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Inactives
Lakers: DJ MBenga, Sun Yue
Wolves: Calvin Booth, Corey Brewer, Brian Cardinal
The Timberwolves are one of the few teams the Lakers have seen in awhile that really likes to do most of its damage down low with their bigs. Of course, everything’s centered around Al Jefferson (a top three low-post scorer in the league) and his guaranteed 20 and 10 (21.9 and 10.1, actually), but power forward Craig Smith also does most of his work in the paint. Where as teams like the Kings gave L.A. trouble with the four (Spencer Hawes) and five (Brad Miller) out on the perimeter, the Wolves’ lineup lets Bynum and Gasol stay home on defense.
I thought it would be interesting to get an opposing player’s view of the Lakers and the matchup, so I pulled up next to Ryan Gomes, who starts at the three for Minnesota, before the game. A solid glue guy who’s pretty good at most elements of the game, Gomes had some interesting perspective on how his team is looking to matchup with L.A. Here’s what he had to say:
All right, here are your starters…
Lakers Fish, Kobe, Luke, Pau and ‘Drew
Wolves Randy Foye, Mike Miller, Ryan Gomes, Craig Smith and Al Jefferson
First Quarter
“Get your treat don’t leave your seat” is a nice catchphrase for the cotton candy guy, right? I ask because his shout was quite audible in a relatively quiet opening to the game, both in terms of crowd noise and play on the court. The Wolves missed 5-of-6 shots to start until a Gomes’ jumper countered a pretty alley-oop on the pick and roll with Fisher to make it 8-7 L.A. If you had time to listen to the Gomes interview before the game, we actually talked about what to do with Bynum’s huge body after he sets that high pick, but talk is cheap I guess…
Jefferson made consecutive floaters from differing release points - his staple - before Bryant’s triple took the Lakers into a timeout with a 14-11 lead. Now, no one here is saying the Wolves, losers of eight straight, are a good team. They’re 4-18 on the season, but their record is slightly misleading, because Minnesota has managed to lose eight games in which they’ve led by at least three points with five minutes left in the fourth quarter. The team has been playing better under Kevin McHale than they did for Randy Wittman, however, and is certainly a capable offensive team. Their main problem has been getting stops, and while their offense may make this game closer than Lakers fans might think it should be, the question is what kind of defensive effort the Lakers put forth. On offense, more than anything, the Lakers need to go at Jefferson and Smith with Bynum and Gasol offensively.
Sure enough, L.A.’s two seven footers combined for 12 of L.A.’s first 20 points L.A. went on a 6-0 run that culminated at the 2:17 mark, when Lamar Odom, Trevor Ariza and Jordan Farmar checked in along with Kevin Love and Rashad McCants for the Wolves. McCants, who does possess a nice offensive arsenal, got to the hoop for a deuce before Gomes nailed a corner three from McCants to pull Minnesota within two at 20-18 after a quarter of play.
Second Quarter
Let’s get back to Al Jefferson for a minute … In talking to Brian Shaw after practice on Saturday, we agreed that only Tim Duncan, Yao Ming and Gasol are in Jefferson’s class as pure low-post scorers. Sure enough, Jefferson went for eight points in the first quarter, plus three boards and a steal to pace the Wolves. Let’s add an odd stat from the first quarter: L.A. scored just two points off seven Minnesota turnovers. Another telling number is that 14 of L.A.’s 20 points came in the paint.
At the 7:30 mark of the second, Vujacic found Ariza for an alley-oop layup. Now, if you read the running diary last game, you know I spent a whole paragraph on the Sasha-Ariza dynamic, but when I wrote that, I hadn’t yet been made aware that Fisher had called a player’s only meeting. My point is that while it might have had nothing to do with the meeting, it’s not hard to imagine Sasha or Trevor getting a chance to talk about making the extra pass on the floor.
Moments later, the Wolves took their first lead of the game after McCants hit a triple to make it 26-25, before Craig Smith snuck into the lane for a two-handed dunk. Smith’s the kind of player that looks a little husky, which always causes defenders not to respect his speed … But the thing is, he has an extremely quick first step, and as a result gets several easy baskets each game, like the one that made it 28-25. The Lakers, however, immediately took the lead back behind another Bynum alley-oop and two Ariza free throws. Ariza waited a minute, then canned a triple to put the Lakers up 36-31, largely because the Wolves were sloppy with the basketball (12 turnovers with 2:21 remaining) and because they began to have more and more trouble with L.A.’s length.
We just talked about where Jefferson ranks among low-post scorers … But after Gasol sprinted past three Wolves to dunk on the fastbreak after a Kobe steal, here’s another:
Best Running Big Men in the NBA
1) Pau Gasol
2) Dirk Nowitzki
3) Amare Stoudemire
4) Chris Bosh
Craig Smith, nicknamed “The Rhino” in Minnesota, went to Fairfax High School … just like Flea and Anthony Kiedis from the Red Hot Chili Peppers (and Lenny Kravitz). Smith, who was quite effective with 10 points and seven rebounds, just missed 12 points when his self-described “O-Roll” (a hybrid baby hook/floater) rolled out of the rim. At the other end, Bryant his two free throws, but was answered by a Gomes put-back that made the score 42-37 at the half. Kevin Love didn’t score in 10 minutes, though he did grab four boards with an assist. Ariza, Kobe and Gasol all had 10 points for the purple and gold. All told, L.A. wasn’t particularly aggressive on defense, but their length was bothersome enough to limit the Wolves to a paltry point total. I’m more concerned that Smith missed the Chili Peppers at Fairfax by a few years, because he would have fit right into that group.
Your stat of the half is Minnesota’s 11 offensive rebounds, which kept them in the game despite 13 turnovers.
Halftime Thoughts
I’d be remiss not to mention the solid job that Bynum did on Jefferson after switching assignments with Gasol. Jefferson his 3-of-4 to start the game, mostly with Gasol guarding, before making just 1-of-9 to close the half, primarily with Bynum defending. ‘Drew’s length really seemed to bother Jefferson, who generally is able to maneuver his way in the paint no matter who’s guarding him.
Another thing to pay attention to in the second half is whether or not the Wolves are able to get Mike Miller more involved in the offense. In 16 minutes of playing time in the first half, Miller took just one shot and missed it. He should be taking at least six or seven, if not more, shots a half, and should have some plays run for him to get him shots. The thing is, Minnesota’s offense runs almost exclusively through Jefferson on the block … and while that’s effective most of the time, Miller’s just too good to stand on the perimeter by himself. So in fact, the Wolves were doing L.A. a favor by not finding a way to get Miller shots.
Third Quarter
Since Kevin McHale frequently checks Lakers.com, the Wolves got two early shots for Miller in the third, and he made both of them - including a three. Jefferson also stuck his first two looks, and Randy Foye scored five points to help the Wolves score 20 in the first six minutes of the period to take a 57-54 lead. The Lakers did the exact opposite of playing tough defense to start the quarter, though Bryant did can a three to tie things up.
Random note: Why didn’t anyone tell me that the change in air moisture from Minnesota to California was going to make my lips enter a constant state of chapped? Seriously, I don’t appreciate it. There’s currently not enough Blistex for the corners of my mouth, but it’s fine, because I don’t have to open my mouth to eat.
After that Kobe three, the Lakers scored the next seven points to take a 64-57 lead, thanks mostly to five-straight points from Walton, including his second three of the season on … brace yourself … 13 attempts. That’s 15.4 percent, which needless to say should improve quickly. By the way, Kevin Love has taken just one shot in 13 minutes, and he missed.
Both teams managed five points to close the quarter at 69-62 Lakers, as Jefferson got his double-double (16, and 11) and Kobe reached the 20-point mark with 10 points in the period. At the half, the Wolves held a 31-18 lead on the glass, but the Lakers managed to win the board battle 12-11 in the third quarter. The Wolves shot just 37 percent through the first three quarters to nearly 45 percent for the Lakers, which isn’t a good sign for a Wolves’ team that has really struggled to score in the fourth quarter this season. In other news, had the Los Angeles not taken the “Lakers” moniker from Minneapolis, what would the team be called? Hmmm.
White Jersey Success
The Lakers came into tonight’s game 4-0 on Sundays at home, beating the Rockets, Kings, Raptors and Bucks by an average of 16.25 points while wearing white jerseys. The next time L.A. will wear the home whites after this game? Christmas day against the Celtics.
Fourth Quarter
Like I alluded to earlier, Minnesota’s really struggled to score in the fourth quarter, so we’ll see if the Lakers defense is able to step it up.
For starters, Odom’s baseline jumper near the nine-minute mark of the fourth gave the Lakers a bit of breathing room at 74-66, when Jefferson checked back into the game to try and make a final push for the Wolves. Instead, Bynum scored immediately to make it a double-digit lead. The next possession, however, produced Love’s first points of the game after an offensive rebound, his ninth of the game. In fact, let’s talk Love for a moment: Before the game, Love explained his understanding that he’ll always be linked to O.J. Mayo, obviously since they were traded for one another on draft day in the deal with Memphis (Minnesota also got Mike Miller and got rid of Marko Jaric’s awful contract). Without whining about it, Love explained that he respects Mayo’s game, but emphasized how different a player he is, and that his scoring numbers shouldn’t be judged with O.J.’s since the USC kid takes 18 shots a game. That’s a fair point. I’m constantly complaining about guys like Ben Gordon, Kevin Durant, Mayo or Rudy Gay that take a ton of FGs and don’t do a great deal else … And Love’s averaged 12 boards a game (with 11 points and almost two dimes) in his last five games. In his last five games, Mayo’s averaged 19 points, three assists and three boards. I don’t think those numbers suggest that Mayo is much better, and furthermore, how would Mayo fit in on a team that - due to running the offense through Jefferson - already struggles to get enough shots for one of the game’s best shooters in Miller and a point guard who’s a good scorer in Foye?
Back on the floor, there was an odd two-minute scoring drought from both teams, until Bryant hit two free throws to make it 80-70. The Wolves, who’d managed just eight points in the first eight minutes (you do the math), just couldn’t seem to get anything going on L.A.’s defense. Miller did drain back-to-back too-little-too-late threes in the final minutes, again begging the question, why did he take only six shots in 36 minutes, making four (three triples)? There’s really no good answer.
Your official dagger? … Gasol’s 16th point (plus 10 boards and six assists), which put the Lakers up 12 with 1:29 remaining. So while L.A. didn’t offer the most inspiring performance of the year, they were quite efficient in closing the door in the fourth quarter, ultimately winning 98-86 for the team’s third-straight victory at home.
We’ll see you back in a bit for the postgame report.
