GRIZZLIES -at- LAKERS - 4-28-23 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

House of Slaughter... The largest margin of victory in the playoffs by a 7 seed -- 40 points (second largest was 24).

The tone defensively was set by AD. He was just dominant. He anchored the paint, read the plays, didn’t get screened off or boxed out and shut things down. They denied the Grizzlies easy opportunities in transition. That allowed our half court defenses to get set with AD anchoring. Game over as we took away the easy ones. The Lakers had a 15-2 advantage in blocked shots.

It takes a team, though, to lock down and the rest of the squad was rotating, boxing out and had their coverages on point. Early on, there was a sequence where we deflected a pass to force a turnover. Next trip down, the Grizzlies tried to go in their stack action and the Lakers made the proper switches and stole the ball again.

Offensively, D’Angelo Russell just blew the doors off the house tonight. From the start, he was scoring at will. Then the three ball came alive and the carnage was on in the second half.

The Lakers did a great job of flattening out the backline, allowing for a lot of space to run two-man actions up high for Russell and Reaves. Additionally, they would put Ja as one of the helpers in the back line (and that just wasn’t happening).

The crowd was into this one early. The Grizzlies had a brief 9-5 lead before the Lakers rattled off a 9-0 run. Right then you knew.

The Lakers dominated the paint on both ends. Then out of the gates in the second half, the three ball started to rain down on the Grizzlies and they broke them. With AD shutting everything down on D, they went into the fourth up 33. Lots of garbage time with the 125-85 (85!!) blowout.

“I told them after the game, we set a standard for ourselves defensively on how we have to play and what we have to do on the defensive side of the ball,” Ham said. He mentioned they have scorers, but they need to keep the attention to detail on defense and keep locking down.


LeBron -- -- He was dialed in tonight. The energy was up. There were no offensive boards or defensive breakdowns. Some great rotations by Bron through out the night. The game was kept pretty simple for him as we had Reaves finding LBJ multiple times to finish plays. Near the end of the half, he took the ball on a stampede cut and threw down a reverse dunk as Dennis found him with a head of steam. He had 16 points on 7-9 shooting and 4 assists in the first half. In the second half, some really excellent reads and rotations by Bron. He disrupted the stack action as we defended other options, leaving Brooks as an open shooter to brick away. Shortly after that, another nice weakside rotation to shut down a sequence. Smooth night for Bron. He got some extra rest and now can sit back and watch the game 7 in the next series. Afterward, he reminded the team that every step gets harder. The Stats: He scored 22 points on 9-13 shooting (2-5 from three, 2-3 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 6 assists, 1 steal, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 31 minutes. He was a +32.

Davis -- -- He left a body on an alley-oop midway through the third quarter. That was JJJ’s carcass hitting the floor as AD hammered the lob dunk over him. The Lakers set that up beautifully by angling the play to make Ja the help man. Ja wasn’t helping. A couple plays later, Ja decided to get in there and this time AD scored the And-1 over him. Ja wanted no part of the help D from the start and the Lakers abused that excellently. An 11-10 double-double with 3 blocks in the first half and many alterations. He took one away from behind Ja, blocking and grabbing it away from him all in one motion, then igniting the beak. He’d finish with 5 blocks, but he was everywhere and must have altered another 10 shots. The crowd was amped up with his D. He was amped. Loved his energy from start to finish. Just a dominant performance in so many ways. We slowed the Grizzlies break down and their bigs were piling up the fouls. “I thought AD was way more effective than the statline shows,” Reaves said. The Stats: He scored 16 points on 6-9 shooting (4-4 from the line) to go with 14 boards, 1 assist, 5 blocks, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 28 minutes. He was a +31.

Russell -- -- What a night. Playoff career high. He plays like this, they are just a different team. Shoot, give them just two-thirds of this and it’s trouble. I loved seeing the Lakers frequently flattening out the backline D to allow D’Lo to work two-man up top in space. This was very much something pulled from the Bucks. He got the team off to a great start with 10 in the first quarter. First play, he iso’d on Ja and swished a jumper over him. He had 14 points on 6-10 shooting and 4 assists in the first half. In the second half, he bombed five threes and stared down Brooks or talked some trash on a couple of those. Brooks didn’t talk to the media after this game, either. “The Lakers were the cocaine bear tonight,” Horry mentioned afterward. Brooks was poking the wrong bear and Bron’s teammates were doing the talking for him during the game tonight. Put this ice in my veins. D’Lo really improved as the series went along. Hopefully, he’s finding his playoff legs now and won’t need a few games to lock in during the next series. The Stats: He scored 31 points on 12-17 shooting (5-9 from three, 2-4 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 3 turnovers and no fouls in 30 minutes. He was a +27.

Reaves -- -- The playmaking in this game was at a high level. He really helped Bron out a lot, setting him up and making things simpler. When he sat, he had 8 of the Lakers 27 assists at the time, one third of the playmaking. Funny play in the first half, Reaves looked off Bron who was wide open from three next to him in order to try to force a tougher pass cross court. It was a turnover, but he Reaves was processing that play like, nah, I’m not letting you heave up another three until you prove you can hit them, lol. His best pass of the night was either a full-court heave to Bron perfectly over the top of the D for a layup on the other end. Or he had a drive baseline and wrapped a backhanded bounce pass out to the corner to Vando for a three. When he wasn’t setting the table, he was able to get Ja in jail a number of times and turn that into short ones in the paint. He also had another pushout for a layup (ballfaking the defender on the Euro) and forcing a timeout. He was the Lakers best shooter heading into this game. Maybe take a couple of attempts from three off the stats as one was a buzzer heave and another was a grenade Rui gave him with half a second on the clock. So this was more of a 1-5 from three vs. a 1-7 kind of outing. Defensively, the Lakers were on point navigating the screens and AD was anchoring like a beast. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 5-12 shooting (1-7 from three) to go with 6 boards, 8 assists, 2 blocks, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 34 minutes. He was a +26.

Vanderbilt -- -- He knocked down three threes tonight. And it really looked like the Lakers were, let’s find him. They knew the shot was there. Defensively, he picked up a couple of fouls on the Grizzlies bigs by just getting run over or falling down on the shoves. Those added up quick for the Grizzlies. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 3-8 shooting from three to go with 3 boards (2 offensive), 3 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 3 turnovers and 1 foul in 15 minutes. He was a +19.

Schröder -- -- Dennis and D’Lo pointing at JJJ who hit the floor after AD hammered a lob dunk on him was something I had to rewind and watch a few times. That was awesome. Dennis and AD ran the two man game with Ja in the corner as the help man. He wasn’t coming over to help. The Lakers had that set up a lot tonight. But AD just destroyed the Grizzlies on that play. Early on Dennis gave the team a little spark after hitting the ground for a loose ball steal and then passing it to Bron, who pushed it up and fed Wenyen for the dunk. Just one bucket for Dennis (a floater), but he was causing problems and setting the table more than we’ve seen all game. As mentioned, some great job to create that space with the formation the Lakers ran tonight. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-4 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 4 boards, 5 assists, 2 steals and 3 fouls in 23 minutes. He was a +13.

Hachimura -- -- His first bucket of this one was sensational. He attacked a closeout, spun away from a help defender, then hammered a dunk. The bench was on their feet and the crowd was roaring. He’d get another dunk on the break and then a pull-up at the freethrow line on the two-man action. Defensively, some excellent work on the Memphis guards when they matched up. He also blocked a drive. Loved seeing him and Bron slotted back into their real positions. It made a world of difference. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-5 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 4 boards, 1 steal, 1 block and 1 foul in 22 minutes. He was a +11.

Gabriel -- -- No Beasley, no Brown as we went to the bigger lineup with Wenyen. Finally. That held the line from the abuse we had been taking with the small ball (that didn’t defend and didn’t take advantage of floor spacing on the other end). Maybe the most symbolic play of the night was Ja trying to attack the paint and there was Gabriel just standing there in the middle of the lane, unmoving. Ja bounced off him, stumbled backwards and traveled. Lane was closed tonight, sir. Scoring wise, Wenyen got a dunk on the break with Bron. He then denied JJJ in the post on the other end. He’d score a layup on a lob from Dennis. Late in the game, he attack from the corner, missed a reverse, but bounced back up for a putback. He’d get a block on Bane later, no layups. They dominated the paint. Instead of the Lakers a -12 or something with our second unit when AD sat, they were a +1. Team effort, but that helped hold the Grizzlies to just 85 points. Huge difference. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-5 shooting to go with 2 offensive boards, 2 blocks, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 10 minutes. He was a +1.

Beasley -- -- Finally out of the rotation in this series as we went bigger with those second units and kept the guys producing on the floor. He got in for garbage time and still struggled a bit from three. Hopefully, he can get it on track. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 2-6 shooting (1-4 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 2 assists and 1 foul in 9 minutes. He was a +8.

Brown -- -- Also out of the rotation as we tightened things up. Wenyen allowed us to go bigger and run lineups with Bron and Rui slotting down into their PF and SF spots. So Brown just had the garbage time action. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-1 shooting from three to go with 3 boards and 2 assists in 9 minutes. He was a +8.

Walker IV -- -- Garbage time run. He kept the foot on the gas, hitting a couple of threes and swishing a pull-up from midrange. I don’t know if anything change in the rotations as we switch series. But Beasley did no favors for himself and maybe Ham will experiment a little more. Seems doubtful. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-6 shooting (2-5 from three) to go with 1 board and 1 assist in 9 minutes. He was a +8.

Bamba -- -- Good to see him shake some cobwebs off and get a few minutes. He missed a couple shots and grabbed some garbage time boards.The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-2 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 3 boards, 1 assist and 1 block in 9 minutes. He was a +8.

Christie -- -- Solid garbage time action. He sank an 18-footer on iso. He then finished the game hitting a three to go up 40. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-3 shooting (1-1 from three) to go with 3 boards and 1 block in 9 minutes. He was a +8.

Ham -- -- Key Moment: The Lakers won all four quarters tonight. The first by 11, the second by 6, the third by 16 and the fourth by 7. Straight up dominance. You could look at D’Lo showing out in the first quarter. He had it going and that took the team to the next level. You could also look at that second half open where we buried three threes in a row. But this was a dominant performance. Great job by the coaches dialing in the adjustments. Combine that with the team feeding off the home crowd and the Grizzlies were toast.

Key Substitution: He took the ankle weights off the team by finally shortening the rotation and going big with that second unit. All those easy buckets we were giving up stopped. All those bricks on the other end, as well. Good job finally going with Wenyen and sliding Bron and Rui down to their natural positions. Felt painful to get there, but they got there.

Key Stats: A 36-16 advantage on points in the paint in the first half for the Lakers. Grizzlies went 8-29 in the paint (28%), Lakers were 18-22 (82%). Crushed them here. The Lakers 19 assists, Grizzlies 11 in the first half. Grizzlies made 7-18 from three, Lakers just 3-15. It didn’t matter in the half. The Lakers would finish with a 52-32 advantage on points in the paint, so all of that difference was in the first half. In the second half, the Lakers made 12-27 from three, the Grizzlies 5-20. So we flipped the tables on the three shooting in the second half.

[tox]

First! I stayed awake for this

[lordtrapula]

The box score is not gonna show it, but that AD game is one of the best big man performances I have ever seen in my life.

He was effecting every memphis play and completely dominated their frontcourt. Felt like I was watching 2003 Tim Duncan with how poised and understated his play was today.

[DrDent]

Thanks DB. Was looking forward to this, excellent breakdown.

AD was just monstrous tonight on D. He was the Baba Yaga the Grizz dared not cross. Most dominant defensive performance I've seen from AD since the closeout win vs Miami in the bubble. Literally some of the stuff he was doing, even just him defending a guy one on one, was incredible to watch.

Vando's 3 shot looked good tonight. Did not look herky jerky to me.

D'lo went super nova and that was fun to watch.

LBJ did not have to handle the ball much, and I think it helped him play that terrific D he was playing...very understated imo, but LBJ tonight looked alot more like the 2 way player King from prior years.

Ham finally stopped being stubborn and elected to go with some size when AD sat. Was surprised it took that long, but was heck of alot more comforting seeing Wenyan at Center. His offense is still raw but defensively he helps.



Curious how rotations will go in next round. Will be good to be able to watch the Warriors-Kings with the satisfaction our fellas are resting and waiting for the team who survives that.
_________________
"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

[Startrout]

Fun game to watch (very rare this season). I hope we have some more blowout wins before we’re done. Our defense was insane tonight.

[joeblow]

Mega high fives to coach Ham tonight. Pretty much all the self-inflicted issues he contributed to in this series were addressed superbly tonight.

His rotations were outstanding, especially with the benching of Beas and not forcing Troy to play out of position as a SF. The coach stayed BIG with the forward and center positions almost the entire night until garbage time, using Gabriel, Rui and Vandy alongside AD and 'Bron to solidify our front court... and it worked amazingly well both offensively and defensively just like a bajillion Laker fans around the world have been begging to see.

Nice job coach Ham!

[RhodyRay]

DB,

Great write up as usual but an even GREATER BUTT-WHIPPIN GAME!

Nice way to close out a series by the Lakers!

Loved every minute of this game.

Need more of this please!

On to the next round!
_________________
Let them HATE so long as they FEAR!

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks DB!! Excellent write-up! Excellent game!!

What a butt-whooping! It couldn't have happened to a more disrespectful opponent!

LOVE THE DEFENSE! Keep this up Lakers. Keep shutting teams down like this, that's how you win a seven game series.

AD on defense was phenomenal.

Team defense was phenomenal.

DLO caught fire and was phenomenal.

So much more to say but I'll just say this... Brooks apparently can't speak to the press. He's running and hiding a lot after games now. Can't eat crow. Apparently he got his vocal cords ripped out by an angry bear.

[Nobody]

Thanks, DB! What a win. I thought we were in for a different night down 5-9. But then the guys just exploded all over the place. Wow! I am especially glad they didn't chirp back at the loudmouth Griz players but just let their game do the talking.

[A Mad Chinaman]

Lakers definitely "Whoop the Tricks" (https://twitter.com/LakeShowYo/status/1652196214644023296?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet) and showed what will happen if you "Poke the Bear!"

First - Total Props to Rob to restructuring this roster and for Ham in adjusting the strategies while shortening the rotations.

Loved the AR/LBJ "EuroDance Moves." LBR's confidence in AR's decision-making skills have allowed him to dedicated his energies more on shot-making/playing defense.

Lakers were "On Point" with their defensive schemes that included changes that freed AD on the defensive side of the ball. With AD totally engaged, we saw that after seen multiple screens, he wasn't drifting to the perimeter. Instead, AD was rolling after the screens to use his gravity to provide more open space for cleaner shots.

Gabriel's energy, size and commitment brought needed force and length. Rui's presence and influence brought needed elements. Gabriel and Rui bring needed length.

Thanks DB for your work

[PenG_]

Lol never thought I’d wake up to this kind of ass whooping. Wow!

Thanks DB

[sonic the laker]

Thanks, DB! Watched the demolishing, from start to finish! Was EXTREMELY gratifying!

I give major props to coach Ham, and the entire coaching staff! I give them their flowers! I was very critical of them, and doubting whether they were ready to lead a pro team. But, to their credit, they didn't shrink. They learned from their mistakes, and made amazing adjustments. If they can continue to show that same improve going forward, then they'll have rightfully earned our trust.

This was a true, complete, team win! The team was laser focused on defense, and executed on offense. Sharing the ball, and staying with whoever had the hot hand. I was happy to see that LeBron let Reaves, and DLo, initiate the half court offense. The team as a whole started hitting their three's, which freed up the middle. Especially DLo. He had a real special night shooting the ball, and playing a controlled game! Wenyen did a good job subbing in for AD. We really needed his production, to keep LeBron/Rui in their natural positions.

As satisfying as that win was, we're not done. We took care of the first round, now onto the next. Rest. Fill our cups (lol). And get back to it! Lakers!
_________________
ZOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!

[paolomagma]

Thanks DB!

Ham - Good adjustments tonight by Ham. It took a while but it's good to see. His stubbornness of playing Beasley finally faded. His shot is just not falling. I don't see him getting back in the rotation again if Ham makes the right decisions.
Ham also made the adjustment of erasing AD's isolation touches in the post which has been bothering me all series. It was either a tough shot or a turnover. I love how most of his shots were from lobs and deep catches from mismatches after a switch. Good stuff.

Brown Jr - I still don't mind seeing TBJ on the floor. He's a versatile defender and can fit in with various lineups to give the starters some rest.
He's almost invisible sometimes but it's still better than standing out negatively like Beasley has.

Schroder - he will have to play much better next series. he's gonna be up against Fox or Curry. Both much better than Morant.
We will definitely see more 3 guard lineups next round because of the matchups.

Gabriel - He's solidified his spot as the backup Center. 10-15 mins PT for him moving forward should be good. Enough to give AD rest but not enough for the energy he brings to deplete.

Bamba - I like the option we have with him as a defensive anchor but he's not gonna play next round. He's going to be target by both teams' guards if he does.

[RI Laker]

[JerryWest_44]

[Dr. Laker]

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

[deal]

Thanks DB ! We’re not supposed to be here, but, it feels gooood.


Round 2
_________________
Lakers need to build a freaking team !

[governator]

I remember reading your early season write ups and thinking how can this dude still do it… gracias man, and now let’s fawkin go! We have enough! #18!

[wolfpaclaker]

So now, going back to the start of their "marriage".

AD/Lebron when healthy in a playoff series have yet to lose.
That's a daunting task facing any team.

Crazy if you think about it, as we were up on the Suns 2-1 too. So going back to 2020, 2021 and now 2023. AD and Lebron simply are dominant in playoff series basetball. The key to it all is AD + depth of shooters/defenders. If he's healthy he makes the defense work. And he can step up as a MVP level scorer 2 games out of 7. Then the depth and shooters give you the other 2 games. Lebron is Lebron. Old, but still very high IQ.

All that we need now is fortune and continuous health. I don't like our odds with every series being without HCA. This has only been done by Houston in 1995 I think, so it's almost like every series we have to win game 1 or game 2, because falling down 0-2 going back home is tough. And we never want to be 2-2 either, because winning a best of 3 with 2 on the road would be tough. So almost every series we have to try and be up 3-1. This will be tough.

But man, what a duo AD/Lebron have proven to be in the playoffs. Would have been nice if we had put together this team and ended the Westbrook experience summer 2022. HCA, and some more continuity. Better late than never.

[pio2u]

Thx DB!!

FYI:
The Lakers are the first 7th seed to win their first-round series in 13 years.
This team is the lowest-seeded team in Laker history to advance.

[1995Lakers]

[anth2000]

Thank you, Mr. Rob Pelinka.

[danzag]

Thanks, DB.

What a game. What a statement.

[cheesehead88]

Can we be like the 1995 Rockets?

AD like Hakeem
Bron like an aging Clyde Drexler
Rui like a young Robert Horry
DLO like Mario Elie
Schroeder like Kenny Smith

[DancingBarry]

Thanks to those who stayed up late to wait for this. I think I was rewinding and rewatching plays a lot, lol, because it was so damn good. It took me a while to finish. That AD lob dunk must have gotten 10 rewatches. There was a defense sequence against the Memphis stack and some other passing lane disruption where we stole the ball twice that got another bunch. They were blowing up everything on those set plays. What an ass kicking.