WIZARDS -at- LAKERS - 2-29-24 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Old Man and the D... Perhaps, lost in the fireworks of LeBron’s fourth quarter in the Lakers 21-point comeback on the previous night, was his defense. He was battling Kawhi hard down the stretch and even forced the Clippers to look for other options.

Tonight, it was two huge plays in overtime that helped the Lakers secure a win against the visiting Wizards.

With 3:39 left, LeBron threw a bad pass and the Wizards were on the break. He hustled down court for a huge block from behind on Jordan Poole, who thought he was about to dunk. On the other end, he buried a huge three. Next time down, Bron took a pass from Russell and slipped the ball to AD for a score.

Then with 1:41 left, the Wizards were attacking the paint and Bron stood in to take a charge. The refs called it a blocking foul, the Lakers challenged and it was overturned. Another big stop for the Lakers. LeBron would draw foul on the other end with 1:28 left and that would be the last score of the game for either time as the Lakers held on to the 134-131 overtime win.

Yes, overtime against the Wizards isn’t what you want, but the Lakers will take the back-to-back wins.


LeBron -- -- The defensive plays were huge. That was a 5-point swing on the block on one end and a three on the other. That wins you overtime games. “We needed every bit of that,” Ham said. These last two games you just need to kind of step back and look at what he is doing. It’s crazy. Second night of the back-to-back after he crushed it and he comes up with 31 and 9, while making the key defensive stop in overtime. A lot of good two-man work to set up teammates throughout the game. He had a nice lob sequence to Hayes where Bron waited just a beat for Hayes to get into position. Some sloppy moments from him on some of the passing (got caught in the air once, which you rarely see). Scoring-wise, he sank a couple of threes, hit from the midrange, attacked the paint and the rim, including a big score through contact with about 4 minutes left in regulation (had another one in the third that looked like it should have been an And-1, as well). They’d let a potential charge on Bron go late in the fourth. The Stats: He scored 31 points on 12-24 shooting (2-5 from three, 5-7 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 9 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 4 turnovers and 1 foul in 39 minutes. He was a -5.

Davis -- -- He led the Lakers with 24 points on 7-11 shooting in the first half along with 8 boards. A lot of attacking and post work in this one. That is typically reflected in the freethrow numbers. The jumper was looking better from the midrange tonight. Ad hit a big jumphook with 1:02 left on the two-man action with Bron to go up 1. In OT, he also found Russell cutting for a big score and dunked off a LeBron drive and dish. He did have a painful dribble off his foot with 17 seconds as AR found him. Still, he stepped up to take on a big scoring load for the team after Bron put the team on his shoulders the previous night. Defensively, we were in drop coverage not expecting the Wizards to be as effective as they were against that. They exploited that pretty well tonight. “We got a tough month of March coming up, but we’re at home. We got to take advantage of that,” AD said. The Stats: He scored 40 points on 14-22 shooting (12-13 from the line) to go with 15 boards, 4 assists, 1 steal, 3 blocks, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 41 minutes. He was a +6.

Russell -- -- A lot of little smart plays from Russell. He had multiple cuts against the defense to get open in the paint for scores. He had a great screen for Bron early in the game in transition that allowed him to take it for a dunk. He sank four more threes tonight, a lot of catch-and-shoot opportunities for him, which is what we want. He led the team in minutes with 44. Dinwiddie had just 26. Might want to give him a little more rest than that (39 in regulation, maybe get it to 35-36). We’re getting more consistent impact from Russell. Let’s see how he does in the next one. A big game there could bank some extra confidence down the line. After the game, someone gave him a baby to autograph. The Stats: He scored 22 points on 9-21 shooting (4-11 from three) to go with 6 boards, 5 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 3 turnovers and 4 fouls in 44 minutes. He was a +4.

Reaves -- -- Huge, off-balance bank shot with 24 seconds left in regulation to tie the game up. He attacked Bagley, hung and faded and hit the tough bank over him from the right side. A couple big plays in overtime, as well. He had a possession of great D again Poole to force a brick with about a minute left. He also came up with a big offensive board and nearly the killer on a drive and dish to AD, who dribbled it off his foot. Earlier in the game, he had another big drive where he muscled his way to the front of the rim for a score. Rare we see him go to the improving strength in his game, but he’s done it a few times this season. (Still has a ways to go in that department on the defensive end.) Another good stretch from him late in the third when he got more aggressive. He seems to pick the energy up in tight games during those third quarters to try to spark the team. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 6-11 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 6 boards, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 39 minutes. He was a +2.

Hachimura -- -- Quieter night from Rui tonight. He missed both his threes he took. A few good plays muscling guys in the paint, once for a lefty jumphook. Another against the fronting D for a layup. He did choke both a layup and a reverse dunk, however, getting rejected by the rim. Thankfully, AD cleaned up that missed dunk for him. A couple of big rebounds in overtime to help the cause. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 4-11 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 7 boards, 1 assist, 2 steals and 3 fouls in 35 minutes. He was a +7.

Dinwiddie -- -- Much better game tonight, hitting a couple of threes and scoring in addition to setting up teammates. That’s more like the offensive balance we were hoping to see. One of the threes was a corner catch and shoot with Russell creating. The other was a two-for-one And-1 three (didn’t convert the 4-point play). Again some good lob passing, he found Hayes on one. Seems like he’s getting one of those a game. He mentioned the more comfortable he gets, the more we will see “typical Spencer numbers.” Looking forward to it. Some good moments on D, top-locking and also forcing a man to throw a pass away. He said he’s noticing that being a Laker, they are taking the best shots from opponents nightly. “It’s pretty evident we have the talent level to beat anyone on any night,” he said. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 3-5 shooting (2-3 from three, 2-3 from the line) to go with 3 assists, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 26 minutes. He was a +4.

Prince -- -- In again at PF when we sit Bron and Rui at the same time. The first half, that didn’t go so well. They improved in the second half. Can’t wait to get Wood back in the mix, but we could do a better job moving Rui’s minutes around if we wanted to. In any event, it’s not putting him into a great situation and he seems to be struggling to find some rhythm with it. He made one bucket tonight, hitting a turnaround in the lane. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-2 shooting to go with 2 boards, 3 assists, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 17 minutes. He was a -2.

Reddish -- -- “On a back-to-back we just decided to put him on ice early,” Ham said. He gave up a three and an And-1 right away to Poole after entering the game. Very limited action tonight probably because of that. Hopefully, not because of any health issues. The Stats: He had no stats in 4 minutes. He was a -1.

Christie -- -- In the rotation early, especially in the second half as we sat Cam. Christie took on some of the Christie assignment in the second quarter as Cam wasn’t up to it. A couple excellent offensive plays. He worked the two-man game and hit AD for a massive dunk. Later, he attacked in transition against a couple of defenders, hung at the front of the rim and scored the And-1 layup. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-1 shooting (1-1 from the line) to go with 1 assist in 9 minutes. He was a +2.

Hayes -- -- Scrappy effort again from Hayes. I’d really like to see him in a little earlier. We’ve been running a couple very short stints of Bron at the C spot even (in addition to those Prince at PF stretches). He dunked on the two-man with Bron, finishing a lob over the top of the D. He finished another lob from Dinwiddie for another score. He also tipped in a tough one cleaning up a missed LeBron drive in the second half. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-4 shooting to go with 5 boards and no fouls in 11 minutes. He was a -2.

Ham -- -- Key Moment: Glad to see Ham had his challenge ready to go on that LeBron blocking call. That was a huge overturned call in overtime. Kind of obvious, but they at least had it in their pocket to use and used it effectively.

Key Substitution: Maybe give this one to the Wizards getting 34 points from Poole off the bench in 38 minutes. Big numbers, but he was also a team-low -12.

Key Stats: I liked seeing the 20-24 from the line, with AD getting more than half of those. Love seeing aggressive AD.

[I Bleed P&G]

Easy W

[A Mad Chinaman]

[danzag]

Thanks, DB!

[danzag]

IIRC this starting lineup is now 8-1

[slavavov]

I'm glad we won, but we didn't deserve to win this game. Our poor efforts against crap teams like the Wizards continue to be a huge concern, and it could very well prevent us from making the playoffs.

It's so annoying how this team keeps competing hard and often beating teams with a better record, only to play down to the level of its competition when it faces an inferior squad.
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Lakers 49ers Chargers Dodgers

[Nobody]

Thanks, DB.

I guess it's okay that we won, but there is nothing to be happy about our play. A middle-of-the-pack team that will be fortunate to make it past the 1st round.

[LakerSD]

[Dr. Laker]

[joeblow]

I'm glad that AR's defense on Poole's 3PA during the last minute of OT was mentioned by DB.

Opponents on offense target him hard and often score easy points as a result, but in this particular sequence, AR couldn't have played it any tighter without fouling. Props to him for keeping at it.

[mad55557777]

[A Mad Chinaman]

[DancingBarry]

Just FYI - I won’t be able to cover tonight’s game.