Los Angeles Lakers: 4 lessons from the win over the Chicago Bulls
By Ronald Agers
Wesley Matthews helped the Los Angeles Lakers take control of the game in the third quarter!
Frank Vogel probably saw a potential defensive matchup problem concerning Zach LaVine and inserted Wesley Matthews in the starting lineup instead of Kyle Kuzma. But instead of the defense, it was his 3 point shooting that really helped the Lakers out.
Wesley Matthews came out firing in the third quarter from behind the arc,. He knocked down four 3 point shots that sparked a 15-2 run to give the Lakers a 86-79 lead. Matthews scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half while making timely defensive plays on Zach LaVine.
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) January 9, 2021
When Matthews started scoring, it really helped open up the lanes for LeBron to attack the basket as shown in the second video. When Chicago started to consistently double team in the second half, Matthews’ long-range shooting commanded enough attention that the Bulls were slow with their rotations.
Even though the box score does not show it, Wild Wild Wes did a good job of slowing down LaVine. Sure he scored 38 points, but it looked like he was going to score a lot more than that in the first quarter. Most importantly, Matthews was in LaVine’s face contesting when he missed that potential game-winner.
The final lesson is about Frank Vogel. The Lakers’ defensive effort was under fire after the AD criticism. Instead of turning it into a newsworthy drama, he made important changes. Read on to see what they were.