LAKERS -at- HORNETS - 3-3-15 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

That Third Quarter Again… The Lakers came up a point short on the road against the Hornets, falling 104-103.

When you lose by 1 there are any number of things you can look at. For the Lakers, however, it was a stretch of ball to start the third quarter where they were held without a field goal for 6 minutes.

“We were taking one pass and one shot early in the third,” Clarkson said, a proper assessment of the situation. “They were getting out in transition. We had a couple turnovers. That’s on me. I’ve got to put us in a position to succeed.”

The ball wasn’t moving and the Lakers struggled. Despite Clarkson pointing the finger at himself, he played well with 19 points, including a couple drives in crunch time. He also missed a couple of big three’s during that closing-time stretch, however. Jeremy Lin led all scorers with 23 points, 8 assists and 6 boards. Another strong game from Lin off the bench, who was the best player on the floor for L.A. tonight. He just needed a few more players to join him, Clarkson and Boozer, who had a double-double.


Clarkson -- -- He and Lin combined for 42 points and 12 assists tonight. Very productive minutes from their PGs. They looked good on the court together, as well. “I like that combination at the end of the game,” Scott said of those two. The three ball wasn’t dropping for him tonight. Had he hit a couple of those, the Lakers would have won this one. He did a great job working off screens in early offense for short midrange jumpers. Late in the game, we gave him some big shots. He missed a couple of key threes. He also imposed his will on one drive for a layup and scored another layup with 9 seconds left. Important minutes for him to grow from. The Stats: He scored 19 points on 9-19 shooting (1-7 from three) to go with 1 board, 4 assists, 1 steal and 4 fouls in 33 minutes. He was a -1. The Action: He missed a wing three. He drained an early offense wing jumper off the screen. He swished an elbow pull-up jumper working off the screen again in early offense. He broke down the D and kicked to Kelly for the open three. He missed a long wing three. He missed a tip in. He swiped a ball and pushsed out the break. He swished a three off the Lin kickout. He swished a pull-up at the FT line working off the screen. He lobbed to Wes on the break over the traffic for the slam. He missed a tough chuck from three at the buzzer. He found Boozer in transition for a layup. A lot of dribbling and eventually he missed a three. He rank clock, attacked off the screen and swished his floater. He had 11 points on 5-10 shooting and 3 assists. Second Half: He attacked an dmissed the layup. He missed a jumper from the top of the key. He missed a step-back 18-footer. Quick turnaround jumphook on the catch as he flashed to the low post to take a pass (more please). He hit a pull-up wing jumper working off the early offense screen. He hit Lin for the three. He got tapped on a three that went down and out. He attacked his man, spun and hit the short one hander over defenders with 2 minutes left (imposed his will on that one). He missed an open three to tie the game with over a minute left. He attacked off the handoff and scored a layup with 9 seconds left to cut it to 3.

Boozer -- -- He didn’t play in the fourth despite the double-double. “I was really happy with the way Ed and Jordan were playing at that particular time,” Scott said of whether he was thinking about subbing Boozer back in. The team didn’t play any better or worse really with him on or off the court. Scott would go small late in the game with Wes at PF instead of Boozer. Boozer certainly had some poor moments on D. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 5-8 shooting (5-6 from the line) to go with 11 boards, 1 assist and 2 fouls in 25 minutes. He was a -1. The Action: He missed an elbow jumper. He swished a wing fade off a kickout. He scored a layup off the interior feed from Davis. He swished an open FT jumper when Lin worked the ball to him off the two-man game. He missed a wing jumper on iso. He bricked an elbow jumper on iso. He scored a layup when Clarkson spotted him open in transition. He posted up, spun and drew FTs, he made both. He had 10 points and 8 boards. Second Half: His man blew past him for a dunk to start the half. He was fouled on a wing jumper, he made one FT. He leaked out and dunked an outlet. He grabbed an offensive board, attacked and drew FTs, he made both.

Ellington -- -- He made his first two shots then shot blanks for the rest of the night. Poor game from Ellington as he couldn’t finish around the rim and missed his jumper. A couple of forces and too many turnovers in this one. We saw Clarkson and Lin closing with Ellington sliding over the SF spot. Wish we could have seen more Clarkson/Lin minutes as Wayne just didn’t bring anything to the table tonight. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 2-8 shooting (1-2 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 1 board, 3 turnovers and no fouls in 37 minutes. He was a -5. The Action: He swished a three from the wing on a catch and shoot to start the Lakers scoring. He swished a baseline turnaround on the inbounds pass. He missed a three. He blew past his man and blew an And-1 layup, he made both FTs instead. Not close on a forced jumper from the top of the key. He fumbled the ball and missed a wing jumper. Second Half: He missed an early offense jumper. He lost the ball on the perimeter on a behind-the-back dribble for an And-1 score the other way. He attacked and missed a layup he should have had. His kickout was picked off, FTs the other way. He attacked and missed a layup with his left.

Kelly -- -- “They jumped on us a little bit with their tempo and we stalled the offense and didn’t move the ball,” Kelly said. That’s usually not a problem for Kelly who will move the ball to a fault sometimes. He had 4 assists tonight, second with Clarkson behind Lin in that stat. He sank one shot, an open three on a kickout. That’s got to be his bread and butter. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 1-6 shooting (1-3 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and no fouls in 22 minutes. He was a -4. The Action: He hit Sacre for a FT jumper. He probed off the dribble and missed a turnaround in the paint. He sank an open wing three on the Clarkson kickout. Second Half: He was forced into a bad wing jumper with the shotclock low. He drew FTs getting MKG to run up his back on a drive, he made both. Quick outlet to Boozer who leaked out for a dunk. He missed a wing three. He attacked off the three line for FTs, he made both. He couldn’t finish a dunk on a drive, got it back and missed the corner three.

Sacre -- -- Sacre and Kelly. Not a pretty combo on the floor, but very tank friendly, for sure. Not much of a game for Sacre. It seemed like the ball found him a few too many times with the shotclock low. The guards need to take over a little more in those situations. Just 6 offensive boards for the Lakers in this game. Only 5 for the Hornets. When it comes down to a 1-point game, a few more hustle plays to get second chances could have been big. Lakers have the big men to do that, but didn’t get it done. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-6 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 1 steal, 1 block and 4 fouls in 22 minutes. He was a -9. The Action: He swished a FT jumper off the bounce pass from Kelly. He was stripped trying to create in the post. He swished an elbow jumper off the pass from Lin. He knocked a lob pass away. He missed a face-up wing jumper. He fumbled a pass away. Second Half: He swatted a layup and got the miss. He was fouled on a jumphook on the other end, he made both. He missed a turnaround in the post. He rejected a man on help D. He missed a long wing jumper up against the shotclock.

Lin -- -- Great all-around game from Lin. He led the team in points, assists and steals and pulled down 6 boards, as well. “Right now, I feel pretty good and the team is playing in a way that is very helpful to me and coach is letting me go a little bit more,” Lin said, repeating what he mentioned the last game. He got most his assists in the first half and most of his points in the second half. He was getting to the rim for scores, hitting in the midrange and knocking down threes. He needed more of his teammates to step up. He, Clarkson and Boozer were the only ones really fighting. “I think if everybody on the floor if they go back into the fourth quarter there was probably at least one play they wanted back,” Lin said. For him, it was a bad post entry to Wes late in the game that was easily picked off. Some decent moments on D with a couple steals, but also drawing a tough charge earlier in the game. The Stats: He scored 23 points on 9-16 shooting (3-4 from three, 2-2 from the line) The Action: He set up Sacre for an open jumper (looked like he had a layup if he wanted it). He sank a three straight away next time down. He sank a pull-up wing jumper. He attacked the paint with speed and kicked out to Clarkson for three. He missed a two-for-one step-back jumper and wanted the foul. He was blocked on a layup. He was blocked on a layup in transition. He hit Boozer off the two-man game for the jumper. He attacked in transition and dumped it behind him to Davis for the dunk. He probed the baseline, curled back to the lane and bounced to Davis through a crowd for the And-1 (very nice). He missed a pull-up jumper off a screen (a bit of a force on that one). He had 5 points on 2-6 shooting and 6 assists in the half. Second Half: He sank an elbow fade working off the screen with the shotclock low. He attacked the lane, hung and missed the short one. He sank a wing three on the feed from Clarkson. He whipped a pass to Hill for the short jumper. Quick attack off the sideline inbounds and he scored a layup. He blew past his man and scored a layup (he gave up a layup on the other end). Out of control and he threw a pass away (just back that out, reset the offense). He picked up his dribble and threw another pass away. He pushed up the break and hit Wes with a bounce pass between defenders for the slam. He missed a pull-up three while getting undercut with no call. He blew past his man and scored a layup. He missed a 17-footer. Horrible post entry pass to Wes that was easily picked off for FTs the other way. He probed and hit a quick wing jumper with a minute left. He attacked and missed an And-1 layup, he made both FTs with 14 seconds left down 4. He swished a three at the buzzer.

Hill -- -- He settled mostly for jumpers tonight. He had a late drive for a score and another lone post-up score earlier. Just kind of coasted in this game vs. doing the garbage man work. That meant being inefficient and pulling down no offensive boards to give us second-chance opportunities. The tank appreciated his game tonight. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 5-13 shooting to go with 6 boards, 2 assists, 1 block and 3 fouls in 23 minutes. He had a +/- of 0. The Action: He missed a baseline jumper. He missed a wing jumper. He missed an iso jumper by about 2 feet. Not close on a step-back cutting across the lane on an inbounds. He was stripped for a layup the other way. Second Half: He missed an open wing jumper. He sank a 14-footer off the Lin feed. He posted up and hit the short one off the glass. He sank an 18-foot set shot. He missed a long wing jumper. He hit a wing jumper off the kickout. He bricked a 20-footer down 4 in the final half minute. Quick attack on the inbounds and he scored a layup with 3.5 seconds left to cut it to 3.

Davis -- -- Quiet night from Davis as we didn’t have the two-man action rolling for him. Lin did find him for a couple of nice scores at the rim. But Davis wasn’t able to impose himself very strongly on either end of the court in this one. “The ball was sticking a lot,” Davis said. Particularly in that third quarter when they went flat. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-3 shooting (2-3 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 2 assists, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 23 minutes. He was a +4. The Action: Bad kickout from the post, turnover. He hit Boozer for the layup. He slammed off the feed from Lin on the break. He scored an And-1 layup off the drive and dish from Lin, he missed the FT. Second Half: Not close on a post-up bank. He drew FTs rolling to the hoop, he made both.

Johnson -- -- Average game from Wes. He did a little of everything, but not a lot of anything. He had a highlight lob throwdown from Clarkson that was nice. “I just try to get in there and fly around,” Wes said. He played a little PF to close the game and help space the floor. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 4-7 shooting (0-1 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls in 25 minutes. He was a +5. The Action: He slammed when Clarkson hit him with a great lob in transition over the D. He knocked away a pass to ignite a break. He airballed a wing catch and shoot. He drew FTs filling the lane a few seconds later on the break, he made both. He threw a pass away expecting Boozer to roll. He didn’t protect a FT rebound and was stripped from behind. He crashed the glass, missed the putback, got it back and scored. He missed a three in transition. Second Half: He sank a long wing jumper off the split play. He jammed on the break off the bounce pass from Lin through traffic. He attacked and kicked to Hill for the layup.

Scott -- -- Lakers up 2 when Lin came in for Ellington… Lakers up 4 when the Hill/Davis/Johnson trio came in… Both Lin and Clarkson scoring well… The Lakers led 30-27 after the first quarter… He started the Hill, Davis, Johnson, Ellington, Lin unit in the second… Down 4, he brought in Boozer for Hill a little early… Sacre in for Davis, Lakers up 2 when the timeout came with 5 minutes left… He sat Lin for Clarkson out of that. Good job by Lin setting up teammates… The Lakers were tied 50-50 at the half… Laker offense struggled to start the half and the Hornets pulled out to a 7-point lead. Not enough ball movement… Scott called a timeout down 64-53 with 7:39 left… They got their first field goal after 6 minutes. Ouch… The Lakers were down 7 when Lin came in for Ellington… Davis in for Sacre, Lakers down 9… He sat Boozer for Hill, Lakers down 7 with 3:49 left… The Lakers trailed 74-70 heading into the fourth… Same unit to start the fourth that started the second quarter… They traded hoops until the Lakers finally tied things up by the time the timeout came midway through the quarter… Down 3, he brought in Clarkson for Johnson with 3:53 left. Probably should have brought Clarkson in sooner… Timeout down 5 with 3 minutes left and he brought back in Wes for Davis at the PF. A little more space for guards to work. No Boozer… They traded hoops and misses… Down 5, he called a timeout and set up a quick score for Clarkson with 9 seconds left… Just too many big shots missed by the Lakers in crunch time…

[LakerLanny]

Dig it.
_________________
Love, Laker Lanny

[pio2u]

Thanks again DB!

[H0B0]

THX DB. GO LAKERS

[Quartz888]

Love Lin and baby face Clarksie.

[KLS]

Lin beginning to show Linsanity is not history. LOL. He has been the best player on the floor most nights for the team since ASG. Did Scott really change some strategy on how to use Lin now?

[xiaozhugong]

This is from CHA....@ Hornets social Twitter 12:31 AM - 4 Mar 2015

Jeremy Lin NBA Efficiency tonight was 30 in just 30 minutes. That's basically MVP
level. #Lakers #Hornets #NBA http://dlvr.it/8qFSg7

http://www.thenbasocial.com/new_orleans_hornets/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks DB

[meows a lot]

“The ball was sticking a lot,” Davis said. Particularly in that third quarter when they went flat.

Surprised he said that - I don't think he was able to get the ball much. To be honest - Lin should come in earlier in the 3rd, he helps the team get going faster, but overall a good performance again from Lin and CLarkson. I would have liked to see Lin and Clarkson to try some 1-2 PNR rather than take turns. Clarkson has proven himself to be a pretty good shooter and can get in the paint in the past week so he and Lin should try some more plays together.

If the Lakers had any bigs that can resemble any kind of interior defense, they win. Biggest issue right now is just playing good D...

It would be great if Wes can become that 3 and D, and we get a good big that can protect the paint.
_________________
“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,

...well, who knows?”

- Meowth

[fafan]

[Lorenzomax]

[Honeybadger81]

the interior defense has been weak the last two games... pairing up Boozer and Sacre is good for tanking, not for interior d...

Lin and Clarkson played really well offensively.... defensively they were solid, but still more to be desired... Wayne's d was a little weak...

Wish Tarik got some burn, he could have helped banging with the big Al...

[Honeybadger81]

[Captain America]

[sf2099]

awesome as usual. thanks db!

[Richmond]

LAME foul call near the end giving Mo free throws. I get the need to give space to land thing but we get hammered to the floor and no call and you call a late game changer like that?

[jlinfan]

Thanks DB. A win-win tonight.

tank rolled one tank-tread closer

AND

a watchable game

[LinKobe]

I think Lin is playing well enough now to get a few team's attention as he enters free agency. Maybe opposition coaches saying nice things about him post-game is the beginning of courting Lin for the off-season. Glad Jeremy is playing well now and should have options as a free agent.

[fiendishoc]

[valaker24]

Was at the game last night; I live near Charlotte, so I try to go to this game every year and always look forward to it.

Lin was good, but had some BAD turnovers in the 4th that were really costly. If he can cut down on those, he could be a solid contributor.

Clarkson has a chance to be very good. I liked his aggressiveness and he is not scared to take big shots even though they were falling in the 4th tonight. He had a couple of nice drives and looks quick with the ball. I dont want to compare him to Westbrook, because I do not think he will ever be that that good. But I see flashes of that in Clarksons game.

Boozer was solid.

Hill was awful other than a little stretch to start the 4th. He looked like he did not want to be there.

I don't think any one other than Lin and Clarkson have a chance to be a factor for the Lakers in the long run if they do decide to keep them. It will be interesting to see if they go point in the draft or think a Lin and Clarkson duo will suffice and they try to hold on to them.

I may be in the minority, but I think Towns from Kentucky will be a better pro than Okafor. If they go big man, that's who I want them to get.

On a side note, I am very glad we did not throw money at Lance Stephenson this offseason. He did not get much PT and looked awful when he was in there.
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"Know this above all else.This is your only life. While Life remains, fully use every point, moment and hour that you have.
Time waits for no man. Don't wait for time.
Seize the day."

[Lakers#1Team]

Thanks DB! Looks like a picked a good game to miss. Glad Clarkson and Lin played well...

[meows a lot]

[meows a lot]

[yinoma2001]

[JLinfanJoe]

Thanks DB!