5 Things: true Grit

I had wanted for Austin Reaves (who wisely wanted to disassociate his old nickname, AR-15, from his NBA career) to take on the moniker ‘True Grit’ last summer. Turns out that phrase has the potential to define this Laker season. This game was a tale of 2 quarters, the second and the third. The Lakers displayed a lot of poise and focus coming back to win an arena we famously do quite poorly at.

1. The second quarter. This quarter had everything for the Laker Doubter: a meaningless (at the time) PatBev technical foul) a defense that seemed not to care and poor one offensive possession after another. Dame hit a nigh half court three, burned Beverley at every opportunity and we had no answer for Grant. Going into the locker room at halftime we had given up 71 points based mostly on a 45 point second quarter. Most teams fold in that scenario.
2. The (not really) halftime speech. According to the players Ham walked in, said “You guys figure this shit out” and walked out. Then, and this is the sole reason I can see why we keep him on the team this year, into the void stepped one Patrick Beverley and encouraged his teammates to play with Swag. There are few players that want to step into those voids and there are even fewer that can do it true impact. PatBev did both and this was a fantastic example of how he brings more to the team than will ever be tracked by a stat sheet.
3. The 3rd quarter. The one where we scored 40 points and held Portland to 21 all but erasing the deficit. It took execution, heart and will to make that comeback…on the road…in an arena the Lakers (and LeBron) play as poorly at as any other in the Association. With the win LeBron pulled to .500 (10-10) at the Rose Garden (sorry Modal, you just don’t deserve the naming rights). The Lakers are an abysmal 46-72 in Portland. This game was a loss at halftime just waiting to happen. The Lakers would sputter out, Portland would right the ship and pull away a little bit in the standings and so on. All we had to do was lay down and quit. We did not.
4. Off night for the Lakers bench. They’ve generally been a source of strength, and with injuries pressing many of our bench players into the starting line up this isn’t wholly surprising, but the Lakers bench had a rough go last night. Russ was driving but not getting the whistle and not making shots, Wenyan had more turnovers and fouls (6 total) than points (4) and JTA didn’t get much burn. Max Christie did have a highlight worthy block in the second quarter. I’m not sure Nunn has much of a place in Ham’s schemes, he ought to be traded because, in theory, you could get something for him.
5. Thomas Bryant’s return to form. After a stretch of three mediocre games where he didn’t score in double-digits or rebound the ball very well Thomas Bryant continued his return to NBA relevance with a rousing 12-15 (4-5 from three) showing for 31 points. He showed that he can be a monster on the glass, as well, grabbing 4 offensive rebounds en route to 14 boards overall. Topping my list of “gotta keep after this season” is Thomas Bryant. There are few players with his size and speed that can score and rebound as well as he can…when he sets his mind to it. Like many young players he is prone to having lapses in that department.

Well, well, well, Rob Pelinka made an in-season trade!!!! With the breaking news that we have swapped Kendrick Nunn and three second round picks for Rui Hachimura we have solved one aspect of our line up issues by moving a shooting guard for a small forward and adding some much needed size. While it remains to be seen how much he plays with us I think that, on first glance, this trade makes a ton of sense. Nunn was often the odd man out, had only mildly griped about his role here, but just never really found a niche on the Lakers. The Bone Bruise That Would Not Heal certainly affected his tenure here and we wish him well on his next team.