5 THINGS

While maybe not surprising in that very few Lakers were healthy enough to play in this contest, the loss to Denver means the Lakers come to the halfway point of the season at 19-22. Not many games separate them from this or that seeding, which is good. The Lakers haven’t been very healthy this season and seemingly can’t depend on much of the roster being available on a game-to-game basis.

1. Too few healthy bodies. We don’t need to overly dump on the team after the loss to Denver. Jokic cruised to an easy triple-double, we competed hard but Denver just has too much firepower for us to keep up with. Solid games from Russ, Nunn and TB. Dennis did not have a great game, supporting cast isn’t enough to contend with the juggernaut that is Denver this season. They are going to be dangerous in the playoffs.
2. Wenyan Gabriel has perfected his role on this team. I am really loving the energy and enthusiasm Wenyan brings from last season to this Wenyan has carved out a nice little niche on the Lakers. Out of the league the Los Angeles AARP, er…Lakers, of last season desperately needed youth and energy on a team built on aged legs. Enter Wenyan Gabriel who didn’t really “wow” anyone but played hard and did what was asked. This season he has shown that he can take and make the open corner three that they leave him open for. His rebounding and hustle can change the dynamics of a game and he pairs great with Russ and LeBron because he’s willing, like Thomas Bryant, to do the dirty work.
3. The defense has completely fallen off without AD. That was, to a degree, to be expected, but the general slide back to 19th in defensive efficiency has coincided with LeBron playing out of his mind to mask the porous D. No LeBron, Lakers give up 122 and only score 109. In general the Lakers have been getting by forcing the pace and scoring in the paint all season long. When AD comes back we’ll see how that impacts that end because it’s unlikely the Lakers can just score their way through multiple 7 game series.
4. Max Christie played great. The rookie had a pretty complete game after being thrust into the starting five due to injuries. Max had that jump shot working and canned 2-3 from three, 6-8 overall. His defense was decent and he filled in ably, as one would hope, going to be hard for him to get floor time when the medical unit empties out so it’s nice to see him showcase himself a bit.
5. What the Lakers need to do to close out the season strong. Get and stay healthy. That’ll take care of a lot of issues if AD, LeBron and Russ can all stay on the floor and produce for most of the rest of the season. Since getting back in the rotation Nunn has shown he has something left in the tank. The Lakers could still package Nunn and the inconsistent and underwhelming PatBev for a player or two of impact. With the news that Sarver has veto power still, for some reason, on any Jae Crowder trade I doubt he comes to us (in-division and conference rivals don’t generally help each other out, either). We need a play like that, though. I don’t think we have the chutzpah to get in on the potential O.G. sweepstakes or players of that caliber, we’ll need to focus on lower hanging fruit which will be players with a more one-dimensional skillset. That could be Eric Gordon or someone like that. Oft-injured, stats trending down as they age, wants to compete for something.

If we make the playoffs, maybe even just the playin, and Russ continues as he has been I don’t see another serious 6th man of the year candidate. If AD comes back, and more importantly stays back, and we make the actual playoffs I can see him and LeBron as potential MVPs and AD as a potential DPOY. The west is that wide open and in that much chaos. Unexpectedly but that is exactly why they play the games. All the meaningless predictions and polls have to be put to the fire of reality. As a result the Lakers aren’t in a hole so deep there is no hope. They just need to get the best players back and playing consistently and they have a legit shot at something I did not think was at all possible when the season kicked off: a playoff berth. Not a playin, a true playoff spot. Here’s hoping the trends we’ve seen since the 2-10 start are what this team is truly capable of.

There was no let-down with the return of LeBron James. Nor was the absence of Lonnie Walker IV or Austin Reaves an issue as the Lakers steam-rolled the Atlanta Hawks at home in a wire to wire win. LeBron, Russ and the supporting cast had everything working as the Lakers win streak grew to 4.

1. The King’s reign is strong. There are some young players gunning for the throne and, to date, Giannis has been the only one to touch the Sun. Since LeBron took the NBA torch from Kobe he has reigned long and well. This might be my favorite LeBron season as a Laker because of his supporting cast and its myriad array of issues. Fact is all NBA teams are imperfect in some form or another and rely on their best players to get them to the next level. LeBron has been doing just that since mid-December.
2. Russell’s great all around game. I’m quite sure there is nothing Russ can do to convince those who want to see him traded that this is working now. Too much water under the bridge to reverse ingrained opinions or notions. I, myself, had doubts this would work or that Westbrook would accept a bench role so easily and also excel in it and that he could continue to play well without the elite finishing skills of AD. We were and are all wrong. Russ has shown that he can have a starter’s impact off the bench with his elite rebounding and passing. He never has been or will be an elite scorer but it doesn’t matter if he’s getting teammates easy buckets..which he is. Including a nifty LeBron/Russ 2-man game. Last season it felt like James and Westbrook just alternated controlling possessions and that wasn’t very successful. This season LeBron is more off-ball than at any other pony as a Laker, which isn’t a lot mind you, but it’s allowing the guards in the team to be involved and that’s what’s working.
3. Kendrick Nunn getting some solid run. He’s still at the top of my “most likely to be traded” list next to PatBev but it was still really nice to see Nunn have a solid game in a non-garbage time role. He can still be a factor in the NBA and likely had a fair amount of rust to shake off and confidence to build back up after a year off from a lingering injury. The Lakers will need Kendrick to contribute if he stays on the team. His shooting could be a key factor this season if he can keep this up and in the playoffs, should such a thing be in the cards for this team, he could be a difference maker.
4. Schröder playing well with LeBron. We saw Dennis excel without LeBron, taking more shots, controlling the ball, and showing that he can play at his Euro League level in the NBA. I wanted to see him do that with James playing and Dennis delivered. There are a bevy of players who are playing as much for their next contract as they are to win now. The two can coexist, although it can also ruin team chemistry if the former outweighs the latter. Kudos to coach Ham in managing the desire to showcase with the needs of the team, especially in the case of Dennis and Russ who both have a lot of potential money on the line next summer.
5. True garbage time. Great seeing LeBron play fewer than 35 minutes in a win. It allowed us to see some of our younger guys get some run in the waning moments of the game once the double digit lead was truly insurmountable. The G Leaguers all got to play as the only active roster not to see floor time was Damien Jones (DNP-sore right toe). The newest Laker, Sterling Brown, also got tossed in the fire right off the bay. When the guys from the G-League and the Two Ways get to play it either means a terrible loss or a blow out win. Loving the still too infrequent blow out wins but I’ll take whatever wins we can get.

Back-to-back tonight, won’t be blown away if LeBron doesn’t play but I hope he does. We need to start proving our mettle against division and conference teams, teams we have a hard time beating this season. These are the teams you want to beat at least once because should the Lakers get to the playoffs that’s who we’ll face in the first 3 rounds, more if we’re a playin team. Tonight against the Kings would be a good place to start.

This was a statement win for the Lakers franchise. When star players are hurt it’s up to the unsung teammates to do their best to meet the challenge. The Lakers have not much but vet minimum players to fall back on when one or more of their marquee stars goes down, a thinness much critiqued by Planet Earth and a major source of Pelinka-inspired ire for fans. Last night, for a game at least, those players showed that faith to be warranted as a motley gang of Lakers overcame a mostly healthy and rolling Miami Heat team.

1. Dennis Schroder’s best game by a country mile. This was the version of Flash Laker’s fans had been hoping to see. The unstoppable paint penetrator, the slow-gather but accurate three point shooter, and the drive and dish playmaker. Euro League Schroder, at last! Dennis’ line of 32 pts, 4 boards, 4 steals and 2 dimes was needed in every aspect to manage the win last night. He got to the line 14 times applying pressure on a variety of Miami defenders all game long and taking on the scoring burden left to the team by LeBron’s absence due to illness. The best part was he had only one turnover which helped minimize the 17 turnovers the team coughed up (most of that on Russ). Dennis needs to bottle this game and play with this level of aggression whomever else is on the floor with him from now on.
2. Russell Westbrook’s sloppy but impactful game. There won’t be many wins following a 7 turnover game from Russ. He’s too critical for getting guys easy shots for that to work but for a night we escaped despite a subpar passing game from Westbrook. He nearly had another triple-double off the bench but didn’t chase it. Despite the 7 TOs he did have 9 dimes and 8 rebounds and scored some seriously clutch baskets down the stretch. It gets harder and harder for me to see the team trading Russ and easier and easier for me to see them justifying keeping him the whole season and possibly beyond, for the right price. Best of all Russ seems to have won the fans in the home crowd over with his effort, if not polish.
3. Kendrick Nunn’s best game in a looooong time (maybe the whole season). It had to happen eventually, right? Nunn couldn’t be awful for forever, the guy has too much talent. In limited action Nunn had his most complete and least-forced game in a purple and gold uniform. With Troy Brown Jr. leaving the game early due to another injury his production was desperately needed for a team that has fewer and fewer scoring options to turn to. His line of 9 points on 4-9 shooting (1-3 from downtown) and 3 rebounds won’t ‘wow’ anyone or reverse the general consensus that his MLE signing is one of the worst ever for the Lakers but it’s a clear step in the right direction for a player we all hoped to see more out of but have yet to see it consistently.
4. More high quality Wenyan Gabriel minutes. A lot of players struggle in limited minutes. Wenyan has a simple role and he’s making the most of it and he’s doing that consistently which is the key for bench players. Like Nunn’s, his box score won’t jump out at you but it was efficient and the guy plays so hard that much of what he does by way of keeping possessions alive, fighting for position that allows our guards to grab boards and not pad his own stats are all critical elements of Laker success this season. He may not be playing his way into a massive deal next season but it’s easy to see Wenyan at least sticking around the league as his corner three is rounding into shape, his effort is always there, and he’s playing focused and within his role.
5. What works about the small guard lineup. I’m personally not a huge fan but coach Ham keeps trotting it out so we have to at least take a look at what about the 3-4 guard lineups he is deploying does indeed work. It makes the team harder to guard on the perimeter and allows for more drives to the rim. Schroder and Russ in particular are elite at finding seams and exploding to the hoop for a layup or pass. Now, depending on the defense, those drives can have very mixed results but if the correct read is made more often than not it does have the potential of at least partially offsetting our woebegone outside shooting. It also has problems on the defensive glass that put the onus and burden on Thomas Bryant and Wenyan Gabriel to box out consistently while also covering their man in roll schemes which isn’t easy even for elite defenders. Still, it could end up being a useful tool if we go down to three guards, LBJ and AD or Bryant in the future. For myself, when everyone is healthy, I would hope that some of the potential line ups featuring more size get as extended a look as the small line ups have.

All in all a high quality win and now the winning streak is a legit three whole games. With the hope that we’ll have James back for the next game and AD back before the trade deadline the Lakers a re still in a decent position to make the playin and at least challenge for the 6th seed, Anyone who had said that was a possibility after the 2-10 start when we were all feeling the doom and gloom would likely be lying. Fans resigned themselves to a lost season or hoping a trade would bail us out but then something happened: the Lakers just started to play harder. Not even all that much better, just harder and with more intent. Yes, it also came with a short burst of the potential MVP versions of LeBron and AD but those 2 have played together in a scant 14 games this season, a lot of those were the early losses, as well. So, with 38 games played and coming up on the halfway mark, we need to look for hope in the players who do play consistently to find a way forward. Just like last night.

I had a feeling this might happen. It was easy to bury the Lakers as dead and gone when LeBron looked mortal just a couple weeks ago. Since he had a string of inefficient, 30+ point games, LeBron decided that he was going to go back to what works: scoring inside. The King did it again last night as he strung together back-to-back 40+ point games which just so happened to coincide with two Laker victories. Coach Ham in his post-game presser made it clear that this is the plan going forward, to ride LeBron until the wheels fall off or help returns.

1. LeBron defying reality. If there’s one reason for the Laker’s front office to pull the trigger on a trade it should be the way LeBron is playing right now. When he’s commanding the paint like he is now there are few things that can deter his scoring. He gets to the line more, as well, which puts even more pressure on the defense and helps his teammates who can get to the rim and create contact like Schroder did last night. The King’s line was both epic and necessary as the Laker bench frittered away a big second half lead without Russ to get them easy baskets. What had almost looked like some potential 4th quarter rest turned into a close affair and LeBron ended up playing a team-high 40 minutes.
2. Thomas Bryant filling in more than ably. He’s been more efficient than he was last night (9-17, no 3 pt. FGA) but it’s work on the glass on both ends that is helping keep the Lakers afloat while AD rests his injured foot. The big man continued to show he has completely recovered from a year of dealing with leg injuries by pulling down a game high 15 rebounds, 5 on the offensive end which proved critical as we needed all of those second chance points to pull this one out. If it were up to me I would experiment quite a bit with AD and Bryant on the floor with LeBron and maybe Russ. His pick and roll game is strong because he can shoot it from the rim out to the three point line. Loving the effort we’re seeing and this guy is playing his way into at least an MLE if not more.
3. Austin Reaves bounce-back game. Reaves had largely struggled on this road trip but found his shot and his game again in Charlotte as he had a very True Grit-style game. 7 assists to one turnover helped reverse an ugly stretch of games for the sophomore and his shot came back in a game that really helped salvage the road trip. While I’d still like to see Reaves start we need games like this from him on a consistent basis wherever he plays in the rotation for us to have a shot most nights, especially with Davis and Lonnie Walker 4 out.
4. Wenyan Gabriel finding his niche. It’s getting harder for me to remember that Wenyan had been all but cast out of the NBA until last season’s AARP team needed youth and energy so desperately Rob scoured the trash heap for anyone who could run fast or jump high. In 11 minutes the young forward posted a team high +15. While that stat can often be a tad misleading I thought that, in this case, it showed how much his backup minutes can swing the tide of a game. We don’t need Wenyan to replicate what LeBron brings when he comes in for the 38 year old legend, we just need him to consistently play hard and with focus. That’s it. He often shares the floor with Russ or Schroder when LBJ sits and the PGs are doing a good job of playing to his skillset and talent and his hustle can help shape a quarter, for good or ill. I like that he’s taking wide-open threes, not forcing his shot or his offense and just playing hard with heart. That alone can be something that helps win some ball games in any sport.
5. The hits just keep on-a-coming. Lonnie Walker IV has been out a couple games, Russell has foot intermittent soreness in his left foot and AD is out indefinitely. No real update on any of them so hoping Russ and Lonnie play in the next one because my guess is we won’t see AD until late January, at best. More likely will be after the trading deadline which will all but be the final obstacle Rob needs to continue his waffling and dithering. In his defense nothing is really happening everywhere as the western conference pile-up has made it possible for everyone who would be interested in a trade holding onto their cards until clarity is achieved and chances for a playin berth fade to almost nothing. With the news that Indy and Myles have opened talks on keeping him the list of potential trade partners just keeps on shrinking. Whether that will doom this team or force them to come together and truly battle for something great remains to be seen.

Home against Miami in what one hopes will be a revenge game and see a winning streak worth mentioning get started. Beat the Heat and we’ll have won three games in a row. If LeBron scores 40 he will be on another list of one as only he and Jordan have scored 40+ in back-to-back games but nobody his age has gone three in a row. It’s likely the kind of effort the Lakers will need to pull out a W. Whether any of this inspired the Laker “Brain Trust” to action isn’t debatable as I don’t think it will. They’ll justify this as treading water successfully and hoping AD’s return is enough to get them over the hump as-is. We’ll have to debate the intelligence of this plan in a few weeks, or at least after the trade deadline, because I don’t see much hope in it now but with The King playing like this anything feels possible.