The Lakers are starting their yearly trek to the east coast while the Grammy’s are being prepared for in Los Angeles. The team will begin its trip in Washington and will conclude in Milwaukee with stops in Boston, New York, and Detroit in between. They will not return home for 8 days when they face the Kings on the 10th of February.
That’s the bad news. The Lakers are nearly .500 at home, posting a 12-13 record for the season. They are, however, only 5-21 on the road. That’s not shocking for a young team who has been bad in recent years. That said, lack of being surprised does not equal it being something that can be lived with. For the long term trajectory of the team, they must find a way to snare some wins in opponents’ buildings.
That will be extra difficult tonight, though. The Wizards have won 15 straight home games and have been the best team in the East, record wise, since January 1st with a 12-4 record. After a so-so start to the year, they have climbed to 4th in the conference and only trail the 3rd place Raptors (who are slumping) by a single game.
The race for 3rd is important, of course, because you avoid the Cavs (who despite their own slump will presumably still end up with the top seed) in the 2nd round of the playoffs. A Cavs, Celtics, Wizards top three seeds would also give us a potential Wizards/Celtics 2nd round which would, based on recent developments, be glorious. We’re getting ahead of ourselves, though.
In terms of tonight’s game, the Wiz offer an interesting challenge. In a way, they are like the Blazers — a dynamic backcourt drives Washington with capable role players filling in the gaps. John Wall is playing tremendous basketball, scoring and assisting at wonderful rates and, maybe most importantly, setting the terms of engagement each night by controlling tempo and defending well. As for his backcourt partner, Bradley Beal is finally starting to live up to his draft status and talent level, by finding a stretch of good health and augmenting his game to include a more diverse attack. He’s getting into the paint more and settling for fewer long two-pointers while still hitting the 3-ball at a high percentage.
Beyond those two, Otto Porter has found his niche as a nice 3&D player. He leads the league in 3-point percentage, shooting 46% on four attempts a night. Marcin Gortat remains a net positive starting C, offering strong finishing ability in the paint and a nice P&R partner for Wall. Then there’s Markieff Morris as a nice stretch big (35% from deep), Kelly Oubre as an emerging back up wing, and several other contributors who have found their roles and are helping the team nightly.
So, yeah, the Lakers will have their hands full tonight. It is not yet clear if Julius Randle will play — he will be “active”, but Walton has said he may not see any run after dealing with pneumonia. Should Randle not play or if he’s limited, I am interested in seeing how Walton handles matchups. With Morris being more of a stretch 4, will Walton stick with Tarik Black at PF? Will he play the more rangy Nance or slide Deng up to PF and insert Ingram into the starting group?
Further, and more important, is how Walton handles his backcourt matchups and whether the Lakers’ depth can off-set the superior front end talent on the Wizards. Russell vs. Wall and Beal vs. Young are both worth watching (especially the battle at PG), but if the Lakers are going to be successful this game they will also need Clarkson to bounce back and Williams to continue his hot shooting.
Of course, if either Russell or Young can play their counterparts even (or win the matchup) the Lakers will be in even better position to win. Which brings us back to Russell. Coming back from injury, he played one of his better all-around games in the win over the Nuggets. He did not shoot the ball great, but he still scored 20+ points, got to good spots on the floor, and wonderfully stewarded the team’s offense.
Russell’s up and down play has been a calling card of his 2nd season and, as a soon to be 21 year old, this shouldn’t really surprise. But if he can play a similarly effective game tonight against Wall (who, no disrespect intended, is a huge step up from Jameer Nelson) as he did on Tuesday, that would be a nice step forward.
Lastly, I am interested in seeing how the minutes distribution and quality of those minutes compares between Mozgov and Zubac. Zubac’s emergence as a rotation player has not only impacted Mozgov’s minutes, but has pushed Timo to play better to hold onto the minutes he is getting. Against the Nuggets, Timo responded with a good shooting/scoring night, solid work on the glass, and about equal minutes to young Zu. Will that happen again tonight? Can the vet outplay his young teammate to snatch back some of those surrendered minutes? Tonight’s match up against Gortat should offer a nice test.
Where you can watch: 4:00pm start time on Spectrum Sportsnet.
mattal says
As always, thanks for the write up Darius.
I am especially interested in tonight’s game as it will be a chance to see Kelly Oubre in action. I think Oubre has the tools to be a great two way player. Believe it or not his wing span rivals Ingram’s — wow!
He’s stuck behind Porter, Wall and Beal so his minutes are less than a player of his talent would dictate. Most folks think that his lack of playing time is because he’s not very good which is not true.
I’m not sure if it’s OK to say this but, I think Oubre would be a perfect fit on the Lakers as a SG — primarily because of his defensive upside. Can you imagine he and Ingram on the wings defending passing lanes and getting in the face of the opposing 3 pt shooters? Our defensive efficiency would go way up.
Plus if we are truly going to climb the mountain we have to anticipate having a weapon to stop opposing SGs. Something to think about, we have two bigger Two’s in our own division with Thompson and Booker. Lastly for folks watching tonight is that Oubre loves to dunk in transition. I like the kid — alot.
Funny, because when I look at the Wizard’s roster I see that Wall/Beal are playing 35+ minutes a night. I think they could use a veteran ball handling guard that can soak up some of their minutes (to keep them fresh for the playoffs) and can put points on the board. Gosh, I wonder where they could find a player who can do that?
BigCitySid10552 says
Off topic, sorry, but can someone who has ESPN Insider let me know if any of our guys made the following list? And if so, where ranked. Thanks.
http://www.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_/page/nbarank_risingstarstop25/ranking-joel-embiid-kristaps-porzingis-25-best-nba-players-25
Darius Soriano says
BigCitySid10552 Russell is 15, Ingram is 21, Randle is 25. Overall, it’s an impressive list of talent. Btw, Booker is #17 and Mudiay didn’t make the list. Porzingis is #5.
mattal says
BigCitySid10552
1. Anthony Davis : New Orleans Pelicans
2. Giannis Antetokounmpo: Milwaukee Bucks
3. Karl-Anthony Towns: http://www.espn.com/nba/team/_/name/min/minnesota-timberwolves
4. Joel Embiid: http://www.espn.com/nba/team/_/name/phi/philadelphia-76ers
5. Kristaps Porzingis: New York Knicks
6. Nikola Jokic: Denver Nuggets
7. Rudy Gobert: Utah Jazz
8. Kyrie Irving: Cleveland Cavaliers
9. Andre Drummond: Detroit Pistons
10. http://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/3907387/ben-simmons: Philadelphia
76ers
11. http://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/3059319/andrew-wiggins:
Minnesota Timberwolves
12. Jabari Parker: Milwaukee
Bucks
13. Myles Turner: Indiana Pacers
14. Bradley Beal: Washington Wizards
15. D’Angelo Russell: Los Angeles Lakers
16. Steven Adams: Oklahoma City Thunder
17. http://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/3136193/devin-booker: Phoenix Suns
18. Aaron Gordon: Orlando Magic
19. Zach LaVine: Minnesota
Timberwolves
20. Victor Oladipo: Oklahoma
City Thunder
21. http://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/3913176/brandon-ingram:
Los Angeles Lakers
22. Rodney Hood: Utah Jazz
23. http://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/2594922/otto-porter-jr: Washington
Wizards
24. Thon Maker: Milwaukee
Bucks
25. Julius Randle: Los
Angeles Lakers
mattal says
BigCitySid10552
Note: The Lakers should thank David Thorpe for the ranking of their kids. He had Russell @ 9; Ingram @ 11 and Randle @ 14. El Hassan only had one Laker in his Russell in his top 25, Russell @ 17. Pelton did not list any Lakers in his top 25.
Mid Wilshire says
In the first half the Lakers had 15 turnovers (!) vs. only 5 for Washington. Not good.
Mid Wilshire says
A nice bounce back game so far for Jordan Clarkson. Through 3 quarters JC has 13 points (6-8 shooting), 1 rebound, 1 assist, and zero TOs. The Lakers should probably leave him in for the rest of the game.
Meanwhile, T Black has 10 points and 9 rebounds through 3 Qs and Deng is playing well.
But the Lakers have 18 TOs so far. That’s a huge hole to dig out of.
KevTheBold says
Oh well, it was at least competitive and winnable.
I’m seeing lack of confidence in Russell,..hopefully he will grow out of that,.but it seems he was more sure of himself in the past.
david__h says
Randle’s trying his best to develop a finesse game. Not now and not until he fully understands how to use his wide body to out muscle the other team. Make the opposition adjust to you. Randle needs to make his mark and show coaches and teammates his place on the team. He needs to both fit in and outfit the team with an enforcer mentality.
He can develop that right hand later. For now, he needs to perfect his footwork under and near the basket to better leverage his position on the court. Use that butt and your god given skills to show your talents. Net result: more playing time; added confidence.
Liked how lakers played with great effort tonite. Seeing growth.
Go lakers
Mid Wilshire says
Actually, despite some extraordinarily sloppy ball-handling (20 TOs vs. 10 for the Wizards), the Lakers put up a good fight.
In fact, they outscored Washington (a decent team that is now 29-20 and in first place in their division) by 6 points, 64-58 in the 2nd half. At one point I thought the Lakers were going to get blown out. But the Lakers’ 2nd unit came out firing in the 4th quarter and made Washington sweat for this one. It’s games like this that inspire a sense of hope in me for the future.
On the negative side, D’Angelo Russell, despite what appears to be a nice line (17 points, 11 assists, 7 rebounds), simply did not play well. He was 5-15 from the field, had 7 TOs, and was thoroughly outplayed by John Wall (33 points, 11 assists). Also, Mozgov was not really involved in the game offensively (unlike the previous two games) and had zero points and only one rebound in 17:01. Furthermore, Nick Young and Lou Williams were as cold in this game as they were hot in the last one.
But there were some real positives. After a poor outing in the last game, Jordan Clarkson bounced back and played quite well (and probably should have shot more). He led the Lakers in scoring (20 points on 9-13 shooting), 2 rebounds, 1 assist, and zero TOs. Ideally, I’d like to see him get more assists; but when he plays off the ball, he seems to play with a different mindset than he played in his rookie year when he was actually running the offense and had a more balanced approach to his game.
Tarik Black also had a strong game with a double-double (13 points on 5-6 shooting, 11 rebounds, 1 assist) and Luol Deng put in some nice work (17 points, 6-11 shooting, 6 rebounds).
The strong play of Tarik Black leads me back to a topic that I raised a few days ago. The Lakers will have 3 centers for the rest of the season, each of whom has to one degree or another made a strong case for playing time. Despite an off game tonight, Mozgov has, in all fairness, been playing well of late. T Black looked rock solid against the Wizards. And Zubac is starting to come into his own and could be a genuine part of the Lakers’ future. So…who gets playing time? It’s almost impossible to play 3 centers per game in this league (although two seasons ago Kentucky did it in college). Clearly, something’s gotta give. It should be interesting to monitor this situation during the rest of the season.
LonShapiro says
Good new and bad news.
Great fight by the Lakers, coming back from 19 down to tie the game. But they made 15 turnovers in the first half to dig themselves a huge hole.
D’Angelo Russell had a second straight game with 11 assists, but the Russell, Young and Clarkson took quick 3s, instead of playing within the offense at the end of the game when it was close. They combined to shoot 0 for 6 over the last 8 minutes of the game.
The bench was great again, outscoring their Wizards counterparts 54-16. We just won’t talk about the starters.
With the game tied at 91, John Wall took over the game, scoring 8 straight to give them a 99-93 lead. Lakers pull within three at 108-105, and Wall scored 8 straight points to end the game. The Lakers don’t have anyone who can guard an elite point guard with speed.
One more step toward protecting their first round draft pick. If they only win one game on this road trip, let it be against the Celtics!
LT Mitchell says
Magic was just interviewed on TWC. Some highlights:
– he still watches every Laker game.
– he thinks Randle could be an all star if he develops a right hand.
– he wants DAR to be more of a leader.
– he praised Luke saying no other coach would have tried to make Ingram a playmaker in his rookie year.
– he loves Ingram’s attitude, work ethic and potential.
– he wants Jimbo to remain head of basketball ops for the next 10 years. Just kidding on the last one.
fern16 says
Have to be encouraged about DAR getting 10+ assists back 2 back. It’s about time he started bringing up tue assists numbers. Not his best game shooting wise bit it’s encouraging nevertheless Thats something for the future. I have to say that bringing Magic back has to spell some kind of shake up in the off season front office wise. Overall good effort. Lost against a better team which will be the case most nights. I don’t comment that often anymore but like Magic said, “Lakers fans are encouraged but are tired of losing” im one of those fans.
stats2 says
LT Mitchell Dude. Almost gave me a heart attack with the Jimbo comment. Nice to have Magic back. I liked the fight tonight, too.
_Craig W says
Mid Wilshire Black is spending time at PF. With our injury situation, I don’t know but what we may have openings for the remainder of the year. One big plus is he seems to be more flexible, the more he plays with everyone. His game seems to match up with Julius, Nance, and Zubac. This is positionless basketball, after all.
_Craig W says
LT Mitchell Sorry, I just don’t believe the success/failure of the Lakers hinges on whether Jim stays or goes. Even if he ‘goes’ he is going to remain as an owner – probably one we will hear from.
I saw an article about how the Magic hiring showed a lack of imagination by the Buss family. I don’t agree. Jeannie and Magic are the same age and have been around each other for just under 40 years. Seems a pretty good move to me – and it gives Jeannie some cover and comfort if she has to accept her brother’s resignation. Yea, I know what I said above – and I stick with it.
A Horse With No Name says
No way the Wizards deal an up and coming talent like Oubre for Lou Williams. I don’t think Oubre has the ball handling skills of a guard either.
JuanJ says
_Craig W LT Mitchell
Craig, I wholeheartedly agree that the team´s success doesn´t hinge on whether Jim stays or goes.
I also like your take on the Earvin – Jeannie relationship.
JuanJ says
Mid Wilshire
As usual Mid, a fine recap – thanks!
Travis Y says
Great article by Baxter Holmes on the 86′ Celtics’ imparting his love of basketball.
Love that he’s trying to bring 300 passes, camaraderie, and team basketball back to the Lakers.
Hoping the front office obtains more pieces that fit the mold.
Travis Y says
Mid Wilshire Great recap. Agreed, our team plays better when Mozgov is involved on offense.
I would say that Russell has the skills to shoot and vision to pass. The struggle with him is his willingness to pass. His mindset is to score, be aggresive, suck the defenses in, and then make passes.
I would say his great game against Denver can be attributed more to who he had to guard (Jameer Nelson). When he is up against elite and athletic point guards, Russell struggles. I can’t blame him, his size and athleticism doesn’t match up. Which is why we need to get an extremely athletic point guard who can slow these guys down.
In my mind, I’m thinking what the Warriors do with Stephen Curry. Let Klay guard the elite primary ball hander and let Curry defend the off ball guard.
This will be paramount to our success.
Clay Bertrand says
LT Mitchell
I think Magic was rather professional and diplomatic (EXCEPT when he said he knows ALL the players “forwards and backwards” and watches ALL the games, then he mispronounced ZOOBOTZ as ZOOBOCK and then asked, “Is that right??” Lol—-He gets a pass cuz hes MAGIC tho).
He didn’t come in breathing fire and talking a big game about taking over. Clearly he will not be more than an advisor with all of the other things he has going on. His business success and his confidence are going to be great asset IMO.
If Jim is going to be forced out, it WON’T be Magic doing it. It’ll more likely have to be Magic just sort of putting a mirror in front of the Lakers operation for Jeanie and letting her see what he sees. She will have to act when this happens.
With the Dodgers, even having success with the previous FO structure, the Guggenheim Group ownership brought in 2 different Young Minds from outside the organization to lead the FO.
If Magic is going to have any influence by way of showing Jeanie the Dodgers “BLUEprints” (Get it, Dodgers and BLUE??? : / ), then that would likely lead Jeanie to go the YOUNG MINDS route.
Magic says, Jim calls the shots and he’s just there to help. That’s the situation FOR NOW at least. Nothing is certain, but I still sense a shake up coming.
_ Robert _ says
Game: Williams and Young were cold therefore – we lost.
DAR: yes he is moving the ball better but 7 TO and 5-15 is not good.
Wizards: Ken has not posted in a while, but I remember he used to get particularly upset when the Wizards played us well or beat us. I miss those days because being encouraged by “competing” against the Wizards is something i am not ready for. ; )
Magic: no reason to wait. Dump Jim and let Mitch finish the year. Remember Jim does not need to be replaced.
Vasheed says
fern16
Early in the season DAR had a poor assist to turnover ratio. Having him post great total assists is gravy on top of getting the turnovers under control. This has been tangible growth this season.
Vasheed says
_ Robert _
I was just commenting about how he has had the turnovers under control. 7 is bad but, his assist to turnover rate has improved on the season.
bluehill says
Travis Y Hated that Celtics team, but if it helps Luke lift the Lakers back to respectability then maybe the karmic scales will balance a bit.
Luke better make JC watch a ton of those videos because he’s not getting the passing part.
bluehill says
Clay Bertrand LT Mitchell It’s a symbolic move, but one I don’t think Magic makes without some assurances on Jeannie’s part about the direction of the team going forward. It’s not like he was doing that much when he left, so he must have been PO’d about how the team was being run. Plus with Phil out of the picture, Jeannie does need an advisor.
Magic is perfect not only because of his Laker pedigree, but also because his time with the Dodgers has given him some perspective on what a professionally run sports franchise looks like.
Now if only Magic and Jeannie can get Jerry West back in the fold …
new rr says
JuanJ _Craig W LT Mitchell
If they hire someone who makes better decisions that the Jim Buss FO often has, then that will increase the team’s chances of success, regardless of what anyone believes.
Also, there is some anecdotal evidence that Jim has poor people skills and was ineffective as a FA recruiter, so maybe they can bring in somebody else who can do better.
new rr says
_ Robert _
The Wizards’ FO has made some mistakes, but they seemingly had done a decent job of setting themselves up to try to bring Durant home, with Wall and Beal around and then bringing in Scott Brooks. If Durant were on the Wiz right now, they would be the second-best team in the East and could give Cleveland some real trouble. But of course, as it turned out, Durant wouldn’t even talk to them. So, they decided to give a huge contract to Bradley Beal.
If the Lakers’ current group can mature into a unit that might interest a disgruntled star, we will see how that goes here. It worked on Shaq, but he wanted to be in the movies, and that was a different time.
Travis Y says
bluehill Travis Y I hated that team as well, but respect their team game, team chemistry, and way they moved the ball.
All things I would love to see on our team.
Kareemez says
_ Robert _A number of DAR’s TOs were mishandles by his teammates, and at least were two great defensive plays by Wall who is a strong defender. His uptick in assists these last two games shows that he is finding the easiest path to the basket, even while Nick and Lou aren’t shooting well. Perhaps my rose glasses are too optimistic of a read for your eye.
A Horse With No Name says
Kareemez _ Robert _ You are correct about the turnovers and Wall is a great, two-way player. Russell played well: ran the offense, played solid defense and competed against a super talented backcourt. Very pleased with his game of late.
Another point: Wizards are a great example of allowing young players to develop. Brooks is handling the team very well and has apparently also evolved as a coach. They now have a very solid core of young players that will be competitive for years. Good for them.