LAKERS -at- KNICKS - 1/22 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

 
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DancingBarry
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 22, 2020 9:53 pm    Post subject: LAKERS -at- KNICKS - 1/22 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

Back to Playing a Little D... After the stinker up in Boston in the last one, the Lakers looked to right the ship against the Knicks tonight.

L.A. didn’t start to get separation in this one until the third quarter and early fourth. As they flexed their muscle on D with steals and blocks, they were able to extend to a double digit lead.

While they never built a commanding lead, they certainly kept the Knicks from threatening and closed them out 100-92.

LeBron set the tone on both ends. He was disruptive defensively as he anticipated the action well. On the other end, he got out to fast start scoring, then deferred to AD in the second half as they got him more involved and working from the post.

“That’s what we wanted,” LeBron said of AD getting his 28 points as part of the one-two punch offensively.

Always nice to face the Knicks to get your game back on track. It would have been nice to have this game to integrate the guys back into the flow instead of the last one.


LeBron -- -- Almost all of his scoring took place in the first half. He and AD teamed up for 19 points in the first quarter (he had 10 of those). LeBron would finish with 19 himself in the first half. The perimeter shot was going down and he’d get to the rim in transition. He missed his first shot of the game, then hit his next eight attempts. He’s 44 points behind Kobe after this one. Defensively, some really good moments. You could see he was actively reading things and anticipating plays. That allowed him to rotate to where passes were going for easy steals. He pretty much iced this one with a blindside of Randle on help D in the final minute. He finished with 5 steals. Combine that with several plays deflecting passes, as well, that didn’t go into the stat sheet. He did have a couple rotations he missed or was flatfooted, but you could tell the effort to impose himself on the Knicks on that end of the floor was there. “He gets the game ball on that end of the floor,” Vogel said afterward. The Stats: He scored 21 points on 9-16 shooting (2-5 from three, 1-3 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 5 assists, 5 steals, 4 turnovers and no fouls in 36 minutes. He was a +13.

Davis -- -- He had 9 of his 11 first half points in the first quarter, sinking a three early on and getting into the paint on iso for some easy short ones. A lot of iso ball in this one, usually with good results. He’d either face up, spin and get into the paint or manufacture points on the jumper over his man from that midpost to wing areas. Much more active. We still weren’t quite there with that flow out of set plays or two-man sequences, but the iso ball worked. Good passing in this one, including a nice find of McGee in the interior for an And-1. Great job himself getting to the line and knocking them down (13-13). These were the 20 or so extra points we missed from him in the last one. The Stats: He scored 28 points on 7-14 shooting (1-2 from three, 13-13 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 5 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks and 1 turnover in 30 minutes. He was a +8.

Green -- -- His only make tonight came right after missing an easy scoop in the paint. He hustled back in transition and poked a ball away from behind, then we found him for an open three. He’d miss everything else. Best other play might have been a nice screen to McGee on a set play to free McGee up for a lob pass. That play usually starts with our bigs setting a screen for Green, then after he cuts, he turns and set one on the big to free him up. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-7 shooting (1-4 from three) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 2 steals, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 19 minutes. He was a +4.

McGee -- -- Good job on the offensive glass. He battled to tap out an offensive board several times and that led to a three. He later grabbed a LeBron miss on dribble penetration to dunk it back in. Defensively, he got in some good challenges around the rim to be disruptive. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-5 shooting (0-1 from the line) to go with 5 boards (3 offensive) and 2 fouls in 17 minutes. He was a +10.

Bradley -- -- He’d get just a couple of buckets in this one. He’d score on a layup, muscling it in on a baseline drive. Then in the second half, hit a pull-up from the right side in transition. I didn’t think he played as well as our backups tonight. Very quiet night and he blew some assist opportunities for teammates, as well. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-7 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 1 steal and 2 fouls in 19 minutes. He was a +4.

Caldwell-Pope -- -- He’d drain three threes in this one. He just seems so automatic. Everytime he puts it up, I expect it to go in. He also had a nice assist to Dwight, curling off the screen and lobbing it back to him. We ran him in a tall lineup with Kuzma at the SG defensively and KCP at the PG spot. I’d like to see more of that as our lineup is long, but gets the trio of Kuzma/LeBron/AD on the floor all at once. You need our best shooter out there to make it work. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 5-10 shooting (3-7 from three) to go with 4 boards, 2 assists, 1 turnover and no fouls in 26 minutes. He was a +4.

Kuzma -- -- He didn’t score for a while tonight, but he was playing a great game. I didn’t even notice he wasn’t scoring as he was doing so many of the little things that have been missing from his game. He blocked a couple of shots early on (a nice one on Randle trying to score a layup and then another against a smaller guard when Kuzma was at the SG). Several other good challenges to forces misses. He was also in the paint battling for boards. Give me more of that on a nightly basis. Tonight, he played more like a vet. He even got mad at his guys for not rotating to help him (both LeBron and Dwight looking at each other). The Stats: He scored 10 points on 4-10 shooting (0-2 form three, 2-3 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 1 assist, 2 blocks, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 28 minutes. He was a +8.

Caruso -- -- Quiet night (well, Laker fans did give him the MVP chants when he was at the freethrow line late in the game). But he didn’t mix it up and disrupt things like he usually does. The last few games have been kind of quiet. We need to get him a dunk or something to get him back to his usual self. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 0-3 shooting (0-1 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 1 board, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block and 3 fouls in 19 minutes. He was a +0.

Howard -- -- A lot of minutes for Dwight tonight. We didn’t get a tremendous amount of dribble penetration, so that’s a key reason why he didn’t have more than a couple of buckets. He had a dunk off an AC drive and dish and then another off a lob from KCP. I’d rather he didn’t compete in the dunk contest. I’m glad he’s feeling great, but want him to keep his eyes on the prize this season. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-4 shooting (1-4 from the line) to go with 12 boards (2 offensive), 1 steal, 3 blocks, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 27 minutes. He was a -6.

Rondo -- -- Kind of surprised to see him with a -5 as we seemed to have some good stretches while he was out there. He sank a couple of threes in this one and also found KCP for a couple, as well. The lineups/rotations tonight were a little more similar to what we’re used to seeing, unlike the last one. Rondo seemed to get back into sync. A couple of steals tonight, one fronting a post, the other in the backcourt which led to one of those KCP threes. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-6 shooting (2-4 from three) to go with 1 board, 3 assists, 2 steals and no fouls in 18 minutes. He was a -5.

Vogel -- -- Key Moment: To start the fourth, the Howard, Kuzma, LeBron, KCP, Rondo lineup extended to the biggest lead of the night off some excellent defense. They had a small 7-0 run to start the fourth to lead by 13. It key to win those first few minutes of the fourth, and even though the Lakers never pulled away, they kept the Knicks at arm’s length for the rest of the quarter after this stretch.

Key Substitution: Up 5 midway through the third we went with a McGee, AD, LeBron, Kuzma, KCP lineup. I’m just bringing this one up as it was an unusually tall lineup, and Vogel is maybe looking to get Kuzma more minutes with AD back. “We want to be opportunistic and looking for ways to get Kuz at the three. I think we even had him out there at the two,” Vogel said. He played those SG minutes well enough, even getting one of his blocks in on his man defensively. Let’s see if Vogel continues to mix things up like this in the next few.

Key Stats: The Lakers had 13 steals and 8 blocks. That helped keep the Knicks to 92 points on the night.


Last edited by DancingBarry on Wed Jan 22, 2020 9:55 pm; edited 1 time in total
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akgolf
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 22, 2020 9:54 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB!
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danzag
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 23, 2020 3:32 am    Post subject:

Thanks, DB!

Our offense looked like (bleep) at times. I don't like seeing LBJ sharing the court with Rondo.
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ElginBaylor
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 23, 2020 5:48 am    Post subject:

I don't care who we're playing, winning on the road is a big positive for any team.
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governator
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 23, 2020 6:10 am    Post subject:

danzag wrote:
Thanks, DB!

Our offense looked like (bleep) at times. I don't like seeing LBJ sharing the court with Rondo.


they weren't playing that hard, knicks is the knicks, kinda feel bad about their fans, so many self depreciating jokes all game long
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LakerLanny
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 23, 2020 8:14 am    Post subject:

I get the impression the team is in mid-season, grind it out mode.

It certainly seemed to be a struggle at times for them to get the required defensive effort going, but they were able to do it in the 4th quarter and take the game.

This team has been really good in back to backs, very impressive season to date so far.
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pio2u
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 23, 2020 4:46 pm    Post subject:

DB!
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deal
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 23, 2020 6:32 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB !!!
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