Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2024 9:36 pm Post subject: LAKERS -at- KNICKS - 2-3-24 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings
Fourth Quarter Clamps... The Knicks had won 9 games in a row and had just finished making a strong push to take a 6-point leading heading into the fourth quarter.
In that third, the Lakers struggled with trapping Brunson. D’Angelo Russell often found himself in no man’s land and the Knicks took advantage.
The Lakers sat Russell and brought the clamps in the fourth. They scored 9 straight to take the lead as Reaves took over the point of attack offensively.
He’d score 14 points in the fourth, including a couple big threes. He set the table for others, as well.
A minute after Anthony Davis returned to the game in the fourth, the Lakers completely shutdown the Knicks. New York went scoreless from the 7:25 mark until 39 seconds left in the game.
The doubles on Brunson took the ball out of his hand and forced turnovers. In scramble mode, the Lakers defense recovered on rotations. And AD was a beast around the rim.
They dominated the fourth 33-19 and it wasn’t even as close as that. They took the 113-105 road win and move on to the next one with a little momentum.
LeBron -- -- You know what, Bron played some pretty good D in that fourth quarter. They need that kind of activity from him. In the last game, he saw guys flying around the court and locking down. He did more of that tonight than we’ve seen in a while. He hounded Brunson on help D forcing a turnover. He held his own on iso D against. Early in the game, he slapped a ball away from a man, got out in transition for a spin and a layup. He made a couple of threes. To start the fourth, he got a layup off the two-man game with Reaves, getting downhill. He sank a tough running fade. He hit an iso fade late in the game that was the dagger as the Lakers went up by 9. There was a stretch there in the fourth, where he just went to the corner for multiple possessions while he let Reaves try to cook. Maybe that saved his legs some for the defensive end. Good two-way effort tonight. The Stats: He scored 24 points on 10-19 shooting (2-5 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 5 assists, 2 stalls, 1 block, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 40 minutes. He was a +11.
Davis -- -- It sure felt like he had more than 4 blocks, but he certainly did a sensational job anchoring the defense. There was a sequence where he blocked a Hart drive in transition, then ate up a Brunson drive a few seconds later. We had two guys on the other side of the court and the Knicks trying to storm the castle and he destroyed them on that sequence. He was also dominant on the glass, pulling down 18 boards (a nice putback jam in a crowd early on where he let a roar out). He sank a couple of pick and pop jumpers. In the second half, he did not score all third and I’m not sure he even took a shot. Nearly ditto the fourth. The team looked a little out of sync offensively with both the stars back, but the defensive work was impressive. Good passing, finding Rui in transition and hitting Prince cutting for a dunk. He also hit Reaves for a three on the two-man action, giving Reaves the ball back after drawing help. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 4-12 shooting (0-1 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 18 boards, 5 assists, 1 steal, 4 steals and 2 fouls in 36 minutes. He was a +6.
Russell -- -- He had 10 points in the first quarter, very aggressive, not super efficient, but still effective as he hit a couple of threes and got to the line a couple times. I liked his aggression. He struggled with it tonight, but we need aggressive Russell. Defensively, he had some issues with our trapping and recovering schemes. We were giving up good looks and getting burned as he got caught in no man’s land. Once we sat him late in the second half, the Brunson blitzing improved. The team found the right guys to leave (Hart a lot). The Knicks struggled so Russell cheered them on from the bench. Keep up the good energy. The Stats: He scored 16 points on 5-14 shooting (2-7 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 1 board, 4 assists, 1 block and 4 fouls in 27 minutes. He was a -6.
Reaves -- -- Slow start but a hell of a finish. His shot was a big off in the first half, but he was finding guys, AD a couple of pick and pops, Russell for a three, a great wraparound pass in the paint to Prince in the corner for a three. Coming into the fourth, he had just 8 points. We put the ball in his hands for some two-man action with Bron. He’d score a layup rejecting a screen. He hit a three on a two-man action taking a return pass from AD. Then trying to create off screens with no success, he hit a tough fading 15-footer on the next possession. He drilled another huge three with 3 minutes left to go up 7. It wasn’t quite the backbreaker, but that one crushed the Knicks. Great job running a lot of the show in the fourth quarter and scoring 14. Defensively, he had to take Brunson on a lot. Brunson also had him switch on a him to try to go to work, often backing him into the midrange. Reaves’ defense improved a bit as the game went along. He had one miscue on a rotation, but was solid overall as the team was able to lock down in that fourth. First time in the Garden and he delivered. The Stats: He scored 22 points on 6-13 shooting (3-6 from three, 7-8 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 7 assists, 2 blocks, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 39 minutes. He was a +8.
Hachimura -- -- I’ve wanted to see more Rui with the starters. The size the team plays with causes problems for other teams. They typically have to put smaller guys on Rui. Defensively, it’s tricky. Rui has to be pretty mobile and it also means Russell and Reaves have to handle their assignments. No Vando to do heavy lifting at the point of attack. If we do stick with it more, I’d like to see some AD at times taking on some SF/PF assignments while Rui takes on the C spot in certain matchups. Different looks, switching things up can be effective when you have some unconventional lineups. Offensively, he hit a FT jumper on the short roll. He fumbled a pass out of bounds after taking contact with no call. He dunked running the floor for AD to hit him. He took a long outlet after a made basket and scored another hoop in transition. Three ball wasn’t there in a couple attempts. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-5 shooting (0-2 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 1 assist, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 19 minutes. He was a +3.
Prince -- -- “It worked out well. Created a nice sense of balance,” Ham said of Prince coming off the bench. He still ran him 33 minutes, but it was because the team dialed in a lineup that was working in that fourth and kept with it. Without Vando, we are, unfortunately, still going to run a lot of Prince at the point of attack defense. It wasn’t working, but we sent help for him against Brunson tonight to mix up our approach. Prince said he tried to send him right more in the second half. Offensively, he buried some threes, he had a dunk on a 5-out cut when AD found him. He attacked off the three line for a couple of layups. He also had a nice short-roll feed to Hayes for a dunk. He had 40% of the teams turnovers, but when you just have 5 individual turnovers, that’s not going to hurt you. The Stats: He scored 16 points on 6-10 shooting (3-6 from three, 1-1 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 2 assists, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 33 minutes. He was a +7.
Wood -- -- With Rui at the SF, Wood ran at the backup PF when Bron sat in the first half. We leaned more on Hayes in the second half. Wood missed both attempts from three in a short night. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-2 shooting from three and had no fouls in 7 minutes. He was a -2.
Christie -- -- Quietly a very important piece out there. First off, the defense was great. How many times do you see guys block jumpers. He blocked two tonight, including a nice one on a wing three in the second half. He also had a great challenge in the paint on help D to disrupt an attempt. There was also one sequence where he switched, handled his man, then had a reach on help that disrupted and offense set and forced the Knicks into a tough shot. Really good work on that end. On the other side of the court, he made both three attempts he took. He’s just crushing it on catch and shoot threes. No huge miscues this game, even had a great drive and dish to Hayes for an And-1. I am hopeful that it was such strong, steady two-way play on both ends that the team runs him more with one of Russell/Reaves. All the data shows we are killing it in those scenarios. The lean minutes for someone his age should build more trust with the coaches. “The more minutes he gets on the floor, the better and better he’s going to get,” Bron said. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-2 shooting from three (0-1 from the line) to go with 1 board, 1 assist, 2 blocks and 1 foul in 26 minutes. He was a +12.
Hayes -- -- A lot of good stuff out there. Let’s start on the D. First off, no fouls again. Two games isn’t a trend, but it’s not nothing. He’s worked on those hands, but he also has picked up a lot of fouls on moving screens. He stuck a man good tonight. No movement and drilled him on a solid screen. So good job avoiding fouls. He also had a big steal early in the fourth. He was zoning strong side as we had trapped and guys were rotating. He swiped the post feed and ignited the break. On the offensive end, he dunked off a Bron drive and dish. He had an And-1 layup making himself available for a Christie drive and dish. He dunked off a Russell/Prince short roll sequence. We sometimes run some odd sets for him where he is in the corner. There was one where it looked like they should have run an exit screen for Christie where Hayes just stood in the corner weakside. Hard to tell if he messed up there or it was designed weird. In any event, I’d prefer something different. When Hayes gets the ball out there the offense sometimes screeches to a halt. We need more of those Vando types of help beaters in the lane to make those Hayes lineups stronger. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 3-3 shooting (4-5 from the line) to go with 1 board, 3 assists, 1 steal and no fouls in 13 minutes. He was a +1.
Ham -- -- Key Moment: Keeping Russell on the bench in that fourth and putting the ball in Reaves hands. To start the second, Ham ran Hayes, Bron, Prince, Christie and Russell. They swapped out Russell with Reaves to start the fourth. Reaves had been struggling a bit scoring wise, but was playmaking well. They had some Reaves/Bron two-man action early, then Bron got to rest in the corner for stretches while Reaves operated. Defensively, the rotations behind the Brunson traps improved, and the Lakers rolled in that fourth quarter. Good job dialing it in during the game and leaning on Reaves as the point of attack.
Key Substitution: Max Christie got some run with the starters finally. The Lakers ran the AD, Bron, Prince, Reaves unit with Max instead of Russell. That extra defender and length made a big difference. It took 50 games to realize you can’t play Prince/Reaves/Russell as there is just not enough on the defensive end. Ham started Rui and pulled Prince off the bench, but using Max for 26 minutes resulted in a team-high +12.
Key Stats: The Lakers had just 5 turnovers. That’s sensational. And it felt like 3 or 4 of those were fumbles out of bounds or taking their eye off the ball. Very clean passing by the Lakers.
YES DB!!! The bleacher was all Lakers all night!!! (More Knicks fan than last couple yrs tho! Go Lakers) _________________ “The main goal for the Lakers is to win a championship. All I care about, all we care about, is to raise another banner in the rafters.“
Thanks, DB! _________________ On Lakersground, a concern troll is someone who is a fan of another team, but pretends to be a Lakers fan with "concerns".
Funny Prince Moments
On one play on offense, he got the ball then jump then laded on two feet for traveling. On the very next play, Christie sent him a "hard to handle" pass (aka right into his hands that he mishandled). Classic "Shaqtin' a Fool" moments that is close to the clip where JaVale McGhee was racing down to the opposition basket without realizing that his team (Wizards) still had the ball - LOL!!
Prince complimented the closing lineup with LBJ/AD/AR/Christie trying his best to be the Head of the Snake on defense (with help) and making some key shots
Great to see LBJ apply more energy on defense (he saw how "The Others" can be more effective), amazing for somebody in his 21st in the NBA. AD was a rebound monster. AR was the brains/sharpshooter. Christie's length and energy was strategic in the fourth quarter.
Charlotte game will reveal if these players can play consistently, hence not losing games to teams that they should beat.
They have beaten Cs, Knicks and Clips while losing to bottom feeders
Joined: 03 Oct 2003 Posts: 8377 Location: Santa Monica
Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2024 10:35 pm Post subject:
This team is really a mystery. They play like crap against crap teams, but they consistently show up against teams with a better record than them and beat those teams often enough.
It's proof they can be, if not a contender, then at least a near-contender. But they have to play the way they played versus the Knicks and Celtics against all teams, not only when they feel like it. _________________ Lakers 49ers Chargers Dodgers
This team is really a mystery. They play like crap against crap teams, but they consistently show up against teams with a better record than them and beat those teams often enough.
It's proof they can be, if not a contender, then at least a near-contender. But they have to play the way they played versus the Knicks and Celtics against all teams, not only when they feel like it.
Usually this is a sign of a young, and inexperienced that doesn't know what it takes to be a legitimate title-contending team
Thanks DB. Hayes and Christie really playing well. AR being AR. AD a BEAST defensively. Prince with a good all around game. Loved the D especially putting the ball in Hart's hands and saying you are going to have to beat us.
Joined: 13 Sep 2008 Posts: 5737 Location: Ljubljana, Slovenia
Posted: Sun Feb 04, 2024 4:25 am Post subject:
Back to back solid wins. Impressive. Yeah, the Knicks were missing some of their fire-power, but the defense in the 4th was a sight so see. I've give up all hope for some consistency, but perhaps the will string together more wins.
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-- You know what, Bron played some pretty good D in that fourth quarter. They need that kind of activity from him. In the last game, he saw guys flying around the court and locking down. He did more of that tonight than we’ve seen in a while. He hounded Brunson on help D forcing a turnover. He held his own on iso D against. Early in the game, he slapped a ball away from a man, got out in transition for a spin and a layup. He made a couple of threes. To start the fourth, he got a layup off the two-man game with Reaves, getting downhill. He sank a tough running fade. He hit an iso fade late in the game that was the dagger as the Lakers went up by 9. There was a stretch there in the fourth, where he just went to the corner for multiple possessions while he let Reaves try to cook. Maybe that saved his legs some for the defensive end. Good two-way effort tonight. 
-- He had 10 points in the first quarter, very aggressive, not super efficient, but still effective as he hit a couple of threes and got to the line a couple times. I liked his aggression. He struggled with it tonight, but we need aggressive Russell. Defensively, he had some issues with our trapping and recovering schemes. We were giving up good looks and getting burned as he got caught in no man’s land. Once we sat him late in the second half, the Brunson blitzing improved. The team found the right guys to leave (Hart a lot). The Knicks struggled so Russell cheered them on from the bench. Keep up the good energy. 
-- I’ve wanted to see more Rui with the starters. The size the team plays with causes problems for other teams. They typically have to put smaller guys on Rui. Defensively, it’s tricky. Rui has to be pretty mobile and it also means Russell and Reaves have to handle their assignments. No Vando to do heavy lifting at the point of attack. If we do stick with it more, I’d like to see some AD at times taking on some SF/PF assignments while Rui takes on the C spot in certain matchups. Different looks, switching things up can be effective when you have some unconventional lineups. Offensively, he hit a FT jumper on the short roll. He fumbled a pass out of bounds after taking contact with no call. He dunked running the floor for AD to hit him. He took a long outlet after a made basket and scored another hoop in transition. Three ball wasn’t there in a couple attempts. 
-- “It worked out well. Created a nice sense of balance,” Ham said of Prince coming off the bench. He still ran him 33 minutes, but it was because the team dialed in a lineup that was working in that fourth and kept with it. Without Vando, we are, unfortunately, still going to run a lot of Prince at the point of attack defense. It wasn’t working, but we sent help for him against Brunson tonight to mix up our approach. Prince said he tried to send him right more in the second half. Offensively, he buried some threes, he had a dunk on a 5-out cut when AD found him. He attacked off the three line for a couple of layups. He also had a nice short-roll feed to Hayes for a dunk. He had 40% of the teams turnovers, but when you just have 5 individual turnovers, that’s not going to hurt you. 
-- With Rui at the SF, Wood ran at the backup PF when Bron sat in the first half. We leaned more on Hayes in the second half. Wood missed both attempts from three in a short night. 
-- Quietly a very important piece out there. First off, the defense was great. How many times do you see guys block jumpers. He blocked two tonight, including a nice one on a wing three in the second half. He also had a great challenge in the paint on help D to disrupt an attempt. There was also one sequence where he switched, handled his man, then had a reach on help that disrupted and offense set and forced the Knicks into a tough shot. Really good work on that end. On the other side of the court, he made both three attempts he took. He’s just crushing it on catch and shoot threes. No huge miscues this game, even had a great drive and dish to Hayes for an And-1. I am hopeful that it was such strong, steady two-way play on both ends that the team runs him more with one of Russell/Reaves. All the data shows we are killing it in those scenarios. The lean minutes for someone his age should build more trust with the coaches. “The more minutes he gets on the floor, the better and better he’s going to get,” Bron said. 
-- A lot of good stuff out there. Let’s start on the D. First off, no fouls again. Two games isn’t a trend, but it’s not nothing. He’s worked on those hands, but he also has picked up a lot of fouls on moving screens. He stuck a man good tonight. No movement and drilled him on a solid screen. So good job avoiding fouls. He also had a big steal early in the fourth. He was zoning strong side as we had trapped and guys were rotating. He swiped the post feed and ignited the break. On the offensive end, he dunked off a Bron drive and dish. He had an And-1 layup making himself available for a Christie drive and dish. He dunked off a Russell/Prince short roll sequence. We sometimes run some odd sets for him where he is in the corner. There was one where it looked like they should have run an exit screen for Christie where Hayes just stood in the corner weakside. Hard to tell if he messed up there or it was designed weird. In any event, I’d prefer something different. When Hayes gets the ball out there the offense sometimes screeches to a halt. We need more of those Vando types of help beaters in the lane to make those Hayes lineups stronger. 
-- Key Moment: Keeping Russell on the bench in that fourth and putting the ball in Reaves hands. To start the second, Ham ran Hayes, Bron, Prince, Christie and Russell. They swapped out Russell with Reaves to start the fourth. Reaves had been struggling a bit scoring wise, but was playmaking well. They had some Reaves/Bron two-man action early, then Bron got to rest in the corner for stretches while Reaves operated. Defensively, the rotations behind the Brunson traps improved, and the Lakers rolled in that fourth quarter. Good job dialing it in during the game and leaning on Reaves as the point of attack.
