It started like so very many Laker games have started this season. Easy buckets, poor transition D, offense that looks rudimentary and general malaise about the team. The Lakers seesawed back and forth with the Kings in the first half and would get within five before watching the Kings run out to a 12 point lead before the half. Then Malik Monk made a three point shot at the buzzer to close the first half. It all turned around after that.
- Dwight Howard’s impact. This game is a perfect example of why I favor playing Dwight over DeAndre in just about every conceivable situation. His energy is better, he knows the frank Vogel defense inside and out, he compliments AD better and he’s never afraid to mix it up down low. If we are going to play a big is simply has to be Dwight and the arguments against are paltry and flimsy, at best. Dwight’s stat line won’t be going in any record books (12 points, most of those in the first half to help keep us close, 13 Union man rebounds with 5 coming on the offensive glass, 2 steals and 2 blocks) but his effort and intensity are what we need as much as his production. Unleash Dwight, Frank, you know you want to.
- Malik Monk proving his worth and earning his role. Monk hit 6 of 10 threes, accounting for over half of the team makes from distance, played pretty solid defense and continues to be a solid guy to have on the team. If he plays like this all season he’ll likely play his way right off of our team and I, for one, hope he does. We need this kind of impact from someone other than the big three and after THT went out with a leg injury in the first half Monk really shined. His three to close the half started a Laker run that basically went on throughout the rest of the game. He isn’t just a three point specialist, either, Monk can get to the rim, score in the paint and make plays for others. Monk was stellar off the bench for the Lakers last night.
- Laker bench showed up big. 58 points were put up by the Laker bench and that wasn’t the best stat, in my opinion. The bench also nabbed 30 rebounds and were a huge factor in a game that actually saw AD and Russ sitting on the bench in a win to end the game. I’m not sure that’s happened yet this season, if it has it hasn’t been often enough. The bench came to play, and we need it happen a lot more often.
- AD and Russ leading the way, of course. Anthony was solid throughout the game, scoring more in and around the paint as has been his way this season. I’m all for it. Yes, he can stretch the floor and of course his three point shot is a weapon. There is just so much more to his game than that and when he relegates himself to spot up shooter or stands around on the perimeter our team suffers for it. Westbrook started slow and got hot to start the second half. While not his best shooting night (some of that due to questionable non-calls) we needed these guys to step up and play large with LBJ going into the NBA health and safety protocols for a minimum of 10 days.
- 65-26 run to take control of the game, outscored the Kings 67-33 in the second half. The saying “A tale of 2 halves” is a common one and it certainly applied here tonight. The Lakers utterly dominated the second half tonight and hopefully this signals the end of our terrible third quarters. While it’s nice to see consistent effort and great production in every quarter if we have to choose one area to dominate in I will take the second half every time. You can’t win a game in any half, it’s a slow build to a finale’. But if you’re going to have a dominant stretch I feel like the second half is the place to make it happen.
All in all, a solid win. Something to build on in terms of the defensive intensity in the second half. Beating a team we should beat in a convincing fashion is certainly something to carry forward. The next 5 games can really help to turn the narrative and the season around. It’s unlikely LeBron plays in any of them except for, maybe, the 5th as the King has 9 days, minimum, remaining in NBA H&SP. The Lakers have all the tools they need to start to turn this around and redefine a season that has, thus far, been defined for the things they lack rather than the weapons they have. Time to turn the beat around. Go Lakers!
Nice post Jamie, LeBron may only have to miss 2 more games. We have some off days coming up. We play the Griz on offense he 9th so he could be back for that one. I haven’t heard anything yet on THT but I’m hoping he can play Friday. We will be undersized against both PG and Tatum and not having LeBron makes having THT and his length out makes it even harder. We may have to dust off Bazemore. It would be nice with a lot of practice time coming up if Trevor and Nunn were cleared to practice. I know they are both getting close. I think Trevor gets re-evaluated tomorrow.
You are right about Dwight. Even though I don’t agree, I could at least see the logic behind playing Dwight with the 2nd unit. His skill set was more beneficial with them than the first unit. But when Frank decided to play LeBron at center, it should have been Dwight at the starting 5. Hopefully we will see a center rotation of just AD and Dwight Friday.
One thing that should have mentioned was Melo going old school Melo. 14 points but not on 3’s. He was 0 for 2 from 3. He’s still deadly from mid range and should look to score from there more often.
The point about Melo is right on the money. Thanks for bringing that up, Michael.
I personally don’t see LBJ at the 5 as the be-all-end-all of our issues. I think it works in some situations but when he’s the biggest guy on the floor for us we get murdered on the glass. Unless you play him with Russ and Rondo (2 elite rebounders at the guard position) I don’t see it as a long-term or every game kind of thing. Is it a useful tool to have in the shed? Absolutely.
Spot on in regards to Melo, didn’t think it deserved a slot but I love when Melo goes full old school and plays back-to-the-basket. We have decent post-up players and should use them as the situation warrants. Is that a “do it this way going forward” kind of thing? No. Is it another useful tool in the shed? Yup.
Lastly, I hope THT is OK and that we start getting guys back because no matter how long LeBron is out we need some skill and size. Reaves is learning on the fly, Rondo is old and best used in spot minutes situations, and we dedicated more than little cap towards Nunn who looked good prior to the injury.
This was a fun game. Shout out to Dwight and Monk for a superb job. A special shout out to Russ for taking ownership of the third quarter. Looking forward to seeing more dedication like this going forward.
Great game and great fiver, Jamie.
1) Thank God Frank got an epiphany 4 minutes into the game and benched DJ hopefully for good for not playing hard. Dwight came in and had his best game as a Laker. Dwight starts at the five and AD and LeBron cover the other minutes.
2) I love Monk’s game and hope there is some way we can keep him next season. I would have no problem with him starting but also understand his value off the bench. I love that Malik can get his own shot or a shot for a teammate at all three levels.
3) When Monk and Melo show up and Dwight dominates, our bench is Dynamite. We just need more consistency. And we need Nunn and Ariza to get healthy so we can be whole.
4) Good to see AD and Russ learning how to win without LeBron. As I keep harping, winning the non-LeBron minutes is the key to winning #18. Turn LeBron’s positive test into a silver lining.
5) Holding the Kings to 33 points in the second half was the kind of defensive effort that has to be this team’s identity. Start Russ, Reaves, LeBron, AD, and Dwight on Friday.
Let’s hope this great game is the turning point. We have so many false starts to a comeback that it’s hard to believe but I loved how the team came back in the second half. Best game of year.
I have to say that I agree 100% on LRob;s take from his podcast after the win. I died when Gerald set him up with a long “Do you have any hope that the Lakers can take anything away from this game?” and he point blank, un-sarcastically said: “No.” That it’s basically impossible to believe this team is capable of sustaining anything. That’s on them and their wildly inconsistent play, Frank’s odd rotations, injuries and roster make up.
We struggle to beat bad teams is perhaps the most damning thing. If we got up for bigger. brighter match ups it’d be one thing but we just generally get out-played. the instances we don’t are, to this point, the outliers.
So when/if that changes, great, but at this point I’m taking it one quarter at a time. Honestly, I’m not even sold that Frank is not going to start DeAndre Jordan against Zubac tomorrow night. Or even if he does start Dwight that it won’t change if he has a bad game or two.
What was once a team has become a collection old mercenaries and it kinda shows on the court. It shows in Frank not feeling confident in any one line up he’s trotted out yet. It shows in the hustle stats, regularly. So, for all that to change after one good half seems improbable now.