GRIZZLIES -at- LAKERS - 4-22-23 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

That First Quarter... “The crowd definitely got us going,” AD said after the game.

Fans were on Dillon Brook from the jump as he missed multiple shots and traveled in the first five minutes. When D’Angelo Russell banked in an And-1 three for a 4-point play, the Lakers were up 18-2.

They milked the double drag screens again and again early with multiple variations for scores, including a three for Rui off the bench. He then had back-to-back finishes on the break as the energy in the building amped up.

When the dust settled, the Lakers dropped a 35-9 first quarter on the Grizzlies -- a franchise record opening quarter for a playoff game.

Big early leads in the NBA make for tough games to watch. Most of the time, those leads are hard to maintain. Things slowed down for the Lakers as they had a 29-point lead midway through the second quarter.

The Grizzlies chipped away the lead and then rattled off a 10-0 run to close the half as the Lakers ran a big lineup (AD, Rui, Bron, Vando, Russell). The Lakers led 53-37 at the half.

As the Lakers brought the ball up for their first possession of the second half, Brooks was ejected for hitting the King’s jewels, dropping him in the backcourt. Brooks was going for a reach, Bron went behind his back and got drilled. The crowd let Brooks have it on his way out.

The Grizzlies weren’t going away. As LeBron missed an uncontested dunk and the Grizzlies hit a three on the other end for a 5-point switch, the lead was down to just 13.

The Lakers made some excellent adjustments to get AD going in this game. He helped the team push the lead back up to 20 with a strong close to the third.

The fourth quarter was all Ja for the Grizzlies. He rattled off some 22-straight points and got the lead to 10. He had the three ball going as we went under screens and got to the rim for some easy ones, as well.

Some timely buckets by the Laker guards gave them enough scoring to keep the Grizzlies at arm’s length. The Lakers held on to win 111-101 and take the 2-1 series lead.

LeBron -- -- Kind of an average start offensively to this one. He had 12 points on 6-10 shooting in the first half. TO start, he hit a floater curling into the lane. Then the Grizzlies switched that next time down and he drained the midrange. Throw in a couple layups in transition and another cutting weakside off the double drag. To start the second half, Brooks got tossed for the shot to the groin. Asked about the Brooks drama and if he was making a statement. “I’ve been doing it too long. I ain’t making no statements.” In that third, Bron had multiple dunk attempts. He threw down a putback dunk on the break. He had a reverse dunk in transition. Then I think he missed another uncontested dunk that he should have had (that led to three the other way). In the fourth, they slowed the offense down a bit. He tried hunting Kennard, but often rejected the screens instead of getting switches. Hopefully, they can execute that better. The Stats: He scored 25 points on 10-20 shooting (0-4 from three, 5-7 from the line) to go with 9 boards, 5 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls in 36 minutes. He was a -6.

Davis -- -- So much of this game was about getting AD into the mix more effectively on the offensive end. They ran the corner sequences early to involve him. Then worked the double drags often. A lot more face ups in the post so he could see the doubles coming. A lot more getting downhill in transition and on the secondary breaks. He had a double-double by halftime (11 points, 12 boards and 2 blocks). In the third quarter as Bron sat, we ran more offense through him. With JJJ piling up fouls, AD nearly picked up his own fourth foul blocking JJJ in the post. That call was overturned and AD dunked on him on the subsequent offensive set as he got downhill with speed. He’d then get the posts game going inside and out and helped push the lead back up to 20 heading into the fourth. Great job by the staff getting him downhill and facing up all game. That activated his game and caused issues for the Grizzlies defense. I wish we would have focused a bit more on getting him activated offensively in the last game. This is how he should be playing against this team. Let’s do it again in the next one. The Stats: He scored 31 points on 11-24 shooting (1-4 from three, 8-10 from the line) to go with 17 boards (4 offensive), 2 assists, 2 steals, 3 blocks, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls in 39 minutes. He was a +12.

Russell -- -- Russell on the double drags tonight was fun to watch. RIght side, left side, transitioning into them off a screen-the-screener actions. I love the playoffs because you see a lot more of those extra screens to get into actions and counter what the D is doing. So early on, he was ball handling and setting the table on these key actions. Really great to see him orchestrating and executing the variations. He found AD for a lob, Bron cutting from the wing on the weakside, he hit Rui for a three, and I think he even had a layup himself, as well, off one of those. Some nice finds of AD on the secondary break a couple of times. He sank a couple of threes in this game, including a tough shotclock beater. He also knocked down a couple from midrange. He led the team with a +13. The Stats: He scored 17 points on 5-14 shooting (2-7 from three, 5-7 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 7 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 31 minutes. He was a +13.

Reaves -- -- The crowd was already pumped to start this game, but went through the roof as Reaves attacked off the three line and hung for an And-1 layup. He’d then draw an illegal screen on the other end and they went nuts. That intensity on both ends helped set the tone as they took it to the Grizzlies. After that 35-9 quarter, he asked, “Is that a record? It’s got to be.” Yep. The Lakers did an excellent job getting into the paint with consistency early on this one. Reaves was doing that a bit. That dribble penetration caused issues (Bron even cleaned up a Reaves missed drive early on). Good to see him getting a couple of And-1s in this game. On his second one, he worked off the double drag screens, put his man in jail and then hit the short And-1 in the paint. Late in the game he was getting the Lakers some extra possessions on the offensive glass (4 tonight and he also drew a foul to regain a possession…those are killer). He had a big offensive board putback against Ja in the fourth and then followed that up with a huge three that forced a timeout as we went back up 18 midway through the quarter. Some excellent passing. Reaves threaded one behind a defender’s head to hut a cutter. Then he found Bron in transition for another score. Defensively, some good moments. He drew an illegal screen on the perimeter to get a stop. He picked up JJJ’s third foul with 8 minutes left in the second quarter taking an elbow to the face in transition. Some good challenges, as well, on his man. Winning basketball all night. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 5-10 shooting (1-4 from three, 2-3 from the line) to go with 6 boards (4 offensive), 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 35 minutes. He was a +8.

Vanderbilt -- -- The three blocks and two steals stick out in this one. He blocked a shot early on help D. He blocked JA in transition once. He swatted JJJ from behind another Laker defender. I’m curious to see if they let Ja try to attack Vando more without a screen. The Lakers were much more methodical in going under the screens tonight and giving up those threes. Rotation wise, they sat Vando midway through the first and third quarters and brought him back later with the second units. No scores for Vando tonight. He’d miss a three. He also drew another foul on the offensive glass to regain a possession. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-1 shooting from three to go with 1 board, 2 steals, 3 blocks and 5 fouls in 21 minutes. He was a +9.

Schröder -- -- He didn’t get a score until 50 seconds left in the third, hitting a midrange. He’d get a layup later when we had the 5-out floor spread for him to blow by his man. He’d later stick a big three on a kickout with the clock against him. Ja, though, would hit a three on him on the other end. We are pretty much daring Ja to shoot that, going under screens. The Lakers had a big enough lead, they just didn’t feel the need to change up anything despite Ja going off in that fourth. A little sloppy in the passing by Dennis. I think a couple of times AD was wanting it up high and Dennis was throwing it down low (and even behind him). The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-6 shooting (1-3 from three) to go with 1 board, 3 assists, 2 steals, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 24 minutes. He was a +4.

Hachimura -- -- Instant impact in that first quarter. He sank a three off the Lakers double drag play with DLo kicking out as they sagged to help. He’s killing them on that help D. Shortly later, he attack in transition, cutting through a couple of defenders with a high gather and scoring the layup. A few second later, he was finishing off a dunk on the break as we got a steal. That pushed the lead to 35-9 and Crypto was going nuts. He led the Lakers with 12 points on 5-6 shooting in the first half. He drain another three when the D went to defend the nail with Bron on the strong side and Rui on the weak. Made the help pay again. He’d get another bucket on iso, spinning and getting to his left for a layup. In the second half, he’d hit a pull up in the paint and make a couple FTs after getting pushed on the break (he’d pick up a tech on that play. Defensively, a couple nice challenges to alter shots in the paint and he had a steal. We didn’t get targeted too much in the post with the small ball second units. The Stats: He scored 16 points on 6-10 shooting (2-2 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 22 minutes. He was a +4.

Beasley -- -- Still hoping he can pop off in one of these. I thought the defense was decent enough in this game. He had a great help D sequence where he went vertical under the hoop to get a stop. Offensively, a wild drive against multiple players on one play. He missed his only three. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-2 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 2 boards and 1 foul in 13 minutes. He was a +9.

Brown -- -- His one make was a layup as he cut down the lane and Reaves threaded one to him behind the defender’s head. A little more production on D in this one with a steal and a block. I’m still waiting for him to knock down a couple threes. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-3 shooting to go with 3 boards, 1 steal, 1 block and 1 foul in 17 minutes. He was a -3.

Gabriel -- -- We changed up rotations and brought Gabriel in with a minute left in the first quarter while both Bron and AD rested. We then sat him for Bron to go small again. That was it. The Stats: No stats in 1 minute. He was a +0.

Ham -- -- Key Moment: The historic first quarter. The crowd was amped up and the Lakers responded with a dominant first 10 minutes or so of this game. Give some good credit to the coaching staff to get the offense flowing after the slow one in Memphis. The got AD involved early. Guards were attacking the paint. They worked double drag sequences into points at the rim. Defensively, AD was the glue again. He was manning the paint and not pulled out. That caused issues. “Everybody giving multiple efforts and then trying to finish the possession with a rebound,” Ham said. Really liked some of the coaching in this one.

Key Substitution: Rui came in and dropped the hammer on Memphis in that first quarter. Again, he was money from three, but he also had a couple breakaway scores that had Crypto’s energy through the roof.

Key Stats: The 35-9 first quarter, of course, sticks out. Ja’s big numbers do, as well (45 points, 6-10 from three). He poured it on late as he was in the zone. We’re giving up three to him by going under screens and he was hitting tonight. Hopefully, the law of averages hit in the next one and he’s cold. They’ll focus more on making sure they wall him off better in early offense, I think. A few too many easy ones there. They didn’t mix up coverage with traps or anything.

Coach’s Challenge: Late in the third quarter, we tried to prevent AD’s fourth foul as he blocked JJJ in the post. Had ball up high and that’s why he thought it was clean but may have got contact elsewhere. The challenge was successful and it saved AD’s fourth foul. On the subsequent play, AD got downhill on JJJ and dunked on him. JJJ had to avoid his fifth foul.

[drae]

First Thanks DB

[LakersFan_73]

Great win tonight!

[mad55557777]

Brooks ejection helped the grizzlies big time. They had to use Jones and Kennard who opened the floor for Ja to do his thing.
I was at the game tonight and the building was electric

[sonic the laker]

Great start to the game, and eventual win, by the Lakers! Thanks, DB!

Some of my personal observations...

Imo, the Lakers had the correct gameplan, defending Ja. Challenge him to beat you with long range shots. What you don't want is him getting to the rim, or collapsing your defense, and hitting open shooters. The game was closer than it should have been, due to multiple factors.

The most major one was the Lakers stagnant offense in the second/fourth quarters, and being loose with the ball, giving the Grizz opportunities to attack in transition. The other was the Grizz shooting uncommonly well (for them) from the free throw line. The last was Ja going super nuclear from long range, along with those dreaded rim attacks. All these things combined to whittle the Lakers huge lead, to just 10 to end the game.

There were a lot of good things to take away from this game. But, there was plenty of bad as well. I'm honestly not sure what to do with Troy and Beas, at this point. Imo, I would play Lonnie and Max over those two. But, Ham continues to stick with them, even when they're giving us near ZERO production. Things have been fine, because Rui has been carrying the bench scoring by himself. But, putting the onus on one player is an extremely dangerous gambit. One poor shooting game from Rui, and... Ham is going to have to figure out how to increase bench productivity. Whether that's through lineup changes, or rotation changes.

Also, I'm surprised by DLo's really up and down decision making. He's usually a very steady player, who makes good decisions. But, he's been really out of sorts. He'll have good stretches, followed by head shaking ones. We're going to need him to play/shoot better, going forward. Reaves is playing for all his worth, but looks really worn down (tied to not having production behind him, at the 2 spot).

LeBron had a great start to the game. But, as the game wore on, he got progressively worse. That needs to get figured out. LeBron shot 60% in the first half, and 40% in the second half. That alone doesn't bother me, so much as the stagnant ball holding on offense does. It often results in poor possessions. No complaints for AD, or Rui. Both were great. Schroder was average, so...
_________________
ZOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Startrout]

Fun game, I loved the crowd!

We have to stop throwing up the early shot clock 3’s when most of the team still behind. Also, I hate when we start playing the slowdown game with like 5 minutes left. We always get killed when we do that. Keep the pressure on, slowdown with like 30s left.

[tox]

Thanks DB! One thing I love about this team? They shoot 7-28 on 3s and they can still win fairly comfortably. It bodes well because there's a degree of randomness to 3s, e.g. Rondo in 2020. If the Lakers get hot they can beat pretty much anyone.

[tox]

Something to clean up -- the Grizz had 18 offensive rebounds. What happened??

[DrDent]

Thanks DB, great summary.

Was extremely pleased by that first quarter effort. The Grizz were cold but Lakers D was also pestering them frequently.

Really enjoyed a number of ways they attacked on offense. When disciplined team is really fun to watch.

I know many like how Ja was defended - I'm not so sure I'm personally ok with that when he starts going super nova like that. I mean it worked tonight, but Lakers lead was so large when Ja got going its hard to say if game was closer if that still (single coverage) was the right call.

I'm not too happy with the Lakers - I assume Ham's - decision to not actually play Mo or Wenyan more. I do not really see Rui or LBJ at center as being anything other than an invitation for layups. Assuming staff just believes Rui / LBJ at C are better when AD rests...welp, there's the thing that's gonna nail the team.

But very pleased with the W. Ham at least got the fellas going in the right direction. Next game will be a tough one, as Grizz will be fighting like mad to avoid going down 3-1. They will also likely have their HC drum into them to get out of the gates quicker, so expect a much tighter game. Team needs to be ready for a 4 quarter battle, Grizz didnt win 50+ by sheer luck.
_________________
"One thing I admire about Kuzma is his unwavering confidence. He truly has no idea that he’s not as good as he thinks." - Killer_Z

[sonic the laker]

[unleasHell]

What did not get mentioned in the historic 35-9 first quarter all-time Lakers playoff record is that the Lakers did it to the #2 seed, while being the 7th seed..

While many previous #1 seed Lakers teams did not do it, despite playing the lowest ranking playoff team, the 8th seed...!

Very proud of this team...!

Let's keep it going...

Also worthy of noting: The Griz are 0-2 when Ja plays... lol
_________________
“Always remember... Rumors are carried by haters, spread by fools, and accepted by idiots.”

[A Mad Chinaman]

[governator]

That was a sexy first quarter

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks DB! Another excellent write-up as always, and an excellent first quarter by the Lakers!

Next game is going to be a battle. Memphis will adjust, let's hope the Lakers adjust and stay a step ahead of them.

[joeblow]

[mad55557777]

[DrDent]

[TDRock]

[TDRock]

[Startrout]

I’m much more optimistic about our chances in the playoffs after this game. We needed a big win as we haven’t had many of those this season. The offense still needs work. It gets bogged down at times and too many bad shots, but the defense is winning us games.

[anth2000]

I loved the start of the game, didn’t really love the rest of it.
Lakers settled and allowed the Grizzlies to climb back in.
Gotta stop that crap. It’s going to bite you.

We should have won by 20+.

Observations:
Beasley is worthless
Brown can play some D but that is about it.
Gabriel is not ready to play.
Vando should get less minutes for Rui. Vando has no offense.
Schroder is a shell of himself. Needs to be more aggressive.
Russell had a better game, but wasn’t great.
Reaves is also struggling a bit but I think they are bing really physical with him to knock him out of sync.
Hate the Lebron iso offense.
Hate the Lebron iso offense.
Hate the Lebron iso offense.

Stop doing it.
Pass the ball around.
Watch film of game 1 and game 3 first quarter and follow that model.

[LakerLanny]

LMAO at a scrub thinking he is going to get in the head of the NBA's all time leading scorer.
_________________
Love, Laker Lanny

[Hammett]

Hachimura has been a hit these playoffs.

Beasley with a goose egg. Ship his ass outta here.
_________________
Lakers. Built different.

[A Mad Chinaman]

[DancingBarry]