Lakers warriors score12/19/2023 He got to the rim only six times opening night and missed half of his looks there. There were signs of slippage last season, though, when his restricted attempts per game fell to only five after being above 10 in Houston. You trade for Westbrook in part because of how lethal he can be at the basket. It wasn't just the awkward off-ball fit, though. If he doesn't? He's got more games like tonight coming. He has 81 games left to figure that out before the postseason. Westbrook is so used to dominating possession of the ball that he hasn't learned how to effectively and consistently move without it. But why did Frank Vogel play him with Rajon Rondo, essentially relegating him to (ineffective) spacing duty on far too many possessions? Why wasn't he fully staggered with LeBron James, allowing each significant stretches of game time to run the offense? Westbrook wasn't put in a position to succeed as a playmaker on opening night, but he didn't do himself any favors on that front either. Some early ball-watching was to be expected when playing with the starters. Westbrook, who led the NBA in assists in three of the past four seasons, had only four against the Warriors. The problem on Tuesday was that the Lakers didn't get any of that other stuff. At his best, Westbrook is among the most exhausting players to play against in basketball, a lightning bolt in transition that punishes your rim-protectors and generates big plays through energy and ambition alone. You live with that because, most of the time, you get everything else. You just have to bake nights like that into your expectations with Westbrook. There's nothing all that unusual about Russell Westbrook shooting 1-of-7 from outside of the paint. Here are three takeaways from the win: 1. Hopefully, he can carry it.There was an error processing your subscription. Maybe Russell will be okay and play in Sunday’s matinee against the Dallas Mavericks, but decisions like this will continue to rest on Ham’s shoulders. Is D-Lo okay? If not, who will Ham start? What does that do to the depth of the roster? Decisions like these will define the rookie coach’s first year and the Lakers’ chances of reaching that sixth seed they’ve talked about so much. They got the win now they need to figure out the rest. Get the wins now and figure out the rest later. Key TakeawaysĪs we enter March, it’s about surviving and advancing for the Lakeshow. It demonstrates how necessary those trade deadline acquisitions have been. LeBron was done for the night at the 8:06 mark, and LeBron missing the final eight minutes of a game the Lakers win is great news for the team. lead ballooned to 20 points early in the fourth and with the Warriors having another game tomorrow, the final quarter was a snore. 9 Warriors.- Dave McMenamin February 24, 2023 The new-look Lakers’ first game after the All-Star break: 20-point 4th Q lead over the No. The new-look Lakers’ last game before the All-Star break: 18-point win over the No. Luckily their pace was far faster than Golden State’s, which led to 12 fast break points and an eight-point advantage after one. maintained the narrow lead throughout the opening quarter but struggled to maintain possession, turning the ball over six times. LeBron got off to a very slow start the NBA's all-time leading scorer did not score a point until the closing seconds of the first. With an NBA-leading 30 different starting lineups, that’s been a rarity for the purple & gold this year. Early indicators are that there is no structural damage and with two days off until their next matchup, perhaps D-Lo will be back on Sunday like he never left.ĭarvin Ham confirmed he was running it back with the same startling lineup the Lakers used in their last game against the Pelicans, giving the Lakers consistency from the start. The only negative of the night was D’Angelo Russell’s sprained ankle, which took him out of the game in the first half. has won two in a row and improved to 28-32 on the season as the Warriors fell under. Austin Reaves didn’t just do the small things to win he was a perfect scorer going 6-6 from the field and 4-4 from the free-throw line while leading the bench with 17 points in his 19 minutes of play. Malik Beasley was a three-point sniper, scoring 25 points (including 7 threes). With LeBron James scoring just 13 points on the night and Anthony Davis still a bit lacking offensively (he ended the night with 12), it was the role players that helped secure the game. Needing every win as we enter the final stretch of games, the Lakers wasted no time stacking victories beating the Warriors 124-111. Lakers basketball made its return on Monday night against the Golden State Warriors.
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