Feels good. Feels real good to see the Lakers moving on to round two of the NBA playoffs. There’s no getting around it, this is one wacky season of basketball. Let’s dig in.
- Davis and James were incredible. No stats needed, as we’ve said we’re going where they take us. But last night felt like something more serious, like they had finally chosen to start using the pick and roll a little more, that they’re finding the groove they need in order to know when one or the other needs to take over a little more and how to diversify that attack to keep defenders back on their heels. Davis’ personal 11 point run to all but seal the game was great to see as a long suffering Lakers’ fan. Kudos gents, on to the next round.
- Laker defense won this series. For all the talk about how our three point shooting was lacking or we looked like we couldn’t get the looks we need to the real thing that carried this series win (which will be the exact same thing that enables us to win any other series) was our team defense. Tip of the cp to Kyle Kuzma on this one. WHile certainly not the best defender on the team his willingness to step up and play with a lot more focus and passion on that end is a big reason why this series ended in 5 games. He and Caruso off the ben ch together are allowing James and Davis to not have to carry the load on both ends. The starting five is solid but having two more guys who are locked in on D coming off the bench is a luxury few teams have and one that may just help us take this all the way to the trophy presentation ceremony.
- Round of virtual applause for the Trailblazers. It took a lot out of them just to get to the playoffs and they had enough left to Iverson a game out. That was about it though. Lillard got hurt (and even prior t getting hurt looked pretty gassed), the short rotations got shorter, and the trio of McCollum, Dame and Melo just wasn’t enough without another guy stepping up huge every night. That team is a couple healthy guys and a Hassan Whiteside trade away from being a pretty thorny team to contend with. Ariza not being there hurt but it also allowed Melo to shine at the 3 (and shine he did). Regardless of what happens going forward this Portland squad has nothing to hang their heads about. They fought hard, competed with honor and gave it their best shot.
- Some more rest. Sometimes too much time away from the court is a bad thing. In the Bubble this would seem especially concerning, especially if OKC forces the series to a full 7 games. But for the Lakers I don’t think that’s the case. We got veteran guys in roles they know, we got a solid coaching staff that will have time to prepare and now that the Lakers have moved on they can invit more people into the Bubble. Hopefully some quality time with friends or family will get the team even more locked in.
- Bring on the next opponent. Personally I’d rather OKC take Houston out in the first round so we can mercifully see the end of that experiment. Houston on defense at this point is a lot of holding, cheap fouls and threes followed by a grip of whining about everything. Pretty sure that team calls to complain to the hotel staff on the reg. OKC is like a slightly better version of Portland. Traditional bigs down low, PG with epic skills, decent parts around that configuration. The Rockets are going to try and score 150 points per game to beat you. If I’m being honest, I think it’ll be the Rockets. wah wah waaaaaahhhhh…
So enjoy this Laker victory, we’ve moved on to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since Phil Jackson was head coach, and I hope we continue to move deeper into the playoffs. It’s an odd and exciting time to watch basketball is the only sure thing right now.
