Los Angeles Lakers: 4 Lessons from win over Dallas Mavericks

Here are four lessons from a much-needed win for the Los Angeles Lakers against the Dallas Mavericks.

The Los Angeles Lakers season is basically writing itself at this point in the season. It was basically assumed that the season would be all about LeBron James and how he would lead this team. Now that he has been out since Christmas with a groin injury, it seems that the layers to the drama that leads this team keep right on coming.

Right now the Lakers fans are now left to wonder which Lakers team will show up and more importantly, which of the young core of Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball will show up and play well.

After getting blown out by 22 to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday, which turned out to be their Head Coach/President of Operations Tom Thibodeau’s last game before being fired. In a shock to the NBA world of the Thibodeau firing, the real shock was the Lakers let Walton keep his job after the team fell behind 22-3 in the first quarter.

After the loss, Luke Walton called out Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball…

Here’s what he had to say via Silver Screen and Roll.

"“They’re trying, but they’re young. At some point, we need more passion, we need more fight. That’s not scoring more. That’s more diving for loose balls, communicating loudly. Brandon had some really nice crack-back rebounds tonight that we could get out and run. We need that all the time from him. It’s not just them, but until we get healthy again, you gotta play in this league with some passion and fire to win. It’s hard to win in this league when you’re healthy, so you gotta give double that effort when guys are down.”"

Okay…cool. That’s a coach. But when a veteran like Tyson Chandler breaks it down, it’s takes on another meaning…

"“Competing. Competing in every spot, competing for every possession. We can’t afford to take possessions off at this point. We’ve got to make it a dire situation. We’ve got to play that way.”"

After a first half that looked like a repeat from the Timberwolves game, the Lakers locked down on defense in the third quarter and mowed down the Dallas Mavericks 107-97. The win snapped a three-game losing streak for the Lakers and more importantly they sweep the Mavericks and own the tiebreaker.

With the Lakers still shorthanded without LeBron James and Rajon Rondo, they did have a welcome addition in this game with Kyle Kuzma returning to the lineup. He did not shoot well, only hitting 4-20 for 13 points in the game, but remember Russell Westbrook only shot 3-20 when the Thunder beat the Lakers so all is well. He looked very stiff at times during the game, hopefully the Lakers did not bring him back to soon. This will be something to watch in the Detroit game on Wednesday night.

But this game was all about a conversation between Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram challenging themselves and holding each other accountable.

For one game, mission accomplished…

Let’s get to a younger version of Lake Show Life lessons.

Brandon Ingram was the best player on the floor

After a game where Brandon Ingram did not even scratch in the second half and looked soft on the floor, he came back in this game aggressive and set the tone for the Lakers to win this game. More importantly, he made plays down the stretch breaking down the Mavericks defense to stave off any hope of a comeback.

Brandon Ingram scored 29 points and dished out 6 assists in easily his best game of the season. For the first two games when Ingram made his impact on Luka Doncic with his defensive length, this game was impacted with his offensive impact and floor game. Doncic scored well in this game scoring 27 points, but he was shut down late in the game when it mattered.

For the last few days, Brandon Ingram’s future is the talk of the town right along with LeBron’s fluid return date. It is known that the Lakers have to make a decision on if Ingram is in the future plans financially this offseason. His game has brought a legitimate debate between fans on a game by game basis. Some like his game and his potential, while others feel that he should be packaged for an Anthony Davis deal (For the record…this will not happen before February 7th, 2019, please stop asking.).

Let’s take a look as to why he seems to be an enigma…

Brandon Ingram’s game is different from what the NBA wants

There are two ways of looking at a player’s potential the NBA game today. The first one is what everyone in the NBA talks about…the analytical way. The other way of looking at potential is based on the eye test. Both are helpful, but mostly analytics is the option that most people look at.

Golden State has led the evolution of using the 3-point shot as a major weapon in their offense. The Houston Rockets just took it to an absurd level and uses almost to exclusivity.

The problem is, there are players that are shooting this shot but everyone in the building knows they can’t shoot. There are two young players in the NBA that are playing within their limits and are very successful. One is Ben Simmons of the Philadelphia 76ers.

The other…Brandon Ingram…

If you watch the entire video, you see something that is lost in today’s NBA…the high percentage shot. Time and time again you would see the Lakers put the ball in Ingram’s hands and let him do his thing. What is wrong with driving the ball in the lane for a layup? I mean is that a problem?

DeMar DeRozan is a star with the San Antonio Spurs with the mid-range game.

Would you be surprised that Klay Thompson is shooting more mid range jumpers this year?

With Ingram’s newfound mastery of the Manu Ginobli trademarked “Eurostep” you can see with Ingram’s reach, he can get to the basket more often than not. I can’t see why fans are criticizing this guy for bailing out defenses with a 3-point shot that is not reliable at this point in his career.

Now that free throw shooting thing? Okay you have me there!

For the critics that talk about Ingram’s offensive struggles in the last two games, I have an answer for that as well…

Notice all of these plays are mostly fast break possessions where he can make quick decisions to probe the defense. This is not as effective in the half court. Especially when Kuzma, Rondo and LeBron are not on the court. The defenses can load up and contain him.

That’s one of the reasons why the Lakers want the pace sped up.

No I did not forget the other guy in the conversation…

Lonzo Ball played better in this game

I mean it wasn’t hard to be honest. I mean in the Minnesota game he scored well…let me put it this way…

Close your eyes. What do you see? Nothing? That’s what Lonzo scored in the game! Lonzo never got out of the starting block missing all of his four shots from the field and two from the free throw line. It was bad.

This game was very different…

Lonzo came out with the big boy pants and was aggressive early and carried it on for the entire game. Lonzo scored 21 points, grabbed 7 rebounds and dished out 5 assists in a game that was a statement game not only to the Mavericks, but the Lakers franchise and it’s fan base.

What was talked about earlier with Ingram means double for Ball. With Ingram, he realizes what he can do, he just needs to continue to improve.

With Lonzo, he needs to be aggressive, early, late and often. This is about confidence when we deal with the analysis of Lonzo. Teammates, coaches, the front office have all preached being aggressiveness to him.

He needs to do this for the rest of the year. His future in Los Angeles depends on it.

His first two shots of the game was with the belief that he was a scorer, something that has not been the case for much of his career. His first shot was a 3-pointer, then he comes back and dunks on DeAndre Jordan. This takes confidence. He carried on shooting big time shot after big time shot.

If you saw the backdoor play set up by Josh Hart for the slam dunk you can see why the Lakers are making sure that this guy is worth keeping instead of making a rash move making a bad trade.

He didn’t have to catch my man, Dirk Nowitzki on that alley oop

The Lakers played this game with something not seen this year

Toughness. The Lakers straight up punched the Dallas Mavericks in the mouth coming out of halftime. It bears repeating that the Lakers were behind and started out the quarter on a 22-9 run to turn the game around. This was led by Ball and Ingram who led the way.

Looking back over the season, you will have noticed that the Lakers have basically played soft at times during the year complaining about calls. Remember the Houston game when James Harden gave them 50?

Now let’s watch this play here…

Brandon Ingram has the ball and is driving to the basket and eventually dishes the ball to JaVale McGee for a monster slam. That’s not the point of emphasis here…

Ingram actually elbows Doncic in the face and he falls to the floor. Doncic spent the rest of the game complaining and checking his teeth.

Why was there no call you ask?

Because Brandon Ingram had been aggressive all night long. He had been making that same drive to the basket so when the tone is set, the officials sometimes call the game based on the aggressiveness of certain players.

Why do you think Harden gets all of these calls? He’s aggressive. Time for the NBA to follow the man’s footsteps.

As special shout out needs to go to Michael Beasley. For the last two games, Beasley has been getting buckets. He needs minutes and has shown that he will deliver on the offensive end.

In nine minutes, Beasley scored 13 points on 5-6 shooting. On one play he passed the ball and called for it back. Then he drove to the basket baseline for positive results.

In the Minnesota game he got a technical foul for letting the referee know what was going to happen if Karl Anthony Towns kept doing things on the floor that he didn’t like. I’m paraphrasing because this is a family article. But in a game where it was noted that some players did not show up, he showed passion and competed.  In that game he shot 5-8 for 11 points. He’s an asset. Use him.

The Los Angeles Lakers are about to the halfway point in 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.