Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2015 9:43 pm Post subject: BLAZERS -at- LAKERS - 1-11-15 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings
Too Much Damian Lillard… Last time these two teams met, Damian Lillard took the game over in the fourth quarter for a victory despite a spirited road effort from the Lakers.
When he checked back in for the fourth tonight, he quickly pushed the Blazers to an 8-point lead. Scott called timeout and brought in Price. It didn’t matter. In fact, Lillard just imposed his will on the Lakers even more. This time 17 points for Lillard in the fourth, including a massive dunk between our two bigs after blowing by Price.
“He’s pretty damn good,” Scott said of Lillard afterward.
Again, it was just a difference of talent. The Blazers have All Stars and the Lakers don’t.
It would have been a closer game had our SGs shown up. Ellington at starting SG with Kobe out and Nick Young as the backup, were ineffective. They shot 3-10 and 3-11, respectively.
Scott was pleased with the team effort but said, “It was just too much Damian Lillard.”
Hill -- -- Some good moments from him in transition D. It’s not often we’ve seen him back there challenging shots on the break but it happened more than once tonight. Maybe call it the Tarik Effect. The Lakers bigs better hustle. He played with good energy and hit shots from the perimeter or off the dribble in the paint. He seemingly dominated Kaman in their head-to-head tonight, but Kaman scratched out some stats by the end of the night with 9 points on 4-10 shooting and 12 boards. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 6-11 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 3 blocks, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 28 minutes. He was a -11. The Action: Good hustle back in transition and he forced a turnover by not conceding the hoop. He attacked Kaman across the lane in the post for a hook. Nice challenge on the guard penetration to alter the shot. Not close on a 20-foot set shot from the wing. He was stripped on a drive. He attacked to the left and kicked it out of bounds. He scored a layup off the Price drive and dish. He missed a fading jumper in the inbounds. Great job getting back in transition to help challenge. He curled in the lane and was called for a weak clear out after a great score on the move (he had his arm out but didn’t use it to an advantage, refs should have let that go). Second Half: He attacked Kaman with speed and scored an easy layup over him. He swished a top-of-the-key jumper on the kickout from Davis. He blocked a shot off a guard but they gave it back to the Blazers (who would score). He was hacked hard by Kaman on a drive, he made both FTs. He missed a 20-footer. He airballed a floater. He swished a 17-footer on the catch, turn and shoot. He blocked Kaman twice under the hoop. He attacked the paint and missed a short one, looking like he took some contact with no call. He sank a 19-footer.
Davis -- -- We did a decent job on Aldridge tonight who had 15 points on 7-18 shooting. Both Davis and Black were the key defensive men. We sent doubles quite a bit to help and our rotations were strong again. We helped Davis a little faster than we did Black. Offensively, not much from Davis tonight. Lakers had just 7 offensive boards. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-4 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go with 8 boards, 4 assists, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 27 minutes. He was a -11. The Action: He didn’t hit rim going glass in the paint. He couldn’t finish an oop from Wes on the break. He took a bounce pass from Lin and was fouled under the hoop, he made one FT. He was called for a moving screen. He missed a turnaround in the post, but got it back. Second Half: He kicked out to Hill for the jumper. He took an interior feed from Price and scored the layup.
Price -- -- Twice he overplayed on the pressure D at the close of halves and twice we got burned. Lillard put the exclamation point And-1 dunk down between two of our bigs as Ronnie over-pressured and allowed him a straight line running start. That ended any ideas of catching the Blazers in the final minute after we hit a couple big threes. He followed that up with a turnover and missed three to be sure. He said the team has to stick to their principles, but said there was a lot of things that he could have done himself to defend him better. Yep. Still a very tough cover. “He has the mindset of being great,” Price said. “…he’s going to get better, that’s the scary part.” Offensively, he couldn’t hit from the perimeter (missing all four threes he took) but he did a good job setting the table for others to lead the team with 12 assists. Some nice work with Boozer particularly. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 2-7 shooting (0-4 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 1 board, 12 assists, 1 steal, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls in 33 minutes. He was a -12. The Action: Poor pass, right to a Blazer for a breakaway. He attacked the paint, got some contact separation and hit the short one in the middle of the lane. He knocked a ball loose. He missed a pull-up from the top of the key in transition, would like to see that a few feet closer or behind the three line. He found Boozer open for a couple of short jumpers. He drew a pushing foul to get a stop. He missed a wing three. He took a kickout, attacked the paint and fed Hill for the layup. He was on the floor going after a loose ball with 2 on the shotclock and he drew a very lucky foul for FTs, he made both. Poor over play defensively with 4 seconds left and it led to the D collapsing and a three for Blake at the buzzer. Second Half: He threaded a pass to Wes under the hoop for a layup. He hit Davis with the interior feed for a layup. He attacked a seam with speed and scored a layup over the D. He slipped a bounce pass to Boozer for the And-1 layup in early offense. He missed a wing three. Quick first step and he drew FTs on the drive, he made both. Way short on a big miss from three. He was stripped on a drive, turnover. He overplayed Lillard, gave up the penetration and a massive And-1 dunk between our two bigs. He attacked and threw it away. He missed a wing three.
Ellington -- -- Our Young/Ellington shooting guard combo tonight were shooting but not making. Ellington at least made 2-4 from three, but missed just about everywhere else. They were a combined 6-21 from the floor. Just no threat at the SG tonight. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 3-10 shooting (2-4 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 2 assists and 1 foul in 27 minutes. He was a -10. The Action: He missed a wing jumper. Bad decision passing up on an open three and taking half a step forward to miss with a foot on the three line. He missed an open pull-up three. He attacked right and hit the short pull-up jumper on the wing. Not close on a quick-fire wing three off the handoff. Second Half: He checked his feet on the swing pass and drained the corner three. He missed an easy floater in the lane, got to hit those. He missed a long wing jumper trying to create on iso against the shotclock. Way off on a wing catch and shoot. He took an outlet in transition and hit the three. He drew FTs as he jumped to shoot and decided to pass at the last second, he made both.
Johnson -- -- Excellent game coming back in after the injury. He was aggressive early, missing his first couple shots but then he dialed it in. Very controlled on his jumper and the results followed. “I just need to get my legs underneath me and slow down,” Wes said. He led the Lakers with 17 points. He also had a nice feed to Tarik on the break for a dunk during one of the Lakers runs. The Stats: He scored 17 points on 7-14 shooting (3-5 from three) to go with 4 boards, 3 assists and 1 turnover in 31 minutes. He was a -7. The Action: He missed a long wing jumper on our first attempt. He missed an 18-footer from the right side. He tried to lob to Davis on the break and they botched the play. Wide open and he sank the wing three. He swished an open wing jumper coming off the screen for a catch and shoot. Nice close out to force an airball. He took a perimeter pass, gathered himself really well on the square up and hit the wing three. He missed an open corner three on a kickout. Poor post feed and it was picked off easily. He had 8 points on 3-6 shooting (2-3 from three). Second Half: He swished a corner jumper to start the half. He missed a wing jumper. He scored a layup cutting backdoor weakside and taking the pass from Price. He missed a long three, short. He missed a forced 16-footer. Nice board with one hand going up high. Superb chest pass to Black as Wes pulled up on the wing in transition, then spotted Black coming down the middle of the lane for the dunk. Not close on a long perimeter jumper, his body twisting in air. He hit a leaner from the FT line after probing off the three line. He drained a corner three on a kickout.
Young -- -- “You just got to do other things to get yourself involved,” Scott said. He shot blanks in the first half. Hard to get out of a slump when four of your first five shots are from three. We slid him to the SG spot, running Kelly at backup SF with Wes back. Just 23% shooting (13% from three) in the last four games. He was 1-8 from three tonight and he got a lucky bounce on the one he did make. “I just got to stop thinking so much and play my game. Just go out there and have fun,” he said. No assists from Young. He needs to attack the paint and try to draw fouls or make plays. He had a couple aggressive attacks on the break for scores tonight. Just get to the rim more and draw fouls or look for teammates. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 3-11 shooting (1-8 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards and 3 fouls in 18 minutes. He was a +4. The Action: He got tapped on a jumper from 17 feet out, coming off the horns screens. He missed a three straight away against the shotclock. He missed a wide open corner three. He missed an open sideline three. He missed a three on a kickout, then fouled in transition. He was 0-5 in the half (four of those were threes). Second Half: He got a super kind bounce on a sideline three, it dropped and he had a huge smile on his face. He crossed over and missed a three. He missed an open sideline three. He probed late in the shotclock and drew FTs, he made both. He snagged a defensive board with speed, pushed it out and scored the transition layup. He attacked in transition, pulled it down, then back up and scored the layup. Not close on a three at the shotclock buzzer.
Lin -- -- Lillard once again dominated us down the stretch. Scott moved Lin off of Lillard after the first few points, then to the bench to watch Lillard finish destroying us completely. “We have to find ways to make it more difficult for him and to just have somebody else beat us,” Lin said. Aside from a nice layup in transition, not much of a second half from Lin. He and the second unit had a strong first half, getting the Lakers out of a small hole and taking a lead. The Boozer/Black combo looks much better than Boozer/Sacre. They need more time together, but a scrappier bunch that improves and already strong bench. Lakers just out-classed once again by the better team. He wanted the team to double and get it out of his hands more. He’s right. “That’s just something we have to keep working through,” Lin said, mentioning Lillard also hit some tough shots. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 3-9 shooting (3-4 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 3 assists, 1 turnover and no fouls in 19 minutes. He was a -9. The Action: He hit Boozer for the elbow jumper. He missed a pull-up 16-footer in transition. He picked up his dribble in the paint and had it stolen. He took an inbounds and probed to his left for an open wing jumper. He attacked the paint, stopped and missed the layup. He attacked the paint with speed and scored a layup (he got Blake to turn the ball over in transition after that). He immediately attacked the lane with speed and drew a hack call for FTs (he made one). Sweet bounce pass to Boozer in the middle of the paint off the two-man game for the layup. He attacked in early offense and drew FTs, he made both. He missed an open wing jumper. He had 7 points on 2-5 shooting and 2 assists in the half. Second Half: Poor idea hitting Black too early on the break, turnover. He missed a leaning jumper trying for a two-for-one (not enough time) but luckily we got it back and we could run clock again for the final shot. He couldn’t finish a tough scooping layup on the pushout off the loose ball. He missed a wide open wing jumper set up out of a timeout. He took an outlet and reversed around a defenders.
Boozer -- -- He worked the two-man game well for some elbow jumpers early on and led the Lakers in scoring in the first half with 10 points. The Lakers guards did a good job getting it to him in his sweet spots. Slower second half. We could have used some more of those simple play scores in the fourth quarter. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 6-8 shooting (1-3 from the line) to go with 9 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal and 4 fouls in 21 minutes. He was a -1. The Action: He ball-faked and swished the elbow jumper off the two-man game. Same play and he sank it again next time down. Another elbow jumper from the other side, this time working with Lin. He missed a bank on iso from the left side. He scored a layup off the loose ball knocked right to him. He scored an easy layup off the bounce pass from Lin on the two-man game. He had 10 points on 5-6 shooting and 6 boards in the half. Second Half: He scored an And-1 layup in semi-transition when Price slipped a bounce pass to him, he missed the FT. He missed a baseline jumper. He drew FTs on a pull-up at the elbow, he made just one.
Black -- -- He moved up the depth charts to take Sacre’s backup C minutes. For a rookie, his defense is surprisingly strong. He made Aldridge work and forced him into quite a few misses. The Blazers wanted to pick on him, but really didn’t get anywhere. You usually don’t see a rookie holding his ground like that. Well done on that end. Again, he had another nice block and hit the boards hard, leading the team with 3 offensive boards. “His energy is contagious,” Scott said. He seemed to me to get a little tired near the end of his second stint, but it wasn’t that noticeable. Offensively, he still needs reps with the team. There were a few plays where he wasn’t sure where to go. Tarik on Lillard: “Anybody can be stopped, nobody’s perfect,” Tarik said, not wanting to give Lillard credit (I like it from a rookie). The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-3 shooting to go with 6 boards (3 offensive), 1 assist, 1 block, 3 turnover and 3 fouls in 20 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: He tipped out a missed Young jumper right to Kelly for the three. Nice challenge on Aldridge to force a miss. Good challenge on a switch with a smaller man to alter a layup. He erased a layup blocking it off the glass. He attacked, took call kinds of contact with no call and lost the ball out of bounds. He grabbed an offensive board in a crowd, pump-faked a couple of defenders and scored a layup. He regained a possession drawing a foul on the offensive glass. Good effort getting back in transition to block a shot after Nick had fouled. He took a pass at the FT line, attacked the defenders and hit the little floater. He had 4 points on 2-2 shooting, 4 boards and 1 block in 10 minutes. Second Half: He slammed off the great pass from the wing in transition from Wes, that drew a timeout. He shed Aldridge and grabbed an offensive board, drawing a foul. Called for a moving screen.
Kelly -- -- We ran him at backup SF, sliding Young to the backup SG spot. This essentially takes the Clarkson minutes away when Kobe is out. He’s still getting used it offensively. We had him curling off screens, once looking great, once an awful force. It’s just not something he’s really done much of in his basketball life so expect some of that. We didn’t get the good board numbers from him tonight, but he still had some good moments defensively. That length and mobility surprises smaller opponents. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-4 shooting (1-1 from three) to go with 1 board, 1 assist, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 17 minutes. He was a -5. The Action: He sank a wing three off the tip out from Tarik. He hit a runner in the paint nicely after coming off the horns screen into the middle of the lane. Nice challenge to force his man to pass on a jumper. He missed a leaner, followed it and knocked it to Boozer for a layup. Second Half: He was called for an illegal screen. Nice challenge on Blake’s three to force a miss. He forced up an 18-footer coming off of a screen but with his man still on him, so he missed badly.
Scott -- -- The Lakers trailed 11-9 when the timeout came with 5 minutes left. Good defense to start, rotating without hesitation… He brought in Boozer for Davis, and then Black for Hill shortly later with Nick for Wayne… The Blazers getting a little separation as the Lakers offense struggled to produce. The Lakers trailed 19-13 when the timeout came with under 3 minutes left. Lin in for Price and Kelly for Wes… The Lakers trailed 23-20 after the first quarter… He started a Black, Boozer, Kelly, Young, Lin lineup… He sat Boozer and Black for Davis and Hill, Price for Young, Lakers up 35-32… All starters back in score tied 38-38 with under 5 minutes left… A 10-2 run for the Blazers to close the half… The Lakers trailed 50-45 at the half. They shot 3-11 from three and had just 4 offensive boards. The Blazers had a 9-1 advantage on the break… A 7-0 run for the Lakers to quickly retake the lead… They struggled to score with consistency and gave up a couple threes to trail by 5 when the timeout came midway through the quarter… They trailed by 7 when Black and Boozer came in with 4 minutes left… Young in for Ellington… After a Boozer layup, a Young three and a Black dunk, the Blazers called a timeout tied 69-69… Lin and Kelly in for Price and Johnson… The Lakers trailed 72-69 heading into the fourth… Same unit to start the fourth… Lillard back in the Blazers quickly extend to an 8-point lead so Scott called a timeout… He brought in Price for Young out of that to cover Lillard… Kelly out for Wes, Lakers down 11… Down 12 with half a quarter left and he brought back in the rest of the starters… Scott said he was wrong with how much he played Kobe early in the season…
1st, thanks as always. Blazers had a b2b, still won. If Young could scored 2 or 3 more shoots, there maybe a different story. _________________ "Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience." --Sarah Cook.
Damian Lillard's 34 points and 7 assists from this game:
And his 39 points and 5 assists from previous game:
Seemed to me that alot of Lakers shots were hitting the front of the rim, so wonder if Byron Scott had them run hard in practice last few days and their legs weren't totally there (?)
Lillard did start to go off in fourth quarter, but from point that score was tied 75 - 75 (Nick Young layup with Lin assist at 9:59 mark), Lakers only scored 1 point (Carlos Boozer 1/2 free throws) in almost next 4 minutes (scoring drought then ended with Lin 2 pointer off Wes Johnson assist at 6:18 mark).
Blazers scored 14 points (89 - 76) in same time period (Lillard scored 8 of those points: )
14 - 1 run over almost 4 minute period in fourth quarter is what broke the game open then. (Lakers didn't look like they were playing with an edge then, so I again wonder if weary legs might have been an issue then).
Joined: 02 Jun 2002 Posts: 4545 Location: Monrovia, California
Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2015 12:37 am Post subject:
Thanks DB.
It's crazy. The league can hype Lebron, Wade, Westbrook, Durant, etc.. all they want as the next Kobe. But I think it's Lillard. That guy is nuts. _________________
LakerFanAlways wrote:
Somewhere the Utah Jazz are watching this and saying "WE LOST TO THESE IDIOTS"
It's crazy. The league can hype Lebron, Wade, Westbrook, Durant, etc.. all they want as the next Kobe. But I think it's Lillard. That guy is nuts.
totally agree. most underrated player in the league right now, and should be the first guard voted into the ASG.
who does that? i mean, coast for 3 1/2 quarters (and still getting all-star numbers) and just turns it on in Q4 like he was toying with the other team.
maybe playing the lakers just gets him going. we don't do anything to make him uncomfortable. we don't do anything to keep the ball out of his hands and make someone else beat us. does byron really think price is gonna make a difference?
.
Time to free up more minutes for Black. Completely agree that his defense was tremendous for rookie.
Agree
He plays with energy and an edge. He, along with Price, take it personally to learn from their mistakes.
Elite opposing teams know that the Lakers (generally) will play hard (not necessarily smart of efficient) but they can easily be beaten at the end of games when they pick up their pressure and execute. They are not a pushover team but very beatable.
It will be fascinating to see who will embrace the mantle of being an effective closer, a dependable/consistent shooter that can stop opposing teams' streaks and calm the team when they are being rattled resulting in quick shots while not running any offense.
The team did meet John Ireland's goals - be competitive and entertaining. Mission Accomplished.
Time to free up more minutes for Black. Completely agree that his defense was tremendous for rookie.
Agree
He plays with energy and an edge. He, along with Price, take it personally to learn from their mistakes.
Elite opposing teams know that the Lakers (generally) will play hard (not necessarily smart of efficient) but they can easily be beaten at the end of games when they pick up their pressure and execute. They are not a pushover team but very beatable.
It will be fascinating to see who will embrace the mantle of being an effective closer, a dependable/consistent shooter that can stop opposing teams' streaks and calm the team when they are being rattled resulting in quick shots while not running any offense.
The team did meet John Ireland's goals - be competitive and entertaining. Mission Accomplished.
If Price tries to learn from his mistakes, why does he keep (bleep) gambling?
Time to free up more minutes for Black. Completely agree that his defense was tremendous for rookie.
Agree
He plays with energy and an edge. He, along with Price, take it personally to learn from their mistakes.
Elite opposing teams know that the Lakers (generally) will play hard (not necessarily smart of efficient) but they can easily be beaten at the end of games when they pick up their pressure and execute. They are not a pushover team but very beatable.
It will be fascinating to see who will embrace the mantle of being an effective closer, a dependable/consistent shooter that can stop opposing teams' streaks and calm the team when they are being rattled resulting in quick shots while not running any offense.
The team did meet John Ireland's goals - be competitive and entertaining. Mission Accomplished.
If Price tries to learn from his mistakes, why does he keep (bleep) gambling?
Because you don't bite the hand that feeds you. And as head of the snake, you have to keep doing what got you to the top.
Damian Lillard's 34 points and 7 assists from this game:
And his 39 points and 5 assists from previous game:
Seemed to me that alot of Lakers shots were hitting the front of the rim, so wonder if Byron Scott had them run hard in practice last few days and their legs weren't totally there (?)
Lillard did start to go off in fourth quarter, but from point that score was tied 75 - 75 (Nick Young layup with Lin assist at 9:59 mark), Lakers only scored 1 point (Carlos Boozer 1/2 free throws) in almost next 4 minutes (scouring drought then ended with Lin 2 pointer off Wes Johnson assist at 6:18 mark).
Blazers scored 14 points (89 - 76) in same time period (Lillard scored 8 of those points: )
14 - 1 run over almost 4 minute period in fourth quarter is what broke the game open then. (Lakers didn't look like they were playing with an edge then, so I again wonder if weary legs might have been an issue then).
Was Lin guardnig damian when damian went ont hat run?
Also - I really like this Tarik Black guy. I couldn't really tell if he was a rookie because he looks massive on the court (width wise at least). plays hard _________________ “We do have a lot in common.
The same air, the same Earth, the same sky.
Maybe if we started looking at
what's the same instead of
always looking at what's different,
Time to free up more minutes for Black. Completely agree that his defense was tremendous for rookie.
Agree
He plays with energy and an edge. He, along with Price, take it personally to learn from their mistakes.
Elite opposing teams know that the Lakers (generally) will play hard (not necessarily smart of efficient) but they can easily be beaten at the end of games when they pick up their pressure and execute. They are not a pushover team but very beatable.
It will be fascinating to see who will embrace the mantle of being an effective closer, a dependable/consistent shooter that can stop opposing teams' streaks and calm the team when they are being rattled resulting in quick shots while not running any offense.
The team did meet John Ireland's goals - be competitive and entertaining. Mission Accomplished.
If Price tries to learn from his mistakes, why does he keep (bleep) gambling?
He did what he was supposed to do by playing tight D. The only problem is that the Blazers are much better, especially with their up and coming superstar Lillard.
Lakers need their leader, the Mamba man. _________________ Stay cool, stay calm, stay crazy!
"Was Lin guardnig damian when damian went on that run?
Game 2: (Boozer?)
Game 1: (Boozer and Hill)
In game 2, Lin wasn't really matched up against Lillard, except for a minute or two in first or second half. Above video was only 2 points Lillard scored on Lin (because they weren't matched up against each other much). Lin was guarding Steve Blake, who was 3 - 8 for game, and I think his two threes were breakdowns in defense where Lin had to come off him to help on dribble drive penetration by another Blazer.
In game 1, Lin was matched up against Lillard in fourth quarter, though Byron Scott normally puts Wayne Ellington on elite point guards when Lin and Ellington are on floor together some previous games (Ellington entered game about a minute after Lillard entered game in fourth quarter). And Ed Davis, despite only having 2 fouls, was only on floor last 25 seconds of game (instead we got 7 crunch time minutes of Boozer and Hill on court together defensively, just like whole start of regular season: http://popcornmachine.net/gf?date=20150105&game=LALPOR ), after which, Lin and Boozer, instead of just Boozer or Hill, was replaced in starting lineup after Celtics game "for defensive purposes."
I don't remember Blazers defense being that great (holding Lakers to 1 free throw over 4 minute period in fourth quarter), so I think issue is why Lakers missed so many shots early in fourth quarter of this last game.
Lakers have had scoring droughts many times before if their jump shots aren't falling, but to me alot of Lakers seemed to be hitting front of rim all game long this particular game.
Have to go back into NBA League Pass archives and look at Lakers offensive possessions then and see if the reason for all the misses then is more obvious upon close review.
Last edited by JLinfanJoe on Mon Jan 12, 2015 9:46 am; edited 2 times in total
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-- Some good moments from him in transition D. It’s not often we’ve seen him back there challenging shots on the break but it happened more than once tonight. Maybe call it the Tarik Effect. The Lakers bigs better hustle. He played with good energy and hit shots from the perimeter or off the dribble in the paint. He seemingly dominated Kaman in their head-to-head tonight, but Kaman scratched out some stats by the end of the night with 9 points on 4-10 shooting and 12 boards. 
-- We did a decent job on Aldridge tonight who had 15 points on 7-18 shooting. Both Davis and Black were the key defensive men. We sent doubles quite a bit to help and our rotations were strong again. We helped Davis a little faster than we did Black. Offensively, not much from Davis tonight. Lakers had just 7 offensive boards. 
-- Twice he overplayed on the pressure D at the close of halves and twice we got burned. Lillard put the exclamation point And-1 dunk down between two of our bigs as Ronnie over-pressured and allowed him a straight line running start. That ended any ideas of catching the Blazers in the final minute after we hit a couple big threes. He followed that up with a turnover and missed three to be sure. He said the team has to stick to their principles, but said there was a lot of things that he could have done himself to defend him better. Yep. Still a very tough cover. “He has the mindset of being great,” Price said. “…he’s going to get better, that’s the scary part.” Offensively, he couldn’t hit from the perimeter (missing all four threes he took) but he did a good job setting the table for others to lead the team with 12 assists. Some nice work with Boozer particularly. 
-- Our Young/Ellington shooting guard combo tonight were shooting but not making. Ellington at least made 2-4 from three, but missed just about everywhere else. They were a combined 6-21 from the floor. Just no threat at the SG tonight. 
-- Excellent game coming back in after the injury. He was aggressive early, missing his first couple shots but then he dialed it in. Very controlled on his jumper and the results followed. “I just need to get my legs underneath me and slow down,” Wes said. He led the Lakers with 17 points. He also had a nice feed to Tarik on the break for a dunk during one of the Lakers runs. 
-- Lillard once again dominated us down the stretch. Scott moved Lin off of Lillard after the first few points, then to the bench to watch Lillard finish destroying us completely. “We have to find ways to make it more difficult for him and to just have somebody else beat us,” Lin said. Aside from a nice layup in transition, not much of a second half from Lin. He and the second unit had a strong first half, getting the Lakers out of a small hole and taking a lead. The Boozer/Black combo looks much better than Boozer/Sacre. They need more time together, but a scrappier bunch that improves and already strong bench. Lakers just out-classed once again by the better team. He wanted the team to double and get it out of his hands more. He’s right. “That’s just something we have to keep working through,” Lin said, mentioning Lillard also hit some tough shots. 
-- He worked the two-man game well for some elbow jumpers early on and led the Lakers in scoring in the first half with 10 points. The Lakers guards did a good job getting it to him in his sweet spots. Slower second half. We could have used some more of those simple play scores in the fourth quarter. 
-- He moved up the depth charts to take Sacre’s backup C minutes. For a rookie, his defense is surprisingly strong. He made Aldridge work and forced him into quite a few misses. The Blazers wanted to pick on him, but really didn’t get anywhere. You usually don’t see a rookie holding his ground like that. Well done on that end. Again, he had another nice block and hit the boards hard, leading the team with 3 offensive boards. “His energy is contagious,” Scott said. He seemed to me to get a little tired near the end of his second stint, but it wasn’t that noticeable. Offensively, he still needs reps with the team. There were a few plays where he wasn’t sure where to go. Tarik on Lillard: “Anybody can be stopped, nobody’s perfect,” Tarik said, not wanting to give Lillard credit (I like it from a rookie). 
-- We ran him at backup SF, sliding Young to the backup SG spot. This essentially takes the Clarkson minutes away when Kobe is out. He’s still getting used it offensively. We had him curling off screens, once looking great, once an awful force. It’s just not something he’s really done much of in his basketball life so expect some of that. We didn’t get the good board numbers from him tonight, but he still had some good moments defensively. That length and mobility surprises smaller opponents. 
-- The Lakers trailed 11-9 when the timeout came with 5 minutes left. Good defense to start, rotating without hesitation… He brought in Boozer for Davis, and then Black for Hill shortly later with Nick for Wayne… The Blazers getting a little separation as the Lakers offense struggled to produce. The Lakers trailed 19-13 when the timeout came with under 3 minutes left. Lin in for Price and Kelly for Wes… The Lakers trailed 23-20 after the first quarter… He started a Black, Boozer, Kelly, Young, Lin lineup… He sat Boozer and Black for Davis and Hill, Price for Young, Lakers up 35-32… All starters back in score tied 38-38 with under 5 minutes left… A 10-2 run for the Blazers to close the half… The Lakers trailed 50-45 at the half. They shot 3-11 from three and had just 4 offensive boards. The Blazers had a 9-1 advantage on the break… A 7-0 run for the Lakers to quickly retake the lead… They struggled to score with consistency and gave up a couple threes to trail by 5 when the timeout came midway through the quarter… They trailed by 7 when Black and Boozer came in with 4 minutes left… Young in for Ellington… After a Boozer layup, a Young three and a Black dunk, the Blazers called a timeout tied 69-69… Lin and Kelly in for Price and Johnson… The Lakers trailed 72-69 heading into the fourth… Same unit to start the fourth… Lillard back in the Blazers quickly extend to an 8-point lead so Scott called a timeout… He brought in Price for Young out of that to cover Lillard… Kelly out for Wes, Lakers down 11… Down 12 with half a quarter left and he brought back in the rest of the starters… Scott said he was wrong with how much he played Kobe early in the season…
If Young could scored 2 or 3 more shoots, there maybe a different story.
