The Los Angeles Lakers has started the preseason slowly getting blown out by the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday and the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday. Things were a little different as the Lake Show included LeBron James and Russell Westbrook in the starting lineup for the first time this preseason.
The Los Angeles Lakers gave Anthony Davis the night off and gave two of his famous teammates some time on the floor in LeBron James and Russell Westbrook. Different lineup, same result. Long lulls in offensive efficiency led to the Lakers’ third loss of the preseason, 121-114. Like the first two preseason games, the final score did not illustrate how bad the Lakers looked at times.
- Los Angeles Lakers open the preseason with a loss to the Brooklyn Nets
- Los Angeles Lakers suffer another blowout against Phoenix Suns
The Lakers continue to have issues that are deeper than the same old “They have to be allowed time to jell” excuse. For the third straight game, Los Angeles fell behind by 20 points and if not for a spirited effort in the 4th quarter (More on that later!), this would have been the third straight blowout of the preseason.
The good from the Los Angeles Lakers’ loss:
It was good to see LeBron James and Russell Westbrook on the floor and they didn’t get hurt.
This is not about these two players coming out and each scoring 40 points. It’s the preseason, but you could easily see that LeBron was trying to get comfortable with his teammates. He didn’t score much (9 points on 4-12 shooting!) but you could see he’s preserving his energy for the regular season as he should.
LeBron cashes in this fadeaway 💰 pic.twitter.com/wOyluzTfAC
— NBA TV (@NBATV) October 9, 2021
Russell Westbrook however…we’ll get to him later.
Kent Bazemore came out with energy and shot the corner 3 point shot well!
Baze did not have an easy night chasing Stephen Curry all over the floor (But who does?) but he did quality work on the defensive end. What makes that more impressive is that he contributed on the offensive end. He knocked down three 3 point shots in the first half when the Lakers needed them. Bazemore hit more shots from distance than his teammates COMBINED in the first half. He finished with 11 points.
The Lakers might have found an effective zone defensive scheme!
This game was well on its way to yet another blowout loss from the Lakers being down 20 in the third quarter. But Vogel opened up the 4th quarter with a zone defense that bothered Golden State. The Lake Show was powered to a 13-3 run off of the zone scheme and a lot of lobs to Dwight Howard and DeAndre Jordan to make it close. We will discuss Dwight Howard in a second.
It did look like the coaching staff got on the players about defense!
Against the Phoenix Suns, the Los Angeles Lakers basically did not try. DeAndre Jordan was a statue in the middle, the perimeter defense was bad and there were numerous basic defensive principles being broken. To start the game, the Lakers really got after it on the defensive end. The effort was kind of wasted though. Read on to see why.
The bad from the Los Angeles Lakers’ loss:
The first six minutes of the game!
If you missed the first half of the first quarter…RELAX! It was terrible. Bad shooting from both teams, Russell Westbrook turnovers and good old-fashioned preseason basketball. The Lakers were shooting 23 percent during the stretch. The Warriors? 30 percent. Oh, it was bad.
Russell Westbrook’s debut in the first half!
Okay, every Lakers highlight replay package will show this video highlight so let’s get it out of the way…
https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/1446673612669284354
Now let’s deal with the reality…Russell Westbrook was terrible.
Russ’ debut was “De Butt” of a joke in the first half. Look there’s the excuse for getting your rhythm and timing back, but anyone that uses this excuse here did not watch the game. Save it.
- 17 minutes in the first half…
- Six turnovers…
- 1-6 from the field for two points.
It’s not the number of turnovers Westbrook had, but the quality of the turnovers. It’s not like the Warriors players had to reach out and extend themselves to steal the ball, Russ threw it DIRECTLY to them. He is definitely trying to find his niche within the offense but as of this game, he is still looking.
A definite pet peeve of the Lake Show Life is Lakers players crying to the referees looking for fouls. That’s basically what Russ did after turning the ball over or throwing up a wild shot. It’s like Lakers players get credentials for this stuff with their uniforms. With the new rules changes against players throwing their bodies at defenders looking for fouls this year, the Lakers players need to adjust.
Okay folks, Dwight Howard just needs to stop.
Dude can’t even act like he has some sense on the bench? He got a technical foul for being out of the zone where players not playing should be. Even Frank Vogel told him to sit down. Lakers fans, this is not the same Dwight Howard from a couple of years ago. See he was on a non-guaranteed contract then. He had a couple of months into the season to get some act right before his contract was guaranteed. Now he’s comfortable.
The sad thing is he was effective on the floor in this game. Then he does this?
Dwight had 23 points, 12 rebounds (6 offensive!) with 3 assists. But he nearly got kicked out raising his elbow up to a Warriors player after an offensive foul. The Lakers need the Dwight that just plays and not the one that has different antics every night.
Carmelo Anthony and Malik Monk…
A combined 3-13 for 9 points won’t cut it. Come on fellas!
The story from the Los Angeles Lakers’ loss:
The Los Angeles Lakers perimeter defense is WORSE than last year!
To put this point in perspective, Stephen Curry did not shoot well at all from behind the arc even though he had 30 points. But that was not the problem for the Lakers. It was Jordan Poole. He was smoking anyone in front of him like a pack of Kools.
Bust a move 🕺 pic.twitter.com/qmmUkg7Myj
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) October 9, 2021
Jordan Poole finished with 28 points on the strength of hitting six shots from the land of the extra point. The Warriors guards had no issues penetrating the paint and the shooters had plenty of time knocking down 3 point shots.
Rajon Rondo righted the ship and Talen Horton-Tucker went nuts!
Rondo showed exactly why the Lakers welcomed him back in the fold. His leadership in this game was the story for the Lakers. They were dead in the water and he would not allow the players on the floor to go through the motions.
He communicated and threw sweet alley-oops to both centers. The movement of the ball opened up lanes for Talen Horton-Tucker to explode. THT had 15 points in the second half.