Lakers Crush the Heat in NBA Finals Opener

Final Score: MIA 98 LAL 116 - Lakers Lead 1-0

Welcome in to the full recap of Game 1 of the 2020 NBA Finals. The Lakers overcome an early 13-point deficit and never looked back. LeBron, AD, and the rest of the supporting cast helped the Lakers cruise past the Heat to a 98-116 shellacking to take Game 1 in this series.

One down, three more to go. Miami showed no fear at the start of the game. The 2-3 zone was effective early on. It got the Lakers off rhythm and they got off to a good start offensively to take the early 23-10 lead in the first quarter. The Lakers had to take two timeouts during that quarter to get things settled. They get a much needed spark from KCP. KCP knocked down back-to-back threes to get the Lakers within 7 points. From then on, they went on a 19-3 run to close at the quarter. The impressive part is that most of the points they've accumulated on that spurt, LeBron was taking his normal rest on the bench. Miami last saw the lead at the 7:33 mark of the 2nd quarter off a 3-point bucket from Tyler Herro. After that, it was all Lakers with AD and LeBron doing most of the damage.

Big ups to the supporting cast for showing up tonight. I said it in my preview, they must step up if the Lakers want to beat the 2-3 zone, which is the staple of the Heat defense. Which means they gotta be active, get to their spots, and also knock down their threes. They did that tonight. They started shooting an efficient 11-17 from threes. KCP as I mentioned started that with the back-to-back threes to let the Lakers shake off some Game 1 Finals jitters. He finished with 13 points, 2 steals, and 1 block. Danny Green was also big on both ends with 11 points, 2 steals, and 3 blocks. Kyle Kuzma may have struggled in scoring, but he crashed the boards with 8 points. What won't show up on the stats sheet is how good of a job he did defending the rookie stud, Tyler Herro. Every time those two matched up, Kuz got the better of Herro with his size and length. Dwight Howard, also didn't have a lot of eye-opening numbers, but he did his job in crashing the boards for 2nd chance points and playing unselfish basketball finding a cutting AD twice for easy dunks. Alex Caruso lead the bench in scoring with 10 points. Markieff Morris followed with 8 points. And Rajon Rondo added with 7 points and 4 assists. We're gonna need this group to be consistent if the Lakers are serious on taking home the title.

It was not a bad debut for Anthony Davis in his first NBA Finals game. He might've been jittery at the start, but he overcame those same jitters by piling up 34 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 blocks. As I said, he's going to have to come up big once again. Outside of Bam Adebayo, the Heat have nobody else to check him because they are notorious for playing small ball. Once Bam went out of the game, the Heat simply just had no answer for a very aggressive and active AD. As for LeBron, he got the better of his former team on this one. He finished with 25 points, 13 rebounds, and 9 assists. He was 1 assist shy of yet another triple-double in the finals. And he took the assignment of shadowing Jimmy Butler early on, which is to be expected. You always want to see a team's best player defend the opposition's best, especially in the biggest stage like these NBA Finals.

Despite the dominant win, I have one negative I want to call out and it's been a habit all season long. When the Lakers build up a big lead, they let their foot off the gas and make the scoreboard as respectable than indicated. The 4th quarter this game was supposed to be garbage time. Unfortunately, LeBron and AD have to keep playing until 1:23 left in the 4th when it's all said and done. If you're Frank Vogel, you don't want your two superstars to play unnecessary minutes when the opposition has been thoroughly outplayed up to the 4th. The Heat had the injury bug bite them tonight with Jimmy Butler sustaining ankle injury, Goran Dragic with a foot, and Bam Adebayo with a shoulder. Yet in some spurts, the Heat have cut the deficit and LeBron and AD have to play extended minutes to restore order and completely seal this game. I don't want to see LeBron and AD continue to play until the 1:23 mark of the 4th quarter when the Lakers already got this one in the bag. The last thing we want to see is an unnecessary injury in garbage time. Or if you can call it that because they let their guard down for a bit. I would call that the only blemish for this game and the supporting cast involved even though the entire team played great.

Overall, great win tonight. The Lakers were active and moving around, blowing up the Heat's zone defense. It's unfortunate on the injuries concerning Butler, Dragic, and Adebayo. As a fan, you don't want injuries on the opposition to be a blemish on your team's championship. But, then again they're part of the game and it's a "next man up" mentality. The Lakers flexed tonight under the LeBron's leadership. That man has been through the ups and downs in all 10 of his NBA Finals appearances and the Lakers have answered the call tonight. There's no question Erik Spoelstra and the Heat will make adjustments for next game. That tends to be the pattern in every series the Lakers have been in thus far throughout this postseason. 

I remember in 2009 when the Lakers dominated the Magic, Kobe Bryant said in his postgame regarding how the Magic would respond after one game in the finals: "this is nothing to them. We just gotta forget about this game and move on to the next one." That has to be the Lakers' mentality. They bullied the Heat this game. But it's only one game and you have to anticipate that they'll bounce back in a big way. Enjoy the win now. Forget it tomorrow and move onto Game 2. They have three more to go to capture that 17th title. I'll see you guys later.

2020 NBA Finals Preview: Lakers vs. Miami Heat

Welcome in to the 2020 NBA Finals preview. And then there were two! The Lakers are close to the finish line. But, they have one more obstacle standing in their way for championship #17. The Miami Heat have punched their ticket to the NBA Finals after defeating the Boston Celtics in 6. They too, are looking to add another championship banner in their franchise history.

The Miami Heat are better than what their record and seeding shows. They were the backend pick to emerge out of the Eastern Conference. The obvious front runners were the Milwaukee Bucks. Everybody penciled the Bucks in as the favorites. But, they were eliminated early on by this very same Heat team. 

The Heat are a team that plays hard on both ends of the floor. Given Coach Erik Spoelstra's pedigree on the defensive end, they defend at a high level, which is a testament to that hard-nosed culture that Pat Riley established down in South Beach. They are a team with young rising stars and a mix of battle-hardened veterans. Bam Adebayo has emerged as one of the best big men in the league. Tyler Herro is only a rookie, but he has blossomed into a superstar during this postseason run. Then, you add on one of the best two-way players in the league in Jimmy Butler and the veteran presence of Goran Dragic, Jae Crowder, and Andre Iguodala. This team has a healthy balance of young and old that could score and defend. To top it all off, they played criminally underrated, unselfish team basketball throughout this season.

As I mentioned, this team is a backend pick to represent the Eastern Conference. Still, they have put together an improbable playoff run to the NBA Finals. They dispatched the Indiana Pacers easily in the first round. But from there, their playoff resume becomes more impressive. The Milwaukee Bucks were an odds-on favorite to possibly win it all with Giannis Antetokounmpo winning DPOY and MVP. The Heat absolutely broke their spirits in a gentlemen's sweep. It took the Bucks an OT win to stave off a complete 4-0 sweep, but it wasn't enough to stop the inevitable. In the Conference Finals, they made life tough on a decent, well-coached Celtics team. Their zone defense gave Kemba Walker, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart, and the rest of those guys all kinds of trouble.  

The Lakers may have swept the regular season series, but to notch wins against this very same Miami Heat was no easy task. Now, there are some different parts added / lost, which makes this matchup even more intriguing. The 2-3 zone defense is the longtime staple defense of the Heat. How the Lakers exploited that was that they had LeBron, AD, McGee, and Dwight attack the paint quickly before that zone defense could get set. To beat this zone, players have to be constantly on the move. The Lakers have LeBron and AD, but ball watching them should be held to a minimum. We need to see Laker players actively cutting and getting to their spots for an easy basket. Teams struggle with 2-3 zone if they don't have consistent knockdown shooters, which the Lakers obviously fall under. It's essential that guys like Caruso, KCP, Kuzma, and Markieff Morris are in the right spots at the right time, making LeBron and Rondo's job easy as the initiators on offense and to take some of the scoring load off Anthony Davis.

Regarding Bam Adebayo, the Lakers already faced a similar big man who can score and facilitate. I'm talking about Nikola Jokic in the most recent series with the Nuggets. Obviously Bam is much more athletic than Joker is and a much better defender. Throughout this postseason, Bam is the only true Center for the Heat. They do have Meyers Leonard and Kelly Olynyk, but they've committed to "small ball," which has worked for them to this point. The Lakers as they did with Jokic need to take Bam out of the game early. And it starts with the Lakers' big man trio of Anthony Davis, Dwight Howard, and Javale McGee using their size and length to disrupt him.

As I mentioned before, AD is the jack-of-all-trades that can counter any skilled big man. He has the luxury of Dwight and Javale who could spare him as they're both solid rim protectors in their own right. I think the biggest factor is how healthy AD's ankle is. It could be a deciding factor in this series. Like in the Nuggets series, AD is going to have to be big here, especially since LeBron will have Jimmy Butler and Andre Iguodala checking him. Iggy may be getting up there in age, but he's one of the few that could defend LeBron, especially in these finals, dating back to the four consecutive Cavs-Warriors finals. But we know LeBron will be up for the challenge and still put up amazing numbers. AD must follow suit and take his game to a higher level on the NBA's biggest stage.

Tyler Herro, Goran Dragic, Jae Crowder, and Duncan Robinson could blow up the Lakers' gameplans in smoke. We've raved about "Herro-ball" in the playoffs. But the savvy veteran Dragic has come on in the postseason as well. The Lakers facing him again is giving me PTSD on when they faced the Suns in 2010 Western Conference Finals. Dragic was a handful in those series and you don't want to wake up "the Dragon" like Sasha Vujacic did. He surprisingly leads this team in scoring this postseason with 21 a game. Overall, this is what is lowkey scary about this Heat team is that they have six different players scoring double digit points on a consistent basis. We mentioned Herro, Dragic, Butler, and Bam. But Jae Crowder and Duncan Robinson, they are knockdown shooters and have consistently connected on their 3-pointers throughout the postseason. For the Lakers, they've had their supporting options show up, but on a game-by-game basis. First, it would be KCP. Then Rondo. Then Caruso. Then Morris. No matter how you look at it, the supporting cast is going to need to show up consistently throughout these series for the Lakers to pull it out. Especially when canceling out six different double-digit scorers on one team.

This finals matchup does not have the prestige that a Lakers-Celtics matchup does, but there's a lot of legacy storylines to explore. This finals matchup is pretty much full circle for LeBron James. Ten years ago, "the Decision" happened. LeBron infamously announced that he was teaming up with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to a form a prime Big 3 with the Miami Heat. They won two championships out of four finals appearances. Pat Riley and the Heat culture helped LeBron get over that hump and turned him into an NBA champion. The Decision. The Homecoming. This is another challenge for LeBron's legacy. He has the chance to win the championship with one of the NBA's historic franchises against a team that turned him into a champion in the first place.

Erik Spoelstra has a lot riding on this matchup as well. He is a 2x NBA champion as head coach of the Miami Heat. But, many have questioned the legitimacy of those championships given that he inherited a team with 3 All-Stars in their prime. Since the end of the Miami "Big 3" era, Coach Spo has not gotten over that hump or rekindled that championship pedigree. He has a chance to prove that his championship coaching is not a product of that Miami superteam that was formed 10 years ago. And he'll prove that against the player that was the catalyst of that team coming together. 

Frank Vogel had a lot of interesting "chess matches" with Erik Spoelstra during those epic Heat-Pacers playoff series from 2012-2014. But, he always ended up on the short end of the stick. Vogel outcoaching Spo in the biggest stage would erase all those bitter losses especially now that he has LeBron this time around. This is the matchup that everybody will overlook. Both coaches implore their teams to play hard and defend at the highest level. 

Those are the legacy storylines thus far and there will be more surrounding this matchup. We've overexaggerated on the matchups against Portland, Houston, and Denver. But, I feel that the Heat give the Lakers a legitimate challenge in this postseason: an emerging big man, a fearless rookie, one of the best two-way players in the league, knockdown shooters, a veteran with championship experience, and a coach with championship experience. Not to mention, AD is a bit hobbled. We'll see how that ankle holds up. But, this should be a great finals matchup. Many have wanted a Lakers-Heat finals matchup for some time, especially when the Heat Big 3 formed and Kobe, Gasol, Phil Jackson, and the late 2000s Lakers still ruled the league with back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010. It's an obscure matchup nowadays, but it still will be interesting to watch. The Lakers have a lot of finals experience with a superstar and four key veterans who've been there before. The Heat don't have that luxury. But, we gotta look back at the 2004 Detroit Pistons to prove that finals experience don't matter. This Heat team is young and they are hungry. They actually do remind me of those '04 Pistons. They defend at a high level and play unselfish basketball to give their teammates high percentage looks. As long as the Lakers stay locked in, things should be fine. I'd say this series goes six games and I'm confident that the Lakers will walk out of the NBA Bubble with the Larry O'Brien trophy in hand. Four more for Kobe! That's all that needs to be said. I'll see you guys on Wednesday.

Raiders Come Crashing Down vs. Pats

Final Score: LV 20 NE 36 (2-1)

Happy days are here again. The Raiders were handed their first loss of the season as they get walloped by the Patriots 20-36 in Foxborough.

Some things just never change. This team just can't get over the hump against the Pats for some reason. They are 1-6 all-time since that dreaded Tuck Rule game. This is getting old at this point.

The injuries were definitely a big factor this game. No Henry Ruggs to take the top off, which made the Patriots' defense job a lot easier. All they had to do was double Darren Waller and Derek Carr had to distribute the ball elsewhere. Despite that, the offense left a lot of points out there on the table. The untimely turnovers and a missed field goal by Carlson doomed this offense. They had good drives in spurts. But, they couldn't capitalize with points.

I wouldn't put too much blame on the defense this game. They got off to a solid start, containing the run game of the Pats and forced a turnover. But they were on the field too long. The time of possession (TOP) speaks for itself. The Pats' offense controlled the clock for 34 minutes compared to the Raiders' 25. They switched it up with some play action. J.J. Taylor provided some spark to the New England run game as a change-of-pace back. Then, it was ground and pound from there with Sony Michel and Rex Burkhead.

Some individual positives: Hunter Renfrow and Maxx Crosby. Renfrow especially came to play today with 6 receptions, 84 yards, and 1 TD. Gruden moved him around the field a bit. He could've had 2 TDs this game if he wasn't down by contact with 9 seconds to go in 2nd quarter. But, the drive still capped off with a Foster Moreau TD. Maxx Crosby got that pass rush going with 2 sacks on Cam Newton. We were harping on that defense to get more pass rush going and Mad Maxx delivered that.

When I looked at the first five weeks on the schedule, I felt like Carolina was the only sure-fire win for these Raiders. After a 2-0 start, the Raiders are in their toughest stretch before the bye. They crashed this week against the Pats and it doesn't get easier from there. They have a tough draw back home against the Bills next. Josh Allen is a stud and the defense is going to have their hands full on them. Buffalo's defense hasn't showed up yet, but they are solid on paper and the Raider offense will be tested once again unlesss Henry Ruggs and Trent Brown return from injury. I'll see you guys later.

Back to the NBA Finals! Lakers Close Out Resilient Nuggets in 5

Final Score: DEN 107 LAL 117 - Lakers Advance 4-1

WE ARE GOING TO THE NBA FINALS BABY! Gosh, it's been awhile since I was able to exhuberate this much energy as a Laker fan. The Lakers showed the Jazz and little brother Clippers how it's done. They close out the Denver Nuggets with a 107-117 win to complete a third gentlemen's sweep to advance to the NBA Finals, their 32nd overall in franchise history.

First, hats off to the Denver Nuggets for a great series and an amazing postseason run. They have been resilient throughout these playoffs. Two consecutive 3-1 playoff series comebacks speak for themselves. They will be a dangerous team for years to come as Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic hit their primes. Michael Porter Jr. is a solid young piece to the core. Bol Bol has a lot of untapped potential. Will Barton should be back. And Mike Malone is a great coach. Full credit to them. They gave the Lakers all they can handle.

But right now, it's just not their time. The Lakers' veteran experience engineered by LeBron James took over. It was "winning time" as LeBron would say in Game 4 regarding his closeout assignment on Jamal Murray. Without question, he was the MVP of this game with a triple-double of 38 points, 16 rebounds, and 10 assists and barely turned the ball over this game. 

Nikola Jokic being in foul trouble early on was big factor for 'Bron going off. He smelled "blood in the water" and just imposed his will into the paint as soon as Jokic was subbed off the floor. Not only that, but he recognized a hobbled Jamal Murray and forced that switch to have Murray guard him and it was a lot for Murray handle. LeBron was vintage especially in that 4th quarter with back-to-back and 1s. He completely took over in the final three minutes and sealed up this game.

As I said, this Nuggets team was not easy to take down. The Lakers did a good job defensively on them in the first half. Nobody on that Denver squad reached double digits in the first half! But in 3rd quarter, the Nuggets' role players stepped up. Jerami Grant struggled early, but caught fire that quarter. Dwight Howard's flagrant foul on Paul Millsap gave Denver even more momentum. Markieff Morris made a dumb turnover attempting to throw an outlet pass to AD. That allowed Denver to tie it up at 84 a piece.

But the Nuggets never saw the lead since starting 12-7 in the first quarter. After they rallied in the 3rd quarter, Anthony Davis made a last second three to allow the Lakers to regain a little bit of the momentum that was lost there. AD finished with 27 points to go with 5 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 block. It was a frustrating first half for AD. But like he occasionally does through these playoffs, he shows up big in the 2nd half on both ends of the floor. Hobbled ankle and all, he still put up numbers.

The supporting cast overall stepped up even if they don't have gaudy numbers. Alex Caruso definitely stood out with 11 points off the bench. He was stagnant the last two games. But, he was much more active to score, cutting to the lane and converting defense to offense in transition. Despite the foul trouble and the flagrant foul, Dwight Howard gave a solid 9 points and 2 blocks in big minutes and he shot well from the free throw line. We harped on Danny Green too much. Even though he didn't erupt this game, he did all the little things, giving a pair of backbreaking 3s over the Nuggets and notching one of his two blocks on Jokic. The cast did all the little things that needed to be done.

Nothing more needs to be said. But bring on either Boston or Miami! Could you imagine if the NBA Bubble Restart to the 2019-20 season ended with a Lakers-Celtics Finals matchup? Think about it. It's the NBA's historic rivalry. It'll be a rematch 10 years in the making. The Celtics are the last team that the late great Kobe Bryant beat in the finals. Winning against them for championship #17 would be poetic justice as the Lakers would tie them for the most championships in NBA history.

But the reality is, Boston has their work cut out against a very unselfish Miami Heat team. Despite being the 5th seed, they have outclassed every team in the East, especially knocking off the mighty Milwaukee Bucks. Bam Adebayo is cementing himself as one of the league's best big man. Tyler Herro looks like a seasoned vet than a rookie. Goran Dragic has been big in this postseason. Jimmy gets buckets. They made a huge move to add Andre Iguodala for championship pedigree. That team is lowkey deep.

Regardless, either team is an interesting matchup for the Lakers. One matchup is prestigious in the league's history. The other doesn't have as much prestige, but there are legacy storylines that will be explored. Especially the same 10 years ago, LeBron ushered in a new era of super teams by "taking his talents to South Beach." The Heat groomed him into a champion. It might potentially come full circle. But for now, the Lakers are back where they belong and are four wins away from regaining basketball immortality. Let's get it! Let's go! 

Lakers Edge Out Nuggets to Take 3-1 Lead

Final Score: LAL 114 DEN 108 - Lakers Lead 3-1

Welcome in to the full recap of Game 4. The Lakers bounce back after being punched in the mouth in Game 3. The Nuggets remained resilient behind a strong performance from Jamal Murray. But, it wasn't enough as the Lakers hold on to a 114-108 victory to take a commanding 3-1 lead.

This is familiar territory for the Denver Nuggets. But, I'll get to that later in a bit. This is a great bounceback win to regain some momentum. Like I said, in the last game, the Lakers looked lethargic and showed no energy until late in the 4th. Tonight, whatever the adjustments were late in that Game 3, they carried it over and it worked for the most part.

If you followed the game, Frank Vogel made the biggest adjustment by inserting Dwight Howard in the starting lineup. Second chance opportunities proved to be the difference maker as the Lakers dominated the Nuggets 25-4 in second chance points. Dwight was at the epicenter of that, leading the Lakers in the rebounding category with 11 boards to go with 12 points. I liked his activity, especially on the offensive glass and it made Anthony Davis' lack of rebounding this game reasonable. Dwight's energy coupled by AD's hot start set the tone for the Lakers.

Speaking of AD, I've mentioned it before, he has to be big for the Lakers in this series. Last game was a mixed perfoemance totaling up points, but lacking rebounds. Tonight, it was more of the same, but with Dwight playing well in the boards, there was not a lot of pressure for AD to crash the glass. Nonetheless, I liked that he was aggressive early on in this game, scoring the Lakers first 10 points. He went a perfect 7/7 before missing his first shot at 3:28 in Q2. He went on a mini cold streak, but picked it back up getting to the line and getting the Nuggets into foul trouble. Nikola Jokic and Paul Millsap getting into foul trouble was another key for the Lakers to get this win.

As sensational as Jamal Murray was this game, the Lakers remained level-headed with the veteran leadership they have. We mentioned Dwight Howard's activity early on. Playoff Rondo came alive in the 3rd quarter and finished with 11 points, 5 rebounds, and 7 assists. LeBron, I thought looked a little too passive tonight with his shot. But in the waning seconds of the game, he was in attack mode and drew the assignment on defending Jamal Murray, shutting him down in crunch time. The funny thing is, after Game 3, the Lakers sent a memo to the NBA about LeBron's lack of free throw attempts. He went to the line 7 times and shot 11/14 from the stripe.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was the unsung hero of the game and arguably this entire series. Last game, he missed a wide open game-tying three and pretty much sapped all of the Lakers' momentum at a rally. Tonight, he redeemed himself with a big bucket in the 4th to give the Lakers a 103-96 lead at the 5:13 mark. As much flak as we give KCP, he's been the most consistent role player in this series. It's just in the clutch, can the Lakers trust him to take that big shot? Nonetheless, KCP finished with 13 points. He's averaging a solid 14 PPG this series.

Some concerning parts of the game: does anybody know when Danny Green is going to show up? He's been underwhelming in these series and the Lakers could use 20+ point eruption from him. Just a thought. Secondly, I'm sure we've all been paying attention to the lowkey Kyle Kuzma vs. Michael Porter Jr. matchup. As solid as Kuz has been, I have to take the blinders off at the fact that MPJ is a really bad matchup for him. You have a rookie bench player outplaying a 3rd-year bench player. Not to take away from Kuz, he was okay offensively with 10 points. But on the defensive end? Not good, especially tonight with MPJ faking him out twice.

Lastly, we gotta be concerned about AD's ankle this game. He landed awkwardly on Paul Millsap in the 2nd half and clutched his right ankle (or is it his left). He was able to finish the game strong, but definitely it is something to monitor until Saturday for Game 5.

The good news, the Lakers are up 3-1. The bad news? When the Nuggets are down 3-1 in these playoffs, they turn it up a notch and come back to win the series. Perhaps, this is the notion why the Lakers going up 3-1 is somewhat bipolar for some of us fans because Denver has the tendency to come back from these deficits, especially in the last two series. The Lakers can't get carried away because for this Nuggets team, they will fight to the bitter end. This series is far from over as long as they have a chance. For the Lakers, all they need to think about is just one more win. As Kobe would say: "job's not finished." To bring up a boxing analogy, the Lakers must go for the knockout blow and not let this go to a full 12-round judges' decision. To translate, take care of business in Game 5 and don't let this Nuggets go the distance again. I'll see you guys on Saturday for Game 5.

Lakers Fall; Nuggets Respond in Game 3

Final Score: LAL 106 DEN 114 - Lakers Lead 2-1

Welcome in to the recap of Game 3. After a heartbreaking loss in Game 2, the Denver Nuggets came back emphatically. Lakers tried to rally in the 4th. But it was too little too late as they lose 106-114.

Definitely, that 4th quarter was a tease. This game wasn't close than what the scoreboard indicated. The Nuggets dominated this game, especially in the 3rd quarter. The Laker defense changed it up to the 2-3 zone out of desperation. It worked for the most part as they forced six consecutive turnovers, capitalized on points off of them. It was a good rally, but you can tell it knocked the wind out of them running on both sides of the ball in a matter of seconds. As soon as KCP and Kuz missed those potential game-tying 3s, it sapped out a lot of energy.

I mentioned the Lakers only had two problems to deal with: Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic. If the Nuggets had a third option, that's a problem for the Lakers. And tonight, Denver had a 3rd and 4th option. To go with Murray's 28 points and Jokic's 22 points, Jerami Grant stepped it up with 26 points. Monte Morris lead the bench with 14 points. 

Denver overall created a lot of problems on both ends of the floors for the Lakers. They attacked the paint early on and it easily opened up their 3-point shot. They capitalized on the points off turnovers. The last time I checked, the Nuggets racked 21 points off 12 Laker turnovers. I would say 60% of the Lakers turnovers were unforced errors. The rest was good defense from the Nuggets. Regardless, the Nuggets found that blueprint in Game 2 and made sure that it hurt the Lakers early on. They were on their A game. The Lakers, out of desperation, caught them off guard with a late 2-3 Zone defense. But, they were able to weather the storm since the Lakers tired themselves out.

As for the Lakers, I mentioned the turnovers as a negative this game. For three quarters, they looked like they were hungover from Game 2. They did jump off to an 8-2 start. Their last lead was 18-16 at the 4:22 mark of Q1. After that though, it was all Nuggets. 

Anthony Davis probably had the most mixed stat line you can ask for: 27 points, but only 2 rebounds. He got punked in the boards. I also recalled Jokic dropped him this game early on for a bucket. In other notes, he also missed all four of his 3-point attmepts. This was a hangover game from AD. After a game-winning three in Game 2, he followed with a highly questionable stat line right there.

Not only did the Lakers look hungover, they were sapped off of energy through 3 quarter of the game. I would say Dwight Howard and Rajon Rondo were the most energized while everyone else went through the motions. LeBron had his typical stat line with 30 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists. 'Bron definitely picked it up down the stretch, scoring 8 of 12 points as the Lakers cut deficit to a one possession game. We wish we had a time machine to bring in 25 year old LeBron. But he's 35 now and he was gassed running on both ends of the floor during that spurt.

During that furious Lakers run, KCP and Kuz deflated it with their missed 3-point shots. 12 points for KCP, he's been playing well as of late. Kuz had 11 points, he's also solid. But as role players, if you're wide open, you gotta make your shot. That was inexcusable on both possessions where the Lakers had the potential to tie up the game. KCP had a high percentage shot and missed. That's inexcusable. Kuz hesitated and loss some of that rhythm when he reloaded and nobody was contesting him the first time. That's inexcusable. The Lakers scratched and clawed back. Denver was caught off guard. Yet, the role players wet the bed when they needed to step up.

Good effort in the 4th, but it shouldn't have come to that if they weren't outplayed for three quarters of the game. With this loss, Denver just regained some of their swagger back. I said it in the last game, you don't want to give this team any signs of life. This is officially a series and they were able to quickly forget the heartbreaking loss in Game 2. The Lakers now gotta respond with more urgency for Game 4 as the pressure is now on them. I'll see you guys later.

Raiders Dominate Saints in Inaugural Las Vegas Home Game

Final: NO 24 LV 34 [W] (2-0)

Welcome in to the full recap of Week 2. The Raiders open up their first home game in Alllegiant Stadium and it'll be one to remember for Sin City. After a 10-0 start by Drew Brees and the Saints, Derek Carr and the Raiders roared back with 31 unanswered en route to an eventual 24-34 win to start 2-0.

Great win for the Raiders. You can't ask for a challenging matchup in your first home game at your new digs. The Saints without question are a juggernaut on offense. This was gonna be a test for the Raider D that had too many new parts. And it looked the part at the start. Drew Brees started off hot. Alvin Kamara was making people miss tackles in the open field. Tay Train got some hard runs in. The Saints looked sharp on their opening drive.

Yet astonishingly, the defense held them to 10 points in the 1st quarter. The defense is still a work-in-progress. I would like to see some pass rush generated since they upgraded the D-line. But after that 1st quarter, the defense adjusted to get more pressure. They put Brees under duress for the duration of the game. the young secondary took the top off to force the Saints to throw under or check down. The absence of Michael Thomas was big and it made the passing defense's job a lot easier to take out the big play. 

Despite the lack of sacks, the Raiders did force one INT. I think Nicholas Morrow's INT was the momentum-changing play of the game. The Raiders offense was already regaining some rhythm at that time. But Morrow's INT helped stall the Saints' two-minute drive with a possible score in the first half and allowed the Raiders to tie at 17 all, heading into the 2nd half. Some may argue Gruden's aggressive 4th down TD call in the 3rd as the momentum-shifting play, but Morrow's INT gave the defense a lot of confidence to hang with one of the best offenses in the league.

Offensively, there were some jitters at the opening drive. Carr was under durress from the Saints' pass rush. There was a missed golden opportunity with a deep ball TD to Henry Ruggs, but Carr just overshot him by a few yards. It was a forgettable 1st quarter.

However 2nd quarter onwards, it was a different story. The running game behind Josh Jacobs got better. Darren Waller came alive as Gruden moved him around, exploiting mismatches with the Saints' linebackers and secondary. Waller was hands down the MVP in the passing game with 12 receptions, 103 yards, and 1 TD. The Saints had no answer for him in coverage. 

While Waller gains all the glory, Derek Carr did a solid job distributing the ball around to accumulate for his stats with a 74% completion rate, 282 yards, and 3 TDs. He found 11 different receivers with Waller being the big one. But he tossed some TDs to Alec Ingold and Zay Jones for the Raiders' first 14 points. He also targeted Bryan Edwards early on for 2 receptions for 42 yards. I'm excited on the upside for this rookie. While Ruggs, Waller, and Renfrow get the attention, Edwards has a lot of potential as that 50/50 ball getter. 

Other positives, I should note: kudos to the shorthanded offensive line. Denzelle Good filled in for Trent Brown. Incognito got hurt this game, allowing opportunity for rookie John Simpson out of Clemson. They stepped up in the run blocking. Despite the two key linemen absent, this O-line was able to open big running lanes for Josh Jacobs and Jalen Richard. Richard stays burning the Saints. He had that fumble off a high pitch from Carr since 2016. But he redeemed himself with a 20 yard rushing TD off a toss play. 

Overall, this was an impressive for the Raiders. The Saints are an NFC South favorite with an elite offense and a middle-of-the-pack defense and the made the statement win. I liked that the team and the coaching staff stayed aggressive this game. Jon Gruden deserves some credit for trusting Carr and the offense on 4th and goal and Daniel Carlson to kick away the Saints' hopes of a comeback. Talk about a 180 for Carlson? He struggled last year. This year, he's making 50+ yarders with ease. 2-0, but this team is still working on some things? They might exceed expectations. The Patriots are next. That team may not be dead from Super Bowl contention. Containing Cam Newton will be a must. If they can do that, the Raiders can end years of misery vs. the Pats in Foxborough. I'll see you guys next week for that game.

Anthony Davis FTW! Lakers Overcome Late Nuggets Run to Take 2-0 Lead

Final: DEN 103 LAL 105 - Lakers Lead 2-0

I need to catch my breath on this one. Welcome in to the recap of Game 2. The Lakers escaped with a 103-105 win to take a 2-0 series lead. As it went down to the wire, LA lead by as many as 8. Then, a mini Jokic run sparked the Nuggets and the took the lead in the final seconds. No timeouts. Alex Caruso could've gone from hero to scapegoat. But Anthony Davis saves the day with a cold-blooded three with 2.1 seconds left to lift the Lakers to victory!

Incredible finish! Let's get the negatives out of the way. The turnovers were magnified in this game: 23 total turnovers from the Lakers. Credit to the Nuggets defense. They were much more active this game. Mike Malone changed up the defensive disguises, even inserting PJ Dozier to draw those offensive fouls and give the Nuggets a chance. The Lakers also found themselves in the penalty with the fouls in the 2nd half, which allowed Denver to hang around.

Last game, Dwight got the best of Jokic. Tonight, Jokic answered back as Dwight got into foul trouble 5 times. He was more aggressive tonight. The Laker defense made the "cardinal sin" to double him and he lived up to the Joker moniker. He was unstoppable down the stretch and outworked Dwight and AD in the middle. Michael Porter Jr. and Monte Morris sparked the Nuggets' 2nd. Denver had all kinds of chances to get this game, but missed timely 3's and missed free throws from Dozier came back to bite them in the end.

Though LeBron James accounted for the first 12 points for the Lakers, he struggled down the stretch. He tried going for the "knockout" shots, but he was missing badly and didn't attack the basket enough to get it going again. Nonetheless, LeBron finished with 26 points and 11 rebounds and still had an efficient 10-20 shooting. 

The defense also laid back in that 2nd half. In the 1st half, they were flying around, swarming the Nuggets with active hands and shot blocking. 2nd half was a completely different story as they were late on rotation and committed some silly fouls. 

Now onto the better part of the game. Alex Caruso was a human highlight reel tonight: breakaway dunk, layup with his vision blocked. His spark made up for the stagnant 2nd unit tonight. Chris Webber and Reggie Miller were throwing jokes, comparing him to Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, and George Gervin. He missed that 3 at the end and if that was the final play of the game, he would've lost his GOAT status for sure. Nonetheless, Caruso played well with 9 points, 2 steals, and a block.

For the 2nd game in a row, Anthony Davis was the MVP for the Lakers. He's going to get docked for a pedestrian first half, But in the 2nd, he was more aggressive. When the Lakers needed a bucket as Denver made their runs, AD responded time and time again tonight. But without question, he responded big time with the game-winning 3-pointer over Jokic. Let's rewind back prior to the league suspension: Lakers were playing the Nets. AD had a wide open look from three to win the game and missed. Tonight, it was very similar. Same spot from the 3-point line, different outcome. He actually got free with a screen on Mason Plumlee. Rondo inbounded the ball. Jokic was late to help. And the 'Brow sunk the Nuggets to put them out 0-2 in this series. AD finished with 31 points, 9 rebounds and 2 blocks.

There is something about those Black Mamba jerseys whenever the Lakers wear them. They pummeled the Blazers and Rockets to death. Tonight, it was a stone-cold dagger to the heart of the Denver Nuggets. This was a dissppointing loss for the Nuggets because they had the Lakers in their grasp. In the 2nd half, Lakers were very uncharacteristic, but they snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. How this loss affects Denver's psyche is in question. But, I still wouldn't count them out. This is a team that came back from two consecutive 3-1 deficits. With the adjustments they made in Game 2, they will definitely polish those in Game 3. The Lakers need to continue to stay the course and not give this team any signs of life. There was a lot of things to clean up after this game, but at the end of the day, a win is a win. I'll see you guys later.

No Joking Matter: Lakers Handle Nuggets; Get First Game 1 Win

Final Score: DEN 114 LAL 126 - Lakers Lead 1-0

Welcome in to the full recap of Game 1. The Lakers typically have given away the first game of each playoff matchup in the bubble. But tonight, they showed that they meant business being a series win away from the NBA Finals. They manhandled the young and determined Nuggets in a 114-126 win to take a 1-0 series lead.

First off, I want to dedicate this post to my late dad. Today is his birthday. I lost him fairly recently and this is a first birthday without him. He too was a die hard Laker fan since Magic, Kareem, and Showtime. Somewhere he is smiling with the Lakers winning on his special day. Happy birthday dad and I miss you everyday.

Onto the game, did I foretell everything in my preview on this game? I said the key for the Lakers was to slow down the two-man game of Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic. They had to be physically upfront with Jokic especially and they had the perfect counter with AD. And tonight, this was a flawless gameplan to slowing down those two. Though they still played well scoring, they didn't have too much fun on the defensive side of the ball. Both of them got into foul trouble. The Lakers did a nice job sealing off Jokic's passing lanes as he was limited to just 2 assists. Denver's role players felt the lack of ball movement. The Nuggets' offense was just stagnant all game tonight.

Anthony Davis and Dwight Howard were like Batman and Robin stopping the Joker from going on a rampage. I'll get to AD's impact in a second. Dwight didn't play in the Houston series sans Game 1, but was reinserted back into the lineup and made an immediate impact. He kept Jokic in check and was very active in using his hands, crashing the boards and forcing the Nuggets to foul often. Final stat line for Dwight: 13 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 blocks in 16 minutes off the bench.

The bench unit was solid tonight. They outplayed the Nuggets' 2nd unit. Rajon Rondo has been very instrumental in getting the unit in tact. Rondo had 7 points, 9 assists, and 2 steals. To add to it ZERO turnovers. I thought he handled the ball well and put the Lakers' cutters in best positions to get a high percentage shot. Markieff Morris stayed hot from 3-point land with 9 points on 3-4 shooting from deep. Alex Caruso did all the little things on the defensive end, despite no eye-opening numbers on the stats sheet.

For the starters, KCP had a great game scoring-wise with 16 points. Danny Green struggled with his shot, but still showed up on the defensive end with 2 steals and a block. Now we get to the main event: Anthony Davis, MVP of the game. I said in the preview, the Nuggets are facing a skilled big that has no limitations on both ends unlike what the Jazz and Clippers have. All eyes would be on AD this series. Tonight, LeBron and Rondo found him early and often in the paint and rewarded the Lakers with 37 points and 10 rebounds on 12-21 shooting. He may have struggled on the free throw line, but the Nuggets had their hands full on the 'Brow all game long.

In the 2nd quarter, we had a little bit of a scare with LeBron as he rolled his ankle on Jerami Grant as he drove to the basket. That will be something to monitor as the series progresses. But it didn't affect him too much as he was able to get up and throw down in spurts during this game. He was fine tonight, but the next few days, we'll see how that ankle is. The King finished with 15 points and 10 assists and left the game early at the 2:05 mark of the 4th quarter to get treatment on that ankle.

The Nuggets ran into a wall tonight and the Lakers' plethora of veterans with Conference Finals experience was on full display. Denver is not facing the Jazz or the Clippers anymore. This is a Laker team that is all business. Granted, we can't underestimate this team. The Lakers knew they were a 2nd half team and made the proper adjustments tonight to ensure the Nuggets don't go on a mega run in the 2nd half. It especially helps when Jokic and Murray were hampered by foul trouble. We should expect this Nuggets team to respond in Game 2. Lakers need to stay level-headed and cautious to keep this young team to stay down. I'll see you guys on Sunday for that game.

Lakers Playoff Preview: WCF vs. Denver Nuggets

Welcome to the Western Conference Finals preview with the Lakers and Nuggets set to square off for the right to go to the NBA Finals. Yeah, this is a matchup that nobody expected. But a certain LA team did not live up to their end of the bargain. Alright, enough with the Clippers slander. I saved that in the previous post, so this preview solely focuses on the Lakers-Nuggets matchup.

This is quite an improbable run for the Nuggets. "Quit" is a demoralizing word. But it doesn't exist in the dictionary for these young Denver Nuggets, the first team to come back from a 3-1 deficit twice in one postseason run!

The "never-say-die" attitude of these Nuggets is spearheaded by the duo of Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic. They have been nothing short of magnificent of putting the team on their backs in "win or go home" situations. Michael Porter Jr., the rookie has elevated his play to provide a spark for the 2nd unit. And Mike Malone has done a masterful job coaching this young, yet deep squad and making the necessary adjustments when the stakes get high. 

With the way the Nuggets have played in elimination games, the series is never over with them. The Jazz and the Clippers have learned that the hard way. You think this team is down and out? That's all the fuel that this team needs and Murray and Jokic turn it up a notch. Mike Malone becomes more active and vocal, coaching on the sidelines and placing the rest of the personnel in best positions to succeed. I'm not going to be one of those fans that thinks this series will be easy for the Lakers. The Nuggets deserve their dues and they're a team that shouldn't be underestimated.

The key for this series is to slow down the two-man game of Murray and Jokic. One is a flame thrower when hot and the other lives up to the "Joker" moniker as an all-around stud. Jokic has been unstoppable in the paint. But let's look at the bigger picture: Rudy Gobert, defensive stud, but very limited on offense. Ivica Zubac, limited on both ends. Montrezl Harrell, undersized. 

The Lakers have the perfect counter for Nikola Jokic: enter Anthony Davis. So far, the Nuggets have never faced a team with a skilled big man on both ends of the floor. All eyes will be on AD this series in his first conference finals appearance. You can expect LeBron to feed him early on. Pound-for-pound, he cancels out Jokic in this matchup. If there's one weakness Jokic has is that he folds when someone outworks him physically. We evidently saw that in the regular season matchups. AD can limit him with no help defense. He also has the complementary big men of Javale McGee and Dwight Howard to keep him fresh. They can hold their own as well. Dwight, especially at his age was able to give Jokic some fits. Jokic initiates the Nuggets offense as the de facto floor general. The Lakers limit him, they disrupt Denver's flow.

Problem number 2: Jamal Murray. He has emerged as the most unguardable scoring guard in elimination games. Again, the presence of Avery Bradley will be sorely missed. But so far, KCP, Danny Green, Alex Caruso, Rondo, and Kuz have held their own defensively. They had to go through a pernnial All-Star scoring and a two-MVPs backcourt. The beneficial part is that Murray doesn't have a partner-in-crime in the backcourt. Will Barton could've been that guy, but he's not in the bubble. MPJ is coming off the bench. Defensively, the Lakers need to take the ball off Murray's hands as quick as possible and make the rest of Denver's supporting cast beat them. They have done a good job on that in these playoffs. If necessary, put LeBron on him, but only for closeout situations.

Experience will likely be a key factor in this series. Outside of Paul Millsap, who has made the conference finals once with the Atlanta Hawks, every other player from the Nuggets are at this stage for the first time. Mike Malone has not coached a team to the conference finals previously. Frank Vogel has twice with the Indiana Pacers from 2013 & 2014. The Lakers have nine players that have played in at least one or more conference finals series:

LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat): 2007, 2009, 2011-2018

J.R. Smith (Denver Nuggets, Cleveland Cavaliers): 2009, 2015-2018

Danny Green (San Antonio Spurs, Toronto Raptors): 2013, 2014, 2017, 2019

Rajon Rondo (Boston Celtics): 2008, 2010, 2012

Dwight Howard (Orlando Magic, Houston Rockets): 2009, 2010, 2015

Quinn Cook (Golden State Warriors): 2018, 2019

Javale McGee (Golden State Warriors): 2017, 2018

Dion Waiters (Oklahoma City Thunder): 2016 

Jared Dudley (Phoenix Suns): 2010

As evident, this Lakers team is filled with veterans that were battled tested at this stage of the playoffs. They will be assets that guys like AD, Kuz, Caruso, KCP, THT, and 'Kieff can rely on when the going gets tough. LeBron and Rondo's leadership will be huge for the Lakers to successfully close out against a team with a lot of heart, willpower, and determination.

This series is not the "Battle of LA," but it is still an intriguing matchup to watch. The Nuggets have played two consecutive 7-game series, but will they have enough left in the tank to magically pull off another one? The Lakers are not the Jazz or the Clippers. They have treated each of their playoff series with a "business as usual" mindset. LeBron has never blown a 3-1 lead. If the Lakers stay in character, by that I mean they don't ease up like in the 4th quarter of Game 4 vs. Houston, they will deny Denver's bid at another 3-1 comeback. Jazz and Clippers got too overconfident against them. Clippers, especially, my goodness. But, the Lakers, they may be having fun, but they're not playing games either, especially with a championship at stake. I say this series wraps up in six. I'll see you guys tomorrow after Game 1.

"The Clippers Will Always Be 'The Clippers'"

I was going to merge this post with the Lakers-Nuggets preview. But, it will take up a lot, so this deserves a separate post. What a laughable conclusion to the Clippers-Nuggets series last night! I couldn't stop laughing last night because it was a field day for the latest chapter in the Clippers' history total colossal failure.

If last night's game 7 was any indication to all the casual fans, last night's game epitomizes who the Clippers are and who they'll always be. They are a franchise cursed with 50+ years of failure and mediocrity. Zero conference finals appearances to add onto that. 

There is no debate. There is absolutely debate. Los Angeles will always be Laker town. No matter how good the Clippers get, they are always gonna be referred to as the other team that LA never cares about. If anything, this franchise should be thankful to the NBA and the 28 other owners for saving them from another decade of pitiful basketball (yes, I am still bitter about the Chris Paul veto to this day).

The Lakers spotted seven losing seasons to give the Clippers the spotlight as LA's premiere basketball team. And they never got the job done. They couldn't get it done during the Lob City era. And they couldn't get it done with two of the best two-way players of the league. What an absolute choke job that those two put up yesterday and they're supposed to counter the likes of LeBron and AD? See the consequences of load management here? As much as I wanted to see the Battle of LA, this is a better end to their season. The media hyped them up so hard to win it all and usurp the Lakers as the top LA team. 

However, the media forgot that they are to quote Stephen A. Smith, "an accident waiting to happen." You blow 16+ point leads for three straight games. You blow two 3-1 leads in the span of five years. Choke, choke, choke! This also shows how overrated of a coach Doc Rivers is. He's like the NBA's equivalent of Tampa Bay Jon Gruden. He had one championship to show for courtesy of a stacked team and following after that: multiple overachieving seasons with big-time choke jobs in the playoffs. Mike Malone outcoached him. He made adjustments whereas Doc didn't even bother to make some for his team.

To the die hard Clipper fans since the Danny Manning, Brent Barry, Michael Olowakandi, Elton Brand, Lamar Odom, Shaun Livingston, and Mike Dunleavy eras, I'm sorry for you guys. But, I respect the hell out of your unwavering loyalty to this team. 

To the bandwagoners that jumped on this team when they got good and talked all that trash about the Lakers and their rich history, I have no ounce of sympathy. This franchise got lucky out of one fluke vetoed trade. Two division titles to show for and that's it. And all of you have the decency to talk like the Clippers had perennial success before? The Lakers may have been bad the last few years, but they still made it back to the Conference Finals before the Clippers can get their first. Jerry West can't save this team. Kawhi Leonard can't save this team. They mortgaged their future for Pandemic P. This franchise will be back to being the hapless punching bag of the Lakers once they leave.

LA doesn't care about the Clippers and they never will (sorry Billy Crystal). No matter how Steve Ballmer and the organization spins it, the Clippers will still be the laughable irrelevant franchise and the doormat of professional basketball in Los Angeles that will always play second fiddle to the Lakers. In terms of professional sports, LA has always resonated with the Lakers, Kings, Rams, Dodgers, and whatever remains of Raider Nation in that area, which will repopulate with the Raiders in Las Vegas. Even collegiate sports like USC football and UCLA basketball shadows over the Clippers! They will never ever reach that level of resonation with a city that could care less about them. 

Championship banners over selfies. As it still stands: sixteen to ZERO! 

Raiders Open Up Season 1-0 in Win vs. Panthers

Final: LV 34 CAR 30 [W] (1-0)

Welcome in to the full recap of Week 1. The Raiders go on the road and outrun the Panthers lead Josh Jacobs' 3 Rushing TD performance in a 34-30 win.

Ground and pound dominated this game. It was the best rookie running back of last year in Josh Jacobs vs. the #1 all-purpose running back in Christian McCaffrey. Jacobs without a doubt was the MVP of this game. 25 carries, 93 rushing yards, 3 rushing TDs, 4 receptions, and 46 receiving yards is his final stat line. No signs of sophomore slump this game. The O-line did a great job of blocking for him throughout whole game. The only time he got bottled up is from a bad formation or playcalling on Jon Gruden's end. Jacobs' 3rd rushing TD allowed the Raiders to retake the lead and never look back.

In the first quarter, the Raiders run defense did a solid job at the beginning, bottling up CMC in the line of scrimmage. Thinking about it last night, it was going to be interesting to see how the new look front seven was going to fare against CMC with the upgrades at DT and LB. However, it didn't take long for him to get going for the rest of the game. Probably the most head scratching decision is that the Panthers elected not to hand off to McCaffrey on that 4th and inches. They went with the fullback and Clelin Ferrell came up with huge 4th down stop to seal this game.

Overall, the Raiders played a clean game sans 3 penalties. Probably the sign of the times right there. My only concern is that the Raiders sat on the lead in the 4th after going up 27-15. Honestly, this conservative stuff has to stop. Jon Gruden is notorious for shutting it down in the 2nd half. You're up 12 and you let the Panthers score 15 unanswered. When you trail, you start opening up the playbook again. This will be the only thing that will cost the Raiders some games. Keep your foot on the gas pedal.

Onto the other standouts: clean game from Derek Carr today. 22 completed passes of 30 attempts, 239 yards, 1 TD off a 23-yarder to Nelson Agholor. Carr played the game manager role well as the running game was going off. We also a few connections to the rookie Henry Ruggs. Carr threw a deep ball to him on the first pass that ended up incomplete. But, they came back again and connected deep for 45 yards to set up Josh Jacobs' first rushing TD of the day. It was a pretty small sample size considering Ruggs came off hobbling in the 2nd quarter after a tackle from Carolina DB, Jeremy Chinn. Chinn landed on his leg as he was making an open field tackle. Good news was that Ruggs was able to finish the game.  Devontae Booker also stood out with 4 carries, 29 rushing yards and 3 receptions for 23 receiving yards. Jalen Richard's days as a #2 RB may be numbered. Booker stood out especially as a pass catcher, sparing Jacobs.

Injury concerns: Trent Brown left in the 2nd quarter with a calf issue. Nick Kwiatkoski didn't finish the game due to a pectoral injury. Huge losses this game. However, Trent Brown's injury history last year is well-documented. When he's healthy, he solidifies the Raiders' right side. That is "when." Mike Mayock opened the bank for him and it would be unfortunate if he can't elude the injury bug.

1-0 always feels great for any team in the NFL. As I mentioned, the Raiders need to stop playing with the lead and continue to press on teams. Too much of these close games are not for the faint of heart. But 1-0, especially in the inaugural season in a new city always feels good. The Raiders get the Saints next week in a Monday Night matchup in their new digs at Allegiant Stadium. I'll see you guys later.

Lakers Drop the Hammer in Closeout Win

Final Score: HOU 96 LAL 119 - Lakers Advance 4-1

Welcome in to the recap of Game 5. The Lakers complete yet another gentleman's sweep, putting the Rockets out of orbit 96-119. The Lakers advance to the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 2010.

Now that's how you dominate from start to finish! Game 4 left a bad taste at the end with the Lakers committing mental mistakes, allowing the Rockets to creep back in. Tonight, no comeback this time. Houston did have that mini run at the start of the 2nd quarter. But, the Lakers outplayed them big time to close this series out.

I said in my preview, the 3-point shooting is going to be an X-Factor in this matchup, especially for everyone outside LeBron and AD. It took awhile throughout the series, but when it mattered the most, they fired from all cylinders. Markieff Morris, Danny Green, and KCP showed out in this category. 'Kieff has been the game-changer throughout this series and he capped it off with 16 points and shot a perfect 4-4 from three. Danny Green added 14 points, shot 4-6 from three. KCP chipped in 10 points, shot 2-3 from three. Kyle Kuzma shot 3-6 from three and finished with 17 points off the bench. 

The Lakers beat the Rockets at their own game tonight. Outside of James Harden's efficient 30-point night, the Rockets couldn't buy a bucket. Credit to the stifling Laker defense for that. They had the perimeter on lockdown and completely took Houston off their game. In the 3rd quarter, between the 9:52 mark and 4:59 mark, they couldn't buy a bucket. They got outscored 18-33 and never made another run.

With how the supporting cast stepped up, LeBron and AD didn't have to be great. LeBron still put up numbers we're accustomed to with 29 points, 11 rebounds, and 7 assists. Though AD had  only 13 points, he crashed the boards with 11 rebounds tonight. We can live with AD's off-game offensively, considering how the team played at a high level tonight. But he still did everything else from rebounding to anchoring the suffocating defense that the Lakers displayed out there tonight.

For the first time since 2010, the Lakers are in the Western Conference Finals. I've ran this blog for a long time after the Lakers' win over the Celtics in Game 7 that year. Back then, it's like these deep playoff runs were a guarantee. But for 10 years, it never happened. I thought by starting off this blog, I cursed the Lakers into mediocrity. Now to see them back one series away from the NBA Finals, it feels great. 

But they're not out of the woods yet. They will await the winner of Clippers-Nuggets. Without question, the Clippers pose the biggest threat to the Lakers' championship aspirations. They're deep in every position. But last night, they had a hiccup closing out Denver. Maybe the Clipper curse is still very real. But if it comes down to it, it's gonna be an exciting battle with the two LA teams if the Clippers do their job tomorrow night. It's just too bad that it's not gonna happen at Staples Center. Anyway, we'll await the winner and I'm going to post my preview immediately after. I'll see you guys later.

Lakers Dominate Through 3 Quarters; Survive 4th Quarter Scare to take 3-1 Lead

Final Score: LAL 110 HOU 100 - Lakers lead 3-1

Just wanted to give a quick recap on this game so I can jump into the Texans-Chiefs that's ongoing right now. The headline says it all. The Lakers had control for 3 quarters of the game. Into the 4th quarter, they almost let the Rockets steal one, but Alex Caruso and a last second highlight play from Rondo and LeBron saved the game for the Lakers to take a commanding 3-1 lead.

This game felt like a loss more than a win. We now know that complacency can doom the Lakers if they don't play at a high level for 48 minutes. 3rd quarter presented some early warning signs. Lakers still controlled the game at that point, but the Rockets hung around with some threes and free throws.

In the 4th, Lakers still controlled the game. They had a 100-78 lead at the 7:22 mark of the 4th quarter. After a timeout, that's when things started getting out of hand. The defense constantly broke down to force the Lakers to foul. Rockets got most of their points from the free throw line tonight. Other defensive lapses, the Lakers got lazy containing the perimeter. And the most irksome negative, untimely turnovers, two of them were unforced. The Rockets cut the lead to as close as 8 points. 

Mental errors and complacency got the Rockets back into this game despite what was a dominating game for the Lakers. Though those marred a complete performance, I was impressed with the all-around team game. AD tops all Lakers in scoring with 29 points. LeBron chipped in 16 points. However, it was the role players that stepped up and were active on both ends of the floor. Danny Green and KCP drilled a pair threes and both finished with 10 points. Rondo had a near triple-double off the bench with 11 points, 10 rebounds, and 8 assists. Alex Caruso was the hero late in the game, saving the Lakers from total self-destruction. He had 16 points off the bench. His last three points and key defensive steal in the final minute put the game on ice. Other side notes, Talen Horton-Tucker saw action in the 2nd quarter and finished with 5 points and 2 steals. The rookie was solid in his playoff debut and it was a great "curve ball" thrown by Frank Vogel in the rotation since they elected to play small.

With that, at least that game gave me something to talk about. If the Lakers continued to dominate, this recap would've been shorter. But, I hope the Lakers learned from that 4th quarter to keep the pressure for the entire 48 minutes. As long as this Rockets team find ways to get hot and score quickly, these games are far from over. They might've found a silver lining that'll help them extend this series. The Lakers can make it right in a closeout situation in Game 5. Great game, but that 4th quarter was very uncharacteristic for the purple and gold. I'll see you guys later.

Las Vegas Raiders 2020 Preview: Welcome to Sin City

Alright Raider Nation, welcome in to the 2020 preview for the upcoming Las Vegas Raiders regular season campaign. The Raiders kick off their inaugural season in Sin City in their brand new Allegiant Stadium. It's going to be an interesting season obviously with the COVID-19 pandemic going on. Several NFL players elected not to play this season while teams will play in their stadium at little to no capacity. I'll address that a little later. But, let's get off to the nitty gritty storylines, schedule breakdown, and my prediction on where the Raiders will finish.

Youth Movement

When Jon Gruden came back to the Raiders in 2018, we didn't expect him to deconstruct the current roster and start the rebuild process all over again. He traded superstar studs in Khalil Mack and Amari Cooper to build some draft capital for 2019. The following year, in comes Mike Mayock, the "draft guru" as the new GM. With the combined football minds of Gruden and Mayock, they nailed the Raiders' best draft class since 2014, drafting Clelin Ferrell at #4 and using the Mack and Amari picks to draft Josh Jacobs and Johnathan Abram respectively to complete their trio of first round talents. In addition, they selected some late-round bloomers by way of Trayvon Mullen, Maxx Crosby, and Hunter Renfrow.

The 2019 draft class lead in every statistical category that Pro Football Focus can throw out. Despite the underwhelming performance from Clelin Ferrell as a top pick and the early injury to Johnathan Abram, the Raiders' 2019 picks still stood out. Josh Jacobs became the first 1,000+ yard rusher since Latavius Murray in 2015 and the first Raider rookie to do so in such a long time. Maxx Crosby had an underrated season as a pass rusher with 10 sacks. Trayvon Mullen flashed potential as a number 1 corner. And Hunter Renfrow proved to be a reliable target in the slot for Derek Carr. With the success of the 2019 draft, the Raiders would hope for an encore with the 2020 class headlined by Henry Ruggs III, Damon Arnette, Tanner Muse, and Bryan Edwards.

"Youth Movement" seems like an appropriate title for this headline because the Raiders are going all in for these young pieces they have acquired through the draft. With a couple of injuries and roster cuts, they are thrusted immediately into the Vegas spotlight. We expect Josh Jacobs to build off of a stellar rookie season in rushing and receiving. Especially with the weapons the Raiders have now: a speedster and deep threat in Ruggs and a potential get up and grab it receiver in Edwards to pair with Hunter Renfrow in the slot, a blossoming All-Pro Tight End in Darren Waller and a solid O-line when healthy, the sky is the limit for Jacobs to run wild on opposing defenses. On the receiving core, with Tyrell Williams going on IR, all eyes will be on the trio of Ruggs, Edwards, and Renfrow. Ruggs and Renfrow are already penciled in as starters. Edwards has been given the green light to start ahead of veterans like Nelson Agholor and Zay Jones, who've made the active roster.

On defense, there's a lot of youth on that side of the ball. By all accounts, we will be paying attention to Clelin Ferrell and see if he can take that next step to become an all-elite defender. As I mentioned before, Ferrell didn't jump out to me a lot last season and I didn't think a lot of offensive coordinators respected him in their gameplan against the Raiders' defense. Sure, he had some good highlights, but he's gonna have to prove that he's worthy of that #4 pick overall. Perhaps, the unit that I'm most skeptical about is the secondary. The Raiders cut Prince Amukamara and Demarious Randall, two veteran DBs who could've helped. At the same time, I read they weren't doing well at camp. Amukamara especially was "burnt toast" out there. What we know so far is Mullen has the #1 corner on lock. Abram is 100% healthy and will get that Free Safety position. Arnette reportedly earned the 2nd corner position, beating out Nevin Lawson. It's going to be interesting to see how Paul Guenther meshes this unit together, especially with no preseason games this year to see how they look in game speed.

Notable Free Agent Acquisitions

This offseason, the Raiders finally addressed the revolving linebacker position with the signings of Nick Kwiatkoski from Chicago and All-Pro, Cory Littleton from the LA Rams. If there was one thing that I was the most upset about during the Reggie McKenzie era, it was that the Raiders refused to upgrade the linebacker position, which hasn't been a strength in a long time. We were banking on so many project picks or past-their-prime veterans to get that unit right. But, I'm glad Mayock and Gruden addressed that and signed proven talent who'll start and bring immediate help to a unit that has been mediocre for some time now. I also liked the signing of Maliek Collins from the Dallas Cowboys. Defensive Tackle was also a unit that the previous regime refused to address. Now the current regime got a guy who can anchor that middle of the D-line and provide some push to free up Ferrell and Crosby coming off the edge. They also acquired Carl Nassib for additional pass rush and Jeff Heath for more depth in the secondary. 

On offense, their most notable signings were Agholor and Marcus Mariota. Not too many impact signings on offense via free agency. But, Raiders were able to get Mariota for a bargain to act as a "super backup" to Derek Carr.

Derek Carr - No More Excuses

Talking about Derek Carr, it's like being in an estranged relationship with a spouse. By now, we know the pros and cons surrounding Carr since the freak injury back in 2016. This season is a make or break year and Carr has to prove it now that he's capable of being a franchise quarterback and worth the $100 million contract extension. He said it himself, he's "tired of the disrespect." Fact of the matter is that it's not disrespect. A lot of Carr's flaws are proven. This is what year 6? Year 7? And he still makes the same mistakes that he's done in years' past. To make matters worse, he's awful in cold weather games and he hasn't won a game in Arrowhead Stadium, which is why the Raiders-Chiefs rivalry has been lopsided in the past decade.

As I mentioned, when the Raiders get to Vegas, all the stars will align for Derek Carr's career. He's now playing in a domed stadium. That means less cold weather, especially when the season gets to late November-Early December. He has a running game. He has weapons now. His O-line is healthy. Simply put, there are no excuses for Carr to underperform this year. He can put up numbers, but can he give the team wins? That is the question. Have no fear though Carr fans. You have one more trump card in your book of excuses: "the COVID-19 pandemic didn't give Carr and his new receivers a lot of time to gel." I am calling it right now if he underperforms yet again.

Here's my message to Derek Carr: as a fellow Laker fan, you said you want to honor Kobe this upcoming season? You want to embrace the Mamba Mentality this year? Then, be the franchise QB you were meant to be and stop being a product of the talent that surrounds you! Work with what you have. Stop being gaudy with stats, numbers, and franchise records. Stop playing scared. Elevate and bring out the best of the unit you have currently on the field and just win!

No Fans in Attendance

With COVID-19 still ongoing, many NFL teams will elect to allow minimal or no fans in the stadiums this year. It depends a lot on their cities' jurisdiction and their policies for large gatherings at public events. And this year, the Raiders will start off their first season in Las Vegas...with no fans in attendance for home games. For Oakland fans, this is glorious karma to Mark Davis and the organization. We know Mark Davis was banking on Raider Nation to show up in full force. With the expensive PSLs and Hotel and Casino taxes, he thought he was going to get the "golden parachute." Looks like that will have to wait.

If you're aspiring to be an NFL owner and you have deep pockets, let this be a cautionary tale of moving from city to city. If your team gets league approval to relocate to another city, move there immediately! The Rams got approved to move back to LA, they relocated immediately and re-established their footing in that market while setting up a new stadium. The Chargers had one year to decide on their approval for relocation, they took it, moved out of San Diego and up to LA and established their footing in that market while the new stadium is being built. 

The Raiders? They got approved to relocate to Vegas in 2017, but they stayed in Oakland for three lame duck seasons. The Raiders are in a real false start with this inaugural season in Vegas. They don't have that market fully established when they had three years to do so. This is like owning a professional sports team 101. If you committed your organization to a new city, you have to move there immediately to establish yourself in the market, build up the fanbase, and maintain a relationship with the community. Sure, we didn't expect COVID-19 to be this bad, but Mark Davis and the Raiders decided to play with fire and squeeze every penny out of Oakland with false narratives and pretenses that they were gonna win a Super Bowl before they leave. Reality is they should've moved upon approval when they had the chance. 

To all aspiring NFL owners, don't do what Mark Davis did. Because if unforeseen circumstances like this pandemic happens and you took your sweet time to move to your new city, you might've just put your franchise in financial trouble early on. Mark Davis isn't exactly rich either. What's his net worth, $500 million? The organization paid a hefty relocation fee. They secured a loan from Bank of America to complete the funding to build Allegiant Stadium, which they'll need to pay back down the line. No fans in attendance and the NFL is expected to drop in revenue this year due to the pandemic. Yikes!

Schedule Breakdown

Looking at this schedule, I would say this is kind of middle-of-the-pack schedule. It's not difficult, but at the same time it's not easy. Raiders open up in Carolina. The Panthers are in the midst of a rebuild season under a new head coach. They open up Allegiant Stadium against the Saints, they're expected to contend in the NFC South like usual. They get the Post-Brady era Patriots in Week 3, the rising Bills in Week 4, and an early trip to Arrowhead in Week 5. Carr could very well get his first win at Arrowhead since Kansas City still has warm weather at that time. They get the bye Week 6. Following that, they have two home Sunday Night games in the five-week span: against Tom Brady and the Bucs in Week 7 and a rematch with Kansas City again in Week 11. The rest of the schedule pans out like this: vs. TB, @ CLE, @ LAC, vs. DEN, vs KC, @ ATL, @ NYJ, vs. IND, vs. LAC, vs. Miami, and @ Denver to finish out for the 2nd straight year. Looking back at our unproven secondary, they'll be facing a lot of elite receivers: Michael Thomas in Week 2, Tyreek Hill in Weeks 5 and 11, Mike Evans and Chris Godwin in Week 7, Julio Jones in Week 12. Honorable mentions would be Stefon Diggs, Week 4, T.Y. Hilton in Week 14, and maybe Jerry Jeudy in Weeks 10 and 17 if Drew Lock turns out to be the real deal for the Broncos. Like I said, it's a middle-of-the-pack schedule for the Raiders. But without question, a lot of teams will be eager to test the new-look defense and that secondary. The offense doesn't have a lot of elite defenses to worry about. But, they will still be tested, especially when there's no preseason to fine tune their chemistry and execution.

Conclusion

At best, I see this team at 9-7. At worst, 8-8. The Raiders have a lot of young pieces, but there will be a huge learning curve for these guys at the NFL level. Especially against the more experienced teams, they will be in for a rough outing. But if Carr, the veteran, can elevate them and Gruden can put these players in the best position to succeed, this team has the potential to exceed expectations. But, realistically, when you're in a division with the defending Super Bowl champions who have a $500 million elite quarterback, you can only get as far as you can. Interesting enough, the NFL has expanded the Wild Card teams to three so that only the #1 seed gets the bye week. So, the Raiders do have a chance at the Wild Card in their inaugural season. Personally, I don't see this team making the playoffs just yet. It's more about making strides, especially for the 2nd year players from the 2019 draft. The 2020 draft class will get their action, but they'll take more time to develop with no preseason to give them a taste of the NFL speed. I'll reiterate again, 9-7 at best, 8-8 at worst. I'll see you guys for Week 1.

'Bron on a Mission; Laker Q4 Defense Clamps Rockets in Game 3

Final Score: LAL 112 HOU 102 - Lakers Lead 2-1

Welcome in to the recap of Game 4. The Lakers and Rockets went back and forth throughout the whole. But in the end, LeBron James won't be denied and the Lakers stepped their game up in the 4th. Lakers take a 2-1 series lead in these West semis behind vintage performances LeBron and Playoff Rondo.

Another tough, gritty win against these pesky Rockets. This game has been tight throughout. Houston played keepaway with the close lead and responded quickly when the Lakers rallied to take a couple of leads prior to the 4th. But the 4th quarter, a whole different story as the Lakers took control throughout.

As I mentioned, behind LeBron's 30+ point performance, Lakers kept themselves within striking distance. Anthony Davis was quiet in the first half, yet came alive in the 3rd quarter. The supporting cast was a no show until late in the 3rd quarter. It started with a pressure three from Rondo as the shot clock expired to give the Lakers an 80-77 lead. That was like a shot in the arm to get him going. Kyle Kuzma, same thing. Got a few good looks to the basket and then he was more active in the 4th to close this out.

Perhaps the small game changer was the adjustment that Frank Vogel made. He sat out Javale McGee in the 2nd half to put Markieff Morris at Center. We can see in this series, this matchup is unfavorable for McGee and Dwight Howard because of Houston's ability to space the floor. With the change, the Lakers were able to double more on James Harden and contain the perimeter. Although the only negative was the points in the paint. The Rockets took advantage of that this whole game. Even with the lineup change, they still found a way to penetrate to the basket. Other than that, the defense got better with the smaller lineup in the 2nd half.

Final stat lines: LeBron poured in 36 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 blocks. This is a stat line Miami Heat 'Bron would put up from 2010-2014. He was a man on a mission tonight on both ends of the floor and unquestionably the MVP of this game. Rajon Rondo gets runner-up with 21 points and 9 assists. "Playoff Rondo" showed up in the 4th and jumpstarted the bench production for the Lakers. AD notched 26 points and 15 rebounds. As mentioned, he stood out more in the 2nd half. Kyle Kuzma also stood out in the 2nd half with 14 points. I liked how active Kuz was on the offense, making the necessary cuts and crashing the boards.

If there's any themes of this series is that the 4th quarter will be a key factor. It's a matter of which team can be effective in crunch time. So far, the Lakers have controlled the 4th quarter in Games 2 & 3 since the ugly loss in Game 1. This Rockets team won't be easy to take down as long as they're getting to the line and shooting timely threes. But, the Lakers have made the adjustments since Game 1. They are forcing the Rockets to play at an unfavorable pace. Up 2-1, we know what happened in Portland in Game 4 in the last round. Lakers will look to replicate that and start fast to take a commanding 3-1 lead. I'll see you guys on Thursday for that game.

King and 'Brow Respond; Rondo and 'Kieff Step Up in Game 2 Win

Final Score: HOU 109 LAL 117 - Tied 1-1

Welcome in to the full recap of Game 2. The Lakers responded after the Game 1 debacle powered by their superstar duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis. The King and the 'Brow showed up and combined for 62 total points to top the Rockets 109-117 and even up this series at one game a piece.

If anything, the Lakers are going to need more of these to contain this well-oiled 3-point machine. Let's get the negative out of the way, the 3rd quarter was a total breakdown from the Lakers. They abandoned most of the things that were working for the most part of the game. But credit to the Rockets for making the necessary adjustments. They started trapping more on defense to force some turnovers. What worked for the Lakers was that they were deploying a zone defense to slow down the Rockets and force the ball out Westbrook or Harden's hands. The 3rd quarter, they abandoned that and were lazy on rotation. That lead to a lot of open looks from Eric Gordon, Robert Covington, and PJ Tucker, three prominent Rockets role players. And they helped Houston mount a comeback and have the lead at one point. Missed free throws also played a factor to allow the Rockets to hang around a bit.

Now, let's move to the positives. I said it before and I'll say it again, LeBron and AD have to impose their will on this undersized Rockets team. Last game, they only scored a combined 5 points in the 4th quarter. Tonight, they were much better down the stretch. AD lead all scorers with 34 points to go with 10 boards. LeBron racked up a near triple-double with with 28 points, 11 rebounds and 9 assists to go with 4 steals.

Not to worry, the superstars got help tonight. Markieff Morris stepped up in a big way with 16 points. He started 4-4 from threes to extend the Laker lead to as many as 16. Rajon Rondo had a much better game tonight with 10 points, 6 assists, and 5 steals. Rondo set the tone for the Lakers defensively and most of all, he took better care of the basketball with just 1 turnover. 

Some other standouts, Kyle Kuzma chipped in 13 points with 6-7 shooting. The defensive numbers don't tell the whole story. But, I thought Kuz was solid defensively tonight. Danny Green added three 3-pointers with 9 points.

Overall, minus the 3rd quarter, the Lakers' activity on both ends were on display tonight. They got the Rockets in foul trouble. They gave Russell Westbrook a tough time, which was a huge help to get this W. But, they gotta do something about Houston's role players. When they step up, they can wreck a game plan and shift momentum in a hurry. This series will be a grind as long as Houston's players are locked in, especially when Westbrook and James Harden have inefficient games. 

Tonight, I liked the adjustments made by Frank Vogel and the coaching staff. They gave Markieff Morris extended minutes to stretch the floor and have AD play extended minutes at Center. We saw Javale McGee and Dwight Howard were ineffective last game in the lineup. So, they gotta match up, but retain their advantage in size and ability to crash the glass and dominate the paint. Whether or not they can maintain this consistency for the next three games remains in question. This series is just heating up. I'll see you guys on Tuesday for the next game.

Rockets Blast Lakers in Game 1

Final Score: HOU 112 LAL 97 - Rockets Lead 1-0

Alright, welcome in to the full recap of this game. The Lakers dropped another Game 1 in these playoffs. But unlike the opening round against Portland, they got dominated this game. An undersized Rockets team dominated and outplayed the much bigger Lakers squad 112-97 to take a 1-0 series lead. Shocking ain't it?

I mentioned it before, extended rest can be a double-edged sword. Prior to this, the Lakers were chilling while the Houston was in a dogfight against OKC in a 7-game series. After looking at this game, I don't think that was a factor. The Lakers jumped to a 7-0 lead before the Rockets upped the sense of urgency this game. I didn't find any signs of rust. The Rockets outplayed them the rest of the way and were the more physical team tonight. 

I said it in the preview: when the tandem of Russell Westbrook and James Harden go off, Houston is hard to beat despite their lack of size. After an atrocious Game 7, Harden was Houston's leading scorer with 36 points on an efficient 12-20 shooting. Westbrook chimed in with 24 points on 10-24 shooting. I told y'all they were going to find ways to be aggressive and draw contact to get to the free throw line. 

To make matters worse, key role players for the Rockets stepped up. Austin Rivers lead Houston's bench with 10 points. He started with 6 quick points to help balloon Houston's lead to 7 at the start of 2nd quarter.  Eric Gordon went off this game with 23 points on 7-14 shooting. The Lakers did a lazy job against him defensively. It's like they completely forgotten that Gordon is quite the scorer as well. I recalled two or three times, the Lakers didn't bother to rotate and Gordon had all day to get set and shoot the wide open three. 

As I mentioned, the Lakers didn't look rusty. But rather, they put up a disappointing effort after a 7-0 start. Turnovers and LeBron and AD combining for just 5 points in the 4th quarter were the major stories this game. They got some reinforcements with Rajon Rondo back in the rotation tonight. Evaluating, Rondo's return, he had a valley, then a peak, then a valley again. Rondo had the case of the "slip and slide" to start. He fell twice or three times when he was handling the ball. It was a tough stretch for him, lucky he got up unscathed. He showed signs with a 3-pointer and a layup off glass. And then, the turnovers mounted up.

Turnovers were close with the Rockets committing 13 turnovers compared to the Lakers' 15. But, the Lakers committed turnovers in the most critical times, especially when they were trailing by two or one. During those sequences, as a Laker fan, all you can do was shake your head. I had my head down the whole time when the Lakers committed these silly turnovers when they needed a bucket to tie or take the lead and get some of the momentum back. This is especially the conundrum when you have Rondo return and pair him with LeBron in the lineup. Rondo had a mixed performance. He pushed the pace well, but played "hot potato" with the basketball in his return. The Rockets made them pay in that category and bombarded them with threes to extend their lead. By the way, Lakers shot 24% from three and the Rockets shot 36% from deep. I did mention the three-point shooting was going to be an X-factor for this series.

Onto the superstar duo, LeBron James provided some highlights with a poster dunk on Westbrook and a chase down block on Westbrook again, but he didn't do a lot more. Anthony Davis as well. AD had 25 points and 14 rebounds while LeBron had 20 points and 7 assists, but these were disappointing stat lines if you looked back at this game. They got punked by Houston's defense tonight. To make matters worse, they didn't score in the 4th quarter until the 4 minute mark. By that time, it was too late and Frank Vogel effectively waved the white flag two minutes later by taking both of them out of the game.

The only positive I could probably take out of this game is that Alex Caruso showed out, leading the bench with 14 points. If there's positive with Rondo returning, Caruso can play off ball more. But other than that, the Lakers dropped the ball on this game. You can't blame rust or the extended rest, they got outplayed on both ends. 

Here's the concerning part: the Lakers are now 0-3 against Houston since the small ball lineup was unveiled back in February. It should be clear that size and length are not just the only thing that's going to take down this team. The Lakers need to do a better job at being the more physical team. And most importantly, they gotta take care of the basketball, especially since Houston likes to run and gun. That's the Mike D'Antoni / 7 seconds or less principle. The silver lining is that when the Lakers dropped the first game against Portland, they came back and won the next four. Will history repeat itself this series? Certainly, but they need to do a better job. I'll see you guys after Game 2 on Sunday.

Lakers Playoff Preview: Semis vs. Houston Rockets

Welcome in to another playoff preview. Finally, the stage is set for the Lakers to take on the Houston Rockets in the Western semifinals. What a thrilling end to the first round in the West! Tuesday, Nuggets and Jazz ended in a wild finish with the Nuggets prevailing and overcoming a 3-1 deficit. Rockets and Thunder had a lot of storylines surrounding James Harden, Russell Westbrook, and Chris Paul, which made an intriguing 1st round matchup. At the end of the day, the Rockets pulled it out coming up clutch on defense tonight. Not quite what you'd expect out of a Mike D'Antoni-coached team.

The Rockets are a team that has taken small ball to an extreme level. They have no true center on their roster. If you want to count Tyson Chandler, go ahead. At this point, he's just coaching them from the sidelines. And their game plan is pretty simple: live and die by the 3 and hope you can outscore your opponent. This team before the trade deadline retooled to have the roster consist of Westbrook, Harden, and a bunch of sharpshooting "3 and D" players. 

Despite being undersized, the Rockets are a tough, scrappy team. Harden made some clutch defensive plays in these playoffs. Robert Covington is a solid 2-way role player. P.J. Tucker is a dog out there. Westbrook can play D when healthy. This roster has some dogs. If I heard right, their defense has been top-tier throughout their series against OKC. The seventh game saw them in a close win, but their first three wins, they dominated the Thunder on both ends of the floor. But, credit to the Thunder, a team with .2% chance of making the playoffs, they hung in there and almost pulled off the win. If they won, all hell would've broken loose in Houston.

Now, we look at how the Lakers match up. In the series against Portland, the Lakers only had Jusuf Nurkic and Hassan Whiteside to worry about in the paint. But, they still imposed their will with the two-man powerhouse of LeBron James and Anthony Davis. By Game 3, LeBron was in attack mode and the series was history. Well, it was history when they went full Black Mamba mode in Game 4. The Lakers present a big mismatch for the Rockets. They're not facing a clumsy Steven Adams or an undersized CP3. They're facing a freight train disguised as a point guard and a titan with skills. We expect the Lakers to impose their will and use their size to feast inside the paint. Defensively, Houston may be small, but they're not going to back down. Simply put, they have to be the more physical team and it starts with the two man game of LeBron and AD being aggressive on both ends of the floor. 

There are two problems that the Lakers are going to encounter defensively. Obviously Westbrook and Harden are a problem. But, they also need to clamp down on the perimeter. Westbrook and Harden are dangerous when they shoot their patented midrange and stepback three efficiently. Not to mention, one can pick up the slack when the other is underperforming. Take the OKC series as evidence. Dame and McCollum were a handful for Caruso, KCP, Danny Green, and Kuz. What more with this backcourt of two ex-MVPs? They will obviously try to get whistles in their favor. Whoever is guarding them, they must remain disciplined and stay in front of them at all times. If the Lakers apply help defense, they should anticipate early that they will kick it to the open man from the perimeter. As I mentioned, Houston's role players are sharpshooters. They can chuck up as many threes as they want because they are confident in those shots. Not to mention, when you have Harden and Westbrook breaking down the defense, they will sit comfortably from the 3-point line because they know they have a higher percentage shot. 

For an X-factor, I hope the Lakers worked on their threes all week long. The last time these two teams met, the 3-point differential favored the Rockets by a huge margin. In the first round, we saw encouraging signs that the Lakers are slowly getting that 3-point shooting going. If the Lakers continue to strive and shoot efficiently from deep while dominating the paint, Houston will have no answer and this series will be over in a blur. 

Lakers will be well-rested for this series. They haven't looked well in the bubble overall. But, based on that first round series against Portland, it looks like they've shaken off some rust and got back into midseason form prior to the league suspension. This is a salivating matchup for the Lakers. As long as they do all the aformentioned things and not turn the ball over more than Houston, they could very well take this in a four-game sweep. Maybe they'll allow one generous win. But from what I saw from the Lakers against Portland and how Houston struggled to put OKC away down the stretch of their 1st round series, this presents a very advantageous matchup in favor of the LakeShow. I'll see you guys back here on Friday after the game.