The Lakers got punched in the face by the New Orleans Pelicans last night. Not only that but they also lost Nick Young (for 2-4 weeks so it’s not as bad as we thought it was going to be). They already didn’t have D’Angelo Russell. But somehow, the Lakers pulled this one out against Chicago in a second game of a back-to-back, 96-90.
But this game was so ugly. I watch a lot of NBA games and this might be the ugliest one I’ve seen all season. In the first quarter, it felt like the Lakers were playing basketball underwater. They kept turning the ball over and this would go on all game. They were once down, 28-14. It looked like it was going to be a rout.
The Lakers bench came through as always, though, as Jordan Clarkson, Brandon Ingram, Lou Williams, and Larry Nance, Jr. made plays on both ends. While it was frustrating that the Lakers couldn’t get over the hump in the second quarter, the fight that they showed was admirable (once again) as they looked dead in the water a bit earlier.
Jose Calderon got it going early in the third and finally helped give the Lakers the lead. Even though the Bulls took an eight-point lead and with the Lakers being careless with turnovers, the energy of the bench, particularly from Clarkson and Lou, helped them get back into it. The game would go back and forth in the fourth quarter and it really was not pretty to watch. It seemed like scoring would only happen every five minutes in that stretch.
After Jimmy Butler tied the game with a 3, Julius Randle drove inside and executed a spin move to give the lead back to the Lakers with less than a minute to go. Lou split his free throws, giving the Bulls one last chance with 19.5 ticks left but Butler airballed a three-pointer. The Lakers made us nervous a few more times with a questionable inbounds pass and one more trip to the free throw line. Randle splitting his foul shots was enough to give the win to the Lakers.
All I know is that a win is a win, no matter how ugly. But what was impressive for the Lakers was their defense. Jimmy Butler did score 22 points but he only went 4 for 18. The Bulls only shot 35 percent overall. While the Lakers didn’t shoot well themselves (under 41 percent), they were aggressive in the paint. They outboarded the Bulls, 60-46 (the Bulls are second in rebounding). They got to the line 41 times (Bulls went 29). That was enough to make up for the Lakers’ 23 turnovers. 23. Ouch.
But hey, Randle went for 13 points and 20 boards. Clarkson and Lou went for 18 points each. And Nance had 12 and 11. Brandon Ingram missed 8 of his 9 shots but he played some excellent defense on Butler; he really affected the game without having to shoot too much. The Lakers only shot eight three-pointers (only made two) but when you’re missing two of your more prolific three-point shooters, that will happen. I like that the Lakers had enough gumption to forget about their loss against New Orleans and went into Chicago to steal a win.
Lastly, I wanna bring out what Darius tweeted earlier…
Bulls win in LA on the 2nd night of a back to back w/o Wade. Lakers win in CHI on the 2nd night of a back to back w/o Russell & Young. Okay.
— Darius Soriano (@forumbluegold) December 1, 2016
The gutsy Lakers are back to .500 with a 10-10 record. They’re going to play their third game in four nights on Friday as they go up to T Dot (am I cool for calling Toronto that?) and take on DeMar DeRozan and DeRaptors. I apologize for that awful wordplay.
In the meantime, enjoy this victory. But I recommend forgetting this game as soon as possible because that game was so gross. I nearly recapped this game with just chicken scratches and “LAKERS WIN.”
bluehill says
This team just continues to impress. Another b2b win on the road. I think that’s 4 road wins for the year. And they held the 7th best offense to 90 pts.
I think Luke and his staff are showing that they are very good at making adjustments. Maybe a little too much to ask them to figure out how to overcome losing Nick during the NO game, but given one day they seem to have come in with a plan for Chicago. It took the team a quarter or so to settle down, but after that it was on. Of course, it helps that the Bulls seemed a little rusty.
But who cares. They got the W, learned some good lessons and gained more confidence. All good!
new rr says
Good win for the team and more evidence that Walton is a really fine coach.
matthewhaotran says
ESPN and NBA.com has Butler going 4-18, 1-6 from 3PM, 13-15 FT. (instead of 4-22)
LonShapiro says
Given the circumstances (second game of a B2B on the road against the #3 seed in the East, with two starters missing), I’ll remember this game for a long time for four reasons.
1) I just loved their fighting spirit and their effort on the boards after getting out rebounded by 20 the last time these two teams played.
2) The bench players are proving that they are as good as some playoff team starters during the fourth quarter.
3) Brandon Ingram played 41 minutes and was the key piece the Lakers have lacked since the beginning of the season – a wing player who can make it difficult for the opposing team’s star to take over the end of games.
4) After 20 games, the Lakers are not only staying in games until the fourth quarter, they are starting to learn how to win these close games. I didn’t think they would be able to do this until the second half of the season.
They are now 6-7 against playoff teams this season. If they can just dominate the bad teams, they can become a playoff team themselves. It’s all part of the process.
AngelGumera says
We found our new LAMAR ODOM; he’s name is LARRY NANCE, JR.
I was frustrated watching so many turnovers; but I saw how engage they are in the game gave me hope. I hope Brandom Ingram will find his shooting groove soon; despite that woeful shooting percentage he is confident all the time.
lalaker14 says
Sweet team victory! It may have been ugly but it was a great win for a team decimated by injury. Luke did a great job coaching in this one too.
david__h says
The belief in themselves that coach Walton has them playing
at this time appears to break the spirit of the opposition.So who are these lakers?It seems incomprehensive and beyond belief
but forty one and forty one is what I’m beginning to see.Ugly or whatever you want to call it,it’s looking pretty good to me.Confidence is key.
Go lakers
_ Robert _ says
Just give Luke the COTY right now
Amazing – absolutely amazing
Busboys4me says
Whoever schedules games for the NBA must have hated the Lakers. Criminy, the previous stretch, this stretch and 18 games in 30 days. If we, by some miracle, are close to .500 after all of that, this will be a playoff capable team. It’s getting harder not to have confidence in this team’s abilities.
Darius Soriano says
matthewhaotran Thanks. I’ve fixed the stat.
FredP says
The first quarter was ugly for the Lakers but they kept working their offense. Their runs included some great passes meaning less iso ball and players working to get open and looking to move the ball. Ingram showed why he needs to be in the starting lineup. His defense, rebounding and understanding of the game will do until his shot comes around. The Bulls’ defense on Randle’s spin move at the end was terrible. They knew that Randle was going to attack with his left hand and they opened up a lane for him to do that. Butler and Wade slid over to prevent Randle from spinning left but Lopez stayed on Nance and did not protect the basket. Basically, Randle beat 4 Bulls for the basket. On the Lakers’ side, Clarkson did not move over to the strong side to give Randle a shooter in case Lopez did decide to challenge the shot. Randle’s passing ability made Nance a threat on that play and that was enough to create the lane he needed.
Joel_ says
I can’t wait to see what Ingram looks like when his scoring catches up to the rest of his all-round game. It’s absolutely insane that a skinny 19-year-old rookie is already a plus defender in the NBA.
KevTheBold says
Hiring Walton was the smartest decision the Lakers have made in over a decade.
I only cringe when I read that Scott still thinks that he should be at the helm.
I predict that Walton will be one of the greats, and I’m so gratified that he’s with us.
BigCitySid10552 says
– “The Lakers need to hit 38 wins to tie 1971-72 squad, which won 21 more games than season
before, for the greatest turnaround in LAL history.” Baxter Holmes. Wow, that’s a serious
statement. Since many of the this season’s serious contributors were deemed to be immature
& not ready in order to justify ball hogging and a 17 win season.
– Laker history being revisited. Some already knew, some are starting to see a little clearer, other
will continue wearing their rose colored glasses.
– I hoped for at least a 30 win season to fully separate this team from those of the last 3 years,
which were three of the worst five in franchise history. The only five seasons with less than
30 wins. But 10 wins BEFORE December for a franchise which only won 17 all last season.
And please keep in mind that’s been accomplished WITHOUT the addition of a player who will
make this season’s All-Star game.
– Russell, Young, you guys and the others have been vindicated.
– Let’s go Lakers!
fern16 says
Im starting to believe we might end up winning more than 30 games. We are only 7 wins away from last year’s total and won our 10th game 2 months ahead of last season pace. This is impressive. If we get healthy when we hit the soft belly of the schedule we can win a lot of games. For now we just need to buckle down and wither the storm.
A Horse With No Name says
FredP
I totally agree that Ingram should be starting. I was confident that Luke would start him rather than Clarkson too. But here’s the dilemma: what to do about Deng? If he is put on the second unit, will his lack of speed and declining skills weigh that juggernaut unit down? Also, old guys usually do best when they start, as they need a good warm-up to get going. The guy is a problem.