Lakers: What LA’s Opening Night Win Means Going Forward
By Ed Schrenzel
Say hello to your undefeated Los Angeles Lakers!
LA fans are basking in the glow of their wonderfully successful opening night under new Coach Luke Walton, in which the new-look Lakers won 120-114 over the Houston Rockets.
The Purple and Gold absorbed the non-stop attack of all-star James Harden and his teammates under the leadership of former coach, Mike D’Antoni, responding with numerous counter-punches of their own. And after giving up 38 points in the first quarter, they limited the Rockets to just 18 in the fourth, when they took the lead for good.
The game was a polar opposite of the last game of the 2015-16 season, when most of the team essentially stood around on the court with the best view in the house to watch their teammate, the great Kobe Bryant, amazingly score 60 points in the final game of his Hall of Fame career.
In this season’s opener, Walton substituted freely throughout the game, giving 12 different players an opportunity to participate. No Laker played as much as 30 minutes, but eight played at least 20.
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Jordan Clarkson led the way with 25 points (23 in the second half) in just 24 minutes. Major contributions were also made by D’Angelo Russell (20 points), Julius Randle (18 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists) and Timofey Mozgov, who provided rim protection while scoring 12 points and grabbing 8 rebounds in 22 minutes.
Rookie Brandon Ingram also had an excellent professional debut, scoring 9 points on 4-6 shooting and even playing point guard for about half of the fourth quarter. Surprise backcourt starter Nick Young struggled with his shot (3-12, including just 2-9 on 3’s) yet still was a factor with his energy, and believe it or not, his defense.
Walton even inserted ancient mariner Metta World Peace into the game, but he committed 3 fouls in two minutes of play and was generally rooted to the floor while more agile opponents dribbled around him.
At one point, by design or luck, Walton put the five Lakers who represent the hope of the future — Russell, Clarkson, Ingram, Randle and Larry Nance Jr. — on the court together briefly. Now that the team has exercised its options for next year on Russell, Randle and Nance, all five of them should be back for at least the 2017-18 season, barring a trade.
The team’s energy and hustle on the court was apparent throughout the game. On one occasion, Russell snuck behind Harden to steal the ball off his dribble showing off increased defensive awareness. Later on, at a critical point towards the end of the game, Clarkson poked the ball away from Harden & both he and Russell dove to the floor in successful pursuit while Harden played spectator.
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But fans need to keep things in perspective. Energy and hustle can’t always make up for bad defense, which is the team’s current Achilles Heel. Granted, Houston has an explosive offense led by Harden, Eric Gordon and Ryan Anderson, but the amount of wide-open shots the defense allowed was inexcusable. Good team defense takes time to develop, and Walton without question will have to work on its improvement throughout the season.
On the offensive end, Clarkson won’t shoot 67% (8-12) for the season, and Randle (9-11) won’t hit 82% of his shots. But Young will shoot better than 25% and Luol Deng (3-9) better than 33%.
This young team is just starting the rebuild process, and will probably remain unpredictable and inconsistent this year, winning other games unexpectedly against superior opponents, but also undoubtedly losing some they should win against weaker ones. A sloppy turnover near the end of the game by Russell showed the potential cost of inexperience in the NBA, although Deng was quick to take a leadership role, putting his arm around Russell during the ensuring break on the court and talking to him about the need to take care of the ball.
The Lakers will not likely contend for the playoffs this year, much less compete yet for a title. But the opening night win means they seem to be on the right track.
Next: 3 Takeaways from LA's Impressive Season Opener
For now, at least for one exciting, shining night they sparkled, and filled their fans with new hope of bright days ahead in the not-too-distance future.