There was no let-down with the return of LeBron James. Nor was the absence of Lonnie Walker IV or Austin Reaves an issue as the Lakers steam-rolled the Atlanta Hawks at home in a wire to wire win. LeBron, Russ and the supporting cast had everything working as the Lakers win streak grew to 4.
- The King’s reign is strong. There are some young players gunning for the throne and, to date, Giannis has been the only one to touch the Sun. Since LeBron took the NBA torch from Kobe he has reigned long and well. This might be my favorite LeBron season as a Laker because of his supporting cast and its myriad array of issues. Fact is all NBA teams are imperfect in some form or another and rely on their best players to get them to the next level. LeBron has been doing just that since mid-December.
- Russell’s great all around game. I’m quite sure there is nothing Russ can do to convince those who want to see him traded that this is working now. Too much water under the bridge to reverse ingrained opinions or notions. I, myself, had doubts this would work or that Westbrook would accept a bench role so easily and also excel in it and that he could continue to play well without the elite finishing skills of AD. We were and are all wrong. Russ has shown that he can have a starter’s impact off the bench with his elite rebounding and passing. He never has been or will be an elite scorer but it doesn’t matter if he’s getting teammates easy buckets..which he is. Including a nifty LeBron/Russ 2-man game. Last season it felt like James and Westbrook just alternated controlling possessions and that wasn’t very successful. This season LeBron is more off-ball than at any other pony as a Laker, which isn’t a lot mind you, but it’s allowing the guards in the team to be involved and that’s what’s working.
- Kendrick Nunn getting some solid run. He’s still at the top of my “most likely to be traded” list next to PatBev but it was still really nice to see Nunn have a solid game in a non-garbage time role. He can still be a factor in the NBA and likely had a fair amount of rust to shake off and confidence to build back up after a year off from a lingering injury. The Lakers will need Kendrick to contribute if he stays on the team. His shooting could be a key factor this season if he can keep this up and in the playoffs, should such a thing be in the cards for this team, he could be a difference maker.
- Schröder playing well with LeBron. We saw Dennis excel without LeBron, taking more shots, controlling the ball, and showing that he can play at his Euro League level in the NBA. I wanted to see him do that with James playing and Dennis delivered. There are a bevy of players who are playing as much for their next contract as they are to win now. The two can coexist, although it can also ruin team chemistry if the former outweighs the latter. Kudos to coach Ham in managing the desire to showcase with the needs of the team, especially in the case of Dennis and Russ who both have a lot of potential money on the line next summer.
- True garbage time. Great seeing LeBron play fewer than 35 minutes in a win. It allowed us to see some of our younger guys get some run in the waning moments of the game once the double digit lead was truly insurmountable. The G Leaguers all got to play as the only active roster not to see floor time was Damien Jones (DNP-sore right toe). The newest Laker, Sterling Brown, also got tossed in the fire right off the bay. When the guys from the G-League and the Two Ways get to play it either means a terrible loss or a blow out win. Loving the still too infrequent blow out wins but I’ll take whatever wins we can get.
Back-to-back tonight, won’t be blown away if LeBron doesn’t play but I hope he does. We need to start proving our mettle against division and conference teams, teams we have a hard time beating this season. These are the teams you want to beat at least once because should the Lakers get to the playoffs that’s who we’ll face in the first 3 rounds, more if we’re a playin team. Tonight against the Kings would be a good place to start.
My only complaint about Westy is shooting.
Great post Jamie. The whole trade Russ faction is missing an important element. Even if the Lakers want to trade Russ, we so few seller and too many buyers, teams are not going to just dump good players for 2 future picks that may or may not be valuable in 5 to 7 years. They are going to look for packages that help them build in the next couple of years. Honestly that’s going to make it harder to land any quality player in any trade. At least not until the last couple of days before the trade deadline. Which is in a way good for the Lakers. With the way we have been playing I would like to see what this squad can do if we are ever healthy again. That will go a long way in deciding what we should do this summer.
Winning is always a cure for many ills but I want to say the best thing I saw last night was Nunn getting out of his slump. That was a welcome sight. If he continues to play like this it would be a good problem to have as far as coaching goes. Great win!
Good fiver, Jamie.
1. LeBron is still the King.
2. Should we keep Russ?
3. Nunn raising his trade value.
4. Dennis turning into Euro Dennis
5. Real garbage time.
Jamie, I forgot to add that you made a great point about Russ and his all-around play. He is the engine that drives this team. A lot of folks here just hate him plain and simple. Some hate him for what he makes. Some for his inability to score. The guy can give you a triple double almost on a nightly basis even coming off the bench.
When he was signed into that contract somebody saw it fit to reward him for his hard work and deservingly so. Besides who in their right mind wouldn’t take a 47 mil contract and run with it? Not every player is perfect but you can always count on Russ to show up. And when he does he is going to give it his all. To me, that’s all I ask for.
They’re all professionals who want to win (and keep their jobs). In our Lakerholic desire for greatness, it’s easy to overlook that.
Yep, John. I concur.