NUGGETS -at- LAKERS - 2-8-24 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Can’t Close the Nuggets... No Russell, Vando, Vincent, or Reddish. They added Christie with an ankle twist late in the first half. That’s just too many missing from your guard rotation.

The Lakers battled, though.

Down 15 midway through the third, Austin Reaves came alive. He set the table for scores with Bron, hit a three and set up AD for more. An 8-0 run trimmed the lead in half. They’d scratch that down to just 4 points by the end of the third.

In the fourth, Jaxson Hayes came off the bench to provide some much needed energy, hitting the offense glass, saving loose balls and coming up huge with a track down block. Reaves would hit a big three on the other end with 2:15 left and the Lakers were tied up.

Unfortunately for Reaves and the Lakers, he’d miss a huge three with 1:21 left down 5. If they didn’t get that one, they’d need a stop at the other end.

Reaves tried to blindside Jokic at the top of the key, a suicide steal attempt in which he came up empty. That left Porter Jr. open for a wide open three. He buried and buried the Lakers for good.

Once again, the Lakers struggled to overcome the Nuggets down the stretch in a game. Good effort with all the guys missing, but the Lakers take the 114-106 loss.

A long day for the Lakers with the trade deadline and the Kobe statue reveal. The team will look to the buyout market to add some help.


LeBron -- -- Really liked some of the Bron/Reaves two man action where Reaves was giving him passes in the pocket and Bron could get downhill. Good adjustment in that third quarter. Bron and Reaves were the primary playmakers in this one with 17 of the Lakers 27 assists and just 3 turnovers between them. Bron had a turnover (I think they called it a turnover, but maybe not) late in the game on a defensive end where he had the ball just slip out of his hands and right to the Nuggets. We were right there. The Lakers tied things up a few times, Bron hit a couple FTs to tie it 100-100 with 3:44 left. The team gave up 14 points in those last 3 plus minutes. Bron missed a big bank with about 1:40 left and things went downhill after that. Some spry moments defensively again from Bron against Murray on a defensive stand. Really showing some effort against guards lately. The Stats: He scored 25 points on 9-20 shooting (2-6 from three, 5-5 from the line) to go with 9 boards, 7 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 turnovers and no fouls in 35 minutes. He was a -6.

Davis -- -- Steady game from start to finish. He was maybe a little frustrated after the game on some of the defensive breakdowns late in the game. “You just got to be more disciplined,” he said. Obviously, he mentioned the Reaves miss steal, but he mentioned several other plays prior to that where the Lakers didn’t get the stop. He had 4 blocks in the game. The Lakers had 6 blocks in the first 13 minutes and would finish with 10 on the night. Offensively, the midrange was falling. A lot of good two-man action to set him up, including a big lob dunk finish from Mays late in the game. Good work with Reaves prior to that, as well. The Stats: He scored 32 points on 14-27 shooting (0-3 from three, 4-6 from the line) to go with 9 boards, 3 assists, 3 steals, 4 blocks, 1 turnover and no fouls in 38 minutes. He was a -11.

Reaves -- -- He was 1-8 at one point in the first half before scoring a layup with a few seconds left. In the third, he found his game. Working the two-man action with Bron and AD, he set them up for scores. He’d score himself, finding a gap in transition for a layup. More two-man action with AD for scores. Late in the fourth, Reaves hit a big three with 2:15 left to tie the game. He’d then miss another big one with 1:20 left down 5. That hurt. Then the suicide steal attempt on help that led to the dagger from Porter Jr. That was the game. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 6-16 shooting (2-7 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 10 assists, 2 steals, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 36 minutes. He was a -9.

Hachimura -- -- Some good moments defensively with challenges and block. Offensively? Oof. We did a really poor job using him in this one, especially with some possessions where we had a size advantage. To be fair, there were lineups out there we’ve never seen. And Christie starting was one of those. We struggle to integrate him in normal lineups. So he was just a non-factor on that end. He muscled his way to the rim for a layup on one attempt. He missed both threes. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-5 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 4 boards, 1 block, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 38 minutes. He was a -12.

Christie -- -- So annoyed. This was a good opportunity for him and then he rolled an ankle getting fouled on a finish attempt. He sank a couple of threes in the first half and played some disruptive defense at times, challenging well and coming up with a steal. He needs to work on using his body a little better finishing around the rim, but that’s the kind of thing you expect from a 20-year-old. He didn’t return in the second half. Hopefully, it’s not major, but who knows? The Stats: He scored 7 points on 2-7 shooting (2-3 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 foul in 15 minutes. He was a -7.

Prince -- -- Really strong scoring game off the bench in the first half. He kept the team alive when Reaves was struggling. He sank a couple of threes, attacked off the three line for an And-1 and also a floater. All 13 of his points came in the first half. He’d start the second half and go scoreless. A nice defensive moment with blocking Jokic from behind on a three attempt. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 4-6 shooting (2-3 from three, 3-3 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 34 minutes. He was a +1.

Wood -- -- He scored a layup when AD got doubled and found him. Some good defense on guards when caught on switches. Both of our backup bigs contributed tonight. Wood had the team-high +7 when out there. He didn’t have great moments when he had to take on Jokic defensively, but I like the size the Lakers played with tonight. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-1 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block and 2 fouls in 19 minutes. He was a +7.

Hayes -- -- He gave the team that energy they miss with Vando sidelined. Huge effort by Hayes that had the arena buzzing and the Lakers taking some of the fight to the Nuggets. He was relentless on the offensive glass with 5 offensive boards. One of those led to a Rui score, another was a putback on a Bron miss, another was a tap in of a Mays’ missed floater. He knocked a board away from Jokic and AD scored off it. In one of the biggest plays of the night, he had a huge track down block in transition. “I could go through a long list of plays that were ultracompetitive,” Ham said of the team’s effort after mentioning that play. Hayes would also score off a Mays drive and dish and drawing some FTs in the fourth. In the first half, he had a layup off a spin move. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 4-6 shooting (0-1 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 6 boards (5 offensive), 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 blocks and 1 foul in 17 minutes. He was a -4.

Mays -- -- He came in with 3.6 seconds left in the third for a defensive sub and to rest Reaves. We ran him 6 minutes in the fourth in a big game. Great job being thrown in the mix. He and AD ran the two-man game and Mays hit him for a lob with 6:40 left to tie the game up. Just big minutes to be running the show, but that’s the state of affairs right now. Prior to that he hit the floor to help recover a loose ball and ignite a break. He missed a floater, but Hayes tapped it in as the D had been compromised. He crossed over, attacked and hit Hayes for a dunk on another play. One miscue, stepping on the sideline as he set up for a three. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-1 shooting to go with 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and no fouls in 6 minutes. He was a +1.

Ham -- -- Key Moment: Ideally it would have been that chase down block by Hayes and the Reaves three tying things up late. Instead, the Lakers fell apart defensively late. They got outscored 14-6 in the final 3 plus minutes. The Lakers had too many pieces that haven’t played together before and were doing a decent job with it, but when chemistry mattered the most, the Nuggets had it once again.

Key Substitution: First half it was Prince scoring at a high clip to make up for others missing. Second half, it was Hayes energy. Ham left Hayes in there all fourth. Very tricky running Hayes with AD, but it’s essentially the same as running Vando with AD. Hayes is just a bigger version and can even be more of a threat offensively out of that dunker spot or rolling. Kind of liked the Hayes/Mays combo.

Key Stats: The Lakers had a 12-4 advantage in steals, a 10-6 advantage in blocks and a 14-7 advantage in turnovers. They lost the fastbreak 19-13. Hard to do that when you carry the day on those stats.

Coach’s Challenge: Weird challenge by Ham with 3:17 left in the third with Jokic backing Wood down in the post and drawing contact. If there’s contact, they aren’t going to override the call. Nuggets used theirs late in the game to challenge a Bron layup where he was fouled twice, yet won the challenge, lol.

[mad55557777]

It’s time people hold Rui to the same standard as Reaves, he has been disappointing so far given his contract. Horrible defender in the perimeter.

Otherwise, good effort from the lakers tonight on a bad shooting night

[Lakesh0wtime]

[miggz23]

[mad55557777]

[1995Lakers]

Well we got one more game against the Nuggets, thankfully on our home floor vs the Nuggets in about a month to build confidence against this team.

[slavavov]

We saw the difference between a good team and a championship team tonight.

The Lakers, when they want to be, are a good team, maybe even a really good team.

But the Nuggets are the defending world champions.

Big difference.
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Lakers 49ers Chargers Dodgers

[bkt4208]

People in here were worried about actual minutes when adding a couple more players at deadline/buyout market.

You had Skylar Mays getting big minutes in the 4th quarter for crying out loud.

No Russell, lose Christie for a half. No Reddish or Vandy and no Vincent; so we lose what could have been a winnable game...

[governator]

[Laker7]

Too many injuries to the Lakers right now to be competitive. All star break cannot get here soon enough.
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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".

[A Mad Chinaman]