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Wesley Matthews

Lakers Players Building Championship Confidence Being Stars in Their Roles

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To say the Los Angeles Lakers have had a tough season is a understatement. The short offseason, compressed schedule, and major injuries to superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis and key role players have taken their toll.

Barring the Lakers winning their remaining two games and the Blazers losing their last game against the Nuggets on Sunday, the defending NBA champion Lakers will end the 2021 regular season in 7th place in the West. The NBA introduced a Play-In Tournament this season to determine the 7th and 8th seeds. The winner of the 7th vs. 8th place teams wins 7th seed while the loser plays the winner of 9th vs. 10th place teams for 8th seed.

The playoff path for the 7th seed Lakers to repeat as NBA champions this year is a gauntlet filled with major obstacles and road blocks. In fact, no team below 5th seed has ever won the championship in NBA playoff history. Despite all the injuries and losing 17 of the 29 games since LeBron James was injured in March, the Lakers are suddenly getting healthy and showing promising signs they may be capable of defending their championship.

The most promising signs have been the recent championship caliber play by LeBron’s supporting cast, including Anthony Davis, Andre Drummond, Talen Horton-Tucker, Kyle Kuzma, Alex Caruso, and Wesley Matthews. While championships in the NBA are won by superstars, basketball is still a team game and it’s often role players performing like stars in their roles that ultimately determines which team ends up winning the NBA championship.

So let’s look at the key members of LeBron James’ supporting cast who have performed like stars in their roles over the Lakers’ last few games and what their roles might be in these playoffs helping win the championship.

THE RETURN OF PLAYOFF ANTHONY DAVIS

Considering we don’t know for sure whether LeBron’s high ankle sprain has completely healed or not until he hits the court, Anthony Davis playing at the elite level of last year’s playoffs is the key to a Lakers’ championship.

In the last three games he’s played, Davis has averaged 32.7 points, 10.0 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 1.3 steals, 1.3 blocks in 41.1 minutes per game, while shooting 45.2% from the field, 33.3% from three, and 78.4% from the line. Those stats compare favorably to last year’s playoff stats: 27.7 points, 9.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.2 steals, 1.4 blocks in 46.6 minutes per game, while shooting 57.1% from the field, 38.3% from three, and 83.2% from the line.

Watching Anthony Davis finally shoot and defend at the same elite level he did during last year’s playoffs gives Lakers fans legitimate hope the purple and gold can still rally and run the gauntlet to repeat as NBA champions.

THE EMERGENCE OF ANDRE DRUMMOND

Signed as a free agent from the buyout market, Andre Drummond has struggled at times to find his role and comfort zone playing with the Lakers during the 19 games he’s played with LA with LeBron and AD injured.

With the return of Anthony Davis, Andre has finally started to figure things out, averaging 18.0 points, 14 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.5 blocks in 28.6 minutes per game, shooting 62.5% from the field and 50.0% from the line. That is a dramatic improvement over his first 17 games when he averaged just 11.2 points, 9.3 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 0.8 blocks in 24.3 minutes per game while shooting 52.0% from the field and 64.3% from the line.

The important of Drummond finally posting double-doubles like the 17.5 points and 13.5 rebounds per game he averaged for the Cavs this season cannot be overstated. The Lakers suddenly have a playoff starting center.

THE STAR POWER OF TALEN HORTON-TUCKER

After refusing to include Talen Horton-Tucker in a trade for Kyle Lowry, the Lakers finally started to see rewards for their faith in their 20-year old young star as THT has now elevated his play to include late game heroics.

His dramatic rebound and put back after a wild layup miss sealed the Lakers’ clutch win over the Nuggets and his 3-point dagger from the wing over childhood hero Derrick Rose clinched the Lakers’ win over the Knicks. With LeBron James, Dennis Schroder, and Alex Caruso out the last two games, THT has taken over the point and averaged aa 18-point, 10-assists double-double leading the Lakers to big wins over the Suns and Rockets.

With a 12-man rotation heading into the playoffs, Lakers head coach Frank Vogel is going to be challenged to find playing time for many of the role players on his bench but THT has shown he has to be part of that rotation.

MORE CONSISTENCY FROM KYLE KUZMA

More than any other role player on the Lakers, Kyle Kuzma is the team’s jack of all trades with his scoring, rebounding, playmaking, and defense, all of which at times leads to his posting inconsistent stats from game to game.

During his last 2 games, Kuzma has focused primarily on scoring with both James and Davis out, racking up games of 23 and 19 points in wins over the Knicks and Rockets, including a clutch game winning layup over Houston. Kyle averaged a team best 21.0 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.0 steal, and 0.5 blocks in 32.4 minutes per game over the last 2 games while shooting 58.6% from the field, 45.5% from three, and 50.0% from the line.

Kuzma will be one of the first players off the bench for Frank Vogel in the playoffs and will hopefully continue to provide the Lakers with more consistency from his shooting, rebounding, assisting, and defending.

MORE SCORING PUNCH FROM ALEX CARUSO

Alex Caruso is another Lakers player who’s benefited from having more playing time and responsibility with LeBron James and Anthony Davis out with injuries. Lately, Alex has responded with aggression on offense.

Before reinjuring himself 7 minutes into the last game, Caruso posted back-to-back games where he scored 17 and 18 points in games with Phoenix and Portland, by far his two biggest scoring games in the regular season. Over that 2-game stretch without LeBron and AD, Caruso averaged 17.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.5 steals in 33.5 minutes per game, while shooting 51.9% from the field, 60% from three, and 50.0% from the line.

While Alex is not a natural scorer, his looking more for his shot has to be another positive to add to his defense first resume. Caruso’s renewed aggressiveness is great news for an offensively challenged Lakers team.

VETERAN CLUTCH PLAY FROM WES MATTHEWS

Relegated to the bench a few weeks back when Frank Vogel tried to narrow his rotation, Wes Matthews displayed his savvy by staying ready and when given his chance showed he was still an elite defender and clutch player.

Wes’ clutch rebound and put back as time ran out enabled the Lakers to tie the Knicks and eventually win the game in overtime and his clutch steal sealed the team’s comeback win over the Rockets without Davis and James. Over the Lakers’ last five games, Matthews has averaged 6.8 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 0.4 steals, 0.4 blocks in 25.0 minutes per game while shooting 40.0% from the field, 38.1% from three, and 66.7% from the line.

The key for Matthews has been his defense, especially against bigger guards and wings. Over the last 5 games, Wes’ 105.6 defensive rating has been the 4th best on the team, often against the opposing team’s best scorers.

Anthony Davis, Andre Drummond, Talen Horton-Tucker, Kyle Kuzma, Alex Caruso, and Wesley Matthews have all been stars in their role as the Lakers have regrouped and learned to win without superstar LeBron James.

With just 2 games left in the regular season, the Lakers are now looking like the juggernaut the rest of the league expected before AD and LeBron fell to injury and the likely 7th seed nobody in the NBA wants to meet in playoffs. The silver lining to playing without Davis for 30+ games and without James for 20+ games is many of the Lakers role players have been able to learn how to make clutch plays and win games without their superstars.

Heading into the playoffs, having role players capable of being stars in their roles may be exactly what the Lakers need to make the long and improbable journey from Play-In Tournament and 7th seed to NBA champions.

How Can the Los Angeles Lakers Win While Anthony Davis Is Not Playing?

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With superstar Anthony Davis tentatively sidelined for at least 2 to 3 weeks, the big question facing the Los Angeles Lakers is can they win without AD? The answer could depend upon whom coach Frank Vogel decides to play.

The Lakers need to embrace “Next Man Up’ and come out and ready to play aggressively and with confidence. When they do that and are having fun, flying around on defense and running on offense, they can beat anybody. Winning games without Anthony Davis will require the Lakers to dominate the 36 minutes during the game LeBron James plays and find a way to hold court and stay even during the 12 minutes per game he will need to rest.

The good news is the Lakers have one of the deepest and most talented rosters in the NBA. While they’ve struggled with rim protection and 3-point shooting, they still have the top rated defense in the league to rely upon. While the Lakers will surely miss Anthony Davis over the next 11 games, they’ve won 4 of the 5 games he’s already missed and 3 of their 5 top ranked lineups and 6 of the 11 that had positive net ratings were without AD.

Coach Vogel needs to tap into the Lakers’ lineups with the best records and play the combinations that have been the key to the team having fun and winning all season long. The time for experimenting must now be over.

So let’s first take a look at the stats for the successful 5-player lineups with LeBron James without Anthony Davis that Lakers’ head coach Frank Vogel should be prioritizing for the next 11 games based on past performance:

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An analysis of these lineups shows James appears 6 times, Harrell 4 times, Morris 4 times, Caruso 3 times, Matthews 3 times, Kuzma 3 times, Schroder 2 times, Gasol 2 times, Horton-Tucker 2 times, and Caldwell-Pope 1 time. The good news is the number of times each player shows up matches well with what the eye test and recent performance tells us. The exception is Markieff Morris whose positional importance is clearly higher without AD.

Frank Vogel is not likely to make major changes to the starting lineup but Gasol, Morris, James, Matthews, and Schroder has been the best non-AD Lakers’ lineup and Matthews is clearly playing better than KCP right now. Considering how Kuzma has been shooting, rebounding, and defending, Gasol, Kuzma, James, Matthews, and Schroder would be a starting lineup with a good chance to get the Lakers off to good starts and winning ways.

Vogel said before Anthony Davis’ injury that he wasn’t going to change the starting lineup ‘anytime soon.’ AD’s injury changes everything. Kuzma is the logical starter to replace Davis and Matthews needs to take over for KCP.

Unfortunately, the Lakers had no positive lineups without one of James or Davis on the court, which means Frank Vogel’s big challenge will be what happens when James, who’s already playing too many minutes, rests.

Caruso, Harrell, Horton-Tucker, Morris, and Caldwell-Pope will be the Lakers’ reserves, even though they don’t make up a viable 5-player lineup. Instead, Vogel is going to have to combine them with two or three of the starters. We’ve already seen the trio of Caruso, Harrell, and Horton-Tucker have had great success. Frankly, I could even see Frank going with an 8-man rotation with Morris and Caldwell-Pope playing minimal minutes as needed.

Defensively, the Lakers are now going to have to go small, which means playing an aggressive trapping, hedging, and doubling style of defense designed to create chaos and turnovers to ignite fast breaks on offense. Transition is going to be critical as the last thing the Lakers want is to play half court basketball. They need to push the ball relentlessly, take wide open threes in transition, and not hesitate to attack the paint or crash the boards.

Hopefully, the injury to Anthony Davis will motivate and empower the team to come out focused and ready to play. That could be the silver lining that gets the team back to playing the kind of Lakers’ basketball we all love.

Ten Gifts I’m Hoping the Los Angeles Lakers Give their Fans This Christmas!

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The Los Angeles Lakers have been a bright beacon of hope for basketball fans throughout this dark and stormy 2020 so I’m hoping they’ll bring even more joy as we struggle through this Christmas without family and friends.

Best wishes to everybody in the Lakerholics family. May you enjoy a warm and wonderful holiday with loved ones safe and secure in your hearts if not with you. Here are the ten gifts I’m hoping the Lakers will give us tonight:

1. A Win Over the Dallas Mavericks

Neither team wants to start the season 0–2 so both will be looking to rebound from disappointing opening games. Dallas lost in Phoenix 106–102. Lakers lost to Clippers 116–109 after championship ring ceremony.

2. Less Than 100 Points for Mavs

Lakers defense was AWOL against the Clippers, especially when PG went supernova late in the third quarter and throughout the fourth quarter. Lakers need to show they can still play elite D despite the chance in centers.

3. 35 Points for LeBron James

LeBron James will pass Kobe Bryant and become the NBA’s all-time leading Christmas day scorer in if he scores 35 points in today’s game against the Dallas Mavericks. Kobe leads with 395 points while LeBron has 361 points.

4. Redemption Game for Marc Gasol

Gasol probably had the worst first game as a Laker of any elite player who donned a purple and gold uniform, posting 0 points, 0 rebounds, and 1 assist in 12 foul plagued minutes. Marc needs to redeem his rep tonight.

5. Bounce Back game for Wes

Brought in to replace Danny Green’s shooting and defense, Wes struggled mightily in the Lakers loss to the Clippers, going 0–2 from deep and getting torched on D by Kawhi and PG. Wes needs big bounce back game tonight.

6. Triple-Double for Dennis

Schroder got the start at point guard he wanted after coming off the bench for the Thunder the last two seasons and finishing second for the 6MOY award last season. Time for Dennis the Menace to solidify his starting role.

7. Double-Double for Trezz

Harrell had an excellent opening game for the Lakers, posting 17 points and 10 rebounds in the loss to the Clippers, his former team. Looking for Trezz to continue to show he can man the Lakers’ backup center role tonight.

8. Come Back Night for Alex

Alex had a poor night shooting and handling the ball against the Clippers, clanking his first three triples before finally making one and turning the ball over three times in critical situations. AC needs a big come back night.

9. More Talen Horton-Tucker

Talen had an excellent opening game posting the team’s best net rating and second best plus/minus rating but only played 11 minutes. We need to see THT get at least 15 minutes in tonight’s game as the backup point guard.

10. Everybody Safe and Healthy

Everybody remembers how LeBron’s groin injuring in the Christmas day blowout of the Warriors two years ago derailed the Lakers season. The last thing the Lakers want to see is any player get injured in tonight’s game.

Battle of LA Round 2 Begins Tonight! Who Should Start Game for Lakers?

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Tonight is the perfect opportunity for Vogel to test sitting 2 or 3 players each game to create the best 8 or 9 man to lineup to matchup against opponents to solve deep roster, load management, and Covid-19 problems.

Faced with so many tough decisions as to whom to play and so little time to sort through the options, changing the starting lineup and rotations game to game could be the smartest way for the Lakers to move forward this season. It would not only allow Vogel to load the starting lineup with multiple players who can defend Leonard and George but also to create a starting lineup and rotations to take advantage of vulnerable Clippers defenders.

With Marcus Morris out, the Clippers will probably start with a lineup of Patrick Beverley, Paul George, Kawhi Leonard, Nicolas Batum, and Serge Ibaka. Vogel should start the lineup that best matches up against those five. While LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and probably Marc Gasol are going to start for the Lakers, Vogel has multiple options when it comes to whom to start at the point and shooting guard positions against the Clippers.

For example, a Lakers’ starting lineup of Talen Horton-Tucker, Kyle Kuzma, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Marc Gasol could create serious issues for the Clippers at both ends of the court and force them to make changes. That lineup gives the Lakers four defenders with size and length to guard Kawhi and PG, five shooters who can play five-out and stretch defenses, and three talented playmakers and two elite cutters to create ball movement.

Horton-Tucker is a nightmare matchup for Beverley and Kuzma a better matchup against George than KCP or Caruso. LeBron plays Kawhi as well as anybody in the league and there’s no way Batum can matchup against Davis. On the other hand, Vogel may like Schroder’s speed against Beverley and Matthews’ defense against George. There’s no obvious starters at point guard and shooting guard at this point in the season so why not matchup.

I would rather see the Lakers play an 8 or 9-man rotation where everybody plays enough to get into a rhythm and develop rapport with teammates than an 11-man rotation where 2 of 3 players end up getting token minutes. There’s no question matchups are key to beating the Clippers. I also love the idea of playing THT at point when Lou Williams is in the game. The Lakers’ roster is so deep and talented that Vogel has a plethora of options.

With just four preseason games and a deep roster, load management, and Covid-19 problems, tonight’s a perfect time for Frank Vogel to limit his rotations to the 8 or 9 players who best matchup against the Clippers.