LAKERS -at- JAZZ - 2-14-24 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Clicking... This was a tough one on paper for the Lakers. The second night of a back-to-back. No LeBron (among all the others). Facing a Jazz team that was 17-8 at home.

With Bron out, that just meant more opportunities for playmaking and scoring for others, and guys stepped up to the challenge.

Rui went off for a new career high 36 points, bombing 6 threes. Meanwhile Russell was setting the table to the tune of 17 assists with 2 turnovers.

Before the game turned into a blowout, the Lakers actually trailed by 4 points in the third quarter. They went to a big lineup with AD, Wood, Rui, Dinwiddie and Reaves to close the quarter. They switched on defense, and they locked in, highlighted by a 12-0 run to close the third quarter.

Big nights from AD and Reaves, as well, as they had stretches of sparking the team. Both had multiple highlight plays during that third quarter run.

The Lakers took the 138-122 win with the offense clicking and scoring 30 or more in every quarter tonight. They improved their record to 30-26.


Davis -- -- Some dominant stretches of ball tonight, particularly that third quarter when AD and the Lakers imposed themselves later in that quarter. He was disruptive in the paint and dominant on the glass in that stretch. Then on offense, he was scoring on a high clip. The highlight score of the night was on the break, kicking it ahead to Wood, he drew the D and hit the trailing AD for a monster dunk. Some good work on the two-man action with him and Russell. When AD is hitting from the midrange on those pick and pops, that’s pretty much impossible to stop. A lot of freethrows early. When you see those big FT numbers, you know he’s being aggressive, but a few of these were just on the post entry passes and another on a pumpfake on the perimeter. So not the usual non-stop attacking at the rim where he usually gets those big FT nights. No fouls tonight from AD. Great job on the second night of the back-to-back. Glad he got that good rest in the previous one. The Stats: He scored 37 points on 13-25 shooting (1-3 from three, 10-13 from the line) to go with 15 boards (3 offensive), 1 assist, 2 blocks, 2 turnovers and no fouls in 38 minutes. He was a +24.

Russell -- -- Last time here, they had Russell scoring. Tonight, they tried to prevent that. With Bron out, that just more playmaking responsibility for the guards tonight. Russell sliced up the Jazz defense with 17 assists and just 2 turnovers. Let’s go through some of the passes. I’ve got notes on 15 of his dimes. He attacked the paint and dropped it to Rui for a layup. He hit AD on a pocket pass for the pick and pop at the FT line. He hit Rui cross court for a drive and score. He attacked and kicked to Windler for a three. He got middle and kicked to Dinwiddie in the corner for another three. He found Reaves on a long bounce pass as the Lakers ran a screen-the-screener sequence for Reaves to cut down the lane. He found AD on the rim run for a layup (that was Russell’s 9th assist of the first half. In the second half, he got middle again and kicked to Rui for three. He hit AD on the pocket pass for a floater. He hit Hayes cutting from the corner for a dunk. Easy money working the pick and pop with AD for another jumper. He threaded a tough pass through defenders right to Prince for a score at the rim. And then he found Rui once again for an open three. They asked him if the team turned things around with those Boston/NY games. Russell said they started passing better (note the lack of stars we played with, too). “The only way we could do it was sharing the ball,” he said. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 4-8 shooting (0-1 from three, 3-3 from the line) to go with 9 boards, 17 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls in 33 minutes. He was a +9.

Reaves -- -- The team was very efficient tonight with our new three-headed monster at the guard spot. Russell, Reaves and Dinwiddie combined for 43 points on 17-27 shooting (5-9 from three) to go with 28 assists (they also had 6 steals). Reaves again got the team going early in the first quarter with some threes and finding teammates for threes. Huge stretch at the end of the third quarter as the Lakers were taking control of the game. Prince had just scored and as the Jazz tried to roll the ball inbounds with 5 seconds left on the clock. Reaves pounced, grabbed the inbounds pass and scored an And-1 at the rim, screaming on his back after the make. The Lakers took control of the game right there going up 16 on that 12-0 close. That Reaves/Dinwiddie combo with the bigs behind them, switching everything looked great in that stretch. Show me that some more, please. The Stats: He scored 22 points on 9-13 shooting (3-5 from three, 1-1 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 7 assists, 3 steals, 3 turnover and no fouls in 34 minutes. He was a +22.

Hachimura -- -- “We need to Rui to be great in order for us to be great,” Ham said. With LBJ out, career-high night for Rui. His looks from three in this game were like shooting practice. He was wide open and knocking them down, going 6-8 from downtown. Ever since they worked on his shot late last year, he has looked super confident from three. Anyone remember how many times he’d pump fake from the three line, then attack into a midrange pull-up? That used to be his bread and butter. Now, he just lets them fly. Huge difference from his career in Washington and his first stretch of games with the Lakers last year before they got him dialed in. Big credit to the staff and to Rui putting in the work on that particular area of his game. So half his points from three tonight. The other half were some strong finishes around the rim, including powering up in traffic. He also knocked down some midrange. He had one where iso’d, spun once, then spun again into a fade against Kessler to knock down the shot over the shotblocker. Rui had a shotblock himself on one end, then knocked down a three when Russell found him on the other in the second half. The Stats: He scored 36 points on 13-19 shooting (6-8 from three, 4-5 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 1 block and no fouls in 34 minutes. He was a +25.

Prince -- -- We slid him back into the starting lineup for Bron. Fairly quiet night for Prince, but he still got double digit scoring. Some good attacks that turned into short banks. With some of the rim protection in there he did a good job not over penetrating (he did get rejected pretty good by Kessler on one). He had a good sequence in the second half, blocking a shot on one end, then knocking down a three on the other to go up 20. Really didn’t like Ham putting him out there at the PF spot for a stretch. We need better rebounding and size than that. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 4-8 shooting (1-2 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 1 assist,1 block and 2 fouls in 33 minutes. He was a +11.

Dinwiddie -- -- The team is finally starting to hit its stride and are adding Spencer into the mix. He said he’s just trying to not mess up the flow and will get a lot more comfortable after 5-10 games. He’s really doing a good job fitting in, running the playbook. Tonight, he said AR was shooting well, Russell was setting the table well, so he focused more on defense and trying to get downhill. He got middle early and hit Rui for an open corner three. He attacked on iso to his left, drew the help and lobbed to AD. (He had another lob in the second half to Hayes, who pulled it down, then went back up for the score.). Scoring-wise, he probed off a screen and scored a layup. He drilled a corner three off a Russell kickout. He turned the corner baseline and reversed. He hit a tough three with a man on his hip to start the fourth. On the defensive end, he poked a ball loose from behind in transition to get a stop. He swiped a lob pass. He also pressured his man on the sideline into a turnover. Some good moments there. He said his parents shed tears that he was a Laker. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 4-6 shooting (2-4 from three) to go with 4 assists, 2 steals, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 28 minutes. He was a +9.

Wood -- -- Quiet night with the three ball not falling, but I think his size in our bigger lineups helped. Just getting those one and out possessions combined with that second big for rim protection made a difference. Hit one bucket was a tip in of a missed Laker jumper. His best play was his assist to AD on the break for that monster slam. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-5 shooting (0-4 from three) to go with 4 boards, 1 assist, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 16 minutes. He was a +2.

Hayes -- -- A couple of hoops tonight. Once on Russell finding him cutting from the corner for a slam. Another pulling down a lob from Dinwiddie and going back up for the finish. Defensively, he broke up a lob pass again in the paint for one of his two steals. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-2 shooting to go with 1 assist, 2 steals and 1 foul in 12 minutes. He was a -2.

Windler -- -- He got some early rotation run with Bron out. He made a wing three on a Russell kickout during that first half run. He found Castleton int eh paint for a score later in garbage time. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-4 shooting from three to go with 1 assist and 1 foul in 8 minutes. He was a -6.

Mays -- -- Nothing to report. The Stats: No stats in 2 minutes. He was a -7.

Castleton -- -- He hit a floater in the middle of the lane off a pass from Windler during garbage time. The Stats: He scored 2 point son 1-1 shooting in 2 minutes. He was a -7.

Ham -- -- Key Moment: With about 5 minutes left to go in the third quarter, the Lakers imposed their will. They had fallen behind early in the third by 4 points. AD started to dominate on both ends, scoring on a string of possessions later in the quarter. As the Lakers locked in with a switchy, big lineup they closed the quarter on a 12-0 run. Great job with that bigger unit, which is also fairly mobile with the bigs and large with the guards.

Key Substitution: He closed first half with an AD, Prince, Dinwiddie, Reaves, Russell lineup. Super small, not so good. He made the Jazz match up to us to close the third quarter with an AD, Wood, Rui, Dinwiddie, Reaves lineup. Super big and they dominated. He said they looked at the film at halftime and adjusted to go big for rebounding purposes and to protect the paint.

Key Stats: The Lakers had 34 assists with 9 individual turnovers. The guys on the bench looked a little animated as they took a 10th team turnover running out the clock in garbage time. Seems like there is some kind of challenge with the staff to keep the turnovers in single digits. Just guessing, but I love the effort the team has made lately to reduce those turnovers.

[Dr. Laker]

First!

Thanks, DB! At this point, just stack Ws.
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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".

[Nobody]

Solid win. I'd harp on our miserable 1st half D, but I'll refrain from doing so because it was a tough back-to-back.

[A Mad Chinaman]

The three-head guard rotation provide the opportunity for all of them to flourish since they (along with AD and LBR) don't have to play extended minutes consistently that limits the potential of injury because of weariness.

With LBR out, along with Vanderbilt/Vincent/Reddick, Prince was forced to play 33 minutes - hence the Lakers' D suffered

[danzag]

Thanks, DB!!!

[sonic the laker]

Thanks, DB!

This team is finally starting to look like the team I felt they could be, coming into the season. The ball and player movement has been absolutely refreshing. Our defense needs to improve (with all our POA defenders out, the defensive inconsistency is understandable). With Reddish and Christie's eminent return, I believe we'll see a noticeable positive uptick on defense.

As much as I've criticized Ham, I also want to give him, and the coaching staff, credit for making the necessary changes that have improved team play.
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ZOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks DB! Excellent T&R as always, nice to see results after Ham switched to the bigger lineup in the second half. Apparently this team didn't miss LBJ last night. Nice to see 17 assists from DLO and see AD, Rui, Reaves and others go off on the Jazz. I liked the comments from SD on how he's fitting and how he adjusted his game based on what he saw from his teammates last night.

[Trevacious2]

Rui all the time!

[TDRock]

Thanks DB
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#IStillBelieveTaurean

[Texas_Pete]

Thanks again, DB.

17 dimes (should have been 20+ tbh). Dude can go nuclear with 3pt bombs and/or drop dimes. He gets everybody easy looks. I see him genuinely hyping up his teammates when they have success.

I'm glad Dejounte Murray not a Laker and I don't want them going after Trae either.

Keep Kobe's rookie long-term.

[A Mad Chinaman]

Thanks Thanks Thanks tonDB and Mrs DB to benefit from your expertise and time in doing these breakdowns. Enjoy the ASG break since we will have a 26 games sprint to The Real Season!!

Hopefully this team will find and employ the effort and focus to be CONSISTENT

Playing Prince off the bench to play against players that he can be effect and/or at least make a positive impact. Otherwise, he is a triple threat - can’t defend, can’t shoot and can’t rebound

If Rui is aggressive, his offensive abilities and length will force opposing teams to make hard decisions on how and when to double team AD/LBJ (while them to be fresh to close)

Three Headed Guard Rotation will allow AR/DLo/Dineiddie to play less minutes providing them to be fresh in their available minutes that will the team to always place high pressure on the opposing teams

Hayes has discovered that if he plays with Vanderbilt-like energy, he will get PT because he deserves/earn it with production that results in positive impact on games

CWood is (wow) earning minutes with his D and length. Waiting for his breakout game on offense to provide him the confidence to produce during crunch time

Christie - get healthy so that you can continue your learning curve and display your energy on the court

Vanderbilt - get healthy!! With a Vanderbilt/Rui rotation at PF, we will be a very hard team because of our versatility

Vincent - get healthy. Our triple headed guard rotation listed above will allow you to be our designated bulldog (DS like) defender to shut down top opposing scoring guards.

Cam - get healthy.

Imagine our best defensive lineup consisting of AD, Vanderbilt, Vincent, Dinwiddie/Christie and LBJ

Closing lineup can be AD, LBJ, AR, DLo/Spencer and Rui

To give AD/LBJ rest at the same time, numerous times there is confidence to play AR, DLo, Rui, Hayes and Vanderbilt - even subbing Vincent, CWood, Prince and/or Cam

They are presently 3.5 games from 5th/6th place and with games with the teams in front of them . . . . . .

If we are fresh and injury free, there is a definite path to The Finals

MN, OKC, Clips and Nuggets will battle each other for positioning and home court - that is very important for these teams and only 1-2 games separate these teams.

Kings and Pels need home court hence will battle hard - though they won’t get it. Kings are fading and the Pels’ BI/Zion/CJ are not at the level of the teams ahead of them and lack the experience/talent of the teams below them.

AD/LBJ, Steph, Luka/Kyrie, KD/Booker/Beal don’t need home court advantage but know how to win and understand that being healthy is the key. For many of these HOFers, they are playing for their respective LEGACY!!

[JerryWest_44]

Thx DB

I would’ve add a couple high fives to Allie Clinton for providing the color commentary…