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Rare Lakers Victory Fails To Advance Team’s Mission

Hannah Kulik|

The Lakers are a team starved for victories, so Tuesday night’s rare win in Denver was a welcome development

Tuesday night, Denver was playing without four key members of its roster, so it figured that the Lakers would have a chance in this contest. When they fell behind by 21 points in the second quarter it appeared the team was headed for yet another signature loss, but the Lakers battled back and ultimately prevailed.

On the positive side, Kobe Bryant had what was probably his best game of the season after sitting out the last contest with a sore shoulder. Not only was he making his shots from a variety of spots on the floor, he dished out some nice assists and played tough defense on Will Barton after he had scorched the Lakers for 23 first half points. In the third and fourth quarters, Bryant took charge and was dominant when the team came back from the large first half deficit.

Two other veterans also played well, Brandon Bass and Lou Williams. It appears that Bass has again supplanted Robert Sacre as the center for the second unit, though this had not worked at all until Tuesday. For at least for one game, Bass played well in the position blocking shots and fighting for rebounds. Williams continued his improved shooting which curiously began after he missed games during the recent long road trip.

The Lakers have fallen behind early all year and never had the tenacity to come all the way back.  Against the Nuggets, they did just that when it looked like they were heading for further humiliation. Despite the absent Nuggets players, any time you successfully overcome a 21 point deficit against an NBA team, it is a good thing.

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Yet, despite the positives, one could argue that the victory was meaningless. The Lakers won, but if the win did not advance the prime directive for this season, so what? Wouldn’t it be better if the Lakers lost but D’Angelo Russell, Julius Randle, et al. played good basketball and showed tangible signs of improvement?

A game after he was thrust into the starting line-up, Anthony Brown did not play at all in this game. Tarik Black, who should be getting minutes at center, is completely missing in action.

There is a suggestion that his ankle is injured, but anyone who has seen his recent monster dunks and drives to the rim in D-League games knows that Black is physically fine. One could argue that any game in which these two young men do not play is a waste.

Russell has regressed in recent games and again resembles the hesitant, tentative player we saw earlier this season. Against the Nuggets, he played only 21 minutes and scored six points on 2 for 6 shooting with one rebound, one assist, and two turnovers. The two turnovers came in consecutive possessions in the fourth quarter when the game was on the line. He finished the contest on the bench.

Randle played very poorly in the first half, looking confused, frustrated and out of control which is the way he has looked the last several games. He rallied a bit in the second half with Bryant playing so well and providing inspiration. For the game, Randle played 28 minutes and had eight points, one assist and 10 rebounds.

Jordan Clarkson looked pretty good in the stat sheet, finishing with 19 points and 8 rebounds, but that does not tell the entire story. Something has been missing for quite a while with Clarkson.

While he makes some timely shots, he disappears for long stretches of a game and has yet to play four strong quarters in a row. He has struggled to make baskets down the stretch in decisive fourth quarters and his defense continues to be suspect (he was torched by Will Barton in the first half).

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While Clarkson has played pretty well this season, he has not yet advanced to the point that one can tell how far he may go: Will he become a future star on a good team or remain a slightly above average player on a bad team?

Finally, there is Larry Nance Jr. who played 19 minutes. Energized by hundreds of fans from Wyoming who drove to Denver to see him play, Nance was aggressive from the start and had a couple of signature dunks. He finished with 10 points but had only two rebounds, zero assists and zero steals.

A win is a win, and when their record going into the game was 4-23, the Lakers will take anything they can get. It was great to see Bryant play so well, and after struggling for much of the season, Bass and Williams also provided a much needed spark. The victory may give the team at least a small confidence boost going into yet another dreaded game with the Oklahoma City Thunder Wednesday night, for whom the Lakers rolled over and played dead just last weekend.

One gets the feeling that Coach Scott values wins more than anything else, but given the current state of the Lakers franchise, it is far more important to see Randle, Russell, Clarkson, Nance, Black, and Brown play well together and show marked improvement even if the team loses. But Scott has decided the team cannot win without Bryant playing big minutes and leading the way, with young players in the background.

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While that may be true, the Lakers as a franchise would be far better off letting the young players wean themselves from Bryant and learn how to play without him. Once the season ends, the team will have to go on. With Bryant gone, will the players left behind be ready to carry the torch without him?

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