The Lakers are undefeated when Alex Caruso plays. He’s like that player in a glass container used in case of emergency.
It’s interesting to note that After Caruso sat the bench for the entire game in the Clippers loss on opening night. After watching for the first half, Vogel has inserted Caruso in the lineup in the second half of the last two games. Both times the Lakers offense was struggling. Both times Caruso made a difference in providing intangibles that don’t show up in box scores.
After raising the defensive intensity against the Utah Jazz by playing strong defense and providing steady ball-handling, Caruso did the same against the Hornets shifting momentum with timely defensive plays and overall hustle. Here’s the example here.
https://twitter.com/NBATV/status/1188661307811102720?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1188661307811102720&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Flakeshowlife.com%2F2019%2F10%2F29%2Flos-angeles-lakers-hornets-push-lakers-limit-4-lessons%2F
But this is a LeBron James article, right? In one of the more stranger games to analyze, James did not transfer the aggressiveness on offense that he had against the Jazz. He took a major step back while Anthony Davis went nuts in the first half dropping 25 of his 29 points. Going into the last quarter, his double-figure scoring streak was on the line when had only six points.
Granted, he exploded in the 4th quarter, scoring 14 points to end the night at 20. But AD was on the bench for most of that time with a shoulder injury he suffered earlier in the game. Maybe this is the LeBron James that Stephen A. Smith was criticizing.
There is no question about LeBron’s ability to take over as a scorer when needed. But this was done against a Charlotte team that can’t match the talent level of this Lakers squad. The balance needs to be there instead of just watching Anthony Davis dominate.