ROCKETS -at- LAKERS – 1-17-16 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

70 Points in the Paint… After sleep walking through the last game, the Lakers looked lively to start this one. It wasn’t so much fresh legs as they’ve played three games in four nights. It was just a much more engaged effort from the squad early on.

Kobe set the tone with 7 assists in the first quarter, and the two teams traded leads in the entertaining first half.

The big sleep hit in the third quarter. The Rockets throttled up the energy. The Lakers quickly trailed by double digits just a couple minutes into the second half, and Laker fans eyes started to glaze over. The 3-point difference at the half was now 19 heading into the fourth, and the game slipped into that same funk we saw against Utah.

“One thing you can’t control is shots going in every night, but you can control how hard you play on that defensive end,” Scott said.

The Rockets got a running start into the paint. They got layups, dunks, more layups. The Lakers were outrebounded on the offensive glass 11-3 and gave up 70 points in the paint.


Kobe -- -- Kind of a perfect game to illustrate just how much Kobe has set up teammates over the years. He had 7 assists in the first quarter, passing Jerry West for second all-time in assists for the Lakers (Kobe and Jerry are about 4K behind Magic). These were break-down-the-D-to-get-your-teammates-easy-ones types of assists as Kobe was very looking spry. He played the entire first quarter, then sat the next quarter and had to warm up the engine again for the second half. He then went the full third quarter. Scott did that since Kobe was rolling in that first quarter. He should have had double digit assists, but Russell blew a layup. Good show for those who came out to see him and Kobe seemed to write the narrative with the storyline of his playmaking while passing West. He scratched a few points, but was in pass-mode and just making it look easy. “It’s crazy that we are already halfway through. It’s coming up quick,” Kobe said of his last season. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-5 shooting (1-1 from three) to go with 2 boards, 9 assists, 1 steal and 4 turnovers in 24 minutes. He was a -12. The Action: He was picked for a dunk the other way. He zipped a pass to Clarkson cutting baseline for the jumper. He broke a trap on the sideline, drew another defender and no-looked Clarkson for the short one. Another bullet to Lou cutting weakside for the layup. He drained a pull-up wing jumper in transition. He attacked from the right wing and bounced a pass under the hoop to Randle for the dunk. He lost a ball and his shoe on a sideline trap, turnover for a dunk the other way (should have gotten rid of it sooner). He hit Hibbert cross court for a jumper. He picked off a pass, pushed it out and dumped it off to Randle for the dunk. He jab stepped and swished a three. He crossed over a man and missed the long jumper. Second Half: He attacked the rim, took contact and missed the layup with no call. His pass was picked off out of a timeout. He pulled up at the elbow and jump passed to Clarkson for the layup. Way short on a wing three. He attacked the rim, drew the D and hit Hibbert for the slam. Russell blew Kobe’s tenth assist, missing a layup.

Clarkson -- -- He had the unenviable task of trying to D-up on Harden. “It’s my first time getting to guard these guys like this,” Clarkson said. Good experience for him, and he was clearly frustrated with the task at times, but he said afterward it was good for him. He was aggressive offensively. I’m not sure how many floaters he took in this game, but it seemed like just floaters and midrange. The Stats: He scored 16 points on 8-17 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 3 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals and 3 fouls in 29 minutes. He was a -11. The Action: He weaved through traffic and couldn’t finish the layup. He swished a floater in the lane (might have gotten away with a travel). He gathered a pass, spun and hit the baseline jumper. Kobe set him up for an easy one on a drive and dish. He missed a pull-up jumper. He attacked down the lane off a pass and swished the floater in a crowd. He hit the pull-up jumper off the two-man game. He missed a pull-up. He missed a half-court heave. He had 10 points on 5-9 shooting. Second Half: He missed a baseline jumper. He missed a wing three. He scored a layup off the jump pass from Kobe. He swiped the ball and fed Lou for the dunk. He missed a baseline jumper. Way short on a floater. He missed a scoop for a layup in transition. He sank a pull-up wing jumper. He swished the floater off the interior feed from Randle. He missed a quick-fire wing jumper. He attacked in transition (missing an easy pass to Kelly for a score) and then found Russell for an easier layup.

Williams -- -- He had 15 points on 5-7 shooting at the half (his two misses were ones he drew the contact on but didn’t get a whistle). He and Clarkson have been our most consistent scorers. That was the case again. Lou once again led the team in scoring. He should have been to the line a little more in this one than he did. With Kobe creating as much as he was out there, this would have been a better game for Brown to start and Lou to come off the bench. That would have helped us defensively a little more. The Stats: He scored 20 points on 7-12 shooting (1-2 from three, 5-6 from the line) to go with 1 board, 1 assist and 1 foul in 31 minutes. He was a -22. The Action: He got the reach and drew the whistle tossing a shot up, he made both FTs. He flared to the left side, took the pass and swished from three. He reversed off the bullet feed from Kobe. He attacked and missed the runner, yelling for the foul. Again, no call on the next one and he yelled at the ref on his miss. He probed around Dwight and scored a layup (I think he wanted another foul). He crossed over his man badly and threw down with both hands. He probed, drew the D and set up Randle for the dunk. He sank a long two off the crossover. He attacked off the high screen for FTs, he made both. Second Half: He softly dunked off the dump off pass from Clarkson in transition. He suckered a man into the reach on the perimeter to draw FTs, he made one. He attacked to his left, switched hands in midair and scored the layup with his right. He missed a three in transition. He missed the off-balance jumper trying to draw a whistle.

Hibbert -- -- Some nice moments of rim protection, although there were a ton of opportunities in this one. He finished with 4 blocks, but the lane was open for business (70 points in the paint). Offensively, Roy really mucks up the two-man game at times. Anytime he tries to roll, it’s just awful and slow. Randle and Hibbert on the court just makes this an even bigger problem. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-6 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 1 board, 2 assists, 4 blocks and 3 fouls in 26 minutes. He was a -10. The Action: He flung a hook up at the rim and it went in. He attacked Dwight from the elbow and drew FTs, he made both. He blocked a shot under the rim. He rejected a dunk at the rim. He sank a jumper off the cross-court feed from Kobe. Sweet no-looker off the offensive board to Russell cutting from the weakside for a layup. Horrible miss on a clunky screen-roll. Second Half: He missed a wing jumper. He swatted Dwight’s drive. He missed an 18-footer. He slammed off the drive and dish from Kobe.

Randle -- -- He slid into the starting job with Nance sidelined with the knee injury. He had a strong first half with 12 points and 8 boards. A lot of drive and dish to Randle for dunks in this game. Glad to see teammates setting him up for easy ones. I would have liked to see him out there in the fourth, but he was still able to get the double-double. Scott liked how he played in that first half. He said Randle took a shot to his nose in the second half and that affected him. He will get it checked out. “It took me a while to recover,” Randle said of that. Nance does a better job plugging the defensive breakdowns and recovering. We missed that, but it is an adjustment playing opposite Roy. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 5-10 shooting to go with 11 boards, 2 assists, 1 block, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 26 minutes. He was a -10. The Action: He coughed it up , unable to control the pass on the two-man game. Not close on a step-back jumper on iso. He scooped up a pass Hibbert fumbled and scored the And-1 layup, he missed the FT. Kobe set him up on a drive and dish for the dunk. He drew FTs posting up off ball, he made both. He dunked when Kobe hit him in transition with the bounce pass. Strong challenge on iso D and he controlled the board. He dunked off the drive and dish from Lou. He attacked, spun and missed the short one. He attacked the paint, stopped, head faked and scored the short one. Second Half: He couldn’t power up in a crowd. He missed a step-back elbow jumper. Nice interior feed to Clarkson for the floater.

Russell -- -- Some wild passes in this game, spraying them all over for turnovers (he had 6 in the game). Not his usual M.O. He hit a couple of threes, scored off some cuts, blew a layup that would have given Kobe his tenth assist. Sloppy game. “Speaking for myself, making the easy play,” was what he needed to do better, Russell said. You know when you start to get confident with something you’re just learning to do, you relax some, get a little sloppy or lazy with your focus…that’s what this game seemed like. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 5-10 shooting (2-4 from three) to go with 2 boards, 5 assists, 3 steals, 6 turnovers and 1 foul in 30 minutes. He was a -3. The Action: He missed a wing three in transition. Great curl from the weakside and Hibbert no looked to him for the layup (excellent finish with the right, too). He threaded a pass to Bass off the screen roll for the dunk. He probed twice off the screen and kicked out to Brown for the three. He threw a pass away getting trapped on the sideline. He drew a double and hit Bass with the pocket pass for FTs. His quick-fire advance pass up court was picked off. Second Half: Way short on a pull-up in the lane. He swished a wing three, calling his own number. No help boxing out a big and the Rockets scored. Sloppy pass out to Kelly that was too low, turnover. He scored a layup off the feed from Clarkson in transition. He choked a layup off the dish from Kobe (tried to reverse when he didn’t need to). He attacked the paint, got the D on their heels and hit the runner. He had a dribble go off a foot to lose it, but swiped it back in transition. He missed a three in transition. He knocked a ball loose to ignite a break. He threw another kickout into the backcourt. He sank a wing three in transition. He hit Kelly for a jumper. He missed a wing three.

Bass -- -- Back in the uniform and ready to go, he took over Tarik’s backup C spot from the last couple of games. He scored around the rim and missed a couple of the jumpers he took. The Bass/Kelly lineup didn’t have much chemistry as they have seen little time on the court since early in the season. The Stats: HE scored 8 points on 2-4 shooting (4-4 from the line) to go with 1 board, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 19 minutes. He was a -8. The Action: He dunked on the screen-roll feed from Russell. He drew FTs on the pocket pass from Russell, he made both. He missed an open 16-footer and swatted a shot out of bounds in transition D the other way. Second Half: Quick attack off the post entry pass and he drew FTs, he made both. He dunked off the extra pass from Kelly. He missed a baseline jumper.

Brown -- -- First time he’s made it to double figures scoring in his career. He looked much more confident in this game. He didn’t just settle for threes. He moved in off the three line for a jumper and also a nice drive for a layup. He looked pretty agile on that drive. Show me that again. (He wants to work on that in the offseason…once he feels comfortable with his 3 and D game.) Steady minutes. I’d really like to see him string together a few more games like this and get that confidence rolling. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 4-8 shooting (2-5 from three) to go with 2 boards and no fouls in 24 minutes. He was a -5. The Action: He swished an open three on the kickout from Russell. He missed a three on a kickout. Second Half: He missed a corner three. He attacked off the line, slid to his left and scored the layup. He let a defender fly by, moved in a dribble and hit the jumper. He missed a corner three. He missed another three. He sank a wing three.

Black -- -- He came in as the third string C for some garbage time run with Bass back. Not much action or time for him to do too much. Lakers looked like they were just starting to warm up to him in the lineup when the game was over. Good job on the boards in his limited time. The Stats: He scored 1 point on 1-2 shooting to go with 4 boards in 5 minutes. He was a +4. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: He was fouled on a dunk attempt, he made one FT.

Kelly -- -- Man, I miss not having Nance out there. Glad the knee doesn’t seem serious. Kelly was ineffective offensively, missing his first seven attempts before finally hitting on his last attempt. He had a couple moments on D and got to the boards, but wasn’t very disruptive. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-8 shooting (0-2 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 9 boards, 1 assist and 1 foul in 20 minutes. He was a -10. The Action: He was blocked, got it back and bricked badly off glass. He missed an open wing three off the kickout. He blew a layup off the drive off the three line. Second Half: The Russell pass bounced right off his hands, points the other way. He caught the next one and hit Bass off it for a dunk. He was fouled on a dunk attempt, he made one. He was blocked on a dunk attempt. He missed a turnaround trying to post up. He swished an open wing jumper for his first make.

Huertas -- -- Some sloppy ball handling when he came into the game. Unforced errors that put the cherry on top of the already ugly Lakers Sunday night game. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-2 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 5 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: He missed a runner short. He fumbled and lost a pass that hit him in the hands at midcourt. Not close on a wide open wing three. He dribbled ball off his foot, turnover.

Scott -- -- The Lakers trailed 19-18 when Russell came in for Lou on the first sub… Great passing quarter from the Lakers, Kobe getting a ton of assists… Bass in for Hibbert… The Lakers led 36-32 after the first quarter. The Lakers shot 74% (multiple dunks)… Bass, Kelly, Brown, Williams, Russell to start the second quarter… Midway through the quarter, Randle in for Kelly, who was useless. Lakers down 6… Hibbert and Clarkson in for Bass and Russell, Lakers down 5… Randle picked up his third. Kelly back… The Lakers trailed 60-57 at the half. The Rockets had 40 points in the paint. Laker D letting them get running starts to the rim. Rockets were just 2-12 from three… A scoreless start in the first two minutes, the Lakers fell down by 10 and Scott called a timeout… Harden bombing threes and the Lakers called another timeout down 16 a few minutes later... Russell in for Lou… Bass in for Randle with 3:28 left, Lakers down 20… They trailed 94-75 heading into the fourth… He started the Bass, Kelly, Brown, Lou, Russell lineup… Huertas in for Lou… Black in for Bass…

[SweetP]

Thanks DB.
It was like they took a nap at half-time and never really woke up.
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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

[Qsmiff]

Apparently, Byron is trying to single handedly end Ryan Kelly's NBA career, last season playing him at the three...earlier this year playing him and Bass at the 4 & 5.....tonight I look , and he's trying to cover Dwight on a switch... wth!!....if Kelly can play in the league , at all.... it will b at the strech 4

[Laker's Fan]

When Byon insists on playing Clarkson, Lou and Bryant on the perimeter for extended minutes, we always dig a hole. The defense is just pathetic.
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Austin Reaves keeps his game tight, like Kobe Bryant on game night.

[jab]

Not glaring, But WOW! stat, HIbbert-1 rebound. Im smh, how they give up 70 in the paint and this dude had 1 rebound. Its dumbfounding.

[GoldenThroat]

Russell had about 3 legit turnovers. The others were blown relocations. Very frustrating to watch.

[Lakers#1Team]

Thanks DB!

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks DB

[H0B0]

THX DB. GO LAKERS

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks DB. Great write-up as always.


DLO needs to settle down a bit, and not get paired up with that Kelly Huertas lineup.

Hibbert needs to realize he's over 7 feet tall.

Bass needs to play the 4 not 5.

Kelly needs to learn the playbook and what to do when he's hit with the ball because someone passed it to him.

Huertas needs to sit at the end of the bench. In a suit. Alongside Kelly.

And the Lakers need a new coach.

Other than that, things are looking up.

[Shaber]

Thank you, DB! You picked a good game to miss and a good first half to return. Sadly, the Lakers could not sustain the effort.


I would have liked Bass to start. But Randle did OK in the first half. But Bass at C against the Rockets is a pure tank job.
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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