WARRIORS -at- LAKERS – 3-6-16 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Domination… That’s a title you’d expect from this game…just not the way it played out. The Lakers dominated the Warriors taking the 112-95 win and sending Golden State to just their sixth loss of the season.

It was a history-making upset. There has never been a bigger discrepancy in winning percentage between two teams in an upset win (the Lakers at .190, the Warriors at .917).

How’d they do it?

On defense, they had their bigs out high to challenge Curry and help take the ball out of his hands as others rotated on a string behind them. They seemed a step ahead of the Warriors on their rotations and switches, and were disruptive in the passing lanes. That’s not easy to do, but it resulted in an 11-1 turnover advantage in the first half.

Of course, it also helped the Warriors weren’t hitting their three’s, either. The Splash Brothers combined for 1-18 shooting from three, and the team as a whole was just 4-30 behind the arc.

In the first half, D’Angelo Russell set the tone, getting the team out in transition, hitting threes and finding teammates. They led 60-49 at the half and didn’t let up.

The bigs stayed strong on D and both Clarkson and Huertas had the Warriors on their heels in the second half.

“It was probably the most complete game we played all season long,” Scott said.

Huertas sliced up the Warriors with a team-high 9 assists. He was huge off the bench. Pick a player and they made a big contribution in this one. The Lakers didn’t lose a quarter, turning the tables in stunning fashion for a game.


Kobe -- -- “I’m just as speechless as you are about tonight,” Kobe said. Average game from Kobe. He didn’t hit any of the five three’s he took but still got to double digits in limited time. He felt some pain in his shoulder again, but played in the second half. He’s missed 13 games this year, but this was his first game back in uniform at Staples for over a month. “I just feel terrible not being able to be out here every single game,” Kobe said. Just 18 more games. While on the bench, he was helping the team coach their two-man D. The guys gave him some props for making an impact that way. Kobe said he’s recognizing how much people are appreciating him this season. “I’ve been playing my entire career with blinders on. Just focused on running the race. You don’t have time to look to the sides.” He said it’s been great being able to come up for air and soak it all in. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 4-14 shooting (0-5 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 3 assists, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 24 minutes. He was a +14. The Action: He missed a long wing jumper over Curry. Off the mark trying to hit Randle in bad spacing, turnover. He missed a pumping wing jumper. He scored a layup when Russell drew the D in transition and set him up. He missed a flat elbow turnaround. He iso’d and missed a three. He backed his man down in the post and swished the turnaround. He missed a corner three. He swished a turnaround in the paint over his man. He attacked from the top of the arc, elevated and was fouled at the rim, he made both FTs. He missed a sideline three and wanted the foul. He was fouled on the long wing catch and shoot, he made both. He fouled Steph on a three. He missed a turnaround sideline three at the halfcourt buzzer. Second Half: He missed a wing three. He backdoored his man and Randle found him for the layup. Horrible cross-court feed, turnover. He had to heave a halfcourt shot after whatever iso post-up play we were trying to run out of a timeout failed. He hit Randle in early offense for the dunk. He attacked the paint and was hit for no call on the miss.

Clarkson -- -- “We just wanted to keep our foot on the gas,” Clarkson said. They never let up. He was one of those steadying forces for the Lakers today. Last year, he showed he could play in the league – a brilliant pick by the Lakers in the second round. This year has been about being a consistent presence that comes with experience. Today, he was a handful for the Warriors. He was sinking threes, so they had to respect that. When they didn’t they paid the price. When they did he attacked the open spaces to lead the team in scoring. Our young guard duo scored 46 points. The Splash Brothers had a rare 33 point game on 1-18 shooting from three. Defensively, he had some brilliant moments on rotations or coming up with steals and some where he just got lost and gave up easy scores. I’m hoping he learns a lot as far as team defense goes from this game (even if part of that is getting on his bigs to be aggressive with the help on opposing guards). The Stats: He scored 25 points on 10-21 shooting (4-6 from three, 1-1 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 2 steals, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls in 37 minutes. He was a +11. The Action: He swished a wing jumper off the offensive board. He missed a long chuck from the wing. He missed a three in transition. No switch with Huertas and they gave up a layup. He missed a pull-up on one end, then got backdoored on the other for a layup. He missed a layup, we got it back to him and he sank the open wing three. He turned Varejao around off a pull-back, behind-the-back dribble and hit the 15-footer. He missed a floater. He missed a step-back jumper after running clock. He missed an elbow jumper, followed it up, got his miss and scored the And-1 in the middle of the paint, he made the FT. Great read to swipe the pass at the top of the arc and he took it the distance for the dunk. Second Half: He swished a fading wing three with the shotclock low. He barely hit rim on a step-back jumper. He charged trying to take Curry off the dribble. He drained a three behind the wall screen of Hibbert. No rotation and he gave up a dunk. He swished a three on the other end. Nice hustle to draw a foul on a loose ball on D. He lost his man and missed a corner three. He attacked the paint and couldn’t finish the flip-in attempt. He fell asleep and let Barbosa catch an airball and score a layup at the buzzer, just forgot about him as the shot went up. He thought Huertas was going to cut baseline (Russell would have) and he threw it away. He dunked when he got a ball tapped free from him or got away with a double-dribble on the perimeter (I think he knew he didn’t have his dribble and Klay probably touched it enough to knock it loose). He missed a step-back three.

Russell -- -- Before we get to everything else, just want to note a change in Russell’s freethrow stance. He’s no longer shooting with both feet up against the line, one is now back and the result today was smooth looking 6-6 from the line. Let’s keep track of how he shoots now with the new form. Russell set the tone in the first half. While Huertas and Clarkson kind of dominated the second half, Russell was the killer in the first half scoring most of his points. He was aggressive, attacking with speed in early offense while the Warrior D was scrambling. When in the halfcourt, he was knocking shots from distance. He shot a sideline three in the first half where he turned his back on the shot and headed back down court. He knew that was falling. In the second half, it was some of the other guys turns at being the motor of the offense. “It’s fun when we’re all on the same page and we don’t really care who shines, we just play. If somebody’s hot, we just feed him,” Russell said. I’ve read some ill-informed comments about Russell just going off against mediocre teams and not being able to get it done against the best (remember even as far back as college when people said he couldn’t handle the D from better teams like Arizona?). Russell has had huge games against both the Spurs and the Warriors. It doesn’t get better than that. So, I imagine those comments are swept under the rug by his doubters finally, but who knows? Kobe said the improvement it’s about putting in the time and going over the little things and knowing what to look for when doing that. I’m sure Kobe’s been dropping some knowledge dimes for Russell all season. Scott on his young guards: “First of all, they took the challenge,” Scott said. “Sometimes you have to challenge their manhood to get some type of response.” He said he may be doing more of that to close the season. The Stats: He scored 21 points on 6-14 shooting (3-7 from three, 6-6 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 5 assists, 4 steals, 2 turnovers and no fouls in 32 minutes. He was a +8. The Action: Short on a pull-up jumper off the high screen to start the game. He pulled the chair on Barnes in the post to draw a travel (smart for a rook). He pushed it up with speed, weaved through the D, drew defenders and set up Kobe for the layup. He swiped a pass in transition, changed ends quickly and scored a layup. He backed Curry down and drew FTs on the post swing through, he made both FTs. He couldn’t finish a layup in transition. He got backdoored for a layup (really good pass by Bogut). He missed an open wing three. He lulled his man to sleep as a backdoor pass came and drew FTs on the reverse attempt, he made both. He drained a wing three off a Nance offensive board. He jumped into position off the screen and sank the wing three. Coming off a screen on the horns, he drained a quick-fire three from the top of the arc. He swiped a perimeter pass on a switch (read that play well), pushed it out, split defenders and hit Huertas, who touch passed to Bass for the dunk. Heat-check three, he looked fouled with no call. He missed a three in transition. He set up Randle for a layup over Bogut off the screen-roll. He jumped a passing lane and took it for the uncontested layup. Second Half: He drew a foul trying to fight through a screen. He got picked on the perimeter. He missed a pull-up at the top of the arc. He missed a three, wedged in the rim. He swished a pull-up 16-footer working off the high screen. He missed a pull-up jumper. He overpowered his man in the post and drew FTs, he made both.

Randle -- -- “We were just locked in all 48 minutes,” Randle said. It will be interesting to see if they build on this. The bigs did a great job dealing with Curry. “We just tried to trap Steph and get the ball out of his hands and recover from there.” They didn’t sit back and leave their guards on an island. They rotated behind the plays, as well. More improvement from the young guys: Watch the screen-roll with 1:34 left in the first half between Randle and Russell. Look how fast Randle went to set the pick. He didn’t slip it, he got solid contact on his man, then rolled hard to the hoop for the return pass and layup. They need to replay that over and over. Those are the hard screens Randle needs to set to create for the offense. Make those strong fundamentals part of every game and good things will happen. Another double-double for Randle today. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 6-12 shooting to go with 14 boards (3 offensive), 2 assists, 1 turnover and 5 fouls in 29 minutes. He was a +3. The Action: He missed an up-and-under with his right. He got lost on D and gave up a layup. He missed a wide open elbow jumper. He hit Clarkson backdooring defenders on the motion-weak for the layup. He attacked to his right and lost the ball, angry at the refs for the no call. He muscled in a layup off the handoff from Russell at the FT line. Next time down, good screen, strong roll to the hoop and Russell set him up for the layup. Second Half: He hit Kobe cutting down the lane for a layup. Wild drive down the lane and he lost it. He dunked off the bounce pass from Kobe. He attacked across the lane and banked in the runner. He was called for three seconds after getting walled off on a drive. He grabbed an offensive board and powered it back in. He grabbed a missed three and slammed it back down.

Hibbert -- -- You can’t plug the lane against Curry. That makes your guards lives miserable. It’s in Hibbert’s nature to do that and you saw him early on make that mistake briefly, but the Laker bigs cleaned it up. “Our bigs really did a fantastic job,” Kobe said. “You know, coming back in transition, making sure they don’t drop, make sure they show early. That’s very hard for bigs to do but they were consistent with it all night long.” When Hibbert is out challenging Curry from three on help D, that’s a 180 from how he’s defended. Great to see. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-3 shooting to go with 5 boards, 1 steals, 2 blocks, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 21 minutes. He was a +1. The Action: He missed a floater but got back in transition and challenged a shot at the rim. He missed a turnaround. He swished and open 17-footer. He hit the floor for a loose ball on D and called a timeout. Second Half: He didn’t roll to the hoop and Kobe threw it where he thought he would be, turnover. Great challenge out on Curry in the corner on one end and then a strong screen on Curry to free up Clarkson for the three on the other. He threw a pass away.

Nance -- -- Love the energy and the electricity he brings above the rim. Both of his scores were dunks. One of them a great lob pass from Huertas (give me more lobs to Nance, please). Defensively, he had highlights as well, like hounding Green out to midcourt and forcing a turnovers. His combination of length and athleticism got into the passing lanes to disrupt the Warriors on multiple occasions. Love watching him on that end of the court when we are locked in. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-2 shooting to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 2 steals and 2 fouls in 19 minutes. He was a +14. The Action: Wide open, he took a pass in the corner, up-faked Green’s close out and attacked for a dunk. He deflected a pass to get a stop. Great job with that reach again to deflect a pass under the hoop and come up with it. He then hustled down court, kicked out to Kobe who missed a three, fought for the miss and kicked to Russell for the three, who sank it. Second Half: He didn’t shoot an open jumper and we got a shotclock violation. After winning a jumpball, he threw down a lob dunk from Huertas a few seconds later, backbreaker for the Warriors. He forced Green into a turnovers hounding him out to midcourt.

Young -- -- There was a stretch in the second half where you felt maybe now the Warriors would make a run. Nick drained a couple of threes and helped keep the Warriors from making anything happen. “We just played hard,” Nick said of the effort. He scored all of his 13 points in the second half. That’s the offensive punch they want from him. “I think they tried, but it just wasn’t their night,” Nick said of the Warriors, saying he hopes this win puts them off track for the Bulls win record. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 3-8 shooting (2-5 from three, 5-5- from the line) to go with 2 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal and 1 turnover in 22 minutes. He was a +6. The Action: He missed a wing three out of a timeout. Second Half: Illegal screen off a deadball play. He up-faked Rush and drew a foul on a three, he made all three FTs. He swished a pull-up at the wing. He swished a wing three over his man. He drained another wing three in early offense. He missed a layup in transition. He missed a long three after a play out of a timeout busted. He missed a baseline pull-up jumper. Great job getting back in transition to swipe a pass and help his guards. He missed a three. He attacked the paint and drew FTs, he made both.

Bass -- -- “It started for us on the defensive end tonight. We played our best game collectively defensively,” Bass said. He was superb on help D with 3 blocks and a number of challenges. They were playing D on a string. The bigs were getting the ball out of the guards hands or helping challenge on threes. That meant they needed help behind them on rotations. And sometimes that was Bass as the last man around the rim and he didn’t disappoint with a number of blocks. Love the finishes around the rim and love the two-man action with his guards today. He’s a great bench role player. I’d be surprised if he remained with the Lakers next year, but who knows? The Stats: He scored 13 points on 5-7 shooting (3-4 from the line) to go with 7 boards (3 offensive), 1 assist, 3 blocks and 2 fouls in 27 minutes. He was a +16. The Action: He tipped an offensive board to himself, gathered it and slammed over a defender. He blocked Curry’s layup attempt from behind. He scored a layup off the two-man game with Huertas. He was blocked from behind on the layup. He slammed on the no-looker from Huertas in the lane. He rejected a layup at the rim. He slammed off the great touch pass from Huertas on the break. Second Half: He blocked a layup on the rotation. He drew FTs on the break when Huertas set him up. He drew FTs on the feed from Huertas in the paint, he made one. He swished a face-up baseline jumper. Nice rotation to deny a layup on help D.

Huertas -- -- “Marcelo was probably the MVP tonight,” Scott said. He killed the Warriors. He had them scrambling and was finding his bigs for scores. Some great chemistry with him and Bass, but the highlight was a lob to Nance for a fourth-quarter jam. And when the Warriors were worried about the pass, he was able to get into the paint for scores himself. He was the steadying influence and Scott wisely gave him extended run in this one. Just a superb team effort from top to bottom of the lineup. Maybe it helped that the Brazilian basketball team was on the court today with Huertas, Barbosa and Varejao. Defensively, Huertas had his moments against both Barbosa and Curry. Obviously, Curry was just missing, but Huertas had a couple of great challenges up against the shotclock that forced Curry into tough looks. Career high numbers for him. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 4-6 shooting (0-1 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 9 assists, 2 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 27 minutes. He was a +15. The Action: He attacked Barbosa baseline, switched hands and scored the And-1 layup, he made the FT. Great D on Barbosa across the lane to force the airball with a tight challenge with both hands (might have been his best play on D all season). He missed a layup in transition. He jumped a passing lane and missed the half-court heave at the buzzer. He set up Bass for a layup off the sideline screen-roll. He attacked baseline and no-looked a bounce pass to Bass for the slam. Brilliant touch pass in transition to Bass, who slammed (just tapped it to Bass after Russell broke down the D). Second Half: He pushed it up in transition and softly bounced a no-look pass to Bass behind him for FTs on the dunk attempt. He ran the clock down, attacked left, the D was worried about the pass, he hung and banked in the short one. Nice challenge on Curry’s three, forcing an airball. He attacked and set up Bass for FTs in the lane. He chased Curry into another missed three after sitting on his shooting arm up against the clock. He attacked the paint and hit the runner. He attacked from the wing and hit another runner. He lobbed to Nance from the three line for the dunk (pass of the game). He made a tech FT.

World Peace -- -- Brief spot duty for Metta when Kobe felt a twinge in the first half. He managed to get a steal before sitting again. The Stats: He didn’t score and had 1 steal in 1 minute. He was a -3. The Action: He poked a ball loose from behind in transition D. Second Half: He did not play in the second half.

Scott -- -- The Lakers with an early 8-7 lead behind Russell… Huertas in for Russell, Lakers down 2 midway through the quarter… He sat Hibbert for Bass, down 4… Nick in for Kobe… Nance in for Randle, tie score… Good quarter by the Lakers. They got lucky on some missed Warriors threes (1-10), but were able to take a 22-21 lead after the first quarter… He started the Bass, Nance, Young, Russell, Huertas lineup… Tied 24-24 and No. 24 returned for Young with 10:10… Lakers up 7, forcing a Warrior timeout. Russell again with a couple of threes and some great energy by Nance… They pushed the lead out to 10… Up 7, he brought in Randle and Hibbert… Clarkson back in for Huertas with under 5 left… Kobe out for MWP after feeling some pain in the right shoulder… Kobe back in for MWP a minute later… Russell slapped down the perimeter pass and took it for the layup, forcing a timeout, Lakers up 12… They extended to a 14-point lead… The Lakers led 60-49 at the half. The Lakers had a 11-1 advantage in turnovers… They pushed it out to 14 again, but the lead was trimmed to 8 after 5 minutes, so Scott called a timeout… Up 10, he sat Russell for Huertas… He sat Kobe for Young, Lakers up 11 with over 4 minutes left… He sat Randle and Hibbert for Bass and Nance, Lakers up 11… After leading by as many as 16, the Lakers led 84-73 heading into the fourth… He started the Bass, Nance, Young, Clarkson, Huertas lineup… He subbed Clarkson for Russell after a couple of minutes and up 13… The Warriors called timeout with 9:24 left, Lakers up 16. Nick hitting two threes, while the Warriors clanking more threes… Lakers getting screwed on a couple of calls, but remain focused… Clarkson back in for Russell, Lakers up 16… Timeout with the Lakers up 18 midway through the quarter… He sat Nance for Randle with 5:26 eft, Lakers up 18… After a Kerr tech, the Lakers led by 19 when another timeout came… Huertas out with 4 minutes left, up by 19. Russell back in. Great job by Huertas in this one…

[SweetP]

We won! That is all.
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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

[Lakers#1Team]

Thanks DB!

[Lakersneuron]

holy (bleep). Just wanted to get aboard the hype train.
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"I don’t give a [expletive] what you say. If I go out there and miss game winners, and people say, 'Kobe choked, or Kobe is seven for whatever in pressure situations.' Well, [expletive] you. Because I don’t play for your [expletive] approval."

[DancingBarry]

Nice to be able to write up a game that had some substance to it.

[SweetP]

[Chronicle]

GO LAKERS
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Kobe

[Lakersneuron]

I picked an awful game to miss. What kind of offsense were we running? Motion-weak, pick and roll? Princeton and triangle sets? Or all of the above? (all of the above is probably the right answer).
_________________
"I don’t give a [expletive] what you say. If I go out there and miss game winners, and people say, 'Kobe choked, or Kobe is seven for whatever in pressure situations.' Well, [expletive] you. Because I don’t play for your [expletive] approval."

[DancingBarry]

Yeah, it was a mix. They had a good flow. The clunkiest moments were out of deadballs or timeouts when we'd try to go to the post.

[10scott10]

Aparently the Warriors went out last night to celebrate Draymond's birthday.

Chock up another win to the fabulous clubs and bars of LA

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks DB

[H0B0]

THX DB. GO LAKERS

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks DB!! = What a GREAT WIN!!! The defense! I couldn't believe how much trouble some of our supposedly poor defenders were causing. Including Huertas of all people, and Russell picked a good game for 4 steals too!

Seeing Randle in synch on defense and rotations, and setting a hard pick and quick roll to the basket, wow!

Watching GS repeatedly slipping into shot clock violation territory, forced turnovers and hurried 3's was just surreal.

And of course balanced scoring from a team where almost everyone on the floor can kill you if you ignore them. but it wasn't GS. It was the Lakers!!!

I'm still in shock!

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Forgot to mention - Lakers were getting back in transition today too. Controlled the pace and got back on defense.

[moonriver24]

[LakerEric]

I'm so happy for the youngsters with a confidence boosting victory. Once Byron, Lou are gone next year...we can build and be in the playoff race and with each passing year...becoming a perennial contender again.
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Do you believe it now, Trinity? - Morpheous

[A Mad Chinaman]

The problem with the Lakers is SOLVED

It was the ** S . O . C . K . S **

[DShotMaker1824]

[angrypuppy]

[ChefLinda]

[10scott10]

[Arbitrary]

Thanks, DB.

One of the few silver linings for this year.