The Lakeshow Review

The Los Angeles Lakers resumed their five-game road trip last night in New Orleans as they took on the Pelicans. After being humbled against OKC a few nights ago, LA was looking to get themselves back on the winning track. Additionally, the game was their second contest in the Group B Emirates Cup stage. The team restored order, as they cruised to a 118-104 victory, while also improving to 2-0 in the group stages of the Emirates Cup (but who cares, all that’s important is the win). The Lakers did not play their best game, but did just enough to earn the victory. It’s clear that the team is not going through their best stretch at this moment, but right now, the goal is to rack up as many wins as possible, so when they peak later in the year, they aren’t playing behind the eight-ball.

The Lakers built an early 21-11 lead in the first quarter, on the back of great offensive execution. The screen and roll looked a lot better this game, with Deandre Ayton setting quality screens and rolling purposefully to the basket. Ayton got some good work in this contest, scoring 20 points and nabbing 16 rebounds. Against New Orleans’ drop coverage, he was effective as an outlet man on the short roll. With that said, he can still use some improving as far as making quicker reads when catching the ball in the middle of the floor and hitting the open corner or slot man sooner. Ayton also continues to show great touch around the basket, as his soft hands allow him to finish consistently in a crowded paint, where he constantly jockeyed for position both offensively and defensively. The Lakers really need him to produce these types of games with more frequency. Thanks to solid ball movement and execution, LA got out to a a healthy 35-25 lead after 12 minutes.

The team had much improved balance this game, as all starters scored in double figures, including Marcus Smart’s 13 points to go with five rebounds, five assists and two steals, as well as Rui Hachimura’s 14 points, on 2-5 shooting from beyond the arc. As LA got their starters rolling, they finished the first half up 65-52. The starters once again led another push to start the third quarter, upping LAs lead to 88-66 midway through the period. However, this is when the team got a little too comfortable and took their foot off of the accelerator. New Orleans chewed off LAs lead to start the fourth, getting to within 8 points following a quick 12-0 run, taking advantage of LAs sloppy execution and turnovers, when they weren’t settling for poor shots on the offensive end. Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves were able to provide enough offense to push the lead back up to 15, and with LAs bench struggling (only 16 total bench points), they pretty much had to. Mercifully, LA didn’t look back after that and were able to deliver the win.

Following their beatdown at the hands of OKC, this was a much needed win for the Lakers. However, it does feel eerily similar to their win against the Hornets, where they played inconsistently, and then proceeded to get thrashed by the Thunder some nights later. If LA loses its focus, we could certainly see a repeat performance against the Milwaukee Bucks (on the second night of a back-to-back). With that said, we did see some encouraging signs from Austin Reaves, who after a poor showing managed to bounce back with 31 points, four boards and seven assists. It was good to see AR activate his scoring once the Pelicans started trapping and blitzing Luka on ball screens. AR did a fantastic job of getting to his spots, whether in the paint or on the midrange, and the Lakers overall did a much better job of attacking their opponent in space, as their off-ball movement produced better looks at the basket. Luka meanwhile was his usual self, scoring 24 points, pulling down seven boards and dishing 12 assists. His scoring wasn’t up to his usual standard, but that wasn’t an issue as he focused more on his playmaking, where he constantly fed Deandre Ayton alley-oops when coming off a screen. Offense is not really an issue with this team, it’s more their commitment to defending at a high level, particularly against the better teams, against whom they tend to fall behind early. We’ll see how the team chooses to respond, as they’ll have their work cut out for them when they turn around to face a quality Bucks squad on the second night of a back-to-back. This team has shown that they can compete with anyone, even going back to last season. But it all depends on what version of the team decides to show up. Hopefully they’ll have enough competitive juice left to push for a strong finish to their road trip this Saturday. Go Lakers.