20 Second Timeout

Lakers Dominate the Paint, Cruise to 111-101 Victory Over Grizzlies

The L.A. Lakers bounced back from a listless game two loss against the shorthanded Memphis Grizzlies by playing with "discipline and focus"--as Jalen Rose aptly put it--that they have rarely demonstrated in recent seasons, tying an NBA playoff record by building a 26 point lead by the end of the first quarter before coasting to a 111-101 win. Anthony Davis led the Lakers in scoring and rebounding (31 points, 17 rebounds), while LeBron James added 25 points, nine rebounds, and five assists. Ja Morant returned to action in style for Memphis after missing game two with a hand injury, exploding for 45 points, 13 assists, and nine rebounds.

The Lakers outscored the Grizzlies 58-42 in the paint, including 22-4 in that 35-9 first quarter explosion. People who don't understand basketball--or are pushing a narrative at variance with reality--insist that the Lakers need a lot of outside shooting in order to contend for a championship. Note that the Lakers shot 2-7 (.286) from three point range during their dominant first quarter, and just 7-28 (.250) from beyond the arc in the game. James attempted four shots from beyond the arc in 36 minutes. The last time that James attempted four or fewer three pointers in a playoff game is game one of the 2020 NBA Finals. Since that time, James' Lakers have posted a 7-7 playoff record as James far too often settled for long range shots instead of attacking the paint.

The 2020 Lakers won the NBA title while ranking 23rd in the league in three pointers attempted and 21st in the league in three point field goal percentage. 

There is no other way to put this: the notion that the Lakers' success is dependent on three point shooting is idiotic. 

The two significant stories from this game are (1) the Lakers won because they dominated the paint for the first 12 minutes, and (2) in the final 36 minutes the Grizzlies outscored the Lakers in the paint 38-36. The NBA is often a first quarter league, not a fourth quarter league, and this game was a perfect example: the Grizzlies outplayed the Lakers for 36 minutes, but the Lakers' huge first quarter advantage was too much to overcome.

In short, the Lakers can be very good when their two members of the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team attack the paint--but those two players have repeatedly demonstrated that they are only willing and able to attack the paint selectively. That is why the Lakers have been mediocre or worse since winning the 2020 "Bubble" title.

Of course, the two significant stories are unlikely to receive much mainstream media coverage. The mainstream media coverage will focus on Memphis forward Dillon Brooks. After game two, Brooks boasted--in reference to the trash talk he directed at LeBron James--"I poke bears." I checked Brooks' resume, and this is what I found: no All-NBA selections, no All-Star selections, no All-Defensive Team selections, no 20 ppg seasons, career .416 field goal percentage, never advanced past the second round of the playoffs. 

Brooks does not poke bears; he has spent his brief career being stomped by bears. It is legitimate to debate where James ranks in pro basketball's Pantheon of the greatest players of all-time, but there is no question that Brooks is a basketball nobody compared to James.

Brooks scored seven points on 3-13 field goal shooting in this game before earning an ejection for poking James below the belt. Brooks joined the growing list of players who have delivered cheap shots to opponents during the 2023 playoffs: Draymond Green was ejected and then suspended for a game after stomping on Domantas Sabonis, Joel Embiid received a flagrant foul but was spared ejection after kicking Nic Claxton below the belt, and then Embiid's teammate James Harden received an ejection but no suspension after hitting Royce O'Neale in the groin. Harden displayed his usual level of self-awareness when he said with a straight face that he did not think that he had committed an infraction at all, let alone one worthy of ejection; apparently, Harden is so used to illegally pushing off to get open that he just takes for granted that he has the right hit opponents anywhere at any time.

Brooks should be suspended one game for his cheap shot on James. Considering the way that sports leagues merge analytics with various camera angles, I have a proposal for dealing with the cheap shot artists: figure out the speed and power of the blows that they delivered to their opponents, and then stipulate that a properly calibrated robot will deliver an identical blow to them in the same body part before they are permitted to return to action. 

I have played basketball my whole life, and I have never struck another player in the groin, intentionally or accidentally. I have accidentally hit players on the arms, chest, and even top of the head while trying to block shots; those are normal basketball plays that can happen, because those are the body parts that are usually in closest proximity to a basketball that is being shot, passed, rebounded, or caught. I do not have a fraction of the athletic ability of any NBA player, but somehow I manage to control my limbs better than they do, which is interesting (I also do not fall down with the frequency that Anthony Davis and Joel Embiid do, but that is another story).

Switching from groin shots to missed shots, let's check in on the "triumphant trio": media members heap praise on the three players who the Lakers acquired for the much-maligned Westbrook, so let's look how those players did versus Memphis in game three. 

D'Angelo Russell had 17 points on 5-14 field goal shooting, plus seven assists. He is averaging 13.7 ppg on .333 field goal shooting in the first three games of this series. Russell's 42 points in three games barely exceeds the 37 points (on 17-29 field goal shooting) that Westbrook scored for his shorthanded L.A. Clippers in game four versus the Phoenix Suns.

Jarred Vanderbilt had zero points on 0-1 field goal shooting. He is averaging 4.0 ppg on .500 field goal shooting in the first three games of this series.

Malik Beasley had zero points on 0-2 field goal shooting. He is averaging 2.3 ppg on .286 field goal shooting in the first two games of this series. 

I am not sure what is worse: the collective productivity and efficiency of these three players, or the fact that there are commentators who are paid a lot of money to insist that these three role players can make a better contribution to a winning program than Westbrook. 

LeBron James' p.r. team in the mainstream media will work overtime declaring that he made a "statement" in this game. James explicitly told Dave "Vampire" McMenamin that with his resume he does not have to make statements, which I predict will be spun as James demonstrating his great modesty and ability to rise above the fray. The reality is that James and the Lakers rightly took umbrage at Brooks' absurd remarks, and the Lakers were so inspired that they played hard for 12 minutes out of 48, which is about par for the course for these Lakers. During the telecast, ESPN noted the high number of uncontested shots that the Grizzlies missed during the first quarter; it has become a cliche for players to insist "It was not great defense; we just missed shots" but to a large extent that was true in the first quarter; the Grizzlies missed a lot of open shots, and the Lakers played with great purpose on offense in the first quarter, taking advantage of all of Memphis' misses.

After all is said and done--and a lot is sure to be said about the Lakers' magnificent 12 minutes and how those minutes validate James' greatness--sober-minded people will remember that the next game starts with a 0-0 score, and the Grizzlies can reclaim homecourt advantage with a win.

Labels: Anthony Davis, Dillon Brooks, Ja Morant, L.A. Lakers, LeBron James, Memphis Grizzlies

posted by David Friedman @ 2:38 AM

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