Aloha,

We now officially know that we will be playing the Timberwolves in the first round. Unless there is major upsets in the play in games and beyond, there just isn’t an easy path for any team in the west. It will be interesting to see if the Rockets win their first round series. They are the 2nd seed but I don’t have a lot of faith in them. The Warriors could knock them off if the win their play in.

That said, the seeding is about as favorable as the Lakers could have hoped for. I believe that that the Thunder, Clippers and Nuggets all pose more problems for us than the TWolves and we won’t face any of them until we reach the Western conference finals. Still it’s going to be a grind.

The TWolves posses a big front line that will be a challenge. We won the last game even though Luka wasn’t great but Randle did not play in that one. The good news is we can play Gobert off the court. The bad news is Reid comes in for him and he has given us fits in past games.

I am optimistic about the series. It will be extremely difficult for the TWolves to defend our big three. After having to play himself into shape after the injury and integrate himself into the Lakers system, over the last several games, Luka destroyer of worlds have finally arrived. Just in time for the playoffs.

Ant man will get his. We just have to make it hard on him. But after that we can handle the other threats. Randle can be a problem but Lebron and Rui have strong bodies to stand up to him.

It will come down to, can the TWolves defend our big 3 and somehow not give open looks to Rui, DFS and Gabe. By the way, Gabe must recover that shooting touch he had a few weeks ago. Our bench will get out scored but we have so much firepower that we can over come that.

Like I said, it will be a grind. But I think the Lakers win in 6.

Aloha,

Luka has had many great games with the Lakers but this was the first time we saw the Destroyer of Worlds version of Luka. Being able to channel that kind of emotion into that performance was remarkable. It’s was Kobe like.

When the team saw that Luka was on a roll it seemed like they all slipped in to the back seat and watched him drive. LeBron and Rui began to contribute in the 2nd half when Luka only scored a “measly” 14.

AD was the opposite of Luka. As Laker fans we have seen that version of AD from time to time, slipping into the woodwork. As great as AD is, he will forever be a side kick. Now it wasn’t all his fault. We applied the Joker defense and swarmed him whenever possible and he was playing without a true play maker. But it just revealed the difference between Luka and AD. AD needs help, Luka doesn’t. We also got to see him play his beloved power forward position. This left him out on the perimeter on both offense and defense where he is not nearly as effective. I’ve said it before and I will say it again AD’s best position is center. Period.

Dallas has a real size advantage over us and I thought we handled it very well. With Rui back, our small ball line up is very effective as the rotations were crisp and on point.
I would still like more help at the 5 but there isn’t much we can do about that until the summer.

With the Warriors losing last night we are guaranteed at least the 5th seed. The Clippers, Griz and Nuggets are behind us and we hold the tie breakers. The Griz play the nuggets. So one of them can’t pass us. Actually there is a way we can win the 3rd seed without winning another game. If the TWolves beat the Griz, and the Griz beat the Nuggets and the Warriors beat the Clippers that would give us the 3rd seed. Not impossible at all.

Still I would prefer to beat the Rockets and get it over with. It will be interesting to see who the Rockets play. They rested all of their starters against the Clippers. They are locked into the 2nd seed and should prioritize health over a win. Still we beat them last time, so we’ll see how they handle it.

Regardless, we are in a good spot and will have a week for LeBron to rest before the playoffs. A luxury we didn’t have the last two years. We will not need the Luka the destroyer of worlds version of Luka to have a deep playoff run but it’s nice to know that version is available if needed.

Aloha,

The NBA just rescinded Luka’s 2nd technical foul. Does little good now. I doubt they lets us play the last 8 minutes over😡

Aloha,

As the season winds down it’s going to be a crazy finish. The five teams behind us all tied in the loss column and they are playing each other.

The Clippers play the Warriors and Rockets.
The Grizzlies play the TWolves and Nuggets and the Nuggets also play the Rockets.

We are in good shape. Our destiny is in our hands. One win ensures the 6th seed and two wins ensures the 3rd seed. Of course some of the teams behind us will lose at least one game because they play each other. Considering we hold all tie breakers, even if we lost 3 we more than likely would finish in the 4th or 5th seed.

Even the 2nd seed isn’t completely out of reach. But we would need to win out and the Rockets would have to lose all 3 of their games. Not impossible considering the Rockets play 3 really good teams to end the season.

One thing is for sure, barring an upset in the play in games. There will be no easy outs in the playoffs in the west. I can’t recall a time when all the teams in the west are so evenly matched.

It’s going to be wild.

Aloha,

Not only did the Lakers blow out OKC, but the Rockers beat the Warriors and the Pacers beat the Nuggets. The Lakers need to go 2-2 to secure the 3rd seed. Of course that’s not going to be easy. We have another against OKC and Rockets and of course AD will be super motivated when we play the Mavs. Of course so will Luka.

I have to admit I thought we were going to lose this one. Boy was I really wrong. The shooting was exceptional. We tied a team record with 22 made 3’s and shot 55% from 3. But that is not why we blew them out. It was our defense and rebounding that did that.

Having both Lebron and Rui healthy and available is very important to our small ball defense. That was part of the reason our defense suffered when they were out. Jax only played 13 minutes yet their big combine for only 19 points and 9 rebounds. Actually that was the key with only SGA actually hurting us. And he never shot a free throw which is remarkable.

About the only thing we did poorly was turnovers. We had 17 turnovers for 22 points.

If we can continue to play that kind of defense, rebound, try and Limit turnovers and get the scoring support from Gabe and DFS like today, we are going to be a hard team to beat.

I was hoping to split with OKC but now I’m greedy and want us to get the next one. I suspect it will be hard fought game unlike today. But a one point win is just fine with me.

Go Lakers.

Aloha,

If you had told me that team would shoot 39% from the field and Luk, Rui and Austin would go a combined 2-16 from 3, I would have asked, how much did we lose by. But like superhero’s coming to the rescue, Gabe and DFS each hit 6 3’s.

But more importantly our defense showed up. Actually I thought our defense was much better than theirs because we missed so many wide open looks. Our small ball line up actually matches up well with the Rockets. Sengun plays below the rim like the Joker without the bulk. This allows both Lebron and Rui to guard him because he isn’t strong enough to move them.

Lebron, Rui, DSF and Vando are big guys and while none are in your face shot blockers they all great weak side help shot blockers as LeBron and DSF demonstrated last night. It will be a challenge in the playoffs against certain teams without a good rim protector in the middle. But I think offensively we can make up for some of that.

That Bulls game still bothers me because of seeding. Yes the main goal is to avoid the play in. Yes it would be great to finish 4th for a first round home series but 3rd would be better because you avoid the Thunder until the conference finals. The bad news is we have a tough remaining schedule. The good news is most all the teams we are battling with don’t have cake walk schedules either. Plus we have tie breaks with everyone except the Rockets and we have one more with them.

Our offense was great against the Griz and our defense was great against the Rockets. Here’s hoping we can start to put the two together in the remaining games.

Aloha,

That was an extremely important win. You hate to play a team the day after their coach was fired. You know they will come out with extra energy. And when it’s a talented team like the Griz, it’s down right scary. They are a fast paced, high scoring team that averages 123 points a game. Fortunately when healthy we score as well.

There should no longer be any doubt that Austin is our 3rd star. He was our best player again last night. And it isn’t just the 31 points but it was also some tough rebounds and steals. Denying JJJ that pass drawing a foul won’t show up on the stats sheet but it was another huge play in crunch time. Austin is averaging 20 points, 4.5 boards and 6 assists as the 3rd option. And when or both of our superstars miss a game, Austin plays like a superstar. He is without a doubt one of the toughest players in the NBA. We no longer need to star hunt. When can now focus on just depth.

LeBron is beginning to look better after that long layoff. But his timing is still a bit off. He’s missing layups and bunnies. Hopefully he will find his rhythm soon.

Miami Gabe. Enough said.

It’s a shame Rui had to miss the Bulls game because of injury management because our small ball line up of him, Lebron and DFS is so much better when he’s available. Vando is great but he is better on the perimeter. Rui has the body to bang with bigs. Plus his shooting adds another dimension over Vando when we go small.

Luka’s 3 ball wasn’t falling but superstars find a way and Luka turned to attacking the paint and hit 10-11 free throws as well as midrange jumpers. All of the open looks we get is the Luka effect and I don’t think there is anything any team can do about it.

This stretch run is going to be tough. We hold tie breaks with every team around us except the Rockets but we play them twice. Fortunately at home. Tie breaks only work if you tie someone. Our margin over the 6th seed is slender. But with the tie breaks we would need to lose 3 more games than the Warriors or the Clippers. With all the injuries we haven’t had a lot of time together for a while. We do get an extra days rest after the Rockets game which will help. We have 2 with OKC coming up. I’m hoping they don’t have anything to play for when we meet them. They have a 3 game lead over the Cav’s for best overall record. Even if they play all their starters we need to at least split the 2.

It will be a challenge staying in the top 4, heck even the top 6 won’t be easy. But we are finally healthy and hopefully we stay healthy. Because if we do I feel good about our chances.

Aloha,

That was the worst play that LeBron has made as a Laker. Throwing a lazy little bounce pass into double coverage is unacceptable. You can run the baseline after a basket. Just get the ball in. I don’t even mind them letting the Bulls back in down the stretch. 2nd of a back to back and they were tired. They also should have harassed Giddy. They only had 3 seconds. Don’t give him a straight line. This game can really bite us in the butt. Pathetic.

Aloha,

I tuned into the game last night with no expectations. With our top 6 players sitting, this was clearly a schedule loss. It was the 6th game in 8 days, which is brutal and never done. Unfortunately, games had to be moved around because of the fires, leading to 3 straight back to backs. Guys were tired and a little banged up, so we sacrificed a potential win for health. And I agree with that. The good news is we may have a full squad for Saturday. With a lack of practice time, I think it’s important to play everyone against a subpar Bulls team as a tune up for a difficult road trip coming up.

Last night I watched, just to see how the remaining guys would play. While we did manage to hang around until the mid 3rd quarter due to defense, we struggled. One of the roster construction problems this team has is, we have 3 play makers on the roster and they all start. We don’t have a true backup point guard off the bench. And it showed. As much as I like Gabe, he isn’t a true point guard. I view him as an Avery Bradley type. A Bulldog on defense that can hit some shots. He is not a play maker. And it showed last night in the poor quality looks that we were getting. That was disappointing.

I was also disappointed in Dalton. While he scored 17, most of those points came after the game was decided. He actually went 1 for 8 on 2 point attempts which killed us. And Goody, while he gave his normal all out effort, he also wasn’t hitting shot.

There were bright spots. Morris played well. He had a plus 7, the only plus on the team. Jax was okay, with 9 points and 5 boards in only 16 minutes. Len actually played pretty well with 10 points and 9 boards in 17 minutes. Defensively, I think he held up well against Lopez.

But the star of the night was Bronny. 17 points on 7-10 shooting and 5 assists. And that one long pass to Morris was straight out of his Dad’s playbook. I occasionally watch the South Bay Lakers and I have seen him grow as the season has progressed. His confidence has soared and he was usually the best player on the court for either team. It was great to see that confidence translate to the varsity. What you saw last night is exactly how he has looked in the G league for the last couple of months. With the way he works, I can possibly see him breaking into the rotation at some point as early as next year. While he was the 55th pick, he is looking like a player taken much higher.

The good news is that even with all the injuries and the hellish schedule we are still sitting in the 4th seed with tie breakers over everyone in the top 8 with exception of the Rockets and we have 2 left with them. Even with a difficult remaining schedule, if we remain healthy the rest of the way, this team could still realistically finish 2nd. I think sacrificing one game for that was worth it.

Aloha,

This was a very needed win to stop the bleeding from that disappointing road trip. It didn’t really feel like we were ever in danger of losing this one. I really don’t know, what’s going on with the Suns. They have a lot of talent and they should be in panic mood, while battling just to make the play in. But it was the Lakers that brought the energy, especially on the defensive end.

I believe if we had everyone healthy except LeBron, we would still be a solid playoff team. With Luka demonstrating why he is a generational talent, we are always in the game. And add in Austin who is proving to be a quality 2nd option when needed. Add LeBron into the mix and we become a legit contender.

It really is our defense that has made us so dangerous. DFS, Vanderbilt and Gabe are all great defenders . And now we have added Goody to the group. JJ went out of his way to praise Goody’s defense on Booker who had a poor game. I am interested in what the rotation looks like. With Dalton’s offense also deserving of playing time. I am sure they will probably will cut Cam and added Goody but I think they will wait until right before the playoffs to see if there any injuries that need to be filled. I don’t know what happened to Cam. He has fallen out of the rotation and when he got playing time against the Nuggets, he was the only guy that played poorly.

Jackson continues to impress. I think he’s grown more than anyone else during the season. He has turned into quite a lob threat. But it’s not just that, he’s very good at sealing guys that allows the guards to get to the rim for layups. He just brings the energy that the others feed off of. We should be able to keep him. We have early bird rights and we could pay up to 12 mil, I don’t we will have to pay that much but he should be back next year. While we will need to add another decent center I don’t think they need a star. I’m not sure about Koloko. He has issues finishing lobs. He really needs to get better at that if he wants to make it.

Just a side note, watched the South Bay lakers and they have a couple of familiar faces on the team with Stanley Johnson and Cole Swider back. That was kind of cool to see.

We have a tough stretch coming up. The good news is we are tied in the loss column with The Nuggets, Griz and Rockets. So we need to get healthy quickly. I’m hoping we can have at least Rui back for the Nuggets game. It would have been nice to coast a little before the Playoffs but it doesn’t look like it will happen But we play the Thunder toward the end of the year. Hopefully they will be coasting. Hopefully we will continue to play this hard down the stretch. Go Lakers.

Aloha,

LeBron, DFS and Rui are all listed as out for the Nets. While Luka and Jax are listed as questionable. If they are all out it could be hard to beat the Nets, who are no pushovers despite their record.

On a lighter note. With the Nuggets blowout loss to the Thunder we are back in 2nd. The Nuggets face the Thunder again in their next game. Hopefully we can get a little help from other teams as we navigate this touch stretch of games with a lot of injuries.

Aloha,

I didn’t have this one as a win. The Celtics had rested players the game before while had to fly 3,000 miles after a tough overtime game against the Knicks. While they didn’t have Porzingas, we did not have Rui and Jackson, which I think is more important to us.

We had 3 good quarters. We lost the game in the third quarter. We just could not make a shot. We missed our 1st ten and didn’t make a basket until under 6 minutes. Still, we came back and cut it to 4. It’s really hard to come back from that far down, especially when LeBron is out for the stretch run. You spend a lot of energy coming back and we ran out of gas. But for me, it showed that if we were to meet these guys in the finals, we can play with these them . I doubt we will have very many shooting quarters like the third.

The game plan last night resembled our offense last year. Put the ball in LeBrons hand and get out of the way. Except it was Luka. Brown is a great defender. I think I would have had Austin run the offense more. He’s a good playmaker as well and it might have upset their game plan because it revolved around stopping Luka and Lebron. Speaking of Austin it was good to see him have a bounce back shooting night.

Goodwin continues to impress. He definitely will be on the team for the playoffs.

We did a good job keeping Boston off the 3 point line. They only shot 38. We actually shot 2 more 3’s and made one more. It was offensive rebounds and untimely turnovers that were the difference. Rui and Jax definitely could’ve helped on the boards.

Speaking of turnovers, the Celtics were allowed to mug Luka all night. One play in particular really pissed me off. Brown hit Luka in the head, knocking him off the ball for a steal. What made this one so egregious was it happened in the open court with just the two of them and all 3 officials turned their heads. There was a definite home court advantage when it came to the officials.

We are Losing LeBron for at least a week. I’m thinking probably two. We actually are 3-1 without LeBron. But Rui is also out and he usually steps up big when LeBron is hurt. The good news is Rui ramping up and could be available for the Bucks game. Jackson maybe back for the Nets.

The Nets game will be huge. We really need this one. I expect to see all star version of Austin while LeBron is out. He seems to always come up big when we are missing a star.

Fortunately we have built somewhat of a cushion so even if we drop to the 5th seed while LeBron is out, we will have time to regain some ground once he returns.

By the way, the nuggets play OKC back to back in OKC. Go Thunder!

It will be a challenge but if we get Rui and Jax back we could at least go 2-2 on this trip.

Go Lakers!

Aloha,

Wow this is fun. It is the mark of a great team when you win a game against a quality team that you probably should have lost. Through the first 3 quarters we couldn’t hit the ocean from the beach. Then at the buzzer Dalton hit that 3 and it seemed to provide a real momentum boost heading into the 4th, where our defense picked up the intensity and the shots finally began to fall.

The defense has been special holding the Knicks to 99 points in regulation. While adding DFS, Vando returning, Gabe becoming Miami Gabe again and the play of our two way guys is important, the game plans have been elite. I honestly believe that the expectations early on were unrealistic. There is a learning curve with a new coaching staff. Not only do the players have to learn the new schemes but the coaches have to learn more about the players as well and make adjustments. So it was bound to take time. But we are hitting on all cylinders now. And we should be mentioned in the same breath as the other great defenses in the league.

The defense has been really unconventional when it comes to guarding scoring bigs. The first Knicks game Rui was assigned to Kat and he did a really good job. With Rui out, Lebron was on Kat and he did a great job as well. Kat scored a total of 23 points in the two games combined. This has freed Hayes to roam. We saw this approach against the Joker. Even in the Celtics game, Max was on Porzingas most of the time.

I keep hearing how it will be different in the playoffs because teams will adjust. But teams will have to figure out us as well. This team has a ton of fire power. We didn’t have Rui, who scored 21 the last time we played the Knicks and Austin was coming back from an injury and didn’t have a good game. We were also missing Goodwin. The Knicks were completely healthy. With this kind of depth, we will be a problem for anyone in the playoffs. While the Luka/Lebron combo poses so many problems that teams just cover all of our other options.

One thing I may have enjoyed more than the game was how angry Barkley is because the Lakers are good 🙂 He went bolistic in the pre-game and after the game. That is soooooo much fun.

Aloha,

This game is a classic trap game. The Pelicans have won 5 of the last 7. Zion is in the best shape of his career and playing extremely well. This is a game we could really use Rui. The Pels start Zion, Olynick and that good Rookie center so I imagine DFS will draw Zion. We will probably swarm him but they have shooters and Zion dished 9 assists in the last game.

We have only lost 3 games in the last 20. All to teams with losing records. I hope the team remembers that there are no gimmies in the NBA and they keep that high energy level up.

Aloha,

Well that was fun. There is nothing better than beating the Clippers in back to back games. Yes for me it’s even better than beating the Celtics because the Clippers had the nerve to even come to LA. And the basketball gods have rewarded them with heartbreak year after year😂

We didn’t have Rui at all and only had Austin for 9 minutes in the first game as well as Goodwin last night. We proved we are a very deep team and can win even when LeBron has an off night like he did last night. If it wasn’t for turnovers that led to 24 Clipper points this could have been a blowout.

While I doubt Rob will get Executive of the year award, he should. Yes the Mavs approached the Laker in the Luka trade but Rob’s negotiating led to the Lakers under paying. Giving up Max was tough but keeping a first as well as the swaps was brilliant.

I have been hard on Rob through the years but you have to give him his flowers for how this team was built. It started with signing Austin as an undrafted rookie and then as he improved, resisting the pressure to trade him for a name player. He is now our 3rd star.

Next was insisting that Vando came back in the Westbrook dump. Not a lot was made of it at the time but Rob saw a 6’ 9” whirlwind defender and rebounder. There were a lot of questions after Rob extended him but I don’t think anyone is complaining now. His 10mil contract maybe a bargain now.

Rob followed that up by trading Kendrick Nunn, remember him ? and a few 2nds for Rui. A 6’ 8” big body 3 level scorer. While Rui was inconsistent, he began to find consistency down the stretch last year when Ham finally inserted him into the starting lineup. This year he has been a big part of the team’s success. And again Rob resisted calls to trade him.

This was followed by trading DLO for Finney-Smith and some seconds. While DlO is quality offensive player, he was struggling this year and with Austin emerging he wasn’t what we needed but we needed what DFS brings.

Once Vando came back we suddenly had four 6’ 8”- 6’ 9” guys for our “small ball” line up. That always cracks me up. Rui and Lebron can both guard the wing and have big bodies to bang with bigs while Vando and DFS are both lock down wing and guard defenders.

There are other moves as well. After missing most of last year Gabe took some time to find his Miami game again but he finally has.

It took Jackson a year and a half to be the player Rob saw when he signed him. But he has.

Dalton fell to us but he seems to finally coming back to the player he was early in the season.

Add in Tre and Goodwin, two way players that deserve to be on standard contracts and suddenly you have a contender.

What is most exciting to me is there is a lot of room for improvement. Luka is slowly becoming himself again he still is getting his conditioning and rhythm back. And Vando, DFS, Luka, Tre and Goodwin are all still learning to play together in JJ’s system.

While I love that we are sitting in the 2nd seed, it’s just as important that we are 7 games or more up in the loss column on the contenders for the 6th seed. With are newfound defense and reasonably good health we are going to be a problem come playoff time.