Welcome in to the first full recap in a long while for the Lakers' most-anticipated Christmas Day matchup vs. the Golden State Warriors where the Lakers put the clamps on the Warriors for the most part of the game and they blew it open in the 4th quarter, sending bitter Warriors fans home in a 127-101 rout.
From me to the rest of my Lakers fans, Merry Christmas. Hope you guys had a chance to spend time with your family and watch a couple of great NBA games. And this one was a beauty to watch. We've heard the media talk about the Lakers that when it comes in comparison with the Warriors, the Lakers are more the inferior team even if they have LeBron James. I could not believe that despite that the Lakers team taking the same Warriors team to the limit in three out of four competitive games last season, they were getting disrespected. The Warriors will handle them with ease, they said. Clearly, they did not watch the tape. The downfall on the Lakers against the Warriors last year was that they didn't have LeBron James nor any gutsy veterans that thrive in big game moments to close games out. Now, they have a plethora of them and we saw a very big difference between this year and last year. The Lakers were more than capable of giving the Warriors a handful. They have the blueprint of countering the Warriors near-invincible "small ball" with a tall and lengthy lineup and to expose them where they're most vulnerable: the paint. Now granted the latter point will change whether or not DeMarcus Cousins gets back to 100%, but the paint has been the achilles heel of the Warriors for a long time. The Lakers exposed that this game and they've successfully executed the anti-Warriors operation to perfection with a resounding victory that hopefully boosts their confidence from here on out.
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Ivica Zubac, 18 points, 11 rebounds, 9-10 shooting, 2 blocks. I'm impressed with Zubac's efforts the last few games. If we remember from last season, he looked like an absolute slouch his sophomore year. He was super slow in terms of quick, lateral movement and reaction time to a play. This season, he looks more conditioned and he's active on both side of the ball. Zubac is just at the right place at the right time, especially in screen and roll action. Let's be clear here, the Warriors without Boogie are vulnerable in the interior and Zubac did one hell of a job to expose that and just flat out dominate in the paint. Defense and rim protection was on point too. The Warriors just couldn't buy a bucket inside as Zubac made them work for it. He absolutely made them work for it and they couldn't get the right angle on the basket. Zubac's performance makes the Center position interesting again, especially once they get JaVale back from illness.
Rajon Rondo, 15 points, 10 assists, 6-11 shooting. Thank goodness Rondo recovered in time from his hand surgery to put up this throwback, virtuoso performance. When LeBron went down, it looked like things were gonna go South for the Lakers. The Warriors just turned a big Laker lead into a 4-point game in the 3rd quarter. I was like "uh-oh, not this again." Rajon Rondo kept the situation under control with his leadership and tenacity as a pure floor general. If he needed to score, he kept attacking the paint. I remember when he was playing with the Celtics, he used to fluster me as a Laker fan when he blew by Derek Fisher and the teeth of the Laker defense then to get to the hoop. That's the same thing that happened tonight and I was on the other end of cheering. Life works in mysterious ways guys. Playoff Rondo came to play tonight.
Lance Stephenson, 11 points, 4-6 shooting, 3 three pointers. Make 'em dance Lance! He made an impact off the bench with a triplet of on-point three pointers. Two of them he connected to balloon the Laker lead. The third one was much needed when the Warriors were going on their typical monster run in the 3rd quarter to put the lead back up by nine points.
Warriors foul trouble. I think getting the Warriors in foul trouble early on was a big difference maker this game, especially getting two out of their big four to sub out early. Draymond Green and Steph Curry had to go out because they committed two fouls early. Green fouled out. He was a non-factor. Steph Curry had 5 fouls. He almost gave us a scare in the third quarter, but luckily he wasn't able to get that much into rhythm with his quick release. LeBron helped trigger most of that contact and why he was able to get most of his points from the free throw line.
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Third quarter. In-game, this was a significant negative. When LeBron went out, the Lakers momentum fizzled out. The Warriors were able to get on a run sparked by Curry's two 3-pointers. The Lakers saw their 15-point lead evaporate into a 4-point game at one point of this quarter. That is until Rondo, Lance, and Ingram came in and settled things down with a couple of buckets.
LeBron James' groin injury. We all know LeBron is the definition of Most Valuable Player because when he's on the floor, he brings a different edge for the team. When he's not there, the team just doesn't know what to do. LeBron awkwardly split his legs and knees while he was diving for a loose ball in the 3rd quarter. According to him, he heard something pop and never returned to the game. He tried stretching it out, but clearly something was bothering him. From what I heard, it's nothing serious. But, groin injuries can be really tough to evaluate, especially when it comes to NBA players. We hope LeBron gets well soon. But how this game went, this should give some confidence to this team that they can step in without his presence.
MVP
Rajon Rondo, 15 points, 10 assists, 6-11 shooting
Lonzo Ball still has a long ways to go to reach like that of Rondo's PG stature. It was tough to choose between either Rondo or Zubac. But, Rondo was the glue to keep this team poised as he controlled the flow of the offense and got players to get on their assignment on defense. As Chris Webber would shout: "RONDOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...."
Conclusion
Okay back to reality, it's just one game against the Warriors. But this win should have the Lakers' confidence soar at an all-time high. They came into a very hostile crowd, going up against the 2x defending champs. And they took the air out of the building with a very convincing win without the best player in the world for 1 1/2 quarters. If we've been following, consistency is the Lakers' biggest ailment. They beat some of the best teams, but they lose to some inferior teams. Hopefully, this game is a harbinger for the Lakers to build some consistency. They're 33 games into the season now, things should've gotten figured out this game. At the same time, this sends a message that the Lakers are coming back and they will do whatever it takes to regain that status among the NBA's gold standard. This was fun to cover for one night. Given my tight schedule now, I won't be around to do as much open thread and full recap. Hence why I implemented the Weekly Roundup posts. Don't worry, I'm not abandoning the blog. I'm still the following the games. I have a life outside this blog and I couldn't do much as I used to back in the day. But I'm still around. Look for the Weekly Roundup post for this week by next Monday. I will post up an all new chapter of the "Silver and Black Shitshow" by tomorrow night. I can confirm that this week's chapter is the last chapter of that segment. I feel it was only fitting since last night was the last game at the Oakland Coliseum against the Denver Broncos. On top of that, I'll see you guys later.
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