NETS -at- LAKERS – 11-15-16 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Russell and Randle… If you wonder what a prototypical game might be for Julius Randle and D’Angelo Russell in the future, it might look something like this – Russell with the huge offensive game and Randle with the triple-double (but hopefully with some improved D).

Russell was bombing from distance early, and Randle was in beast mode on the dribble, finding him and teammates for open looks and dunks.

“It makes it easier on me,” Randle said of his passing. “It makes it easier on everybody when I can get my guys going. The lanes open up, and it’s easy for me to playmake or score.”

The Lakers could never shake the Nets as the Laker bench struggled to get its usual mojo going against the strong Brooklyn bench. Defensively, those perimeter shooting bigmen also give the Lakers some issues.

Even though the Lakers gave up some points behind the arc (especially to Lopez), the Nets made just 12 of their 41 attempts from three, and the Lakers won the fastbreak 29-21 on their way to the 125-118 victory.


Russell -- -- It was these Nets that he torched last year for his career high. He came out of the gates smoking, sinking five threes, letting that quick release fly early and often. The Lakers needed that as their bench guards were struggling some with their shots. Russell scored his 32 in just 31 minutes. His shot opens up everything for him. He gets more aggressive, he gets into the lane and the D scrambles. He just needs to get that shot rolling for him consistently this season. Hopefully that’s what we’re starting to see in the past few. Good job on the glass and staying active in the team D with a few steals. Luke said Russell’s defense helped spark his offense. “I think he likes playing against Brooklyn,” Clarkson said. The Stats: He scored 32 points on 11-20 shooting (7-13 from three, 3-4 from the line) to go with 8 boards, 4 assists, 3 turnovers, 3 steals and 1 foul in 31 minutes. He was a +13. The Action: He sank a wing three on a catch and shoot to start the game (looked run into with no call). He was trapped and fed Mozgov for the dunk. He slightly telegraphed a bounce pass and it was picked off. He attacked down the middle of the lane and bounced to Mozgov for the slam. He swished a wing three in early offense. He swished another three, fading back a little on that quick-release. He swished his fourth three next time down off the dribble handoff from Randle (that forced a timeout). Hockey assist to Randle on the two-man game, who then fed Mozgov. He swished another wing three on a kickout. He missed a three next time down off the DHO. He dunked when Clarkson outlet to him on the break. He missed a turnaround in the post (rocked his man backwards badly as he backed him down). Back in, he missed a step-back three in transition. He swiped a bad pass and ignited the break. He set up Mozgov for FTs on a lob in the paint. He crossed over, got his man on his hip and hit the short one in the paint. He probed and missed a short one. He pushed out the break and hit Nick for the three. He missed a long heave for three at the buzzer. He had 19 points on 7-12 shooting and 3 assists. Second Half: He up-faked, attacked the paint and hit the runner taking contact. He attacked the paint, missed, but drew the D so Mozgov had a putback dunk off it. He swiped pass on the perimeter, pushed it out and threw it away for points the other way. He backed out a big on a switch and drained the three. He sank the three in early offense. He missed a heat-check three next time down. He posted up and spotted Deng cutting baseline for FTs. He posted up, spun and hit the jumper. Sloppy kickout pass from the post, unforced turnover. He was blocked on a three with 2.4 seconds on the clock. He missed a three after running clock. He was intentionally fouled with 46 seconds left, he made one FT. He was intentionally fouled with 10 seconds left and made both FTs. He stripped a ball off a man to get the final stop.

Randle -- -- His second triple-double of his young career. Great job setting up teammates to start the game, getting 7 assists in the first quarter. It helped the Russell was on fire, but Randle really does a great job setting his shooters up off those DHOs or early offense kickouts. They’re simple plays but they use his speed and size to his advantage. Randle had a triple-double pace going in the first half. “It puts a lot of pressure on the defense when Julius is coming full speed at them and they don’t know if he’s going to look to score or playmake for a shooter,” Luke said. Randle should have had the highlight pass of the game in the second half, but Mozgov blew the lob pass. Still, how great is it to see big-to-big passes in transition at high speed. They had a couple of those sequences. “He’s figuring out and starting to believe what he can do in this league,” Luke said, wanting Randle to not let up as much on the defensive end when we’re rolling on the offensive end. The Stats: He scored 17 points on 5-8 shooting (7-10 from the line) to go with 14 boards, 10 assists, 3 turnovers and 1 foul in 31 minutes. He was a +15. The Action: He attacked the rim and couldn’t finish the layup (should have used his right). He missed a baseline jumper. He set up Russell on the dribble handoff for a three. He hit Mozgov (a little late), but it led to a score. He pushed it up and hit Mozgov for the jumper. His kickout was swiped. He attacked in early offense and dished to Nance at the rim for the score. He iso’d on Scola, attacked left and drew FTs, he made one. He attacked left, bumped his man off and powered in the layup. With the shotclock low, he attacked from the wing and drew FTs, he made one. He got into the middle of the paint, pumped and hit the jumphook. He scored a layup getting out on the break. He attacked and drew FTs on the kickout, he made just one again. He had 9 points, 6 boards and 7 assists at the half. Second Half: He attacked right to get deep and drew FTs, he made both this time. He took a pass in the paint, surveyed the floor and hit the short one-hander. He setup Mozgov for FTs with an interior feed. He pushed it out and hit Deng for the short one. He was blocked on a drive right in transition. He rattled in an elbow jumper up against the shotclock. He was held on a defensive board for FTs, he made both. He took an inbounds pass over the D, stepped on the gas and delivered it to Mozgov at high speed off the dribble for the dunk.

Deng -- -- I liked this one from Deng. It wasn’t a great game, but he was active on the offensive glass, doing garbage work and coming up with some big plays there. When things aren’t going well offensively, these are the little things you’d like to see more from him. Find a way to make an impact. That’s what it looked like he was trying to do tonight, which is a start in the right direction. Luke changed the rotations a little in the first half, sitting Black a little early and running Deng at the PF spot. That probably had more to do with how poor Black was looking ewarly on. In the second half, Deng was planted on the bench by Tarik’s play. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 2-6 shooting (0-1 from three, 4-6 from the line) to go with 4 boards (3 offensive) and 1 foul in 21 minutes. He was a +5. The Action: He missed an open corner three. He poked a ball loose from Scola in the post to get a stop. Second Half: He missed a 17-footer on our first possession. He attacked, spun, went up and under and drew FTs, he made one. He crashed the glass, blew the layup, got it back and drew FTs on the second attempt, he made just one again. Another great job skying for an offensive board next time down in transition and he scored the putback. Nice job pressuring Lopez on the perimeter as he tried to back him down and he forced a turnover (Deng didn’t sit back and wait, went after him). He hit a 10-footer in transition. He cut baseline off Russell’s post, took the pass and was hammered under the glass, he made both FTs. He missed a wing jumper.

Mozgov -- -- It was Russell and Mozgov lighting it up in the first quarter. Some nice chemistry from the two, Russell finding him on the screen-rolls and causing all kinds of trouble. That was their best combined quarter on the offensive end. But Randle and Mozgov had some of the highlight sequences of the game. Seeing the chemistry of that trio grow is great. Mozgov had issues dealing with Lopez, who scored from all over the floor (including 4 threes) on his way to 30 points, but at least Timofey got back 20 of those. You’ve got to take advantage of Lopez on the other end in some fashion. I’m glad we finally saw some big numbers from our starters. As good as the bench has been, we need these guys to bring impact ball. A combined 69 points, 28 boards and 15 assists from the Randle, Russell and Mozgov trio. Starters looking like starters. The Stats: He scored 20 points on 7-11 shooting (6-6 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 1 assist and 3 fouls in 29 minutes. He was a +13. The Action: He slammed on the screen-roll with Russell. He attacked, spun and was blocked. He slammed off the bounce pass from Russell. He hit a little floater off the Russell-Randle, two-man sequence. He sank the early offense baseline jumper off the drive and dish from Randle. He kicked out to Russell for the three. Awkward turnaround in the post and he missed. He drew FTs on the lob from Russell, he made both. Nice help D with Clarkson to force a travel. He had 10 points on 4-6 shooting in the half. Second Half: He choked a lob pass. He blew the highlight lob throwdown on a pass from Randle on the break (got to love the big-to-big sequence in transition). He slammed off the screen-roll with Nick. He slammed off the Russell miss on dribble penetration. He drew FTs on the interior feed from Randle in early offense, he made both. He posted up in the middle of the paint and drew FTs on the pass, he made both. He slammed off the Randle drive and dish off a backcourt pushout.

Young -- -- With Russell killing it early, Nick didn’t get in the action offensively until later in the first half. Maybe that slowed him up a little but he made his first two attempts late in the first half. He then shot blanks the rest of the way, including one sequences where he had three straight looks at open threes from the same spot. Just wasn’t his night on that end. He still put in a good effort on D. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-8 shooting (1-6 from three) to go with 1 board, 3 assists and 1 foul in 28 minutes. He was a +17. The Action: He sank a baseline jumper on his first attempt with 2 minutes left in the half. He drained a wing three on a kickout in transition. Second Half: He missed a three short. He attacked and missed the drive. He hit Mozgov on the screen-roll for a dunk. Not close on a pull-up three in transition. He didn’t settle for the jumper, attacked the paint, drew the D and dumped it to Black for the layup. He missed a wide open sideline three. He missed another wide open three. He missed his third straight three from the same spot in the span of about 20 seconds.

Clarkson -- -- He had some excellent moments being disruptive on the defensive end. “I was just being active,” Clarkson said. “I was missing shots. I was just trying to find a way to impact the game so I was trying to find a way to be everywhere. Rebound, get steals, push the ball and get out in transition.” The youngster starting to sound a little more like a vet. He led the team with 5 steals, which helped us get easy scores the other way. Just some excellent defensive work by JC. He wasn’t hitting his threes, and with he and Lou going just 6-23 offensively that work on D helped keep the second unit in the fight. After the game, he stressed the Lakers needing to improve on defense. “We got to get back in transition,” Clarkson said. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 4-12 shooting (1-5 form three, 4-6 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 3 assists, 2 turnovers, 5 steals and 4 fouls in 28 minutes. He was a +4. The Action: He outlet to Russell off the Nance steal for a dunk. He missed a floater off the curl (looked like he was in between steps). He backed his man down and missed a turnaround. He missed a wing three. He airballed a turnaround on iso. Sloppy pass to Tarik for a turnover, but he poked the ball free in transition D to get it back. He sank a corner three on the kickout from Nance. He scooped up the loose ball, pushed it up with speed, stopped, crossed over to lose the defender and scored at the rim. Great effort to reach back and deflect a pass off his man to get a stop. He missed a three in transition. He hit Randle on the break for the layup. He missed a layup of a drive right. Nice defensive sequence, first cutting off a lane, then rotating to chase a man off the three line, then poking the ball loose from behind to ignite a break. Second Half: He missed a wing three. He swiped a pass, pushed it out and hit the tough And-1 runner, he made the FT. He was called for a clear out trying to create. He swiped a ball in the backcourt. He probed the paint off the handoff, took contact and hit the off-balance 10-footer, he made the FT. He drew FTs on the SLOB lob play with 1:36 left and just 2.4 on the shotclock. He was intentionally fouled with 18 seconds left, he missed both of them, uggh.

Williams -- -- Slow first half, not quite looking like the Lou we’ve seen of late. Luke didn’t like the ball movement and flow of the second unit. Lou was missing his runners and maybe that played a role in not forcing the D to deal with him or open up passes to bigs. I thought Luke should have sat Lou a little sooner in this one for Russell down the stretch. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-11 shooting (0-2 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 2 turnovers and no fouls in 17 minutes. He was a -6. The Action: He missed a deep three. He attacked the rim in transition and scored a layup. He missed a baseline pull-up jumper. On a busted play out of a timeout, he attacked the paint and scored the layup. He attacked and missed the short fade. He tried to thread a needle on a no-looker from about 30 feet away, turnover, points the other way. Second Half: He attacked baseline and hit Black for the score. He attacked and missed a drive, but Black slammed it back down. He missed an easy And-1 runner at the front of the rim, he made both FTs. He attacked, stumbled and missed the floater. He missed a short one in the paint. He attacked the paint and missed the runner. He airballed a wing three.

Ingram -- -- He was in the middle of the crunch time action and had some clutch moments on both ends, including a great drive for a score and some clutch FTs. That’s in addition to forcing some turnovers on the defensive end down the stretch. We’re still just looking at flashes from him offensively. There was a drive in the first half that I think will become one of his bread and butter plays as his game matures. He faced up on the sideline, attacked to his right across the lane with a quick first step and had too much length at the rim to prevent the easy one. You’ve got to love how he plays on D. It may not be what people look for in rookie of the year impact, but in the future? Kid is going to be a monster on D. How about that shotblock when his man tried to back him down. “On the defensive end, I’ve gotten a lot better. On the offensive end, I don’t think I’m where I want to be right now.” Luke subbed him out at one point in the second half and had some words for him. He had just missed a three, then let someone score on him on the other end. He seemed to say Luke was telling him to forget about the previous play and keep his head in the game. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 2-5 shooting (0-1 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 1 turnover, 2 blocks and 1 foul in 24 minutes. He was a -12. The Action: Bad pass into a fronting defender, points the other way. He faced up on the sideline, quick first step around his man and he scored the layup across the middle of the paint. He blocked a jumper. Second Half: He couldn’t finish a lob to start the quarter. He missed an open three. Out of a timeout, we got him the ball in the high post, he blew past his man with a quick first step and finished the layup at high speed over the help D. He missed a forced 15-footer with 2 minutes left. He blocked his man on other end on iso D. Great job on the defensive glass, just him and a Net big as both Mozgov and Randle were challenging, he knocked it out to Russell to get the stop. More harassing D and he forced a bad pass. He was then fouled on the inbounds with 57 seconds left up 6, he made both clutch ones. He was fouled with 25 seconds left, he made both FTs.

Nance -- -- One of those games where Nance played a little too much on his heels defensively. Brooklyn has a good bench, but Nance and Lou didn’t bring their A games tonight. Thankfully, Tarik stepped it up and brought the energy. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-5 shooting to go with 4 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal and 4 fouls in 18 minutes. He was a -6. The Action: He muscled in a drive and dish from Randle. He reached on a guard and knocked it loose for a Laker breakaway score. He airballed a FT jumper, not even close. He slipped a pass around a defender to Clarkson for the open three. He missed a baseline jumper. Second Half: He gave up a soft And-1 drive. He hit Black on a high-low for FTs. He dunked off the interior feed from Black, cutting behind the D. He was blocked on a layup.

Black -- -- He was invisible in his first half stint and Luke subbed him out early. He just looked flat. He must have gotten the message because he got after it in the second half. He crashed the glass for a number of boards and putback scores. He was key to the second unit holding the line tonight with so many of the rest of his bench mates struggling. Nearly a double-double for Tarik in just 13 minutes. Those second chances were huge. “It’s just something I’m very tenacious about,” Black said. He said Brooklyn’s energy in the first half disrupted what they wanted to do, so they had to pick it up. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 4-6 shooting (4-5 from the line) to go with 9 boards (5 offensive), 1 assists and 1 foul in 13:26. He was a -8. The Action: He was blocked on a layup. Second Half: He overpowered a man in transition for an And-1 putback, he made the FT. He banked in a short one off the feed from Lou. He couldn’t finish in crowd. He was fouled on a high-low from Nance, he made one FT. He crashed the glass and slammed back down the missed drive from Lou. No challenge on a drive. He spotted Nance with an interior feed for a dunk. He took the drive and dish from Nick and powered in a layup with his left. Great challenge on rotation on one end, he then drew FTs trying to power up a putback attempt on the other, he made both. He grabbed a missed three and reset the offense.

Walton -- -- Russell destroying early with four threes and two assists to give the Lakers a 16-10 lead and force a timeout… Lakers struggling with Lopez on single coverage… After a timeout up 4, Luke brought in Nance, Ingram, and Clarkson… He sat Randle for Black, Lakers up 6 with 3:28 left… The Nets bench went on a run against the Laker bench and took the lead… The Lakers trailed 29-27… He sat Black for Deng after a minute… Randle back in for Nance, Lakers down 1 after a 7-0 run… Russell back in with 6:44 left for Lou… Mozgov and Young back in… Clarkson back in for Ingram… The Lakers led 56-51 at the half. The Lakers shot 7-15 from three… Black and Ingram in for Mozgov and Young, Lakers up 9 with 4 minutes left… Lopez and the Nets starting to hit threes as the Laker D began to look tired… Up 6, he sat Russell and Deng for Clarkson and Williams… Nance in for Randle… The Lakers led 93-85 heading into the fourth... He sat Ingram after he missed an open three and gave up a layup, and had some words with him. Young in… Lakers up 9 when Black sat for Mozgov, fans letting Tarik hear it for the good effort… Luke going a little too long with Lou this game… Nance and Clarkson out for Randle and Ingram… Russell finally back in… Up just 4 with 1:37 left and 2.4 on the shotclock, Luke called a timeout. He drew up a lob pass to Clarkson off the SLOB and earned FTs. Really a big sequence here to manufacture a couple big points at a key juncture…

[Megaton]

First. Thanks DB!
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[Tiez]

Was waiting for this Thanks again!

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks DB! 7 and 5 - wow. Good win. DLO and Randle - great games!!

[SweetP]

Thanks DB. Great game.
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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! Missed the game but looking forward to catching the replay on League Pass.

[tox]

Thanks, DB! Also missed the game. Seems like it was a good one!
edit: Also, did the Lakers get home cooking? That's a big free throw disparity... not that I'm complaining after the Minny game!

[Chronicle]

I love laker basketball!!
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Kobe

[Omar Little]

[A Mad Chinaman]

Great to have an exciting team to root for that has an excellent chance of being very good

Lesson: Playing a team they are supposed to best

When the good teams, never mind the elite teams, start seeing the Lakers the next time around that allowed them to scout our Lakers - how will the team react.

Since Deng is our highest-paid player, should we expect more out of him

[tox]

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks DB

[Ujah's Goat]

Thanks DB! Looks like I missed a fun game to watch.

Randle with the triple double

[angrypuppy]

Thanks DB.

Good to see Randle developing into the player I thought he could become, at least on a short-term basis... aggressive on the boards, pushing the tempo, and not allowing the defense a chance to settle in. Luke was on target with that quote, Randle is figuring out what he can do to impose his will within this league.

[Dr. Laker]

Thanks, DB!
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On Lakersground, a concern troll is someone who is a fan of another team, but pretends to be a Lakers fan with "concerns".

[sonic the laker]

Thanks, DB! Always a great read!

I don't think any this team is established enough for people to proclaim games as "should win". Every game is going to be a test, and nothing is certain with this young team. The only thing I expect is effort. I hope for improvement. I savor the wins.

On a side note, I feel kind of disrespected by the Nets. They rested Lopez against the Clippers, and played him against us. Granted, I understand resting your main guy on a back to back. But, it seems to me they felt the more winnable game was against the Lakers, so the Nets just "ole'd" against the Clippers, and brought their full game against us. I understand the logic, but still don't like it, as it seems teams still look at the Lakers as "soft". Well, in the end, it worked out for the Nets...lost both games.


ZOOM!!!!!!

[Tanlentueux]

[LakerSanity]

I think our defense still has quite a ways to improve. I don't say that as a criticism, but, rather, as means for even more optimism. These kids are still learning. Yes, Randle, Russell, Ingram, etc. will all get better offensively, but this team does have a lot of defensive potential too.

You see many instances a game where they just get lost on assignments and switches, leading to open lanes to the basket. That's either lack of focus or lack of communication. If our offense keeps going as it has and you shore those issues up, that's when you'll see this team really take off. It's the difference between a close game and the blowout a game like last night could have been.
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[Vancouver Fan]

Squad love.
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[SoCaLjAy]

[Reflexx]

Happy for the win, but disappointed it was that close.

[DancingBarry]

[DancingBarry]

[TDRock]

Thanks DB!

[SweetP]