BLAZERS -at- LAKERS - 4-1-14 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

40… The Lakers oft-injured 40-year-old Steve Nash returned to the rotation to help Nick Young drop 40 on the Blazers. Unfortunately, the Laker defense went back into hiding again and L.A. dropped the game 124-112 to the visiting Blazers.

“I know when he comes out, I’ve got to be prepared,” Young said of playing alongside Nash off the bench for one of the rare times this season.

With Pau Gasol also returning to the lineup after his battle with vertigo, the Lakers ran the Kaman/Pau bigman duo. The musical chairs in the starting lineup provided little on-floor chemistry and the Lakers suffered with that unit. The Blazers pulled away when Kaman was clanking away in the second half and the Lakers couldn’t hold the line defensively.

Nick Young’s 40 provided at least something a little different than the norm as the Lakers were barely a speed bump in their quest to play spoiler.

Nothing changed in the lottery position tonight, but the Lakers and Kings will battle it out tomorrow.


Gasol -- -- Back from his recent vertigo battle, he looked a little winded out there. “Mentally, I’m fatigued,” Pau said afterward. He said he wasn’t confident and when he turned his head a few times, he still felt some issues. He also picked up some rare foul trouble in the game, not something we typically see from Pau. Very quiet game for him. He moved the ball pretty well to find set up some teammates, but not a lot else. He didn’t impose himself on either end. Defensively, he was his usual self…which is typically not very good. The Blazers picked on him off the screens and our D was toast. “We got to do a better job of stopping penetration,” Meeks said. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 4-9 shooting (1-1 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 7 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 3 turnovers and 4 fouls in 28 minutes. He was a -18. The Action: He sank a wing jumper off the Kaman pass. He showed the ball and was stripped for a three the other way. He missed an elbow jumper. He bricked an open 18-footer. He lost the ball trying to attack the paint. No challenge on a soft hook shot right in front of him. Second Half: He faced up and drained the midrange jumper. He missed a baseline jumper. He drew the double and hit Bazemore for three. He picked up his fourth foul. He blocked some dribble penetration despite the fouls. His post entry pass was picked off (bad angle). He lobbed to Kaman in transition. He was blindsided for a turnover. He was blocked in the post, got it back and hit the short one. Quick spin baseline to lose his man and he put in the And-1 layup, he made the FT.

Kaman -- -- He seemed to suggest Nick’s game took the Lakers a little out of their rhythm. It didn’t seem to affect Kaman’s touches. He came out of the second half clanking everything. This resulted in a series of one-and-out possessions and the Lakers were quickly down by double-digits. He thought that hurt Pau’s game. “Whether that was me or Nick shooting a lot or whatever, taking some of those opportunities from him, it just didn’t work out like I thought it would.” He hasn’t played in that Pau/Kaman lineup very much this season and said that wasn’t how he pictured things before the season. D’Antoni’s mixed up his lineups so much that they definitely pay a price every night for the constant changing. The starters certainly didn’t have any chemistry tonight. “We have to understand the spacing a little better,” Pau said of the unit. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 6-16 shooting to go with 6 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 3 blocks, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 29 minutes. He was a -19. The Action: He attacked from the three line and scored a lefty layup around his man. He coughed up the ball trying to find someone to kick to after picking up his dribble. He missed a short jumphook off the dribble. He found Bazemore for the three. He sank a short jumphook when Nash found him with low position. He missed an open wing jumper. His man reached, he attacked but hit nothing on the drive. He rejected a drive. He missed a wing jumper. He hit an FT catch-and-shoot. He hit another from the same spot next time down. Second Half: He missed a turnaround on the first possession. He missed a lefty jumphook on the baseline. He missed an elbow jumper. He was stripped in the paint, dunk the other way. He swished a pull-up just inside the right elbow. He missed another jumper. He missed a forced fallaway up against the shotclock (and out of a timeout). He swiped a pass in the lane. He missed a point-blank putback. He finished a lob from Pau in transition.

Marshall -- -- I hope he’s a good study. Professor Nash was out there teaching tonight. Lots of different types of passes from Nash. Go over that game tape, Kendall, and watch how Nash orchestrates. He sees defender’s not watching the ball, he creates great passing angles, he manufactures FTs multiple times getting players to run up his back, he’s extremely effective even on the simple dribble handoffs. Lots of stuff for Marshall to study. Good to see Kendall hit a couple of threes. Not good to see him airball a short floater in the lane. That wasn’t pretty. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 2-4 shooting (2-3 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 5 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 19 minutes. The Action: He missed a deep three on the Lakers first attempt. He sank a wing three off the Meeks kickout. Great read to swat a pass away and it ignited a breakaway score (more please). He jab stepped and drained the wing three. Second Half: He airballed a floater, uggh. He gave up a soft And-1 foul in transition, double uggh. Back in and his pass was picked off for a dunk. He got yanked down trying to finish in transition, he made both FTs on the flagrant-2.

Bazemore -- -- He led all starters in scoring, hitting some jumpers and getting to the rim. I’ll take 17 points on 10 shots from him every night of the week. Defensively, he was doubling Aldridge to help, but our rotations were slow behind him and we paid the price. “They were able to space the court really well,” Bazemore said. He’s always looking like he’s competing and playing hard. It’s interesting watching the Lakers throw guys like Nash and Kaman out there and pull Hill and Wes. So many changes. When you’ve got a relatively new guy like Bazemore, who is trying to improve his chemistry with the team, that kind of stuff isn’t easy to deal with. So Bazemore is out there trying to pick his spots while there’s a lot of uncertainty on the floor. The Stats: He scored 17 points on 6-10 shooting (2-4 from three, 3-4 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 1 assist, 2 steals, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 30 minutes. He was a -20. The Action: Quick burst of speed in transition to get past a defender and earn FTs, he made one. He swiped a pass on one end, then hit the wing three on the other. He attacked off the three line, used his body well to fend off a defender and scored the layup over his head. He hit a pull-up FT jumper off a handoff. He airballed a lefty scoop. Nice job hitting the defensive glass (he’s our PG right now) and he drew FTs saving a board from the Blazers. Wow, great strip-block in transition after hustling back and he’s rewarded with the foul, not a good call. He got past his man and couldn’t finish. He missed a wing three. Second Half: He stripped a big on a perimeter reach and took it the distance for the layup. He missed a wing three in transition. He sank a three on the inside-out sequence with Pau. He was stripped after picking up his dribble. He curled into the paint and was hacked for FTs, he made both. He sank a pull-up elbow jumper.

Meeks -- -- Quiet game from Meeks with the Kaman/Gasol lineup, which D’Antoni suggested was because of playing with those two. “It’s just a whole series of things,” D’Antoni said. “There’s just not a flow you’d like to have. You know the league has gone to contested two aren’t good. And that’s what we do when we play that line, we take a lot of contested twos.” Offensively, they weren’t stellar but the D was the real issues. No rim protection with those bigs. Pau again gives up too much room off the screens and guys like Meeks trying to defend Lillard and others are left on an island getting picked off. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-7 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 2 boards, 2 assists, 1 turnover and no fouls in 27 minutes. He was a -20. The Action: He attacked and kicked to Marshall for the three. He stepped on the baseline on a probe in transition, turnover. He missed a sideline three in early offense. He missed a good look at a wing three. He couldn’t’ finish a challenged floater curling into the lane. He drained a pull-up at the FT line after coming off a screen. He missed a wing jumper in transition. He attacked on the break and reversed. Second Half: He missed a floater in transition.

Nash -- -- Good to see Nash out there. The offense just plays with a lot more flow to it. He sees guys from all over the court, of course, but he also sees the opportunities to put the D in bad situations before they even happen. And if you put yourself in a scoring position, Nash will find a way to find you. Ryan Kelly got to the front of the rim at one point in this game, Nash attacked, was cut off but still put the ball between the defender’s legs right to Kelly. No one else makes that pass. He’s looked very solid in his limited action recently. Hope he’s feeling better. “He’s battling Father Time, and that’s a pretty good opponent,” D’Antoni said, very impressed with Nash’s game. He turned an ankle and went into the locker room after a good 7-point, 7-assist stint in the first half. “I just kind of jarred it,” Nash said of tangling legs and rolling it, then later hurting it a little more. He came in the second half and didn’t show any signs of it. He wasn’t covering Lillard defensively, they put Nash on others. Not that it mattered, but Nash certainly wasn’t the problem with the D tonight. He looked fairly active on that end, as well. “I had a blast,” Nash said. He said he won’t be playing in the next one and will be day to day. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 2-5 shooting (6-6 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 10 assists, 1 block, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 22 minutes. He was a +8. The Action: He got Lillard on his hip, drew contact and FTs, he made both. He lost the ball on a drive, layup the other way. He got his man on his hip again, stopped, drew the whistle and swished the leaning 18-foot And-1, he made the FT. He found Sacre for the short jumphook. Nice defensive recovery to block a perimeter jumper. He missed a high arching pull-up jumper in the lane. He swished a one-footed runner off the screen out of a timeout. He hit Young in transition for the jumper. He pushed it up with speed and kicked to Young for three. He probed and kicked to Kelly for the corner three. Second Half: He found Nick in transition for the three. He missed a layup after getting his man on his hip. He made a tech FT. He got his man to ride up his back again for more FTs, he made both. He set up Kelly trailing the break for FTs. He went between a defender’s legs to Kelly, who unfortunately didn’t finish the layup. He looked fouled on a runner he missed. He attacked off the screen, pulled up and found Nick cutting for the reverse jam.

Young -- -- Nick came out on fire, hitting his first 8 shots. Then, we tried to chill him by not giving him the ball for several minutes. You can’t cool Nick down. The Blazers couldn’t, either. Nick was killing it in the second half, as well. He was hitting from three, off the midrange on iso, working off screens, attacking the paint and getting to the line. The Lakers have two guys in Meeks and Young who have dropped 40 this season. Nick has an option in his contract to stay if he wants, but both of those guys will be getting some decent contract offers from somebody. Dollar for dollar, even on a losing team, they are a bargain right now. Just can’t see that lasting through this offseason with how well they have played. Nick’s showed some toughness on the defensive end that he hasn’t in the past. So the rep he built has been altered some here with the Lakers. The Stats: He scored 40 points on 15-26 shooting (6-13 from three, 4-5 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 1 assist, 2 steal, 1 turnover and no fouls in 33 minutes. He was a +3. The Action: He drained the corner three off the swing pass. He attacked the paint and drew FTs, he made one. He took a pass from Nash, stepped back and knocked down the sideline jumper. He nailed a tough step-back three in transition off the Nash kickout. He probed and hit the fade at the FT line. He posted up and swished the wing fade over Williams. He pulled up off the handoff and had his legs taken out from him after the jumper, And-1 swish, he made the FT. He drained a sideline three on the next possession. He swished a pull-up 18-footer next time down. After not touching the ball for several minutes, he missed a long three, his first miss. He had 21 points on 8-9 shooting. Second Half: He drained a three in transition off the Nash handoff. He just missed a big putback slam and took a shot to his rib cage in the process from Kaman. Late to get up out of that and we found him for the sideline three. He missed a wing three off the flip-back pass from Nash. He couldn’t finish another putback attempt at the rim. He missed a step-back three, taking some contact. He swiped a pass to ignite a break. He swished a pull-up three in transition. He missed a tough corner turnaround against the shotclock. He missed a three in transition, Kelly tapped it to him and he attacked for a layup. He moved in off the three line and hit the pull-up wing jumper. He cut backdoor as Nash attacked, took the pass and reverse jammed over his man. He was blocked on an elbow pull-up in a crowd. He Euro-stepped through the lane and hit the hanging one-hander. He missed a three, getting undercut with no call. He attacked baseline with aggression and drew FTs, he made both. He attacked and missed a layup. He stole a ball and missed the three.

Henry -- -- Back on the floor tonight, but he didn’t look very good. He didn’t have his usual energy and drive offensively. Defensively, he had issues with Lillard like everyone else. Just nothing very positive on either end of the floor, unfortunately. The stat line had a whole lot of zeroes in it…zero boards, assists, steals, blocks, field goals. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-4 shooting to go with 1 foul in 13 minutes. He was a +7. The Action: He missed a forced wing jumper. He was rejected on a layup after getting two defenders to fly by. He couldn’t finish a jam on the break. He missed a finish off a Euro-step across the lane (should have shot with his off hand). Second Half: He gave up back-to-back threes to Lilliard to nearly bury the Lakers early in the fourth.

Kelly -- -- We didn’t play either Hill or Wes tonight as MDA went to two bigman combos. He started Pau/Kaman and subbed them out at the same time for the Sacre/Kelly combo. Kelly might have been the most effective bigman out there, though that is not saying much. None of them did much. Kelly nearly had the double-double in just 20 minutes. He was very effective on the offensive boards. It would be nice to see more of that with his length and craftiness. That will get him some better rebounding numbers. It’s tough though when he’s also trying to spread the floor and stay out of the paint. Offensively, he knocked down a three, hit a leaner, had an oop, nice mix. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 3-8 shooting (1-3 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 9 boards (4 offensive) to go with 2 assists, 2 blocks, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 20 minutes. He was a +8. The Action: He showed the ball and his telegraphed pass was easily deflected. He blocked dribble penetration. He hit Nick in the corner for three. He missed a wing three off the Nash handoff. He drained the corner three off the Nash kickout. Second Half: He missed a wing three (and no one covered for him as his man kept running off the challenge for the outlet and dunk). He nearly sank a tough, pumping baseline turnaround against the shotclock. He missed a leaner, got it back, pulled it out and lost a defender to hit the second attempt on the leaner. Nash no-looked to him trailing the break for FTs, he made both. He choked a layup set up by Nash going between the defender’s legs. He tapped a miss out to Young who scored off it. He got to another offensive board next time down. He threw down the lob dunk from Marshall.

Sacre -- -- The starters had +/- ranging from -14 to -20. The bench was all in the positive. He and Nash weren’t quite on the same page tonight as they had been. With as ineffective as the bigs were, I don’t think Nash wanted to work the ball that way tonight. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-3 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 1 assist, 2 blocks and no fouls in 18 minutes. He was a +5. The Action: He hit the short jumphook in the middle of the lane. Second Half: He missed a fallaway, probably a little hurried. He missed a baseline jumper. He was fouled on a turnaround in the post, he made one FT.

D’Antoni -- -- He brought in Nash for Marshall after 4 minutes, Lakers down 2… Down 6, he subbed in Xavier for Meeks… He sat Bazemore for Young and Kaman/Pau for Sacre/Kelly down 6 with 3 minutes left… The Lakers trailed by as many as 9 but cut it to 29-27 after the first… Same Sacre, Kelly, Young, Henry, Nash unit to start the second quarter. Nash running things well… They took a 38-33 lead as Nash was dropping dimes to shooters. Blazer timeout. He sat Nash for Meeks out of that as Nash twisted an ankle… Up 5, he sat Xavier for Bazemore… D’Antoni quickly called a timeout when the lead was trimmed to 1… He brought back in Pau and Kaman for Sacre and Kelly… Young going off… The Lakers didn’t go to him for a stretch and lost their lead… He sat Bazemore for Marshall… Pau sat with his third for Kelly… The Lakers trailed 63-61 at the half. The Lakers shot 52% (24-46, 7-13 3PT, 6-8 FT). The Blazers shot 39.6% (21-53, 5-12 3PT, 16-17 FT). The Lakers 6 turnovers were turned into 10 points. The Blazers had 7 offensive boards, the Lakers 1… The Lakers came out clanking with one-and-out possessions. Meanwhile, they were giving up score after score on the other end. They trailed by 11 when D’Antoni called timeout… He sat Marshall for Nash out of that timeout and also brought in Young for Bazemore… He brought in Sacre and Kelly for Pau and Kaman. Also sat Meeks for Xavier down 9…The lead ballooned to 14 at one point… The Lakers trailed 91-83 heading into the fourth… Same unit to start the quarter… Xavier gave up back-to-back threes to Lillard and D’Antoni quickly called a timeout… He sat Xavier for Bazemore out of that… They trailed 108-93 when the timeout came midway through the quarter… He sat Nash for Marshall and brought back Pau and Kaman… No Hill or Johnson on the floor tonight. Looks like Farmar might be back soon…

[Omar Little]

Foist?
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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]

I love how Nash plays, when he plays. The latter being the issue.
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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

[Chronicle]

what the hell I didn't there was a game tonight
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Kobe

[KeepItRealOrElse]

could be Baze consistent numbers if he made his FTs like tonight. he just wont stop coming performing,game after game, since day 1

[ryan_c]

[LakersMDGurl]

Bless the tanking!!!! 8 more games to lose in this terrible season!!!!!
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New Beginings

[Shaber]

MDAs rotations and the starting lineup games are just ...
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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

[Rawr]

I feel like Wesley might be done. It sounds like they hate how inconsistent he is, which makes me sad for everyone involved.
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You are either in or on your way to the NBA Finals.

[Klone_dd]

I really enjoy watching Nash orchestrate. It's too bad we only see him once a week. Hopefully, he has enough in the tank to show Farmar and Marshall how it's done.

[waterman40]

Tank it.

[Shaber]