Los Angeles Lakers: 4 Lessons from 112-104 win over Pelicans

Ivica Zubac had the game of his life

All right everybody, be honest. How many people thought the Lakers were going to lose the game when it was reported Ivica Zubac was in the lineup? How many people thought he was in over his head?

Well…that’s why they play the games.

Ivica Zubac came out like gangbusters and scored 16 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and had 2 steals. He did this on an outstanding 8-10 shooting from the field.

Zubac was successful for multiple of reasons (one major reason will be covered next) but what I liked was he played within himself and within the offense. Zubac was charged with the mission of trying to handle Anthony Davis. Davis was dominant in the game but Zubac had his moment late in the game…

Sure, Zubac blocked Anthony Davis’ shot which is an achievement in itself. But what I was impressed about the play was that he read the pick-and-roll action coming and rotated. If you watched the game in Brooklyn Tuesday night, you will agree with me. The Lakers number one problem is not shooting. It’s team defense. This play is what the Lakers need to do consistently if they want to win games against top teams in the Western Conference.

This dude has shown a lot of character this season. He was collecting a bunch of DNP-CDs on his ledger but he continued to work hard and stayed ready.

Congratulations Ivica!

https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/1076366814311936000

Now it’s not like Ivica did not have help in his accomplishments!