In the big picture, if you would have told me the Lakers would go 2-1 on their 3 game road trip I would have taken it happily and not even thought twice about it. I think it important to remind myself of that right now because the Lakers’ 125-99 loss to the Wolves was as ugly as the score implies. In fact, it might have been worse.
As I wrote in my game preview, I thought there might be a chance the Lakers came out sluggish and that’s what happened. The starting group wasn’t just flat, they were slow in pretty much everything they did. Slow in getting into their sets, in moving the ball, in setting screens, in closing out on shooters, in rotating to protect the paint. The result was an early hole for the bench to try to dig out of.
Typically, that’s not an issue for the Lakers’ reserves, but this game they weren’t able to really get anything going either — at least consistently. They did have a nice spurt in the 2nd quarter where they were able to apply some defensive pressure, get some stops, and then get some baskets on the other end. For that brief stint, it looked like it was going to be business as usual but then things dried up again which allowed the Wolves to take control back and close the half with a run.
It was a similar story in the 2nd half and, in reality, it’s really not worth getting into. The Lakers simply didn’t have it this game and, in the grand scheme, that’s not the biggest deal when you consider the circumstances of the game. Now, if you want to dig in and say the 1st unit hasn’t played particularly well of late and then use this game as a data point in a larger issue, I won’t offer too much resistance. It’s true that the starters haven’t been doing as well as I think everyone — including them — would want and if that continues there may be some worrying to do.
But as of now, I’m going to chalk up this loss to what it was: a bad night. Now, some additional notes:
- I won’t harp on any single player’s struggles too much, but D’Angelo Russell’s general slump continues. While had good numbers against the Pelicans, some of that production came in garbage time. Against the Wolves, though, he was back to looking off in all aspects of the game, not finding a way to threaten the defense consistently as a scorer/playmaker and getting beat too often defensively. I wish there were easy answers for his recent play, but he’s just not playing well.
- One area where the Lakers as a team really struggled was in 50/50 balls. The rebounding margin was only 5 at the end of the game, but that number doesn’t do justice to how often the Wolves got to loose balls. Any time the ball got poked away or if there was a scrum in the paint it seemed Minny came away with possession.
- On my twitter timeline I saw a lot of fans complaining about calls going against the Lakers and the discrepancy in fouls (31 for the Lakers, 19 for the Wolves) and FT’s (30 to 42) does offer some reasons to be upset. That said, the Lakers still foul too much and that has little to do with unevenness from the refs. Against the Wolves, they reached in too much, weren’t in good position to defend the rim often enough, and generally were too handsy. Maybe the Wolves got away with some contact on plays, but that happens. The Lakers, in general, need to just be better at not initiating contact. The refs seem to view them as a team who fouls and they will not get the benefit of the doubt as long as that’s the case.
- Tarik Black was the only Laker with a positive plus/minus. He was on the floor during that 2nd quarter push, but never really got back into the flow of things after being pulled when the team was struggling on the glass.
- I thought Brandon Ingram looked good and that he played a very nice floor game. Besides his shooting efficiency (3-5 shooting for 10 points), none of his boxscore stats stand out, but he was assertive when he had the ball while still playing within the flow of the game while also showing good fundamentals with his positioning on both sides of the ball. In games like this one where the team as a whole is so bad, it’s good to see Ingram do well.
A Horse With No Name says
The poor defense (team fatigue, 3 games in four nights) led to a last season flashback game where seemingly everyone gets a new career high against the lakers.
If I had to play for Thibs I’d probably put him in a Spreewell choke hold… Gawd it’s so awful to listen to that guy bellowing at hid players all game long.
Mid Wilshire says
When you have a young team, games like this will happen, especially when it’s the 3rd of 3 road games and a back-to-back game at that. (Minnesota was also playing a back-to-back game.) It may be best just to take an amnesia pill and move on. There are times in the season when that’s called for. And this is probably one of those.
Having said that, a few observations:
1) The Lakers’ 2nd unit outscored the first unit, 52-47 (in fewer minutes).
2) D’Angelo Russell and Nick Young, the Lakers’ starting backcourt, had 16 points between them on a combined 6-19 shooting. Lou Williams and Jordan Clarkson had 31 points combined (nearly twice as many points) on 11-20 shooting. And Russell and Young played more minutes at that. Clearly, the Lakers are at their best when both backcourts are productive. Today’s was not one of those games.
3) Brandon Ingram played 26:34 (10 pts, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block, decent defense). He led the 2nd unit in minutes and had more playing time than any other Laker tonight except for Julius Randle. Obviously, Luke is not afraid to use Ingram. And that, I think, is a good thing. He should develop quickly.
4) The Lakers had 36 assists against New Orleans. Tonight against Minny they had 16 (against 17 TOs). When you have 16 assists vs. 17 TOs, you usually lose.
5) So far, through 11 games, the Lakers have played 6 road games (slightly more than half). On the road, they are 3-3. Not bad actually.
6) Finally, the Lakers are averaging 108.6 ppg while their opponents are scoring 107.5 ppg. That’s a positive differential of 1.1 ppg. At no point last year, did the Lakers have a positive differential. But they do now. This is a vitally important statistic which tells us a great deal about a team. (Can they win close games? Are they competitive? Are they holding their own? etc.) I find great encouragement in this. But of course, it’s a long season. How the Lakers perform over the remainder of November will tell us a lot about what kind of team we really have. As always, I’m hoping for the best.
LonShapiro says
The Lakers have played with poor energy at times in three out of their last four games (Dallas, half of the Sacramento game, and most of tonight’s game). For a young team to do that, I’m worried that we have wildly overestimated their chances of winning more than 30 games this year. Remember, they’ve gone 2-2 with teams that are among the worst in the league.
A few consistent themes: DAR making way too many turnovers; no one able to guard a good opponent wing; no real go-to scorer you can always count on (Williams has been great in the fourth quarters of games, but Young ad DAR went 2/12 from beyond the arc); and, they get killed by dominant big men (they were fortunate Anthony Davis got hurt in a game where N.O was missing three starters).
A couple of specific observations from tonight:
1. Thibs is a great defensive coach – they took away a lot of what the Lakers like to do.
2. When your opponents are banking in threes, a sub comes in to hit 5 of 8 3-pointers, and they shoot 12 more free throws than you, chances are this is not you night.
3. Ricky Rubio owns the Lakers for some reason.
4. Mozgov was a foul magnet tonight.
5. The Lakers got outscored 29-7 in the last 8:56 of the second quarter, and Luke couldn’t find any rotation to stop the bleeding.
6. The Lakers got within 8 at 97-89 at 7:56 in the fourth, only to get outscored 28-10 to finish the game.
Renato Afonso says
LonShapiro Rubio is a very good player. His inability to hit a deep ball doesn’t diminish the way he can control a game on both sides of the ball.
Vasheed says
LonShapiro
I’m not sure about the Lakers being dominated by bigs. Davis owns pretty much everyone. The Lakers did a good job harassing Cousins and Towns who isn’t exactly a slouch shot 7 for 22.
BigCitySid10552 says
-Wiggins 47 pt career high on great shooting, Laker starters: 47 pts. ‘Nuff said
_Craig W says
LonShapiro Mozgov may have been a foul magnet, but he was the one Laker most victimized by the refs. Take a look at a video of all the Laker fouls last night over at Silver Screen & Roll, and keep your eye specifically on Mozgov’s fouls. Two-three of them were really almost phantom fouls (the one where he was standing near the basket with his hands straight up in the air was particularly egregious).
That said, this was a game the Lakers lost, not one the refs took from them. We need to chalk this up to experience and learn from it.
KevTheBold says
Growing pains are to be expected, thus I won’t come down on them, especially after the most promising start to a season we’ve had in a ages.
As for Russell, any potential star point guard in training, will have a higher turn over ratio, yet he has it in him to be better; Walton commented on that.
His shooting of late however, does puzzle me, as his form seems to have changed, and it’s affecting his accuracy.
Could be a product of the new shooting coach. If so, I hope it’s only a phase.
Great to see Randle proving his detractors wrong, and also to see Clarkson lead the 2nd unit with such confidence.
I’m also liking what I see from Ingram, the kid has poise, and gifts galore.
I’m hoping we see more of Zubac. I believe he can contribute more than he’s been allowed to, though I must admit that I would hate to see him banged up as Mozgov has been of late.
Speaking of Mozzy, he’s a brave and fierce warrior and I’m glad to have him on our front line.
barry_g says
More critical to me than the mind-blowing (per pre-season prediction) 6-5 record is the underlying culture Luke’s building of players taking their craft seriously and finding joy in team unity on both the offensive and defensive ends. This team’s been so much fun to watch so far, and whatever record they end up with, I’m very optimistic about how much our young guys will have grown from the beginning of the yr to the end. THANK YOU, LUKE!!
Now, if we could make that pick going to the sixers fall somewhere in the late teens, that would just be icing on the cake…
Travis Y says
On offense, the Lakers are at their best when they are in transition and pushing the pace. In their offensive sets, the PnR followed by ball movement is producing stellar results. The problems happen when hero ball creeps its ugly way into the game.
On a night where their legs and energy appeared low, it’s not surprising that the starters had a tough time getting into transition, which sparks the rest of their offensive sets.
The other problem is Deng has not been accustomed to such a system and is finding it hard to understand where his shots in the offense are going to appear. Although his shot is not falling, he does a great job penetrating and finding the open man under the basket.
Zubac is young and has been hampered with an achy back. Once he gets some explosiveness and strength, he’ll be a force as he a nice offensive touch and appears to be in the right place for defensive rebounds and rotations. Problem is he’s a step slow, which gets him into foul trouble.
6-5 is incredible seeing that the Wolves are 3-6 and were projected to be leaps and bounds ahead of us.
LordMo says
In fairness to Russell I will say this…
1) New system and the PG always has the most responsibility heaped on their shoulders.
2) Russell is truly a combo guard and not a pure point. I know it is inconcevable to some but I have always said the kid looks better at the 2 at this level than the 1. Doesn’t mean you won’t still give him minutes running the show but dam I like it when he is on the wings getting that jumper off.
3) Russell is not an elite level athlete but a good one. But in the west that can be a problem facing the killer lineup of PG’s you are going to see night in and out. They pretty much know they can go around him at will right now. Russell himself talked about the knock on his athleticism in his pre-draft highlight reel on draft night. So, it was pretty much a concern but his skill level offensively (potential) is very high and it kept him in the top 3 on draft boards.
I have said this before players like this have to become an elite offensive player to outweigh their lack of defense. However, I feel Russell can become such a player given time and the proper system. He is not Steph Curry and this is not the Warriors. So, I would like to think he will find his own identity and find his way. All we need is for him to become the best D. Russell he can become!
LonShapiro says
LordMo I really liked what Russell did during the first six games. He was making an effort on defense, running out to contest three’s and collapsing to the basket when his man got by him on the pick and roll (he still doesn’t show much effort or desire to fight through screens like Williams and Clarkson, but we’ll leave that subject for another time).
During the first six games, it seemed like Russell’s turnovers happened because he was overaggressive and trying to force passes to cutters to get layups. They were high risk/high reward situations, and they didn’t bother me, because he succeeded on some of these passes with great results.
These last three games, the turnovers seemed more like lazy passes that had should have been low risk/low reward situations, like giving the ball to a player posting up, or handing off the ball to a guard to start some action.
He seems tired and unfocused. Let’s hope he gets it going on the next home stand.