The Lakers got back on the good foot last night against a surging Knicks team and snapped a 4 game OT losing streak in the process. While not the prettiest of victories, it was one a sagging Lakers desperately needed in order to have a shot at pulling off a winning road trip. Plenty of good play all around with some puzzling miscues.

1. LeBron James passed Mark Jackson and Steve Nash on the All Time Assists list. All of these records speak to two astounding facts: LeBron James is really good at basketball and he’s been good for a very long time. Assists are a finnicky stat because they require a buddy to get one. Can’t pass a dime to yourself, that’s travelling. Passing NBA luminaries like Jackson and Nash has become common place with LeBron in the purple and gold. Fortunately, this milestone also came with a win.
2. Schroder’s half court heave. I’ve never seen a player more despondent after making a shot like that than Dennis, who was pissed at himself for a couple bad plays on both ends in the first half. Quickley was more excited about the shot than Dennis was, who didn’t even watch as it went in.
3. Rui Hachimura looking like a solid addition. Considering what we were getting out of Kendrick Nunn on a consistent basis this is a lifeline. Wearing #28 in honor of Kobe and Gigi Rui has already earned a starting look and a place in the closing line up. He hasn’t disappointed with steady all-around play, timely shooting and better than advertised defense encapsulated by the longest goal-tending review in league history (they decided he blocked Brunson’s shot at the apex in OT which really helped seal the win). If he continues to supplement the offense and defense like he has been you can expect Rui’s value to raise prior to the summer but, all in all, this looks like a gold star worthy addition by the front office.
4. Max Christie going to school, taking lessons. Max had a learning game last night and it’s one I hope serves him well. He took and made the open shots (including a ridiculous three off a Westbrook pass with a second or so on the shot clock that he drilled) and played pretty solid defense. He got eaten alive by Brunson’s quickness and stop/start game he deploys so very well. he also struggled to match the physical guys he got switched onto a few times to the tune of 5 fouls in 13 minutes. He didn’t really hang his head, he’s soaking up some valuable lessons and likely will still get minutes until Austin Reaves comes back.
5. Russell’s late dominance. I was just reading how it took over a year for Miami’s Big Three (James, Wade, Bosh) to gel and play within an acceptable hierarchy between each other. It reminded me very much of the growing pains Russ, James and AD have been going through. Last night we needed Russ in OT to create a couple easy looks for Davis (who struggled with multiple coverages all game long). Westbrook had three assists and nifty bank shot in OT after we had the lead with a couple minutes to go in the 4th and let that slip away in a hail of bad shots, missed free throws and poor overall execution on both ends. A game after being benched in the 4th (but summoned for juice in OT) Russ got a chance to show everyone what he can do when he plays with a higher level of focus and channels all that raw energy into the game.

Indy and NOLA will finish off this trip and both are winnable games. Barring an astounding explosive offensive burst LeBron will likely pass Kareem at home against either OKC or Milwaukee. Whether the team around him looks the same is, as yet, TBD, but one thing is certain: it’ll be a pretty big let down if he passes Cap in a loss so here’s hoping the best version of his teammates shows up on that night.

The Lakers gave up another mammoth first half to the opposing team…this time to the tune of 75 first half points to our cross hall rivals The Clippers. There would be no epic comeback in this one, however. Yes, the Lakers got themselves to within ten but never seriously threatened the Clippers in the second half as we failed to put in the proper focus or attitude on the defensive end of the court. This has been a problem for some time.

1. One man against the world. I do feel for LeBron, I felt similarly for Kobe when, as his career wound down a lot of his historical accomplishments came against the backdrop of a loss. Still, he’s had as much of a hand in this situation unfolding like it has as anyone else not named Rob Pelinka. James was, again, masterful checking the “Have I scored 40 against you?” box against the Clippers. That box has now been checked for every team in the Association. Everybody has given up 40 to The King at least once. His three point shot was on, and has been of late, which is an encouraging sign from a health and conditioning standpoint. All in all, James just needed more help. Although too late for last night’s history-making game, it does sound like help is on the horizon.
2. The Clipper bench kicked our asses. Whether it was defensive plays by Batum or uncanny accuracy from all over the floor the Clipper bench had it’s way with any line up we put out there. Not surprising as the Clippers are an extremely deep team as they have been for several seasons now. Ballmer spends but they also sign and draft wisely. They only pay two elite salaries. They don’t let homegrown talent walk for nothing. They make better use of players discarded by franchises like us who think they need to make absurd “win now” moves like trading Zubac for Muscala. It’s safe to say that, at this exact moment in time, the Clippers are the better run franchise but it’s not solely because of over-spending. They also do things wisely.
3. 6th Man of the Year race. FWIW we saw a battle of two of the top 6th men of the year candidates (Milwaukee’s Bobby Portis being up there, as well). Last night Powell out-played his rival for the award and continues to be my personal pick, at this time, to hold that trophy up come season’s end. Russ had a pretty off game and was unable to make the kind of impact we need him to do in order to win.
4. Kids get some burn. It was nice to see Jones, Pippen Jr., Swider and Christie play for a few minutes. Unfortunate that it came in a blowout loss.
5. Help is on the way. With the news that Rui and AD are questionable for tonight’s game and Lonnie and Austin are progressing in their individual rehabs the walking wounded team called the Lakers is about to get some much needed bodies back. Here’s hoping we avoid serious injuries for the rest of the season. We don’t have a chance if we don’t.

Lost in the shuffle, likely because it doesn’t fit into the global media world view that the Lakers have but one choice, was Rob re-iterating that he has no intention of trading the 2 available FRPs for players that don’t vault us into title contention. Cross any Spur, Toronto or Indy trade now. Those teams are looking for a fleece job, Rob won’t have it. To that I say “well done Mr. Pelinka. You’re finally doing your job correctly.” Might we see a smaller move? Sure, I could still see a Cam for Lonnie deal, I guess, but honestly I think we already have the better player in that scenario. Why then make the trade? Simply to shuffle deck chairs? Smart teams don’t make trades to make trades because…hey maybe it’ll be, like, way better and stuff? They make trades they borderline know will make them better. Not many of those out there this season and not at the price we can really afford to pay. Personally, I’m pleased with the Hachimura trade because we traded older for younger and smaller for bigger. That’s what made the trade good to great, IMO. If Rui finds his All Rookie team self in the doing and helps lead us to the playoffs it’ll certifiably be a great trade.

I had wanted for Austin Reaves (who wisely wanted to disassociate his old nickname, AR-15, from his NBA career) to take on the moniker ‘True Grit’ last summer. Turns out that phrase has the potential to define this Laker season. This game was a tale of 2 quarters, the second and the third. The Lakers displayed a lot of poise and focus coming back to win an arena we famously do quite poorly at.

1. The second quarter. This quarter had everything for the Laker Doubter: a meaningless (at the time) PatBev technical foul) a defense that seemed not to care and poor one offensive possession after another. Dame hit a nigh half court three, burned Beverley at every opportunity and we had no answer for Grant. Going into the locker room at halftime we had given up 71 points based mostly on a 45 point second quarter. Most teams fold in that scenario.
2. The (not really) halftime speech. According to the players Ham walked in, said “You guys figure this shit out” and walked out. Then, and this is the sole reason I can see why we keep him on the team this year, into the void stepped one Patrick Beverley and encouraged his teammates to play with Swag. There are few players that want to step into those voids and there are even fewer that can do it true impact. PatBev did both and this was a fantastic example of how he brings more to the team than will ever be tracked by a stat sheet.
3. The 3rd quarter. The one where we scored 40 points and held Portland to 21 all but erasing the deficit. It took execution, heart and will to make that comeback…on the road…in an arena the Lakers (and LeBron) play as poorly at as any other in the Association. With the win LeBron pulled to .500 (10-10) at the Rose Garden (sorry Modal, you just don’t deserve the naming rights). The Lakers are an abysmal 46-72 in Portland. This game was a loss at halftime just waiting to happen. The Lakers would sputter out, Portland would right the ship and pull away a little bit in the standings and so on. All we had to do was lay down and quit. We did not.
4. Off night for the Lakers bench. They’ve generally been a source of strength, and with injuries pressing many of our bench players into the starting line up this isn’t wholly surprising, but the Lakers bench had a rough go last night. Russ was driving but not getting the whistle and not making shots, Wenyan had more turnovers and fouls (6 total) than points (4) and JTA didn’t get much burn. Max Christie did have a highlight worthy block in the second quarter. I’m not sure Nunn has much of a place in Ham’s schemes, he ought to be traded because, in theory, you could get something for him.
5. Thomas Bryant’s return to form. After a stretch of three mediocre games where he didn’t score in double-digits or rebound the ball very well Thomas Bryant continued his return to NBA relevance with a rousing 12-15 (4-5 from three) showing for 31 points. He showed that he can be a monster on the glass, as well, grabbing 4 offensive rebounds en route to 14 boards overall. Topping my list of “gotta keep after this season” is Thomas Bryant. There are few players with his size and speed that can score and rebound as well as he can…when he sets his mind to it. Like many young players he is prone to having lapses in that department.

Well, well, well, Rob Pelinka made an in-season trade!!!! With the breaking news that we have swapped Kendrick Nunn and three second round picks for Rui Hachimura we have solved one aspect of our line up issues by moving a shooting guard for a small forward and adding some much needed size. While it remains to be seen how much he plays with us I think that, on first glance, this trade makes a ton of sense. Nunn was often the odd man out, had only mildly griped about his role here, but just never really found a niche on the Lakers. The Bone Bruise That Would Not Heal certainly affected his tenure here and we wish him well on his next team.

LeBron and Russ did their level best but with so many key players MIA every game is an exercise in seeking perfection in order to attain a win. Perfection proved elusive, again, and the Lakers fell to the Kings although the game was a hard fought and close affair. Nobody will care, though, at the end of the season how hard the Lakers play because the column will simply have one more ‘L’ in it.

1. The Walking Wounded and no quarter given. The Lakers are down 3 key players (AD, Reaves and LW4) with PatBev making regular trips to the injured list and LeBron often not too far behind. Be it sore hamstrings, balky ankles or a stress reaction in the foot all of Los Angeles is waiting for good news on the Lakers struggle to field a complete line up most nights. While an obvious reason it is still just an excuse for the losses piling up of late. We had a nice stretch against the eastern conference (whom we have more wins against than the west) but have failed to gain ground on the most important teams: or conference and division rivals. We’re 9-16 against the western conference and 1-8 against the Pacific Division. We need to change that tune and fast.
2. 284. That’s the number of points LeBron needs to pass Kareem. ESPN estimates that’ll be in 11 games, I think a game or two sooner. It will be a shame if it comes in a loss, which feels likely at this point, but the Lakers need LeBron to average 30+ every night without AD for us to have even a puncher’s chance. If that’s the case the record could be broken sooner than planned.
3. Russ and LeBron can’t do it all. They need another Laker to score 15-20 points and they need to score them pretty efficiently. Last night no Laker other than Westbrook and James scored more than 14 points (Nunn had 14 in 16 minutes…might be he needs to play a little more coach?). Worse no starter scored in double-figures besides LeBron as Thomas Bryant and Dennis Schroder have fallen from their lofty pedestals they attained on the road trip. Not sure what some of the guys need to do to bring that sharper game to the western conference games but it needs to get figured out ASAP.
4. Why is PatBev playing at all? -16 in +/- and he only took 4 shots while tying Mac Christie in minutes behind Russ and LeBron. For $13 million you need to bring more than a rah-rah attitude and the occasional defensive play. While still topping my list of players that need to be traded to salvage the season it’s worth noting that no team will bring him on for his production, which is anemic at best. I doubt he takes a buyout seeing as this is certain to be his last deal above the veteran minimum so the Lakers may need to swallow some pride and deal him along with a (hopefully) protected FRP. If it takes Nunn or LW4 or even Reaves to get a deal done it should be done. I like all those guys, none of them are keys to the season improving if a better overall player can be had.
5. Bring in some size. Play Damien Jones. Sign Boogie muthafawking Cousins who can at least bang and score as well as Bryant can and will be fresh and motivated. We’re getting killed on the glass and it’s losing us games. Somebody, anybody, in the front office wake up and do some work, man…

Anyhow, some more togh games coming up with no news on when we’ll get Reaves or Lonnie back. AD will likely arrive too late at this point and that will just further coerce the Laker front office to continue their dithering and doing of nothing. Sure hope there is a really good plan for the summer folks or this could be a really long couple of seasons to close out LeBron’s career.