WARRIORS -at- LAKERS - 5-8-23 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Stay Ready... The last time someone scored more points off the bench in the fourth quarter in a playoff game, it was a very young Kobe Bryant. May 8, 1997, Kobe dropped 17. Fast forward 26 years later to the day, Lonnie Walker IV would come off the bench to score all 15 of his points in the fourth to help the Lakers edge out the Warriors 104-101 and take a 3-1 series lead.

The Lakers were able to defend home court against the defending champs, but it did not come easy.

The Lakers took a 16-10 early lead on a 10-0 run keeping the Warriors scoreless for 4 minutes. They led 22-21 after the first.

An 8-0 run after Bron and Reaves both knocked down threes, and the Lakers had a 38-33 lead midway through the second quarter. Despite that, the Warriors found something in this game. They sat JaMychal Green and started Gary Payton II.

This was done to target AD, pulling him out to the perimeter to help defend Curry on the screens. Payton would roll to the hoop and the Lakers defense was collapsing with consistency.

In the third quarter, the Warriors would extend the lead after knocking down their threes. Another Laker 10-0 run sparked by Reaves coming alive helped them stay attached.

Still, midway through the third, they fell back by 12 as the Warriors were relentless. The finally Lakers countered with the two-man game with some of that themselves. They put the ball in Bron’s hands to hunt matchups. This pulled Lonnie over to start setting the screens and they would string together a 10-2 run.

Down 7 heading into the fourth, the first play they ran was the Lonnie/Bron two-man action. This time Bron hit Lonnie on the pop and he buried the three. The Warriors were forced to switch the next two possessions as L.A. ran the same attack, and the Lakers tied the game up as Bron caused problems.

Again and again throughout the fourth, the Lakers would get big buckets from Lonnie. The DNPs from the previous series/games now turned into Lonnie throwing punches and going for the TKO. He buried two big jumpers and a runner in the lane over Curry.

Up 1 in the final seconds, Lonnie came up with the big defensive rebound. He was fouled and hit both clutch ones to give the Lakers the 3-point lead.

After they forced Draymond into a turnover that resulted in a jumpball, Curry would come up with the loose ball falling to the floor, then blindly throw it over his head and out of bounds. Ball game.

Credit AD with a couple of iso stops against Curry in those final seconds on D. The Lakers held the Warriors to just 17 points in the fourth quarter.

“It’s not the first of three, it’s the first of four,” AD said after the game. Let’s get that fourth one.


LeBron -- -- He had 11 points on 5-11 shooting in the first half. Not terribly effective. There were times when he would compound errors in multiple possessions in a row. The play calling wasn’t as efficient as in the last game. We did see a nice sequence where he came off a Ram screen into a two-man game for an easy layup out of a timeout. That was an attempt to get him downhill with some open paint. The game would change in the second half. We made Bron the playmaker, hunting matchups and attacking. That got him into the paint more. The Warriors switched Curry a lot on him. We kept going at it. That’s got to tire Curry down and it helped the Lakers find their flow when their starting point was struggling. Hopefully, Russell can do a little more playmaking or we probably need to lean on Reaves a little more. This made those Rui/Bron small ball lineups better. I was a bit annoyed that we couldn’t take advantage of floor spacing with our small ball in some previous games. They did better tonight. Good job hitting both clutch FTs with over a minute left in the fourth, as well. Lakers were amazing from the FT line tonight. A lot of minutes from him tonight. We got a little rest for him in the last one, but we are going to need an all out effort on the road from him an AD in the next one. The Stats: He scored 27 points on 10-25 shooting (2-9 from three, 5-5 from the line) to go with 9 boards, 6 assists, 1 block, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls in 43 minutes. He was a -8.

Davis -- -- He had 19 points on 8-12 shooting in the first half. He wasn’t getting downhill quite as much as in the previous one (thus, only 3-3 from the line). He did have an And-1 against Green on one of those. I think the Lakers will look for more opportunities to keep that consistent in the next one because AD only had 4 points in the second half. The bigger story in this one is defensively how he was pulled away from the hoop. We’re used to game with 4 or 5 blocks. None tonight. He was getting pulled out of the paint with the GP screens for shooters. That got us into scramble mode as GP was rolling and we’d get odd-man advantages behind AD. At the half, Ham had mentioned that AD needed to play the perimeter D better in the second half. This game came down to AD switching onto Curry to go one-on-one defensively. The team’s two key players. Curry went 0-2 on those switches at the end of the game and the Lakers came away with the W. Like Bron, lots of minutes. Hopefully, he’s able to push through in the next one and dominate. The Stats: He scored 23 points on 10-16 shooting (3-3 from the line) to go with 15 boards, 2 assists, 3 steals, 3 turnover sand 3 fouls in 43 minutes. He was a +5.

Russell -- -- With the Warriors putting GP2 in with the starters, he ended up covering D’lo. That definitely made things a little tougher in this one for Russell to get into the flow. His only make was an elbow jumper and he only had 3 assists. He just never got it going. Our guard play in that first half was nonexistent. Others brought it in the second half, but Russell’s game was still MIA. Eventually, they went away from him to close this game. We’ll need a big effort from him on the road in the next one. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 1-10 shooting (0-4 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 3 assists and 2 fouls in 31 minutes. He was a -3.

Reaves -- -- “Let them know who Austin Reaves is,” AD told him in a timeout after he was struggling early on. What a turnaround in this game. His first half was one of his poorest in a while. One thing I’ve always liked about Reaves is he usually doesn’t put up back-to-back bad plays in a game. He doesn’t compound errors In the first half, though, he strung together some miscues. Late in the half, he finally swished a wing three in transition, getting his legs into it and knocking it down. In the third quarter, he started looking more like the Reaves we know the past couple months. He hit an open wing jumper working the two-man game. He threaded a sweet pass over the defender’s head to Bron cutting for a layup. He then drained a corner three in transition to take the lead. He stripped Curry for a stop. He attacked Curry on iso and scored a layup. He swished another wing three on a swing pass from Dennis. This was a big one as the Warriors just went up 12. After going to the bench and resting for a stretch, he hit a huge shot right after returning to the game midway in the fourth, sinking a midrange jumper. Shortly later, he’d attack off the three line and draw FTs on the pull-up to tie the game up. Big second half from Reaves. He’s been chasing shooters all series, great to see him punch back. He grew up a little more in this one. He said the vets wouldn’t let him shoot yesterday after practice. They wanted him to go home and rest. “I’m learning on the fly,” he said. Let’s do it again. The Stats: He scored 21 points on 7-15 shooting (3-6 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 4 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 34 minutes. He was a +5.

Vanderbilt -- -- Just 11 minutes in this one as the Warriors are playing him off the court because of his lack of floor spacing. There are other things we can do, as mentioned (setting pin-in screens or high screens for shooters, cutting, flashing to the paint from the dunker spot, seals under the hoop when they zone). We really need to execute some set plays to occupy his defender when he’s out there. He was a little slow to understand defensively that the Warriors had two non-shooters in their starting lineup and Vando could cause more problems off ball. It felt like he was recognizing that as the game went along, but it was never consistent. Let’s see how the Lakers adjust in the next one. Vando takes the Curry/Green two-man action away because we can switch. It’s definitely helpful. But they need to really refine their game in the next one because a close out game at Golden State is going to be tough. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 0-1 shooting from three (2-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards (2 offensive), 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 11 minutes. He was a -7. The Action: Steal, foule din transition. // Miss open three to start the half. Charg eon iso against Curry.

Schröder -- -- Our guard play in the second half was much, much better. Even with Dennis. Early on, he had some defensive miscues (let Curry score an O board, got picked and midcourt to give up a layup for Green on a two-on-one). Early second half, gave up a layup to Curry cutting and not paying attention. After that, the defense turned it up more. He stole an inbounds pass in the backcourt after a Bron layup, then attacked past Wiggins for a layup to cut the lead to 5. That got the crowd going nuts. He did end up giving Curry a 4-point play on a foul. But he was also key on that turnover by Green with 15 seconds left. He didn’t fall for the handoff fake, took the angle way from Green on the drive, got him in the air and he threw it away. Huge stop. Scoring wise, he would swish a baseline jumper, hit an elbow jumper, score around Klay after picking up his dribble in the paint. Later, he’d work the sideline two-man action with AD and bank in a runner. A couple of turnovers late that hurt, but he helped that Laker team lock in and hold the Warriors to 17 in that fourth quarter. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 5-9 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 3 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 34 minutes. He was a +12.

Hachimura -- -- Quiet night from Rui. Again, we struggle a bit to make him fit with our rotations. His second half shift in the small ball with Bron was much better for the team. This is when we started the two-man Lonnie action with Bron. We got the floor spaced, finally put the ball in Bron’s hand as the playmaker/scorer with that room and that helped those units throw punches instead of take them. Big adjustment. Offensively, Rui faced up for a blow by and drew FTs. He had a charge in the post on a Curry flop off ball. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 0-1 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 14 minutes. He was a +4.

Walker IV -- -- Heh. Man, in the first half his passivity was driving me a little crazy. In the last game, he found the aggressiveness it seemed as the game went along. I was hoping that would carry through, but he was really playing conservative ball, never putting any pressure on the D. Late in the third, they started running a Lonnie/Bron two-man game and Bron started to activate. They were hunting the mismatches. To start the fourth, they went back to it, this time Lonnie got the ball and swished the wing three. If you rewatch the next play (this had me laughing), we wanted to go into an STS action so Lonnie would come off a Schröder screen then set the screen for Bron. Schröder was really trying hard to guide Lonnie multiple times on where to go on this play and Lonnie was completely lost. Bron just worked it for a score anyway. They quickly bailed on that and just went back more simple two-man execution (you can bet they will be running this in the next game as another adjustment). Lonnie would then get another score beating Klay to a loose ball and taking it the distance for a layup (was hoping he’d throw that down in front of the home crowd). He’d get his next bucket on a baseline out of bounds play, hitting a catch and shoot midrange from the corner. Another bucket with the shotclock low, he iso’d on Curry and hit the jumper over him. He’d miss his next couple attempts, before we set him up on an ATO to get downhill in the lane and he hit the runner to tie it up. Then, on the other end he’d get a defensive stop going down on a Green screen (we need to do more of that on those moving screens). He’d miss another three on the switch with Bron, but with Bron on Curry, LBJ would draw Fts on the offensive glass. With under 2 minutes left down 1, Lonnie would iso against Curry and knock down another midrange to take the lead. He’d come up with a big rebound with 15 seconds left and extend the lead to 3 making both clutch ones. What a fourth quarter. Some good plays on defense, as well, on the other end. What can you say? You preach staying ready. Lonnie was the definition of that. Beasley lost his shot. Vando can’t space the floor. Rui doesn’t fit against the small ball. Brown has been mediocre at best. Ham cycled through his rotation and went to the next man up and Lonnie answered. All 15 of his points in that fourth quarter. He was hoping to show off his game with the Lakers and draw a big contract. Contracts are often made in the postseason. We need guard help. Let’s get after it again in the next one. Hopefully, from start to finish (27 minutes tonight!). “The harder you work, the more sacrifices you make, the better the outcome,” Lonnie said afterward on TNT. Love seeing him get the attention. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 6-9 shooting (1-3 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 27 minutes. He was a +8.

Gabriel -- -- A brief 2 minutes in this one as we tried to sub out AD a little early in that first quarter and get AD back in more with Looney. We saw AD aggressively going at that matchup at times. The Stats: He had no stats in 2 minutes. He was a -3.

Ham -- -- Key Moment: When we started running the Lonnie/Bron two man action in this game late in the third. But maybe you go back a couple games ago where Ham pulled Lonnie off the bench in the blowout and he scored 9 points in the blowout. Garbage time is garbage time, but he gave Ham something to think about. Ham followed that up with actual rotation minutes. Lonnie fought his way back in the rotation in the last game with 12 points. That all came to play in the middle of the dog fight in the fourth quarter tonight. Lonnie delivered.

Key Substitution: Lonnie was passive early on, not making himself a threat. With the Warriors putting Steph on him and the Lakers wanting to hunt that, we had to turn Lonnie into a threat. That first play of the fourth, he spotted up on the pop as the Warriors switched. Lonnie drilled that wing three and he was on his way to 15 of the Lakers 27 points in the quarter.

Key Stats: First half: The Lakers shot a poor 2-11 from three, Warriors 5-19. Lakers 9-9 from the line, Warriors 3-3 from the line. Second half: The Lakers shot 4-14 from three and 11-11 from the line. So, they’d finish a poor 6-25 from three (24%), but an amazing 20-20 from the line. The Warriors shot 7 of 22 from three in the second half and make 6-9 from the line.

Coach’s Challenge: He challenged a Curry drive at the end of the half where Reaves stepped in to take the charge. Seemed obvious Curry was in the air when Reaves stepped in. Challenge unsuccessful. Kerr tried to challenge that Curry turnover with 1.7 seconds left, desperate and unsuccessful.

[mad55557777]

Let’s face it, we had no business winning that game until LW4 carried us to victory

[Omar Little]

3-1!
_________________
“We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” ― Elie Wiesel

[lordtrapula]

I don’t care if Davis only got 10pts in a game, if he cooking on defense he’s arguably the best player on planet earth.

It’s insane, never seen a defensive big like him live. This what the old heads prolly talk about when they mention duncan and russell

[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".

[moonriver24]

How do you know which player played the best for the day?
Look at the longest lines of DB's illustration.
_________________
Kobe's Top 5 Dunks, 81 points, MJ last gm @Staples

[slavavov]

I'm not saying the Lakers are a championship team, at least not yet, but this is the kind of game that championship teams win. We won this the old-fashioned way — with hustle, grit and resourcefulness. I expected the Warriors to win this from the start, and until some point in the fourth quarter it viscerally felt like they were going to and supposed to win this one.

In the words of Derek Fisher, this is the kind of win that helps you grow chest hairs.

Lonnie Walker IV is an inspiration to all of us. He could've pouted and mentally checked out after losing his spot in the rotation, but he stayed positive and ready. He deserved what he did tonight.

On the other side, it was surprising to see the turnovers and miscues the Warriors had late. You don't expect that from the defending champs and a team that has won four chips in recent years.
_________________
Lakers 49ers Chargers Dodgers

[drae]

[slavavov]

[Eindhoven]

Game IV in the bag. So nice to see the team is not only Davis and LeBron, any given night we can count on guys like Lonnie, Reaves, Dennis, DLo, Rui, Vando...
_________________
....

[RhodyRay]

DB,

Thanks for the write up.

The Lakers did what they had to do to win this game.

Everyone in a Laker uniform should be prepared to do whatever it takes when their number is called. Lonnie did that in spades tonight! Reeves stepped up as well.

D'LO was MIA but Reeves and Walker stepped up. This is what it takes to win a ring. Next man up mentality.

Series is NOT over and the Lakers NEED to put the Warriors down in game 5. It won't be easy, but then winning a ring never is!

This team has a very promising future going forward.
_________________
Let them HATE so long as they FEAR!

[lordtrapula]

why does chuck keep calling the lakers old lol


LeBron is 38, sure but davis just turned 30, dennis is 29, and everyone else is in their early-mid-twenties lmao

[DrDent]

Thanks DB.

Wow...incredible win.

Question DB, is there a reason the Lakers cannot find away to keep AD near the lane versus allowing the warriors to dictate where he goes? Would it mean the Lakers would have to zone it up and that just plays into the warriors getting open 3's?

Pleased with how the young fellas came through. AR finally had a solid scoring game, and of course Lonnie sorta came outa nowhere with what he did. But kudos to Ham for knowing his guys and picking the right spot to place them. I remember earlier in the year many of us were raving about Lonnie, but of course that faded when he started slumping. Good to see him back at it again.

Of course, LBJ helped alot early in the 4th getting team back in it...he really, really needs to(imo) stop it with the volume 3's at this juncture. He is trying to shoot himself out of a slump, and would prefer he limit the dribble, dribble, dribble, 3's he takes. 2-9 of tonight. He is under 23% for the playoffs.

Was a little befuddled at the lack of using AD in second half...was it so he could exert more energy on D?

In any event, minor critiques aside, great win. Lakers have a shot to finish this in 5, but really have to stay disciplined and poised (Warriors under Kerr have not lost an actual western conference playoff series [not including play-in])...and shoot better, that's looking at you d'lo!
_________________
"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

[waterman40]

I can smell what's cooking now...
_________________
LAKERS 2019-2020: NBA World Champions!

[ChefLinda]

Can't believe we're 3-1. Thanks, DB!

[Texas_Pete]

Thanks DB. I think I cussed at my TV all night and bit all my fingernails. We got the 'dub' so it was worth it. Even my Celtic loving Laker hating cousin had to be impressed with the Lakers.

Anthony Davis is a defensive monster. When Jimmy was giving buckets to the Bucks to close them out, a former DPOY named Giannis wouldn't guard Jimmy. The Bucks are now fishing.

Last night the Dubs were putting AD in all kinds of actions. At the end of the game he had the guard the greatest shooter in NBA history and didn't blink.

Lockdown performance by the Lakers, anchored by AD (the real 2023 DPOY).

[LakerDYnasty72]

Of course the hero had to be No.4, Lonnie Walker IV, scoring only in the 4th quarter, in the 4th game. And we sealed the win by scoring 104 points.

The basketball gods aligned matters perfectly!

Thanks DB!!

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks again DB on an excellent T&R on an excellent win!!

And yes Texas_Pete:

[Startrout]

I thought the Warriors adjustments to start this game were brilliant. We had no answer for those Curry pick & rolls against AD, it is amazing we still found a way to win. Especially, with all our defensive breakdowns giving up wide so many open shots and uncontested drives at the basket.

LeBron has to stop with the hero ball 3’s, he’s almost as bad as Westbrook at this point. He also looked completely lost on D at times. I really thought he was going to cost us the game.

I’m so happy we started going to Lonnie. Before the 4th quarter I was literally yelling at the TV to pass to Lonnie, he was open nearly every time down and can shoot, but LeBron, Austin, Schroder all were ignoring him and attacking themselves. I sure the coaches must of said something about it to the team in the 4th. If so, great job coaches.

It was a great win and one we had to have. We still have our work cut out for us and we can’t let the series drag on as the Warriors can always comeback to win three in a row. We also need to close them out fast so we can get some rest before the next series against what will be a very different and dangerous team in Denver or the Suns.

[forzaCOREA]

Lakers have been getting burned on these type of plays out of time outs where the other team will get off a 3.

Check this clip out. Right when Green gets the ball and makes his drive LBJ points to the corner and tells AD to cover. I know its just a simple screen but the Lakers have been gettin burned and i'm glad LBJ screamed at AD to get there. LBJ is goat teammate.

I have PTSD from these late game timeout plays lol.

[ThePageDude]

I hate, hate, hate this team /antijinx

[joeblow]

Overall, props to the Laker team as a whole for the tremendous defensive effort, especially in the 1st and 4th quarters. Doing that so well against the defending champion Warriors is a tremendous feat that says a lot about our chances to eventually close out this series and do even more damage moving forward.

In fact, that's one area in particular that props should go to Lonnie Walker. He showed much greater attention to defensive detail than he did in various games this season. My wife even pointed out how well he stayed on his man with or without the ball. He was the one distracting Klay with an athletic lunge on that off-balanced three Thomson whiffed with two minutes left. That's what we need from him consistently.

While LeBron continues to be an invaluable second-best player on the team after AD (and props for his FANTASTIC defense in Game 4), he also is the main reason why our offense at times flies off the rails. I continue to *HATE* his outside shot selection as he once again took way more 3PAs than any other Laker while missing almost all of them.

LeBron's insane desire to be our Steph Curry bothers me so much because his terrible outside shooting attempts is our single most predictable and preventable mistake. It seems that every time he clanks one of these bricks, the opponent goes on a fast break run for an easy score. LBJ compounds it by being the one that almost always takes the last shot at the buzzer of a quarter... which is literally the worst shot in the Lakers' entire arsenal.

LEBRON, STOP TAKING SO MANY THREES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[forzaCOREA]

[joeblow]

[LakerDYnasty72]