LAKERS -at- BLAZERS – 12-6-19 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings
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LakerLanny
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 07, 2019 7:52 pm    Post subject: Re: LAKERS -at- BLAZERS – 12-6-19 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

DancingBarry wrote:
Wolf with the T&R tonight.

wolfpaclaker wrote:
Lakers vs Blazers at Portland

Been a difficult game for us, historically. Lebron going against his buddy Melo. Portland has firepower to hurt teams. Was going to be a good test to see if we can contain them on offense and then expose some weaknesses in their defense. This is exactly what we did. Lakers end up winning the game easily 136-113. One could argue the game was over the second quarter. That's how dominant this team is becoming. They need one run to end a game, and this one was with the 2nd unit and Lebron to start the second quarter.

1st Quarter summary:

Lakers and Blazers came out scoring well. Both teams looked energized and motivated to put on a show for a national televised game. Lakers were having trouble defensively but feasting on offense with the starters, especially McGee. Once the subs came in, Lakers gained a lot of momentum. Caruso is a game changer on D, and AD took over inside. When Lebron sat, we went to AD repeatedly and he made Portland pay for defending him with a small.


Lineups used
McGee/Davis/James/Green/KCP
Davis/Kuzma/KCP/Daniels/Rondo
Davis/Kuzma/Daniels/Caruso/Rondo

Lakers won the quarter 39-34 (+5)

2nd Quarter summary:

Lakers second unit with Lebron and Rondo dominated early. Dwight in with AD resting. Lakers just went on a tear. Portland had no answer for our second unit. Lebron went to rest and AD came back in, we slipped our play a bit, but then recovered. Not the best defense we played but we had moments of impressive active D. Really good active hands. Rondo continued to showcase his ability to QB and lead the 2nd unit. Portland cut it to 10-11 at one point, but Lakers finished the half strong.

Lineups used
Dwight/Kuzma/Lebron/Caruso/Rondo
Dwight/Kuzma/Lebron/Green/Caruso
Dwght/AD/Green/Caruso/Rondo
AD/Lebron/Green/KCP/Rondo

Lakers won this quarter 38-28 (+10).

Halftime Lakers 77 Blazers 62

3rd Q summary:

Go to AD early. Run offense a little slower. This is tricky sometimes become stagnant. Fortunately in this one AD and Lebron are on. Portland is not really pressuring us on defense and we can run a slower offense and still get a lot of good looks. Lebron on fire early in the Q. Offense eventually does become stagnant and we slow down (predictable). We finally drew fouls and looked like deflated the Blazers mentally, they seemed to not believe they could stay with us anymore. Too much power in the paint. Portland coach loses his cool, implosion. Lakers won this quarter as well even though they played pretty average during this period of the game.

Lineups used:
McGee/Davis/Lebron/Green/KCP
Davis/Kuzma/James/KCP/Caruso
Davis/Kuzma/Daniels/Caruso/Cook

Q3: 33-31 Lakers (+2)

4th Q summary:

Lakers not getting much flow in the offense early on. A little different feel to the 2nd unit without Rondo. Still Lakers did not relinquish the lead. Kept the lead up 15+ with the 2nd unit and Bron. Some garbage time in this Q, meaning AD and Lebron rested. Nice Q for Kuzma to get some reps in as a go to scorer. Our best quarter point wise defensively against Portland.

Lineups used

Dwight/Kuzma/Lebron/Daniels/Caruso
Dwight/AD/Lebron/KCP/Cook
Dwight/Kuzma/Dudley/Daniels/Cook

Q4 26-20 Lakers (+6)

Lebron Came out with extra spring in his step. Really good point guard/QB play. Just good feel, read and react plays. Bully ball. Did not like when he dribbles out of the paint to take a fadeaway. At his size, and advantage, just take the layup attempt or kick the ball out. Good first quarter though. Hit an open mid range jumper with the defense leaning on Dwight in the paint. Hit a pull up 3. Fought hard for post position, got a great seal and then scored with the foul (AND 1). Lebron draws FTs in a post up on Brazemore again. Hits back to back 3 pointers and a driving layup early in the 3rd Q. Another 3! Wow. Washed king uh no. Picked up his aggression in the 2nd half. Great game. James finished with 31 points 8 assists 7 boards and 4 three pointers made. He was a +21.

Davis Lebron got him on a roll early. AD didn't seem to stay with Melo early on and allowed Melo to get a lot of good looks from outside. Did not go into this mismatch on O much, until late in the Q. Then Davis made Blazers pay. Finally got him involved, Melo leaves the game. Lakers and AD feast. 15 points in the 1st Q alone. Second quarter, 2 quick baskets in the post ups. Nice. Then a AND 1 three point play. Not able to defend against Melo the way I'd like but on the plus made the Blazers pay for playing small on him. Nice dunk by a KCP feed on the 3rd. Just dominating inside. Hits a wing 3. Draws fouls again. Just dominant. Have to say it, this feels like having Shaq and Kobe again. When Shaq and Kobe got along. Great Defensive recovery play where he went from right corner to the paint to save a score. DPOTY. Superstar. Best big in the game. Best 2-way player in the game. Davis finished the game with 39 points 9 rebounds 3 blocks 2 steals 2 three pointers made. He was a +6.

McGee Two quick scores early. Nice AND 1. Energy upped and got to the basket and teammates found him, for 2 more baskets. Poor defense though, a couple times Whiteside just got his way with him. Scores a little runner to begin the 3rd Q. Not the best defensive game, but some good scoring from McGee. McGee finished with 13 points on 6-7 shooting and 2 blocks. He was a +5.

Green Missed his open 3s and looks. Been struggling a little lately with his 3. However had some nice lob passes to the bigs. Hits a 3 in the start of the 3rd, a corner 3. Finished the game with 3 points 1 steal 1 block and was a +5.


KCP Good defensive work on CJ early. Really was moving his feet off the ball to not let CJ get easy looks up. Hit a 3 off a Lebron kick out. As the game unfolded though Portland began to expose him at the PG defensively. Could not stay with Lillard. Should have probably kept Green on him and KCP on CJ. Caruso was the better defensive match up for sure. KCP's shot wasn't falling, but he was making a lot of nice passes in this game. Both he and Green were looking for bigs and open players. Good to see two shooting wings have that mentality. KCP finished the game with 5 points 5 assist and was a +8.

Kuzma Travel call TO on first touch on O. Kuzma missed a driving layup, was contested. Hits a corner 3 - his best spot on the floor. Misses another layup. Makes a corner 3. He is really good at making those corner 3s. Another TO, and botched pass. Ugly offense from Kuz outside of the corner 3s in the 1st half. Missed a spot up wing 3. Missed another 3 to begin the 4th. Body language does not look great. Hits a wing 3. Back to back pull up jumpers from the mid-range. Then posted up a small on a Lebron play. First time I saw Kuzma figure out something in the offense like that. More of that please, Kuz. Good game by Kuzma, a lot of positive things to take from it. Kuzma finished the game with 15 points, 6 boards, 3-6 from 3 pointers and was a +19.

Caruso Some outstanding D on Lillard to close the 1st. Good defense continued into the 2nd Q. Contests shots even after being beat off the dribble. Great defensive IQ. Quick hands, gets a steal and drives ball all the way to the hoop. Corner 3 pointer made. Drew FTs on a coast to coast layup attempt. First guard off the bench in the 2nd half. He's earned it. Draws a foul and FTs for last possession of the 3rd quarter. Quick hands again. Good lob to LBJ. Caruso finished the game with 8 points and 1 steal, was a +13.

Daniels Made a quick 3 pointer. Got hurt trying to draw a charge. Got another run in the 3rd and early 4th. Missed a spot up corner 3. Good hustle. Made a left corner 3 late in the game. Daniels finished the game with 9 points, 3-5 from 3pt and was a +7.

Rondo Good passing and running the 2nd unit in this stint to end the Q. Second Q, back to back off the dribble pull up 3s. Wow, just love it. Rondo and Lebron look good out there together. Rondo with some great defensive footwork. The second unit with him and Lebron blew open the game, a big lead up to 19 points. That's the impact of when Rondo plays well with Lebron on the floor with him. Quick hands a steal and pass to AD for an AND 1 three pointer. Rondo finished the game with 8 points 3 assists and was 2-2 (both from 3). He was a +13.

Dwight Silly foul coming in. Dwight has to stop that. Good screen setting and nice shot contesting inside. Seems when Dwight is in there, we get a lot more open shots on screens. Nice shot contest on Melo on an Iso, then drawing a foul on him. Drew some fouls inside and was a very good rebounder in this one. Good defensive play and ran the floor to draw FTs. Towards the end of the game finally got some touches inside and shots off - mostly fouled. Finished the night with 5 points 10 boards 2 steals and was a +14.

Cook In for Lebron in the 3rd, with Rondo hurt. Didn't look particularly good or involved in the way you want your backup PG to. Finished with 2 points and was a +/- of 0.

Coaching: Frank Vogel

Offense: 1st half - Lakers pushed the pace a lot more. Were looking for early offense and more pace. Were able to succeed playing a higher tempo against Portland. 2nd half - Lakers ran more screen/rolls and slower paced offense. A bit more stagnant, but effective in this one as both AD and Lebron had it going in the halfcourt scoring wise.

Defense/Lineups:

Lakers struggled a bit with Melo early, then we saw players finally put a body on him. Melo did not have much impact after that.

Good lineup with Rondo, Caruso, Lebron, Kuzma, Dwight. Blew open the game in the 1st half. Lakers took control. Like how Frank is slowly inserting players into the game and then subbing others out. Not complete 5 man lineup switches. It's working well for him. Staggering AD and Lebron with the 2nd unit, also working very well for him.


Team Stats
Points 136 (+23)
Field Goals 46-85 (54%)
3 pointers 17-36 (47%)
Points in the paint 48 (+4)
Fastbreak Points 20 (+8)
Assists 26
Turnovers 10
A/TO rate 2.6
Rebounds 42 (+8)


Wolf, I missed this game and your write up makes me feel like I saw it myself. Excellent job.

DB, don't miss too many games or you could become Wally Pipp!
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Love, Laker Lanny
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DancingBarry
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 07, 2019 11:43 pm    Post subject:

I love having another set of eyes.

And I’m taking my daughter to a concert tomorrow, so I’m probably missing the next one.
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wolfpaclaker
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PostPosted: Sun Dec 08, 2019 2:21 pm    Post subject:

Will try my best, but my son had a soccer tournament and we are getting back home. Hope to make it by the start of the game, but I may miss some of it, tonight.
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