KNICKS -at- LAKERS - 3-25-14 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Blowout? 51-Point Quarter? Lakers Win?… “Blowout” and “Lakers” have gone hand in hand this season, just not with the Lakers coming out on top recently. They throttled Phil Jackson and the visiting Knicks, scoring a franchise high 51 points in the third quarter.

That’s a lot of history and a lot of games with sensational teams.

TNT was at the OKC/Dallas game for the entire first quarter-and-a-half of the Laker game. It was an overtime game, refs reviewing everything, unnecessary timeouts, intentional fouls, a commercial break after the OKC game was over…meanwhile the Laker game was running deep into the second quarter.

Laker fans missed a poor 14-point first quarter, but also a key 12-2 run with Xavier lighting it up from the perimeter to start the second quarter. The Lakers extended that run with three straight bombs beyond the arc from three different Lakers. Finally with 7 minutes left in the quarter, the Lakers up by 8, we got to see the game.

This was a playoff game for the Knicks. They are just outside the eight spot in the East. After trimming down the Laker lead in the first half, the Knicks came out asleep in the second half and the Lakers pounced, extending to a 30-point lead in that quarter. They were hitting open threes and easy points in the paint. They saw a 4-point possession from both Nick Young (his sixth of the season) and another from Henry that quarter.

The scored 87 points between the second and third quarters. It was a beatdown, 127-96 when the game ended. The Knicks had no answer for the Laker bench with the trio of Henry, Young and Bazemore combining for 60 of their 82.

In Tankerville, the Magic won against Portland giving the Lakers an opportunity had they lost to make up a game in the lottery standings there.


Meeks -- -- Wasn’t sure who to lead off the report with tonight among the starters. No Pau. No Kobe. Those two have almost always led the way. Of course, no Nash. So we went with Meeks, who has been the Lakers most reliable player this year. And this was another standard Meeks game. He played tough on D (4 steals) and sank some threes (4 of those, too). He didn’t get to the line like he usually does, which kept his scoring down. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 5-11 shooting (4-7 from three) to go with 2 boards, 3 assists, 4 steals, 3 turnovers and 1 foul in 25 minutes. He was a +15. The Action: He missed a three on his first attempt. He missed an 11-footer next time down. He lost the ball out of bounds. He swiped a Melo pass. He missed a three. He swiped a pass in the backcourt. He fumbled a dribble away. He pushed it out and hit Bazemore for the Lakers. He threw a pass away off the two-man game. He banked in a wing three, shaking his head on the way back down. Second Half: He swished a corner three on a kickout. He stripped a man on the other end, then missed a short baseline jumper. He attacked and was blocked on the drive. He swished a three out of a timeout working off the handoff. He scored a layup out on the break with speed after a miss. He attacked and kicked to Marshall for the open three. He sank a wing three on a swing pass. He missed a wing three.

Hill -- -- His minutes were limited in the first half with some foul trouble. He basically came out for his second stint and picked up two straight fouls on one possession and went back to the bench. He got some easy points at the rim to open the third quarter and then sat in his regular rotations as the Lakers steamrolled the Knicks. The Laker bigs made 16-24 shots (Sacre and Hill a combined 8-8 from the floor). The team as a whole shot 58% (64% from three). The Stats: He scored 9 points on 4-4 shooting (1-1 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 14 minutes. He was a +7. The Action: He was called for a travel. He hit a 9-footer. Two quick fouls and he had to sit again, done for the first half. Second Half: He grabbed a loose ball and powered up an And-1 layup, he made the FT. He iso’d and hit a jumphook in the lane. He filled a lane trailing the break and rode in a layup.

Kaman -- -- D’Antoni whistled and Kaman poked his head out of the doghouse. With Pau out, he got the start. Usually, he’s pretty rusty that first game back after sitting for a while. The Knicks were making it easy on everyone, so Kaman got some good looks and scored a few points. Good job on the boards (4 offensive), as well. Nearly a double-double tonight. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 5-10 shooting (3-3 from the line) to go with 9 boards (4 offensive), 3 assists, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 23 minutes. He was a +7. The Action: He grabbed an offensive board but was called for traveling. He was blocked on a jumphook. He blocked Amare’s layup. He drew FTs, making both, for the Lakers first points of the game 4 minutes in. He grabbed an offensive board and missed. He backed his way down the middle of the lane and missed the jumphook. He sank the Dirk fade on the baseline. Second Half: He hit the FT jumper in early offense. He hit a lefty jumphook off the glass on a roll to the hoop. He crashed the glass, grabbed an airball and flipped it in over his head to beat the shotclock. Nice footwork as he flashed weak to strong, took the pass and reversed for an And-1, he made the FT.

Marshall -- -- Despite the blowout, I don’t have a ton of notes for Kendall. He led the team in assists (the Lakers had 32 as a team with just one PG). He also sank a three. I hope those start dropping for him with more consistency again. (The Lakers team sank 18-28 from three…14 more threes then the Knicks). The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-7 shooting (1-2 from three) to go with 2 boards, 9 assists, 1 turnover and no fouls in 23 minutes. He was a +14. The Action: His layup was blocked. He sank a long jumper for the Lakers first field goal. He missed a 21-footer. He found Nick left alone on the baseline in transition for a layup. Second Half: He missed a layup on a drive. He missed a wing three. He drained a wide open three on a kickout from Meeks. He broke his man down with a behind-the-back dribble and stuck the wing jumper.

Johnson -- -- It was a scoring fest for the Lakers and somehow Wes missed getting in on the action. We’re playing some very dynamic combos of Meeks, Bazemore, Henry and Young. That’s chewing into Wes’s run. Don’t know who we may or can keep out of all of those players, but there’s a lot of athleticism on this team. Just no interior. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-3 shooting to go with 2 boards and 2 fouls in 15 minutes. He was a +9. The Action: He missed a 22-footer on the Lakers first attempt. He missed a 15-footer. Second Half: He grabbed a pass under the hoop, drop-stepped and scored a layup.

Bazemore -- -- No Nash again, so Bazemore got the backup PG role again. We ran him a lot with Xavier and Meeks, who also have had that “decision maker” PG job as Meeks once called it. That’s not a bad trio on both ends of the floor (and would be interesting as a tall guard triangle lineup). He ran the point on one end, then had a stretch of defending Melo on the other. That was a tough assignment and he doesn’t have quite the strength for it, but good to get him some minutes against the main point of attack. You want him to develop into a stopper and lockdown D player. Love the charge he took on Melo in transition. Seems like Kent draws a charge a game. We don’t have too many moments of nice D, so it’s nice to see someone showing a little consistency on that end. The Stats: He scored 18 points on 7-14 shooting (2-4 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 5 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 33 minutes. He was a +22. The Action: He missed an 18-footer. He hit a 19-footer for his first score. He sank a three, the Lakers third in a row. He missed a 14-footer. He attacked and was stripped. One-on-one against Melo on D and he drew the charge in transition. He attacked with speed off the dribble past Felton and stretched out like Eddie Jones to flip in the finger roll. He curled into the lane and couldn’t flip in a finger roll high over the help D. He pulled up off the handoff and sank the wing jumper next time down. He forced a pass to Meeks cutting, turnover. He got out with speed in transition, took the pass and scored the easy layup. He stumbled on iso and airballed a wing three at the end of the half (got to do better than that if they give you the ball for the final shot). He had 11 points on 5-9 shooting and 2 assists with 2 turnovers. Second Half: He swished an open wing three. He missed a three straight away. He bit on a pumpfake on Melo in the post and gave up the And-1. He kicked to Nick off a drive for the open three. He attacked and missed the pull-up wing jumper. He attacked off the screen, drew the D and hit Sacre for the dunk. He was a blur down the lane to draw FTs. He sank a pull-up from the top of the key. He missed a step-back jumper from the wing.

Young -- -- Poor Nick, while he was helping himself to some easy points against the Magic in the last one, some thieves were helping themselves to Nick’s valuables at his home. Not cool. Nick was hitting from distance, talking some trash with Melo and getting in on another 4-point play. Super efficient offensively with 20 points on 10 shots. He even had some moments of playing hard D. Good overall game, but probably doesn’t take the sting out of getting robbed. How can you do that to SwaggyP? He also got robbed on a three at the end of the third, turning around and raising his hands as it rattled out behind him. The Stats: He scored 20 points on 6-10 shooting (5-6 from three, 3-3 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls in 19 minutes. He was a +15. The Action: He sank a three on his first attempt. He scored a layup when the Knicks didn’t match up in transition and he was left alone. He threw a pass away. He missed a 21-footer. He sank a three to keep a Laker rally going. He had 8 points in the first half. Second Half: He was hit on an And-1 three, he made the FT, for his sixth 4-point play. He attacked from the wing and drew FTs on a throwdown attempt, he made both. He got tapped on a three at the end of the quarter. He got swatted on a layup, showing it to Chandler. He drained the corner three off the swing pass. He sank the sideline three off the kickout. He missed the step-back elbow jumper.

Henry -- -- “I’m a fighter,” Xavier said. Playing with the bad wrist, he was the driving force behind the Lakers turnaround to start the second quarter. He sank a number of jumpers as the Lakers tallied 36 points in that quarter, while holding the Knicks to just 20 in that second quarter. The game changed then and there. The Lakers carried that through to the 51-point third quarter where the Knicks had no answer. “We want to show these fans we don’t give up. We’re not quitters,” Xavier said. Very, very efficient game from him. The Knicks just seemed confused on what to do with him. If he hits the jumpers, you’re in trouble because you know he can drive and cause all kinds of issues. That’s what he did. The Stats: He scored 22 points on 8-11 shooting (3-4 from three, 3-5 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 2 steals, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 23 minutes. He was a +16. The Action: He missed a three on his first attempt. He hit a wing three. He sank a pull-up wing jumper. On a roll, he sank a three to give the Lakers their first lead. He dunked on a drive. He missed a step-back jumper straight away against Chandler. He gave it up, got it back and hit the wing three in early offense. He dribbled into a defender and was stripped for a layup the other way. He scored 13 points on 5-7 shooting (3-4 from three). Second Half: He scooped up a loose ball and sank the wing jumper with the shotclock low. He attacked with purpose and drew FTs, just missing the And-1 layup, he made one, got his miss back, attacked and threw down an And-1 dunk over his shoulder, he made the FT for a 4-point possession. He attacked the paint and muscled up the layup. He attacked and drew FTs, he made one. He missed a wing pull-up in early offense. He was stripped on a drive. He jumped a passing lane, dropping down to the paint to intercept it.

Kelly -- -- A lot of minutes for Kelly tonight with Hill getting into some foul trouble. He led the team with 34 and was just 1 assist behind Marshall from leading the team in assists, too. Very unselfish ball, always a willing passer and looking for the open man. He seems to have a very good balance of passing and looking for his own shot these days. I keep remarking on how comfortable he looks out there on the floor. The 8 assists show he’s seeing the game very well. Post All Star break, he’s shooting .469 from three. He’s improved every month in his three shooting: Dec. .286, Jan. .293, Feb. .393 and Mar. .478. He seems to have found that three-point range. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 3-6 shooting (3-5 from three) to go with 4 boards, 8 assists, 2 steals, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 34 minutes. He was a +24. The Action: He sank a three on his first attempt. He swung it back to Xavier for the open three. Second Half: He airballed a sideline three against the shotlcock. He drained a wide open wing three next time down. He missed a corner three. He was called for a travel on a pumpfake at the three line. He pulled the chair on his man on D to get a stop and then hit a wing three on the other end. He missed a pull-up baseline jumper, a little off balance.

Sacre -- -- Solid two-way game from Sacre. He didn’t miss a shot offensively and he played some decent position D. Our two-man D is much better with him out there. If we can get a true defensive anchor and keep our athleticism that would solve a lot of problems for this team. Of course, staying healthy would, too. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 4-4 shooting to go with 5 boards, 4 assists and 3 fouls in 25 minutes. He was a +24. The Action: He found Kelly for the three. He scored off a pass from Bazemore. He attacked the paint, up-faked to lose a defender and hit the jumphook. Nice D on the two-man game to force a turnover. Second Half: Nice challenge on a drive, he then secured the miss. He dunked off the screen-roll with Bazemore on the other end. He swished a baseline turnaround.

Brooks -- -- He got some garbage time run. Rare garbage time run where we were on the winning side. He sank a couple hoops in the lane and traveled in his stint. Not much else. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-3 shooting (1-1 from the line) to go with 1 steal, 1 turnover and no fouls in 6 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: He airballed a pull-up jumper. He attacked, took contact and hit the And-1 bank with some nice touch, he made the FT. He traveled on a step-through. He attacked and hit a floater next time down. He swiped an inbounds pass and ran out the clock.

D’Antoni -- -- With Pau out, he dusted off Kaman and threw him in the starting lineup… The Lakers were down 8-0 after 4 minutes, finally scratching on a couple of Kaman FTs… The Lakers trailed 11-6 when the timeout came midway through the quarter. He sat Meeks and Johnson for Bazemore and SwaggyP… Down 13-11, he brought in Kelly, Henry and Sacre for Hill, Kaman and Marshall… The Lakers trailed 22-14 after the first… Xavier started to light it up and the Lakers went on a 12-2 run to take the lead, forcing a Knick timeout… A series of threes by the Lakers and L.A. extended to a 32-26 lead… The Lakers led 36-28 when the timeout came midway through the quarter… They extended that to a 27-6 run in the second quarter to force another Knick timeout… He brought back in Hill and Kaman with over 4 minutes left up by 13… Hill picked up a couple quick fouls and had to sit again for Kelly… Up 7, he sat Xavier for Marshall… The Lakers led 50-42 at the half. The Lakers shot 52.6% (20-38, 8-12 3PT, 2-2 FT). The Knicks shot 42.5% (17-40, 2-6 3PT, 6-8 FT). The Lakers scored 15 points on 9 Knicks turnovers… Quick start for the Lakers and they extended to an 18-point lead, forcing a Knicks timeout. Kind of pathetic Knick defense… He sat Hill for Kelly… Up 23, he went with the Sacre, Kelly, Young, Xavier, Bazemore unit. They were scoring at a high clip, including two 4-point possessions… Lakers with 51 points in the third (Nick thought it was going to be 54 but he got tapped)… The Lakers led 101-73 heading into the fourth… He started a Sacre, Kelly, Young, Xavier, Bazemore lineup… He sat Xavier for Brooks midway through the quarter. Garbage time… The Lakers bench scored 85 points…

[Omar Little]

first!
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“We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” ― Elie Wiesel

[SweetP]

Forgot all about this game! Glad for the write-up, thanks!
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“There is always light if only we're brave enough to see it, if only we're brave enough to be it.” --Amanda Gorman

[TheBlackMamba]

Thanks, DB.

You got to hand it to these guys. On paper, there might not be another roster in the NBA worse than some of the starting lineups we've trotted out there in the second half of the season, outside of Philly. And they're still out there gunning, putting up some ridiculous offensive numbers. Even the defense has been up to par the last two games (two straight games holding the opponent under 100!), though the opponents may have something to do with that. Still...

It definitely hurts our tank, but I'm starting to warm up to the idea of Ennis or Gordon...

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks again DB

[mugwump]

Live by the three. Kind of explains the dismal season with some franchise records along the way. I wonder if the bench scoring was also a Laker best with the 82 points.

Strange Kobe hallway interview they cut to in the second half.
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"At the end of the day, you are what your record says that you are." --Mitch Kupchak

[TheLakerWay]

Thanks DB!

One of my favorite wins of the year.

[Shaber]

Thanks DB!

When Lakers win this year, it's an event to remember, isn't it!

And the situation with Kaman is just ... funny. I think he is the only C in the league with these kinds of stats who does not get regular playing time. to MDA for that.
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Lakers depth chart

PG Johnson / Goodrich
SG Bryant / West / Scott
SF Baylor / Worthy / Cooper
PF Mikkelsen / Hairston / McAdoo / Gasol
C Chamberlain / Abdul-Jabbar / O'Neal / Mikan

[Hard_Butter]

I really hope the Lakers can somehow bring back Bazemore, Henry, Meeks, and Young next year. It probably won't happen. I think Baze and Henry is affordable, but the Lakers are probably going to have to choose between Young and Meeks with Nick being the ideal 6th man. 20 pts in 19 min! That's some serious firepower right there.

Keeping these guys to go along with a high draft pick, a healthy Kobe, and a possible top free agent would make for a pretty deep team.
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The butter's hard and the eggs are chillin' in the dark.

Kiss my Converse.

[Wino]

Oh boy another win.

LOSE!!! Can't you knuckleheads even do that right?
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Never argue with stupid people! They will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience!! - Twain

[LakerEric]

[LakersMDGurl]

Glad we won, i wanted this game because I don't want the Knicks in the playoffs. It's more likely Melo bolts if they dont make the playoffs this year. Now lets go back to tanking!!!
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New Beginings

[LakersMDGurl]

Glad we won, i wanted this game because I don't want the Knicks in the playoffs. It's more likely Melo bolts if they dont make the playoffs this year. Now lets go back to tanking!!!
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New Beginings

[Yong]

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks DB - This game was talent evaluation at it's best.

[yinoma2001]

[LuciusAllen]