Alright welcome in to the full recap of the Lakers’ matchup vs. the Chicago Bulls where the Lakers pull off a wild 2 overtime victory in Pau Gasol’s return to the Staples Center, defeating Gasol’s Bulls 118-123.
First off about not posting a formal reaction in the first quarter, I apologize for that. I was running a little late, running a family errand at that time, but man, it’s a no problem now considering this game went to two overtimes. So if anything like that happens again, I’ll have a disclaimer posted that I’ll be late. Consider that similar to Game 2 of the 2014 NBA Finals, where I completely messed up the schedule and just covered the 2nd half. Now onto the game, this may not be a significant win. At this point in the season, with Kobe shut down after having surgery in his torn rotator cuff and the Lakers tanking for a top pick, this wasn’t a flashy game of the season, but this was a test. The Lakers’ life after Kobe Bryant is like the equivalent of a zombie apocalypse, how is the team going to survive? Blowing the lead in the closing seconds of the 4th quarter, heading to OT, likely the Bulls were going to win because the momentum was swinging in their favor. This was a test physically and mentally of closing a game out in crunch time without one of the best closers in the game and this Laker squad passed the test.
The Positives
Jordan Hill, 26 points, 12 rebounds, 11-22 shooting. Jordan Hill, you can’t stop him, you can only hope to contain him. Hill has shown potential that he can be a dual threat player this game. He can beat you inside with his post up and jump hook, he can take a big man out and shoot an open jump shot. He didn’t do these kinds of things the last time the Lakers played the Bulls. Gasol and Noah straight up gave him a hard time, but this game, he was a lot more aggressive in the paint both offensively and defensively and doing his thing living up to the Mr. All-Out Hustle nickname I coined for him on this blog. J. Hill was a machine (no Sasha Vujacic not you) this game and he played exceptionally well.
Wayne Ellington, 23 points, 9-19 shooting. Ellington may have started slow, but he finished strong when he was needed the most in the game. The last few games, even though it was just two games in, he has filled in admirably with Kobe Bryant out for the season. Tuesday night, he scored a career high, 28 points; this game, he fell short of that mark by five points, but it wasn’t about that. Ellington played hard when it mattered the most. I loved the way he fought, especially when he forced a jump ball from Jimmy Butler after hitting a shot on the other end. He’s gotta keep it up.
Jordan Clarkson, 18 points, 6-15 shooting. I wasn’t too happy that he was given the assignment of facilitating in crunch time in the 4th quarter, especially when the Bulls defense was turned up and they were setting hard traps. Byron Scott should’ve known better not to put a rookie of Clarkson’s caliber in those kinds of situations, but I guess it’s for learning experience and we fans will have to endure that. Other than that, Clarkson matched his point total of his career high Tuesday night despite shooting at a lower percentage, but he made up for hitting big time free throws down the stretch. He’s still a project in the works and this game should serve as a learning experience that he’ll play against teams that play hard on defense and are decent in transition when creating a turnover.
The Negatives
Foul trouble. The Lakers committed a total of 27 fouls. It wasn’t a concern in the first half. The Lakers can live fouling Gasol or Noah so long as they don’t foul Rose or any good free throw shooters. The 2nd half though, the fouls started piling up and that was one of the factors that got the Bulls back into the game. As the Lakers were missing shots and getting back on defense, they just couldn’t stop fouling. Only Robert Sacre fouled out, but honestly, Sacre has no business being in that starting lineup, despite playing a solid game. The fouls were a little close at the end of the game for both teams, but the Lakers were committing most of them when the game was still in regulation.
Coaching adjustments. Again, referring back to putting Jordan Clarkson on those situations where the Bulls trapped him and scored quick points off transition. When that happens two or three times in the winding minutes of the game, you just gotta call timeout, take the rookie and put in an established ball handler like Lin in those situations. Okay, putting Lin and “established ball handler” doesn’t mesh well in the same sentence, but Lin is a 4 year veteran while Clarkson is in his rookie season. Obviously if those turnovers cost the Lakers the game, it’s demoralizing for a rookie. Bad coaching move by Byron Scott to keep Clarkson in there while the Bulls just trap away and hope for a turnover.
Conclusion
Like I said before, this was a test that the Lakers needed to pass in order to prove that there are players willing to answer the call in crunch time without Kobe Bryant. Despite all the blown big leads, the fouls, the turnovers, and getting the offense disrupted by a scrappy and swarming defense, the Lakers kept their head in the game. They’re not thinking about tanking like the last nine games. The tone was set that the Lakers can survive a post-apocalyptic Kobe Bryant period. Even though it was just one game, it was a good team victory against a great team. Anyway, the Lakers start off their Grammy road trip again, it’s that time of the month and they start it off against the New York Knicks. To nationally televise that game on Super Bowl Sunday, who does that? To be honest, I actually don’t know if I will cover that game considering I got invited to a family luncheon on that day and it’s at an 11:00 AM start. Stay tuned for announcements on that, but I will do the Super Bowl XLIX coverage considering it’s at a late start time, that’s priority #1. Pretty hectic, so stand by if there are changes to made from now the Sunday afternoon. I’ll see you guys later.
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