Welcome in to a double full recap in what was a crazy Thursday night for the blog as the Raiders and Lakers played on national TV. The Raiders resurrected some 4th quarter comeback magic as they knock off their divisional rival Chiefs, ending the Kansas City jinx in a 30-31 thriller. Meanwhile, the Lonzo Ball-Brandon Ingram era for the Lakers hit a brick wall in the team's opener, falling to the Clippers 108-92.
Wow, these two games were polar opposites of each other. My goodness. But I'm gonna be honest, I lost a lot of energy from that frantic finish on the Raiders-Chiefs Thursday Night game. The final sequence of that game was a pure example of the torture us Raider fans have to go through with this team. But, hey Derek Carr did it again against the Chiefs on Thursday Night Football in Oakland. I think the NFL seriously needs to consider more Raiders-Chiefs on Thursday Night in Oakland because that's the only way they can beat the Chiefs. All kidding aside, it took five tries in the final seconds. You'd think the game would be over, but finally the Raiders get calls their way and they capitalized on it with Carr's game-winning TD to King Crab. On the flip side, it was a tough sledding for the Lakers in their game against the Clippers. I said last night, despite Chris Paul's absence, the Clippers are still a proven veteran team and it showed tonight. The Lakers committed some silly turnovers and they were too passive offensively. Defensively, they had a lot of breakdowns which lead to some good outside looks by the Clippers and they just didn't have an answer for neither Blake Griffin nor DeAndre Jordan inside the post.
By virtue, I will cover the losing team first. It's a tradition that I've used when I'm covering the Super Bowl or the NBA Finals where I would address the losing team first and then address the winning team later.
Lakers
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Brook Lopez, 20 points, 6 rebounds, 7-19 shooting. The Lakers brought in Brook Lopez for this kind of stat line. His 3-point game wasn't in sync, shooting 1-5 from beyond the arc, but he did most of his damage inside the post and from the perimeter as well. Keep in mind, I didn't see the first half, but in the second half, Lopez ignited a mini run with a couple of floaters and hook shots before the Clippers proceeded to destroy the Lakers' non-existent defense. Lopez is capable of creating his own shot and he's expected to fill the stat sheet up from here on out.
Lonzo getting teammates involved. Since I missed a majority of the game, I couldn't analyze how well Lonzo moved the ball and with his low assists numbers, I assume either players missed their shots or passed up a shot. But, hearing from Chris Webber at the end of the game that he thought Lonzo did a good job getting teammates involved, that was encouraging to hear. Remember, Lonzo is not a scorer. He's a pass first guy and he's looking to make plays for teammates. He had a nice highlight in the third quarter with pick-and-roll action, finding Lopez for a layup.
Jordan Clarkson 18 points, 7-16 shooting. Last season, Clarkson has proven to be a capable sixth man since the Lakers traded away Lou Williams. It's good to see he's carrying that over. Lopez and Clarkson are in reality the Lakers' offense until further notice.
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Blake Griffin vs. Larry Nance Jr. and Julius Randle. There's no way around this, Blake Griffin destroyed the Lakers' Power Forwards tonight. He completely overpowered both of them in the paint. I saw the highlight of Randle getting posterized on Griffin's dunk in the 2nd half. The defensive assignment on Griffin proved to be too much.
Turnovers and indecisiveness. That was evident in the 3rd quarter. I feel it was the Lakers' youth trying to do too much. They're too focused on making the home run, highlight play and placing some overemphasis on the ball movement. It happens to young teams and you'd hope that the Lakers learn to slow down and be more decisive in their execution as this season progresses.
Defensive breakdowns. This has been a problem since forever literally. I couldn't recall how many times the Lakers allowed high percentage shots to the Clippers. They're gambling too much on double teams, closing out on their man too late, and failing to provide help defense at the right time. Luke Walton should continue to coach these players up on communicating better defense because that will be the biggest concern throughout the season.
Brandon Ingram, 3-15 shooting. Trade him. Okay, that was a joke. Clearly, this was not a good 2nd year debut for Ingram. In the 3rd quarter, Ingram settled for a couple of jumpshots. Those are high percentage shots, but they were just falling short. Say what you want about Ingram being a bust, but like I said, you can't judge a player until year 3. Unless Ingram has games like these in 75% of the season, then maybe we can start questioning how untouchable he is. Shooting-wise, bad game by Ingram, but it's only one game.
Raiders
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Amari Cooper, 11 receptions, 210 yards, 2 TDs. These last few games, it was frustrating to see Cooper getting shut out in the game plan and rarely seeing some targets. It was also frustrating that a majority of Raiders fans were hating on him. Clearly the drops are frustrating, but it's not entirely his fault that Todd Downing doesn't trust him. This game was a great way to break Amari out of his slump. He was targeted a lot in this game. I'm disappointed that some are considering this game a bad game for Coop. Yes, he drop a couple of long balls, but you can't expect him to be on target all the time. He had 19 targets today. I'm sure if he was 18 of 19 in his targets, people still find ways to hate. Coop showed us that he's still a big play receiver and a YAC monster. And you wanna question his toughness? He took a big hit from Daniel Sorenson. I'm still one of those few who'll continue to defend Coop.
Derek Carr, 29 of 52 passes, 417 passing yards, 3 TDs. This one has to be extra special for Carr as nothing has gone his way against the Chiefs in the last five games. The completion percentage is by all means bad. And yes, most of his throws were 50/50 balls. But, no Marshawn Lynch, no running game, Carr had to carry the offense behind his back. Three years ago, Carr lead the Raiders to their first win against the Chiefs on Thursday Night. Three years later, he did it again!
NaVorro Bowman, 11 tackles. Wait, I thought 49ers fans said that Bowman was done? Clearly, they're in a youth movement, but Bowman still proved he can be a difference maker in stopping the run. Overall, the run defense held Kareem Hunt to 87 yards. That's not too bad for a defense that has struggled in defending the run. It's safe to say, Bowman's presence patched up some of the run defense woes.
Jared Cook, 6 receptions, 107 yards. Cook may not have a lot of monster games, but he's responsible for a couple of lore plays. If you look at the divisional playoffs, he made a spectacular catch against the Cowboys to give the Packers the win. This game, he added his name to Raiders lore. Without his clutch 4th down catch and deep ball catch to put the Raiders on the KC 1-yard line, the "L" would've been in the bag for Oakland. If there's one game that Cook needed a big game, this was the one.
Michael Crabtree, 3 receptions, 24 yards, 1 TD. Quiet game for Crab overall. Marcus Peters had a lot to do with that. But he wiped that out with the game-winning TD catch. There's nothing more to say about Crabtree. The man is clutch.
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Secondary. Obi Melifonwu's debut can't come any sooner since he's taken off the I.R. list after Week 8. And hopefully, we get an update on Gareon Conley's shin injury. This secondary is the death of the Raiders' pass defense. David Amerson regressed big time. Sean Smith is a waste of $40 million (even though he didn't play as much). Reggie Nelson is a step late. They allowed Tyreek Hill to walk free. They allowed a big pass play when Marquette King once again pinned them deep. Keith McGill could've had an INT, but an unlucky tip to Albert Wilson. This secondary is seriously a weak link and considering they're banged up, makes it even worse.
Marshawn Lynch's ejection. Marshawn Lynch is a real dude, no question about it. If you hadn't seen it, Marcus Peters put a late hit on Carr, leading to an all-out scrum. The O-line already had Carr's back. Hudson, Osemele, and Penn came to his aid. And you got Lynch running from the sidelines to break up the fight, when he shouldn't be and he shoved a ref. Lynch was not needed when you have five big linemen ready to wage war for Carr. Since Lynch got ejected, the run game became non-existent for the most part besides DeAndre Washington's rushing TD.
MVP (Lakers)
Brook Lopez, 20 points, 6 rebounds, 7-19 shooting
Expect these kinds of stats from Lopez as this season moves forward. He's hands down, the Lakers' best scoring option outside of Clarkson.
MVP (Raiders)
Amari Cooper, 11 receptions 210 yards, 2 TDs
So many MVPs to choose from the Thursday Night game, but I had to give it Amari Cooper. There was so much talk about him going MIA, but when you get him involved, he puts the spark in the Raiders' offense.
Conclusion
Thursday has passed by as it hits 12 midnight in the U.S., but what a night it was. Surely you can't win em all. The Lakers have a lot of growing pains that they'll have to endure with their young core. The Clippers are still a good team without Chris Paul. Blake Griffin is a proven All-Star and they have all kinds of veterans on their squad. The Lakers have a lot of young pieces outside of Brook Lopez and they don't have quality veteran presence like the Clippers have. They still have a lot of learning to do, but they should improve game-by-game. For the Raiders, they needed this win against the Chiefs. As I said, this was a script-changer for a season that is shadowed with internal turmoil. With the crazy finish the game had and the Raiders coming from behind to win, they should get their mojo back. Now, coming off the emotional-draining victory, they have to get back to the drawing because the schedule gets harder from here on out. Whew, I'm beat. I'm emotionally drained. This was a crazy Thursday night. I can't wait to do it again in December and hopefully, I can make a few adjustments. Raider fans, I'll see you next week when the Raiders take on the Bills. Laker fans, I personally don't know when the next nationally televised Laker game is. I have to re-check the schedule. But, if you've followed my blog for a long time, Laker games that are available only in the home market in LA will be subjected to a quick recap post (denoted as a "Quick Fact Check"). The Lakers do have a game tomorrow off back-to-back sets against the Phoenix Suns, so expect a quick recap on that. Other than that, I'll see you guys later.
