Game Thread PLAYOFFS: ROUND 1, GAME 2: BLAZERS @ LAKERS - AUGUST 20, 2020 - THURSDAY, 6:00 , ESPN & NBCSNW

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Do you think Dame will drop a fiddy burger in the Playoffs?

  • Total voters
    54
  • Poll closed .
Zach would be a welcome addition. Need more bodies. AD will get call after call. Can't change that. Some are legit calls some meh. Only hope is to play him hard like a lead xray blanket.
 
B-Roy said:
I'd rather Wenyen foul out in the first quarter, and have to play Hoard than to have Mario play a single minute on the court.

I said it last night, but Mario making a few good plays is just fool's gold for Terry to keep him in. When he came in last night he had a few nice assists, had a steal and got a contested rebound and helped extend our lead to 16 points. Terry should have cashed out and pulled him right there because he then helped give it all back in a span of about 4 minutes. Game low -12 in 12 minutes.
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Time and time again game after game Mario has had "A Few Good Plays" amounting to a bunch of good plays in the Bubble. Mario played just fine for the time he was on the court.
 
Darkwebs said:
I don't think it's been reported how it exactly happened.
According to this link, "But at the 5:22 mark of the first quarter when Trail Blazers big man Zach Collins snagged a defensive rebound, he appeared to be limping and favoring his left ankle after the play.
Collins was then subbed out at the 4:32 mark of the first quarter and was seen limping to the bench."
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They said High Ankle Sprain last night.
 
kjironman1 said:
Time and time again game after game Mario has had "A Few Good Plays" amounting to a bunch of good plays in the Bubble. Mario played just fine for the time he was on the court.
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We must not be watching the same game.
 
bobf said:
More Gabriel, no Mario. Play your best or better players as much as you can.
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Yeah, I have a lot of faith in Hassan and Nurk to adjust to the way the refs are calling it but I don't know if Wenyen at his age will have that in him. I hope he surprises me because you're right less Rio and more Wenyen would be really nice to see.
 
UKRAINEFAN said:
CBS sports guy has some ideas for Lakers, also talks about how Blazers got away with playing two centers:
1. It's time to fix the rotation
The Lakers were outscored by nine points in JaVale McGee's 13 minutes on the floor. They lost the game by seven points. That isn't a coincidence. The Lakers were outscored during McGee's minutes in all seven of his appearances in the bubble. In Orlando, they have now been outscored by 66 points in his 121 minutes on the floor. They've outscored opponents by 26 points in the minutes they've played without him.

This isn't rocket science. The Lakers are starting every game down several points because they're starting the wrong lineup. They're exacerbating the problem by sending that same lineup out there at the start of the third quarter. The version of the starting lineup that included Avery Bradley outscored opponents by 12.6 points per 100 possessions during the regular season. The version with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was outscored by 1.2 points per 100 possessions. The McGee-Caldwell-Pope-James-Davis-Danny Green fivesome doesn't work.

At a minimum, McGee needs to be excised from the rotation entirely. Whether that means playing Markieff Morris at center more or hoping Dwight Howard can avoid foul trouble is another matter, but there just isn't any evidence to suggest that JaVale can contribute to winning in the postseason. There's a reason he was a benchwarmer for the Warriors. The Caldwell-Pope situation is more complicated. They need to play him, and his numbers, on balance, have been better as a starter. But tinkering with the combinations is critical. Alex Caruso deserves a look as the fifth starter. Kyle Kuzma's place in the first five should be obvious.

This isn't March anymore. These games count. Frank Vogel can't afford to fritter them away by playing the wrong players. The Lakers are better than the Blazers. That much should be obvious. They just have to use the right lineups to prove it.

2. LeBron was great... but in the wrong ways
It's hard to argue with 23 points, 17 rebounds and 15 assists. Those numbers don't even tell the entire story. LeBron was great on defense as well. Nearly every decision he made, in a vacuum, was the right one.

But the Lakers scored 93 points against a defense that has allowed an average of 123 points over its past six outings. Yes, shooting was the primary reason for that, and the Lakers will probably hit more than five of their 32 long balls in Game 2. But role players have bad shooting nights. It happens. When it does, superstars are supposed to pick up the scoring burden themselves.

For all of the great things LeBron did in Game 1, he didn't do what we've seen him do in the playoffs time and time again: score. Despite drawing incredible matchups in Carmelo Anthony and Gary Trent Jr., James was determined to play total team basketball. What the Lakers need is something closer to the LeBron of 2018.

In Game 1 of that postseason run against the Indiana Pacers, James scored 24 points en route to a triple-double... but the Cavaliers lost. He came out and scored 46 in Game 2, a win, and wound up averaging 34.6 points per game through the rest of the Eastern Conference playoffs. If no other Laker is going to create shots, LeBron is going to have to do something like that for the Lakers to win the title. It's cliche, but he has to be more like Michael Jordan and less like Magic Johnson. His roster demands it.

3. The Blazers got away with playing two centers
It might have happened by accident. Wenyen Gabriel started at power forward for the Blazers but got into early foul trouble. So the Blazers did something that few 2020 teams would ever consider: they played their two centers together. It was a look they experimented with a bit prior to the playoffs, but without much success. That was for good reason. Neither Hassan Whiteside nor Jusuf Nurkic are particularly strong shooters, nor can they defend the perimeter all that well.

But they survived those minutes in Game 1 by crashing the boards and protecting the rim. The Lakers missed the open shots the Blazers created with their two-big lineups, and while it may not be sustainable, Portland might not have much of a choice but to go back to those groups until Zach Collins is healthy enough to return. This is a thin team. Their lineup options are limited. The entire enterprise falls apart if the Lakers start making shots, but until they do? The Blazers might have found a way to shift some minutes away from the worst players on their bench and towards better ones.
https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/...to-upset-win-over-los-angeles-in-game-1/live/

LAL -6.5, O/U 234
Gametracker
Season Leaders
POINTS


D. Lillard34.0 PTS, 5.0 AST, 5.0 REB


A. Davis28.0 PTS, 1.0 AST, 11.0 REB
ASSISTS


D. Lillard34.0 PTS, 5.0 AST, 5.0 REB


L. James23.0 PTS, 16.0 AST, 17.0 REB
REBOUNDS


J. Nurkic16.0 PTS, 3.0 AST, 15.0 REB


L. James23.0 PTS, 16.0 AST, 17.0 REB
Live updates

(193)
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This guy is missing a lot and wrong about a lot. He's right about LeBron he probably can put his effort into different areas to be more effective. I don't think McGee was that big of a problem for the Lakers. He was identifying what the Lakers did right but those offensive boards and our turnovers that even kept them in the game should have been discussed. He didn't address the fact that it was because we shut down inside scoring, which is where the Lakers make their points, that they couldn't hit outside shots which are always set up buy inside dominance in the Lakers offense... so maybe playing two lane clogging rim protectors against them, isn't the worst thing.
 
if you have a long BB memory, you'll recall talk about some great distance shooters who were poor, comparatively, at the FT line. The chatter was they should back up 2-3 feet to closer simulate their normal shot

that might be the case now for Dame and three's. He seems better from 30' than from 24'
 
wizenheimer said:
if you have a long BB memory, you'll recall talk about some great distance shooters who were poor, comparatively, at the FT line. The chatter was they should back up 2-3 feet to closer simulate their normal shot

that might be the case now for Dame and three's. He seems better from 30' than from 24'
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He just finds more space out there than he does closer to the line, it's the whole reason he developed that part of his game. He's still effective from close to the line, it's just a matter of more of those shots being contested. He also doesn't always get the foul calls he is expecting when so close to the line and that also has an effect on his percentages.
 
Expect Davis to start at Center. Lakers will probably go with Lebron/KCP/Green/Kuzma/Davis to improve the Spacing.
We need to weather the storm especially in the beginning, i expect the Lakers to come out hot and hit some 3s, we can't expect them to go again for 5/32
 
If the Lakers two best shooters (Green and KCP) continue to struggle and Vogel insists on playing big minutes with Dwight or McGee with AD, this series sets up well for us.

We saw what that allowed us to do scheme wise defensively.
  • Top lock Green and KCP and drop the big vs their double away stuff
  • On side ball screens, we were able to ice (send ball handler baseline) and drop the big while also involving a third defender--typically the nail defender--to help on the roll. Wenyen was great here, fulling committing to stopping the roll and had the mobility to recover to AD which also helps whoever the primary big defender in pnr is to focus on defending the ballhandler rather play both that and the potential lob.
  • And if AD was the screener in these situations, that often meant a weakside big in the dunker spot. That makes those rolls naturally less effective and we were also totally ok with bringing help off the weakside corner to free up Nurk or Whiteside to step up and make an impact at the rim. AD has potential to eat as a pnp shooter in these situations (and most other situations) but he's not shot the ball great all year so you'll live with that.
  • On middle ball screens, we were not afraid to show a body to LeBron off the strongside wing to force a kick out. We even saw it when we when Gary would go under on LBJ.
  • Lakers also like to have KCP and Green screen for LeBron and AD to force switches. Although we got caught in them a few times, we often had CJ and Dame show hard and stay with those guys longer and more often than you'd typically see if those guys were shooting well. And even in those switches where it flowed into a post up, we were able to pack the paint and show bodies and hands to those guys to force kick outs to struggling shooters.
  • We also saw what a lack of second creator meant for the Lakers. When LeBron is off the floor or they choose to let KCP or Caruso handle the ball in ball screens, we were able to get aggressive with our bigs at times because one, those guys aren't dynamic playmakers and two, with two bigs on the floor + poor shooting, that spacing makes it easier to send help and recover.
  • Did a great job most of the night walling up in transition too and that again becomes easier to commit to when you don't fear the kick for the 3.
Fully expect LeBron and AD to be more aggressive as scorers in game 2, especially if their horrid shooting continues, but their personnel allows us to play big, play to our strengths and better scheme towards limiting their strengths offensively in the half court (which are few tbh) and in transition.

I expect to see more AD at the 5 where we saw some issues defending the LBJ/AD pnr. They went to it more often with him at 5 (AD is often left being a spacer above the break with a center in there) and we also saw Portland less willing to involve a third defender in the action. Instead we saw Nurk play further up in his drop and AD got behind him a few times and finished. Lakers did a good job exchanging here which caused some confusion for our weakside help, so communication will need to be better in those situations. I also expect to see Portland to try and switch some of those. This is where a healthy Zach would come in handy minus being another body to throw at AD.

Offensively I thought we had a lot of good moments. Few too many sloppy turnovers and didn't shoot it well really all night minus when it mattered AGAIN (this team has been so clutch in the bubble) but do think we have a lot of opportunities to improve, especially during the brief time Dame is off the floor. Would like to see more action involved where GTJ as a screener. I think a spain pnr involving CJ and Whiteside would be pretty productive. I think those guys have shown some chemistry as a lob/ pnr tandem and it would also free up Gary for some 3's or CJ to get downhill to the rim or to pull up for 2 if there's some miscommunication by the guards on the switch (which most teams opt to do to defend this action).



Most of the stagnancy we see with our no Dame units is because we struggle to create that initial advantage. I think this action helps you do that and also plays into or guys' strengths.

You could also do some fun stuff with Gary and CJ screening for Melo out of the corner. That creates a tough decision for LA defensively and gives Melo better matchups to post up against than we saw tonight if they opt to switch (think he can have is way vs Caruso/KCP/Green). Struggles came vs Morris and Kuzma.

If Zach can get right and we can excise Mario from the rotation, I do like our chances to spoil things for the Lakers. *EDIT Just saw the Zach news. Bummer.

I think it'll be long series either way though.
 
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GhostOfPGA said:
Laker fans are literally the lowest IQ group in sports, I’ve had a 30 minute argument today with some dude who said 35 year old Kobe would’ve beat the Blazers if you replaced LeBron with him
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Deep down, true Lakers fans HATE LeBron and Dwight Howard. It's hard for them to stay invested. They wish they still had Russell and Ingram, two All Stars that they tanked for. Now all they have is an old LeBron. Anthony Davis will go play for the Warriors or something stupid like that. Dame breaks up another team.
 
JDC said:
If the Lakers two best shooters (Green and KCP) continue to struggle and Vogel insists on playing big minutes with Dwight or McGee with AD, this series sets up well for us.

We saw what that allowed us to do scheme wise defensively.
  • Top lock Green and KCP and drop the big vs their double away stuff
  • On side ball screens, we were able to ice (send ball handler baseline) and drop the big while also involving a third defender--typically the nail defender--to help on the roll. Wenyen was great here, fulling committing to stopping the roll and had the mobility to recover to AD which also helps whoever the primary big defender in pnr is to focus on defending the ballhandler rather play both that and the potential lob.
  • And if AD was the screener in these situations, that often meant a weakside big in the dunker spot. That makes those rolls naturally less effective and we were also totally ok with bringing help off the weakside corner to free up Nurk or Whiteside to step up and make an impact at the rim. AD has potential to eat as a pnp shooter in these situations (and most other situations) but he's not shot the ball great all year so you'll live with that.
  • On middle ball screens, we were not afraid to show a body to LeBron off the strongside wing to force a kick out. We even saw it when we when Gary would go under on LBJ.
  • Lakers also like to have KCP and Green screen for LeBron and AD to force switches. Although we got caught in them a few times, we often had CJ and Dame show hard and stay with those guys longer and more often than you'd typically see if those guys were shooting well. And even in those switches where it flowed into a post up, we were able to pack the paint and show bodies and hands to those guys to force kick outs to struggling shooters.
  • We also saw what a lack of second creator meant for the Lakers. When LeBron is off the floor or they choose to let KCP or Caruso handle the ball in ball screens, we were able to get aggressive with our bigs at times because one, those guys aren't dynamic playmakers and two, with two bigs on the floor + poor shooting, that spacing makes it easier to send help and recover.
  • Did a great job most of the night walling up in transition too and that again becomes easier to commit to when you don't fear the kick for the 3.
Fully expect LeBron and AD to be more aggressive as scorers in game 2, especially if their horrid shooting continues, but their personnel allows us to play big, play to our strengths and better scheme towards limiting their strengths offensively in the half court (which are few tbh) and in transition.

I expect to see more AD at the 5 where we saw some issues defending the LBJ/AD pnr. They went to it more often with him at 5 (AD is often left being a spacer above the break with a center in there) and we also saw Portland less willing to involve a third defender in the action. Instead we saw Nurk play further up in his drop and AD got behind him a few times and finished. Lakers did a good job exchanging here which caused some confusion for our weakside help, so communication will need to be better in those situations. I also expect to see Portland to try and switch some of those. This is where a healthy Zach would come in handy minus being another body to throw at AD.

Offensively I thought we had a lot of good moments. Few too many sloppy turnovers and didn't shoot it well really all night minus when it mattered AGAIN (this team has been so clutch in the bubble) but do think we have a lot of opportunities to improve, especially during the brief time Dame is off the floor. Would like to see more action involved where GTJ as a screener. I think a spain pnr involving CJ and Whiteside would be pretty productive. I think those guys have shown some chemistry as a lob/ pnr tandem and it would also free up Gary for some 3's or CJ to get downhill to the rim or to pull up for 2 if there's some miscommunication by the guards on the switch (which most teams opt to do to defend this action).



Most of the stagnancy we see with our no Dame units is because we struggle to create that initial advantage. I think this action helps you do that and also plays into or guys' strengths.

You could also do some fun stuff with Gary and CJ screening for Melo out of the corner. That creates a tough decision for LA defensively and gives Melo better matchups to post up against than we saw tonight if they opt to switch (think he can have is way vs Caruso/KCP/Green). Struggles came vs Morris and Kuzma.

If Zach can get right and we can excise Mario from the rotation, I do like our chances to spoil things for the Lakers. *EDIT Just saw the Zach news. Bummer.

I think it'll be long series either way though.
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I think Zach is out for this series definitely. I feel sorry for the kid due to how hard he work to from his shoulder.
 
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