SPURS -at- LAKERS - 2-23-24 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Bounce Back Win... Second night of the back-to-back, it’s good to have the 11-win Spurs in town.

Some early Bron/AD two-man action in this one. The Lakers rattled off an early 21-2 run behind their duo while Wemby sat in the first quarter to lead by 13. They’d close the quarter poorly and have the lead trimmed down 30-26 by the end of the quarter.

More LeBron orchestrating the break and finding teammates in the second quarter. They’d push the lead back to 12 and force a timeout.

In the third, the Lakers once again had a poor close to the quarter, giving up a 16-4 run as they went small with guards and no Wood in the mix at PF. The lead was trimmed down to 3 at one point.

But with LeBron in the mix, the game never seemed in doubt (despite Wemby getting a rare 5x5 with 27 points, 10 boards, 8 assists, 5 steals and 5 blocks). LeBron scored 12 of his game-high 30 in the fourth quarter to push the lead to 18. The Lakers coasted to the 123-118 win from there.


LeBron -- -- He scored 12 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter. That helped the Lakers build up a 18-point lead midway through the quarter. I loved the short game tonight. Those little fades in that 10-foot range. They feel like the kind of shots you throw up when you’re just shooting around. He’s done that who knows how many times in practice to where those just look easy for him. Some post ups for scores, a couple of threes and a lob layup from AR early on for scores. Orchestrating the break, he did an excellent job letting guys catch up to fill lanes or run out ahead of the pack before he found them. Very patient, very much conducting those opportunities with mastery. The Stats: He scored 30 points on 13-22 shooting (2-3 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 9 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and no fouls in 34 minutes. He was a +21.

Davis -- -- He had 20 points on 7-8 shooting in the first half. Wemby had 20, as well, in the half, getting off to a quick start, scoring most of those in the first few minutes. AD picked up 2 fouls in 3 minutes to start the game. That loosened up his D, but Wemby seemed to have most of those first half points prior to that. Not enough can be said about AD’s work on the offensive glass. Another 5 boards there. A couple of those he tapped to himself and scored off of after gathering the taps. Very efficient night and he didn’t need to play the fourth quarter as Bron helped the Lakers build a big enough lead that the game wasn’t in doubt, despite the Lakers leading by just 3 late in the third. The Stats: He scored 28 points on 10-14 shooting (0-1 from three, 8-10 from the line) to go with 13 boards (5 offensive), 1 steal, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 29 minutes. He was a +10.

Russell -- -- That midrange game working off the two-man sequences was going off. A lot of those jumpers dropping for Russell as defenders got picked and Russell found space. He also bombed a few threes. He found both AD and Hayes for dunks. One of his highlight plays was a steal in the backcourt, hitting Hayes coming down the lane for a slam. The Stats: He scored 22 points on 8-18 shooting (3-7 from three, 3-3 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 6 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 35 minutes. He was a -3.

Reaves -- -- He led the team in assists (9) with LeBron in this game, but was a bit sloppy with the ball (5 turnovers). Some good work with his bigs on two-man actions, but he also had a couple of those passes stolen on the two-man action, another turnover trying to thread one behind a defender’s head that wasn’t there. He was also stripped on a drive and bumped to dribble a ball out of bounds. So not clean. He’d knock down a couple of threes, score a layup off a jumpball and get another layup working the two-man with AD. Defensively, he helped keep Vassell to 3-15 shooting. He and Dinwiddie there doing a solid job. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 4-12 shooting (2-5 from three) to go with 5 boards, 9 assists, 2 blocks, 5 turnovers and 2 fouls in 33 minutes. He was a +1.

Hachimura -- -- Much better with Bron back in the mix. The three ball was dropping and those looks were wide open. Some nice rives, including a baseline drive where he hung around a couple defenders and spun in a reverse on his way down. He also had a fastbreak give-it-up-and-get-it-back with Bron for another reverse. Defensively, a couple steals and a block on a reverse layup attempt (but he’d through the outlet away to give it right back). Efficient work and good to see the Lakers playing bigger again with Bron/Rui/AD all out there. The Stats: He scored 17 points on 7-11 shooting (3-4 from three) to go with 7 boards, 2 steals, 1 block, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 32 minutes. He was a +2.

Dinwiddie -- -- With the size back, the Lakers were able to run more Reaves/Dinwiddie and Russell/Dinwiddie combo backcourts. That makes us a little better defensively and may have helped in the +21 (also probably Wemby sitting during some of that). Ham did run him at SF a couple times as we went small. The Wood injury is sliding some guys up to PF. Offensively, he missed everything. We also aren’t running him on the ball as much as his first couple of games. Might have helped saved us some of those Reaves turnovers had we given him the ball a little more to playmake. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-6 shooting (0-3 from three) to go with 1 board, 1 assist and 1 foul in 24 minutes. He was a +21.

Prince -- -- Some of those AD, Prince, Dinwiddie, Christie, Reaves line up action. Can’t wait to get Wood back. Better moments on the glass from Prince (which is needed especially when we’re small like that). He scored an And-1 layup on a breakaway after Bron stole the ball. Good job changing ends with speed to get ahead of the defense. He’d knock down a three for his other score. His best play might have been rolling to take a pass from Bron and then hitting AD quickly on the interior feed for a dunk. Rare you see him rolling on the two-man like that. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-6 shooting (1-3 from three, 0-1 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls in 19 minutes. He was a +1.

Christie -- -- As the team got a little healthier bringing Bron back in the mix, Christie’s minutes were slipped in between some Russell/Reaves subs giving those two a little extra rest. We also ran some small ball briefly. He attacked off the three line on a couple big straps for a layup around defenders. He was fouled on a pull-up jumper with a second left in the third. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-1 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 1 block and no fouls in 13 minutes. He was a -11.

Hayes -- -- Strong enough defensively that we were able to sit AD all fourth quarter. A little more foul prone than usual. Multiple dunks in this game. He reverse jammed as Russell looked off the D and found him cutting baseline. He kept an offensive board alive that led to Russell FTs getting fouled on a three. He dunked changing ends when Prince found him. He dunked on a Russell backcourt steal. He slammed on a drive and dish from Reaves. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 4-5 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 4 boards (2 offensive), 1 steal and 4 fouls in 19 minutes. He was a -5.

Hood-Schifino -- -- Fouled a man driving as soon as he entered the game. The Stats: He had 1 foul in 1 minute. He was a -4.

Lewis -- -- Final 36 seconds of action in this one. Nothing to report. The Stats: No stats.

Windler -- -- Nothing to report. The Stats: No stats.

Ham -- -- Key Moment: The Spurs had the game down to 3 late in the third quarter. With LeBron back in the mix, he had his legs under him and said he was surprised his wind was there. He helped push the lead back up to 18 by winning those first 5 minutes of the fourth.

Key Substitution: Sitting AD all fourth. Good enough job by Hayes at the C spot to hold down the fort.

Key Stats: All five Laker starters scored in double digits. The starters had 107 of the Lakers 123. Bron/AD/Russell had 80 of those.

[waterman40]

First
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LAKERS 2019-2020: NBA World Champions!

[A Mad Chinaman]

AD - 29 minutes, LBR - 35 minutes and healthy
Victory

Rui needs LBJ to give him airspace to get clean shots
Confirmation

[Nobody]

Our rebounding has been horrible. Some of it can be attributed to the funky D they're playing, but most of the time there is just no effort and urgency to go afterthe ball. Frustrating to watch. I guess I'll take the win, although a 5-point victory over a bottom-feeding, tanking team is nothing to hang your hat on.

[Laker7]

Lakers were up by 11 with about 2 minutes in Q1. Dumbass Ham sits Lebron and AD at the same time. Spurs cut the lead to 4 in about 2 minutes to end the quarter with Lebron and AD sat TOGETHER! Stupid.
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Darvin Ham is an idiot!

[Dr. Laker]

Thanks, DB!
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On Lakersground, a concern troll is someone who is a fan of another team, but pretends to be a Lakers fan with "concerns".

[TDRock]

Thanks DB
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#IStillBelieveTaurean

[A Mad Chinaman]

[ssiknick833]

Thanks DB
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[pio2u]

Thx DB!