Byron Scott was pissed. More on that later. First the game.
Against New Orleans, the Lakers first half offense consisted of Jeremy Lin dribbling the ball. He then passed it to Jordan Hill. Or Jeremy Lin over dribbling the ball. Kobe Bryant cut to the ball and shot a long jumper. Or Jeremy Lin driving into the paint, met by the Pelican bigs, and then in no man’s land, he sputtered.
The Kobe part of it- in the first quarter- was effective. He had 14 points and made three deep perimeter jumpers. But it would fall apart as it always does because that kind of offense is doomed to run out of gas, especially on a back to back. The Lakers were only down by 3 at halftime, but the key stat was they had 8 assists. The Pelicans had 15.
Nov 12, 2014; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday (11) shoots over Los Angeles Lakers center Jordan Hill (27) during the first quarter of a game at the Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
A couple of days ago, Jeremy Lin emphasized that the most important part of his job was making players better. Against the Pelicans there was very little of that Jeremy Lin, the playmaker. In fact, for much of the past seven games, his playmaking skills have come in spurts, as if he has forgotten that Wes Johnson needs Lin to get him the ball and so does Carlos Boozer and so does Ed Davis. This team has very few creators or athletes. It’s Lin’s number one priority to give his teammates the ball in key situations, to make sure the ball moves from side to side. But part of his struggle is that when he goes into the paint looking to make plays for others, defenders swarm him taking away all of his angles and his sight lines.
Byron Scott called the defense the worst the Lakers had played, including pre-season. There were wide open lanes to the rim. Of course, the Lakers are too small of a front court to have had any kind of impact upon Anthony Davis. Particularly in the second half, the Pelicans pushed the ball which led to Davis dunks or Davis mid-range pull ups or Ryan Anderson threes. Still, it was a manageable game late into the third. But the Lakers difficulty closing quarters continued as their offense let them down, their defense gave up non contested three points shots and the next thing you knew it was a 20 point lead.
Not to single out Ronnie Price on a team of bad performances but he was overwhelmed in this game. He was the only Lakers player that was singled out by the Pelicans. When he entered the game, his matchup (Jrue Holliday or Austin Rivers) took him to the rim each and every time. Scoring each and every time. Eventually he got sick of it and got tossed for a flagrant on Austin Rivers. Which actually was a good sign since the Lakers had zero aggression. It just came four quarters too late.
The Lakers limped out of the Big Easy, losing by 7 but it felt like they lost by 70. Byron Scott was in a really bad mood, indicating things might be changing. He was asked if maybe this is as good as the Lakers can do on defense. To which he just shook his head in disgust.
After the game Kobe Bryant said, “You take the good with the bad.” He acknowledged the porous defense, the 60 points in the paint and having to stop penetration. Surprisingly, he said he is anxious to play the Spurs, even if the rest of his team probably is not. “I’m looking forward to going up against the silver and black”, he said, too tired to smile.