Lakers Fire Byron Scott

Laker Nation, this might be the most relieving news that we could get. Tonight, Byron Scott is relieved of his duties as the Lakers head coach per Adrian Wojnarowski. I'm not going to go much into this to give my reaction, but like I said, this is the best news we could get. I have a lot of respect for what Byron Scott contributed to as a player for the Lakers, but as a coach? He hasn't contributed much other than giving the Lakers a chance for a top 3 pick. 38-126 overall in his tenure with the Lakers says enough. Not to mention, his coaching slide dates back to his coaching days in Cleveland. Throwing players under the  bus, erratic rotations, implementing an offense that does not fit the personnel, defensive inefficiencies, there's no question that Scott's days were eventually numbered. Now onto coaching options, there isn't much out there. As I said in my "Season in Review" post, the Lakers missed out on an opportunity to land Scott Brooks or Tom Thibodeau. However a guy like Mark Jackson is available for hire. We'll see which direction the Lakers go for their next head coaching candidate, but the Byron Scott fiasco is finally over in LA.

A Season in Review: 2015-16 Lakers

Alright, Laker Nation, welcome in to the long-awaited annual "Season in Review" post for the 2015-16 Los Angeles Lakers. Yes, I promised this post sometime after the final season game or the week after at the earliest. It's almost the end of that week after and I apologize for not putting this up yet. The university life as a senior is starting to hit at this point of the year and I have two papers to write up plus a spreadsheet project. But, I'm hanging in there and taking my time to put this up while the playoffs are on. As usual, I reflect on all 82 games in a condensed format possible and address personnel changes and offseason needs.

Well, unlike other "Season in Review" posts I've made in the past, this one is going to be real short because let's be honest, this is yet another season to forget about. The Lakers finished a franchise worst 17-65 under 2nd year head coach Byron Scott. Then again, all this losing was done to tank and protect a spot at a top 3 pick for this year's draft. From the beginning, the Lakers had a crisis as to whether they want to develop their young core of rookie D'Angelo Russell and 2nd year players Jordan Clarkson and Julius Randle or celebrate Kobe Bryant's 20th season with the Purple and Gold. In this case, they chose the latter and it became more evident when Kobe subliminally announced he was retiring at the end of the season by writing "Dear Basketball" on the Players' Tribune. It turns out both options were a lose-lose either way because D'Lo, JC, and Randle struggled to gel early on and Kobe was struggling mightily to find his shot. Add in the ineptitude of Byron Scott's coaching, an erratic offense, and an atrocious defense? You have the makings of a total disaster. However, in the opening game vs. Minnesota, the Lakers did look good until they threw the game away in the 2nd half. Although, I'll give the T'Wolves credit since they were playing with a heavy heart for the late Flip Saunders. Then as the season progressed, things got progressively worse. If you go through the losses, a couple of those losses the Lakers had, they lost in an embarrassing blowout. Let me throw in some examples: Nov. 24 @ Golden State 77-111, Dec. 19 @ OKC 78-118, Dec. 23 vs. OKC 85-120, Mar. 4 vs. Atlanta 77-106, and Mar. 28 @ Utah 75-123. Understandably, those blowout losses were against playoff teams, but still, "embarrassing" is an overused word to describe these games with these large margins of defeat.

Even though this was a season that will live in infamy, there is a small sample size of positives to take away from this season. The Lakers did pull off an amazing upset early in March against the defending champion, record chasing Warriors. Jordan Clarkson didn't hit a sophomore slump. Julius Randle showcased he can be a double-double player in the stats sheet. The verdict is still out there for D'Angelo Russell, but there were some games where he showed us that he can be an explosive scorer that the Lakers saw when they drafted him. The home game against the Orlando Magic in March was arguably their most complete game that they had playing together as all three players racked up 20+ points in the 98-107 victory over Orlando. Of course, Kobe Bryant, despite not being the same player he once was, put up some throwback performances sporadically in games to give us that nostalgia factor, turning back the clock to when he dominated the league as one of the best players in the world. In particular, the 60 point performance in his final game vs. the Utah Jazz will be the the one game we'll be talking for a long time from a season that was shrouded in absolute atrocity.

With Kobe Bryant gone, a boatload of cash to spend, and a top 3 pick hanging in the balance, now it becomes a lot interesting for the Lakers to usher in a new era. The only bad news that is still a reality is that we're probably stuck with Byron Scott as Head Coach for another year or two. Scott Brooks going to the Wizards and Tom Thibodeau going to the Timberwolves were signs of missed opportunities for the Lakers to get a coach who their young players can buy into and who can possibly help land them some top-tier free agents like a Kevin Durant. We can only hope that the Lakers keep that top 3 pick and that they use that selection to draft either Ben Simmons out of LSU or Brandon Ingram out of Duke and hopefully they can strike a diamond-in-the-rough in the 2nd round. In terms of free agency, I've emphasized on this to the Lakers last season: do NOT rely on or wait on a star player's decision during the free agency period. Find some quality players and veterans in the meantime that can help develop and mold the young Lakers core in the first season of the post-Kobe Bryant era (*hint* *hint* Hassan Whiteside). If we miraculously land KD, great! But the Lakers have to stock up on depth and add some veteran presence to guide the young Laker squad.

I'd consider this upcoming offseason as the official "Year 1" of the Lakers' reclamation project since the young core is taking over and hopefully, some new faces come over to help. It's definitely going to be an interesting offseason and an interesting transition from 20 years of Kobe Bryant to Russell-Clarkson-Randle or whoever is going to be staying on board during the rebuilding process. We'll see if Jim Buss and Mitch Kupchak have the mettle to field together a competitive roster. Laker Nation, once again, thank you for following my coverage of the 2015-16 season. Here's to a fresh start in 2016-17.

The Night That Was: Kobe Bryant Drops 60 in Finale

This game will certainly be one of those games you tell your grandchildren about. It's 9:04 AM in the West Coast, in the Bay Area and I'm still hyped after watching this game and covering this game with you guys on the blog. The Bay Area is hyped for another thing though. The Warriors breaking the '95-96 Bulls' record and setting the mark at 73-9 and kudos to them, Last night was hands down the best night for basketball fans regardless of which game you watched. Last night was special for me as a Laker fan as Kobe rode into the sunset, guns blazing, and willing the Lakers to one last victory. The NBA put this video together as noted above this post of every field goal Kobe made and the last two free throws to put him at 60 points in the Lakers' 96-101 win over the Utah Jazz. The funny thing is I remember when Kobe became the youngest player to reach 30,000 points, his first points were from the free throw line and it all came full circle last night that his last points in the NBA would be again from the free throw line. Like I said, a fitting end to an illustrious 20-year career.

Goin' Out Mamba Style: Kobe Scores 60, Notches Win in Final Career Game vs. Utah

Welcome in to the full recap of the Lakers' matchup vs. the Utah Jazz, the final game of Kobe Bryant in his 20 year career where Kobe goes out in style, the only way that Kobe know when to go out. Kobe went out guns blazing, putting up one more 60 point game and rallying the Lakers to a 96-101 win.

There are so many adjectives to describe this finale: amazing, awesome, fantastic, legendary, unbelievable. I said it during the season, Kobe Bryant was not the same player as he once was, but you can't deny the competitive drive and the will to win. The heart of a champion was still beating (a reference to my old Kobe vignette) and Kobe delivered one final performance for the ages. 60 points, hitting the go-ahead jumper for the Lakers to get the win against the Jazz who were already eliminated from playoff contention with Houston's win today, but they still competed their butts off. Hats off to them. But you can't write a better ending than this.

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Kobe Bryant, 60 points, 22-50 shooting. Are you kidding me? 37 years old. A major achilles injury, multiple knee and shoulder injuries throughout the season at the twilight of his career. He struggled all season long and he puts up this kind of performance in his final game! As a longtime Laker fan, we know Kobe is capable to pull off a performance like this, but at 37 years old! I guess Father Time allowed him to go off for this one game. Every shot Kobe put up, I was on my feet like I was a kid/teenager during his prime and during the championship years. Yes he started slow, yes he missed a lot of shots, but he single-handedly got this team to a victory. His arsenal was on full display, blowing by defenders, hitting impossible shots, hitting impossible three pointers, something Kobe did night in and night out during his prime. Awesome, vintage performance from the Black Mamba! And I enjoyed every moment of it.

Jordan Clarkson, 12 points, 7 rebounds, 6-10 shooting. I emphasized this on my halftime post that the Lakers' young players have to find a way to get involved. This storybook ending wouldn't have been possible without guys like Clarkson, who has been the overall constant among the young three of the Lakers. Clarkson made a couple of big buckets, clutch rebounds to give the Lakers and Kobe Bryant a shot at a victory. That and he honored Kobe with a 360 dunk of his own in the third quarter. Props to Clarkson for answering the bell.

Larry Nance, Jr., 8 points, 6 rebounds, 3-3 shooting. I've always looked at Nance as a high energy guy for the Lakers off the bench. When he gets involved, the Lakers get a spark. Nance displayed a couple of highlight dunks to rile up the Staples Center crowd and give the Lakers new life and he hustled his butt off out there to get to the ball. Solid play from Nance.

(-)

I am going to let the negatives fly. Despite how bad the Lakers started off this game and how they were down for the most part, getting the win for Kobe was all that matters. If they did lose, of course there would've been negatives to note out. But, I'll let this pass.

Conclusion

For the Lakers, this season has been atrocious from the start, but us Laker fans were rewarded at the end to see Kobe Bryant have the game of his life one more time. His performance tonight brought us nostalgia. It brought us happiness, joy, and at the same time, tears that he's going to be gone next season. I've had a lot of memories of Kobe from my childhood to my teenage years and now to my adulthood. I've witnessed him rally the Lakers to a victory in game 4 of the 2000 NBA Finals without Shaq on the floor,  drop 81 points against the Raptors, nail a game winner against the Phoenix Suns during the 1st round of the 2006 NBA Playoffs, drop 61 points at MSG, nail a 3-pointer in J.R. Smith's face in front of a hostile Denver crowd during the '09 Western Conference Finals, hit a total of 6 game winners during the '09-10 season, hit two free throws despite a ruptured achilles against the Warriors, and most of all, I've witnessed him help deliver 5 championships to the Lakers. He's added one more performance to my memories and I'll look back at this game for a long time. Thank You Kobe Bryant for giving me a lot of memories as a Laker fan. Someday, numbers 8 and 24 will be hung from the rafters and Staples Center will unveil a statue of you doing one of your most disrespectful poster dunks on another player (it could be Dwight). As tough as it was to see you play the last couple of seasons since the awful achilles injury, whether we've watched you live or on TV, there's no doubt that I and the rest of Laker Nation have enjoyed every single moment of you being on the court whether it's at Staples Center or on the road.

Thank You!

What are your memories of Kobe Bryant's 20-year career? Share in the comments below. A Season in Review post for the Lakers' 2015-16 season will be posted up sometime this week or next week depending on my schedule. I'll see you guys later. 

Kobe! Kobe! Kobe! Kobe! Kobe!

04/13: Farewell Kobe LAKERS vs. Utah Jazz Q-by-Q Reaction

Q4:

UTA 96 LAL 101

Allow me to clear my throat for a bit...KOBE!!!!!!!!!! You cannot write a storybook ending to an illustrious career better than this! 60 points, the most scored by any NBA player this season and a win to go out on top. That 60 points though, who else to do it by the Black Mamba! He's done it before and for the first time in a long time, he's done it again! He also showed that clutch ability too, hitting the go ahead jump shot in the final minute to pretty much seal the deal for the Lakers. Laker Nation, I am going to remember this performance for a long time. A fitting end to a great career. Thank you Kobe! Stay tuned for the full recap.

Q3:

UTA 75 LAL 66

37 points and counting for Kobe Bryant! The good news is that the Lakers are still in this game. I said in my halftime post, I thought the rest of the team was kind of hesitant in the first half to take a shot and resorting to Kobe to take those shots since it's his final game. They woke up a little bit this quarter. Jordan Clarkson pulled a little Kobe move with a 360 dunk on the break during the quarter. D'Angelo found his shot a little bit. Small steps, but Kobe is continuing to turn back the clock in his final game. One more quarter.

Q2:

UTA 57 LAL 42

It's understandable that it's Kobe's last game and they're giving him every shot that he gets, but the young guns of the Lakers need to find a way to step up their game. The only time they showed up was when Kobe created a turnover in the final minute, passed to Russell, and Russell passed it to Randle for the easy dunk. The players have to find a way to get themselves in this game. More to come in the halftime report.

Q1:

UTA 21 LAL 19

Talk about a tale of two halves this quarter. Both teams could not buy a bucket. The Lakers started 0-7 from the field. Kobe looked like he had some early jitters, starting 0-4, but man did he turn back the clock mid-quarter with a couple of jump shots, 3 pointers. Byron Scott let him play the full quarter. Let's see how many minutes he play the next quarter. Lakers managed to capture the lead briefly, but Utah came storming back for a two point lead.

LAKERS-Jazz Halftime Post

UTA 57 LAL 42

Welcome in to the halftime post of the Lakers' matchup and Kobe Bryant's final game vs. the Utah Jazz where

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Kobe Bryant, 22 points, 7-19 shooting. It's his farewell game and deservedly so, Kobe has the spotlight in this. However, the first quarter the Lakers started 0-7 and Kobe accounted for 4 of those first 7 shots. The haters like that, but then Kobe Bryant started to heat up in the mid-quarter, putting up a vintage sequence down the stretch, hitting five shots, one from deep (3 points). He's also blowing by defenders, which is impossible for a normal 37 year old coming off from an achilles injury three years ago. Overall, I thought the Laker offense came alive once Kobe got it going after an 0-4 start from the field.

(-)

The supporting cast. I said it in the Q-by-Q reaction in my 2nd quarter post, it's understandable that they're giving Kobe the ball to delight the Staples Center crowd, but they have to find a way to step up. Julius Randle, 2 points, D'Angelo Russell 4 points, and Jordan Clarkson 4 points. The future of the Lakers hinges on these three and it's starting off like a repeat the last time they played the Jazz when the Jazz blew them out in Utah a few games back.

Bottom Line

The adjustments are self-explanatory. The other thing I forgot to note out is that they held Rodney Hood to 2 points. Last time, they let Hood burn them for 30 in a half and they've done a good job keeping him in check. But, the Jazz are playing team ball. The Laker young guns have to find a way to make this game about them even though this about Kobe playing his final game. They have to get involved. Even if Kobe is having his way with his vintage performance in the first half, we don't know how long that will last and that should urge the other players to find their game. We'll see how the final chapter unfolds.

TrueRaiderLaker Productions Entry #5: Thank You Kobe!

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Laker Nation, an era is about to end this week and I've cooked up something special while fighting back a wave of emotions in the process. Here, I present to you, the first Laker-related multimedia content since I formed TrueRaiderLaker Productions last summer and the first multiple resolution wallpaper of TrueRaiderLaker Productions: a thank you to a Laker legend and future 1st ballot hall of famer. One of the all-time greats, the Black Mamba, Kobe Bryant!

For 20 years, we've been spoiled to witness the legend of Kobe Bryant unfold from our very eyes, whether we've watched him on TV or seen him live in person. Some grew to hate him, while most of us, we grew to love and admire him. He has engaged in some legendary battles against all-stars, legends, and hall of famers. From the GOAT, Michael Jordan to Tim Duncan to Allen Iverson to Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter, Manu Ginobili, Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Dirk Nowitzki, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Stephen Curry. Kobe Bryant has battled them all and provided a lot of timeless memories for us Laker fans, fans of the opposing teams, and fans of the NBA in general. 

The traits we'll remember the most about Kobe Bryant is his competitive drive to get better every single day, his will to win, and his killer instinct to break the hearts of the home team on the road. There may be promise in the future for the Lakers, but there is no player in my opinion that could replicate the competitive fire of the Black Mamba. We could go on and on reminiscing about the fond memories we have of watching Kobe throughout the years. Now that two games remain in Kobe's illustrious career, all we can do is watch, savor every moment, and appreciate the time Kobe has left on the court. This wallpaper shall serve as a memento of all the memories Kobe has provided us throughout the years, donning the purple and gold. 

"This season is all I have to give. My heart can take a pounding. My mind can handle the grind. But my body knows it's time to say goodbye." ~ Kobe Bryant, "Dear Basketball"

No Lakers-Clippers Coverage

Alright, the official Lakers website indicates that this game is going to be live on the team's local TV station, Time Warner Cable SportsNet. Warriors-Timberwolves will follow the Pistons-Heat game on TNT. That means there will be no coverage for this game on the blog. Sorry for the inconvenience guys. Definitely, I'll see you guys next Wednesday for Kobe Bryant's final game in his illustrious 20-year career against the Utah Jazz. A TrueRaiderLaker Productions Wallpaper paying tribute to the Black Mamba is in the works.

*Lakers-Clippers game is scheduled to be on TNT, but my DirecTV guide says Warriors-T'Wolves follow the Pistons-Heat game. Hmmmm....*

Q1:

LAL 0 LAC 0

Lakers Lose to Cavs as Kobe-LeBron Rivalry Ends

Welcome in to the full recap of the Lakers matchup vs. the Cleveland Cavaliers where two MVPs and two  future Hall of Famers, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James battle one last time in Kobe Bryant's final season in the NBA. The two put on quite a performance, but at the end of the day, LeBron's Cavs bested Kobe's Lakers 120-108.

As a young, brash high school teenager back in the day when the Kobe-LeBron rivalry was at its peak, I'd hate it when the Lakers would lose to the Cavs and later, the Miami Heat during the Big 3 era because LeBron would "one up" Kobe in head-to-head matchups and we wouldn't hear the last of his fans. I tell you guys like I said when I posted up the quick recap in the earlier meeting between the Lakers and Cavs in February, it was war back in the day. It still is, but I think there's beginning to be mutual respect considering Kobe is retiring and LeBron is almost at the tail end of his career. Despite the end result of the Cavs beating the Lakers, the main headline was Kobe vs. LeBron and tonight's game and the brilliant showing by both MVPs brought back the glory days of this rivalry. It doesn't get any better than that.

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Kobe Bryant, 26 points, 5 rebounds, 11-16 shooting. If we want the perfect final chapter of Kobe vs. LeBron, we wanted to see Kobe Bryant, the player right now be the old Kobe Bryant and bring out the best while LeBron brings out the beast. Man, did we get what we want on this night. I say this time and time again outside my blog, he's not the player he once was, but when he delivers vintage performance like this, we have to appreciate it because we're not going to that a lot this season. His arsenal of skills was on full display, faking out defenders, posting them up, hitting jumpers with a hand in his face. Perhaps the one highlight of this game that we'll all be cherishing is when he faked LeBron out of the ground for an easy layup. That'll be timeless to replay over and over again.

Marcelo Huertas, 13 points, 6-10 shooting, 5 assists. Huertas has done it again. He's not going to fill out the stat line with magnificent numbers, but his presence on the court allows more flow to the offense. Again, he's a proven point guard overseas. I could tell that the Cavs' defense throughout this game were anticipating his every move based on his court vision on where he will feed the ball to. They were daring him to take a shot instead of looking for the extra pass and 13 points, 6-10 shooting? Hey, he can score too.

D'Angelo Russell, 24 points, 8-19 shooting. Shooting-wise, it was not great night for Russell, but he made some buckets that kept the Lakers afloat when the Cavs were looking to make their lead insurmountable. 24 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, it's a pretty decent stat line for D'Lo.

(-)

Defending beyond the arc. LeBron didn't have to be full on beast mode for the Cavs if the 3 point shooting was off the charts. Well, maybe not off the charts, but the Lakers could not find a way to shut down the Cavs' 3 point shooting. They were having a tough time keeping Channing Frye, who accounted for a majority of the Cavs' 3 pointers, away from beyond the arc. To make matters worse, J.R. Smith, Kyrie Irving, and even Matthew Dellavedova started hitting 3's to put this game away. The Cavs successfully spaced the floor against this Lakers defense.

Jordan Clarkson, 5 points, 2-12 shooting. I'm sure this was a night Clarkson wanted to forget about. He started the game 0-7 and missed a couple of great looks at the basket early on. The two shots he finally made were all in garbage time. It was just a horrendous off game for Clarkson.

Conclusion

2016, the year great head-to-head rivalries between two great players dies. After late January, we are never seeing a Peyton Manning vs. Tom Brady head-to-head matchup ever again and after this game, we are never seeing a Kobe Bryant vs. LeBron James head-to-head matchup ever again. As sports fans, we are spoiled with a lot of fond memories. For what it's worth, no matter which team won or lost this game tonight, the performances of Kobe Bryant and LeBron James entertained us whether we were at home watching on TV or attending live. And so, the story ends and the book closes. I'll see you guys later.

03/10: Kobe vs. LeBron - The Final Chapter: LAKERS vs. Cleveland Cavaliers Q-by-Q Reaction

Q4:

CLE 120 LAL 108

The final chapter is in the books. Despite a Cavs win and a Lakers loss, Kobe and LeBron put up one heck of a show in their final head-to-head matchup. Stay tuned for the full recap.

Q3:

CLE 95 LAL 82

The most re-occurring theme this quarter: the Cavaliers build up in what looks to be an insurmountable lead, the Lakers rally to keep it close, and the Cavs respond back to extend the lead. That is one observation about the summary of this quarter. Every time the Lakers rally, the Cavs remain firm and build the lead back up. If anything, the Cavs' performance from beyond the arc is what's giving them the edge and that edge still remains heading into the 4th quarter.

Q2:

CLE 64 LAL 55

This is what this game's all about: Kobe vs. LeBron. Throughout this first half, they're giving everything they got. LeBron with his freakish athleticism and power dunks, Kobe with his post up game, footwork, and fadeaway jumper, the two MVPs are turning back the clock in their final meeting. Onto the halftime report.

Q1:

CLE 33 LAL 31

Kobe Bryant is pulling everything out of his arsenal for this one last battle against LeBron James. He's off to a good start, accounting for 8 of the Lakers' points and even pulled out some vintage moves, faking out the King himself for an easy layup. It's a competitive game so far even though the Lakers dug themselves a huge hole when Channing Frye got hot for the Cavs, but they've responded well to stay afloat and stay within striking distance of the Cavs' lead.

LAKERS-Cavs Halftime Post

CLE 64 LAL 55

Welcome in to the halftime post for the Lakers' matchup vs. the Cleveland Cavaliers where the Cavs take a 64-55 lead at the half.

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Kobe Bryant, 12 points, 7-10 shooting. You know there was absolutely no way that Kobe's sore shoulder is going to keep him down for his final showdown with LeBron. Bad shoulder at all, the Black Mamba is turning back the clock with some vintage moves in his arsenal against the King, faking him out for a layup, shooting a fadeaway jumper, and shooting a 3 pointer in front of LeBron's face. This is just great that Kobe is pulling off a vintage performance so far.

Marcelo Huertas, 11 points, 5-6 shooting. Once again, Huertas is showing how much his presence is benefiting the other four players around him. I liked the fact he's displaying his aggression as a scorer. He's known for his court vision, however the Cavs are doing a great job getting back on the defense and that opened a lot of opportunities to take a shot and he's hitting them.

(-)

3 point defense. Sunday, the Lakers held the Warriors to just three made shots from beyond the arc. Tonight, they've allowed the Cavs to make 10 shots from beyond the arc. But what can you do when you have a freight train like LeBron running at you? Channing Frye is the beneficiary big time, scoring 16 of the Cavs' points and making 4 of his shots from 3 points. He's absolutely killing the Lakers right now from beyond the arc.

Jordan Clarkson, 1 point, 0-7 shooting. Talk about a rough start for JC. He's been a constant for the Lakers, but there's no denying, he is struggling right now as he missed a couple of good looks and struggled handling the ball.

Bottom Line

By all means, 9 points seems like a big lead, but it's still manageable for this Lakers' team to rally. However, there's no denying that Cleveland's defense is underrated. The Lakers have to find a way to contain the Cavs' 3 point game. They have to stop Channing Frye's hot streak and prevent J.R. Smith and the rest of the Cavs' shooters from catching fire. Bad news for all NBA fans, two more quarters for Kobe vs. LeBron. Let's see what happens.

Lakers Pull Off Monumental Upset Over Defending Champion Warriors

Welcome in to the full recap of the Lakers' matchup with the Golden State Warriors where the Lakers pulled off one of the biggest upsets in NBA history, defeating the Warriors 95-112.

This season has been a stinker, but forget it, I'm going to run a victory lap. Enjoy this 15 minutes of fame with me my fellow Lakers brethren. The Lakers were the worst team in the West coming into this game and the Warriors were the best team in the West and in the NBA overall. What team was I watching on TV? This is the same Lakers team minus a few players back that got annihilated at home against the Hawks Friday night and we were bracing for another one with the Warriors coming to town. But, the Lakers, they took it to the champs! Great, team effort offensively and defensively. To be honest, it was quite shocking that to see as an NBA fan that the Warriors were just ice cold from beyond the arc and committing a lot of turnovers. But, I would like to give a round of applause, the Lakers came out swinging and it awesome to see.

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Jordan Clarkson, 25 points, 10-21 shooting. If Clarkson missed this game, I don't know if the Lakers would've displayed this kind of effort against the Warriors. There's not much you can say with Clarkson considering he's been the Lakers' constant since his rookie year. But, coming back from injury, he played one heck of a game, both offensively and defensively. It was mind boggling to see that he was keeping Curry in check all game long. Overall, solid performance from Clarkson.

D'Angelo Russell, 21 points, 6-14 shooting. How do you go from 7 points on 3-19 shooting to 21 points on 6-14 shooting against the best team in the NBA? Russell didn't explode like he did against the Nets, but his first three 3 pointers, those were huge and were pretty much one of the tone setters. I think when he hit those back-to-back three's in the 2nd quarter, it set the tone that these Lakers will not go down quietly and what happened? The Lakers' offense started clicking.

Marcelo Huertas, 10 points, 9 assists. Here's another tone setter to set up this big of an upset. If anything was going to sum up Huertas' rookie year, it was awful, but there's no denying he's a proven basketball player overseas. As I said in the halftime post, his presence on the floor this game made the jobs of other Laker players easy. It was because of Huertas' court vision, Larry Nance, Jr. benefited, Brandon Bass benefited, they were getting easy shots. When he looked to score, there were one or two plays he schooled Curry with that savvy Euro play for a shot. Huertas had a nice all-around game.

Nick Young, 13 points, 3-8 shooting. Swaggy P, when he's hot like he was in the 3rd-4th quarter, the Lakers have a chance of winning. The Lakers needed Swaggy P to get going because even though they had the lead, the Warriors were still hanging around. Nick Young, huge 3 point baskets to extend the lead and they were timely to help the Lakers seal the deal over the champs.

(-)

2nd half turnovers. A minor negative. The Lakers started to play out of control a little like they usually do throughout the season, but they managed to keep their heads in the game and regain control by playing their game instead of trying to get on the Warriors' level. Again, minor negative.

Conclusion

This is still surreal that the Lakers pulled off probably the upset of the season, beating the Warriors like that. If this was a few years back, this wouldn't have been a surprise beating the Warriors by this margin. With the state of atrocity that team is in and beating the NBA's poster team, that has gotta be embarrassing. And what's funny is that the Warriors had a chance to sweep the Lakers for only the 2nd time in all of their years since their inception. Well, no sweep for them and the Lakers still have leverage for all-time wins against the Warriors. But no doubt, the Warriors are still the best team in the NBA, they still have a chance to break the 95-96 Bulls' 72-win record, I have all the respect in the world for them. But, this is a shining moment in what is a season campaign to forget about. Hopefully, the future of the Lakers build off of this win into next season and bring back the winning pride that we're so accustomed to seeing before the late, great Dr. Jerry Buss passed away back in 2013 and they haven't been the same since. But, we'll pull through and we'll be back sooner or later. Until then, we'll take this win. No if's, and's, or but's, a win is a win. I'll see you guys later.

03/07: Divine Intervention Needed LAKERS vs. Golden State Warriors Q-by-Q Reaction

Q4:

GS 95 LAL 112

Prayers answered! The biggest upset in NBA history has happened! Stay tuned for the full recap.

Q3:

GS 73 LAL 84

The Warriors' ball movement is killing the Lakers from inside, but as long as the Warriors stay cold from beyond the arc, it cancels out the lackluster effort in that area. But so far, credit to Byron Scott for a nice defensive game plan against Curry because the Lakers are really trapping him hard and Curry couldn't work his magic from beyond the arc. Fourth quarter, the Lakers haven't been good all season in that quarter, but this is big considering they've played well against the champs all game long.

Q2:

GS 49 LAL 60

The Laker young guns are taking over this game! Really surreal, I'm proud of the way they're competing after a lackadaisical performance Friday against Atlanta and especially against the defending champions. The big time story here though, the Warriors are ice cold from three point land and they've committed 11 turnovers compared to the Lakers' 1. That's pretty astonishing to see. Onto the halftime report.

Q1:

GS 21 LAL 22

Holding Golden State to 1-10 from beyond the arc after 1, that is a victory right there. It's a start, but there's still a long ways to go. The Warriors are making up their lackluster 3 game so far with a lot of back door passes for easy shots and the Lakers are not taking advantage of some open shots and some opportunity to increase the lead a little. But, I like the competitive start. The last three games against them were frustrating, but this start is a lot better. However, the Warriors will eventually get it going and the Lakers have to be prepared.

LAKERS-Warriors Halftime Post

GS 49 LAL 60

Welcome in to the halftime post of the Lakers' matchup vs. the record chasing, defending champion Golden State Warriors where the Lakers have a 49-60 at the half

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Clarkson-Russell back court. Welcome back both D'Angelo Russell and Jordan Clarkson. If you guys remember, Clarkson was out, D'Angelo had an atrocious game Friday night, but they're taking it to the Splash Brothers on the opposite end. D'Lo has 17 points on 5-10 shooting, currently the top performer of the game, JC has 14 points on 6-13 shooting. They got it going on the offense and they're doing their job on the defensive end too getting at least 1 or 2 easy shots in from Golden State's turnovers. I tell you, this back court is starting to come together.

Marcelo Huertas. He's not a scorer, barely gets any playing, but when he's on the floor, facilitating the ball, he helps create a lot of room for the Lakers to cut or space the floor. Brandon Bass, Larry Nance, Jr. benefited big time from Huertas' presence on the floor. If the Warriors can catch the Lakers off guard with back door cuts for easy shots, the Lakers can catch them off guard too and Huertas, along with Bass and Nance help with that game.

(-)

There were not a lot of negatives during this first half. Despite allowing easy shots due to the Warriors' ball movement, they've contained the Warriors' strong game at the 3 and creating turnovers. Aside from some opportunities to balloon the lead a little further, there weren't too much negatives.

Bottom Line

The last time the Lakers were competitive throughout the game at home, against the Warriors, they let a Splash Brother loose and the Warriors were able to pull away. That can't happen. It's inevitable that the Warriors will eventually get going from three point land, but if the Lakers can keep up with this energy, exploiting the Warriors' much older bench with the speed and quickness of Clarkson, Russell, Randle, Bass, Nance, and Huertas and continue to generate turnovers on the defensive end, they have a chance to pull off a monumental upset. They just have to keep pushing and keep grinding. Let's see what happens.

Lakers Fall to Bulls in Kobe's Final Game in Chicago

Kobe Bryant made a name for himself in Chicago when he matched up against the GOAT (Greatest of All Time), Michael Jordan and 20 seasons later, he bids farewell to Chicago going up against his former teammate and best friend, Pau Gasol. I saw Pau's introduction on SportsCenter and boy, do I sure miss those times. Nonetheless, in his final game, Kobe Bryant racked up 22 points on 8-20 shooting, but Gasol's got the best of him as his 21 point performance helped the Bulls beat the Lakers, 115-126. Three other starters were in double figures last night. Julius Randle had a fantastic game, racking up 22 points and 12 rebounds, Jordan Clarkson added 20 points, and D'Angelo Russell finished with 15 points. Brandon Bass lead all scorers off the bench with 13 points and Lou Williams was the 2nd leading scorer off the bench with 11 points.

Final Score: @ Chicago 115-126 [L]
Full article: http://www.nba.com/games/20160221/LALCHI/gameinfo.html?ls=iref:nba:scoreboard

Highlights:

Next Game: @ Milwaukee (Tonight, 5:00 PM Pacific Time)

Duncan Edges Out Kobe in Final Lakers-Spurs Showdown

The Spurs and Lakers rivalry has brought so many great memories from the regular season to the playoffs. The two players who dominated the rivalry and dominated the 2000's decade, Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan, two future hall of famers, battled one last time in Staples Center Friday night and it was a game that signaled an end of an era for those who grew up watching them in their prime. Head-to-head, Kobe Bryant racked up 25 points on 10-25 shooting and Tim Duncan recorded a double-double of 12 points and 13 rebounds, but the Lakers ultimately fell to the Spurs, 119-113 behind Tony Parker's 25 point performance. Jordan Clarkson was the Lakers' top performer this game with 20 points, 3 rebounds, and 6 assists, Lou Williams added 21 points, and Julius Randle added a double-double of 11 points and 15 rebounds. Brandon Bass and Nick Young were tied as the leading scorers off the bench as both players finished with 10 points.

Final Score: vs. San Antonio 119-113 [L]
Full article: http://www.nba.com/games/20160219/SASLAL/gameinfo.html?ls=iref:nba:scoreboard

Highlights:

Next Game: @ Chicago (02/21) <= NO Q-by-Q, Halftime, Full Recap Posts 

Lakers Dismantled by Bulls

Welcome in to the full recap of the Lakers' matchup vs. the Chicago Bulls where the Lakers add another game into the loss column this season in a 114-91 rout courtesy of the Bulls in Pau Gasol's return to LA.

As DJ Khaled would say: "another one." Young mistakes by this young Lakers squad doomed them at the start with a lethargic effort on both sides of the ball against the Bulls. With the up and down season, the Bulls have had, they wanted this game more. The Lakers played a nonchalant game all night long until they saw an old and broken down Kobe Bryant run full court defense on Jimmy Butler and received a little pep talk from Byron Scott on their heart and toughness. No surprises here, the losses continue to keep coming.

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Julius Randle, 14 points, 8 rebounds, 4-8 shooting. Evaluating Randle's game, he is clearly good on the fastbreak and when he's attacking the rim, but the one thing he needs to work on is his mid range jump shot. Aside from that, Randle almost chipped in another double-double if he got two more rebounds, but I liked his activity on defensive boards as all 8 of his rebounds came from the defensive end. Even though he attempted one mid range jump shot, he reverted back to where he's comfortable with, especially in the third quarter where he's attacking in open space or in the paint using his power and speed. Randle deserves "Top Performer" honors in this one.

Nick Young, 14 points, 5-10 shooting. Swaggy P has returned! Well not quite, but someone needed to take the place of Lou Williams this game and provide the scoring. The Lakers started to build up some momentum in their offense when Young came in as he hit his first three shots. He had a decent game. It's nothing special, but he did his job out there providing some much needed scoring off the bench.

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D'Angelo Russell, 3 points, 1-7 shooting. Even though Russell had a bad shooting night against the Mavs Tuesday night, he still managed to put up a decent stat line with 12 points off the bench. This game though, Russell checked out, physically and mentally. This is just another set of growing pains in having a young rookie. I keep track of Russell's stat line and he has recorded double-figure point totals for the majority of this month and once he has a string of solid performances, he's going to cool down at some point. Tonight was a primary example as he took some bad shots and of course, committing two inexplicable turnovers in the 1st quarter leading to 4 easy points for Jimmy Butler.

Points in the paint. I can't wait till the Lakers get a true rim protector since Hibbert checked out in his tenure with the Lakers. Most of the Bulls' shots in the paint came from Pau Gasol doing his thing in the post and giving players some opportunities with his brilliant passing and some offensive rebounding.  Butler and Rose attacked the rim at will this game also, which inflates the points in the paint stat line. The Lakers' interior defense just had no chance and the Bulls took full advantage of the team's weakness in the paint whether it was allowing Jimmy Butler or Derrick Rose to the rim or the Bulls feeding the ball inside to Gasol.

Conclusion

Overall, there's not much to conclude about this game. The Bulls thoroughly dominated this game with their offense and defense. The loss just piles up towards the Lakers' efforts in their tank job to get a top three pick. It was nice to see Kobe and Pau give one last embrace to each other before tip off. No matter what happens, Gasol earned his place in Laker history, contributing to three straight finals appearances and back-to-back titles. Those glory days will return, but it takes time and the Lakers just need to rebuild the team the right way by letting their young draft picks develop and build chemistry together. It's definitely a good test of endurance and fortitude. Next week, I will not cover the Lakers' game next Thursday against the Pelicans on TNT. I'll be focused squarely on setting up my coverage for Super Bowl 50. Just letting you guys know ahead of time. I'll see you guys later.

01/28: LAKERS vs. Chicago Bulls Q-by-Q Reaction

Q4:

CHI 114 LAL 90

The broken record above symbolizes another Lakers game on national TV, another loss. Stay tuned for the full recap.

Q3:

CHI 90 LAL 71

Despite the Bulls continuing their dominance here this quarter, it's been the Julius Randle show this quarter. His game right now is attacking the rim on the open floor as displayed with his dunk early in this quarter. Randle is turning in a solid stat line right now, closing in on yet another double-double with 14 points and 8 rebounds. 4th quarter is expected to be garbage time for the Bulls, but let's see if the Lakers have one last run in them because in the last few games, 4th quarter turns out to be a spark plug for the Lakers to turn a game from a blowout to a competitive game.

Q2:

CHI 58 LAL 40

Better effort from the Lakers this quarter, but it's still not good enough. Nick Young, coming off the bench, provided some spark for the Lakers offense and they pulled within 12 at one point of this quarter. However, the turnovers, the points in the paint are killing them right now and the Bulls continue to have their way with them. Onto the halftime report.

Q1:

CHI 32 LAL 15

Without Lou Williams in the starting lineup to provide scoring, the Lakers' offense is just stagnant. That was an atrocious display of offense. In fact, both teams struggled to find offense until the Bulls finally hit their stride when Aaron Brooks came off the bench. To make matters worse, two consecutive turnovers to give Jimmy Butler 4 easy points. I highly take back what I said about D'Angelo Russell's play off the bench in the quick recap against the Mavs. First, taking some questionable shot selections, then mishandling the ball twice. He has to do better job and the rest of the team has to do a better job, point blank.

LAKERS-Bulls Halftime Post

CHI 58 LAL 40

Welcome in to the halftime post of the Lakers' matchup vs. the Chicago Bulls where the Bulls lead 58-40 at the half.

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Nick Young, 8 points, 3-3 shooting. Nick Young has escaped Byron Scott's depth chart purgatory. Young equals his same point total that he finished with in Tuesday's game against the Mavs with 8 and he may look to get more to assimilate himself back into this rotation. And I think that's a good thing, especially since Lou Williams is out this game. The Lakers need instant scoring to get the offense going because Kobe Bryant is not in the condition he was once in to pick the slack. Swaggy P is coming back.

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D'Angelo Russell. 3 points, 3 turnovers, 1-3 shooting. I take back what I said about Russell's solid play in the game against the Mavs because of his 4-12 shooting I neglected to include and the reason why he got benched in that game in the 4th was that he was taking bad shots. This game, although he did improve his passing in the 2nd quarter, two consecutive turnovers to Jimmy Butler in the 1st quarter is inexcusable and it's an example of lazy play on Russell's part. Two of his misses in the game had to do with him forcing up a shot to deliver a quick answer to Chicago's easy scoring onslaught, but it failed big time. He needs to mentally check himself into this game.

Turnovers. I'm starting to beat a dead horse with this one as it's a recurring negative. It's a big reason why this Laker offense has been stagnant to start this game. Too many bad passes and one example of poor shot clock awareness in the 2nd quarter as the Lakers couldn't deliver a shot attempt in time.

Bottom Line

The good news is Chicago has been an enigma all season long. They do good against good teams, but they do poorly against bad teams. The hopeful scenario is that the Bulls' offense starts getting stagnant and they start playing conservative with their defense. The Lakers have to find some way to get the whole offense going and they need to try to make some key defensive stops to get back into this game. Let's see what happens.

Lakers Fall to Warriors in Kobe's Final Game in Oakland

Welcome in to the full recap of the Lakers' matchup vs. the defending champion Warriors where the Lakers kept it competitive from the 1st quarter to the mid 3rd quarter, then the Warriors started to play like the champions that they are and the Lakers eventually fell to the Warriors 98-116 in Kobe Bryant's final game in the Bay Area, in Oaktown.

Well, it's been a recurring theme in the last two Lakers-Warriors matchups. The Lakers make things interesting early on and then the Warriors just start pulling away in the 3rd quarter or 4th quarter. But in other news, the Bay Area, Oakland, Oracle Arena, says goodbye to Kobe Bryant in his final game here of his illustrious 20-year career. It was especially nice to see some Raider ties in the crowd, particularly Derek Carr and Charles Woodson were in attendance as well as the legendary and one-time Raider, Ronnie Lott were in attendance to pay tribute to Kobe. As both a Raider and Laker fan, I just have absolute chills to see both the "Legends of 24" in the same building on TV. We know C-Wood has officially called it quits and Kobe is soon going to call it quits once this season is over. Just a lot of feels going through from the perspective of a fan posting this blog. But enough of that, let's get through this full recap.

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Jordan Clarkson, 22 points, 10-17 shooting. As I said in the halftime post, Clarkson started off good, hitting five of his first eight shots. Against this good Warriors team tonight, I thought he was patient in letting his shot develop, albeit some of his points benefitted from garbage time when the game was put out of reach. There's not much to say that Clarkson has been the Lakers' constant since coming on in his rookie year last season.

Lou Williams, 21 points, 5-12 shooting. Lou is just too good at drawing contact, that is why he makes up his bad shooting with his near-perfect free throw shooting. He started really slow early on in the game, but he managed to hit his stride somewhere in the 3rd quarter. Sweet Lou finished strong, good enough to be on this positive list.

Julius Randle, 14 points, 9 rebounds. Randle has had an up-and-down season so far, but we have to remind ourselves that he is technically a rookie since he missed all of last season. From a perspective, this was a solid game for Randle, he could've solidified his performance even more if he grabbed one more rebound to record a double-double. Randle has a lot of potential, he just needs to work on taking better care of the ball and developing a jump shot. He took advantage of garbage time and we saw of that potential Randle has yet to unlock to further elevate his game.

(-)

2nd half effort. From all the positives listed and this one negative I can pinpoint, it almost looks like the Lakers won this game. But, it was a competitive game all night long until the Warriors just started to dismantle this Lakers team apart. From the point on in the mid 3rd quarter, the Lakers were giving up a lot of easy points in the paint and the Warriors aside from Curry and Thompson were raining threes all over the Lakers. The Lakers also played a little out of control, committing some turnovers, which didn't help their cause. It was at the moment late in the 3rd quarter that I knew the game was already out of reach for the Lakers.

Conclusion

Overall, not a surprising loss. We thought the Lakers would catch the Warriors off guard since they were coming off back-to-back sets and they just suffered a tough loss against the Nuggets last night. It was all set up for the Lakers to grab an upset victory, but there's a reason the Warriors are the best team in the West and the Lakers are the worst team in the West. But, another chapter is completed in Kobe Bryant's farewell tour. Big kudos to the Warriors fans for showering the Black Mamba with adoration in his final game in the Bay. I've announced this on Friday and I'll announce it again, I will specifically pick out nationally-televised Laker games I can cover. I have an internship that's looming and I don't know what my schedule will look like, so stay tuned for that. I'll see you guys later.