The Lakeshow Review

Following a close 87-85 defeat to Cooper Flagg and the Dallas Mavericks, the Lakers Summer League squad picked up their first win of the Vegas Tournament after besting the New Orleans Pelicans 94-81, bringing their tournament record to 1-1. It was an impressive team win, as the young Lakers looked in control of the contest for most of the game. They raced out to a slow start, falling behind to the Pelicans 9-0 at the early stages of the first quarter. But they kept the effort and intensity, managing to secure a 22-19 to end the initial period. The Lakers would not relinquish the lead again, as they mounted a robust team effort, fuelled by 27 team assist (to the Pelicans’ 6), to put New Orleans away and secure their first victory of the Vegas Summer League Tournament.

The Lakers were led by small forward Cole Swider, whose 21 points (on 8-9 from the field and 4-9 from three) led both sides. Swider is a bonafide deadeye shooter from range, and he’s proven so every opportunity he’s received in Summer League play over the last years. He does a great job of hanging around the corners and capitalizing on open looks from three. He’s also adept at relocating off ball, creating better angles for passes from his teammates. He’d be a solid rotational pro if not for his sub-par defense. But he’s certainly helping this current squad greatly. Darius Bazley (12 points and 10 rebounds on 33 minutes) and Christian Koloko (13 points and 7 boards on 23 minutes) both had strong performances; it seemed as though the Lakers’ big men had an extra pop in their step, as they both ran the floor aggressively and displayed tremendous defensive intensity. Both players combined for 8 blocks. The team’s effort was much better today, as their swarming defense generated a healthy amount of turnovers by New Orleans, which in turn allowed the Lakers to get and run and attack them in space. In doing so, this strategy also collapsed the Pels’ defense at times, creating open looks on the corners for players like Swider and DJ Steward to feast on. This is the type of multi-pronged offensive attack that one would like to see from this Lakers team, both during Summer League, pre-season and regular season. It was a fantastic team effort put forth by the young Lakers.

Forward and second year pro Dalton Knecht missed tonight’s contest, after exiting last Thursday’s game with a late-game calf cramp. Fortunately, he’s been stated to have avoided serious injury, but ended up sitting out of Saturday’s contest for precautionary measures. Hopefully he will be good to go Monday night against the Clippers. Second year guard Bronny James also had an encouraging showing; registering 14 points on 5-11 from the field and 1-5 from three. Though not a great game on the surface, Bronny’s effort and tenacity was decidedly a step up from the last couple on contests. He was quite active defensively, tallying a pair of steals. He also seemed more aggressive off the bounce on offense, and showed willingness to attack his defender one on one, scoring on a couple of drives to the rim. Not to mention, his off ball movement was crisp as he had some nice backdoor cuts against overplaying defenders. That’s the type of motor Bronny needs to showcase. If he plays with that level of energy then there might actually be a spot for him the big club’s rotation.

I was impressed by the Laker’s effort tonight, as they really got after the Pelicans defensively and were relatively in control of the game all throughout. The activity from the big men (Koloko and Bazley) was key. Particularly, the way they executed their rim runs in transition, often leading to open dunks, or collapsing New Orleans’ defense to free up shooters running wide. The team played with improved pace and rhythm, and their floor spacing seemed to have the Pels’ defense on constant scramble mode, which the Lakers took full advantage of by way of excellent ball movement. I’m curious to see if they can keep this type of effort up, and if Dalton Knecht can figure into the gameplan without disrupting the team’s flow on the offensive end. If they keep up this level of play throughout the tournament, their shooters will have no issues capitalizing on open looks, not to mention, the defense seems to be getting it together. It was a solid win by the young Lakers, and hopefully they can keep building on this momentum. The Lakers will play the LA Clippers Summer Leaguers on Monday night, so we’ll see what both teams will have in store. Go Lakers.