Los Angeles Lakers: 4 Takeaways from loss to New Orleans Pelicans

Who is that dude that’s killing the Lakers down low?

At least that was what I was screaming every time Cheick Diallo scored down low or the two times he sent Brandon Ingram’s dunk attempts to another destination.

Cheick Diallo scored 18 points on a perfect 8-for-8 from the field and 2-for-2 from the free throw line. Couple that with ten rebounds (2 on the offensive end…) and a steal. Diallo helped set the tone that saw JaVale McGee sitting the bench for Moe Wagner. His play made the crowd forget that Anthony Davis was a scratch by dominating the Lakers front court with Julius Randle.

Diallo led a Pelicans bench that put up 42 points, grabbed 20 rebounds, dished out 6 assists and stole the ball 5 times. It bears repeating…Diallo never missed a shot.

More often than not, the Pelicans used these type of defensive plays to start the fast break. Kind of like what Jahlil Okafor did right here…

He pins Kyle Kuzma’s shot to the backboard and runs the fast break hard and finishes what he started with a slam dunk. With teams that lack talent like the Pelicans, these type of plays are what they feed on to get the crowd involved.

The New Orleans Pelicans strolled out three front court players in Cheick Diallo, Jahlil Okafor and Julius Randle that thoroughly outplayed the Lakers. They dominated the paint which opened up the 15 three-point shots that kept the Lakers at bay. To top it all off, none of these players are taller than 6’9″.

Their small lineup forced JaVale to the bench playing only 16 minutes with Tyson Chandler playing six. The Lakers have fully regressed back to the awful defense that plagued them seven games into the season.