10 takeaways from Lakers beating the Jazz. Is this the turning point for them?
This could be the game we point to and say that this is when the Lakers finally got it. The Lakers ended the four game winning streak of the Utah Jazz with a 102-84 drubbing and ended their own four game losing streak. Here are ten takeaways from this game.
In reviewing the past games of the Lakers, I’ve often pointed out how Kobe is averaging more shot attempts than Steve Nash, Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol combined. This game was an outlier; seems Kobe read what I had to say. Or as is more likely, the basketball player in him finally overwhelmed the scorer in him. He took ten shots in this one, made seven of them, did not attempt a single three pointer and had 14 assists. Kobe had more assists then the rest of the Lakers team combined. The Lakers had 26 assists as a whole. Kobe also had 9 rebounds and 3 steals with 14 points.
First of all, the all star selection is more of a popularity contest when it comes to the starters’ selection. The fans vote to see who they want to in the starting lineup. They wanted Dwight and that alone makes him deserving. Howard has been limited all season with his bad back. But even a Howard with a bad back is better than half the centers in the league. Today Howard had 17 points, 13 rebounds and 2 blocks. He is averaging 16.7 points and 12 rebounds this season while shooting 57% from the field. Nothing shabby about that.
Although Pau Gasol came off the bench behind Earl Clark, he played 25 minutes to 26 of Clark. Pau shot 7-8 for 15 points, had 7 rebounds and 3 assists. I’ve just thought, what if Mike D’Antoni is making Pau come off the bench to make him feel like an underdog who has something to prove? Pau is one of the all round nice guys and the one criticism of him has been to the theme of renaming him GaSoft. If this is D’Antoni’s master plan, I take my hat off to him.
Steve Nash came out looking for his shot and dominating the ball like he did in Phoenix where he won two MVP awards. He shot 6-11 and had 2 assists for 15 points. You don’t want Nash to play off the ball, that should be Kobe’s role. Today they embraced their rightful roles.
Dwight Howard #12 and Metta World Peace #15 of the Los Angeles Lakers
Metta World Peace was chucking them up like there is no tomorrow. He took 11 three point attempts and made 5 of them. But he just shot 5-16 from the field. He did have the largest +/- of any Laker with 22. He can’t expect to go 5-11 from three point range every day. For this season, he is averaging 13.5 points on 42% shooting from the field and 35% from the three point line. While those percentages are higher than his career average, he needs to temper his attempts to let the Lakers’ offense be more efficient.
Five Lakers finished in double figures. World Peace and Dwight Howard had 17 each. Steve Nash and Pau Gasol had 15 each, and Kobe Bryant had 14 points. This game was a beauty to watch largely because Kobe did not try to score at will and distributed the ball for 14 assists.
The Lakers won the battle of the boards. They had 45 rebounds to 30 of the Jazz. The Jazz have an impressive frontline with Millsap and Jefferson, but the Lakers kept them off the glass with them grabbing 6 and 7 rebounds respectively.
The Lakers have an all star squad. That’s a good thing right? Not if you ask the coach Mike D’Antoni, finder of dark linings in silver clouds- “We’ve got an All-Star team. Have you ever watched an All-Star Game? It’s God-awful because everybody gets the ball, they go one-on-one and then they play no defense. That’s our team.”
The grass is always greener on the other side. Today the Lakers did not play a selfish game though. They had 26 assists to 16 of the Jazz. Kobe Bryant alone had 2 assists shy of the Jazz total with 14 dimes.
The Utah Jazz’s big men duo of Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap have had their names tossed around on the trading block. Unless one or both of them go, Derrick Favors is not going to get his minutes due. Favors shot 5-5 for 14 points and had 5 rebounds, but he only played 24 minutes. Al Jefferson shot 5-14 and Paul Millsap shot 5-11 from the field for 12 and 10 points respectively. This is one team you can count on to make a trade. The Lakers have also incited rumours with their recent play, but their pieces are so good it wouldn’t make sense to trade them. Not to mention that Gasol and Howard both have huge contracts which teams will be reluctant to absorb. If they play like today, there won’t be a reason to trade either.
The Lakers are now 18-25 and still running for the 8th spot in the West at best. They need to sustain efforts like today if they are to make it to the post-season and knock off the Rockets off the last spot, who are at 23-22 right now. Portland and Minnesota are also in the running above the Lakers with 21-21 and 17-23 records. The Lakers have gone 3-7 in their last 10 games. If there was a time to turn it around, its right now.