This is posted a little bit early since the Lakers have a game tomorrow at San Antonio.
We had to be on speed dial for this weeks' matchups. A lot of close calls on these games. Let's jump straight to this week's roundup.
11/19: vs. Oklahoma City 107-112 [W] (12-2)
I'm surprised that the Thunder haven't won a road game so far this season. For a team that's supposed to be in rebuild mode, they've done a good job competing. The only negatives I can think of this game was that Dennis Schroeder was unstoppable the first three quarters and turnovers. The Lakers dominated every statistical category, but they only escaped by with a 5-point win. Refer back to those negatives and you'd find out why. It was similar to last Friday against Sacramento. The Lakers looked like they were gonna pull away, but the Kings kept fighting back. Same case happened this game. The Lakers were able to get the victory thanks to their trio of clients of Rich Paul and Klutch Sports. Anthony Davis had a weird game Sunday, but bounced back this game with 34 points, 7 rebounds, 4 steals, and 2 blocks. AD's three-point game was on point for this matchup, satisfying to see. LeBron James notched a triple-double with 25 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists, but that is marred by 7 turnovers. When they had Chris Paul on the switch, he was able to bottle up ballhandling of the King. CP3 had a quiet game, but he was getting it done defensively. Have to give credit to that. And the final client of Klutch Sports, KCP, racked up 13 points. KCP is making us eat our words. He has been playing well since Frank Vogel inserted him in the starting lineup in lieu of the injured Avery Bradley. He's earning that money and that no-trade clause on his contract. In other news, Kyle Kuzma got poked in the eye really bad and pretty much the eye swelled up. We hope he's okay. This win wraps up the Lakers' home stand and they'll look to show out on the road trip ahead.
11/22: @ Oklahoma City 130-127 [W] (13-2)
OKC you again this game. As I mentioned in the last section, this Thunder team is a scrappy bunch despite in a rebuild year. This game had the same narrative as the last game. Except the Lakers trailed by the end of the first half. Momentum built up for the Lakers with KCP's buzzer beater in the 2nd quarter. It was a nice heave by Rondo to LeBron. And LeBron alertly tapped it to KCP to execute the beautiful play at the half. By the 2nd half, it looked like the Lakers were going to run away with it. But like the last, the Thunder continued to keep themselves in the ball game. That is until the dynamic duo of the King and the 'Brow came up clutch in the end to seal the win. Davis racked up 33 points and dominated the boards with 11 rebounds. James racked up 23 points and dished out the dimes with 14 assists. KCP and Danny Green provided the third option scoring with 17 points and 14 points respectively. KCP in particular continues to prove us wrong. His defense is not in question. His scoring though is just inconsistent. But, inserting him in the starting lineup is doing wonders.
11/23: @ Memphis 109-108 [W] (14-2)
The Lakers just continue to give us a heart attack this week and what a way to wrap it up with another gutsy win over the Grizzlies. With the Lakers coming off a grueling back-to-back road win and the Grizzlies coming off extra days of rest, you'd think it work in the Grizzlies favor. The first half definitely showed that. By the time I checked into this game, the Lakers were down by 15 points. A loss would finally catch up to the Lakers. But by this period we should know by now, the Lakers always start slow and finish strong. They rallied in the 2nd half, eventually taking a 7 point lead. But, the Grizzlies answered with a run of their own lead by early ROTY favorite, Ja Morant. It also didn't help that the Grizzlies had the three-point game on lock behind Jae Crowder and Jaren Jackson Jr. Despite all that and the efforts that LeBron and Kuzma made to throw away the game, the Lakers wounded up escaping thanks to AD's clutch bucket and defensive play down the stretch. Before that, AD hit a game-tying three pointer, which was big. This game was ugly. Especially down the stretch with LeBron chucking up some threes to try to go for the knockout. Or when Kuzma had the game-saving steal and fumbled it to allow the Memphis to cut the lead to one. But, all is well when they pull out the W against a team they're expected to beat.
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