It was Playoff LeBron, Playoff AD, Playoff Rondo, and Playoff Dwight. The Lakers’ Four Playoff Superstars could have been the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse far as the helpless and hapless Denver Nuggets were concerned.
Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals was a masterpiece of playoff basketball orchestrated by a quartet of Lakers’ superstars, including two of the greatest playmaker-big man tandems from the NBA present and past. Representing the present were the 2020 First Team All-NBA playmaker and center duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Representing the past were future HOF point guard and center Rajon Rondo and Dwight Howard.
Together, the Lakers’ Four Horsemen gave the upstart Nuggets a dose of reality, breaking the game open early in the second quarter with a 17–1 run and then finishing them off with an 11–2 burst early in the third quarter. Those two runs were triggered by the Lakers’ elite defense, which totally shut down Nuggets’ superstars Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray and held Denver to just 21 points in the second and 20 points in the third quarters.
The LeBron James and Anthony Davis starting superduo combined for 52 points, 16 rebounds, and 16 assists while the Rajon Rondo and Dwight Howard backup superduo contributed 24 points, 4 boards, and 9 dimes. With first half foul trouble and the game decided early, the Nuggets’ superstar duo of Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray only played 25 and 29 minutes and were held to a combined 42 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists
The Lakers as a team recorded 33 assists compared to 23 for the Nuggets. The Playoff LeBron and Playoff Rondo playmaker tandem contributed 21 of those assists, having a hand in 74 of the 126 total points the Lakers scored. Meanwhile, the Playoff AD and Playoff Dwight center duo posted 50 points and 13 rebounds, clearly outplaying the Denver center tandem of Nikola Jokic and Mason Plumlee, who had just 30 points and 10 rebounds.
The total domination by the Lakers’ Four Horsemen is reflected in their individual plus/minus ratings. LeBron James and Anthony Davis both posted +15 ratings while Rajon Rondo and Dwight Howard recorded +13 and +14. Since they led by as many as 27 points late in the third quarter, the Lakers were able to rest their stars in the fourth quarter. James only played 31 minutes, Davis only 33 , Rondo only 22 , and Howard only 16 minutes.
Game winning play like the Lakers showcased in the second and third quarters to put Game 1 away demand contributions from more than the superstars and the Lakers got great performances from their role players. Caldwell-Pope chipped in 18 points on 6–10 shooting and 3–5 threes, Kuzma added 11 points on 5–8 shooting and 1–2 threes, Morris 9 points on 3–4 from deep and elite defense, and Green 8 points and stellar defense.
While it’s just one game and the never-say-die Nuggets have proven their resilience by coming back twice in these playoffs from 1–3 deficits, these Lakers are clearly not the overachieving Thunder or choke prone Clippers. The Lakers are not only hitting on all cylinders and peaking at the right time, they’re also led by four sure-fire future HOF players who are on a quest seeking a championship and redemption in the eyes of their critics.
LeBron James is ‘pissed’ he only received 16 of 101 votes for the 2020 MVP award given yesterday to Giannis Antetokounmpo. Anthony Davis is out to prove that he and not Antetokounmpo deserved the 2020 DPOY Award. Rajon Rondo has a chip on his shoulder and wants to prove Playoff Rondo still lives. And Dwight Howard wants to erase three DNP’s and the bad taste of being a dysfunctional teammate and win his first NBA championship.
The Lakers have their sight clearly focused on winning the franchise’s 17th NBA championship and are now just 7 games away from reaching that goal and proving to the haters and doubters they’re the best team in world. They’re not going to take their foot off the gas or the throats of the Denver Nuggets. With the Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Clippers no longer in the way, the Lakers can see the finish line and sense the championship.
Head coach Frank Vogel and his coaching staff have done a masterful job managing their roster, rotations, and game plans. Now the Lakers’ Four Horsemen can smell the barn and clearly see the championship finish line.
9 Games down and 7 to go to win their 17th championship and redemption.
Sometimes, it seems like the Lakers never get the respect they deserve. LeBron has a valid gripe about only getting 16 out of 101 votes for MVP. As does AD for not winning DPOY. Too many East Coast media types who don’t stay up to watch West Coast games. It’s insulting that Rajon Rondo’s and Dwight Howard’s contributions to the Lakers winning get less attention than the numerous memes dissing their HOF careers. Ef those saying Playoff Rondo is a myth or comparing PG to Dwight. Going to love seeing the haters and doubters eating their crow when the Lakers’ Four Horseman win the franchise’s 17th championship.
And a roaring shout out to Frank Vogel and the Lakers’ coaching staff for the fabulous job they’ve done these playoffs not only in putting together great game plans for our opponents but also getting the players ready to play and making the smart savvy adjustments like starting Dwight instead of JaVale in the second half. And Kudos for McGee still leading the cheering from the bench. The team first culture Vogel and his staff and LeBron and AD have instilled in this team is why they’re in the conference finals and the Bucks and Clippers have been sent fishing.
Lol, so you’re in favor of the Laker bigs playing now?
LOL. I’m in favor of winning, Jamie.
As I said in my comment to your ‘5 Things,’ I’ve never been a fan of the Lakers going big for several reasons.
First, I believe today’s game, rules, and matchups make going small the smart thing to do, especially when you have the best two-way small ball center in the league.
Second, it’s very difficult for most bigs to defend a player beyond the arc. JaVale certainly can’t do that. AD can and depending on the opposing center, Dwight can, especially against Jokic because he is quicker and faster.
Third, going big plays into the hands of most better teams’ defensive strategies against LeBron James, which is to pack the lane to keep him out of the paint. Yes, you can sometimes counter that with dunks but it depends on the matchup and who’s throwing and catching the dnks.
Fourth, I believe for the most part in the stats, especially when they match my own eye test and both of those say JaVale McGee has not played well since the middle of the season. His numbers have been atrocious and his contributions in question. Dwight’s been better and based on how I see him playing right now, I have no problem if he were to start the rest of the playoffs. He’s a great matchup against Jokic and could be good against Bam too. He’s much quicker and faster than JaVale and more physical and aggressive.
So yeh, I can support the Lakers playing big ball with Dwight because it works whereas it was not working with McGee. The numbers showed it and anybody who wasn’t blind could not help seeing it with the eye test. By the way, the numbers from last night showed Dwight second on the team with a net rating of 42.4 (121.2 offrtg – 78.8 defrtg). JaVale, by the way, was -50.0 (95.5 offrtg – 145.5 defrtg). When stats and eye test match, believe it!
Just giving you a little rubbing LT. JVMG was pretty bad, agreed. Might see DH starting for this series and the great thing about JaVale is he’s the consummate teammate. No pouting, shows up for practice, cheers on his squad. I love it.
LOL. After the effing program erased my response, I was ready for bear. Your above response I can agree with.
You have to expect a little retorting when you’ve posted article after article calling for Morris to start, or at least play the majority of minutes at the 5. I remember thinking after Frank put Dwight in and he got a key deflection, block and foul on Jokic in the first few possessions he was on the floor for “LT is going to be hopping on the Dwight train pretty quickly, lol”
For my part I don’t much care how the W appears. I prefer the style, power and grace of the big man basketball game to the modern everyone does pretty much the same thing on offense we see nowadays. I have a few notions on how to even the playing field and re-incorporate the big man into the modern game.
Some of that is on bigs that can do more than just defend, as well. Dwight might be the last, best of the old school post player. If you can’t at least be a pick and pop threat in the modern game chances are you have a niche role on defense and you’re going to top out there.
What Frank has shown me in the playoffs is the ability to do what D’Antoni has never shown me: the willingness to modulate his vision with what works. D’Antoni and Morey traded away their ability to play a center and match up. They believed, foolishly, that forcing a team to play their game gave them an overwhelming advantage. Had they not run into the Lakers it may have actually worked (although I think the Nuggets and/or the Clippers would have also taken them out).
Frank likes the traditional center anchoring the post, AD likes have a traditional center to bang against other bigger, bulkier dudes for the majority of the game. Both are able to change it up and rise to the occasion…when needed. But not as a first resort, and not until it’s been proven to be ineffective. I can appreciate that.
The great thing about being a Lakers fan right now is having the luxury of having this debate as opposed to “why do we keep $%@ #ing losing game 1?!?!?!?!” Good problems to have.
Lastly, in regards to Playoff Rondo making big ball work. I disagree there. The defense is what makes our bigger line up work. Dwight being able to stay in front of Nikola while also not biting on head fakes is one key. AD and LeBron taking on the challenge of playing their best defense is another. And the perimeter and bench players sticking to the game plan and not gambling for steals might be the biggest factor of all. The gambling on plays is where playoff Rondo shines in that he gambles waaaaaay less on risky steals that force our defense to compensate and leads to easy buckets for the other team.
The other thing he does is relieve a ton of pressure on James. When Rondo’s on the floor LeBron can be regular old superstar LeBron. he doesn’t have to be do everything to make this work LeBron. Because, if we’re being honest, Frank really doesn’t have much of an offense. There a re a couple pet plays they run but a lot of it based on simply getting the ball into the paint to one of our many talented interior scorers. He makes smart reads, solid passes (although he has a tendency to over-throw his fastball and have the pass sail off-target when he’s being chased out of position).
I’m a big Rondo fan, have been for many years now and I had advocated having him come to the Lakers before he was a Laker even though he lacks the skill set of the small ball game. I’m not certain how many other Laker fans can say the same thing. While I don’t necessarily endorse the legend of Playoff Rondo I do think that, like many of the great playoff performers, he locks in more, gambles less and makes the simple (better?) play more often when there’s more to play for than in the regular season. If that bequeaths a “Playoff _______” moniker then we need to add a bevvy of players to the list. Playoff Kyle comes to mind as he’s stepped up pretty large so far, Caruso, too.
I think our “D” is the diff! Helps that our “O” has found us some 3pt shooters. We need to win Game 2 and put them in the most difficult situation (Denver).