LAKERS -vs- BLAZERS - 8/20 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Lockdown... While all eyes were on the Laker perimeter shooting, it was the Lakers defense that turned the screws even tighter on Blazers offense tonight.

They put on a clinic. Guards over top screens, bigs stepping up high to pressure, others with length rotating behind them. They won the first quarter by 8, the second quarter by 9, the third quarter by 13. It was a dominant bounce back game by the Lakers after floundering in the first outing.

Certainly, shooting was critical. The Lakers knocked down 14-38 from three (36.8%).

“We still didn’t shoot the ball extremely well tonight,” LeBron said. Strong D and just average perimeter shooting should get it done.

How about a relaxing fourth quarter? Up 30, the stars sat, the benches went at it and the Lakers cruised to the 111-88 win.

Holding the Blazers to 88...that’s not easy.

“It was just one game. We wanted to execute for 48 minutes,” LeBron said after evening up the series 1-1.

Let’s keep it going.


LeBron -- -- There was a point in the first half where he got a little ticked with Trent pressuring him and bodying him up court. So LeBron went into the post and asked for the ball. That was an instant double and dunk for AD; then, a layup for LeBron next time down court. Love it. We had a nice set SLOB play where LeBron finished a lob off a backscreen. He’d score a couple more layups on drives, but not a lot of scoring. “Tonight didn’t cause me to do much offensively or force much because not only AD had it going, we had our shooters going, as well,” LeBron said. Defensively, some good rotations and reads. He’d draw a charge on one, and he’d pick off a skip pass weakside as we zoned up against Lillard. He’d also get another charge against a frustrated Melo in the post. In the post game presser he again addressed heavy topics from Kobe, to racism and his home city of Akron taking a hit from the President in regards to Goodyear, which is headquartered there. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 4-11 shooting (0-3 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 7 assists, 2 steals, 6 turnovers and 1 foul in 27 minutes. He was a +23.

Davis -- -- They said he was the first Laker in the playoffs to get over 30 points and 10 rebounds in under 30 minutes. Much more efficient shooting night. He didn’t get to the line like the last one, but he was battling on the offensive glass, hitting on the perimeter and generally imposing himself. He had 21 points on 9-13 shooting and 8 boards in the first half. Of those, 16 were in the paint. He attacked a lot off the catch before the D could load up. The putback dunks or taking a board from behind a big guy like Whiteside and scoring...that’s just demoralizing at times. “We’re playing scrappy,” Vogel said. AD certainly was. His perimeter game was there tonight. Just good, squared up looks and he knocked them down. Some good moments going from defense to offense whether it was off a steal or a board. He had a great outlet to KCP for a breakaway dunk when we were taking over the game. AD led the team with the +32 tonight. The Stats: He scored 31 points on 13-21 shooting (3-4 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 11 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 29 minutes. He was a +32.

Green -- -- The shots didn’t fall in the first half, but he did have a nice bullet feed to McGee for a dunk and then gave LeBron a nice backscreen on a SLOB lob sequence. In the second half, his backscreen opened up another lob play for McGee to calmly gather and dunk. Defensively, 4 steals on the night. Wee had him switching at times on McCollum and Lillard early on and the Blazers didn’t take advantage. He worked it out as we helped well on those ball screens. Off ball, just some excellent help D at times digging down. Solid effort, but we need that three ball to come around. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-6 shooting (1-4 from three) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 4 steals, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 22 minutes. He was a +21.

McGee -- -- Excellent first stint, not just because we had KCP hitting threes to stretch the floor, but we were able to find McGee under the hoop for scores, as well (a dunk on our opening play as he went weak to strong, and another dunk from Green who found him with a bullet). He also had a scooping layup off the two-man game with LeBron. Defensively, during that stretch I only saw him get into drop coverage and get burned once. It’s vital that he is out high and aggressive on D. So our bigs across the board played some excellent D on the Blazers. He played 13 minutes and had 5 offensive boards. If we’re missing threes, getting second chances can make up a little for it. Another 14 offensive boards for the team and McGee led the way. Those starting unit minutes are scary...tonight they were a +15 with McGee. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 5-6 shooting to go with 8 boards (5 offensive), 3 assists and 2 fouls in 13 minutes. He was a +15.

Caldwell-Pope -- -- This was the first writeup I did after the game. We know AD/LeBron will bring it. Who will be that third guy? It was KCP tonight. He drained a couple threes early on in his first two attempts and that helped get the Laker starting unit off to a good opening first quarter. In the previous game, obviously KCP shooting blanks was a huge problem. But we also had Green missing a series of shots with that opening unit and we fell behind early. That starting unit has to have someone hitting from three to make it work. It was KCP tonight. He sank a couple in the first half. We had a strong sequence from KCP in the third. McGee would tap out a board to him for another three. On the defensive end, though, KCP took a shot to his back on a screen that had him in pain. He recovered and we finally saw him leak out on the break for a dunk a few seconds later. He would then sink another three on a LeBron kickout and we were up 25. Huge stretch. This is the KCP that we had before the season paused. KCP said they’re trying to keep as much pressure on the Portland guards as possible. They had great team D behind them to be able to pressure over screens and recover. We’ve got to have him confident in these playoffs. This is a big confidence builder. Quietly, I also love that he had no fouls...we got burned as a team in the last one. Tonight, we gave up just 16 FTs. The Stats: He scored 16 points on 5-8 shooting (4-6 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards and no fouls in 22 minutes. He was a +24.

Kuzma -- -- Quiet night offensively. A brief stint at PF where he had to go up against Nurkic. He hit a three over him on iso and survived in the post holding ground on the other. Anytime the Blazers looked to go after him defensively in the first half, he held strong. Really liked the defensive work again. In addition to the three, he would also score a backhand layup past him on another drive. He had the bench best +16. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 2-6 shooting (1-2 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 1 assist and 1 foul in 21 minutes. He was a +16.

Caruso -- -- He picked up three fouls in the first half. This may be partially the reason we went to both Smith and Waiters more. Both of those subs of J.R. and Waiters were made off AC’s second and third fouls as we sat him. AC would reel those issues in with no fouls in the second half. Again, not a sexy offensive game (just 3 points, making one of his four attempts from three). His best contribution on that end of the floor was the constant screen setting and tapping out some offensive boards (he had 3 offensive boards). He had 3 steals in the game, pouncing on any mistake with quick hands. Dame had 18 points on 6-14 shooting with just 1 assist in 30 minutes. That’s about as good as it gets against him. Again, it’s all about the D, forcing the guards into the midrange, never allowing them to step into uncontested threes of the screens and recovering. Let’s see if that dislocation on Dame’s left hand comes to play. The Lakers could push him to his left more to see if he can dribble or turn the corner in that direction. I suspect with how much Dame got bottled up tonight that we might see a little more iso from him and a little more off-ball play in the next one to try to shake defenders. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-4 shooting to go with 5 boards (3 offensive), 1 assist, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 17 minutes. He was a +11.

Howard -- -- In the first half, when the game was still a battle, some good D again from Dwight. I only saw one time when he wasn’t up high enough on a screen where we got beat. Later, in the second half, he could go back to drop coverage as the Blazer star guards were sitting. He got some setups tonight from Smith and later Cook for some scores. He’d hit a baseline jumphook off a feed from AC. He kept offensive boards alive (more than the 1 offensive board shows). Some more whistles against him and he was yapping a bit with Whiteside about a flop, I think. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 4-5 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 1 block and 5 fouls in 19 minutes. He was a -7.

Waiters -- -- Caruso and Howard picked up their third fouls in the first half. So with 5 minutes left, we went with an AD, Kuzma, Green, KCP, Waiters unit up 8. Still the heat of the battle, for sure. Defensively, I think with how well our bigs are playing the guards off screens, we can get some shooters in there more. As long as they don’t give up straight-line drives or stepback jumpers on iso, then our team D schemes can make up for individual shortcomings. He’d sink an easy wing jumper against drop coverage in that stretch. Later in garbage time, he’d drill another long step-back jumper for his other bucket. I wish we had a little more time against the Blazer guards for our bench to get reps, but Portland sat them in the fourth. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-3 shooting to go with 1 assist, 1 steal and no fouls in 15 minutes. He was a +2.

Smith -- -- He got his shots up tonight. By the end of the game, he was looking real comfortable from the left corner with those threes (maybe too comfortable as he threw up a heat check way off balance after sinking a couple wide open ones). We started him in the second quarter with Howard, Morris, LeBron and Kuzma. AC did have two fouls and Dame was resting during this stretch. Vogel went with him over Waiters with about 7 more minutes. We brought him back late in the third this time with AC on the floor. Smith missed a couple threes early on, but had some nice moments off the dribble breaking down the D (one led to a dunk for Dwight). As the game went along, he started to dial in that three ball and would go 3-9. Good to see him get the reps in. Defensively, no real issues. Things certainly got looser in the fourth quarter garbage time. The Stats: He scored 11 points 4-12 shooting (3-9 from three) to go with 2 assists, 4 turnovers and 3 fouls in 22 minutes. He was a -7.

Morris -- -- In the previous game, he had some minor issues defensively with how he was scheming the guards on the screens. Tonight, some really good moments. He and Caruso teamed up for a stop in the third quarter where Morris iced the screen, recovered to his man, returned to wall off a drive that allowed Green to dig down and force a turnover against Lillard. That reminded me of Dudley-like thinking, but with more length. On the next defensive stand, he rotated off his man to challenge a runner in the middle of the paint and we got the stop. He’d have another challenge defending the back line after LeBron got beat and that forced another miss. He deflected another pass off a player to get a stop. Just a lot of little winning plays in this one on the defensive end. So despite the poor shooting, he was a positive out there. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-5 shooting (0-4 from three) to go with 6 boards, 2 assists, 1 block and 2 fouls in 19 minutes. He was a +3.

Cook -- -- Up 33, we brought Cook in the game. He and Dwight tried to connect for a couple of lobs (one finish, one fouled). Cook found him for a dunk off a bounce pass. Cook also hit a pull-up three in early offense and a jumphook off iso. Garbage time minutes, for sure. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-3 shooting (1-1 from three) to go with 3 assists and no fouls in 8 minutes. He was a -10.

Dudley -- -- Only Laker not to score despite a couple of attempts. Just garbage time minutes, but I do feel like I’ve seen some of his smarts rubbing off on a few players even if Dudley hasn’t been on the floor. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-2 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 2 boards and 1 foul in 8 minutes. He was a -8.

Vogel -- -- Key Moment: I’m sure KCP hitting those threes early was key, but I think that third quarter by the Lakers was dominating. That stretch by KCP hitting a three, scoring on the break during that third had the Blazers on their heels. Let’s give Vogel some credit, too, for a timeout in the third after we built that lead. The Blazers trimmed the lead to 23 with some scores. He didn’t want them getting any kind of momentum. Called timeout and we kept the intensity up all the way through the third quarter. That helped the Lakers play 36 strong minutes until the game was finally out of hand.

Key Substitution: The starters played great tonight. Let’s go with just getting Smith and Waiters in for minutes in the first half. Vogel expanded that rotation a bit and the Lakers maintained their high-level of ball. While neither made a big impact in this one, just getting them minutes and reps against the Blazers in this win could help the team as the series goes along.

Key Stat: Well, I want to say the 14-38 shooting from three, but let’s go with the number 58. That’s the number of points the Lakers allowed after three quarters to this Blazer offense. Think about this. They gave up a 30-point garbage-time fourth quarter and still held the Blazers to 88 points. Wow.

[Cutheon]

First! What a great win

[TDRock]

rewatching now since I had to miss the 2nd half. Lookin goodT. Yay winning!

Thanks DB

[jonnybravo]

Woow!

First playoff win since 2012.
_________________
KOBE

[A Mad Chinaman]

Team showed up great!!

[wolfpaclaker]

We had a lot more spring to our step and it helped us particularly around the rim. The 3 point shooting will come and go. But what I liked is that AD and McGee and our entire team had a purpose of getting the ball inside and not just through post ups or isolations.

There was a lot more dynamic way in which we got the bigs and shots inside.

We are a super sized team with athletic strong bigs we need to get shots inside. But we can’t get predictable and just keep isolating AD inside. When Bron sat for a few min early 1st that was the one time where you saw AD get a few possessions in a row in isolations and we just want to avoid that mentality at all costs.

DB you’re spot on. We need that 3rd guy, a shooter, and with the vets struggling in the bubble it has hurt us. However if we can get one vet to step up each game (KCP or Green or Morris or Smith even) as a 3 point shooter it will give us a big boost. We also need to keep being smart how we get the shots inside. We should not settle for 3s because that’s what teams want. But we also should not force the isolations midrange and in. Tonight we did a good job of using screens with the ballhandler to first create some motion and movement and then that leading to a paint touch for one of our players. This is the way to go.

The only guy on this team I really trust to play inside out from is Lebron. He’s an elite passer and great reader of the D. AD is not able to do the same. When we want to play post up, we gotta go to Bron NOT AD.

Thanks DB!

[ChefLinda]

Thanks, DB.

[danzag]

Thanks, DB! It was complete domination.
Blazers had like 60-something points midway midway through the 4th quarter. That's how good we were.

We slowed the game down to our rhythm. I loved that AD and McGee were taking it to the rim with purpose.

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

[angrypuppy]

Thanks DB.

Massive improvement in shooting, defense and movement. It was like the team received a heart transplant.

Thought for Game 3: force Lillard to go left.

[LakerSD]

[DancingBarry]

[LakerSD]