5 THINGS

The Lakers have now entered unfamiliar territory for this season: a winning streak longer than 3 games. The plucky Hawks did their best but the combined efforts of the newly guaranteed Bradley, Monk and of course LeBron James were too much for Atlanta. We’re also a season-high 2 games over .500 and a re looking to sweep the 5 game homestand tomorrow. Riding a smoother looking offense, some added youthful size and a healthier team overall the Lakers have come into 2022 looking like a different team than the one that started the season off.

1. Malik Monk’s emergence. Monk had a huge game, especially in the first half. Monk was NBA JAM style on fire. He hit shots from inside and out, moved the ball and didn’t force his offense, and played seem really solid defense. His highlight of the night was the soaring dunk he jammed home off an offensive rebound that brought the house down and got the bench up. Inserting Monk into the starting line up has added a lot of scoring, better defense than advertised, and enough playmaking to alleviate that burden for Russ and LBJ. Monk has entrenched himself on my list of “gotta figure out how to keep” players. It’s why that, barring an NBA championship run, I see us making a Russell Westbrook trade this summer.
2. The Guaranteed Man. Not Reaves but Bradley. It was an afterthought for many when we picked up AB off the waiver wire after we started the season with all our young guys hurt. It didn’t take long for Bradley to show what we had missed out on when we didn’t retain his services after the Bubble. His on ball defense is still on point and he takes the open shot when he finds his way. Like Monk he brings a dash of playmaking that helps keep the ball moving and, frankly, I’ve always felt like he left some unfinished business behind after he (for good reasons) opted not to come into the Bubble. I’ve always been a fan of his game and I’m glad we’re keeping him around. He may find himself on the bench a little more when Nunn returns (whenever that may be) but it’s never a bad thing to have a plus defender who’s not afraid to take the shot on the bench.
3. THT getting his legs back. I want to believe that Talen was suffering from his COVID symptoms prior to the homestand, that the travel and wind he lost battling the disease sapped him of his energy and left his shot looking short on almost every attempt. Regardless of the reasons THT looks like the guy we hoped he would. Filling in here and there as needed, a swiss army player who can score inside and out, defend at a decent level and make a play or two. I’ve never seen “superstar” or even All Star in Horton-Tucker’s future and there is nothing wrong with that. Not every player is and many have been solid to above average contributors to champion- level teams. THT had another really well-rounded game and here’s hoping that’s what we get from here on out.
4. Russ doing it all. Russ is on a rebounding tear right now. He was the best rebounder on the floor along with the larger and more focused on the task Clint Capella, boxing out, finding seams and tipping the ball to himself to ignite breaks and find his guys in their spots. While he didn’t have his best outing scoring wise and fouled out (on a nonsense call that Danillo created by falling down all on his own) I like where Russ is at right now. He followed up his 0 turnover game with a modest 3 turnovers. So, when you count the 9, 0, and 3 that’s an average of 4 per game which is just about what he’s averaging (4.6 for the season to date). When you have a hurricane on the team you’re going to get a high degree of intensity and results. Those are things I can live with as long as everything continues to improve, which it has and many of the improvements honestly aren’t on Russ. Health of his teammates, the overall cohesion on defense, and shot making from the rest of the team aren’t really things Russ has the power to alter other than his own effort and involvement. While he may not have a long Laker career (as mentioned above I think only a title keeps him around next season) he’s on the team now and he’s playing the best he has all season. i expect that to continue to trend upwards.
5. The new look offense. LeBron at center, or power forward if you want to believe that Stanley Johnson is now the starting center, has been the balm our mediocre offense needed when AD went down. I think we’ll see LBJ slide over to the 3 or 4 again when Davis returns but we haven’t seen the end of the King as a center this season and maybe ever. At least with this roster it’s a necessity because as much as I like the big man game we don’t have enough good big men to deploy. Dwight hasn’t looked anything like himself post-COVID and DeAndre Jordan has continued to be a mystery as to why he’s still on the roster. We needed help from somewhere it turned out it was a future HOFer already on the roster. I’m intrigued to see what we can do once AD gets back but this tool is certainly a useful one in the right situations.

It would be great to sweep the homestand as that, to me, would signal that the team has turned a corner. They’re playing with more energy and focus, we’re getting guys back, and we’re not falling apart in any one quarter and digging a hole to deep to climb out of. Those trends need to continue all the way into June. We’re in the 20 win club now and it would be great to get to 30 wins before we get to 22 losses, that would mean going at least 9-3 over the next 12. Sunday also marks the halfway point and I don’t think anyone would debate that the team at the 1/4 point has vastly improved over the team we’ve seen in the second quarter of the season. If we continue to put together little things we improve on, build a defense out of the guys we have, and keep guys healthy and returning this team might just find it’s groove in the sweet spot of the season. I’ve said it before and I’m sure I’ll say it again: this was always a question of when and not if the team would figure out how to play at a high level. While there are questions about how we’ll play when fully healthy, where Nunn fits into the rotation and can Monk sustain his current hot streak I think we have the pieces in-house to do some serious damage in the playoffs.

For the first time this season the Lakers beat an in-division rival on their homecourt, regardless of the corporate sponsorship. They also remained unbeaten in 2022. Riding hot finishes from James and Monk along with a zero turnover performance from Westbrook the Lakers held off a 4th quarter rally from Sacramento to move 1 game above .500.

1. The motherf@#$ing problem that is LeBron James. The 30 point streak ended against the Wolves and through 3 quarters it looked like it would stay that way. But when the Kings came out swinging to start the 4th LeBron had been trying to answer with threes. They made an adjustment after an early timeout and LeBron started driving to the rim and the Kings were really slow to re-adjust and play him to drive and not shoot. LeBron got himself going on his drives to the rim slipping past the King “defense” for pretty easy buckets along with earning a couple trips to the line, as well.
2. Malik Monk earning his next big payday…wherever that may end up being. If I’m Rob I’m penciling in whatever amount we can off Malik via the MLE come the offseason. It’s highly likely he could earn more elsewhere but, seeing as we gave him a shot at PT, he may be open to a one season deal and then re-upping long term once we have his early Bird rights. Regardless to what goes down after this season Monk is straight hooping right now. His defense is a lot better than advertised, he’s able to get his own shot, create for others and he can get white hot form three. His game is already expanded beyond my expectations this season. Love me some Monk and I hope we figure out a way to keep for a good long while.
3. THT plays up to his hype. Talen ended his long, multi-game 0-fer streak from three, looked a lot more confident in everything he was doing and in general played like the player we all hope he can become more consistently. He created a lot of shots for others, scored efficiently, and played solid defense. I’ll forever want THT to rebound better, I think, but all in all hard to find fault in such a positive game for the young man who is still going through his NBA growing pains.
4. Dwight Howard’s season high night. Dwight hadn’t yet scored 14 points this season as last night was his season high. Not sure why that surprised me so much but it did. Dwight was the force on the glass that we so desperately needed grabbing a game high 14 rebounds with a 50/50 split between offensive and defensive rebounds. We may or may not start Dwight ever again and it doesn’t matter. The dude puts on his yellow hard hat and goes to work when called upon. We only need one, though, and between DAJ and himself Dwight is, by far, the superior player. Time to let DeAndre loose into the wild and see where his true home is.
5. Alvin was right to be so pissed off. That rule is insane and how it hasn’t been abused by some random clock keeper to OH MY GOSH DID I JUST FORCE A JUMP BALL?!?!?! an NBA game is kind of astounding. I read it as “If the clock starts before a player has touched the ball off of a missed free throw the teams must jump center” which, in theory, makes sense. The thing was, in this case, everyone had left Fox to grab the rebound on his own. He was, basically, the only one going for the board for whatever reason. So it REALLY set the Kings back a possession late in the game when they had already secured the rebound, clock being right or not. Odd rule that certainly needs some revisiting.

For a hot minute I thought we had poo-poohed this game away and the Lakers came back and took it from the Kings, odd rule or no. We did a great job maximizing our possessions by valuing the ball and getting way more FGAs than the Kings did. We need to keep that mentality and score better and we’ll hold the fort until AD gets back just fine.

The short-handed Timberwolves fell to the not quite as short-handed, but definitely short, Lakers on Sunday evening. While proving that they’re record isn’t s fluke by giving LA a real run for it’s money up until the closing seconds the team from Minnesota also revealed another thing about the Lakers and their current style of play. The small ball Lakers can’t rebound for doodley squat.

1. Lakers got walloped on the glass. 56-28 good for a 2-1 Timberwolves advantage for the game. They grabbed 20 offensive boards which was only 8 below our rebound total for the game. If there’s a major drawback to LeBron at the 5 it’s this: rebounding. The younger, more athletic and energetic T’wolves crashed the glass all game long and that led to a 17 shot advantage (luckily for the Lakers the FGM was closer, only +5 for Minny). Against a young team minus two star players that wasn’t enough to turn the game into another disappointing loss. Against better competition it likely would have been worse. The kryptonite to LBJ at the 5 is the utter lack of rebounding.
2. It’s hard to pin the massive discrepancy in points in the paint scoring on LBJ at the five. That’s been an issue all season long. 58-32 which was a result of more transition buckets for the Wolves and the offensive rebounds they gathered. While the Lakers have been giving up big numbers in the paint all season it’s also impossible to argue that having LeBron man the 5 improves that area. Like the rebounding issue, against the team the Wolves trotted out, it wasn’t quite enough to swing the W to an L but against better and/or healthier teams it almost certainly would.
3. Russ playing really free. Too free? He almost had a double-double with his turnovers. A couple of those weren’t on Russ. Bradley fumbled a catchable pass out of bounds, a couple of times he was led by pass into an offensive foul and those things will happen. But there were a good 4 preventable turnovers that you can see drive Westbrook bonkers. They drive me bonkers, too! I no longer really expect this issue to magically disappear or resolve itself. This is all a part of The Russell Westbrook Experience so buckle up and enjoy the good, hope that the bad isn’t too bad and that we reduce the ugly to a minimum.
4. Bradley, Monk and Melo saved the game. LeBron wasn’t stroking the three ball like he had been and his point total reflected that. For once he got a few foul calls go his way and so he was able to boost his output with some makes at the stripe (a decent 9-12 for the King) but overall this was a game that LeBron looked pretty gassed throughout. It’s not too surprising given his overall level of responsibility to drive the team to wins, that he’s playing the most MPG he ever has as a Laker (37.0, currently) and playing more 5 than ever which means more banging in the post than he’d been accustomed to. All of this means that we needed some of our other guys to step up. Melo was Melo hitting 2-3 midrange jumpers to keep the scoring moving when we needed it and hitting 3-7 three pointers. Monk was solid all game and Bradley hit the three that sealed the win to go along with a superb defensive effort. The contributions of all three were vital to keeping us in the winning column.
5. Decisions, decisions, decisions. With the fate of Bradley, Johnson and Collison coming to a head over the next 6 days it’ll be interesting to see how each is used and the impact they have. Darren didn’t play last night and Stanley had a subpar game in that he didn’t make a shot but managed a point on a free throw. I’m hopeful we keep Stanley and let Collison walk as I believe Bradley is a better defender and is already on board with what the Lakers are doing. Regardless a choice on Bradley’s deal has to be made by Friday and Johnson and Collison will be released unless an offer is extended on Monday. With two games (Kings and Hawks) between then there isn’t much to go on. If it’s my choice I keep Bradley and Johnson and if you really value what Darren brings then you wave DAJ. Other than that, Collison is my odd man out as things stand today. If Ariza didn’t look like the mummy out there in terms of his fluidity and overall speed I could be convinced that keeping Collison was the smarter move on the basis of raw talent. But we need size and defense, Stanley has both.

Another game we ought to win tonight against the hapless Kings. Still, we need to show up with good effort and intensity. Likely another LBJ at the 5 for the most part although I wouldn’t be too surprised to see Dwight in there or even DAJ in a “show me what you got dude” kind of thing since we’re coming up on some major roster choices. Normally the end of the bench guys don’t warrant this much haranguing but with the sheer volume of games missed due to COVID and injuries it’s led to the last guys on the pine getting more chances to shine.

There really are no more words that can be said. We are, again, witnessing a kind of greatness you can kind of imagine happening but when you see it on a nightly basis you realize that there is nothing to do but sit back and appreciate it. I’m in many ways reminded of the Kobe era betwixt Shaq and Pau. When it was Kobe and the nobodies. When he outscored Dallas on his own over 3 quarters, 81 points but no rings to show for it or even an MVP. While not quite as lofty in terms of raw scoring output LeBron is defying his age and the expectations that come with it. We should all enjoy this ride.

1. LeBron is cooking with gas. If he doesn’t win Western Conference Player of the Month for December the accolade is worthless. Truth be told, it is. But the games LeBron has strung together have not been. Most of them, unfortunately, have been losses. That’s not on James, it’s on the state of the NBA due to COVID (I am of the opinion the league should have shut down for December) and the teammates who have been MIA. Most of that has been due to the ravages the Omnicron variant is wreaking on society, the NBA and many of the Lakers. There will always be those that seek to denigrate the greatness that comes from hard work, dedication and modicum of epic talent. I am not one and quite happy to say that early season LeBron (the one I called done) was merely a function of preparation. We don’t need to get into the specifics of how well Lebron played last night. The dude is on fire.
2. Russell Westbrook driving the train. It’s easy to forget, or forcibly overlook, how well Russ has been playing in December, as well. Like any player, there will be misses and some of those have come at critical junctures. The great ones fail. That’s a condition of them being human beings. What separates the great from the good and mediocre is that they never allow a failure to define them. They find a way to improve, rise above, and persevere. I have been, and still am, of the opinion that Westbrook and the Lakers will work at an elite level that it was only a matter of how long the merging would take. Russ is playing with the same level of aggression and passion he always does, it’s just that he has a teammate better than he’s had in some time. Russ and LeBron are having the same issue AD and Russ did: trying to win with a cast of ill-fitting parts assembled on the cheap. Until we see what the trio of Russ, LeBron and AD can do, with whatever coupla dudes can manage to make an impact, we haven’t seen the true potential of this Laker team. 113 minutes, that’s what we’ve seen.
3. When Melo has it going this team can be special. It’s no secret that Melo has had an up and down season. We need for Carmelo to find a consistency to his game which I think he’s searching for in the midrange. That’s cool by me, I also like the defense he’s been flashing on occasion. We need Carmelo to be the scoring threat he’s been his whole career, just to a lesser degree. I think he’s up to it. Midrange, inside or from three Anthony is the one Laker on the bench I trust taking any shot that comes his way.
4. The Stanley Johnson effect. Everyone is going ga-ga over Johnson’s impact, which is assuredly tangible. In fact he’s been such a force on defense it’s easy to overlook the rate at which he picks up fouls. We desperately need him to stay in the floor because he can defend 4, maybe 5 positions when the game goes small. We also need him to keep shooting the open shots Russ and LeBron create. We don’t need him to score like we need Melo to do in order to create space but you at least want to keep the defense honest with the threat of making the open shot. That doesn’t happen if you don’t shoot so it’s been nice to see him shooting those shots. If he can reduce his rate of fouls it’ll be even better.
5. Too many rebounding issues. This is why I personally don’t see LeBron at the 5 as the be all end of all of ways the Lakers can play. When he’s the center we are getting murdered on the glass, even when the other team goes small. It’s because he cannot do everything that we will need Howard and AD for large stretches of any game. That or we need guys who have never been box out candidates to figure out how to box out. Rebounding will likely be the thorn in this team’s side, we just don’t have a lotta gritty dudes who put a body on the opposition and fight for the board. Russ, AD, LeBron are all weak side rebounders, they’re not like a Howard or even, theoretically, DeAndre Jordan battling it out among multiple defenders and securing the board. They let someone else do the battling and use their athleticism to grab the rebound. That will need to be addressed but until we get Davis back there are going to be long stretches where LeBron handles the center position just to get some more offense on the floor around him and Russ.

Sunday kicks off a 5 game homestand that we could really stand to win most of. Sweeping the next 5 games would go a long way towards separating ourselves from the pack of the mediocre teams in the western conference. If we keep on treading water around .500 we’re going to end up as a playin. We have to handle our business and soon as we’ve been lucky the west hasn’t been as strong as it has in last seasons. That luck will run out eventually and it would be better for all involved to be in a position of strength rather than wishing we had won a game here or there we dropped in a silly fashion.

The Lakers ended their longest losing streak of the season in convincing fashion against the rebuilding Rockets who still made a game of it up until the closing moments when some inspired execution sealed the win for LA. Driving the Laker train to victory were the usual cast of accomplished NBA vets on the roster and the young player who has best distinguished himself this season, one Malik Monk. Defense was borderline non-existent but, for at least one night, we scored the ball well enough to win.

1. LeBron as the starting big man. For the first time in his entire basketball life (according to his own personal recollections) LeBron James started a basketball game at the center position. Against the all-small-ball-all-the-time Rockets it worked brilliantly. His triple-eleven (11 FG’s made, 11 rebounds and 11 assists) resulted in 32 points, a steal and a block along with a much needed win. As basically a de facto point center for much of the game LeBron really did it all. He and Russ teamed for 4 big offensive rebounds, he only turned the ball over 3 times and had a great two-man game working with Westbrook to close out the game for the win. There will be matchups LeBron at center doesn’t make much sense but there will also be matchups where it makes a lotta sense to put LeBron at the 5 and let the game flow around him like it did last night. His triple-double with a fellow teammate was the first since he and Lonzo Ball did it prior to the AD trade.
2. Russell Westbrook’s big game. Russ had a really solid efficient and impactful game, as well. He managed one more rebound than LeBron to, again, lead both teams in rebounding for a second straight game. He and LeBron greatly benefitted from the first on-court practice the team had on Monday as he picked his spots better, developed a powerful two-man vibe with The King and was his energetic best. The way Russ plays the game of basketball is not without risk, but the reward can be quite high. Yes, he had 7 turnovers. Between he and LeBron we need them to stay at 10 combined TO’s which was where they ended up. I am of the opinion the Lakers can win with Russ et al on the roster. For m it’s still a question of when and not if.
3. The ever-shrinking role of THT. Things are not good over at the THT Fan Club HQ. His shot has left him, his defense remains spotty and for the most part he hasn’t lived up to his deal he inked over the summer. While being a trade piece of literally every single Laker trade idea floated THT’s overall quality of play has steadily declined over the course of the season. He and journeyman and freshly arrived Stanley Johnson were the only Lakers to post a negative +/- (granted only minus 2 for Talen) and he picked up 5 quick fouls which meant he never really found any kind of groove. I want to believe in Horton-Tucker but there’s a lot of things you just can’t fix on one summer. If I’m his agent I would encourage THT to focus on defense, defense, defense. The league is full of guys who score in one fashion or another but rugged defenders that can get to the rim are in short supply. THT too often shies away from contact as he tries to loop the ball around shot blockers with his long arms rather than take it up strong. I’m sure that worked well enough coming up to the NBA level but it’s not a great recipe for success at the highest level. While I don’t see him as a bust, he’s not a future star, either. He isn’t really a needle-mover, yet and may never be. His deal is manageable which is why a trade for another ill-fitting player on another team seems the most likely outcome of a THT trade. He’s not the guy you blow up a team for, just like Kuzma before him.
4. Carmelo as the back up center? Hey, if it works for LeBron it should work fir a guy who he came into the league with, right? Well, for one night, it did. Seeing his majority of minutes come at positions he used to balk at playing (the 4 and 5) Melo came up big in the scoring department and grabbed 9 rebounds of his own and blocking 2 shots. We need Melo to show up like this a little more often as his play play has been pretty uneven over the last couple weeks. His scoring has come in spurts and we need to find someone other than Malik Monk who can get buckets off the bench consistently.
5. Malik Monk distinguishing himself. It’s going to be hard to keep this dude on the roster. Any trade scenario one might care to cook up should include Monk as the sweetener and THT as the ballast because that’s the reality thus far. Monk had a stellar game in a starting role (one I am of the opinion he should given full time) and paired well with very Bradley defensively in the back court to start the game. He was aggressive when we needed it getting to the line 8 times and blocking 2 shots of his own. While Monk has been one of the better young Lakers thus far it’s also easy to see him having to be included in a trade based solely on the small raise (20% of his vet minimum deal he signed or an MLE) we can offer him this summer. It’s hard to see him choosing the Lakers over more money, you only get so many chances to snag a decent contract as a role-player.

Another game tonight against Memphis with an early start time. The Grizzlies are rolling and have joined the 20+ win club along with the Jazz, Suns and Warriors. We need to bring the same execution and smart basketball we displayed late in the game last night if we want to win. Here’s hoping we can start another streak in the opposite direction (by that I mean a winning streak of any kind). Go Lakers.