After losing six games in a row and 14 of their previous 15, the Lakers earned a win against the ‘Wolves on Friday night by riding Jordan Clarkson’s hot hand and coming back in the 2nd half to force OT then pull away in the extra frame. While that win may impact the Lakers lottery odds by allowing the sinking Suns to get to within a half game of the 2nd worst record, I am still of the mind that wins like that one — where besides Corey Brewer’s 3rd quarter spurt, it was young guys who carried the way — can have some positive meaning within a season full of so many losses.
That said, my sense is that tonight’s game against the Blazers isn’t likely to end with a similar result to Friday’s game. The Blazers have given the Lakers problems all season, their backcourt of Lillard and McCollum proving too dynamic and being able to turn games in Portland’s favor whenever games were somewhat competitive. Add to this that the Blazers are currently battling for a playoff spot, sitting in the 9th spot a game back of the Nuggets, and games like this are truly must wins for them.
I expect them to give the Lakers their best effort and, even if the Lakers are able to match what PDX offers, they’re not likely to be able to keep up. That’s just the truth of the matter and I’d be lying if I said anything more than I see the Blazers winning this game and likely doing so handily.
However, even with all the above being true, I think the Lakers can make a game of this. Their young players have been doing well lately and have been able to string multiple positive performances together. D’Angelo Russell is mixing scoring and playmaking, Randle is doing work on the glass while showing more as a shooter to complement his off-the-dribble game, Brandon Ingram has been aggressive off the bounce and shooting his pull up jumper with confidence, and Jordan Clarkson is mixing in just enough passing to keep the defense honest when he turns the corner with his typical attack mentality.
Portland is equipped to deal with some of this, but their defense can be broken down when stretched out and put into multiple screen actions on the ball. Having Nurkic anchoring and protecting the rim has helped them, but they still have too many guards who are average (or a tick below) defensively and, as the Lakers know from their own experience, that can be a lot to overcome when playing guards who can really score.
So, it would not surprise me if this game is competitive for stretches even if, as noted above, I don’t think the outcome is really in question. Considering the matchups across the board and the potential for points to be poured in by both sides, this could end up being a fun one.
Where you can watch: 6:30pm start time on Spectrum Sportsnet.
drrayeye says
Phoenix has already lost substantially. This time, we should keep pace. First half defense seemed credible. Scoring disappeared.
So far, we look OK. Hopefully, won’t get blown out.
drrayeye says
Well, not quite a blowout–but close. Couldn’t hit threes, couldn’t rebound. No Ingram–Clarkson was off; Randle seemed distracted; DAR got some points, but it didn’t seem to matter. Nance and Zu were OK. Ennis did some scoring, but wasn’t that impressive; Nwaba looks like he belongs.
Eight more? Let’s give Phoenix a run for those ping pong balls.
Anonymous says
The lag time of making a comment and it getting posted is frustrating. There is no spontaneity if a comment doesn’t hit the board for until 12 hours after it was written. Comments posted in one thread often aren’t published until after a new thread is started.
A Horse With No Name says
It’s unfortunate and it’s hurting this great site. There had to be a better way forward.
Darius Soriano says
I’m the only one who manages the approval of comments. So, unless there are people who I trust to go in and approve comments in moderation, there will be delays at times. I have a day job, a wife, and kids. Managing the comment approval system of this site, while important to me, is not my chief priority. Folks either can live with that or not, but it’s going to be what it is.
A Horse With No Name says
That’s your call, man. I’m still here, but as I said, it’s too bad for your readers/posters. I’m sure there are people here who are trustworthy and would be willing to help. Perhaps you should email a few of them whom you think would do a solid job. Delegating some of that might free you up from some of the more tedious tasks here–and could really grow this site, which deserves a bigger audience.
Vasheed says
The experiment continues with Clarkson and Russell for better and worse. I kinda wish Clarkson could keep that assist mentality while playing SG. Walton had announced his hopes to turn Nance and Randle into stretch 4’s. If I were a horse whisper I would be mentioning playing Deng at PF as an experiment before the end of the year.
As for the Suns…. They be tanking hard… REAL hard. I know the league hasn’t ever gotten anywhere trying to get rid of tanking but, they really need to try harder. It really makes for some miserable basketball.
R says
Right and as draft picks trend ever more important and temptation to tank increases. It undermines the integrity of the game in lockstep with holding out able-bodied players so they can rest/catch up with their social media brands.
Levy Ang says
What if the season ends with the Lakers and Suns tied for the 2nd worst record? Who gets more ping pong balls?
Anonymous says
I’m not sure if its changed from previous years and bear with me because it sounds more complicated than it is.
BUT in the case of a tie in the lottery standings, they look at the places in the lottery that the teams tied for. That determines how many winning lottery 4 ball combinations will be given to each team.
If the Lakers and Suns TIE for the leagues second worst record, they will take the number of combinations that the team with the 2nd Worst record would get, add that to the number of combinations that the team with the 3rd worst record would get, then they divide that figure by 2 (averaging the total).
Each team, in this case the Lakers and Suns would get an equal amount of the 4 ball combinations. If they end up tied, they “split the baby” as to the lotto combos with each team having equal amounts of combos.
This is my recollection. Its happened before but not necessarily for the highest picks. Magic was a coin flip…….. In certain circumstances, I think they still do use a coin flip.
But two tied lotto teams basically share the 4 ball combos for the spot they tied for and the spot after it and they share these combos equally.