Lakers Game Preview: The OKC Thunder

Wed, 05 Aug 2020 20:28:27 GMT

Technically, I’m on vacation until Sunday. But I just cannot quit you guys. So, here is a quick preview for today’s matchup between the Lakers and the Thunder. Enjoy…

With the Lakers clinching the #1 seed out west, the “seeding” part of these restart games is over for them. The focus then, should shift from any sort of positioning, to being as strong as they can be for the post season. If i was ranking things I’d like to see in these final 5 games, finding their game legs and figuring out how to make their open 3 pointers would be at the top of the list. Those things can start vs. OKC.
The Thunder are a team that heavily relies on its starting 5 and 3-guard lineups that are anchored by Chris Paul, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Dennis Schroeder. Unfortunately for OKC, Schroeder is not available after departing Orlando to be with his wife who is expecting a child. Without those 3-guard lineups, then, the Thunder will be even more reliant on SGA and CP3 to generate offense and be the drivers of their attack. This puts a big burden on KCP and Danny Green to defend well, particularly at the point of attack, and for LA’s bigs to be ready to help and, if needed, switch to slow these guys down. If OKC’s guards and get it going, the Lakers could be in for a long night.
The flip side of this is that the Lakers bench should be able to make some hay vs. the Thunder’s reserves. Vogel has stuck to his routine of staggering LeBron and AD after their start each half together and lineups that feature only one of them should still be able to build a cushion. If OKC does a good job of playing those units even or, worse, winning those stretches, the Lakers starters will have a bigger burden than anyone would like.
Speaking of the Lakers starters, I’d really like to see JaVale have a breakout game. Steven Adams is a difficult individual matchup, but JaVale can still be effective by running the floor and hitting the offensive glass when Adams is forced to help. JaVale has not shown the same level of activity in the restart games that he had before the shutdown, and with only a handful of games left before the playoffs start, time is running out for him to find his stride.
This should be a game where both Bron and AD can go off if they’re focused to do so. The Thunder are not deep in players who can effectively defend either and even with Andre Roberson back after a couple years of injury issues, he can’t be expected to stop everyone. Adams and CP3 will both bring top efforts against AD and Bron respectively (when the matchups dictate), but neither are ideal solutions and both can be exploited if the Lakers simply work their specific advantages vs. both.
I’d like to see the Lakers run a bit more P&R with Bron/AD this game, especially when AD is playing C.
Can this be the game the Lakers 3-point shooting gets back on track? It’d be nice if it was.
Keep playing hard, Kuz. The game vs. the Jazz wasn’t his best game, but he played well down the stretch and is clearly earning Vogel’s trust as someone who can effectively close games next to Bron and AD. If Kuz can defend the way he has been on the wing, it opens up so many possibilities for these Lakers to deploy their most balanced lineups that can really make them a matchup nightmare.

Where you can watch: 3:30pm start time on ESPN and Spectrum SportsNet

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Lakers Game Preview: The Utah Jazz

Mon, 03 Aug 2020 20:59:50 GMT

In their 3rd game of the NBA restart, the Lakers take on the Jazz today. After a nice win over the Clippers and a not so nice loss to the Raptors, the Lakers are 1-1 and look….okay, I guess? Their defense has been mostly good, their offense has mostly struggled–especially from behind the arc.

The Raptors game was particularly frustrating as the Lakers clanked away on shots generated out of the double teams the Raptors threw at Anthony Davis all game. The Raptors rotated wonderfully out of these doubles and not all the shots the Lakers took were wide (or even especially) open. But they were the types of shots you need to convert if you’re going to make a defense pay for sending so much attention a single player’s way. The Lakers did not make Toronto pay, so they were forced to pick up the bill themselves. Unfortunately, they left their wallet at home.

As for the Jazz today, they represent their own challenges defensively, but not quite the same ones the Raptors and the Clippers did. The Jazz may have the best individual defender of any of the teams the Lakers have faced, but they do not have the type of wing/perimeter defenders who, when flanked by size in the paint, really give the Lakers issues. No, the Jazz have that elite rim protector in Rudy Gobert, but with Bojan Bogdanovic out injured, they’re wanting for wing size that is a necessity for giving the Lakers issues.

That said, in order to unlock their offense and play at their best on that end, the Lakers will need to make some tweaks–if not in the starting lineup, than over the course of the game. The Lakers have been able to best counter the Jazz this year by playing AD at the 5 and then stretching the floor with more perimeter talent. This has forced Gobert away from the rim to defend AD, and allowed LeBron (and crew) more driving lanes that both open up shots at the rim and allow for kickout passes to open shooters when the Jazz rotate to help in the paint.

With that, I’ll be very interested to see:

How well JaVale and Dwight play. Neither have played to the level they were before the league shut down.
Whether Kuzma can continue to play well and, if he does, whether he gets even more minutes.
If Markief Morris earns more than just spot minutes that are mostly matchup dependent or if that’s his fate on this specific Lakers roster.

The interesting thing about focusing on the four players I just did–not only against the Jazz, but vs. the rest of the league–is that the Bron/AD Lakers will always be a frontcourt dominant team and the other F/C types who are on the roster with them will need to find ways to play well even when they’re playing with other PF/C’s in Bron and AD. They players who can do this best, should play more, not just against the Jazz, but when the games start to matter more.

On the defensive side of the ball, this is a game where I think the Lakers are going to miss Avery Bradley and his work at the point of attack. Whether vs. Mike Conley or Donovan Mitchell, Bradley’s strength and dogged ball pressure come in handy and can help slow down the best way the Jazz can attack these Lakers. I wonder if KCP and Danny Green (who both can be a little stiff at the point of attack against shifty ball handlers) can slow down their backcourt counterparts. This may be a game where Caruso anticipation defending in isolation can be more useful, even if I worry that Mitchell’s size and explosiveness may give him problems too.

Where you can watch: 6:00pm start time on ESPN and Spectrum SportsNet.

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