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

The Los Angeles Lakers were able to defeat New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night. Here are four lessons from the win.

The Los Angeles Lakers finally made it back to the Staples Center on Friday night with two things going on leading into the “Brow vs Bron” showdown. Number one, a six-game home winning streak on the line and an illness spreading throughout the roster. JaVale McGee got sick before the Charlotte game last Saturday…

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The Los Angeles Lakers made little history against the Charlotte Hornets Saturday. LeBron James and Lonzo Ball each got triple doubles! Ronald Agers probes!

I wrote this in the opening…if I spoke this into existence. my bad!

"Let’s just say the officials was not a factor in this game. To be totally honest, the only question in this game was if JaVale McGee gave anyone on the bench the flu."

Well, it seemed that a couple of players caught the bug that JaVale was carrying. Tyson Chandler caught it and more importantly to the Lakers faithful, LeBron James. James skipped the shootout earlier in the day, but played in the game and did his thing.

The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 112-104 despite a MONSTER game by Anthony Davis. All five starters scored in double figures with the game ball going to…Ivica Zubac!

IVICA ZUBAC!

Yes, the game ball goes to a guy so unlikely to be a star in the game that if you took this story to a Hollywood producer, no one would accept the script because no one would believe it. I know I didn’t. But by the end of the first quarter, I was a believer…

Besides, this game was loaded with enough storylines to send to Hollywood producers. One of the major storylines was the homecoming of Julius Randle, who was let go last offseason soon after the signing of LeBron James.

Another storyline was the return of Brandon Ingram, who has been out with a severe ankle sprain and Rajon Rondo, who has been out with a broken hand.

The biggest storyline of the game or for the entire week to be honest was the “Tamper Gate” surrounding a simple quote about LeBron James saying that he would like to play with Anthony Davis after the Brooklyn game on Tuesday…

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"“That would be amazing,” James told ESPN on Tuesday before the Lakers’ 115-110 loss to the Brooklyn Nets, referring to the Lakers landing Davis through a trade. “That would be amazing, like, duh. That would be incredible.”"

That set off a chain of events that was borderline ridiculous for the next 48 hours. It went from media outlets giving out every scenario to get Anthony Davis in a Lakers uniform for THIS game to NBA GM’s looking for the NBA to punish LeBron James for tampering…

"“It’s New Orleans’ problem today, and a problem with a different player tomorrow for the rest of us,” one Eastern Conference GM told ESPN. “It’s open season on small markets and our players.”"

I’m starting to buy in on the magnitude of LeBron James being in a Lakers uniform. The man completes a thought and turns the NBA media into a frenzy, then turns the league upside down being accused of tampering.

For the record…the man did nothing wrong! Stop!

"The NBA bylaws governing players state: “Any Player who, directly or indirectly, entices, induces, persuades or attempts to entice, induce or persuade any Player, Coach, Trainer, General Manager, or any other person who is under contract to any other Member of the Association to enter into negotiations for or relating to his services shall, on being charged with such tampering, should be given an opportunity to answer to such charges after due notice and the Commissioner shall have the power to decide whether or not the charges have been sustained …”"

After the game, LeBron James had his take. I really enjoy guys that talk trash! It’s almost a bonding moment.

Let me let everyone in on a secret…Anthony Davis is not coming to the Lakers…THIS YEAR! The Pelicans are not trading him. But, let’s see if this guy really was worth all of the attention!

Man! That Anthony Davis is a BAD BOY!

Anthony Davis did all that he could do to win this game! I mean everything. Anthony Davis put on a show for the Lakers crowd dropping 30 points and grabbing 20 rebounds while dishing out 5 assists. Couple that with the fact that he was also sick and missed his shoot-around earlier in the day, this was an amazing performance. His sickness got the best of him at the end of the game. He was gassed.  Folks, it could have been worse, I counted at least four easy shots that he missed. It’s no telling what he could have done if he was at 100%.

He can play the pick and roll to perfection. With all of the playmakers that the Lakers have, do you think plays like this would be welcomed in La-La land? Look at the athleticism of this guy? He’s a big man with all the moves of a wing man!

He moves without the ball and has good hands…

Watch how Davis handles the difficult pass from Julius Randle and tear the rim down. I know another dude that makes these types of passes for the Lakers with the drive and kick! Starting to wonder why NBA GM’s are complaining right now?

This play right here is why the Lakers fans are calling for a trade to get him before Boston…

Anthony Davis bring the ball up (Oh he got handles too!) and passes it to Jrue Holiday. He calls for the alley-oop when Rajon Rondo was stuck on him and caught it one-handed for the slam dunk! This dude is a flat-out stud!

Here’s why the Davis rumors are so strong right now even though it is clear the Pelicans are not going to trade him at this point. Let’s just say that LeBron James put up numbers like these in a given game. More than likely, the Lakers would win by at least 15 points. Easy. No question. In this game, Davis put up these numbers and the Lakers were in complete control. Sure, New Orleans made a couple of runs, but the game was never in any real doubt.

Anthony Davis has not asked for a trade, but it’s games like these that brings the doubt. In L.A. Davis can get the exposure needed to get in the conversation of being the best player on the planet. He has already stated he has to play perfect at times for his team to have a chance. More importantly, he doesn’t have to kill himself to keep the team competitive.

Last night was the real story behind all the drama this week. It’s not LeBron James that is the problem. It’s how hard Davis has to work just to have a chance to win.

Now to the Lakers.

The game ball goes to…

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!

LeBron James made all of his teammates better

Ivica Zubac played very well and got off to a great start because of LeBron James put him in the position to have the game he had. In the first quarter, LeBron James had a season high seven assists. The Lakers at one point went hit seven straight shots off of his assists alone.

LeBron James collected his third triple double of the season, scoring 22 points, snatching 12 rebounds and dishing out 14 assists. The three triple-doubles set a record (Like again…Doesn’t this dude have enough?) for the amount of triple doubles at this stage of his career.

This just in…LeBron James is good.

He didn’t only set up Zubac.

He set up Lonzo…

I mean look at the touch of this pass to Lonzo Ball in stride for the slam dunk. Again, the important part of the play is LeBron’s willingness to give the ball up quickly. Something that is what Magic Johnson and Luke Walton’s offensive scheme is all about.

Here he got Kyle Kuzma involved…

Right here, the Lakers are running their semi fast break. LeBron gets the pass on the wing and quickly hits Kyle Kuzma with a quick bounce pass to catch Anthony Davis with a facial at the rim.

Finally we know he can all do this…

https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/1076345316134154240

Look…the dude dunked on Anthony Davis! Boy the Pelicans need to get this dude some help quick!

Brandon Ingram made his return…and he brought his friends along

Lakers fans were very happy to see Brandon Ingram back in the lineup. Ingram showed the love scoring 18 points while grabbing 7 rebounds with 2 assists and a steal. At times he looked like he was rusty, but he did have his moments…

With Rajon Rondo back in the fold, he drives the fast break and leaves a high one for Brandon for the slam dunk!

What I liked from Ingram was he continued to play his game in the mid-range area. He attempted a couple of threes and they both rimmed out, but he stayed within his comfort area and kept knocking down jumpers from 12 to 15 feet.

But he did more than that. He competed on both ends. Something that did not go unnoticed by Luke Walton…

Keep it up Brandon!

Kyle Kuzma is just playing his game but now with the consistency.

What’s exciting about this game was the fact that with all that was going on, you would never believe that Kuz led the team in scoring. It really had to be the quietest 23 points on record this season. Kyle knocked down his points when the team needed it. It seemed every run that the Pelicans had seemed to be stunted by a timely Kuzma basket.

Finally Lonzo…

Lonzo Ball played a solid floor game scoring 12 points on 5-10 shooting with 5 rebounds and 2 assists. Here’s a great one here…

He continued his great defense holding Jrue Holiday to 2-10 shooting when he defended him.

On thing about his three-point shooting. He has a bad habit of dropping his hands instead of holding his form. He needs to break the habit. It’s good that he is gaining confidence and is looking for the shot. But he does not need to snap his hands down.

Just something to watch going forward.

Finally, Julius Randle was honored by the Lakers during the game. He finished the game with 21 points, 8 rebounds and respect from the Lakers nation.

You have mine too Julius. You have a lot of game and will have a lot of money coming!

The Los Angeles Lakers have started their long journey through the NBA season. Lake Show Life will be there every step of the way. Continue to check in for Lakers news, previews and reviews.