final minute. The Stats: No stats.

Ham -- -- Key Moment: The first few minutes of the fourth. The Lakers won those decisively. Credit AD for dominating on the glass and in the paint, but also some good team D. The Wolves took back some momentum late in that third quarter. The Lakers locked down in the fourth and Ham stayed with the same guys all quarter, nearly 11 minutes straight.

Key Substitution: Our old starters opened up the fourth, AD, Bron, Prince, Reaves and Russell. They took control with a 21-4 run with some clean, tight two-way play. Good D by the unit, but also cut down on some of the careless plays. And AD beasted in the paint.

Key Stats: Lakers 7-12 from three, Wolves 10-24 at the half. The Lakers finished 10-24 from three (41.7% from three). They have improved their three shooting every month this season. This is largely due to getting reps in their new system and finding their spots, along with playing fewer minutes for some poorer shooters.

[Dr. Laker]

First!

Thanks, DB! I checked the score and we were down, 87-86 and I figured it was going to be a loss.
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[Laker7]

Thanks DB! Good win against an undermanned team.
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Darvin Ham is an idiot!

[Lakers#1Team]

Thanks DB!

[A Mad Chinaman]

Triple T (Prince) actually was seen on the court and provide a little D.

Playing with four legitimate offensive threats that has excellent handles compensated for Prince time on the court. With Rui not having his best game, Ham went to Prince.

When CWood and Vanderbilt returns, they will be getting Prince’s minutes

DLo/AR played their roles perfectly

AD was AD and LBJ was LBJ

[danzag]

Thanks, DB.

Absolutely crazy that we're 6 games above .500 and still in 9th place

[Nobody]

Solid win and what a monster game by Davis.

[ReaListik]

Great win. Finally 6 games above .500
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"We are the goodest." - Shaq ESPN interview

[gumby]

Gotta take every win at this point no matter what the style points are.

They took care of business in the end.

Bye.
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"This trophy removes the most odious sentence in the English Language. It can never be said again that 'the Lakers have never beaten the Celtics.'" -Dr. Jerry Buss (1985) R.I.P., 33 x M.V.O.

[lakeshowtacular]

That was a huge win. I did see Ham call a timeout after an 8-0 run...maybe he's reading LG and won't let the runs get to 10 now!!! Man, I hope so. AD is a beast, but I still can't help but notice that we don't have any real sets, or at least that are observable to the naked eye.

I remember guards getting to their spots to initiate the triangle, but it looks like we are just dribbling into p'n'r action, and we aren't working the back screens, lobs, or even scissor cuts on the baseline for open threes. Every time it got close our offense was predicated on LBJ bully ball, or AD offensive rebounds. That won't cut it in the playoffs.

Great win, bummer to see Towns hurt. Always a good matchup with him and AD!
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Magic*Kobe*LBJ*AD*Cap

[A Mad Chinaman]