After the first two games for the Los Angeles Lakers, there wasn’t much that went right. Glass-half-full optimists would say that there was only room to go up.
Most notably, Jeremy Lin and Jordan Hill, the two highest paid Lakers excluding Steve Nash, had both put up disappointing performances. Lin was averaging 6.5 points, 3.5 assists, and shooting just 30% from the field. Hill also was averaging just 6.5 points, but shooting just 28% from the field.
Both those lines were on the lower half of the Lakers roster, not want you look for out of your higher paid players. Following Wednesday’s game against Phoenix, Kobe Bryant was vocal about his desire for Lin to step up, telling him to run the offense.
The duo could not have stepped up bigger, giving the Lakers great balance offensively.
Lin looked assertive and efficient, easily his best game of the season. His final stat line of 17 points, 9 assists, and 4 rebounds and 7 of 13 from the field does not do full justice for the game he had.
You need only look late in the fourth quarter. Lin had the ball at the top of the key with Bryant to his right on the wing demanding the ball. Many other point guards, and even Lin earlier in the season, would have succumbed to the demanding Bryant, giving him the ball and backing away.
Jeremy Lin told Kobe he was getting doubled by Blake Griffin when it appeared he called him off late in the game. #Lakers
— Ryan Ward (@RyanWardLA) November 1, 2014
Lin, however, saw something that Bryant couldn’t. With Bryant posting up his defender, he couldn’t see Blake Griffin creeping up behind Bryant, ready to double team the Black Mamba and force a turnover. Instead, Lin repeatedly waved off Bryant, then eventually buried a three.
Even Bryant was happy with the loss on the night, or as happy as he could be. Bryant even told reporters that Lin needed to assert his dominance.
Kobe was very upbeat afterwards. Asked when he last felt this good after a loss, he said, “Probably never."
— Baxter Holmes (@Baxter) November 1, 2014
However, none of this is to even mention the team’s leading scorer of the night in Hill. If any had told you that Hill would finish the night with 23 points, you’d expect a load of offensive rebounds and put-backs, akin to what Hill has made a living on in the league.
Instead, Hill had just two lay-ups on the night, hitting eight mid-range jumpers and flashing a facet of his game no one expected to see, including the Clippers front court. With seemingly every jumper wide open, Hill made the defense pay all night, a big catalyst in the Lakers second half run.
Tonight’s performance opens up a lot of possibilities for Hill, who will now earn the respect of defenses. As an athletic big man, Hill could blow by opponents who come flying out for a closeout.
In general, the games tonight by Hill and Lin are big stepping stones for the Lakers offensively. On Wednesday, it was Bryant and no one else offensively, the only player in double figures scoring wise heading into the third quarter of that contest. Tonight, Bryant wasn’t even the leading scorer.
What do you think of the performances of Lin and Hill tonight? Let us know down below.