That was earned. Nothing about that win was easy and the Lakers had to play some of their most inspired defense of the season to pull out the W. It took contributions from all 11 Lakers that played, a harbinger of things to come potentially, and the purple and gold were able to prevail thanks to a semi-return to form for Anthony Davis and some stellar defense all night long. This win ain’t enough, Lakers gotta keep it moving in the right direction.
- AD looking a lot like AD. This was Anthony’s best game since coming back. He looked spry on defense contesting shots and rebounding the ball. He didn’t settle for fall away jumpers all night, he took the ball to the basket and finished through contact or got to the line. Sure he fell down like 80 times and still doesn’t look aggressive out on the perimeter but the blueprint is there, again. If we can generate more efficient scoring in terms of fewer attempts but the same amount of points we’re going to be looking good on the AD side of things.
- Gasol staying ready. If this is the role than this is the role. If Marc is only going to be pressed into duty when foul trouble or injuries mess up the rotation than so be it, he’s doing an excellent job of staying ready and contributing when called upon. There’s nothing more for it. I’m sure the Big Spaniard would like to start, play more minutes and so on and so forth. That may not be the path he is on, right now. So, in lieu of his dreams coming true, the next best thing is to be ready when your number is called. There are some matchups where, defensively, Gasol matches up better than either Harrell or Drummond: Jokic is one of those. Marc matches up better physically and his style of defense doesn’t fall for all of Jokic’s feints, jabs and soccer flops. He just stays big and gums up his passing game. That, for a night, worked pretty well.
- THT going way too fast. There were three or four forays by Talen into the paint that miraculously didn’t result in turnovers. One wild shot attempt ended up as an easy offensive put back, he got some lucky whistles and in general was able to overcome his team-high 5 turnovers, an issue that continues to loom ever larger as the playoffs near. Horton-Tucker needs to play with more purpose, especially if he wants a consistent role in the playoffs. Sometimes you don’t need to make 8 moves to get to the rim: run the curl play, hit the open man, move the ball. It’s not all on you, young blood. Do your thing within the team game plan.
- Caruso solid as a starter. Alex made some terrible passes last night but also featured an aggression on offense this team will need with Schroder sitting out for a couple weeks. Our playoff lives now hinge on if Alex can maintain his near elite defensive impact while finding some ways to contribute in the scoring column. The defense and grit alone is not enough, at this point. The team needs for Alex to score 10+ points on not too many shots. Last night was a perfect capsule of what his nightly contributions need to look like. We don’t need to carbon copy this game but the blueprint for success looks a lot like this. A few less turnovers would be nice, however, Alex is certainly not alone on the Lakers when it comes to making terrible passes this season.
- Shutting down the perimeter. The Laker defense did one of the best jobs of shutting off the three point tap for the Nuggets as I’ve seen this season. They held the Nuggets to 6-24 from three (25%) and nobody really got it cooking from distance which helped us absorb our turnover issue (20 team turnovers for the Lakers, just too many and we gift possessions like we’re a mob boss on Christmas). Taking the three point shot away from Denver was one of the big defensive keys to this game and the Lakers did an excellent job executing that game plan and chasing shooters into mid range shots.
The Lakers still control their destiny. Win out and we’re the 5th seed. Simple as that. Play the next game to win, compete hard and let the chips fall where they may. It’s easy to get lost in the back and forth between LeBron and the media, the play-in drama et al but the truth of the matter is the Lakers are still in the drivers seat. All the teams we’re facing have injury issues, all are fighting for seeding and all can be beaten if we commit to defense like we did against Denver. It’s not rocket science, it’s honestly quite simple. Play hard, play with heart and you can live with the results.
Good fiver, Jamie. Thanks.
1. AD showing signs of being the superstar he was last playoffs was more important than the win. Seeding is inconsequential compared to having LeBron and AD play like the superstars they are. Nuggets are still our best first round opponent.
2. I predicted that this 3-game stretch would determine whether the Lakers have or do not have a chance to repeat. I also predicted that these games could provide Marc Gasol a chance to win back a spot in the rotation, maybe even as the starter. Makes sense to start Marc like JaVale but give the younger Drummond a chance to feast on second string fives.
3. Shaky night by THT often playing out of control but still made some clutch shots down the stretch and is a far better playmaker than Caruso who choked up turnover after turnover at critical times. Glad he was hitting his shots otherwise he would have been the goat instead of the GOAT. Terrible touch on his passes.
4. Caruso is a 3&D player who should not be trying to playmake and is far too careless with the ball. He wouldn’t close out any games if I were the coach. Very disappointed with Caruso’s play this season.
5. The big difference for the Lakers defense against the three tonight was we did not need to double Jokic, especially when Marc was in the game. Could understand why Lakers fans were cheering when Andre got called for fouls. Gasol has earned the second most minutes at the five after Drummond. Harrell is odd man out except for specific matchups.
I agree 100% that seeding doesn’t matter. The entire rotation issue just got blown up by Gasol and Matthews. I’m thinking we go to a 12-man rotation with 9 who matchup best playing each night. Let performance in the playoffs determine how the rotation gets narrowed. Right now, there’s arguments to stay wide to keep morale and chemistry high but let everybody know they will have a shot to play so be ready.
lol re: Caruso. Good thing you’re not the coach then. Alex is only shooting 40% from three, I know he could be so much better…like THT (25% wah wah)! Also averaging fewer turnovers than THT but generating the same number of assists. All while playing under control and not getting lucky in order to have a positive impact. Too funny…
You’re right, one player we’re talking about should definitely not close out games and his last name is Horton-Tucker. Still needs a lotta polish to be the player many predict. We’ll see how he fares/what leash Vogel gives him in the playoffs. Dude got lucky after that ludicrous over the shoulder fling resulted in an offensive put back and not one of the worst shots of all time.
Here’s my thing with THT as his game currently stands: we don’t have time for learning curves anymore…this season. Coach Vogel needs to settle on a role for him going forward and let him play it to the best of his abilities. THT and McLemore are a wash defensively so on this team, this season, I think we need to allocate THT minutes to Ben, Caruso, KCP and (if he ever comes back) Schroder. This parameter extends to a bunch of guys, I’m not singling THT out. McLemore knows his role and is into it, Caruso knows his role and is into it. Gasol knows his role and is into it. We need the whole team to adopt that mentality like yesterday.
If I’m Rob I let Schroder walk this summer. I was excited when we got Dennis, now? Notsomuch. Worse things could happen like you sign him for 5@25 mil. That would be a terrible move by our front office. Keep AC on a reasonable deal, THT will have suitors, maybe even sign an offer sheet from the Knicks or whomever, you match or find a price point with he and Klutch that works early on. Lock up AC as the backup guard off the bench and groom THT to be the starter in a season or two. He has the skills but we’ve run out of time for him to put everything together and make it work for the playoffs. Who knows, he puts in enough good work that pays off he could start next season. We’ve all seen the flashes of good but there’s a lot of not so great that currently comes with it.
Some guys, AC included, need to start playing into their role more. That certainly means a lot fewer terrible inbounds passes from AC and fewer wild lob shots at the rim from THT. Some players will want larger roles. That’s fine, we all have wants and dreams. But to win a cookie you need to sacrifice for the good of the squad. We’re going to need everyone, in some capacity or another, to step up and fill the role asked of them.
The thing about the Caruso vs. Horton-Tucker discussion is Alex does not have a good sense as a playmaker. His turnovers are the result of making bad passes. Talen’s turnovers are the result of playing out of control and losing the ball but his passing instincts are far better than Alex’s. Defensively, Alex is miles ahead of Talen, who doesn’t have the quickness and lateral mobility to stay in from of players. Neither is a closer in my opinion. You bring in Alex when you need a defender and Talen when you need somebody to get to the rim, which he did several times in the 4th quarter to key the win. Frankly, I’ve been very disappointed with Caruso and THT this season. Neither should be untouchable.
As for Dennis, I think we might look to do S&T’s this summer to get something from Harrell and Schroder rathe than letting them walk for nothing. I’m not a a fan of the move but I think financially it makes a lot of sense. Otherwise, we’re going to be in the same hole the Nets and Warriors are, paying $50M in taxes. Doing a S&T means we may not have to trade KCP or Kuzma to upgrade.
Lakers already indicated they wanted to reduce future salary obligations so they could afford to keep Caruso and THT. S&T for Dennis and Trezz could be the key to this summer’s upgrade. Also, unless we bring back a player via a S&T the hard cap doesn’t apply. I like the idea of trying to S&T for Lonzo Ball next summer. Be interesting to see what happens and whether we win or not will obviously have a huge impact on what we decide to do.
Agreed, Alex is a serviceable PG. Makes the simple plays and he can’t afford miscues like he has done too many times this season. The thing about THT is the variance can be devastating: you can’t rely on the cool as a cucumber player or the manic otter fly all around the court on any given night. Both could even make an appearance in the same game. AC, generally speaking, is more of a point steward. He’s not taking the throne from anyone but he’s fine at keeping it warm for the next guy. I think the future is a THT/AC PG pipeline. Unless we sign Trae Young or someone similar.
Still going to wait until the season and ends, and more importantly how it ends, before I delve into offseason potentialities. You never know who could have a breakout playoff series or get a spot start in game 6 of the NBA Finals to help bring home a title or a surprising role against a team to help us move on.
Good fiver Jamie. I’m glad Caruso was offensive minded yesterday and I think he needs to be even more aggressive. He penetrated to the paint several times but passed up good looks to force passes. I know it’ll be tough for Alex to change his style for the next couple of weeks but if he does I can see him scoring in the high teens and surpassing his season high.
What a wild ending to the game. We were up 14 points with about 5 minutes left in the fourth quarter, then the next thing I saw the Nuggets were down 2. What followed was an acrobatic finish by THT and then the play of the game by AD.
Sensing a potential catastrophic missile from enemy territory, AD flew intercontinental to intercept the missile above the Pacific. The result was a precise and devastating block. And that was it. Game over and the game ball goes to AD.
The Lakers must have forged a winning identity with this win and must use it as a template for the rest of the season. For the first time since returning from his injury, I saw AD engaged and played like the AD of last season. The best takeaway might be the team playing great defense that kept glowing with blazing radiance throughout the game, holding the Nuggets to one of their lowest points total of the season.
This was a total team effort, and you could see a collective sigh of relief from both the players and coaches after losing 3 in a row. I would like to shout out to Gasol for a job well done. He was phenomenal.
Thanks for the fiver, Jaime.