LAKERS -at- WARRIORS - 5-2-23 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Game On... This series will be a battle of styles. One team works from the outside in, the other from the inside out. One team bombs threes, the other attacks the paint. The Lakers drew first blood tonight.

The Lakers fell behind 10-2 early, missing mostly threes to start the game. Out of the timeout, they ran their wide pins for AD, got into the paint and started scoring buckets. With that, they got the offense on track (started 1-8, made their next 11-14), and they trailed just 31-29 after the first.

In the third, Reaves came alive with a couple of threes and a drive for a score as the Lakers went on a 13-3 run and took a 10-point lead. Defensively, they continued to struggle with adjusting their drop coverage to a high drop, but now L.A. was hitting threes, too. They took an 8-point lead into the fourth quarter.

The Lakers extended the lead to 14 points midway through the fourth as AD worked the offensive glass and every Laker found a way to contribute offensively.

Over the course of the next 4 minutes, however, the Lakers offense would dry up. They missed chippies and threes. The Warriors went to a smaller lineup with some zone. The crowd went nuts when Poole sank a three to cut the lead to 3 with 2:38 left, capping off an 11-0 run.

After a minute of back and forth, Curry would drill a bomb from the right wing and the arena erupted -- tie ball game, a 14-0 run.

On the other end, Russell finally ended the Laker drought as he took a pass in the middle of the paint against a bigger defender and he muscled his way to a layup with 1:22 left. Huge make. As AD blocked Curry in the paint a few seconds later, Bron pushed out the ball and drew FTs, he’d miss the first, make the second.

On D, another block by AD as they pushed Poole into the paint right to their defensive anchor. The Lakers took time off the clock, bricked a three up a Bron three and it was the Warriors turn to try to tie it up again. They doubled Curry, he gave it up to Poole, who heaved a long miss from three. Hero ball and no heroics.

The Lakers got the board and the timeout. After a couple clutch freethrows by Schröder, the Lakers stole the first one on the road, 117-112.



LeBron -- -- His three ball is painful enough. But when he sucks the air out of the ball to settle for a three in the final minute? You are just playing with fire. Glad we did not get burned. Let’s run something, please. Another, very predictable and expected 1-8 from three from Bron. This is what he’s been doing lately. He’s got to find his shot or not pull the trigger as much. Close to triple-double pace in the first half with 12 points, 5 boards and 4 assists. He’d have no assists in the second half, though. I’m hopeful we will force more turnovers from the Warriors and get out on the break more. He’s a beast in transition. In the half court, we need to find ways to get him downhill. He got a layup doing that once off a screen. We saw another stampede cut (that led to an AD dunk). We also got Reaves throwing a lob to him for a dunk on the backside of the D. More downhill Bron, less settling for three Bron. Defensively, some nice efforts by Bron protecting the rim. I think the Warriors are going to try to make him work more in the next one. We’ll see. Asked about the key to the series, he said “rest.” The Stats: He scored 22 points on 9-24 shooting (1-8 from three, 3-4 from the line) to go with 11 boards, 4 assists, 3 blocks, 4 turnovers and no fouls in 40 minutes. He was a +1.

Davis -- -- Let’s start on the defensive end. “I got to be up more with them guards,” AD said after this one. I think that will be a key adjustment in the next game. We want to run a high drop coverage when screens are being set by non-shooters. Too often, we just zoned or hung out in drop coverage while shooters lost their defenders as our bigs saw their men setting screens. You can ignore non-shooters to a point, but you need to get up within space to be able to challenge shots. AD did better with that on Curry than he did on other shooters. Late in the game, AD came up big with a couple of challenges in the paint as we pushed guards to him. Those were huge stops and shut the door on the Warriors trying to make a late comeback. Another 4 blocks tonight from AD. He did a great job on the boards, and we need to give him a bit more help. If we lost this game by a bucket, AD had a rebound that bounced out of his hands and into the hoop. That could have come back to haunt them. He’d finish with the 30-23 night. Beastly size that the Warriors are going to have to deal with. Offensively, he had 23 points, 11 boards and 2 blocks in the first half. We got him going on the wide pin plays in the corner. A lot of two-man action, as well. His midrange shot was falling, and the Lakers really need for him to keep that up. Some scores off the offensive glass late (one for him and then he hit Vando for another). I want to see him a but more aggressive against the small ball D the Warriors rolled out there late. The Stats: He scored 30 points on 11-19 shooting (0-2 from three, 8-8 from the line) to go with 23 boards (4 offensive), 5 assists, 4 blocks, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 44 minutes. He was a +1.

Russell -- -- Fairly strong game out of the gates by Russell. He can do better, but there was no “feel out” effort out there. He was battling. He had one of the biggest scores of the night, taking the pass in the middle of the paint, drawing Wiggins on him, then scoring a layup as he muscled a step-through past him to end the Laker scoring drought that ran for about 4 minutes straight late in the fourth. I liked seeing the rim attacks. He missed a couple of easy ones he should have had, but also gave the Lakers that penetration. AD is going to draw attention and Russell needs to take advantage of that. He had a nice read of Green trying to take away the first pass option, so Russell backdoored him and AD hit him for the layup. He got the midrange working. I liked seeing him aggressive against Curry whether on iso or snaking a screen to get into midrange. He made him work a little. Big third quarter where he scored 10 of his points. The Stats: He scored 19 points on 9-19 shooting (1-6 from three, 0-1 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 6 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 33 minutes. He was a +1.

Reaves -- -- A lot of chasing for our guards in this series on defense. That could take a toll on our shooting. Quiet first half from Reaves, scoring off a crossover into a pull-up jumper. In the third quarter, he throttled it up. He sank a stepback three in the corner to force a timeout. He worked on Curry and got into the paint for a short bank. Next time down, he put Curry into jail, gave it up, relocated quickly, got it back and hit the step-back three. I like seeing our guards picking on Curry again and again for stretches. Later, Reaves would work the high screen against a different defender and lob to Bron for a dunk. That push by Reaves, got the Lakers a double-digit lead in the third. I would have loved to see us put the ball in his hands in the final minute instead of having Bron dribble and chuck. Defensively, his best play was chasing Curry along the baseline, seeing Bron behind him getting beat and leaving Curry who was exiting the opposite side in order to step in and take a charge to save Bron. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 4-9 shooting (2-5 from three) to go with 5 boards, 3 assists and 2 foul sin 39 minutes. He was a +3.

Vanderbilt -- -- He requested taking on Curry defensively and really did a strong job with it. It took a while for Curry to get going in the second half of this one (finishing with 27 points on 10-24 shooting). In fact, his first bucket came off an ATO where the Warriors had to design a play for him. Vando had 2 steals and 2 blocks. Some really nice plays in the second half finding chemistry with teammates in how they guarded Curry. On occasion, switching, recovering all within fractions of a second and that results in a block or steal from Vando on Curry and on helping a teammate. Neither team had a lot of turnovers (8 each). The Lakers need to do a better job turning the Warriors over. I think that will come as they tighten some things up defensively with their screen coverages. On the other end, I expect the Warriors to start leaving Vando more and more and send help elsewhere to see if they can get him on the bench more. Vando did hit a three tonight. He also had a dunk off an interior feed from AD. He also got to the line getting fouled in transition and on a putback attempt. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 2-7 shooting (1-3 from three, 3-4 from the line) to go with 6 boards (3 offensive), 2 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 26 minutes. He was a +8.

Schröder -- -- Dennis is alive again this series. The Warriors don’t have the shot blocking and paint defense that the Grizzlies do. He’s able to see gaps and lanes to the hoop. That led to more usage by him, more craftiness to draw fouls and he led the bench bigtime. When we talk about styles, there may not be any player more symbolic of what the Lakers game is than Dennis. He wouldn’t work on the Warriors team. He’s not great a ball moving, shooter running off screens type of situation. Our game is a little more “ball stoppy” than that, which helps Dennis pick his spots. He shot 9-10 from the line this game, more than the entire Warriors team. Scoring-wise, he had a nice sequence in the first half where he swished a wing jumper over Curry, then picked Curry and midcourt a few seconds later for a layup and the lead. Love the effort. He said his Achilles is still bothering him, but you didn’t notice it on the court. Our defenders are going to have to chase, chase, chase. “Whatever it takes to win, but it is really, really hard.” Great job draw FTs all game. His change of speeds, change of directions to get a step on guys. We are a much better team when Dennis can find lanes. The Stats: He scored 19 points on 5-10 shooting (0-1 from three, 9-10 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal and 2 fouls in 31 minutes. He was a +1.

Hachimura -- -- Short minutes tonight as we leaned into more Vando and more guard-heavy units. All of his action pretty much was in his first shift. He scooped up a loose ball on the offensive glass and banked in a short one. He hit an elbow turnaround off the dribble. He posted up Green, bullied him on the baseline and drew FTs. Defensively, he needs to be a little more aware of how we should be defending. The Warriors are going to pick on our guys who are sagging into the paint by using non-shooters to set screens. Rui needs to get up higher on those to help defend instead of allowing our guards to get picked off without someone there able to challenge a pull-up. Let’s keep an eye out on the adjustments by Rui defensively.The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-2 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 1 board, 1 assist and 1 turnover in 11 minutes. He was a +2.

Brown -- -- On the plus side, he finally knocked down a three. Russell found him in the corner on a kickout and he got to square up and swish the three. Defensively, I think Beasley is actually a better chaser off screens, but Brown is a willing defender and will work hard on that end. You saw a sequence where he had some issues navigating screens and Klay hit a three. Then, Ham was in his ear on a deadball. Next time down, Brown chased and got in a good challenge. Limited minutes, but we were still a positive. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-2 shooting (1-1 from the line) to go with 1 foul in 12 minutes. He was a +4..

Gabriel -- -- He had one 4-minute shift and we were a +4. (Every Laker was a positive in the +/- tonight.) That’s a good sign for the bench. I think we got to get AD a little more rest, but in future games, but we were coming off a little extra time off, so Ham played AD all second half. The Stats: He didn’t score or shoot and had 2 boards in 4 minutes. He was a +4.

Ham -- -- Key Moment: We gave up a 14-0 run over 4 minutes. Finally, we stopped the bleeding. After Russell scored to go up 2 late, we got a stop and a Bron FT in transition. Ham subbed out Russell for Vando. The Lakers played a great defensive sequence ending with AD blocking Poole in the paint and securing the board. With 42 seconds left up 3. They killed clock, Bron took the air out of the ball and missed a three (bad possession). But Poole tried to play hero with a 35-foot heave from three after the Lakers doubled Curry to get the ball out of his hands. Lakers got the rebound with 4.7 seconds left. Ball game. A sketchy close to the game, but they got it done.

Key Substitution: I love the offense-defense sub there in the final minute with Vando/D’Lo. Also, Dennis had a big 31 minutes in this game, closing for the Lakers and coming up big at the FT line, including two to ice it. Short rotation by Ham again.

Key Stats: Lakers made 1-8 from three in the first half, to the Warriors 13-30. L.A. had a 1-point lead despite that. The Lakers packed the paint and let the shots fly from the perimeter. Meanwhile, the Lakers attacked the paint and got to the line a ton (17 attempts, Warriors 3 attempts) -- also a 34-10 advantage in the paint for L.A. in the half. In the second half, the Lakers made 5-17 from three, still not good, but finished an excellent 25-29 from the line. The Warriors made 21-53 from three (just 5-6 from the line). So the Lakers gave up 48 more points from three. They got a +20 from the line to make up half of that. The Lakers made 37-67 shots inside the three-point line. Different kinds of efficiency in this game.

[pio2u]

Great Win!!!
THX DB!!

[Startrout]

My first thoughts:

Reeves needs to be more aggressive on offense, don’t pass to LeBron on the perimeter.

LeBron took one of the worst/dumbest shots I’ve ever seen in a playoff game. That 3 at the end, in a must score situation, was clueless. We got lucky to win after that.

Darvin needs to tell Lebron he’s banned from taking 3’s. I know before the injury he was decent, but 18% is going to cost us a game or a series if he keeps shooting them.

Reeves, Dennis, DLO need to run the offense, not LeBron. LeBron needs to post up and/or slash to the basket.

AD can’t disappear on offense in the second half (or anytime). He should have had 40 tonight.

We’re not going to shoot free-throws that well in the next game. We need to play better.

Play Rui more, rest Lebron to get him additional minutes.

Even if we get up 3-0 the Warriors can still win the series. We can’t let up for a second. Every game should be considered “must win” against this team.

[joeblow]

I am absolutely LOVING the defense of my team!!!! Once again, Ham is consistently playing with either three bigs in the front court, or at least making sure AD is on the floor if we go with three guards, and it is paying off. That's especially true in protecting the paint (with AD dominating in that effort).

Man, if we get the next win in SanFran, the series is all but over. No injuries, please!

[DrDent]

Great summary DB.

Tough win. Am concerned over how much usage of AD and LBJ they had tonight. And yes, LBJ stubbornly deciding to shoot himself out of his 3 point slump by hogging clock with the ball and taking a long 3 with a 3 point lead and about 20 seconds still to go in the game was, imo, irresponsible. But that's what he does.

I agree letting Reaves handle the ball then maybe would have been the more surprising, but likely more effective move. Would like to see LBJ used the way he was in game 6 v Grizz - off ball, and let him exert energy on D. Let D'lo, Reaves, and Schro run the offense.

Dubs will come out with a different strategy in game 2, I expect them to try and lock down AD. Lakers need to be ready for adjustments on the fly.
_________________
"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

[DrDent]

[mad55557777]

The lakers are actually getting better each game. You can see more chemistry between the guys. Great to see

[Defender]

Vanderbilt really got Curry locked down tonight

[mad55557777]

Pretty sure DLO scored 19 points, DB

[mad55557777]

AD was a beast tonight, but I want to point out he only shot 2-9 in the second half, mainly due to ill advised shots from outside the paint.

[DancingBarry]

[tox]

[A Mad Chinaman]

[RhodyRay]

DB,

Tremendous write up as always!

That was an epic battle, Ali vs. Frazier.

One game is good but against the Warriors it means nothing. The Lakers need to win this in 6 games or fewer.

Ham is going to need to use his bench in game 2, no doubt about it.

We got the first one, and if they can get the 2nd, get it-but they must take BOTH games in LA.

LBJ should be playing off the ball unless he has a fastbreak. AD is going to need more help in game 2 and I can see the Warriors doubling him every time he touches the ball. That will mean that the other guys are going to need to step up.

Rui needs to play more in the next game and go to work on Klay because he is strong enough to bully him and make him work on the defensive end.

This is a chess match that the Lakers are capable of winning.

We shall see. So far, so good. The Lakers did not fold tonight and showed fortitude holding it down!
_________________
Let them HATE so long as they FEAR!

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks DB! Great to see another Laker Game 1 Win!!! That's how you do it Lakers - take away that HC advantage right out of the gates.

Great game on defense, awesome domination of the paint, but I also have to agree with the comments on LeBron's decision making late. This team thrives when he trusts his guards - all 3 of them DLO, Reaves, Schroder - to move the ball, create opportunities, and make the right plays. This could have been a 14 point win and not a nail biter if we don't go away from what got us that lead.

On to the next one Lakers! Keep it up!

[Annihilator]

[A Mad Chinaman]

Game of Math
How minutes can we force Steph to play defense and keep him from having the ball in his hand.
That is the mission for Vando to DS to DLo to AR to Brown

How can we limit Looney to get less than 20 boards per game, since he is their main rebounder that provides multiple opportunities on defense
That is the mission for AD - then Rui to Gabriel to LBJ to (*m*a*y*b*e*) Bamba/Thompson

How many times can we force Klay off the 3pt line to drive into the paint where AD is waiting
That is the mission for AR to DLo to Brown to LBJ

How many players will step up where AD and LBJ only has to play between 35-38MPGS
That is the mission for Rui to Gabriel to Vando to Brown to Beasley

---

Game of Math
By Brad Botkin
https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/lakers-vs-warriors-score-anthony-davis-dominance-stephen-currys-usage-among-key-takeaways-from-l-a-s-win/live/


The Los Angeles Lakers stole Game 1 of their second-round series versus the Golden State Warriors with a 117-112 victory on Tuesday.

It marks just the fifth time during the Steve Kerr era that the Warriors have lost Game 1 of a playoff series. In the previous four, the Warriors have come back to win three of them, including the first-round series against Sacramento and last year's NBA Finals against Boston.

Below are three big takeaways from Game 1.

Anthony Davis was dominant
Davis was an absolute monster with 30 points, 23 rebounds, five assists and four blocks. Kevon Looney tallied 23 boards of his own, seven of which were offensive, but this matchup went to Davis, who is just too big and too athletic for Golden State's undersized and athletically inferior frontline.

Defensively, Davis basically roped off the paint, where the Warriors scored just 24 points to the Lakers' 54. He blocked shots. Changed shots. And discouraged shots altogether. Golden State tried to make enough 3-pointers to offset Davis' interior dominance, and they came close.

Which leads us to ...

The math game

True to their identity, the Warriors bombed away from deep in Game 1, attempting exactly half their shots from beyond the arc and becoming the first team in playoff history to boast three players (Steph Curry, Klay Thomson and Jordan Poole) with six made 3-pointers each in a single game. All told, the Warriors made 21 triples as a team to the Lakers' six.

That's a 45-point advantage from beyond the arc. As mentioned, the Lakers won the paint battle by 30 points. That leaves the Warriors at plus-15. Finally, the Lakers made 25 free throws to Golden State's five. That's plus-20 for the Lakers, and plus-five overall, the exact margin of victory.

In other words, the Lakers bet that by sagging Davis into the paint and forcing the Warriors to make a ton of 3s, that they could score enough from inside the paint and at the free throw line by being more physical and bigger to win out. They were right.

Steph got going too late

Stephen Curry scored 10 points in the first quarter. He didn't score his next point until the seven-minute mark of the third quarter. Curry got hot late, when Steve Kerr finally started letting him create for himself, and scored 14 points over exactly an eight-minute stretch of the fourth quarter, but it was just a little too late.

With the advantage the Lakers have on the inside in this series, the Warriors are going to have a tough time winning with Curry scoring three points over two quarters of play. Jarred Vanderbilt is an extremely physical defender who is crowding Curry off ball and tracking him as he runs around screens, and the Lakers are not fooled by a lot of those maze routes that Curry takes.

Often, it ends with someone else shooting without Curry ever even touching the ball, which is a win for the Lakers no matter how the possession ends. When Curry finally brought the ball up the court with the intent of creating off the dribble with some momentum and space on his side, it was no accident that he scored nine straight points in the fourth quarter and Golden State's offense broke loose.

Kerr hates running offense through Curry as a self creator until he has absolutely no other choice. Like Game 7 against Sacramento, when he put it in Curry's hands to create from the start and Curry, not coincidentally, hung a 50-ball.

This is a delicate balance. We've seen many a team flame out by burning their creator's candle too hot for too long. But Kerr has to be willing to put the ball in Curry's hands sooner. It's his best way to draw Davis out of the paint, for starters, and it will ensure that Curry gets in rhythm, and stays there.

[Nobody]

Thanks for the write-up, DB!

Man, oh, man, another nerve wrecking game. I loved the poise and calmness the Lakers exhibited tonight. The end-of-game run was inevitable, as was the historic barrage of threes. But they survived because they stuck to the plan. Hopefully LeBron's shot makes an apperance and they continue to pound the paint. The W's can only hit so many threes.

Go Lakers!

[al242]

Great job by HAM cutting Beasley out the rotation, he needs to do the same with Brown now. Brown shouldn’t see another minute for the remainder of this series, give those minutes to Rui

[ChefLinda]

Thanks, DB!

[LakerLanny]

[Dr. Laker]

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

[r0663664]

Ham doesn't has the gut to tell AD Nd LeBron to stop shooting 3s. He will say shoot it when you are open. Come on, it is so dumb. Warriors will dare 2 of them to shoot 3s all game long. They wish LeBron and AD to take 5 3s per game. Ham do your job as a head coach, not players' best buddy.

[Halflife]

dennis was awesome. There is something to be said for a guy who isn't afraid.

They have nothing for AD. They will probably go smaller ball and we have to punish them. Too big too strong.
_________________
Kobe.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/Clw9scopegx/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

[yinoma2001]