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Lakers beat Warriors but suffer a bigger loss with D’Angelo Russell injury

Ronald Agers|
D'Angelo Russell #1 of the Los Angeles Lakers reacts after spraining his ankle in the first half against the Golden State Warriors at Crypto.com Arena on February 23, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Allen Berezovsky/Getty Images)
D'Angelo Russell #1 of the Los Angeles Lakers reacts after spraining his ankle in the first half against the Golden State Warriors at Crypto.com Arena on February 23, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Allen Berezovsky/Getty Images)

The Los Angeles Lakers officially start their 23-game journey in their last-ditch effort to make the playoffs. That or least the play-in. With the Western Conference loading up with talent, the Lake Show started the unofficial second half of the season (About 60 games in, why do people in the NBA media keep saying this?) against the defending world-champion Golden State Warriors.

The Lake Show might have shown the NBA world that the Golden State Warriors dynasty is over with a complete 124-111 beatdown. This Lakers team might have found a team above them in the standings that they can beat on a regular basis and easily.

The good of the Los Angeles Lakers win: 

Stephen Curry did not play in this game!

It does not matter who takes the MVP this year (Probably Nikola Jokic) because anyone who saw the last two contests against the Warriors knows that Golden State is a lottery team without Stephen Curry. Draymond Green looks like a LeBron James groupie trying to get on his team while blowing point-blank layups. Jordan Poole is a wildly inefficient scorer and this team’s offense is a dentist surgery appointment to watch without the spacing Steph provides.

The Lakers are looking to get back into the play-in tournament conversation and watching this Golden State team without Stephen Curry for another week shows that the Lakers have a shot if they start stocking up some wins.

Malik Beasley can shoot that thang when he’s hot can he?

Look, Malik Beasley is one of those players that fans grow to love or hate. He’s a shooter and he is not afraid to let it fly as soon as he gets to the arena. Remember the bricks he was throwing up when he got to L.A.? Well, he doesn’t either. That’s a good thing.

He was hot coming out of the gate scoring eight of the first ten Lakers points. He got to his spots quickly and his teammates found him. He scored 14 points in 15 minutes in the first half alone.

He finished with 25 points in only 26 minutes.

Austin Reaves was nearly…perfect!

It’s a shame that this dude will never see the light of day in the starting lineup because this dude really understands the concept of the game of basketball. many NBA players play for the “Gram”, Austin plays to win basketball games.

The guy was still perfect from the field dropping his first six shots from the field and four from the free throw line for 17 points. 13 of them was in the third quarter!

3-point shooting!

Shooting 53 percent (16-30) will win you a lot of basketball games.

The Los Angeles Lakers won the game…Nuff said.

Now let’s see if there is a winning streak of significance coming. Trading wins and losses is not going to get it.

The bad of the Los Angeles Lakers win: 

D’Angelo Russell…I feel for you Bruh!

Anyone at any level that has played the game of basketball can relate to this. D’Lo simply steps back on Donte DiVincenzo’s foot and sprained his ankle. He did not return. These are the most irritating injuries in the sport. Get well D’Lo…the Lakers need you for this important run.

The Los Angeles Lakers gave up to many offensive rebounds! 

The Lakers gave up 17 offensive boards watching Kevon Looney bully them in the paint. If not for this stat, the Lakers would have won by 40.

The story of the Los Angeles Lakers win: 

The Los Angeles Lakers look like a team and not a…”Roll the ball to LeBron and let him figure it out” cast of characters! 

How many people out there reading this report thought that this game would be a Warriors blowout if LeBron James had a horrible shooting night while Anthony Davis seemed like he didn’t want to shoot?

Well think again…press play and try to remember the last time LeBron James did this in an offensive set?

  • LeBron James gave up the ball immediately and parked in the left corner.
  • When Rui passed the ball to Dennis Schroder, Dennis attacks the basket and gets into the paint.
  • Instead of standing in the corner for a 3-point shot, LeBron cuts to the basket from the dunkers spot…
  • Schroder throws the alley-opp and BANG! 

Yes, LeBron did not shoot the ball well finishing with 13 points on 5-20 shooting. AD on the other hand, looked like he was running off the jetlag of his vacation with 12 points on (Checking notes) 3-5 shooting.

But the Lakers handed out a ton of business cards to every Golden State player except Kevon Looney. This was all about the bench players and especially Malik Beasley.

  • Malik Beasley: 25 points (7-11 in threes!), 3 rebounds and 3 steals.
  • Austin Reaves: 17 points (Dude did not miss ALL NIGHT!), 2 rebounds, 2 steals and 4 assists.
  • Dennis Schroder: 13 points and 6 assists.
  • Mo Bamba: Hitting those 3 points shots we see! 10 points and 13 rebounds.
  • Rui Hachimora: 14 points, a rebound and 2 assists.

Lonnie Walker IV has found himself out of the rotation and he had double-figure scoring with 10 points!

This team now has depth with players that are not afraid to shoot the ball when they are open.

The Lakers have 22 games left and Rob Pelinka has given Darvin Ham something to work with so now the spotlight is on the coaching staff and this roster.

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