Friday, November 4, 2016

11/04: Challenge - LAKERS vs. Golden State Warriors 1st Half Open Thread and Discussion


Welcome to the first half of the game where the young Lakers face a daunting challenge ahead of them against the surging Golden State Warriors superteam. Leave a comment below the post on your thoughts on the game.

Q2

GSW 49 LAL 65

On opening night of the NBA season, I had a conversation with my friend Stillmattic, who's a die-hard Warriors fan and I noted that the weakness the Warriors have right now is a lack of a true inside presence. That continues because Julius Randle is out hustling Draymond Green for 2nd chance opportunities during the final stretch of this quarter. But overall, great half for the Lakers to open up this game. D'Angelo Russell started things off with a three and the Lakers continue to pound away against a Warriors team that can be pretty much get hot and come back at any moment. But, I love the energy on both sides of the ball despite a couple of lapses. Bench play has been impressive lately as evident in the road games and they are as good as advertised. Last stat I recall, they combined for 32 points. Tarik Black was a beast out there and how about Larry Nance Jr.? That guy needs to follow in his father's footsteps and compete in the dunk contest! His dunk over David West is arguably the highlight of this game so far. Lakers are doing a solid job taking advantage of the Warriors on back-to-back nights. Obviously, the field goal percentage has to be a lot better and they have to keep the energy up on defense. Keys to the 2nd half is that the Lakers need to continue putting pressure on the ball and creating more turnovers and hope that Curry, Thompson, and Durant's shooting woes continue. The 2nd half open thread will open up shortly.

Q1

GSW 15 LAL 24

Well, the Warriors needed that big bucket from Iggy. But, the Lakers got the Warriors where they got them, going back-to-back nights after last night's game vs. OKC. They're creating turnovers and did a good job catching the Warriors off guard. The ball movement was great too. However, there is a lot of points left to be desired out there on the floor. Despite the Warriors' misses, the Lakers couldn't capitalize on making shots of their own, which could've ballooned this lead more. Still, good effort on the Lakers part to come out swinging from the start. 

No comments: