Lakerholics

The stars aligned for the Lakers last night as an angry LeBron lamented the shooting of Jacob Blake, a proud Anthony Davis came out en fuego, and the team donned Black Mamba jerseys to honor Kobe and Gigi with a big win.

It was a night of unimaginable joy and pain as the Lakers demolished the Blazers 135–115 on 8/24 with Kobe and Gigi Bryant smiling down from above while America mourned another blatant incident of racial injustice. As LeBron sadly lamented after the game: “Having two boys of my own and me being an African American in America and to see what continues to happen with the police brutality towards my kind … it’s very troubling.”

The mixed emotions were on raw display as the Lakers took a 24–8 lead over the Blazers midway through the first quarter. “When I looked up there and seen 24–8, I was like, ‘OK, this is a [sign]. He’s here in the building.’” Yet, after the game, LeBron’s made abundantly clear his mind was on more than just basketball and winning the game: “I got half my brain locked in on the playoffs and the other half on how the hell I can help black people.””

Watching LeBron channel that joy and anger into a 30-point, 10-assist marvelous masterpiece of a game where he shot 10 of 12 from the field and 4 of 5 from beyond the arc while playing just 28 minutes was truly special. The mental focus and discipline, the physical effort and talent, and the laser precision and execution at 35-years old is something we’ve never seen in the NBA before. LeBron is rewriting the rules of what the GOAT means.

Then there’s LeBron’s co-superstar Anthony Davis, who played just 18 minutes last night before leaving with back spasms with the Lakers leading the Blazers by 91–53. Seriously, 18 minutes with a plus/minus of +37? Together, LeBron and AD are the best superstar duo in the league and Davis the King’s best co-star ever: “AD is one of those unicorns and he does things that some of my other great teammates are not capable of doing.”

Their synergy and symbiosis as superstar teammates is unmatched. Davis challenged James to join him on the NBA All-Defensive team while no NBA duo has ever created more assists than the James to Davis connection has. Here’s AD after the Lakers’ Game 1 loss: “I didn’t feel like I performed to the level that I needed to. He let me have my moment and kind of get on myself. And then he talked to me and said I was fine. He said it was one game.”

Indeed, Anthony bounced back with a vengeance the next three games, posting 26.0 points, 9.0 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 2.0 blocks, 1.3 steals in 29.2 minutes per game and shooting 61.7% from the field and 42.9% from deep. His contributions at both ends of the court for the last three games have been exceptional and legitimately MVP caliber: team-best 131.7 offensive rating, team-best 86.6 defensive rating, and team-best 45.2 net rating.

What LeBron James and Anthony Davis were able to do with last night’s dominating performance on 8/24, the day that will forever be Kobe Bryant day, was to showcase how they’ve totally embraced ‘Mamba Mentality.’ There was no taking the pedal off the metal and giving the Blazers an opportunity to get back in the game and the series. Instead, we saw the stone cold killer instinct that always made Kobe Bryant such a feared foe.

But it’s not just the Lakers’ superstars who are clicking on all cylinders and playing with Mamba Mentality. It’s suddenly the entire Lakers’ team that’s not only playing lock-down defense but also shooting lights out from deep. The Lakers shut down the Blazers’ high-powered defense the last three games and now have the #1 defensive rating in the playoffs. They’ve also come alive from deep and are shooting a league 7th best 38.3%.

While the Rockets and Clippers, their next expected foes, are struggling, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and the Lakers seem to have harnessed the power of Mamba Mentality to pursue their 17th NBA championship.

Finding a spot in the Lakers’ starting lineup for Kyle Kuzma has always been a tough challenge since he plays the same small forward and power forward positions the team’s two superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis play.

The problem is Kyle Kuzma would be a starter on almost every other team in the NBA other than the Lakers and deserves to be paid accordingly, which is why the discussions about his future have all focused on trades. The hard reality in today’s salary capped NBA is there is no way the Lakers are going to pay a starter level salary for a player to come off the bench to backup max-contract superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

What makes the situation even more frustrating is Kuzma has revamped his game to become a true starter-level player. He’s fixed his broken shot and dramatically improved his defense, playmaking, and decision making. Critics used to write off Kuz as another one-dimensional scorer on a losing team and question whether he could hold up as starter on a championship team. It’s a small sample size so far but Kuz has been changing minds.

The challenge for the Lakers right now is to figure out how to fit Kyle Kuzma into the starting lineup now that he’s shown he has the maturity and skill sets to play with and complement both LeBron James and Anthony Davis. LeBron has said the Lakers will need Kuzma to be their third star in the playoffs to win the championship and Vogel has promised he will play ‘big’ minutes in the playoffs but so far he’s only averaged 24.7 minutes per game.

The truth is it’s impossible for Kyle Kuzma to get starter level minutes off the bench on the Lakers because he’s not a one-dimensional player like Lou Williams or Jamal Crawford whose primary focus is just making buckets. Frank Vogel needs to make some hard decisions as the playoffs progress because Kuzma needs to start or at the least get more rather than fewer minutes in the playoffs if the Lakers are going to win the championship.

The logical solution is for the Lakers to move Anthony Davis to the five to replace JaVale McGee and start Kyle Kuzma at the four, which Vogel has been reluctant to do because of Davis’ stated preference to play the four. Kuzma’s recent excellent defense against elite scoring guards like James Harden, Jamal Murray, and Damian Lillard, however, may have created another opportunity to work his way into the Lakers’ starting lineup.

In today’s positionless NBA , the position a player can defend has become the position he can play and Kuzma’s improving ability to defend twos could possibly open a door for him to become the Lakers’ future shooting guard. Playing the two, the 6′ 8″ Kuzma could easily evolve into the third star the Lakers need to play alongside James and Davis. He’d be a tantalizing vision for the Lakers to embrace and matchup nightmare for opponents to fear.

Danny Green’s decline and subpar play has not only opened a door for Kyle Kuzma to start or take over major minutes at shooting guard in the playoffs but also raised speculation Kuz could become the Lakers’ future at the two. The looming presence of the small ball crazy Houston Rockets as the Lakers’ likely next playoff opponent should be the perfect opportunity for coach Frank Vogel to start Kuzma or at least let him play true starter minutes

There’s little question now Kuzma can produce if given the opportunity and starter minutes. He was the Lakers’ best 3-point shooter and had the team’s third best net rating in the bubble and second best net rating in the playoffs. Kuz started 68 games last season and averaged 18.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 2.6 assists in 33.2 minutes. This season, he started 9 games this season and averaged 20.9 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 2.3 assists in 32.4 minutes.

It’s time for Lakers’ head coach Frank Vogel to end his stubborn reluctance to making changes in his starting lineup and embrace the opportunities coming up to give Kyle Kuzma a chance to show what he can do as a starter.

Anthony Davis only played center for 17 minutes in the Los Angeles Lakers’ Game 3 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers last night but for the second game in row the Lakers dominated play and won when AD played the five.

The Lakers outscored the Blazers by 16 points in the 17 minutes Anthony Davis played the five, which is the reason they were able to win the game 116–108 and come back to take a 2–1 lead in the first round of the series. Four of five of the Lakers’ lineups that played over 1 minute and posted the highest net ratings last night featured Anthony Davis playing center, more confirmation AD at the five is unquestionably the Lakers’ best lineup.

Here’s are the Lakers’ 5-player lineups with AD at center from NBA.Com:

Here’s a quarter-by-quarter breakdown of AD’s four stints at center:

Davis first moved to the five with 5:11 remaining in the first quarter and the Blazers leading 20–14 and helped the Lakers cut the Blazers lead to 25–29. AD struggled the entire quarter, only scoring on 3 of 7 free throw attempts. Anthony’s uncharacteristic poor free throw shooting must have been contagious as the Lakers missed a golden opportunity to get off to a good start by only making 8 out of 15 free throw attempts in the first quarter.

Anthony started playing the five with 3:36 left in the second quarter and helped the Lakers reduce a 6-point 43-49 deficit when he entered the game to a 53-54 deficit before sitting down with only 13 seconds left in the half. Unfortunately, the Blazers’ McCollum hit a 3-point jumper at the buzzer to give Portland a 57-53 lead at halftime. Davis ended up with a disappointing first half scoring just 6 points although posting 5 boards and 3 assists.

Anthony Davis’ dominating stretch at the five came in the Lakers 40-point third quarter when Vogel took out JaVale McGee and moved AD to center with 4:35 remaining in the third and the Lakers leading the Blazers 77–76. Over the final 4 minutes and 35 seconds, Davis scored 7 points, grabbed 2 rebounds, and anchored a stifling defense as the Lakers outscored the Blazers by 8 points to take a 93–86 lead at the end of the third quarter.

AD’s final stint at the five came with 3:25 left in the fourth quarter when Frank Vogel pulled Dwight Howard and moved Anthony Davis to the five with the Lakers still holding onto a 7-point 105–98 lead over the Blazers. Davis finished a strong fourth quarter with 12 points, 3 boards, 1 assist, and 1 block as the Lakers repelled the Blazers’ desperate efforts to close the lead and clinched their second straight win to take a 2-1 lead in the series.

As the Lakers rediscover their mojo, it’s becoming obvious they should be playing Anthony Davis more at the five as it’s their best lineup. They may not want to start AD at the five but he clearly needs more minutes there. The Lakers have played Davis at center for only 48 minutes total in the 3 games against the Blazers or just 16 of the 36 minutes per game he’s played. The Lakers need to increase that number each round of the playoffs.

In fact, the Lakers would be smart to begin ramping up AD’s minutes at the five for the remainder of this series because they’ll need a heavy dose of it when they meet the small ball crazy Houston Rockets in the second round. The Lakers are going to need Anthony Davis to play center for 25 to 30 minutes per game to matchup against the Rockets so it makes sense for him to begin upping his minutes at the five for the rest of the Portland series.

The further the Lakers progress in the playoffs, the tougher the challenge becomes and the more they’re going to need AD to play the five if they want to have a legitimate chance at winning their 17th NBA championship.

With Anthony Davis playing like a one-man wrecking crew, the starting lineup kicking butt, and the defense clamping down like a vise, the Lakers rediscovered their mojo and revived their bubble championship hopes.

The 111–88 rout of the Blazers was the first time in the bubble the Lakers played at the level they had been playing back in March before the Covid-19 suspension when they swept the Bucks and Clippers in back-to-back games. The bubble has been an inspired revelation for some teams and nightmare scenario for others. For a while, it looked as if the Lakers had fallen into the latter category as they struggled to play close to a championship level.

Their starting lineup was hemorrhaging large leads, their superstars were looking mortal, and their 3-point shooting had all but disappeared. After losing Game 1 to the Blazers, the Lakers looked to be in deep trouble. Fortunately, losing that first playoff game to the Blazers was the best thing that could have happened to the Lakers as it set the alarm bells ringing, rudely woke them up, and empowered them to rediscover their lost mojo.

This win followed the same blueprint the Lakers deployed to exert their superiority back in March, including a dominant Anthony Davis, an inspired team defense, and a big-game urgency and shared next-man-up mentality. Unlike in Game 1, Davis dominated Nurkic and Whiteside with help from McGee and Howard, the Lakers’ defense shut down Lillard and McCollum, and their midrange, 3-point, and free throw shots finally started to fall.

The Lakers clearly played their best game in the bubble, posting a 30-point lead over the Blazers and 88–58 score at the end of the third quarter, which allowed them to rest their starters and key reserves in the fourth quarter. Besides a dominating defense that held Lillard to 18 points on 1 of 7 from deep and McCollum to 13 points on 1 of 5 from deep, the Lakers were led by an unstoppable Anthony Davis who scored 31 points in 29 minutes.

And orchestrating all of it was 35-year old LeBron James, who focused his energy on being an elite playmaker and team defender rather than scorer and picked his moments to inspire with his elite passing and leadership. What has to be scary and disheartening for the Blazers is the Lakers didn’t need LeBron to play like a superstar to dominate this game, not that his 10 points, 6 boards, and 7 assists and solid defense and command didn’t help.

The reality is the Lakers showed why they’re a legitimate championship contender while the Blazers are simply a good team with two great guards that’s just a notch above a normal 8th seed destined to lose in five games. It’s doubtful we’ll see another game in this series where Portland outscores LA by 24 from three and Lillard and McCollum outscore the Lakers guards by 44, which is what the Blazers needed to eke out a 7-point Game 1 win.

Now that the Lakers have rediscovered their mojo and figured out how to win in the bubble, they need to keep their pedal to the metal and come out ready to take care of business and dominate as they run the gauntlet. The path to the bubble championship will be the most difficult in league history and will likely force the Lakers to go through the Portland Trail Blazers, Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Clippers, and Milwaukee Bucks.

But what the Lakers showed last night in the rout of the Blazers is they are close to unstoppable when James and Davis play their best, their defense clamps down, and their shooters shoot a reasonable percentage. And that is the blueprint for the Lakers winning their 17th NBA championship

Despite being the most polarizing player on the Lakers, the return of Rajon Rondo from injury could be the missing catalyst that triggers head coach Frank Vogel to make substantive changes to the Lakers’ starting lineup.

Rondo could not only give the Lakers desperately needed playmaking when LeBron was on the bench but also when playing alongside him to relieve his playmaking load and allow him to focus more on attacking to put up points. In addition to their shooting woes, the Lakers have seen LeBron’s individual scoring decrease significantly as his playmaking responsibilities increased, which Rondo could help alleviate both playing with and without James.

While Rondo’s lack of 3-point shooting gravity is not a great fit as a starter, his elite performances in 3 games this year and 4 playoff games two years ago against the Trail Blazers make a strong case to consider starting him. There’s no question he has the respect, confidence, and trust of head coach Frank Vogel and superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis and has shown in the past he’s capable of elevating his performance in the playoffs.

Rondo averaged 7.7 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 4.3 assists in 15.6 minutes in the Lakers’ 3 games against Portland while shooting 69.2% from the field, 60.0% from deep, and 100% from the line with 4.7 +/- and 15.3 net rating. In the playoffs against Portland, he averaged 11.3 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 13.3 assists in 35.4 minutes while shooting 48.7% from the field, 42.9% from deep, and 80.0% from the line with 10.5 +/- and 13.7 net rating.

While Vogel’s likely to stick with his current starting lineup for tonight’s game, there’s a good chance he’ll give Rondo some minutes off the bench to see how he performs and if his playmaking could help when LeBron is out. Vogel may also give Rondo minutes alongside James to see if freeing LeBron from playmaking could give the Lakers a scoring boost by unleashing his offense. If that works, then Vogel might even consider starting Rajon.

Deciding to start Rajon Rondo presents Frank Vogel with several challenges, including how to compensate for his lack of gravity as a 3-point shooter and whether his starting necessitates additional changes to the starting lineup. When I look at the problems with the current starting lineup and who on the roster is playing well, I can’t help but wonder how exciting a new Lakers’ starting lineup of Rondo, Waiters, James, Kuzma, and Davis could be.

The Lakers could spread the floor and play five out. They would have five players on the floor who could not only shoot the three but also put the ball on the floor and attack the basket for easy layups or drive-and-dish threes. While the Lakers could be trading defense for offense, that may be exactly what they need from their starters right now and Rondo, Waiters, and Kuzma should play better overall than Caldwell-Pope, Green, and McGee.

In the end, Rajon Rondo’s return from injury could not come at a better time for the Lakers as it may open the door for Frank Vogel to finally make some substantive long needed changes to the Lakers starting lineup.