WARRIORS -at- LAKERS – 1-5-16 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Win Streak Over… It was fun while it lasted. The Warriors have lost just 2 games all season. The Lakers weren’t about to make it three.

If anything, it was a measuring stick game for the Lakers against the league’s best to see if they’ve improved. Unfortunately, both Kobe and Russell were out, so the Lakers were missing their two key floor generals. Not that it would have mattered.

The Lakers saw Klay Thompson go off for 22 points in the first quarter. That put them behind early.

The second unit kept even for a stretch, then the Warriors throttled it up again. By the time they were done with the starters and the second unit was back in the third quarter, the Lakers were down 33.

A 22-0 run by the Warriors before the Lakers scored again. Scott didn’t like the lack of ball movement.

“We got a little stubborn and tried to do it on our own, tried to get it all back and we can’t do that. That’s just not us,” Scott said. He said they let the offense affect how they played D.

By the fourth, it was extended garbage time. The Lakers eventually fell 109-88.


Clarkson -- -- Aggressive game from Clarkson with both Kobe and Russell out. He led the Lakers in scoring, playing just the first three quarters. He would have likely finished with a 30-point night had the game not been a blowout. Some lobs to Nance in this one in transition sequences. Good to see them starting to look for him with that. They’re starting to figure out that you can lob to Nance but not to Hibbert. Not a good playmaking game, which the Lakers really needed. Defensively, well we were a -36 when he was out there against the Splash Bro’s. The Stats: He scored 23 points on 8-20 shooting (2-5 from three, 5-5 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 2 assists, 3 turnovers and no fouls in 29 minutes. He was a -36. The Action: He was blocked on a pull-up, got it back and hit the short one in the lane. He attacked and picked up Curry’s second foul midway through the quarter, he made both FTs. He probed the lane, lost his man with an up and under and hit the short floater. He missed a pull-up at the wing. He pounded the dribble with the shotclock low, then gave it to Nance for the heave, not a good sequence. He probed and threw it away. Quick attack down the lane on the catch and he scored the layup. He attacked and drew the blocking foul for FTs, he made both. He had 10 points in the first quarter. He attacked left and missed a tough off-balance jumper to his right. He was picked on a drive. Quick lob to Nance on the break for an And-1. He missed a drive. He drained a three at the halftime buzzer. He had 13 points on 4-8 shooting and 2 assists. Second Half: He attacked the rim with speed, but not touch on the finish. He pulled up in transition and sank the wing jumper next time down. He missed a corner three on a kickout. He probed and missed the floater, way short. He attacked right, drew the D and hit the baseline floater. He swished a sideline three popping free for Lou to find him. He missed a wing three off the screen. He missed a baseline floater. He couldn’t finish a drive. He missed a sideline three. He sank an And-1 elbow pull-up jumper, he made the FT. He didn’t hit rim trying to create a short jumper.

Williams -- -- At halftime he was 0-5 with 9 points. He couldn’t hit a shot but he still got to the line a ton. The second half, he couldn’t get to the line except for a lone tech FT. He missed everything he took tonight. Shooters shoot. He shot blanks tonight. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 0-7 shooting (0-3 from three, 10-10 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 24 minutes. He was a -21. The Action: He drew FTs on a three on Curry, he made all three. Next time down, he drew FTs on Klay on a runner, he made both. He blew past his man and drew FTs again on a throwdown attempt, he made both. He missed a wing three. He missed an 18-footer next time down. He attacked from the wing and drew FTs, he made both. He attacked and missed an easy layup. He missed a wing three. He coughed it up trying to pass in some bad spacing. He missed a floater. Second Half: He attacked and was blocked. He found Clarkson popping free for the three. He made a tech FT. He missed a flat three going to his left. He threw a pass away trying to kick it to the corner in a crowd.

Hibbert -- -- A whole lot of nothing from Roy in this game. I was hoping Scott would sit him a lot quicker in the third. Instead, it seemed he left him out there forever. He sprayed jumpers around the court and blocked a shot. That was about it. He should have had the quick trigger for Black tonight. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-7 shooting to go with 5 boards, 1 block, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 24 minutes. He was a -31. The Action: He missed a hook across the lane. He missed an elbow jumper out of the triangle. He swatted a shot to ignite the break. He bricked badly on a horrible offensive sequence. He missed a 17-footer. He sank an elbow jumper on a stalled offensive sequence. Not close from the same spot shortly later. Second Half: He fumbled an interior feed, points the other way. He airballed an open baseline jumper.

Nance -- -- He got a couple of lobs from Clarkson in the first half in transition. If he and Randle can ever play together, this can be a really fast team. The crowd is buzzing now when he’s given the opportunities to finish. Pretty quiet second half from Nance. He played the one stint and then sat for the rest of the night. He’s been putting together the double-doubles. A few more minutes in this one and he might have hit that mark again. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 4-8 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 2 steals and no fouls in 20 minutes. He was a -19. The Action: He got tapped on a turnaround on iso on the Lakers first possession. He attacked from the pinch post, spun and scored the And-1 (almost a dunk over Bogut), he made the FT. He stretched out in transition for a Clarkson lob and he slammed. He was forced into a long heave at the shotclock buzzer on a bad sequence by Clarkson and missed. He soared for a layup off the pocket pass from Huertas. He missed a baseline jumper but hustled to knock it away from the Warriors and reset the offense. He finished the And-1 lob in transition, he missed the FT. He flagged a pass in transition to get a steal. Second Half: Nothing to report.

Brown -- -- Good minutes for him to cover some of the best in the game. I’m kind of curious how Brown would shoot if he were wearing a Warriors uniform as they set up a lot of good catch and shoot spot-ups. He’s shooting just .188 from three. So maybe nothing changes as he’s not used to the NBA three yet. But I think he’d have a lot more time and a lot more chances to step into a shot. “Right now he hasn’t been able to do that on a consistent basis (hit shots), but his effort has been great,” Scott said. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 1-6 shooting (0-3 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 1 block and 4 fouls in 32 minutes. He was a -12. The Action: He missed a three in transition. Nice recovery to help block a shot (Roy might have gotten it first). He missed a wing three. He had a long rebound bounce to him and he hit the wing jumper. Second Half: Way short on a one-dribble pull-up after getting a fly-by. He forced a turnover, staying tight on Klay as they tried to find him under the hoop. Back-to-back fouls on one defensive stand and he had to sit. He attacked and missed badly. He attacked baseline and drew FTs, he made both. He missed a corner three.

Randle -- -- The degree of difficulty on several of his shots was pretty tough. Later, he sank a simple elbow jumper. His easiest shot of the night and his only points. He did do a very good job moving the ball, leading the team in assists for most of the game. Defensively, he had a couple of blocks on dunk attempts (only credited with 1 block). I want to see that with more consistency. He got up pretty well for those. Show it to us some more. Good job on the glass, good job setting up teammates for scores, good job with the shotblocking, just unable to score again in this one. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-8 shooting to go with 9 boards, 4 assists, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 20 minutes. He was a -11. The Action: He attacked baseline, couldn’t power in the layup or get it to go on the second chance. He was blocked or fouled on a fade in the lane. He threw a pass away trying to thread it to Metta. He attacked in transition with speed and shoveled it to Bass for the dunk. He attacked and kicked to Metta for the three. He led the team with 3 assists in the first half. Second Half: He was swatted on a drive. He missed a tough fade across the lane. He pushed it up and hit Bass for the And-1. He blocked a dunk attempt on help D. He probed and hit the 13-footer, easiest shot of the night. He rejected another dunk attempt. He missed the wing jumper on the other end.

Young -- -- At one point in the first half after two turnovers, two missed techs and his third missed jumper, the fans turned on him a little. It was bad night for Nick. He couldn’t do anything right. The Stats: He scored 1 points on 0-6 shooting (0-3 from three, 1-3 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 3 turnovers and 1 foul in 15 minutes. He was a -11. The Action: He missed a long three. He made a tech FT. He iso’d and was blocked for a dunk the other way. He missed a tech FT. He got completely tapped on a pull-up three. He missed another tech FT, okay time to stop taking them. He attacked and threw it away. He airballled a pull-up jumper, Laker fans booing. Second Half: Way short on a sideline jumper. Good anticipation cutting his man off and coming up with the steal. He missed an open baseline jumper. He missed an open three.

Bass -- -- Some more chemistry with Bass and Randle. A couple of Bass’s scores were on excellent setups by Julius. Pretty quiet game. Wish either he or Black would have been in the game sooner for Hibbert. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-4 shooting (2-3 from the line) to go with 4 boards (3 offensive) and 1 foul in 17 minutes. He was a +1. The Action: He dunked off the drive and dish from Randle. He missed a 15-footer. Second Half: Good effort on the glass to keep an offensive possession alive. He scored an And-1 layup off the feed from Randle in transition, he missed the FT. He swished a FT jumper. He was fouled trying to power up after grabbing a board, he made both FTs.

Huertas -- -- Better minutes in this one as the Lakers backup PG. There wasn’t as much confusion and disagreement on the floor like the last one. Occasionally, he gets embarrassed badly by something he does. Tonight, it was getting rejected badly on a one-on-one layup attempt in transition. To his credit, however, he attacked the next two times down and scored layups. I like that. Defensively, well, no one was really guarding the Warriors anyway. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 4-8 shooting (1-2 from three) to go with 4 boards, 5 assists, 2 steals, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 19 minutes. He was a +13. The Action: He probed to his right and swished the floater. He attacked, hung and was blocked. Completely lost on D to give up a layup. He sank a wing three. He attacked and threw it in the backcourt. He hit Nance with the pocket pass for the layup. He swiped a long outlet in transition. Second Half: He hit Bass for the open jumper. He missed a rushed corner three. Nice find of Kelly beating the D down court for a layup. Shotclock violation when he couldn’t create off the dribble. He swiped a ball, pushed it up court one on one and was badly rejected. He scored a layup next time down. He scored another layup next time down (good job going back to the rim after that rejection). He worked the two-man game, drew the D and lobbed to Black for the dunk. He missed a floater taking some contact, but Kelly cleaned it up.

Black -- -- Finally got some run with 7+ left in garbage time in the fourth. He got a dunk off the sideline screen-roll with Metta. Wish we ran that a little more, and I wish we ran the screen-rolls more with Black out there. He also dunked off the screen-roll with Huertas who lobbed to him. I don’t know why Scott isn’t playing other than to defer to the vet Bass. But Sacre got a stretch of 10 games as the backup C. Hopefully, Black gets his turn. He’s probably our best big at running the two-man game, able to suck in the D because he’s a threat to finish that has to be covered. Defensively, it looks like Black has studied Hibbert’s verticality some. Not just this game, but in the D-League, he’s used that a little more than before. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-2 shooting to go with 4 boards, 1 assist and 1 block in 8 minutes. He was a +7. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: He lost the ball in a crowd, but Metta cleaned it up. Strong dunk off the two-man game with Metta. He dunked off the lob from Huertas on the two-man game.

World Peace -- -- With Kobe and Russell out, we slid Nick down to SG and ran some Metta at SF. He wasn’t shy on pulling the trigger. You could see Randle trying to find his mentor with the ball as the two shared the floor together. He picked up a tech in a tangle with Green. Always nice to see. Only Hibbert has that edge to him on the court this year (Kobe isn’t doing that). Most embarrassing moment of the night, Metta missed an uncontested layup on the breakaway. I wonder if he was thinking about dunking that until he tried. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-10 shooting (1-4 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal and 3 fouls in 25 minutes. He was a -2. The Action: He forced AI into a brick. He sank a wing three on the Randle kickout. He attacked off the three line and drew FTs in the lane, he made one. Second Half: He missed a leaning corner three. Not close on a baseline pull-up. Great spin move to get away from his man, then he didn’t hit rim on the open layup. He missed a wing three. He missed another three on a Randle kickout. He missed a long pull-up jumper. He scooped up a loose ball and hit a short one in the paint. He ran the two-man game with Black and bounced to him for the dunk. He attacked and was blocked, but then he poked a ball loose, got the outlet and missed the uncontested layup.

Kelly -- -- He’s been very aggressive whenever he’s come off the bench this season. Even prior to his D-League action (where he’s been a leading scorer). Just garbage time minutes, but he did his usual thing. He hit a three, attacked off the three line and made things happen. Had some good hustle moments following up others misses. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 3-5 shooting (1-1 from three, 3-3 from the line) to go with 3 boards in 8 minutes. He was a +7. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: He ran off the Warriors make and Huertas found him after an inbounds for the layup. He sank a wing three trailing the break. He was fouled on a putback attempt off Metta’s choked layup (good job hustling down court), he made the FTs. He missed a runner down the lane. He backed his man down and missed the Dirk fade (that would be nice if he could master that one). He followed up the Huertas drive and scored the putback And-1, he made the FT.

Scott -- -- No one is beating the Warriors, so Scott gets a pass on this one… The Lakers went to the post on their first few possessions without success… Lou doing a great job getting to the line. The Lakers got the Warriors in the penalty early… The Lakers trailed 17-15 with an FT to come when the timeout came midway through the quarter. Luke took that timeout like Phil, in between Clarkson’s FTs… Klay killing the Lakers and the Lakers take the timeout down 10 with 3:50 to go… He brought in Bass, Randle and Young out of that timeout to run with Clarkson and Brown… The Lakers trailed 37-25 after the first quarter. Klay had 22 points in the first quarter… A Bass, Randle, Metta, Young, Huertas lineup to start the second… Young getting on the bad side of fans with two tech misses, turnovers and missed jumpers… Lou in for Young… The Lakers were down 10 when Hibbert and Nance returned… Metta out for Brown, Clarkson in for Huertas… The Lakers trailed 62-47 at the half. Warriors with 19 assists, Lakers with 7. The Warriors were 10-18 from three… The Warriors got their first FTs of the game a minute into the second half. The Lakers have doing a very good job playing D without fouling lately. But they’d get killed in this quarter, giving up 18 FTAs… Metta in for Brown who picked up his third and fourth fouls in one stand. Lakers down 17… Randle in for Nance midway through the quarter, Lakers down 18… They trailed by 21 when the timeout came midway through the quarter… Lou out for Young… Bass finally in for Hibbert… Lakers just getting smoked and their offense (or lack) was stone cold… The Lakers trailed 92-60 heading into the fourth… Bass, Randle, Metta, Young, Huertas to start the fourth… He sat Young for Brown… Randle and Bass out for Kelly and Black. Good to finally see Tariq, who referred to his playing time as a “nostalgic” moment after the game… The Warriors ended up with 26 assists after that 19-assist first half. They had 18 points on the break…

[Omar Little]

First?

[SweetP]

Thanks DB.
Lost to a much better team.
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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

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks DB

[Andre2K]

Finally a Tarik Black sighting and he didn't disappoint
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My Dream Starting 5 next Season

Pg Lonzo
Sg Kawhi
Sf Ingram
Pf Lebron
C Dedmon

Bench: Caruso, Hart, Bullock, Kuzma, McGee etc

[H0B0]

THX DB. GO LAKERS

[Shaber]

Thanks, DB!

[yinoma2001]

Didn't catch the game.

Who was guarding Steph most of the game?

And who was guarding Klay? Saw he went off for 22 in the first half.
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From 2-10 to the Western Conference Finals

[fiendishoc]

[Lakers#1Team]

Thanks DB!

[TDRock]

[Klone_dd]

If this game was a measuring stick, the Lakers are light years away.

[Chronicle]

First game I missed this season. Sounds like I didn't miss much
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Kobe

[All_Star_Laker]

Warriors look like the most dominant team in NBA history right now. 2 losses - one in ovt, one w/o curry
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[A Mad Chinaman]

Game to see how the Lakers have improved

Improvements

Williams/Swaggy are good shooters (albeit inconsistent, especially against elite teams like the Warriors. It is one thing to see Heuertas get blocked, it is another thing to see Swaggy get blocked on the perimeter)

JC is definitely a SG

Nance/Randle would definitely be a force playing together - which one is quick enough to play SF?