Lakers Weekly Roundup (10/22-10/27): Opening Week

There are only four words to build you up for excitement at this point of October: "The NBA is back!" There's nothing like it. One thing for sure is that the NBA knows when to schedule marquee matchups to get fans hyped. This season, we officially mark the end of an era: the end of the superteam. The league blew up with so many big moves this past offseason. No more Big 3's or Fantastic Fours. It's now the era of the dynamic duos. Just like in the good old days.. Of course, the Lakers are no exception. Championship aspirations are once again sky high for this team with the acquisition of Anthony Davis. Paired up with LeBron, this duo is projected to be a dominant force. Let's see how they fared in opening week shall we?

10/22: @ LA Clippers 102-112 [L] (0-1)

HIGHLIGHTS

Didn't I say the NBA knows when to schedule marquee matchups? Nobody cared that the Pelicans-Raptors went to OT to see the anticipated battle of LA. LeBron and his new partner-in-crime in Anthony Davis vs. Kawhi Leonard and the Clippers. No question, the Clippers shattered the fabric of the NBA realm when they acquired Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. But, let's not forget the city of LA still rules under purple and gold domain. The Lakers proved their dominance early-on this game, feeding Anthony Davis in the paint. The Clippers had no answer to guard Davis as they fell behind early 13-2. That was all the Lakers had to show for this game. The Clippers countered by sending in their sparkplugs, Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell. Their instant offense brought the Clippers new life. Kawhi Leonard put up Michael Jordan-esque numbers starting in the 2nd quarter. The guy's midrange was unstoppable that game and he abused KCP. The Lakers continued to run Davis inside until it became predictable for the Clippers defense to figure out. Aside from Danny Green's explosive 3rd quarter, the Clippers had this game on ice and they didn't even have Paul George! Last year, proved they had some depth. Combine that with star power, they're a team to look out for. The 4th quarter was already lost when AD and LeBron combined for only 2 points. The Clippers may have won the battle, but the war has only just begun. We'll see on Christmas when both teams are at full strength

10/25: vs. Utah 86-95 [W] (1-1)

HIGHLIGHTS

After the debacle on opening night, questions arose on LeBron and AD's piss-poor 4th quarter. Moreso on LeBron's end. They say father time is catching up. It was time to push the panic button. I have something to say: it's only one game. Yes, I would've loved that win, but we still got 81 more games to go. The Lakers get another test on opening night against a Jazz team that is expected to make a deep playoff run. It was a slugfest for most of the game. That was expected. Remember the notion that father time is catching up to LeBron?  Well, the King bounced back with a near triple-double of 32 points, 7 rebounds, and 10 assists. Davis struggled for the most part against Rudy Gobert, but still got the job done with 21 points and 5 blocks on the defensive end. Frank Vogel actually experimented with AD at the 5 and it worked out as the Lakers more activity on the defensive end. Speaking of defensive end, it was a lot better this game. They made Utah turn the ball over 22 times. Troy Daniels lead all scorers off the bench with 15 points. His 3-point shooting gave a lot of momentum for the Lakers to close this out. The Lakers made this interesting in garbage time though when Dwight committed a flagrant foul on Georges Niang. That was the only blemish. But hey! KCP scored a point today! And we have the GOAT, Alex Caruso back! Lakers are 1-0 when those two things happen.

10/27: vs. Charlotte 101-120 [W] (2-1)

HIGHLIGHTS

Early on this game, I could not believe what I was seeing. Why in the world are we playing down  to the Hornets level? That team is not even expected to be good this year by letting Kemba Walker go the easily for an overpaid Terry Rozier! The first half was bit too close for comfort. But then, they started pulling away in the 3rd quarter and eventually the 4th quarter. One thing's for certain, AD had the 3-point game rolling and notched his first double-double with the Lakers with 29 points and 14 rebounds to go with 10 blocks. And never thought I would mention this guy's name again: Dwight Howard lead the bench with 16 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 blocks. Opening, he was a little too pedestrian. Against Utah, he picked up some activity. This game is where we actually saw shades of the old Dwight. At least compared to 2012-13, Dwight knows his role and clearly, he owes Laker fans like myself a lot if he wants to fully clear his name. He's made the most of it. LeBron James had 6 points in the first half, but he picked it up in the 4th quarter to pretty much put this game on ice. There was not a lot of load for LeBron to shoulder since he was perfectly setting up AD and Dwight for easy shots in the paint. Those big men did a lot of work inside and it wore down Charlotte's interior defense to pull away from this game.

Lakers Weekly Roundup (03/31): Oh, Now They Start Winning?

*Some NSFW language*

A few more games after this week remain. It's a time where good teams start resting their star players sitting comfortably in their playoff spots and where bad teams start picking up G-League players to showcase their potential in making the team. The Lakers have long been eliminated from the playoffs, but they still play on as the NBA demands it. It was a March to forget about as the Lakers took so many L's that they doomed their playoffs hopes. Now ever since they were eliminated, they started playing better. Let's be honest here, they played against teams that are tanking or have no shot at the playoffs whatsoever this week. As they pile up meaningless W's, they are on pace to break their win total from last year, despite finishing under .500 yet again, which is a big disappointment considering they went from 26 wins to 35 wins in Luke Walton's first two years as Head Coach. And more likely than not, he's fired by season's end. Let's get to the bottom of this week's Lakers Weekly Roundup.

03/26: vs. Washington 106-124 [W] (33-41)

HIGHLIGHTS

Lance Making Jeff Green Dance

You know? Games like this makes me wish that the NBA had an option to flex out games that are not worthy for national television. Kinda like what the NFL does. I mean, nobody wants to see two NFL teams with losing records headlining a Sunday Night game. It's understandable why this was nationally televised from the get-go. The Wizards were projected to be playoff team this year and LeBron James has made the Lakers relevant again and must-see TV. Now, these are two teams out of the playoff hunt and riddled with injuries. This game was easy pickings for the Lakers when Washington's only offense this game came out of Bradley Beal,  who's on an all-around tear these last few games. Beal had 32 points this game, but the Lakers beat the John Wall-less Wizards on an all-around team win. Ironic to say considering they tried to tear this locker room apart. But, it was all fun and games here. Lance Stephenson had the highlight of the night this game crossing up Jeff Green and making the Laker bench and Staples Center lose their minds. Even though Green clearly stepped on Lance's foot and slipped. With the game well out of reach, the Lakers debut their recent G-League tryout, Scott Machado, signed to a 10-day deal.

03/27: @ Utah 100-115 [L] (33-42)

HIGHLIGHTS

Back-to-back set, so no LeBron here. The Lakers were bound to lose this game. It's always a hostile crowd in Salt Lake City. With the Lakers having nothing to play for, the Jazz were well within reach of a playoff berth if they win this game. The Jazz took care of business behind a stellar game from Joe Ingles. John Stockton was reincarnated as an Aussie this game as Ingles carved up the Lakers with his passing, racking 14 assists and making Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors look good. Congrats Jazz, you've clinched a playoff berth. Nothing more to say here.

03/29: vs. Charlotte 115-129 [W] (34-42)

HIGHLIGHTS

Hornets fans, you have to implore his Airness to give Kemba Walker some help. The guy does so much for this team, but he's surrounded by a shit supporting cast. Lucky for the Hornets, they play in the East and their playoff hopes are still faintly alive. But, the Lakers dampen those playoff hopes a bit with this win as LeBron continues his shutout in head-to-head matchups against Kemba. I just found out that he has a 28-0 record all-time against him. That should be good enough for LeBron. Now, let's shut him down for the rest of the season.

03/31 @ New Orleans 130-102 [W] (35-42)

HIGHLIGHTS

Following up from the last post, the Lakers announced prior to this game that LeBron James will not play the rest of the season. I'd say it's a wise move. The guy has a lot mileage with 8 straight finals appearances and he hasn't been 100% since the groin injury in December. The playoffs are well out of reach, so there's no reason to push him to play out the remainder of the season.

Now that's that, time to give the Pelicans another beating for helping sabotage the Lakers' chemistry. Funny enough, the Pelicans listed Anthony Davis as probable for this game, then they ruled him out at the last minute. Honestly, who'd be stupid enough to play their disgruntled star player at this point of the season? To smite the team that tried to trade for him? Okay. Activate Alex Caruso's bald spot! Before we get into that, this was a revenge game for Rondo against his former team and he showed out with 24 points, 12 assists, and 2 steals. McGee also contributed with 23 points and 16 rebounds. But, it was the brilliant shooting of Alex Caruso and Reggie Bullock off the bench this game to help blow the Pelicans. Caruso lead the bench with 23 points to go along with 6 assists and 4 steals. He's been nothing short of solid when given the opportunity to go off the bench. But, we gotta give credit to the Laker defense in the 2nd half to spring the hot shooting. I was checking the plays on the Yahoo Sports app and they forced the Pelicans to turn the ball over like crazy to ignite the rout. Well, I'd say this probably the Lakers' last easy W this season. They got five more games against playoff contenders in the West (Golden State, Portland, OKC, Utah, Clippers). They'd be lucky to catch some of those teams resting players. Probably the team that won't likely rest players are the Warriors as they are neck-and-neck with the Nuggets for the #1 seed in the West. I probably won't be doing weekly roundups the rest of the way. I'll be heading straight for the annual Season-in-Review post. Anyway, here's to a strong finish to the season!

Lakers Weekly Roundup (12/16): FINAL - LeBron 16 Wade 15; Ref-Ball

For years, many have come to believe in the conspiracy that the NBA is rigged. Reason #1 - the refs. From Joey Crawford to Tim Donaghy, they intentionally try to invade the spotlight of the NBA players. From phantom foul calls to unnecessary technical fouls/ejections, they even get more attention when they miss a few blatant calls. Sometimes, players use that to their advantage to intentionally draw contact on their defender, lowering the integrity of officiating even more. Truly, it's a "black eye" in the league. Even so, our love for the NBA does not change despite all suspicions. We are treated with so many star matchups over the years. Our "cardinal sin" is that we don't appreciate them until one of them decided to call it quits for a great career. Indeed, we take so much for granted what the NBA had in store for us over the years. Enough of the pros and cons, this is your Lakers Weekly Roundup!

12/10: vs. Miami 105-108 [W] (17-10)

HIGHLIGHTS

The Final LeBron vs. Wade matchup. It truly is the end of an era for the one of the most notable rivalry turned friendship turned rivalry again in the NBA. Barring any divine intervention that these two teams meet in this year's NBA Finals, this should be indeed the last matchup between the two. The two players are even in 30 total head-to-head matchups with both winning 15 wins. Only one will come out on top here for good. This was an antithesis of the last meeting against this Heat team in the Miami game. You know it was going to be a struggle for the Lakers when Lonzo Ball blows two wide open layups. It was like he's playing "Knockout" trying to get the ball in the hoop as he missed a jumpshot from the free throw line. Though D-Wade put up some vintage buckets, it was Justise Winslow stealing the show, putting up 28 points off the bench. This guy was a glorified non-scorer, but he's found the groove the last few games. Back and forth the two teams went. But the Lakers came out on top thanks to the heroics of King James and Lord Kuzma as the duo combined for 61 points. LeBron got the best of his "frenemy." A fitting end of an era as the era of the 2003 draft class draws nearer to a close. Wade will retire by season's end. Melo is left unsigned. Chris Bosh is in no condition to play anymore after two blood clot scares. And Darko Milicic is...well somewhere (the Pistons just had to ruin that talented order). Only LeBron will stand tall and fittingly as he's the flagship for that talented 2003 draft.

12/13: @ Houston 111-126 [L] (17-11)

HIGHLIGHTS

REFS HIGHLIGHTS

The rematch we've all been waiting for. The bad blood between the two teams has been brewing since the brawl in the home opener back in October. The only difference is, Brandon Ingram is out with a foot injury and Rajon Rondo had a setback following hand surgery. There will be no punches thrown here. The two teams exchanged baskets all game long. Though the Rockets had the lead the majority, the Lakers continued to fight and try to scratch and claw the best they can. That's until Floppity Flop Flop James Harden started taking advantage of the refs to draw unlimited fouls. The Bearded Man clearly has an endorsement with the refs. You can't even breathe on the man because he'll sucker himself into that modicum of air to draw contact and the refs will still end up calling a foul. If you're going to flop, at least make don't make it look obvious that you'll intentionally run into your man to get the call. Shit like that is why the NBA is a goddamn joke nowadays. To add insult to injury, Harden wraps up his School of Flopping by capping off a 50-point triple-double. We definitely needed Rondo and Ingram to throw hands for the Lakers this game. Hell, wish they brought back back Metta World Peace to check Harden and remind him of what legit contact feels like:

*In case anybody quickly forgot.*

12/15: @ Charlotte 128-100 [W] (18-11)

HIGHLIGHTS

Two days removed from the fuckery of the refs in Houston, the Lakers travel to Charlotte to visit the palace of "His Airness." The LakeShow had their extermination squads loaded to sweep out the Hornets. It was an old school, take-you-to-the-woodshed beatdown as the Lakers imposed their will on the hapless Hornets. We have ourselves two players with triple-doubles on the same team, a feat
that hasn't been accomplished in a long while. We are witnesses to the full power of "LeBronZo." King James, as he has done many times in the East, imposed his will on the Hornets, racking up 24 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists. While the first born of the "Triple B's" from Chino Hills racked up 16, points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists. He even shut down Kemba Walker and racked up 5 steals, intercepting passes like he was playing Defensive Back in football. The LakeShow put the hammer on the Hornets in the 2nd half leading as many as 30 points. A splendid bounceback effort indeed!

12/16: @ Washington 110-128 [W] (18-12)

HIGHLIGHTS

Talk about a fucking letdown. It looked like the Lakers took the quick flight to the Nation's capital and left their complete team effort behind in Charlotte. You know how the old saying goes: "what goes around, comes around." The Lakers looked flat this game in this upsetting beatdown courtesy of the Wizards. The King proved that he was mortal after all as he was blinded by the wizardry of the Wizards.  LeBron was held in check to just 13 points. John Wall exploded with a 40-point game and getting away with so much contact on Lonzo Ball on the break. Honestly, how in the blue hell did the refs miss that call? John Wall didn't block Lonzo. He lead with his hip and bumped the shit out of Lonzo. No call. Probably the refs have made it clear to the Lakers that it was time to pay back the debt for the 2002 Western Conference Finals. I swear if that was James Harden, they will call that a flagrant 2. The only big takeaway this game was that KCP went off with 25 points off the bench. Wasted effort as we all know that KCP is hot-and-cold in terms of scoring.

Lakers Round Up Commentary: vs. OKC, vs. CHA, vs. Atlanta

*Stats courtesy of NBA.com*

Alright, I'm back from my absence. I'm still not 100% yet and I know I have some catching up to do in terms of blog posts. So, instead of me doing a single Quick Fact Check and Commentary posts on the three games that I missed while sick, I'm going to conglomerate them together into a single post. This is not going to happen too much. It's only if I'm unable to perform my duties on this blog because of some health ailments.

01/03 - Final Score: vs. Oklahoma City 133-96 [L]

Highlights: *courtesy of MLG Highlights*

I did watch this shellacking of a game while I was bed-ridden and yes, this is one of the more brutal losses the Lakers had this season. At the same time, it was inevitable. The Thunder just had a lot of star power that the Lakers' young core couldn't touch. It was all good for the start of the game though. The Lakers jumped out of the gate for a 0-14 lead. They were aggressive to start, but then Westbrook, PG, and Melo took over. It was like as if OKC spotted the Lakers 14 quick points before OKC's "OK3" stopped the party and put the game way out of reach for the Lakers before halftime. Terrance Ferguson going off for 24 points was icing on the cake for the Thunder. The guy barely got any playing time until Andre Roberson got hurt, barely hit any three pointers. This game, he drained three after three and turned this game into a dunk contest audition in garbage time.

01/05 - Final Score: vs. Charlotte 108-94 [L]

Highlights: *courtesy of Rapid Highlights*

The Lakers got Lonzo Ball back in this game and automatically, we would think that the Lakers would get their mojo back in terms sharing the ball and reviving some intensity on the defensive side of the ball. That wasn't case against the Hornets on Friday night. The big time beneficiary of Lonzo's return was Brandon Ingram. He grabbed a double-double of 22 points and 14 rebounds. B.I. was definitely reeling in Zo's absence and he returned to form. The aggressiveness was there and the mid range shot was falling. But, like in the OKC game, the Lakers didn't have a lot of fight. It also didn't help that Clarkson and Kuzma shot poorly this game. KCP only took 3 shots and didn't register a single point, not even a trip to the free throw line. 

01/07 - Final Score: vs. Atlanta 113-132 [W]

Highlights: *courtesy of Rapid Highlights*

Luckily for the Lakers, they're not the absolute worst in the NBA. And this game right here proved it as the Lakers battled the Hawks in who's worst of the worst.  The Hawks coming in was the perfect storm for the Lakers to prevent the franchise from going into further infamy with a possible franchise record 10 straight losses. Fastbreak points were the big difference maker in this game. I remember seeing the graphic in the first that the Lakers scored 24 points in transition while the Hawks registered zilch on the fastbreak. That's what was envisioned of the Lakers when they got Lonzo Ball in the draft is them running the floor, harkening back to the Showtime days. The Hawks missed a shot, the Lakers are on the run. The Lakers made a defensive stop, they're on the run. This game was truly refreshing to see compared to the losses against the Thunder and Hornets where the Lakers were not looking to attack 95% of the time. Brandon Ingram stood out this game with 20 points and 7 assists. It was a good overall game for B.I. in terms of scoring and facilitating. Ball had his 3-point game going early on. KCP, now that he's served his jail time, notched three more 3-pointers and 14 points overall to finish the game. The Hawks had no answer and Dennis Schroder probably broke his back after this game from carrying them since he was literally Atlanta's only source of offense. 

Lakers Top Reeling Hornets

*Stats courtesy of NBA.com and Yahoo Sports*

Jordan Clarkson came off the bench and was the Lakers' top performer with 22 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists as the Lakers notch their 2nd consecutive road win, beating the Hornets 110-99. Kyle Kuzma added a double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds and Julius Randle racked up 12 points to round out the 2nd unit. Brandon Ingram lead the starters in scoring with 18 points to go with 6 rebounds, KCP added 15 points, and Brook Lopez chipped in 13 points.

Final Score: @ Charlotte 110-99 [W]
Full article: http://www.nba.com/games/20171209/LALCHA#/recap

Next Game: @ New York (12/11) <-- b="">*No Open Thread and Full Recap Posts*

Highlights: *Courtesy of Ximo Pierto*

The Lakers can cross off Charlotte in terms of road victories. For a team that barely wins road games outside of Phoenix, starting 2-0 on a four game road trip is a good confidence builder. Granted, the Hornets have a lot of problems of their own. I mean this is a team that lost to the lowly Bulls twice this season. They are really struggling to find their footing in the East. For the most part, this was a tightly contested game until the 4th quarter. The Lakers put the clamps on defensively and Jordan Clarkson, KCP, and Julius Randle took over. Clarkson especially stood out. We know he can score in bunches when he comes off the bench. But, I thought he did a nice job facilitating the ball too, setting guys up for easy deuces when he was slashing to the rim. Facilitating-wise, Lonzo Ball dished out 9 dimes today. As I keep saying, being aggressive and running the floor are Lonzo's strengths as of now. Zo was aggressive at facilitating the this game. What we saw in from him in Summer League from a facilitating standpoint (passes beyond half court, pushing the ball and setting up teammates) were on display. Ingram was in attack mode as usual. It didn't take long for Kyle Kuzma to bounce back after putting up a whopping 3 points in the Philly game. Kuz had a nice block this game too. Overall, the Lakers showed up when it mattered the most as this game was a back-and-forth affair with the Hornets.