Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Austin Reaves Buzzer Beater Gives Shorthanded Lakers 116-115 Win Over Minnesota

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey, everyone, welcome to Locked on Lakers for Thursday. Brian Komenetsky, Andy Kemenetsky, buzzer-beater from Austin Reeves. The Lakers get the win 116 over Minnesota. They keep rolling despite no lucidantzich. That's next. You are Locked-on Lakers. Your daily Los Angeles Lakers podcast. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day.

Starting point is 00:00:34 Thanks to everybody for making Locked on. Locked on Lakers first listen to every day, Monday through Friday, no matter how, where you get your podcast, this one's always free, never behind a paywall. And of course, Andy Locked on Lakers on YouTube, where many people are watching right now as we are broadcasting live. That's where people go to hang out, talk to each other, talk to us, over 36,000 of them,

Starting point is 00:00:52 and they're all celebrating the heroics of Austin Reeves on Wednesday night. Lakers, after building a 20-point lead, see the whole thing disappear. Here they go down one. 10 seconds left in the game. Austin Reeves splits a double team, gets into the paint, little floater, victory.

Starting point is 00:01:15 116, 115, Andy. This was as fun a game as the Lakers have played in a while. JJ Reddick, when it was done, talked about how proud he was of this group. I think he echoed the feelings of basically every Lakers fan around the globe who watched this one,

Starting point is 00:01:34 who all, like, you know, wanted to give this group a hug. Game Hillbillies, man. Austin Reeves, with that game, he is on a heater right now, as I think all Laker fans are aware, 28 points, 16 assists against just three turnovers. And as we have talked about recently during this period

Starting point is 00:01:57 with no Luca Donchich, no LeBron James, no Marcus Smart, no Gabe Vincent. Austin is basically the only real plus ball handler on this team right now, which puts a lot of pressure on him. And frankly, everyone else when they have the ball, but in particular, Austin, since he's the guy you're going to be looking to have, orchestrate this stuff. Unbelievable run that he's on right now.

Starting point is 00:02:23 And this was a great win for the Lakers to get, obviously, to secure it. But also now that you know what's in the ball. books, you can also take a look at just how significant I think it was that this many different players contributed. Yeah, you talk about the pressure, though, too. It's like, you know, how many turnovers did they are have against the Blazers on eight? So he went from, you know, a game with one and then a game, I think, with two. Then he turned the ball over eight times. And like, he wasn't as efficient in this game as he had been in some of the previous. ones, you know, the shooting percentage, although that last one was pretty nice.

Starting point is 00:03:08 Yeah, Austin actually said in his postgame interview with our friend George Sedano, that he didn't have a lot of those shots fall, but the one that truly mattered the most did. And before, he also helped a lot of other guys get their shots to fall. And, oh, yeah. And, you know, what was really impressive about this one, when, you know, when you look at the line, you mentioned, you know, the 16 assists against only three turnovers. The amounts of pressure that the wolves were putting on Reeves, ball pressure all over the place from, you know, high on the floor with double teams, with traps, with just this sort of, you know, to only have three turnovers against, you know, with 16 assists is, I mean, I know, the 51 point game, for example, was.

Starting point is 00:04:03 something that, you know, obviously rightly got people's attention. I think this is equally impressive to that, especially when you factor in how much better defensively Minnesota is than Sacramento. Well, I will say the Lakers caught a break in this game specifically when it came to Austin avoiding turnovers in the sense that while he spent a lot of time with Jaden McDaniels on him, and Jaden McDaniels is an elite defender. They didn't have Anthony Edwards and they didn't have Jalen Clark. And those are two other guys that you would have thrown at Austin to mix up looks to maybe have, I think, more effective pressures and doubles and stuff like that.

Starting point is 00:04:48 And to be clear, I'm not saying this to take away anything from Austin because still a hell of a lot of work to pull off what he did. and oh, the whole no LeBron, no Luca, no other ball handlers thing. Like, there's still a ton on Lucas plate. I mean, Austin's plate. And the Timberwolves could have just as easily had they won this game, said, well, they caught a break with the Lakers missing half their roster. Sure.

Starting point is 00:05:17 But this is one of those things where there was a little bit of luck on Austin's side in this particular regard. and then he turned that opportunity into incredible fortune and just really, really good orchestration of that offense. What I thought was impressive to, and I give the Lakers a lot of credit because the worst part of this game, at least initially, the second worst part of the game was when that 20-point lead, I text you with about like two and a half minutes to go. I'm like, this game needs to end fast.

Starting point is 00:05:51 I actually, we'll talk about Dalton during this game. I guess it's now one and a half games where he is starting to look more like, if not the guy that had everybody incredibly excited for the first two months of last season, looking more just like a guy that you can put in the rotation. A functional player. I will take that. Give me that. The last three or so minutes of the game, and I actually tweeted this out at Cam Brothers, I wanted JJ to sub in Jared Vanderbilt for Dalton, A, because they were protecting a lead, and Dalton, you know, Vando's a better defender than Dalton, and they were making defensive mistakes during this period where Minnesota made their run, but also, Dalton had such a good game. I didn't want to take any chances with him potentially going out on some sour note because of missed assignments. Yeah, and I get that. It's a real, it was one of those catch-22 kind of situations.

Starting point is 00:06:55 Like they needed, they couldn't, you know, they couldn't get stops. They also couldn't get points. And you get, if you get one or the other, you're in decent shape. But what I was going to say, too, is like, you know, we'll talk about what had, like, that sequence where they lost that 20-point lead, that was, you know, that was a bad part of the game. But the other, you know, the first quarter, the first five minutes of the first quarter, especially. That pressure was, you know, turning the Lakers over and they were, you know, discombobulated on offense and they were having trouble getting themselves organized

Starting point is 00:07:27 defensively and all these things. And it looked like Minnesota was just going to be able to take them out of their game. Like you say, like your short ball handlers, there's only so much you can do here. And like circumstance, but this might just be one of those games where finally the Lakers look like a team that's missing too many guys. But as a group, and Reeves was undoubtedly the catalyst for that, but he wasn't the only one. They stayed quite composed. They didn't get flustered when the ball got turned over.

Starting point is 00:08:05 I think they understood there is going to be a certain amount of turnovers in this game, like just accepted. We're going to make some mistakes. We're going, but what we can do is not make it easy for them. We can avoid making really stupid passes. We can avoid dribbling to spots on the floor that do Minnesota's work for them. And, you know, Reeves was the catalyst for keeping stuff together. But I thought, you know, like the contributions of somebody like Jake LaRavia, who was aggressive with his shot,

Starting point is 00:08:43 nine of ten five of six from three point range really the lakers only attack from from three um the the lakers did not fall in love with the three pointer which was very smart but like la ravia was aggressive but not out of control um that that was i think the tone that all of them basically set was like we're going to be aggressive but we're not going to be stupid we're not going to force things and it just everything about that i just loved how to how they approached about 45 minutes of the 48. They played careful without looking tentative. And I think sometimes-

Starting point is 00:09:23 Up until, the only time they looked tight was when that lead was going away. Then, especially offensively, what you could tell they were, they were tightening up. Well, I think it was a combination of missing shots, but also the sequences where Minnesota got back into it, there was three-pointers from, I think, Dante DiVincenzo and Jaden McDaniels. These were missed assignments. And you could see them getting out of sorts down the stretch.

Starting point is 00:09:53 It was honestly one of the few, it was one of the few pockets of the game after about, I don't know, maybe the first quarter and a half where Minnesota looked particularly alive at all. Yeah, they had no energy. Well, they had no energy. And they started looking extremely. extremely frustrated throughout most of the second half of this game. And their energy, I think, started picking up in the last few minutes because they were like,

Starting point is 00:10:19 holy bleep, we're actually making show. Like, what the hell is going on? Well, we might as well try to roll with it. Right. The first, you know, 40 minutes, they were, couldn't believe they were down to the losing the game to the exciting whites. It was a big night for the exciting whites. There is no question between.

Starting point is 00:10:37 It was a big night for the, for that meme. around the internet, the exciting whites means. It's a shame that both, I mean, Luca doesn't need a night like this. He doesn't need to be included with the exciting whites, but Maxi Kleba missed his shot. Like he may never have an opportunity to jump on the exciting whites bandwagon like he did tonight.

Starting point is 00:10:59 So let's talk a little bit more about some of the other guys that made contributions. We mentioned La Ravia. His performance, we'll talk a little more about that. And Dandre Aitin played another very strong game. And man, Jared Vanderbilt found a good way to contribute as well. So lots more coming up on a very exciting night for Lakers fans. Get to it all next. Locked on Lakers is brought to you by Peloton, shaping the future of fitness with the brand new.

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Starting point is 00:12:19 Explore the new Peloton cross-training tread plus today at one peloton.com. So I, you look at the box score, Andy. And, you know, the 28, 28 from Reeves obviously sticks out, 2016. The 27 from La Ravia, 10 of 11 from the floor, 5 of 6 from 3 point ranch. I would like to point out that this was the game that I was hoping La Ravia would have when I streamed him on my fantasy team on Sunday. And he chose to hit one shot. So the right idea, just the wrong game. He also had eight rebounds just to rub this whole thing.

Starting point is 00:13:06 Yeah, no. I'm aware. I'm aware what Jake did. But I just, even before he kind of blew up and you're like, geez, he's not missing any shots. Like he's making all of his shots. You just watch him play, and he's, he's one of those guys who just seems to just do good things on the floor. He, I don't want to go so far as to call him a winning basketball player.

Starting point is 00:13:35 But we got to go slow. It was only the fifth game of the season. We can't dive that deep into cliches. But just steady play, not forcing, move the ball along, find the open man, put the ball on the floor when you can't. He can do that a little bit. And then obviously make the outside shots that are a huge part of why the Lakers brought you in. He showed a lot of what's in the back.

Starting point is 00:14:03 Well, this, we talked about after the loss to Portland, La Ravia was the only starter not in double figures. And while nobody's expecting 27 points a night from Jake Luravia moving forward, he did he did need that night in Portland to contribute more of the tangibles and like more of the counting stats in the scoring column. I think he had like six rebounds and five assists and did a lot of the connecting stuff that we saw in this game tonight too and that La Ravia I think rightly has a reputation for. And when you have your full slate of players, when LeBron and Luca and Smart and Vincent are back, the connectivity that LaRaea is. provides, that is going to be very useful in its own right without the stat line necessarily showing as much. But this period they're in right now, they need the scoring as well. And again,

Starting point is 00:15:01 it doesn't have to be 27, but what it can't be is three. Like we'll get into Jared Vanderbilt. And Vanderbilt did only score three points. But there's there's other stuff that you expect from Vanderbilt more than the scoring. And even if you don't expect, you know, 15 to 20 from La Ravian night, you expect or at least need right now 10-ish. 10 to 12. 10 to 10. 10. 10.

Starting point is 00:15:26 10. 10 to 10. 10. 15, you know, he, because he's playing, he played 37 minutes in this game. Yep. So if you're going to have a guy who plays 37 minutes in your starting lineup, he's, you know, then, yeah. That's fair.

Starting point is 00:15:42 I mean, just time on the floor says you're going to say it's very, I put him. like on this and we'll get to you know Vanderbilt I think because he's a good counter to this Laravia is much more like Rui Rui in with no

Starting point is 00:16:01 Luca, no LeBron, no Marcus Smart like Rui must score. Yes. Is it good if he gets 25? Yes. Is he capable of 25? He sure is. Is it, you know, can you count on it? No. But on Wednesday, for example, 17 points, 7 of 14 from the floor.

Starting point is 00:16:22 That works, you know. That's kind of right in there, that range, can create a couple big rebounds, five overall, four assists. It was overall just a nice, strong, solid game from Rui. But you needed 17 points. He's one of your guys who can score. La Ravia, the skill set, shades more towards Rui. Vando, which I think this is kind of where you were going.

Starting point is 00:16:46 knowing. He only took three shots. He took one three-pointer, which again, you noted this on Tuesday. It was an air ball. I'm telling you, I need some. By the way, we just got our hands on a synergy account. So maybe I can look this up. I think Vando has missed more threes that did not touch the rim or anything at all than he's actually missed three. He's missed all his threes so far this year. But I think he's in the regular season. But I actually think he's missed more via airball than simply clanging him. Do you think he's nervous? Because he's sitting on 49 career three-pointers. The next one is his 50th.

Starting point is 00:17:31 It's a milestone three-pointer. Do you think he's just in his head that maybe that's the problem? But, you know, so he took his one three-pointer and it missed. And other than that, he's just like he didn't ship. But, like, you don't, they got, I think, 14 from Vando against the Blazers. Yes. Like, that's found money. What you need from Vanderbilt is the rebounding that he gave you on Wednesday night,

Starting point is 00:18:00 where he comes up with 12 rebounds, including six offensively. You can count on. That's two thirds of the offensive rebounds that Minnesota got as a team. Yes. you know, like that kind of stuff. He had a steal. You can usually count on Vando for making a couple of sneaky good passes in a game. You don't need him to score.

Starting point is 00:18:23 What you do need him, like the Lakers cannot absorb a three rebound game from Jared Vanderbilt on a night where he plays 26 minutes. You need more than that. Everybody's got to do their, you know, fulfill their skill set. And then you hope somebody like La Ravia has one of those nights and elevates, and then you end up being able to steal a game on the road against a still pretty good team, even though they're missing their star guy. So you look at La Ravia, you look at Vanderbilt,

Starting point is 00:18:57 I thought it was another really solid game for D'Andre 8. Yeah. He's settling, he and it's going to be really interesting. When Luca gets back, how long it takes from the. really develop the chemistry with Diannri Aitin that we're seeing with him and Austin. And something that I thought about. And I'd have to go look at some of Lucas rosters and really think about all the skill sets involved. And I know that in Wednesday's show, I talked about how Anthony Davis, I don't think is the same level of pick and pop partner as Dianneary Aten.

Starting point is 00:19:34 They didn't, by the way, on Wednesday. I know he did. I know. And it sucks to see. But But AD, look, AD is a better player and he is a better score than Anthony Davis, just to make sure. Better everything. DeAndre Aidan. I mean, yeah, then DeAndre Aten. But DeAndre Aiton is a better pick and pop mid-range option in a pick and roll than Anthony Davis. He just, he is. It's one of the few areas where he happens to be better.

Starting point is 00:20:01 But Austin spent a lot of time running pick and pops with AD. Even if AD it's not, I think, as good as him rolling to the basket, getting set up right around there, whatever. AD would do some of those pick and pop jumpers. I wonder really how many pick and pop guys, Lucas had, period. Yeah. Over. And it's something I want to take a look. Maybe I'll talk with like Nick Engstad and biased and those guys over locked on Mavs.

Starting point is 00:20:30 But it's something I've been thinking about just in terms of getting those two on the same page. What are that many of them? Right. And maybe why Austin has picked this up with D'Andre quicker than Luca had before Lucy got hurt? Maybe. I think there are a couple things to play. I think part of it is Aiton sort of trying to do things that weren't as comfortable and natural too. I mean, then just not anymore.

Starting point is 00:20:55 But I'll tell you, one of the things that I really loved about is performance on Wednesday. It's not that it's in every moment thing. but you could you could tell there were some times where Minnesota hedged to the pop expecting DA to just set. I don't want to say settle because that's not fair. You know, that's a good, aggressive shot for him to take. But to take that shot kind of without looking at the floor, just, you know, if that's, well, that's not settling, but just to kind of robotically take that shot. And there were two or three times where they sort of overplayed the pick and pop.

Starting point is 00:21:38 And Aitin went and took, either put the ball on the floor or kept going and played at the rim and, you know, scored in traffic or tried, you know, tried to score. So that kind of thing where he feels the comfort level and the aggression to go to the basket. We saw a little bit of that on Wednesday. It'll work. I'm not worried about that combo. I think Luca,

Starting point is 00:21:59 obviously, he's been seeing it. And, you know, DeAndre Aiton will get the ball where he wants to go. And then the other thing is, too, like, Luca's gravity, as much as AR, as much as Reeves, you know, is controlling. Luca still has a different kind of gravity with the ball. And so there was still maybe more opportunities open in the paint for Aiton. Sure. I'm just talking purely about the time.

Starting point is 00:22:24 And the passes and stuff. That's all. Yeah, for sure. And I think it's going to be continuing. need to be pretty seamless. Dalton Connect. We talked about him earlier in the show. We had mentioned him coming into

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Starting point is 00:24:53 I think the distinction you were making, Andy, at the beginning of the show, about Dalton is the right one. It's not, can Dalton become that guy? Whoa, whoa, the Lakers, they may have found a future six man of the year or something like that. You know, in the first couple of months, six man of the year wasn't even an option because people were talking about is Dalton too good to take out of the starting lineup? Right.

Starting point is 00:25:19 You know, whatever it might be. It was Austin that needed to go into the six man role. Remember, for Dalton. That's right. When we were all fighting between exciting whites. That's right. And so, you know, like that would be. great. It's not like I'm opposed to it.

Starting point is 00:25:41 But what the Lakers really need is a guy they can put on the floor who is a functional member of the roster. And so coming into the season, it looked like, I'm not even sure Dalton's really playable. If he is now,

Starting point is 00:25:56 like, because we talked about like, they go 10 deep and it sort of drops off a cliff and you never have your top 10 healthy. That's not how this league works, you know, and so you need 10, 11, 12, 13 guys who can kind of play for you. And if Dalton is gaining back some confidence and can be, you know, he played, I thought, attentive defense on

Starting point is 00:26:23 on Wednesday, including some legitimately good play. I thought the first half in particular, I actually thought Dalton played extremely good defense. Like I mentioned earlier in the show, he was part of the breakdowns that were happening when Minnesota made that game threatening push. And I tweeted out that I wanted JJ to put in Bando just for the defensive fortification. And they were protecting a lead. And again, I really wanted to prevent the night possibly ending on a sour note for Dalton where the weaknesses really started becoming magnified. And to be clear, Dalton was not the only guy making mistakes.

Starting point is 00:27:05 but Austin, Rui, Arabia, like, Aiton, like, those guys are not coming off the floor. It's really a question of Dalton. But the first half, his defense was actually quite good. Yeah. And I think, again, the fact the Lakers were flowing offensively and were able to balance the floor. And it all made a difference what they were doing. You know, the bad offense helped facilitate some bad defense as well. But I agree with you.

Starting point is 00:27:31 Like, I would have been fine with that shift. But I mean, I, I, the last couple games, we've seen not just like some decent results, but like you could see it on Dalton's face in this game on Wednesday. Like, okay, all right. I, you know, where he was sort of bleeding confidence before, he wasn't. He looked much more like like a guy who believes in himself and was confident in what he was doing and felt comfortable with what he was doing. And if that's the case, then the Lakers are in better shape to get through this

Starting point is 00:28:11 sequence without Luca. And when, you know, Luca comes back, they're still going to need 15 minutes a night from 12 minutes a night, whatever might be, because enough other guys are banged up. I watched the first half of this game, I watched on ESPN's feed in the second half, I watched on Spectrums. Spectrum Sportsnet. I like sometimes listening to the different calls. in the different perspectives, but

Starting point is 00:28:35 Tim Legler mentions something in the first half. And Tim Legler, just side note, is a really great analyst, just really observing. He's really good at his job. But he mentioned something with Dalton that jumped out at me because it's a point that I've made a lot during Dalton's struggles, particularly like in the second half of last year and then some of what we saw in the summer league in the preseason.

Starting point is 00:29:01 The idea that as a. much as Dalton enter the league 24, which is a quote unquote old rookie and, you know, seemingly more experienced and seemingly more ready for the NBA, his role in the NBA was much different than what he was being asked to do at Tennessee. He was being asked to do different things and understand certain looks and schemes and timing that he wasn't picking up on. But the point I kept making is this is new for him. People, I think, kept assuming or thinking him because he's older, these are all things that he was doing in college. He should know this. And it really is something new. And Legler brought up that several of Dalton's

Starting point is 00:29:44 baskets in the first half came off him making correct reads and like timings off screens and things like that where it wasn't just about Dalton, you know, hitting a catch and shoot three or just driving straight to the basket or whatever. It was him actually reading. the floor and putting himself in position to score. And that to me, in and of itself, is hopefully something really promising for Dalton. Because if you are, and you express these concerns, Brian, concerned about basketball IQ being a potential hindrance for Dalton, these are maybe signs that he's actually starting to understand better the things that he is now going to be doing as an NBA player.

Starting point is 00:30:29 You certainly hope so. Um, because, you know, the, I think if you're still looking kind of red flagish, um, on this, it's like he's still in a situation right now where because of who's out, he gets to fill a bigger role offensively than he might otherwise. Like you kind of want him to, you know, go do your thing. Like, you've got some space here that you don't, but you don't normally have that with Luca there, with LeBron there, with AR there, with La Ravit. Like, there are too many, you know, There aren't enough shots for for connect to be kind of a volume guy. And so you got to be able to to pick your spots and and and step up and like work as a low volume player kind of still, but still doing that stuff. And ultimately, you know, the one thing he didn't do, you know, all that well on Wednesday.

Starting point is 00:31:25 And they're still not doing all that well is make three pointers. And like he's going to need to do that. He's shooting 18% in three point range. Like all the other stuff is, you know, is is valuable and good. But fundamentally like first and foremost, Dalton Connect has to be a 40% three point shooter to be like a high value player in this league. And so, you know, there's work to do there. But man, alive, he just looks so much better, particularly in that first half on,

Starting point is 00:31:57 on Wednesday and any encouraging sign. I've been very, very critical of Daldon. I'll take any encouraging sign from him, as I'm sure will the Lakers. Well, tonight was also too, because he got baskets at the rim. He had two blocks in this game. It was a reminder that he's on the, certainly with the players available right now, if nothing else, but maybe with the roster at full strength, he's in the upper half of athleticism on a team that is.

Starting point is 00:32:28 He's one of the top three or four guys they have, and I don't think it's even close. Like the guy left the combine with like, I think you had like the second best vertical leap at the combine or something like that. And it's something that it's an area where this team, even at full strength, is lacking. And, you know, LeBron obviously, you know,

Starting point is 00:32:47 once he is back and hopefully doesn't look different post sciatica, like when LeBron wants to crank it up, his athleticism is still off the charts, but he has to be more conscious of how he preserves it. And Luca and Austin, as great a players as they are, like that's never going to be their forte, just like pure athleticism. That's an element that this team lacks.

Starting point is 00:33:15 And if you put Dalton on the floor and he can be a more functional player, it's not just that it'll open up the floor with the shooting that, you know, this team needs and every team needs. He can actually help up the athleticism. specifically, maybe not in every way you'd want. Like, I don't think the athleticism is necessarily going to translate to upper level defense, but it can translate in different ways that are needed. Right.

Starting point is 00:33:40 And, you know, the athleticism is helpful with defense, but it's not, I don't think it's the most important thing. And so, well, look, I mean, it was, it just all and all, and, you know, again, we started with Reeves. We should end with Reeves. like this was another just spectacular game for Reeves in a way that

Starting point is 00:34:04 kind of contrast between the 51 and the 43 in the last couple games and just what he did tonight orchestrating this offense facilitating and then obviously the game winner you know Andy he's my player of the game we can't I cannot

Starting point is 00:34:23 screenshot this and display it on the YouTube because of locked on rules. But if I may quote LeBron James on Twitter after the game with, I want to say I'm eyeballing this, but 10 exclamation marks, A mother bleepin R, and he did not use bleepin. But LeBron's made it pretty clear for a few years. He is a big fan of Austin Reeves.

Starting point is 00:34:51 He very, very much appreciates what Austin brings to the table. Rightly so. All right, so the Lakers get a night off. And then we'll be in Memphis on Friday against a beatable, but not, you know, not a terrible, but a beatable Memphis team. They at least got some guys back on the floor. So we'll see what they can do in that game. But again, every game that they win with Luke on the sidelines,

Starting point is 00:35:21 and they're now two and one in this, it keeps them on schedule. And it's very significant. So again, Lockton, Lakers on YouTube is we can go hang out with over 36,000 subscribers. We back with our show on Friday and see you all after the game as well.

Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Austin Reaves Buzzer Beater Gives Shorthanded Lakers 116-115 Win Over Minnesota

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