Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - LeBron Out, and Lakers Offense Continues to Sputter, Lose 97-87 to Timberwolves

Episode Date: December 14, 2024

Give the Lakers credit. They played hard Friday in Minnesota, and particularly in the second half, they played defense. But the trend of horrible offense, interrupted by a couple competent performances, continued as the purple and gold fell 97-87, their eighth loss in 11 games. The Lakers turned the ball over 11 times in the first quarter alone, en route to 21 for the game. They shot 38% from the field, 29% from 3-point range, and were only 11-17 from the free throw line. It was as inept a showing as you'll find. Only one starter was over 50% from the floor (Max Christie, at 5-9... and he compensated for that by turning the ball over four times). Austin Reaves was very out of rhythm after missing his last five games. D'Angelo Russell was 2-10 from the floor, and missed six of seven 3's. The list goes on. On a night where LeBron James wasn't with the team—and no, JJ Redick doesn't know when he'll be back—the Lakers simply can't absorb this much negative production on that side of the floor and expect to win. It doesn't get any easier Sunday, with a hot Memphis team coming to the Crypt. And at some point, if his absence continues folks will need an update on James and why he's not with the team. Is it the foot? Burnout? And how long will he be away?  HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky  Your favorite podcast now has a newsletter! In One-stop for ultimate team and league coverage delivered right to your in box. Sign up for free now, at lockedondaily.com.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!RobinhoodRobinhood Gold provides the privileges of a high net worth for any net worth. These generous benefits are now available for only $5/month. The new Gold Standard is here with Robinhood Gold. Sign up at robinhood.com/gold.Mint MobileTo get the new customer offer and your new 3-month premium wireless plan for just $15 a month, go to mintmobile.com/lockedonnba. See Mint Mobile for details.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNBA for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelYou can start the season with a big return on FanDuel. New customers can place a FIVE DOLLAR bet and you’ll get started with ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS - if you win your first FIVE DOLLAR BET ! Visit FANDUEL.COM to get started. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey, everyone, welcome to a special bonus episode of Locked on Lakers for a Saturday. Brian Komeneski, Andy Komenetsky, short-handed Lakers can't score in Minnesota, and they waste one of their best defensive efforts of the year. 97-87. We'll break it down next. You are Locked-on Lakers. Your daily Los Angeles Lakers podcast, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Thanks to everybody for making Locked on Lakers first listen to every day.

Monday through Friday, and obviously, as you can tell, sometimes on Saturdays, this is where you can go where I will never be behind a paywall, Andy. And you know what was behind a paywall tonight, Andy, on Friday night, the Lakers shooting. It was apparently behind a paywall, the Lakers, because they are notoriously cheap, would not pony up for the offense in Minnesota. They didn't fly it out there. 26,000 subscribers, Andy, to the YouTube channel, wondering what the heck is going on with a Lakers offense that seems allergic to the 100 point mark or even sometimes the 90 point mark.

They lose 9787 in Minnesota on Friday night. They fall to 13 and 12. And good God, this was a terrible, just a terrible offensive game. I understand no LeBron James away from the team still, JJ Redick, no explanation, or really any idea of when he'll be back, which we can talk about maybe before we're done. but okay, you're still like professional basketball players. This was awful. Laker shot, excuse me, 38% from the field, 29 from behind the arc with way too many quick threes on top of the misses.

Like DeAngelo Russell was the biggest culprit along these lines, but he had company. And on top of it, and this was really the killer. I think this is the biggest killer in terms of the Lakers, not even brink. breaking 90 points, much less 100, even acknowledging what you miss from LeBron as both a score and a facilitator, 21 turnovers. They had 11 turnovers in the first quarter alone, which is, I mean, in and it's selfish. Like 11 turnovers, that can be a game's worth. That's a 44 turnover pace, Andy. Like, they had given up 10 points off turnovers with four minutes left in the first.

first quarter. So you're talking about right there, 21 empty possessions. It might have even been considered 22, depending on which statistician you go to, because I've seen it listed as 21 or 22. Either way, way too many. Seven Lakers had two or more turnovers. Austin Reeves must have bribed the wolves statistician, like the local guy, because he only has two. There was one point in the game. you actually texted me and you said, how does Reeves only have one? I said, it's a typo. He has 10.

I mean, I don't know how. It's almost like there were sections of the game. There was one sequence where they, you know, muffed up, that looked like a pick and roll attempt. And, you know, the ball's rattling around. AD picks it up.

And Rui, who standing on the baseline, cuts the basket. Ad hits him for a basket and, you know, easy dunk. It was like they almost like they decided that was a play. And they tried it a couple, like a couple possessions later,

except they just didn't get the ball that time. It's like, oh, let's do that. We almost turn it over and it leads to an open bucket. But just you can't, you can't shoot what they shot, you know, 38%

and turn the ball over that much. You might be able to get by on a night where you're shooting 52% turning the ball over that much. Or you can get away with 38% maybe if you turn the ball over nine times. But you're not going to win if you score or if you do both of those things at the same time. And it's just the ineptness of this offense,

really with whatever combination you're putting, you take away the really the Atlanta game. I guess maybe Portland, but Portland is really a lousy team. If you take away the Atlanta game, And they really haven't played a good offensive game. It seems like against a halfway decent team, and I'm not sure when. No, the offense has really become a struggle,

which is obviously going to be a problem if this is a team with a defensive ceiling that has been known and attempted to be offset this entire season. Like we knew heading into the year that they could only likely be so good defensively. I mean, we've heard JJ Reddick, we've heard all. Austin Reeves acknowledge the personnel is not there to be high-end defensively, particularly with Jared Vanderbilt not available. And in his own right, at least on the defensive glass, Christian Wood not available. Ironically, this was the game where the Lakers actually wasted their defense.

Like in the first half, I thought there was a combination of the Lakers playing hard defensively and the wolves with a lot of very questionable shot selection. The second half, the Lakers were just flat out really good defensive. Yeah, they worked well. I mean, Christian Coloco. Loco was best game easily, I mean, hasn't played that many. Easily his best game of this season since. He was at one point plus 15 in a game where the Lakers spent most of it

trailing double digits. He had six rebounds, two blocks, a steel. Like I tweeted out at Cam Brothers, the Lakers somehow managed to pull this game off. Christian Coloco gets the game ball. Like he was terrific. I mean, Anthony Davis had

moments of just either altering shots or like swallowing up. 80 around the rim was phenomenal. Gabe Vincent had several possessions where he was bodying up a bigger guy like Julius Randall and stood his ground and forced missed. Cam Reddish was really disrupted.

with deflections and steals. Like even DeAngelo Russell, who overall had a very poor game, Dilo had a fantastic sequence where he got back and challenged in the keel, Alexander Walker, dunk attempt into a miss, like just getting back in transition. Like almost everybody on this team had at least one defensive standout and, you know, standout moment. And many Lakers had several. yet the inability to do anything offensively just tossed it.

And you completely. And you know, you talk about the waste. It was a waste of a defensive effort. And it was a waste of, I think quite frankly, about an opportunity that Minnesota provided them. Something the Lakers have done before where, like,

you feel like, you're kind of, as to use the expression, I know you like, kind of playing with your food a little bit and giving a team an opportunity to get back into it. And the Lakers, I never felt even when they,

they, they, every time, Minnesota was so inept offensively, too, that every time the Lakers were working hard, and every time the Lakers got, you know, hit two shots in a row, they got to within like five. So it was not like this game was out of reach until the last couple of minutes. But you just, you look at, go look at, you look down at the percentages. And 10 of 21 for AD, I'm not going to, you know, kill a guy 23 and 11 with three blocks doing the work that he did,

particularly defensively. But, you know, I heard Michael Thompson, I was in the car getting my kids from school, and I heard Michael Thompson on the pregame show on ESPN where you do a lot of work, 17 ESPN. He said, like, this is a game where they needed 30 from AD. And I think that's right. And they didn't get it.

And, you know, 23 points, 10 of 21, one of five from three, only got to the free throw line five times. Wasn't playing downhill. I get it. Rudy Gobert. he's somebody that you actually don't want to be like, you know, posting up and stuff like that. But, you know, just it's, you need more there.

Rui was 4 of 13, gave Vincent two of seven. Reeves, you mentioned, six of 16. Max Christie actually probably had their, their steadiest offensive night under the radar 15 points, five of nine from the floor. You go to the bench. But he also had four turnovers. Well, I mean, so did all. Sure, but I'm just saying like,

It's indicative of how things were going because it's Arvel Treyori had three. He didn't even play. It's not like Max Christie is a high usage player for him to have four turnovers. That's a lot. And Max to his credit after the game, he said that's way too many for me. Right. And so I just, you know, from a shooting standpoint, five of nine, you know, two or three

from three point range, three of three from the line. It's like, okay, you're getting production from Christi inserted into the starting lineup, but then you go to the bench and Reddish missed all three of the threes he took. Russell missed six of the seven threes he took, including a sequence, and this is really what I think did the Lakers in near the end. Took a three. Lakers got the missed. Lakers got the rebound, you know, tap out, misses short. Lakers get the rebound. It goes back to Russell a third time, misses short again. The Lakers must be the 28th, 29, 30th ranked team. in the league and got to have it three point percentage.

Like I realize that's kind of a mushy thing, but we all know what it is. Like you're sitting on your couch going, oh, that's got to go in and it doesn't. Like they've hit like two of those this season. And, you know, connect while, you know, he, like everyone played really hard, had nine rebounds. He missed all three of his attempts from behind the arc continuing and trying to talk about his splits from behind the arc, home versus road, are dramatic. They are really, really dramatic. I have not looked lately, but I cannot imagine that they are any better than the last

time I looked at anything. They are likely worse. Worse. And it also gets to this idea with whether you're talking about Delo and some defensive contributions again, didn't play a good game. I'm not trying to paint it that way. but, you know, Reddish with some good defense, you know, solid defense. I think Reddish for what his role is actually had a pretty good game.

He did fine, but like, Connect, you know, eight rebounds. So that's good. You know, hey, nine rebounds. You're contributing in other ways and doing that, you know, Rui Hachemura had his physicality praised by JJ Redick at the end of the game. That is all fine. And it is important and is well and good. But Dalton Connect needs to score.

DeAngelo Russell needs to hit his. shots. Austin Reeves can play hard and he did have 18 points, but he's got to be more efficient than 6 of 16. Like these guys are not, you know, you can't particularly when LeBron's not available. There is no space for sort of moral victory stat lines from guys where they're doing a few other things, but not the thing that they are relied on to do. And in the meantime, as far as that question of when is LeBron going to be back. The answer is, we don't know because... To quote that George Washington sketch that they do on Saturday Live, nobody knows.

J.J. Redick was asked before the game if he knew when LeBron was going to be back. And he does not. He said no. I mean, we were not there, obviously, in Minnesota. But the way I saw it relayed over social media was just... I heard the clip. Nope. No.

And that, if nothing else... With no elaboration. That, if nothing else, does not sound promising for Sunday's game against Memphis. And then, you know, obviously there are three days off before the game in Sacramento. But we are also reaching a place where the Lakers need to provide some clarity for what is going on. Like, this is an awfully long time. Assuming they have any. Assuming they have, you're correct, fair enough.

But the one thing they can't say is, I don't know, LeBron hasn't told us anything. Like that they cannot announce. Like I know you and I are all for transparency and believe the Lakers would be smarter to communicate better and more freely. That's not something they can say. You can't say, you know, he hadn't told us either. But even specificity in terms of what is behind. Because like the idea, at least the way it seemed presented initially when LeBron ended up missing. the game against Portland and even leading up to that when there was the talk about,

you know, all 82 and whatnot, there seemed to be an optimistic spin that this time off, you know, this extended break that the whole team was getting, but LeBron in particular, that whether physically with the sore foot mentally, for a variety of reasons, season 22, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, that we would be heading in more of a definitive direction of where do we go from here. And at least in the way Reddick is talking about it, and maybe he's just, there's more that he and the Lakers know and they just simply are not elaborating,

it's becoming more mysterious. It's already pretty mysterious. He went from all 82 to like not even there in like a week. I'm here for all of it too. I'm not even here at all. So I suspect, you know, the, if, Look, if it's the foot, it's the foot.

And, you know, fine. And even if it's the foot slash he needs, you know, to a little bit of time to recharge, that's an explanation as well. But at some point, you are going to have to explain why LeBron James is not with the team. Remember, well, LeBron is going to explain why LeBron's not with the team. Someone's got to explain it. Yeah, his second stint in Cleveland, LeBron took like a two-week break from the team, essentially. like just time away from the Cavaliers and, you know, eventually returned in that team,

like all of LeBron's Cavaliers teams in the second stint. They went to the Eastern Conference playoffs. It worked out fine. My point is this is not unprecedented in terms of if it is kind of a break from the team, we just kind of need to know, is it a break from the team? A lot of fans want to take a break from this team too. They are three and eight in their last 11 games. They are now 13 and 12.

They are in the 10th spot, a very precarious place to be with the team that they, that is chasing them by a half game, at least as of Friday night. The Sacramento Kings have two games coming up against the Kings this week. So the next five for the Lakers, including a Pistons team that beat them the last time they went and played them, are really tough, starting with Sunday's game against Memphis, which obviously we will be here to recap when it's all said and done. we wish everybody a happy weekend, but we can't go until we tell you about this. They're locked on Lakers, to begin with brought to by Robin Hood. With Robin Hood Gold, you don't need a silver spoon to eat up the financial favors of the 1% Robin Hood Gold allows others to get the rates and perks usually reserved for the high society. Now the resourceful individual with Robin Hood Gold can earn the very liberal rate of 4.25%

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