The Los Angeles Lakers took on the new-look Brooklyn Nets in a much-anticipated matchup on Saturday night. This game was all about the non-stars. Brooklyn had theirs while the Lakers did not. Not only did the Lakers beat the Nets in their gym, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel for the stars’ to return to the team.
The Los Angeles Lakers continued their road trip taking on the Brooklyn Nets with an extremely limited roster coming off a loss to the Miami Heat. With all of these challenges, the Lakers were facing a blowout with the Nets roster containing Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.
- No superstars in Anthony Davis and LeBron James.
- Kyle Kuzma was out.
- Wesley Matthews had neck issues.
- Alex Caruso was banged up.
- Marc Gasol didn’t play.
- Dennis Schroder was playing his worst basketball of the season!
The Brooklyn Nets absolutely destroyed the Lakers (Editor Jason Reed taps shoulder and whispers in ear!)… Oh, the Los Angeles Lakers blew the Nets out? WHAT????!!!!
In easily the biggest shocker of the NBA season, the Lakers ran the Brooklyn Nets out of their own gym dominating them 126-101. This was a wire-to-wire win and this was not close.
The good from the Los Angeles Lakers’ win:
The team is raising the bar for excellence on the concept of “Next man up”!
The Los Angeles Lakers jumped all over the Brooklyn Nets early in this game knocking down seven of their first none shots including 3-4 from behind the arc. With the exception of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, every starter hit their first two attempts or two of their first three shots. After going into intermission up 61-58, the Lakers had no bad quarters leading to the biggest shock of the entire NBA season.
Dennis Schroder.
(Checking notes)…So basically it takes Lake Show Life to write a feature describing ways for the Los Angeles Lakers to move on from Dennis Schroder for him to go nuts on the offensive end?
After missing the first nine shots against Miami on the way to a putrid 2-12 performance, he was destroying the Nets early scoring 16 points on 6-7 shooting. Sadly while playing two-way basketball, he injured his tailbone taking a charge from Blake Griffin in the second quarter.
Schroder’s stats are not the story here. It was the balance that he showed between making plays for his teammates and looking for his shot. He made Brooklyn pay every time for switching a center out on him, most notably Nic Claxton.
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) April 11, 2021
This was easily the best game for Dennis Schroder this season. Sadly he didn’t play the whole game. Much more on that later!
Andre Drummond will be a major X-Factor if these two teams meet in the NBA Finals!
Everyone knows superstars are the story in the championship rounds. Whatever combination of stars play better will have an advantage. But this year more than any other, the other players will have to contribute. For the Lakers, Andre Drummond will be key for the Lakers to repeat if afforded the opportunity.
Drummond was killing LaMarcus Aldridge in this game. His big frame bothered Aldridge on both ends as the Nets starting center seemed like he did not want any part of the physical play Drummond was putting on him.
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) April 11, 2021
Drummond’s presence in the paint when LeBron James and Anthony Davis come back will be the tipping factor if these two teams play in June. The Nets looked scared of him and stayed on the perimeter most of the night. he finished with a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds.
Andre Drummond exposed a weakness of the Brooklyn Nets. If you pound them down low, they are extremely vulnerable in the paint playing small ball.
3-point shooting!
Combined with shutting down on of the best 3-point shooters in the NBA in Joe Harris, the Lakers shot lights out from behind the arc. After Schroder was tossed, new Laker, Ben McLemore got into a rhythm knocking down three shots from the land of the extra point to help put the game away. The Lakers shot 55.9 percent from behind the line (19-34).
The bad from the Los Angeles Lakers’ win:
The referees!
The entire referee crew should be ashamed and the NBA should be embarrassed. They tossed Kyrie Irving and Dennis Schroder in the third quarter.
Kyrie Irving and Dennis Schroder were both ejected after getting into it during the third quarter. pic.twitter.com/i2UEyKba3m
— ESPN (@espn) April 11, 2021
As bad as the Montrezl Harrell ejection was in the Toronto game on Tuesday, this is a hundred times worse. Any insult about the NBA getting soft or referees being sensitive is sparked by situations like this. Both players were unconscious in this game and were trash-talking. Pass this to the referee crews that never played a street ball game in their life…THIS IS NORMAL!
- Dennis Schroder: 20 minutes, 19 points (7-11 shooting!), 4 assists, ZERO turnovers and 3-4 from behind the arc.
- Kyrie Irving: 21 minutes. 18 points (6-11 shooting!), 4 rebounds and so many acrobatic moves in the paint.
The NBA fans were robbed of a great battle. At least this crew will not be working the NBA Finals. At least the Lake Show Life staff is praying.
The story from the Los Angeles Lakers’ win:
This was a huge statement game from the Lakers to the NBA!
These guys are starting to figure it out. The Clippers debacle was a wake-up call to this team and the coaching staff has taken advantage of coaching this roster up. Frank Vogel should be in the Coach of the Year discussion and Phil Handy has done an amazing job with Andre Drummond since the big man was added.
All the Los Angeles Lakers have to do is play with this intensity and they will be fine win or lose. All of the narratives of “No one wants to face the Lakers in the playoffs” is legit.
Because…
The Lakers are putting the band back together in 3-4 weeks?
There is no way that the Los Angeles Lakers can be taken seriously until their superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis return. Numerous outlets have given educated (Or just ridiculous!) guesses when they would return. Finally, Lake Show Life has a source that we feel comfortable reporting from, Jared Dudley.
He provided his own timeline on the Lake Show podcast on Spectrum SportsNet.
A video snippet is provided here.
"“AD is coming along, he’s on the court and doing definitely his little workouts, his calves, I’m in the weight room with him. He’s gonna be getting on the floor more this week, he’s gonna do about 30 minutes non-stop. He’s gonna get to playing here shortly and so give him a couple more weeks. Bron just got out of the boot, he’s moving forward. And Drummond is back, so listen, within the next 3-4 weeks we’re gonna have everybody back and then we’re rolling.”"
There’s your time frame. The band should be back near the end of April to the beginning of May at the latest. Why should you believe Jared Dudley? He predicted the NBA’s return from the shutdown almost to the week basketball started in the bubble last year.
Lakers Nation, enjoy this one! This one has to feel good.