Lakers

The Lakers kept a lid on Trae Young, didn’t allow any of the non-stars to play like one, and Anthony Davis was unstoppable on the block and from distance as the Lakers beat Atlanta and set their sights for Los Angeles.

1. Vogel sticking with what works. The short rotation was back and the result was another W. Might not see Wes or ‘Kieff save for back-to-backs or if someone needs a rest day. Maybe they just want to try and get a practice in and iron out the issues they’ve seen in the film room. Regardless the same 9 guys who played in Boston finished the roadie by beating the Hawks. This rotation has a lot of defense and selfless play to it and I have a hard time coming up with reason why Frank ought not to go with it.
2. Laker defense fueled our offense and helped give us a big advantage in fast break points. That advantage may well have helped swing the game in our favor. On a night where Clint Capella was a man on a mission and our own transition defense couldn’t quite get a handle on the transition three game the young Hawks play we were able to get key stops and get easy buckets as a result.
3. Anthony Davis is fine. He hit shots on the block, lob dunks, hooks and step back jumpers from everywhere. He didn’t make a three and the Lakers struggled from that distance all night, but AD had that shot falling and nobody on Atlanta could get him off his game. Inspired effort from AD.
4. KCP’s continued struggles and how he’s going to get out of them. You could tell from the get go the Lakers wanted to get Caldwell-Pope going. They force fed him jumpers, tried to find him on the break, and mainly seemed to make a little extra effort to involve him in the offense. While he didn’t respond with the best game of his career he did shoot 50% from three and was solid on D. The only way you get out of a slump is to keep shooting, playing hard, and filling your role to the best of your abilities.
5. The bench mojo. I like this version of the Laker bench for a lot of reasons. Kuzma is playing so cool, so within himself. If he gets minutes he produces, if he only plays 19 minutes he does what he can with the minutes he gets and moves on to the next one. Kuzma is becoming a pro before our very eyes. Caruso kind of came in with a pro mentality but it took his game a lot longer to get the minutes it needed to show what it can be. It’s defense and smart offense. No flash, no highlights (for the most part) just tough defense and make the play in front of you. Trezz is like the living embodiment of a body blow. he just punishes you inside mercilessly.

Day off, maybe a practice. Tough one against Denver on Thursday, Jokic comes into town with a decent MVP campaign hype machine in tow and playing out of his mind. The Nuggets are tough and will be looking for a little playoff payback. Here’s hoping we hold our own and get a W at home for once.