David Lee, PF38 MIN | 9-15 FG | 5-5 FT | 12 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 4 TO | 23 PTS | -2
Lee had another 20-10 game and made life difficult for the Lakers. He finished at the rim and scored on a few post ups. The Lakers often rotated off him and he made them pay for doing as such.
Harrison Barnes, SF29 MIN | 3-8 FG | 3-3 FT | 5 REB | 0 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 10 PTS | +4
Barnes showed some early confidence and attacked Kobe Bryant off the bounce to no avail. But when Jamison picked him up defensively, his eyes lit up and he beat him for scores.
Andrew Bogut, C30 MIN | 2-3 FG | 0-2 FT | 9 REB | 4 AST | 0 STL | 2 BLK | 1 TO | 4 PTS | -7
Andrew Bogut’s defense was one of the biggest stories of the game. He anchored the paint, made life hell for Howard and shut down Pau Gasol when matched up with him. Also, he protected the boards and created second chance opportunities for the Dubs.
Stephen Curry, PG43 MIN | 9-24 FG | 4-7 FT | 7 REB | 10 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 25 PTS | +3
Curry committed some bad fouls and rushed a few shots but otherwise he was pretty much flawless. He answered every Laker run with a flurry of long and mid-range jumpers. Also, he was a terrific maestro all night that took advantage of the opposing defense.
Klay Thompson, SG41 MIN | 8-18 FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 3 AST | 2 STL | 1 BLK | 1 TO | 22 PTS | +6
Klay was simply unstoppable on this night. He ran Kobe Bryant through multiple screens and even managed to lose him on a few occasions and drill shots from downtown. Bryant had a great scoring game, but Thompson made him work for just about every point.
Two Things We Saw
Mark Jackson devised an interesting defensive game plan that he unveiled late in the third quarter. With Pau Gasol stationed at the high post (as the only big man on the floor for the Lakers), every time Kobe Bryant crossed half-court with the ball, he was double-teamed. Andrew Bogut simply remain parked in the lane knowing that a rusty Gasol would be unwilling to assert himself. The strategy took the Lakers out of their offense a bit.
The Lakers downsized in the second half and played four guards alongside Dwight Howard. The Warriors kept their big people in but struggled scoring the ball because they stopped running offense. They attempted to attack mismatches instead of simply running their normal sets and pounding the Lakers on the glass.
Preview: The Los Angeles Lakers (36-34) own the Golden State Warriors (40-31) and that’s been the case for some time now.
In the last 22 games, the Lakers have been victorious 19 times over the last six seasons.
There are two reasons for the Lakers’ supremacy over the Dubs: the size of the Lake Show and one Kobe Bean Bryant.
Both have been increasingly dominant against Golden State in the past few years. Indeed, Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol have softened up the Warriors by shredding them on the interior in previous seasons.
Bryant has ended the job by cutting out the hearts of the Dubs’ faithful with his explosive and timely clutch scoring. Every time the Warriors have been close, the Black Mamba has not only closed the door shut, he’s done it by literally giving Golden State the security code to the vault.
Much like the rest of the league, Warriors players always know what to expect from the former league MVP, and yet he always delivers.
This season, Bynum has been replaced by Dwight Howard, but the results have been the same.
Golden State may be the better team this year by virtue of their overall record when compared with the Lakers, but Bryant and company are still the team to beat in this head-to-head matchup.
The Lakers are coming off back-to-back losses against sub-.500 teams.
The Phoenix Suns (23-48) and Washington Wizards (25-44) were victorious in the last two games against Los Angeles.
Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol made their long awaited returns from injury against the Wizards but still fell before John Wall and his teammates.
The Warriors will more than likely emulate the game plan used by Washington tonight with the hope of coming out victorious by night’s end.
The onus will fall on Mark Jackson’s unit to play tough solid interior defense tonight against the Lakers. Providing obstacles in the paint against Gasol and Howard is a must.
Consequently, Andrew Bogut and David Lee’s best will undoubtedly be needed on both ends of the court.
If the Dubs can hold the fort on the interior and make perimeter shots, it will force Mike D’Antoni into tough decisions such as perhaps downsizing his lineup.
Keeping the game close will be a must, but once that’s accomplished, Golden State will be facing arguably the best closing team in the NBA not named the Miami Heat.
Since the All-Star break, the Lakers have been scoring 110.3 points per 100 possessions in the clutch (defined as last five minutes of the game with scoring margin within five points), good for 11th best in the league over that span.
After struggling in late game situations earlier this year, Kobe Bryant has been a monster on this front late. He’s monopolized the shots for the most part, but he is currently tied with LeBron James for the second most total clutch points scored this season.
As much as that deserves credit, the biggest reason for the Lakers’ turnaround is their defense in these same situations.
Dwight Howard’s improved health has made him a little more mobile on the defensive end. Consequently, he is thwarting opponents in the paint and at the rim.
In other words, the Lakers are now getting stops.
According to NBA.com’s advanced stats tool, the Los Angeles Lakers have been allowing a mere 76.6 points per 100 possessions in crunch time since the mid-season classic. That figure is the best in the Association over that time period.
Needless to say, beating the Lakers tonight at Oracle Arena should be a tall order for a Warriors team that has historically struggled against their division rivals. And that’s before we take into account the fact that Stephen Curry is a game-time decision.
If there’s one thing we know for sure though, Warriors and Lakers always produce some great matchups. And tonight shouldn’t be an exception.
Statistical support provided by NBA.com.
Questions or comments? Feel free to leave them in the comments section or you can contact me by email at [email protected].
Preview: The Los Angeles Lakers might be the most intriguing team with a losing record in the NBA at the moment. The experiment featuring arguably the best shooting guard in the league as well as possibly the best center in the Association — although playing injured — has sustained mixed results.
Dwight Howard has produced at his usual rate statistically, but his back issues are limiting his overall play, which consequently is having a huge impact on the Lakers’ defense. In addition, Gasol’s injury was problematic for the team in the sense that it left a huge void in terms of scoring; which forced Kobe to pick up the scoring slack, but also his reduced some of his efficiency as the Mamba has reverted to some old habits in Mike D’Antoni’s system.
The end result is that no one is quite sure what to expect from the purple and gold quite frankly.
Their record not only suggests that they are not a good basketball team, but it leaves one wondering if they even have a shot at being considered a championship contending basketball club by season’s end. Indeed, only four of their 12 victories have come against teams with a winning record. In addition, their home record (8-6) isn’t as formidable as one would expect, while their road record (4-8) leaves a lot to be desired.
To be completely fair mind you, Mitch Kupchak made some incredible transactions during the summer, but he hasn’t had the chance to actually judge all of his assets.
Many people were quick to hop on the Los Angeles Lakers bandwagon because they had four potential Hall of Fame caliber players on board; however fans have only had the opportunity to see three of them play; while one of them is playing despite lacking mobility due to his back.
It’s entirely possible that Steve Nash’s return may in fact help the team perform much better — and let’s be real, this team is too talented not to right the ship at some point — than they have so far this season. But until then, these Lakers have issues to address that range to the stability of their rotation, the lack of communication on defense as well as the inability to consistently get stops late in ball games.
And yet, for all of these problems, a matchup against the Golden State Warriors might be just what they need.
The Warriors are playing awfully well this season and fail to resemble the sub-.500 squad from last season by virtue of their improved defense, rebounding and all things related to Stephen Curry.
But the Lakers have won seven of the past eight matchups against the Dubs and that has to count for something; a psychological edge of sorts if you will.
Heck, amidst all the turmoil in Los Angeles, the Lakers defeated the Dubs on November 9th, the day Mike Brown was fired.
Ah, but how the Warriors have changed since.
The Dubs bounced back from that humbling 24-point loss to the Lakers to win seven-of-eight road games on their east coast trip, highlighted by a victory against the Miami Heat.
Stephen Curry is unquestionably playing some of the best basketball of his career as evidenced by his December averages of 22.3 points per game and 7.1 assists per game on 44.5 percent field goal shooting and a sizzling 48.9 percent 3-point field goal shooting.
The Lakers are going to have their hands full with the Davidson product, and his trusty sidekick David Lee may well prove to give them fits as well as the purple and gold have been known to arrive late for their rotations.
Nonetheless, expect a great matchup tonight as Golden State tries to send a message to rest of the division.
In our first segment, Sheed and myself discuss the Warriors impressive road trip, their upcoming schedule this week, the importance of the Lakers game on Saturday night and why Buffalo Wild Wings is the worst food establishment in America.
In our second segment we’re joined by Los Angeles Times and HOOPSWORLD writer Eric Pincus as we talk Lakers struggles, the surprising Warriors and the Lakers vs. Warriors clash on Saturday night.
In our final segment, we get into the holiday spirit and talk what gifts we would give each Warriors player. In addition, we slander E-40 – a lot.
Don’t forget to subscribe to us on iTunes and rate us!
The whole crew is in the studio as Sheed, Ben and myself talk the impressive 4-0 start to the road trip, big matchup with Miami and Stephen Curry and David Lee’s All-Star chances.
In our second segment we welcome ESPN’s Chris Palmer as we talk the flourishing Warriors, the perspective of their success on a national level, their outstanding rookie class, the Lakers demise and Chris’ encounter with Rihanna.
Finally, the crew answers questions from some listeners in our mailbag segment and discuss the departure of Matt Steinmetz from Comcast Sportsnet.
The Pelican Brief was a great movie. One of the few instances where the movie adaption was actually better than the book. John Grisham in the 90’s was tough to beat, but to follow one of his best works with a cast starring Denzel Washington and Julia Roberts was pure genius. It’s a shame what Grisham has done as of late, but I digress.
Pelicans, neither an intimidating animal nor relating to sports in any fashion, are now rumored to be the newest mascot in the National Basketball Association. I’m sure owner Tom Benson has his reasons — the state bird of Louisiana is indeed a pelican — and we are forever grateful that he bought the franchise from the death claws of David Stern, but this is simply ridiculous. I thought the ABA names were a thing of the past.
That’s not to say the NBA has 29 other menacing mascots: I still don’t know what a Pacer is, a Piston can stay under the hood for all I care, Magic isn’t scary, I can just close my door if a Bobcat is loose, the only Wizard I fear is Saruman, a Knick is just another name for shorts, I can cut down a Net at any time, my barber is solid with the Clippers, Nuggets are meant to be eaten and Jazz music is very soothing.
The New Orleans Pelicans though? The only positive development coming from this report is the fact that Charlotte may be getting the Hornets nickname back (finally a good move by Michael Jordan!). Just imagining the poor Pelicans PA announcer “…and the Kings turn it over! Pelicans ball! (insert Pelican noise here).” Or what the uniforms will look like, or if by some chance they actually have a Pelican mascot carousing the arena. In other words, WHY DO THIS!?
This leads me to the Golden State Warriors, a solid, neutral mascot. Warriors is one of the more popular mascots in sports. It’s an ample name, and the term “Warrior” itself is rather subjective. It’s a solid mascot, even if it’s passed around more than Rita Ora. It’s not necessarily menacing or frightening, but it’s not the Jazz, Nugget or Pelican either. It’s on the same level as a Athletic or a Giant: we know of it, we just don’t really understand it.
No, I’m not calling for a drastic mascot change. I don’t think the Golden State Bears (kinda already taken) or the Bay Area Moguls (not bad actually) would really work, but this issue isn’t a moot one either. I, for one, really like the name “Warriors” and think of it as unique to our Warriors, for better or worse (mostly worse). The mascot may not be changing, but the region/city before it might be.
Despite what city officials or lawyers may say, Joe Lacob plans to open his Bay Area basketball mecca in 2017 in San Francisco. Long rumored to be in the works, Lacob (and Guber) will finally have their own home, free of the name of the man that they had to outbid to own this very team. The 17,000 seat, privately funded arena will cost upwards up $1 billion.
Goodbye Oakland, Hello San Francisco. Much to the disdain of Oakland residents the Bay Area’s only professional basketball team will be hopping across the bridge to a shiny, bright new palace. The Warriors are the first sports team from the Oakland trio (Warriors, Athletics, Raiders) that have successfully made an agreement to move said franchise. The other two want to move, they just haven’t yet.
The “Golden State” meme is tiresome and boring. We are not the only team in California and the fact that the Bay Area is nowhere to be found in their name is despicable. This is the Bay Area’s team, not California’s. Yes, we’re in California, but so are the Kings, Clippers and Lakers, and two of those three have more impressive pedigrees than the Warriors.
When the Warriors move to San Francisco so should that tiresome and boring meme. The “Golden State” meme should be thrown out and the proper, correct “San Francisco” should replace it. It’s only natural and it’s only right. Forget wrongly representing the state, represent the city you’re now playing for. It always irked me that we weren’t representing us, but instead representing what we’re largely not.
This franchise isn’t immune to the “San Francisco” name. The Warriors played in the Cow Palace in Daly City (just south of the city) from 1962-1964 and the San Francisco Civic Auditorium from 1964-1966. The Warriors occasionally played games in the Oakland Coliseum Arena after its development in 1966, all while being known as the “San Francisco Warriors.” The team finally changed to “Golden State” in 1971.
The Warriors are long overdue for a new arena and the name change should coincide with the move. Oakland-ers shouldn’t argue because the team was never technically theirs. The hovering fear of having a team from Oakland will no longer be a problem. From the NBA’s perspective it’s an easy call, from ownerships perspective it’s an easier call.
We’re not dealing with a befuddling, pointless name change such as what’s going on in New Orleans. We aren’t the Bobcats, Pacers or Magic, we’re the Warriors. The move to San Francisco in 2017 should bring along the San Francisco name. That’s where the games will be played, that’s the city ownership chose to represent and that’s the city fans should accept. The Warriors should and will stay with us, it’s time to return to our 1960‘s glory.
With the Golden State Warriors (3-2) set to take on the Los Angeles Lakers (1-4) tonight at Staples Center, Andrew Kamenetzky of ESPNLA’s Lakers blog reached out to Warriors World for a quick Q&A session, you can find my answers about what to expect from the Warriors against the Lakers here. We also took the time to ask Andy some questions about the Lakers, and you can find them below. It’s worth noting that the Q&A was conducted prior to the dismissal of Mike Brown today.
Preview: The Golden State Warriors find themselves in unfamiliar territory as they sit close to the top of the Pacific division, while the Lakers find themselves at the bottom. Continue Reading…
Rss
