Sometimes, it’s better to just post a highlight and celebrate a win.
Swaggy from every angle #IceInMyVeins ?? #LakeShow pic.twitter.com/yGEB2xzOr3
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) November 23, 2016
To recap the play above, the Lakers, down one, ran their weave action to set up a play that was designed for Lou Williams. Nick Young, though, worked his way back to the ball, stepped in front of the pass to Lou, stole it, then fired a fading 25 footer that he drilled. Yes, that happened.
The Lakers probably shouldn’t have needed that shot in the first place, honestly. They pretty much controlled the entire game, leading by double digits (or close to it) for much of the evening and finding ways to hold off the Thunder. Then, in the 4th quarter, just as Nick Young’s shot happened, Russell Westbrook happened.
The OKC guard had paced himself pretty much all night in the face of solid Lakers’ defense. Russ didn’t force too many shots, but also didn’t shoot well and instead did a lot of damage as a set up man. He tallied 8 assists in the 1st half and came out in the 3rd quarter looking to assist his teammates. In the 4th, though, he started to see the ball go through the hoop and it was on.
At one point Westbrook scored 12 straight points and 15 of 17 — with the one basket he did not score a dunk by Steven Adams that he assisted on. Then, with OKC down one with under 20 seconds left, Westbrook missed a jumper off a P&R only to have Adams crash down the lane and get the offensive rebound and putback to put the Thunder up by a single digit. Young’s shot erased all that effort, though.
This was a game the Lakers really did want badly, so it was good to see them battle hard and pull it out. They play the Warriors in a home-and-home on Wednesday and Friday, so getting back above .500 — especially after losing a couple of winnable games — is a nice reprieve. Nothing is coming easy for these Lakers, but they continue to fight and Tuesday saw them be more locked in on both sides of the ball than they have been in recent contests. That they could turn that effort into a W is a nice reward and hopefully puts them back on track.
Now, onto some notes:
- Six Lakers in double figures and two more with 8 points. As it has been all season, it was a team effort offensively with several players pulling their weight. This was especially important with D’Angelo Russell out.
- Speaking of Russell, props to Jose Calderon for filling in admirably. The veteran PG hit four 3-pointers and mostly did a good job of organizing the offense. Early in the game he had some issues dealing with the Thunder’s aggressive ball pressure, but he settled in nicely as the game went on — especially after he started to work more off the ball and look for his shot.
- Brandon Ingram had a good night. Not only did he have the assist on the game winner, he hit 4 of his 6 shots including going 3-3 from behind the arc. He was also solid on defense and was a key ball mover in the 2nd half. I continue to be impressed with his poise and how he does not get too up or down regardless of how he’s playing.
- Julius Randle played through a hip pointer, but was not himself. After the game he said that his hip bothered him during the game and that he felt it impacted his explosiveness and that it made it hard for him to play through contact. He did not sound sure he could play Wednesday.
- Another good game for Mozgov who shot 6-10 from the field and scored 16 points, He ran the floor well, was active in the paint on both ends, and was aggressive when trying to finish at the rim.
- Very nice bounce back game for Jordan Clarkson. After going 1-12 against the Bulls on Sunday, Clarkson scored a team high 18 points on 7-14 shooting vs. the Thunder. There were times he over dribbled and I would have liked to see him work less in isolation in general, but when he’s hitting shots and being aggressive those are things you can live with.
- Rough night on turnovers for the Lakers with 17. Luckily for them, several of those were of the dead ball variety and did not directly lead to easy baskets for OKC who only turned those miscues into 19 points. The damage could have been much worse on that front.
- The Lakers hit 14 of their 27 three pointers. That seems good.
- One last word on Russell Westbrook — I thought he settled for a tough 3-pointer at the end when a two pointer would have tied. And, after the game, I saw him taking some heat from folks on twitter lamenting him taking such a tough shot to try and win it. Honestly, though, OKC is nowhere near being in that game without his earlier heroics. I know he “only” shot 13-30, but he scored 34 points, dished 13 assists, and had 8 rebounds. He was a monster down the stretch willed his team all the way back to take a one point lead with under 10 seconds left. Yes, he could have played better in spots. But it seems crazy to focus on those spots considering all he did for his team in this one.
Renato Afonso says
Westbrook is a monster. That being said, I was happy with Calderon’s game. I believe that Russell can learn a lot from Calderon…
fern16 says
Man, Nick Young would had gone to hero to zero at warp speed with the fans and his teammates if he didn’t made that shot. I imagine the narrative. To his credit the Thunder didn’t saw it coming but that was a lucky shot. But i take the win so it’s all forgiven…
stats2 says
Some wonderful fan posted the entire game on youtube, so I got to see my first complete game of this season (while out of the country for work). I was impressed as heck with Nance. The dude is doing all the little stuff. He showed glimpses of the same traits last year, but he has improved markedly. I was sorry that I wasn’t able to see a game where Randle was at his best, but his stats of late (especially assists) have been impressive. Mostly, though, I’m glad we got at least one win in this streak of super-tough games. And I know this is not a huge revelation, but Westbrook is SCARY.
Vasheed says
fern16 That was an ugly game ending. Still in the standings it’s a win.
mcsr14 says
Lakers Win so I don’t really care, but how wasn’t that called as a travel?
Busboys4me says
I love wins you don’t expect!! I don’t understand our teams proclivity to turn the ball over constantly to start games!! It’s infuriating!! Though we played a good first quarter as far as the score. Calderon is good for spot minutes. I love the depth of our team. I still miss what Anthony Brown brought as a defender. We needed one on Westbrook in the 4th. Nick is going good, but Westbrook was otherworldly. Dare I say Kobe-esque….
Vasheed says
Busboys4me
Randle apparently has been bothered by a hip pointer and may not play against Golden State today. I’m wondering how Walton might respond as he has avoided changing his rotations that have been working. For instance if Russell can’t play he swaps in Calderon instead of starting Lou. When Mozgov was injured he called up Zubac instead of starting Black.
bluehill says
This was one game during this tough stretch that I thought the Lakers could win. These guys are becoming more resilient and seem like they are developing a sense of pride and expectation that they can play with any team. They got blown out in OKC so I thought the revenge factor might be there last night. Wasn’t pretty at the end but maybe this is a makeup call for the close games they lost.
That said, the karma may swing over to GSW since the Lakers embarrassed them last time. We’ll find out just how resilient the team is tonight given b2b, at Oakland, sans Dlo and maybe Randle. Ugh.
A Horse With No Name says
fern16 Disagree on the “lucky shot.” It wasn’t: he’s made very many clutch and unlikely shots in his career. This was another one. What it was though, was Mamba madness, testicular fortitude, ice-water, Mr. Clutch–all of that and more. You miss it; flick the dust off your shoulders. You make it, you’re a big time winner. Glad he has no fear of the moment.
KevTheBold says
Who would have thought last season, that Nick of all people would be the guy we placed OKC’s Westbrook, or that he would be our ice veined closer against the same team?
What a difference a season makes,..or should I say, a Coach makes.
Walton has been a blessing for our team, and I predict that he will go on to become one of the legendary coaches like Jackson, or Pop.
LT Mitchell says
Nick at $5.4 million is turning out to be one of the biggest bargains in the league. There aren’t many starters in the league who make less money and have contributed more (aside from players on rookie contracts).
Same goes for Lou at $6.7 million. Jamal Crawford for example makes $15 million (fair market value IMO) and Lou looks like the better player right now.
It’s been fun to see Nick turn his career around. It’s been even more fun to finally start rooting for wins again.
LordMo says
Nick Young = Most Improved Player of the year!
lalaker14 says
Westbrook was relentless all game long. … These lakers are amazing.
_Chris J says
Watching Westbrook last night gave me insight into how non-Laker fans must have felt when watching Kobe. You just look at his smug, pouty-lipped face and want nothing more than to see the guy fall flat on his face. But then he steps onto the floor at crunch time and tries to rip out your throat. I can’t stand the guy and his stupid outfits, his little dance fever act in the warm-ups… but damn that fourth quarter was Mambaesque. So props to Russ for being a baller, but more props to the Lakers for sending him home with an L.
Westbrook aside, I wasn’t overly impressed with OKC. I suspect the post-Durant drop may be more severe than first imagined, but they’ve not looked like a shoe-in playoff team to me so far this season.
lalaker14 says
A Horse With No Name fern16 Uncle P has clutch swag!
davis luv says
As happy as I am about the win, I can’t help wonder if young knew that a pass was going to Lou and intentionally stole it. And if so, what happens if he missed? Does that cause tention in the locker room for intentionally breaking a play that would decide the game? Thank god that’s not something we need to consider this time…
fern16 says
First off it was a travel. Second it was the first game winning shot of his career at 32 y/o so let’s just stop the Mamba insane comparisons right there. Im glad the oficials decided to swallow the whistle after calling such an horrendous game. Like Luke said, if he steal it, he better make the shot. He did it, it was dramatic and im happy we won. But it was a horrendous decision. He be better off not pulling that crap again…
A Horse With No Name says
fern16 Oh boo. Whether or not it was his first game winner doesn’t change a thing. I said he’s made many big, clutch and unlikely shots in his career. How about that three at the end of the first half?
Was traveling called? Nope. To paraphrase Chick: no call, no travel. Great winning shot. (And yes the officiating was awful.)
Pbz06 says
This was a game penciled as a must win if they want to keep the positive vibes going (knowing that the next two are GSW). 8-9 isn’t so bad and still is trending positive for this team (7-10 or 7-11 starts feeling “oh oh”) even though we aren’t really expecting playoffs.
Not sure what the hype is with OKC. They’re starting a rookie and a guy who can’t shoot. Lakers got blown out by them buy only from the box score. If I recall, Lakers even had the lead late in 4th until the wheels fell off.
And Westbrook is a ball hog. I’m over that brand of ball after the last couple of years. Of course he gets assists because he has the ball 90% of the time. His D seems better because of his intensity but he doesn’t stop anyone. He was lazy on Swags shot and even Calderon was able to move off ball and get wide open looks since Westbrook ball watched hunting for steals.
Anyway, Lakers are fun to watch. Ingram looks so comfortable and smooth. His stats show that he is a 19 year old rookie but his IQ and game look like they belong. Similar when Mike Trout first got called up he hit like .200 first couple of games but looked comfortable at the plate and that he belongs.
Yes I’m excited for Ingram/DAR/Randle combo. Can’t believe they are 19, 20, and 21 while already showing legit NBA skill.