The Lakers rolled to a 10-0, unbeaten road record last night thanks mainly to the superlative game by LeBron James. While he didn’t single-handily beat the Cavs it was as close as you can get with James being far and away the best player on the court last night from either squad. On a night when the Laker offense struggled mightily it was good to have The King.

1. The undisputed King. Last night was LeBron’s best game of this season, one of his best as a Laker and might crack his personal top 10 but that’s a different debate. James went nuts last night: 46 points on a mere 26 shots, a lethal 7-11 from three, 8 rebounds, 6 assists (could have easily been more but the team couldn’t shoot last night), 2 steals, 2 blocks and only 3 turnovers. Stellar effort from LeBron with several highlight plays including a logo three when we really needed a bucket and were up against the shot clock.
2. Lakers three point shooting still coming back down to Earth. It’s not a dig or really even a critique but should rather be viewed as a reality check: the Lakers are not an elite three point shooting team. They’re middle of the pack to above average in that regard and that’s enough given the personnel. KCP was abysmal from distance last night (1-8) but was hardly alone in his struggles. AD was 0-3, Gasol 0-1, Schroder was 0-1 which normally would bode terribly for a decent % by the starters except that LeBron was so good he shot the starters into a decent zone (8-24 for 33%). While the bench also struggled (2-8, 25%) they brought a lot more fire and hustle than the starters did which helped overcome their shooting woes.
3. Gasol, post defense and foul trouble. There doesn’t appear to be an easy fix for this. Marc ain’t fast and if he’s out of position by a few inches on a drive he gets whistled for the foul. His verticality hasn’t been great and he tends to reach when a guy blows past him which is kind of frequently. He’s not fouling at an absurdly high rate but that’s due as much to his low minutes (19.8 far and away a career low) juxtaposed by essentially the same foul rate as other, higher usage seasons (2.5 FPG this season, 2.9 for his career). He’s not getting any younger or faster. He may get a little better at knowing where his feet need to be to better stymie drives to the rim. He hasn’t been an anchor on the defense but he has to foul less in order to be available more. We’re pretty under-sized after Gasol, especially during the regular season when AD is slotted as a 4.
4. Wes Matthews vs. Talen Horton-Tucker. It’s not that Wes has been bad, he hasn’t been bad although he is up for the Danny Green award (given to vets whom I have high hopes for that are constantly dashed on the rocks of disappointment). But he’s not shooting very freely putting the rock on the floor when he shoot just let fly. An argument could be made that those minutes, and they’re not a lot, would be better spent enabling and sussing out what level of consistency and contribution THT can bring. While it’s early and I’m not advocating on giving up on Wes…yet…there’s still a clear debate as to how best to use those 15-20 minutes.
5. The Cavs are gritty, better than expected and that was without Larry Nance Jr. Drummond is an underrated All-Star caliber player, Osman can get hot in a flash, and they have a gritty bench like us. All in all, a tough match up for the Lakers. The Cavs made a real game of it all the way up until the final five when the Laker defense really clamped down and LeBron just kept hitting incredible shot after incredible shot.

As we look back and remember Kobe, Gigi and the others who tragically perished a year ago I’m glad the Lakers are book ending the day and not playing. It’s kind of unfair for any one group of Lakers to be asked to stand up and represent everything Kobe Bryant meant to LA, the Lakers and the world of basketball. So I, for one, am happy there is no Laker game tonight. So take a minute, hug the ones you love, reach out to the ones you can’t via Zoom or whatever techno-app you fancy and let’s honor the tragedy of lives lost before their time by doing our part to defeat COVID-19 and get back to a world where we can be with one another, again. Go Lakers.

The Lakers have opened up their “Grammy” trip with back-to-back road wins staying unbeaten away from STAPLES. An impressive feat, one that continues last season’s trend and their Bubble play and highlights the Lakers’ “bunker mentality”. While the Bulls are not the Bucks they are no walk in the park, either. They came into the game on a winning streak and are in the hunt for a playoff berth. Let’s dig in.

1. Lakers bread and butter. Also known as Anthony Davis and LeBron James. When both of them have a good to great game the Lakers are a tough team to beat. Simple as that. When one, or rarely both, struggle the game becomes difficult for us to win. Not impossible, which is a testament to the rest of the team, but certainly more difficult. They’ve both been pretty locked in since letting the win against the Warriors slip through their fingers. Tonight Davis took the spotlight and shined the brightest in a return to city of his birth, Chicago.
2. The Laker defense is back, different but back. The first half was like watching Nate Robinson in the boxing ring: an outclassed opponent getting beaten up on for a little too long. Give the Bulls credit, they surged in the third but then the bench came in with some better focus and was able to protect the big lead all the way through. I consider that, when the scrubs are in, if the other team doesn’t run it down from a 15-20 point lead to single digits that the bench has done a great job defensively. It got close but they kept it above 10.
3. Laker turnovers of the unforced variety. Still too many, way too many. At least three Lakers (definitely AC and LBJ) simply dribbled the ball off of their own feet and out of bounds. Toss in one of the worst entry passes Talen Horton-Tucker will ever throw and some lazy post entries the Lakers definitely have one area of the game they can focus on in practice: valuing the basketball to a higher degree.
4. Coming back down to Earth. Across the board the Lakers are starting to come back down to Earth from three. While I was hoping that Caruso would continue his nova hot start from three, that Kuzma would rediscover his rookie stroke and that guys like Wes Matthews and Schroder would light it up the team as a whole are trending towards the mean. Not unexpectedly. We’re on the road, these guys aren’t historically knockdown shooters, and the Lakers aren’t designed to be an elite three point shooting team. The good thing is they continue to dominate in the hustle and heart stats which easily overcame a 4-19 showing from three tonight.
5. But Jamie you missed the Bucks game. Yeah, I know. That was a great game, too, one of LeBron’s best this season. After a hot start by Giannis the Lakers settled in and played their game for the last 3 quarters. They have similar weaknesses as last season: who finishes the game since GA can’t shoot free throws? The one dimensionality of a Giannis-led offense. Not enough play makers. Should the Lakers and Bucks meet in the NBA Finals I would take the Lakers in 5, if both team rosters remain unchanged and in good health.

This was a solid “test” game for the Lakers. We’d been beating up on under-talented or imploding teams, as we should be doing, and hadn’t faced a true test since much earlier in the season. While the Lakers didn’t win, thus in some ways ‘failing’ the test, nothing I saw last night derails my thinking that we are the team to beat. In the end, this was a bigger win for Golden State than it was a big loss for LA.

1. Second half sputter. We had a poor overall showing in the second half. Didn’t score well, allowed the 2nd unit for the Warriors to eat into a big chunk of our lead and had some major defensive breakdowns. These are all fixable. Our transition D and get-back was poor last night, just one of the reason Golden State almost equaled us in points in the paint, done largely without budding star James Wiseman who played a scant 13 minutes due to foul trouble. The coaches will go over the film and the breakdowns will be mitigated or resolved altogether.
2. Poor three point shooting. Just didn’t have the tough from distance. It happens but on a night when Steph wasn’t Steph it would have been nice to can just one more. LeBron will talk to Kentavious, he’ll let fly with more ease but everyone of the starters struggled from three point land. Plenty of blame for them to share, as they say.
3. Stu’s Rule: no new superstars. We utterly failed on this letting Eric Paschal shake loose for 19 points (on 11 shots), the struggling Kelly Oubre Jr. to go off for 23 and third option Andrew Wiggins to pour in 18 (on 11 shots). Too much efficient shooting from guys we need to lock down. Credit the Warriors, though, for sticking with their game plan, hitting the open man and those guys for hitting some timely shots.
4. Anthony Davis and his season long struggle from the stripe. It’s no secret Davis is starting slow, slower than LeBron James. While I sort of expected his defense and overall aggressiveness to take a small hit due to the quick turnaround, his free throw shooting was literally the last thing I expected to see suffer. Especially to the degree that it has so far this season. While he is shooting 75% that is down from his career 80.1% he’s shot for his career and well below his personal best 84.6% he made last season. I doubt he’ll be able to replicate that lofty percentage but he needs to get back on track. AD wasn’t alone, though, we missed some key freebies down the stretch that could have altered the complexity of the game.
5. No home crowd. We’re seeing a strange, though not wholly unexpected, trend in the NBA this year: no home crowd leading to home team let downs. It sure seemed to effect the Lakers last night and our home record reveals the season long struggles we’ve had winning in an empty STAPLES. As vaccinations roll out I hope the league takes every precaution to maintain everyone’s safety and well-being but man would it be nice to have at least some people cheering the purple and gold on at home. That being said, we’re heading out on the road again for 7 games so we should be good to go. It’s also led to some odd refereeing, I believe, as the intensity is always bland which is an extra hurdle during the regular season.

It’d be easy to say everything that we saw last night will be fixed with time or a couple film sessions and practices. But one thing that troubled me was how ineffective our small ball was against Golden State’s version. This may be partly attributed to the fact we played the team that made small ball a thing but it should be a cause for alarm as the Warriors show everyone that the fork isn’t needed and please don’t stick it in, we’re nowhere near done, yet. Still, all things being as they are, I’ll take the Lakers in 7 over anyone right now. Go Lakers.

Nope. Short leashes for everybody starting tonight. Let’s find out who wants to play and can deliver.

The Lakers are using the Rockets as a punching bag of late. In a chippy, chirpy affair the Lakers handed the Rockets their hat and saw some really positive developments in the doing. Since the Bubble it’s been nice to see the Lakers have Houston’s number and the best part, for me, was how much work we put in on the defensive end.

1. The Defense showed what it can be but is still a work in progress. Granted, the Rockets are kind of a mess and a big time work in progress. Harden and John Wall are a different version of Russell Westbrook and James Harden. For all our steals, blocks and stops the Rockets outscored us almost 2-1 in points off of turnovers. Like us the Rockets also had 8 blocks and stole the rock 7 times. The best defense came early before AD sat with foul trouble. The Lakers will, at some point, be a better defensive scheme team, but the skill the individuals on the team have are getting the job done early.
2. Anthony Davis is a nightmare to defend. Silky smooth jumper, cans them from anywhere, footwork on the block, and solid on the break. You have a stretch big shooting a three? He better make it if Davis contests because we have 4 guys on the team that can throw the down court bomb for an easy score and they all rebound pretty well. His step back jumper is quickly becoming an unstoppable weapon. He bodies up and bounces off of contact neutralizing any shot blocking effort. AD had a superlative game marred only by early foul trouble. He also got back on track from the stripe where he’s shooting under 74%.
3. Talen Horton-Tucker’s career game. In many ways Houston was the team where Talen got to show the NBA world what he could do. Up until those minutes THT was a bucket full of hope and promise and not much more. Horton-Tucker showed us all something in this game. He had 4 steals, he guarded Harden as well as can be expected and he scored within the flow. THT was stellar, probably his best complete game as a pro and if he can play like this consistently with the minutes he’ll get on this team it bodes well for his future. In Kyle, Caruso and Talen we have three young, solid cornerstones to build around or, should the need arise, include in a trade. I don’t get the sense Rob is looking to trade any of those 3, though. Still, it’s NBA, stranger things have happened.
4. Turnovers holding the Lakers back. The Lakers are going to get better at being less sloppy, key guys are still getting acquainted, but man I can’t wait for the turnover issue to be a thing of the past. Once we clean up un-forced miscues we’ll be a team that is extremely tough to beat.
5. Boogie! Yeah, yeah he got into it with Markieff, hit LeBron in the head and got ejected but it was still great to see Cousins playing and playing well. Frankly both he and Wall looked pretty good all things considered and that bodes well for Houston going forward. Cousins was rolling, too, so his ejection certainly benefited LA though it was well-warranted if wholly unintentional. The shove on ‘Kieff was all intention. Be interesting to see if any chirpiness lingers in the next one.

All in all a really solid win. Houston is a better team than the record indicates but definitely need to worry about falling far behind early in a loaded West. Golden State is streaking, Denver has yet to find it’s footing, the Spurs are lurking. Feels like only a matter of time that James needs to find another home but whither shall it be? Increasingly it looks like the Heat are the likeliest of destinations. Philly is leading the East and Brooklyn is unlikely to gut the squad. Duncan and Herro could get it done with filler. Not sure that will happen, honestly. James has carved a unique kingdom and Houston and few seem willing to help him move it elsewhere. Interesting stuff.

Exactly. We need to treat the remaining games as if AD is still not available. The same goes for LeBron when he gets back unless he swishes his magic wand and fits in seamlessly with the flow.

That was puh-reeeeeetty ugly folks. It’s a good thing we have LBJ and AD and that they are playing near enough to peak form because we could have easily lost both games in Memphis based on our overall team play. With no star player to speak of (sorry but Kyle Anderson does not count) the under-manned and especially under-talented Grizzlies put up a lot of fight but still came up empty behind too much AD and too much LBJ.

1. Anthony Davis and LeBron James will often be just enough. They’re that good. Two guys can, essentially, beat a entire team. Only one other Laker (Schroder) scored over 10 points (12…on 15 shots). Overall our two superstars are in pretty decent shape considering how quick the turnaround was and how much of the load on both ends they shoulder.
2. Dennis Schroder trying too hard. Some games it looks like Dennis has been playing with AD and the King for years and then there are games like last night when his early shots aren’t falling and he forces the action too much. Dennis is a superlative talent, likely an All Star someday, and is a solid two-way player but he had a pretty terrible game last night. Here’s hoping he brings it hard in the back-to-back.
3. THT defensive sieve. The Laker are surrendering points at a pretty alarming clip when Talen is on the floor. That’s not all on him, he is generally not the primary ball-handler, can only guard one part of the floor and was on the floor for only 22 minutes last night. However, the team gave up a point a minute in his on-court time for a team-leading -22. If you want to stick in the NBA you’re going to have to learn to play better team defense, I’m not talking about a steal or two per game or blocking shots but how you can work with others to stymie an offense. THT isn’t there yet but these are valuable minutes for him to be learning those skills. If Kuzma can do it just about anyone can.
4. Turning it over like the ball was electric. The Lakers are sloppy as a team right now. Too many home run plays being forced early in games when it’s not needed. The King was the team leader in turnovers, again, which isn’t surprising because of his role but he needs to reign in those lofty lobs and length of court hail mary’s to AD when he’s in coverage. This ain’t the NFL.
5. The Gasol/Morris equation. This will be an on-going, season-long debate: should we play Gasol or Morris more? We’re faster and more athletic when ‘Kieff is on the floor but seem to have better flow on offense when Gasol plays. Gasol is also by far the better defender. “Kieff is the better three ball shooter. They play about split minutes right now. I don’t have answer though I tend to lean towards marc because of everything else he brings (size, play-making, etc.) Going to be interesting to see how this one unfolds.

All in all a win is a win. So we move on to Chicago but we can’t keep sleepwalking through 3/4s of the game and expect to flip a switch in the 4th. That’s a recipe for losing games against better teams. The staff will get the ship righted and eventually we’ll be better on D. Or so I hope. Go Lakers.

After letting the Grizz hang around for 3 quarters the Lakers got down to brass tacks and shut them down in the 4th. That and an assertive Crunch Time LeBron was more than Memphis could handle. Especially without stars Ja Morant and Justice Winslow. This game also featured the fan-less return of Marc Gasol to Memphis where he had so much success.

1. The Marc Gasol video tribute. It’s easy to forget the league-wide hue and cry that went up when the Lakers traded for Pau Gasol. Kwame Brown Javarris Crittenton and…Aaron McKie (who’s inclusion eventually created a new CBA rule limiting team’s ability to to trade contracts of players out of the league). Marc looked like a toss in. Something to make it look like Memphis had gotten some young prospects with an established, if over-paid, role player. But it’s long been my opinion that Memphis knew what they wanted: Marc Gasol. he had been around the team for a few years since his brother had arrived as a rookie. Memphis ultimately did pretty well from the elder Gasol trade. Marc went on to become the franchise leader (or close to) in multiple categories. I hope they replay the video tribute when fans are in the stands, Marc deserves it.
2. The bench comes through big. Led by super-sub Montrezl Harrell the Laker bench helped us keep pace with Memphis until LBJ could take over in the 4th. Solid contributions from Trezz, Wes and THT were key in the Lakers pulling this one out as we were down 2 starters in KCP and Alex Caruso. Nice to see the bench pick up the starters for the first 3.
3. Crunch Time is LeBron time. James almost always seem s to find a way to win. He played within the Laker O for the first 3, deferring to Schroder and Kuzma who had another hot start. But when the game was on the line and the Grizzlies had kept pace through three quarters The King found that “other” gear. the one few can keep up with. James drove and scored, stopped and pulled up to score, hit a three from the bear claw at center court and pretty much put Memphis away single-handedly in the 4th. James ain’t easing into anything.
4. Kyle Kuzma as the de facto spot-starter. I don’t mind this role for Kuz. I can see an argument being made that the chance to start should be spread around to other players like THT, Trezz or Morris but the fact of the matter is that Kyle plays better as a starter. He’s also learning that a hot start doesn’t always beget a hot finish and is allowing the shots to come organically, keeps finding the open man and doing his part on D. There will be a time that maybe Kuz isn’t the starter for KCP and THT gets his shot but, for now, I like this role for Kyle.
5. Free throws. it’s early but I’m already annoyed at the lack of calls James and others get driving the ball to the rim. We’re a team built to finish at the rim and take a lot of hits in the doing that don’t get a whistle. The refs are finding their mojo, too… But c’mon man, Trezz should be going to the line a lot more, James certainly should and there have been a few calls every game that seemed very questionable. 4 refs, add a dedicated replay official in-game to clean up the calls they have to review. Speed up the game, get more right: it’s worth it.

Tonight we play Memphis again and I have to say I’m expecting about the same game, hopefully a little better defensive effort from us. Should be a W, though so here’s hoping dreams can become reality. Go Georgia, I honestly think a 50-50 Senate split is just the thing for the country to be able to re-discover how to work with one another again.

Go Lakers.

The Los Angeles Lakers are but months removed from winning an NBA championship in a season that features the shortest turnaround between season’s end and beginning in professional sport history. So it’s understandable that there will be some lulls, loss of foci and low energy showings. The important thing is keeping pace with the rest of the western conference. Home court will matter in the playoffs, there will be some degree of fans in the stands come July. Or at least there ought to be, time will tell, I s’pose.

1. LeBron’s triple-double. One night after finding his scoring touch LeBron found his 1st triple-double of the season. This is greatness we are watching on a nightly basis. A greatness few athletes have ever been able to find, let alone sustain to the ridiculous degree James has done. I’ve reached I point I got in Kobe’s epic season of scoring. the season he outscored the Mavs all on his own, the season he scored 81. It’s a place we should all get to with pro athletes more often. It’s a place of trust acknowledging that they have put in more time working on something than I will ever understand, that they are the professional and I am an enthusiast. LeBron is one of the best ever, he’s already on the NBA Mount Rushmore, time we all gave him his damn respect. I’m there now, I wasn’t always.
2. Anthony Davis finding his range. Two games after shooting zero threes AD found his touch from three in this one. AD went 4-6 from beyond the stripe in a 34 point outburst that staved off a tenacious Spurs squad. He had 7 offensive rebounds that helped give us an edge in points in the paint. He had 5 dimes, second only to LBJ’s 10. While Davis is certainly not on point defensively same goes for the entire Laker team. We traded defense for offense, athletic mobile bigs for a plodder (who ultimately does. more on both ends of the court) so the defensive slippage is understandable. AD will be the one to help right that ship but early on, as long as we’re outscoring teams, I’m OK with this look. If the D looks like this in March/April I’ll be a little more worried.
3. Kuzma not pushing. Maybe it’s the security of a new deal, maybe it’s natural growth as a professional, maybe it’s winning a ring. Or a little of all those things. But one of the things I’m loving is Kyle finds a hot streak, rides it, cools off and just keeps playing hard. So much good comes from playing hard, trying to do the right thing and just living with the results. Will he ever be an All Star? Maybe, maybe not. But he’s an NBA champ and he’s playing like a 10 year vet. He’s not pushing the possession in his direction he’s just making plays and good ones at that.
4. Win the glass, win the game. This team isn’t stopping the other team from scoring much, yet. Which is fine, it just means the path to victory essentially rests in one place: the rebound battle. We make a win very likely when we outwork other teams on the boards. The offensive rebounding was exceptional, helped us to a +16 advantage in FGA and we did a good job limiting the Spurs to only 85 shots on goal to our 101. Which we needed because they shot better than us for the game, shot more free throws and played us pretty evenly from three. The D is coming around but until it does I feel good about our chances if we do our work on the glass.
5. Coach Popovich’s hair deserves it’s own blog. I want him to go full Gandalf. It’s epic; it’s like he’s going to audition for Odin in a Netflix series or something. As a fellow dirty hippy…I love it. Don’t give up the Samsonian power lurking in those locks, Pop!

Well that was a nice first day of 2021. Let’s keep it going. If I had my way indeed.

Well…we made it. 2020 is officially in the rear view mirror, fading from view but never our memories. So much happened last year that it’s mind-boggling to look back at the different stages the year went through. From January and February where the Lakers started to look like the dominant championship team they ultimately became, to Kobe, Gigi and several others passing from this plane in the tragic crash, to the botched handling of COVIUD-19 that continues, and will continue, to affect us all.

1. My personal highlight for 2020 was the continued growth and development of my daughter and our family as a whole. Family comes first, in all things (even Laker blogging, lol) and seeing this little nugget grow from toddler to little kid over the course of the year has been amazing. While on the surface this may not seem Laker related she has actually starting asking to watch thm play a couple times in the last month. So, at some point in the future, there will be a new Lakerholic (albeit a very young one)!
2. The sacrifices of medical professionals in the face of sheer idiocy. My wife works in communication for Kaiser Permanante. The dookie has officially hit the fan in terms of hospital bed capacity but even. moreso when it comes to staffing appropriately skilled medical personnel. Please do your part so we can get back to what we used to call normal. Mask up, wash your hands frequently, don’t be afraid of the virus but damn do we all need to respect it more than we have. America is not some bastion of faith-based reality that through sheer will (dare I say ignorance?) can overcome this pandemic. Like all of our great and incredible accomplishments it’s going to take work, hard work, from professionals but it’s al;so going to take the common people chipping in their part. We didn’t win WWII through will or faith, it was hard work. We didn’t put people on the Moon or in space through anything other than dedication to craft, science and skill. Be more than words, do your part.
3. The joy the blog and all of you bring to me. Not going to lie, this blog has sustained me through a lot of things in my life. From it’s earliest incarnation under the K Bros thru Mark Medina to now. The life I’ve lived has seen good times and bad and thru all of it there’s this awesome, sometimes cantankerous but always respectful community of Laker fans that comes together. Sometimes vocally, sometimes silently but always shrouded in a purple and gold hue. So, to all of you, my fellow blog editor Sean, Gerald and especially LakerTom for investing so much timer, energy and personal resources into keeping the spirit and vibe of the OG LATimes laker Blog alive.
4. Speaking of the Lakers. They got back in the winning column against San Antonio a couple nights ago, didn’t have the time for a Fiver but wanted to give some props to the ageless wonder that is LeBron James, the growing superstar that is Anthony Davis and to the Lakers in general for bringing joy and hope to the greater LA area and to Laker fans everywhere. It’s been nice seeing the team back where it strives to be: on top.
5. Speaking of hope and joy, let’s all work together to make 2021 the year of the rebound. Let’s all bounce back from 2020, grab the board and start 2021 off with a thunderous dunk. There will be vaccinations, we will develop an inherent immunity to this strain of novel virus and we will see our businesses open back up, our families come together again and our friends in the places we hang out in. It will happen and the sooner the better. Heck, we may even see fans in the strands and a banner hung before the summer. So, again, let’s all do our parts and beat this thing like the Lakers are going to beat the Spurs later today.

Go Lakers.

Marc Gasol gets his chance to start! Might be a smart move to give Dre some time off to get that toe well. It may be why he has not played well.

Going to miss Morris though. Who’s going to guard Tatum? I guess Kuzma. Going to be a challenging game. But winnable.

KD is definitely not in LeBron’s class as a playmaker. Durant’s stat line: 22 points, 7 boards, 5 assists, 1 block, and 8 turnovers.