5 THINGS

This was a game the Lakers should have won…and they did! Following the blueprint they laid out in the last game (solid defense, own the paint, contributions from enough co-stars) the Lakers went out and won the free throw contest, er, basketball game against the Detroit Pistons who were without star Cade Cunningham. The Lakers, similarly, were without LeBron James. In the end Anthony Davis and the Lakers muscled their way to their 4th win.

1. Anthony Davis had no match and played like it. Sometimes, wen you don’t see a guy who can guard you, you do it for them. You take yourself out of the game because you think it’s going to be easier. That’s not how it works in pro sports, someone steps in and steps up. Las night didn’t take the opponent for granted and continued his Human wrecking Ball tour in the paint to the tune of 38 points on 10-16 shooting. He also pulled down 16 rebounds. AD took (and missed) only one three pointer so that aspect of his game is still MIA but, honestly, this is what the Lakers need right now. All the theories about this or that needs to take a back at seat (at least for the team) and focus on the one stat that matters most: Wins. When Davis controls the paint on both ends it makes a win more likely. Let success be your guide.
2. Austin Reaves coming into his own. Reaves looks like a guy who has figured something out. He doesn’t play the fastest, isn’t the strongest but his IQ and what athleticism and skills he as are enough to make a big impact. He came out of the halftime break looking like a guy who wanted to make sure got off on the right foot. Third quarters have been a riddle for this Lakers team so far this season. Austin made sure that, at least for one game, that wouldn’t be the case, again. Like Davis he was very efficient, 5-8 and 2-4 from three, en route to his 16 points but. for me, it was his 6 assists without a turnover that popped the most of the box score. Solid game from the sophomore. Who will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.
3. Russell Westbrook binoculars. Russ played well again off the bench and it’s good to see him just going about his business and playing hard in his new role. Honestly, not enough has been said of that and I’m sure there will be more spoken on it should the Lakers play better. The manner in which Westbrook can break apart a defensive scheme off the dribble when they know it’s coming has always been fun to watch. The dude can get to his spot it’s the force in which he arrives that often throws his shot off. It’s like an MMA fighter and a ballerina trying to co-exist in the same body. The play of the night, for me, was the inbounds pass Russ hit Lonnie Walker IV to end the half with for a wide open three. Like a quarterback throwing a deep run pass you can see on the replay he passes before Walker has arrived, trusting his guy to get to the right spot and to finish off the play. Great pass, great shot, and who can argue with the result?
4. The return of Bryant and Schroder. It’s funny but I had forgotten that Dennis never really played in front of the LA crowd when he was here. It was limited seating, masks, full on COVID protocols. So in his post gamer when he mentioned it I decided to wipe the slate clean and just start the journey over with Mr. Dennis Schroder. Of the two he had the more forgettable outing making just 1-5 shots. Thomas Bryant played his game and his role well and could be a huge boost for the team if he can keep this up. Bryant is like a better shooting version of Montrezl Harrell: high motor, very active with his hands (pros and cons on that one), but has a better jump shot. TB allows AD to slide back to the 4 on defense, he can play a small ball five role. It also allows the Lakers to play bigger once LeBron gets healthy. Bryant also missed his lone three point attempt but was otherwise effective in his minutes.
5. Wenyan Gabriel backing up his last good game with another one. First off, we just have too many players like Bryant and Gabriel. High energy guys who lack polished skill sets. However, we might have the coach best suited to figure out how to unlock those kind of players since Darvin Ham himself made a nice little career out of doing the small things right and filling the role required. Wenyan had another strong showing across the board. He’s crashing the glass, hit all his shots and playing a solid rangy style of defense that works.

Bonus point to Kendrick Nunn for hitting his shots. We needed it when it happened and he helped the team a lot. Keep it up, man. Need to string another one on the chain. If LeBron is back everyone needs to play like this: hard. Stop ball watching the King, he’ll handle his business. Just go hoop and the rest will fall into place.

This was a game I wish we could bottle up and replicate. The overall effort was great. Anthony Davis played like we wished he would all the time. The offense and the defense were in tune. We didn’t give a lead up and lose in the 4th. The bench played well. So on and so forth but, unfortunately, we can’t bottle it up so I hope, at the very least, this becomes the team’s blueprint going forward.

1. Anthony Davis in full on Beast mode. I have to admit while I loved watching AD dominate both ends of the floor it also annoyed me more than a little. Where is this on a game to game basis? The aggression, the intensity and the full game effort are the thing Davis is questioned about the most. For at least one game they were all on display for the entire contest. How dominant was AD? He took 25 shots (almost all in the paint) and made 15 en route to 37 points, grabbed 18 rebounds (10 offensive which was basically the difference in the game) and he stayed engaged throughout the whole contest. In more than a few games already this season we’ve seen AD check out after the half. Yes, he’s out there, playing and running and stuff but he’s been prone to losing the impact he creates after the first two quarters or down the stretch in the 4th. Not last night, this has to be the AD we see on a nightly basis going forward for this team to have a shot at anything at all.
2. Lonnie Walker IV making me a believer. Not going to lie here, I was not all that excited when we signed LW4. It was hard for me to wrap my head around 2 things: why the Spurs didn’t see fit to retain his services and why no other team offered more than our pittance. While the answers to those questions are left on the table somewhere what is undeniable is Lonnie finding a really solid role on this team as secondary go-to iso scorer as well as three point release valve. Last night he was efficient (9-15 overall but an absurd 4-5 from three), aggressive in looking for his own shot when the situation called for it, and had good impact on defense. If he continues this trajectory in a major role this season it’s another good example of why we shouldn’t tie ourselves to players whose contracts don’t expire after this season. LW4 will be getting a raise next season (he’ll be an unrestricted free agent) and we need players on the upswing of their careers more than ever. If this is the kind of player Lonnie is going to be he’ll have as much, if not more, impact than Malik Monk did and well worth holding onto.
3. Russell off the bench is working and working well. The single biggest reason the Lakers won’t pull the trigger on a Westbrook trade is because Westbrook works coming off the bench with or without LeBron. You can, if you want, point to his 4 turnovers and -14 plus/minus. A lot of that -14 comes from sharing the floor with “The Human Black Hole On Offense” known as Kendrick Nunn and he’s also on the floor herding the less effective line ups, as well. His ability to collapse the defense and make a play was one of the keys to the win. There is a world where the Lakers don’t trade Russ, sorry LT, but rather sign him to multi-year deal (likely with player options aplenty) using his Bird Rights simply because we lack resources to acquire high-impact talent. I’m sure Russ will test free agency, wherever he ends up, but I won’t be surprised if that scenario does indeed unfold.
4. Austin Reaves and an aggressive mentality. There are two versions of Reaves: passive and aggressive. Passive is when he comes down and spots up, hangs out, and gets back ably enough on D. Aggressive is when he moves, cuts and collapses the defense. Reaves had the pass of his NBA life last night where he took it strong to the hole, found a shred of daylight to whip a left-handed wrap around to an open shooter who canned the trey. That’s Russell Westbrook 101 right there and we need more of it. If Reaves can play like that…consistently…he makes a Russ trade more likely. As it stands only LeBron, when he chooses to which isn’t often anymore, can collapse the D like Russ can. Russ is the only player on the team with both the vision, ability and acumen to pull plays like that off. Reaves had one of his better games last night and makes a win a lot more possible when he plays with aggression.
5. Getting none outta Nunn. I honestly feel for the guy but he looks toast. Another donut and you can see him thinking about everything out there. He made a couple plays with the pass that were nice but otherwise it was yet another forgetful outing from last season’s MLE signing. A signing that has produced exactly 52 points in 2 seasons to date. This doesn’t look to be working. At all. Of all the players on the roster Nunn tops my personal list of players we have to move on from. It’ll take a pick and Patrick Beverley’s salary to get back someone with impact (Bogdanovich from Detroit, maybe?) but Nunn looks like a player who has lost confidence in just about everything. Well past time for the Lakers to move on and for Nunn to see if a change in scenery or role can help build him back up.

Four days off and a stretch of winnable games except maybe Phoenix. San Antonio is having a surprising start to the season, not unlike Utah, but if we play like we did last night we can win those games. We should beat Detroit and if we don’t that may be the end. Beat Detroit and you’re 4-10 with a decent shot at getting back to .500 before November ends. Lose and the mountain grows ever higher, confidence continues to wane, and the front office…well…I expect the front office to do nothing and be paralyzed by their own ineptitude so don’t expect me to post anything positive about them at all. They’re terrible at their jobs is what I think. No help coming from there.

The upstart Utah Jazz came into town on their “Go Ahead and Count Us Out” tour and promptly showed the league exactly why we should not count them out. Again. If you’re still surprised at the Jazz start or the Lakers’ record, don’t be. These are two perfect storms colliding in totally different ways. One is a storm of fresh starts and new opportunities for guys who have been relegated to something lesser, the other a storm of age, expectations and desperation. I’ll let you decide which is which. One thing became crystal clear last night: this Laker team needs to leave no room for error and become perfect margin walkers.

1. LeBron vs. Father Time: Round 8. Victor? Father Time. LeBron didn’t make a three for the 2nd straight game. Looked, for the most part, uninterested in playing defense or forcing the action into the paint. He also tweaked the ankle of his already injured left foot all while playing 34 minutes. It’s not this his jumper is fading late as he works his way back into shape it’s that it’s not there at all, yet. This version of LeBron spells nothing but doom. Trade anyone you like, it won’t fix issues stemming from the King’s lack of explosiveness. He went to his bully hall game, eventually, but found the defense loaded. One wrinkle I would have liked to see was re-inserting Matt Ryan at some point in the second half. He hit a three, had one wiped off by a bad call on LeBron and might have helped unclog the paint more than Troy Brown Jr. or Patrick Beverley (more on him later). At any rate it won’t really matter if threat of LeBron from three doesn’t exist. Which doesn’t currently exist.
2. The Incredible Vanishing AD. 20 points and inspired play in the first half. I would be flummoxed if asked how he scored his last two points. Free throws? Outback? Layup? Couldn’t tell you because in the second half AD left his game and energy in the locker room. This game was one for both the diehard AD supporters and the fine with AD basically crowd. You got both versions! I’m one game! Conveniently split up by halves. In his defense, when they went big we should have gone big and matched up better because we don’t really have an effective small ball line up. Not will we anytime soon. Jones could have helped keep Kessler and the Jazz off the offensive glass as a lot of those rebounds were just a guy playing big.
3. Mr. MVP. You heard, I heard and I personally loved it. I have never once bought into the idea that the issues with the Lakers start and end with Russ. The man plays hard as f$&@. He’s embraced a role he likely despises. sTA-er-…Crypto….dot com…arena showered him (and not LeBron or AD) with MVP chants. He deserves that. Why? Because he’s the best player the Lakers have right now. Go ahead and read that again if you have to but it’s true. He’s the one applying pressure, being coachabke, and showing up with purpose. AD took the entire 2nd half off, LeBron is either still working his way into game shape r old. Russ is taking a ragtag group of nobodies and has-been an and going in 25-14 runs, getting the crowd pumped and doing his job. His entire vibe is night and day from last season. I love it.
4. Patrick Beverly is gun shy. You can’t pass up open shots and you can’t just be a cheerleader or stop Matt Ryan from celebrating the biggest shot of his life. We need him to apply some kind of pressure on the defense and he seems incapable or unwilling to do so. At this point I expect him to lose his starting job the second Schroder is cleared to play because we sorely lack someone other than Russ and (when he chooses to) LeBron collapsing the defense. Pat needs to up his aggression. Honestly, that was a weird thing to type but I think it’s true.
5. When the other team gets 20 more field goal attempts and you walloped them in free throws made and taken you know who was playing harder. The free throws were legit, Utah forces the whistle with aggressive play in both ends for a full 48. The Lakers play “The Ref” game and aren’t focused on getting back, boxing out, or running guys off the three point line. This was a truly winnable game had LeBron had more of an impact, AD showed up in the second half or anyone took on the task of boxing out or denying threes. Nobody did, that’s why we’re 2-6 instead of a momentum building 3-5. Still, this team has shown me something on this homestand. I just question that it’s enough.
   
   There are a lot of challenges this season. Must first year coaches are like Will Hardy, given rebuilding projects with extremely low expectations except to see a lottery ball with the number 1 on it. Ham has a legendary franchise with unrealistic expectations and the tools are suspect. One night Russ is off, AD is in and out both physically and mentally, and James is old. The rest of the roster are 10-15 bench players on a lot of teams. This was always going to be a challenge. Good thing all parties involved came in with eyes wide open.
   

Last season’s team would have crumbled, stumbled or bumbled that win away. They would have figured out a way to blow it. Down 3 after two missed free throws and with 1-6 staring them in the face the Lakers managed to pull something off that was a rarity last season: a gritty, come-from-behind win. The heroes were Austin Reaves and his nimble cross court pass and Matt Ryan and his acrobatic three. That shot erased another bad game from Patrick Beverley (inexplicably on the floor in the 4th and crunch time), LeBron (9-23, 0-7 from three) and some uninspired offense down the stretch of the 4th quarter. Still, that W will look exactly as all the others this team manages to earn this season.

1. Audacity: a willingness to take bold risks. Well that was what that play was from beginning to end. Audacious as all get out. The pass was the one a coach cringes at as it flies over the court and through the air. Seemingly destined to be picked off or flung out of bounds. Destiny had other plans last night and Austin Reaves heave found the pirouetting hands of Matt Ryan who, somehow, managed to spin and fire an off-balance, one-legged, step-back fade away three from the absolute corner of the court. The shot isn’t one you teach, or probably even “work on”. That’s just talent and skill popping up to say ‘howdy-do!’ Toes behind the line? Check. Feet inbounds? Check. Bucket made before time expired? Check. Overtime baby.
2. The DoorDash corporate motto: At DoorDash where “Delivering Good” is our motto, we are committed to growing and empowering inclusive communities in our company, our industry, and our cities. If only Brooklyn was as modern in it’s thinking. Anyhow, Matt Ryan found himself delivering the basket of his career last night after just a year ago delivering grub for DoorDash, Uber Eats and a cemetery in Yonkers, NY. What a story for the season in a league that loves itself a good plot point.
3. LeBron’s legs. Aging superstar watching Father Time close in or older elite athlete working his way into game shape? We’re in the zone of “either one” right now. LeBron started slow last season and come mid-November found that extra gear to kick it into. Still, so far this season The King looks like another aging volume scorer where efficiency is a second thought. That’s not one of the pillars LeBron has built his legend on. Seeing Harden go out for a month, after coming into the season in “the best shape of his career” (which I actually kind of believe this time around) shows how little can separate being able to contribute and having to sit as player hit their upper 30’s. This is another reason I see a Russ trade as still unlikely to go down so early in the season. He’s insurance in case LeBron needs to sit or not play for an extended period. Especially as he (hopefully) works himself up to real game strength and speed.
4. AD playing tougher. Color me happy as a clam. Some will look at the lack of three pointers and see a problem. It’s not a problem, yet. AD is punishing teams inside the arc as well as he ever has, is an offensive rebounding machine and is creating offense by cleaning up other players garbage. That is exactly what you would want out of the center position and AD is doing it at an elite level. Would it be nice if that three ball was working? Sure, it would help many minor facets of the Laker offense but the truth is teams would rather Davis take the three, even if he makes it. We can win without AD taking 5 (or any) three pointers/game, we just saw that in back-to-back games against contending teams. What you end up with is an elite rebounder in position to do just that something that won’t happen when AD is standing in the corner. If his back is hampered that means his mobility and recovery speed is hampered. he won’t be racing down the floor after a miss to guard against leak outs, he’s going to be slowly getting the atomic batteries to power, turbines to speed and lumbering down the court. Once he gets through his back issue, should that happen, I expect to see more outside offense from AD but for now, if he can’t be fast, I’d rather he be tall.
5. The DNP crowd. Ham has made the right move in shortening his rotation and relegating Nunn, JTA, DJ and Max to the bench. Christie and Pippen Jr. are not going to be big factors this season, at least not until they’ve had some time to work on things with the coaches, get more time in practice picking up concepts, and just working out to improve their strength and stamina. Nunn looks kind of washed after his first game was a solid outing, nothing to write home about since then. Jones is like a Whiteside lite: decent defender, no offensive game beyond lobs, basically lets teams clog the paint on defense no matter what and isn’t elite at rebounding to offset like AD is. Bryant, were he healthy, will have to make shots to stick since that’s his biggest draw. When Dennis comes back and if he plays well it makes Nunn all but expendable. Which is why the Lakers should be aggressively shopping he and Beverley and, if necessary, a FRP for Turner. Russ is insurance and allows the team to rebuild next summer (even if that were to just use he and, should he end up a Laker, Turner’s Bird Rights to go over the cap). Nunn in the right situation has value, Beverley, too. Both are expiring and let a team clear a nice amount of cap space next summer. You might even be able to coax a FRP out of Pelinka since it’s his favorite itme to bring to the party.

All in all this game probably shouldn’t have required such an incredible bail out shot from Ryan. LeBron went full on tired Iso King and failed to deliver. Gabriel threw a pass into the 15th row late in the game when we really needed a bucket. Beverley guarded against excessive celebration but contributed little else down the stretch. Ham had, in my opinion, the wrong players on the floor to close the game out. PatBev can’t throw it in the ocean from anywhere. Gabriel should be waived and Melo signed into his roster spot. Russell is as good a defender and rebounder as both players combined. Still, Reaves and Ryan bailed him and the team out and a win is a win. Sometimes lucky is enough.

It was going to happen eventually. At some point the Lakers were going to win…we hoped. Turns out it was against a team they had played days earlier in the Denver Nuggets. We had some different looks for the Joker, made shots like you gotta do, and played with energy, focus and poise throughout. You could even call this a blueprint game, something to build off of.

1. Westbrook off the bench and it’s working. Not gonna lie, thought theis wouldn’t happen for another 10-15 games. Good to see that coach Ham has the locker room enough to make this happen with the kind of impact. It’s also a credit to Westbrook to putting the team before his desires. In the end this isn’t about any single player, coach or person. Team sports need team buy-in and team execution and we saw that all on display last night. Russ might be cantankerous with the media, and honestly why shouldn’t he be? I rarely read about teammates not getting along with Russ. Except KD. Go figure on that one… Anyhow, game ball goes to both coach and player for making this possible quicker than I thought possible. Russ had great impact off the bench, closed the game out with a stellar defensive play and the Lakers are going to need a lot more of the same.
2. AD playing toughish. When he grabbed his back after that tip in I thought he would be out for a week. He stayed in, kept making plays, and sounded like a guy who will at least try to play on Wednesday. Davis and his much maligned toughness and stamina changed that narrative a bit, if only for one night, and helped keep the Lakers in the game in which he took zero three pointers. At this point I’ll take what I can get. If he doesn’t trust his shot, I don’t want him shooting. We got a whole season to work that out in the lab…off the court…where the game ain’t on the line. We know he can take them and make them, he just needs to get that back into his brain. For now I’ll take dominant low post threat AD and the defense that comes with it. 15 big rebounds, 6 offensive and the last one loomed large indeed. At this point it’s hard to worry about when, or if, we’ll ever see Bubble AD again. My guess is not too soon and we should all accept that this is the player he is now. If the other one Hyde’s back in at some point, awesome.
3. Reaves finding some kind of aggression. It must be easy to choose the backseat when you look across the floor at LeBron James, Anthony Davis or Russell Westbrook. To just sort of believe they’ll shoot the shot. This team doesn’t need another guy trying to find AD, LBJ or Russ. This team needs guys that shoot the shot off their passes without over-think or under-reacting. Shoot. The. Dang. Shot. Reaves has been too tentative in a lot of games this season. He’s always trying hard, which is wonderful. He’s got a high hoops IQ, which is great. He’s got some solid NBA skills that compliment the team, which we’ve all seen. What he’s not is aggressive. In the first half he was basically a no-show. With Kendrick Nunn looking more like trade fodder than a guy with a role on this team the last 4 games we need Austin Reaves to up his aggression. Let open shots fly, take it to the hole when they close out and take it hard. Make the extra pass if tyhe play requires it but chances are you ARE the recipient of that extra pass so do your job. Bottle last night’s game and bring it back to the arena most nights.
4. Kendrick Nunn’s defense or lack thereof. With the rep of a gunner…but one who could at least contribute on D, I was hoping for more from the Kendrick Nunn “I’m back!” tour. I don’t know if this is rust getting knocked off, if he’s always been this streaky (and not in a Nick Young “it’s fun to watch” way but in a painful “oh Trevor Ariza is on this team?” way) or what but Nunn looked like he got benched pretty quickly last night. Only Damien Jones (2) played fewer minutes than Nunn’s 3. He made his only three. We need him to play or we need to find him a new home. We can’t have a guy who takes up that much cap space fall into the ‘DNP-coaches decision’ pile. Nunn and Patrick Beverley are starting to creep up to Russ in terms of the trade I see happening first. You could trade Nunn and Pat Bev for a decent player…along with one of our FRPs. Beverley and Nunn are both expiring deals totally $18.25 mil. Enough for Buddy or Myles. Enough for a lot of guys that could help this squad in any number of ways. Both are struggling here but could be swapped to a team looking to jettison a contract they don’t value but could help us. Don’t be surprised if these guys get traded before Westbrook does.
5. Lonnie Walker’s efficiency. I like that he attacks like he does, I just want him to be better at it. Walker has been fitting in pretty well. Do i think he should have been one of the first deals we made? Not really but a lot of the guys I was hoping we could sign signed for more elsewhere. Of course, LW$ being a of the Klutch Kabal only made it more galling on a personal level since I feel like Rob is basically money laundering for Klutch at this point. Regardless, LW4 has been showing up on both ends and has been one of the more consistent performers on this team so far.

We’re nowhere near out of the woods but a few other teams in front of us are stumbling out of the gates, too. Opens it up a little more for us getting that first win. Now we need to string some together, start by winning out the last 3 games of the home stand. Congrats to George Mikan and his family for the jersey retirement and thanks to “Big Game” James Worthy for presenting. You know what would have happened if it were Rob or Jeannie.