Los Angeles Lakers: 4 Lessons in bounce back win over Portland
By Ronald Agers
The Los Angeles Lakers faced a must-win game for the first time this season on Friday night against the Portland Trail Blazers. It was also the much-anticipated return of Dennis Schroder from a four-game absence after dealing with the NBA’s health and safety protocols.
Lake Show Life breaks down what else happened in Lake Show Life Lessons! The only Los Angeles Lakers extended post-game report with in-depth analysis and highlights.
The Los Angeles Lakers were looking for answers to stop a four-game losing streak capped off by the worst loss of the season against the Utah Jazz. While most fans were trying to convince themselves that signing Damian Jones to a 10-day contract could be the answer to some of the team’s problems, it seemed the return of Dennis Schroder was the answer after all.
Schroder probably wasn’t the best player for the Lakers on Friday night, but he was the most important ingredient to the Lakers winning formula.
After breaking a four-game losing slide with their 102-93 win over the Portland Trail Blazers, Rob Pelinka will be busying himself with not only short-term 10-day contracts, but budgeting Dennis Schroder’s virtually guaranteed extension in the future. Nobody on the Lakers roster should be happier than these players that suited up against the Blazers.
Alex Caruso:
With Dennis’ return, Caruso was relieved of the ball-handling duties to go back to the super sub role with all of the intangibles. He finished with 10 points, six rebounds, two assists, and two steals. His defensive teamwork with Schroder helped grind the Portland offense to a halt in the third quarter.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope:
Schroder’s scoring sure covered up the fact that KCP flat out is not scoring enough to help the starting lineup. He only finished with five points on 2-5 shooting. He’ll be on every highlight for his alley-oop pass to LeBron, but the Lakers need him to knock down shots.
Frank Vogel:
Wesley Matthews scored nothing in this game while Damian Lillard was giving him the business on the defensive end. Vogel had an option to bench Wesley after nine minutes. His decision to keep riding him boggles the mind.
Kyle Kuzma:
Even though Kuz led the Lakers in rebounding with 11 (five offensive!), normally Lakers fans would be all over him for a 4 point, 1-5 shooting performance. Considering they are so happy Dennis is back and the losing streak is over, this will be overlooked.
Marc Gasol:
This win will keep the rim protection discussion at bay for a game or so because Enes Kanter was killing him with offensive rebounds early as the Lakers fell behind. Kanter finished with 17 rebounds in the game.
In other news, Gasol actually dunked in this game. Enjoy the visual because it does not happen often.
https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/1365525597456244737
The Lakers are now 23-11 and have a very important game coming up against the Golden State Warriors. The Lakers need to gain some momentum before facing a Phoenix Suns team that has won 14 of their last 16 games.
To the new Los Angeles Lakers fans that are checking us out for the first time, welcome to Lake Show Life Lessons. Our extended post-game report with video analysis will cover the progress for the Los Angeles Lakers the entire season!
Over the next several pages we will provide highlights of certain players and coaches. Afterward, the comment section is loaded with knowledgeable fans adding their basketball knowledge. We usually start with the stars.
Let’s get to Lesson One to find out who!