Los Angeles Lakers: Newcomers destroy the Dallas Mavericks, 5 Lessons

Montrezl Harrell and Dennis Schroder were the stars for the Los Angeles Lakers!

The NBA media is going to line up the season narrative pitting the Brooklyn Nets firepower in Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant. They have done little to disappoint as the Nets have destroyed their first two opponents. But the Lakers have shown to have two players that have made their own impact in Montrezl Harrell and Dennis Schroder.

First, let’s give the floor to Lakers legend James Worthy on the potential direction this franchise is going and the comparisons to another powerful era.

If James Worthy is comparing the construction of this team to the 2000-01 era which is the Shaq/Kobe era, the NBA is in for a headache. But this team potentially could have an even deeper bench led by Harrell and Schroder. These two did seemingly the same amount of damage in different ways.

Montrezl Harrell:

Montrezl Harrell did his damage with physicality inside. The Dallas Mavericks is already bad, but that’s not Trez’s fault. Harrell missed his first layup and after that, he laid waste to the Mavs interior defense, especially in the second half. Harrell filled up the stat sheet with 22 points (10-13 shooting!), 7 rebounds (5 offensive!), 2 assists and a steal. His shooting percentage would have been better if he hadn’t tried that 3 pointer.

His defensive contributions by way of toughness is getting more and more evident by the game. His energy is limitless, he holds his teammates accountable for late defensive rotations and will sacrifice his body banging on bigger bodies. Yes, that includes Boban Marjanovic, who was brought in just to get Harrell off the offensive glass. It did not work at all. To make this plain, Montrezl had more offensive rebounds than the entire Dallas team.

Dennis Schroder:

What Harrell did with power, Dennis Schroder did with quickness, improving his defensive discipline playing against Luka Doncic. He also did a good job when the Lakers were out on the break. He finished with 18 points (7-11 shooting!) with 6 assists. His play has improved mightily since the preseason.

The confidence and comfort about his role with the team are evident. Frank Vogel has a method to the madness with his rotations. He has shown the ability to keep his players confidence up when they are struggling. This is yet another example.

The Schroder/Harrell combination:

If the Los Angeles Lakers didn’t have a lethal pick and roll combination with LeBron and Anthony Davis. When they sit down, the threat with these two running pick and rolls is just as dangerous. Harrell and Schroder embarrassed the Mavericks’ awful defense.

Last year’s top two “Sixth Man of the Year” candidates will open up a ton of options for the Lakers when resting LeBron and AD. If this keeps up, just imagine the evaporating burdens of James and Davis’ workload this season.

James Worthy discussed Schroder’s contract extension in the video above. What about that? No time like the present. Read on to find out the latest!