Welcome in to the full recap where the Lakers took it to the limit against the Warriors yet again in OT, but they couldn't flip the script from the first meeting as the defending champs prevailed again 116-114 behind a game-winner from Kevin Durant and a key defensive play from David West.
This loss is going to be a tough pill to swallow. In the first meeting, I wasn't even mad. The Lakers competed against a Warriors team at full strength. This meeting, the Warriors were ailing with all kinds of injuries. Kevin Durant struggled to shoot. Klay Thompson struggled and yet somehow, some way they still found a way to win. That is the mark of a great team though. They win by any means. Lakers were so close, yet they blew their opportunity to notch a victory against the defending NBA champs. Never take the Warriors to OT.
(+)
Kobe Bryant's jersey retirement. That was an amazing tribute and homage to his "Dear Basketball" piece. This game right here was what it was all about. 20 years of Purple and Gold with the man, the myth, the legend himself. It was exceptionally coordinated that both his 8 and 24 jersey would sandwich Chick Hearn's mic in between. I tell ya, the Lakers could've used Kobe at the end of regulation this game. Game winding down to the final seconds, give it to Kobe and the rest is history make or miss.
Kyle Kuzma, 25 points, 6 rebounds, 10-16 shooting. Back to the present hour, the Lakers missed Kuzma's firepower in the first meeting against the Warriors. And even against the defending champs, he still had no fear playing his game: aggressive to the basket and knocking down threes. A lot of his three point shots came in down-to-the-wire moments where the Lakers needed buckets to keep within striking distance on the Warrior lead.
Brandon Ingram, 19 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists. Ingram's hard fall to the hardwood didn't look right. He'll probably be re-evaluated again for possible concussion symptoms, but he fell flat on his face after getting blocked during a layup attempt. It was very encouraging that he still managed to play. Ingram also took over in the 4th quarter on both ends. He held his own against Durant again and made some clutch jump shots to keep the game close.
Lonzo Ball, 16 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists. I especially liked what I saw during the overtime period. Zo dropped the nonchalant body language and took over scoring-wise. Again, being aggressive was the key here and Zo was aggressive during that overtime period. He also made a clutch three pointer to pull the Lakers within one. He doesn't need to change his shooting form, he just has to be confident with his shot. The three pointers he made this game were confident shots.
Julius Randle, 15 points, 11 rebounds. The double-double machine does it again. There's nothing else to say other than that Randle has been terrific on the bench. I liked the violent activity he had on both ends of the floor tonight. He even posterized Durant in this game! Both him and Nance baptized Durant tonight.
(-)
Free throws. We wouldn't be talking a Laker loss without mentioning either high turnovers or a low free throw percentage. The Lakers hit 62% of their free throws this game. If they bump that up by 20%, we'd be talking about a different outcome. Then again, if Durant and Klay didn't have a cold shooting night, we'd have a different outcome. But, a lot of the missed free throws came back to bite the Lakers. Ingram, though he finished 7-12 on the charity stripe, started 0-3. He was missing point blank to start. Randle missed some critical free throws. Chalk this up as another bad performance from the free throw line.
Luke Walton's coaching decisions in the final seconds. This was a philosophy taken from Phil Jackson. When your team has the ball in the final seconds, don't take the timeout. I've seen a lot of that as a Laker fan when Phil was still coaching. Those were veteran teams. This is a young team. The final possession in the 4th quarter was bad management on Luke's part. He has to take the timeout and design a play. Instead, he allows the Lakers to run it up the court and KCP has to rush a three point shot which resulted in an air ball. If Luke took the timeout and design a game winning play for KCP, he would've had a high percentage look. In OT, he wasted a timeout because Ingram couldn't adjust his shoe. He didn't need to take a timeout. Just sub Ingram out for one possession. Taking the final timeout in OT proved costly because Zo has to run it full court and David West timed his block right to prevent the game-tying layup. As a coach, Luke Walton still has to work on game management.
MVP
It wasn't even close who the MVP was. Kuz continues to impress as a draft day steal game by game. He was big in the three point game tonight and was especially effective in the 3rd quarter to keep the Lakers afloat.
Conclusion
That's two opportunities the Lakers had to get a win against the Warriors and they're out the window. It's going to be an entirely different when this regular season series shifts to Oracle Arena. Usually, the Lakers-Warriors matchup at Oracle wounds up in a Warriors rout. We'll see what happens from then because the Lakers are gonna battle the champs again on Friday on the road. As I said before, this week is the toughest stretch. They're facing pretty much the top two teams in the West in Houston and Golden State (x2). It's not going to be easy, especially since the Lakers are going to be on the road for a majority of the week. But, the silver lining is the Lakers are never out. They just gotta keep working on finishing. That's the most important part if they want to take the next step in the development process. I'll see you guys later.
No comments:
Post a Comment