The Lakeshow Review

After clinching their Emirates Cup group stage with a victory over the Clippers last Tuesday, the Lakers were back in action last Friday when they took on the Dallas Mavericks in Los Angeles. In their final group stage contest, the Lakers emerged victorious, following an uneven but promising 129-119 win over their Western Conference foe. LA was up and down throughout the game, but managed to turn on the jets towards the latter stages, eventually putting away the younger and more inexperienced Mavericks. With the win, the Lakers wind up undefeated in Emirates Cup group play, which is of lesser importance, but still substantial at least in the sense that the team seems to be building solid chemistry. While there’s still plenty of room for improvement, the team seems to be figuring things out on the offensive end.

LA started the game with good energy, running their patent high pick-and-roll with Luka Dončić and getting great results. The team also got out and running early by aggressively attacking the passing lanes, while disrupting Dallas’ half-court actions. Dončić also showed some flashes as an off-ball scorer early on, as the Lakers ran a few intricate screening actions for him while LeBron initiated the play. Great to see LA start to diversify their offensive playbook more and more. The Mavs, for their part, managed to stay hot, and only trailed LA 28-22 after one quarter.

The second quarter saw some of the Lakers’ lesser tendencies rear their ugly heads, as Dallas riled off a 40 point quarter, eventually taking a 62-60 lead after one half. Offensively, the Lakers remained sharp, managing to manipulate the defense with their crafty half-court sets. Defensively, however, the team continues to be plagued by lazy defensive rotations, as Dallas feasted on open three pointers in the first half of the game. Specifically, the backside defensive help was somewhat sloppy, as Dallas routinely broke down the first level of defense, only to quickly hit an open shooter once LA over-helped in the paint. Dallas hit 47% of their three-point looks in the first two quarters, led primarily by Klay Thompson and former Laker Max Christie. Most of these coming via haphazard defensive breakdowns.

The Lakers’ porous defense carried over into the third quarter, which saw them give up another 32 points to the Mavs, who by the way are the worst offense in basketball thus far. Thankfully, the offense kicked it up a notch, as Luka Dončić activated his scoring prowess. Dallas opted to primarily hedge on Luka’s ball screens, to which he countered by splitting the trap and finding his way to the rim. Other times, he connected with Deandre Ayton on the short roll, who finished with a very solid 17 points and eight boards on 8-9 shooting from the court. Because Dallas was trapping Luka at the top of the key, Ayton found himself guarded by a smaller defender near the rim, and Luka smartly exploited the mismatch. In the fourth, Dallas once again reclaimed the lead momentarily. But a 13-1 Lakers push late in the game helped seal the affair, as LA ‘turned on’ the proverbial switch.

This game showcased both good and bad elements. LAs offensive output was very balanced, with Austin Reaves leading the way with a stellar 38 points (leading all scorers) and eight boards, on 12-15 shooting and 6-8 from three. AR continues to make a strong bid for the All Star Game, and of course his eventual payday next summer. Luka was his MVP self with 35 points, five boards and 11 assists. And Rui Hachimura played a robust complimentary game with 14 points on 4-8 shooting from three. LeBron James chipped in with a useful 13 points, five boards and seven assists, on 13 shots. The bench, however, encountered another barren outing producing only 12 points. Defensively, the team can still do much better. They did hold prized Mavs rookie Cooper Flagg to just 13 points on 11 shots. But the team’s lackluster and chaotic defensive rotations keep hurting their defensive ceiling. As stated before, backside help, and scattered low man responsibilities continue to be an issue, as any breakdown of the first level of the defense usually leads to mass confusion on the interior. Off-ball defense is another area where the team struggled last night, often getting beat on backdoor cuts. Perhaps Marcus Smart sitting out (due to back spasms), and Jarred Vanderbilt’s recurring ‘dog house’ residency has stripped the team’s lineup of capable defensive minded players. In any case, LA must get whatever players are on the floor to commit to playing smart, tough and organized defense. On the positive side, the offense has seen a big resurgence. LA shot 51% (18-35) from three this game, as we are starting to see a positive reversion to the mean, following a slow start. Ball movement and offensive execution, particularly late in games, continues to be an area of strength. The team has shown they can tighten up when they need to. With this in mind, the next logical step is for the team to figure out how to sustain that level of execution, on both sides of the ball, for 48 minutes. They can get away with it against the Dallas Mavericks of the world, yet, against the elite teams in the NBA, it’s a different story.

The Lakers will be back at Crypto Arena this Sunday, for the third game of their current four-game homestand when they take on the New Orleans Pelicans. At this point, we can’t expect perfection from a team that is still figuring things out, and is still getting guys back from injury. But it is important to keep finding ways to win. LA is currently riding a six-game win streak, and it’s imperative that they keep racking up the wins. This way they’re in good shape in the standings if and when they start putting things together, and at worst, they’ll have some headroom if and when they hit a rough patch. GO Lakers.