Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Luka Dončić Scores 36, Lakers Play Strong Defense, Beat Houston 100-92

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Lakers get 36 points from Luca Donjic, and did they play the best defense they have all season, and a 192 win over the Rockets will tell you 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, sometimes on weekends, definitely on holidays, and now more than once a day, no matter how or where you get your podcast, whether you're a Spotify person, an Apple person.

Starting point is 00:00:42 Maybe you're one of the 37,000-plus subscribers, the Locked-on Lakers on YouTube. No matter how you do it, you're part of making the Locked on Sports Podcast Network, the number one sports podcast network in this or any other known universe. Brian Komenetsky and Andy Kaminetsky, we've covered the Lakers for about 20 years

Starting point is 00:01:00 with the LA Times, with the SPN, with the athletic. And this one, Andy was a lot of fun. Plenty to get into with the Lakers 192 win over Houston. It's significant because it keeps them in the running for yet another tiebreaker over a Western Conference competitor. It puts them in sole possession of third place in the West, and it keeps the good vibes rolling.

Starting point is 00:01:27 We'll break it down, Andy, but I thought it was encouraging about this game beyond the second half defense was the toughness that they, they showed as a group. Because obviously, we'll talk about 36 from Luca. We're getting used to that. I mean, this was a really entertaining game, in part because it was a really bizarre game. Like it was an often bizarre, often ugly,

Starting point is 00:01:53 like haymakers being thrown drunk game, but the consumers were not taken down merely like Red Bull and vodka. This was like Four Loco and Yeagermeister. everybody was drinking in this game. It was insane. And one of the things that I think really helped the Lakers in a game like this that was often so fragmented and difficult for, I mean, Luca was one of the few players in this game that could find any consistent offensive rhythm at all. Like Jabari Smith Jr. in his own right, and that's maybe about it. But the Lakers, among others, things they did better than Houston in this game. I think this is huge. They won the composure battle big time, particularly in the second half of this game. We'll go through. Like there were specific points in this game where Houston, I think it really began with a third quarter flagrant file that Kevin Durant drew or was called for against Austin Reeves drew it. He drew it by standing there

Starting point is 00:03:02 and Kevin Durant giving him a two-hand shove right in front of a ref, just a bad decision. And from that point onward, because the rockets were up six at that point. The Lakers- They got up by as much as 10 at one point. Right. But at this particular moment, they were up six,

Starting point is 00:03:22 and they were outscored down the course of the fourth quarter. I believe it was the remaining five minutes of the fourth quarter, or 455 to be exact. The Lakers went on a 17-8 run. Houston turned the ball over four times, and Amin Thompson got a technical foul on top of the KV flagrant. There was another sequence where Clint Capella, I believe this is in the fourth quarter.

Starting point is 00:03:50 They checked a sequence to see if he was going to get called for a flagrant on a loose ball foul against Jake Laravia. I don't think it deserved the flagrant, and I'm glad they did not call it that. But Capella, the camera showed him a few times, seemed really aggravated just by them checking this at all. I think it was all just part of a sequent, like a cascading sequences that you could see Houston getting unglued during their own adversity. The Lakers dealing with a lot of adversity themselves, but just handling it a hell of a lot better. Yeah, for sure.

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Starting point is 00:04:42 So I promise we're going to talk about Luca because the Lakers do not win this game. They do not score enough without Luca. And he was part of a very strong defensive effort. But like this second half performance, particularly defensive, where the Lakers gave up 23 in the third, outscoring Houston by nine in that quarter to put themselves back in the game,

Starting point is 00:05:11 and then outscore the Rockets 17 to 12. You know how hard it is to Andy to score 17 points in a quarter of an NBA game and win that quarter by five? Do you realize how good you have to be defensively and how hard you have to be playing to outscore the other team by five when you score 17. It's not seventh grade basketball here.

Starting point is 00:05:36 I mean, to be totally honest, the rockets have, the rockets have to be looking at themselves in the locker room going, we held them to 17 points. And we did not win the quarter or the game. Didn't come close to winning the quarter. But I'm saying like they're going to be looking at the exact same thing because the inverse applies to scoring 17. points, no great shakes themselves.

Starting point is 00:06:01 And six of those points came in like the last couple minutes for the Lakers. All from DeAndre Aiton of all people. One of them was a gold ten. That's how crazy things got. I look at this, but I don't want to get bogged down in this point because, you know, we can talk about it more for Wednesday show or whatever. But, you know, we saw what the Lakers did defensively. They pressured Kevin Durant.

Starting point is 00:06:25 They just, you know, lots of different looks. bunch of different coverages. LeBron talked about it after the game, like you can't show Kevin Durant the same look more than a few times because he's a supercomputer. He's going to figure you out and beat you. It seems like the only response the Rockets had when the ball was taken out of Durant's hands was to throw it into the fourth row. And so I say this not to undercut with the Lakers to defensively. point is it's another reminder that when you look at a team like the lakers have some flaws every team's got some flaws no team aside when you get past those first two teams in the west

Starting point is 00:07:10 which are pretty freaking good the that next group of contenders they're all they've all got their their things and right now the lakers are playing better than all of them and so they've put themselves in a great position. This is just, this was a, a character win on the road on a night where they shot horribly from the floor where the one thing you'll say, like the defense they were playing left them open to giving up a lot of offensive rebounds in addition to their natural tendency to do it anyway, and they fought through it. It was just, it was a character win.

Starting point is 00:07:51 This is something I actually tweeted out during the game at Cambrothers, probably like middle or so of the fourth quarter. If the Lakers managed to pull this off, forcing all these turnovers will play a big role in offsetting how they've lost the possession battle on offensive rebounds in second chance points. And as it turns out, the Lakers managed to, when it was all said and done and the dust settled, actually winning the possession battle,

Starting point is 00:08:21 84 to 79, despite 15 offensive rebounds for Houston, 23 second chance points, but they turned Houston over 22 times. Some of that was the direct result of the defense that they were playing. Some of it was just getting Houston on tilt, revealing how much they miss an experienced season point guard. Like, you know, Fred Van Vlitz absence is big for this team. But also, as was from that perspective, Al P. Schengun, who is probably their best point guard.

Starting point is 00:08:58 I was just about to say that. They missed him as a hub as another passer, like another pitch they could throw moving the ball as a target inside. Like there were some passes. Houston made that I was like, look, I realized they don't have an established point guard that makes things difficult. Like, the

Starting point is 00:09:18 whole season has been this patchwork hybrid of Katie, Amin Thompson, and Shangoon. sort of operating like point guards and then putting back their own misses. Like that's really been, not exaggerating, that's really been a lot of their offense. At the same time, there were some of these passes that I'm like, what the F people. Like, I know you don't have a point guard, but it shouldn't be this complicated.

Starting point is 00:09:46 And I think some of it was the Lakers put them on tilt. And as the pressure of this game ratcheted up, the Lakers just, handled it better. I 100% agree with you. I mean, there was a game. I think I got a feeling that Wednesday is going to look different. Both teams shot the ball horribly, you know, from the perimeter. I mean, Houston's not a great three-point shooting team. The Lakers aren't a great three-point shooting team, but the Lakers were 24%, eight of 34, which looked great compared to the of 26 that the Rock has shot. You know, look, Houston shoots the ball a little bit better.

Starting point is 00:10:29 They convert some of these offensive rebounds and a little more efficiently. Like the game could be different, but that's, that is how all of these games between these teams are going to be. So after the break, let's talk about Luca, because his great run continues. And the Lakers continue to use LeBron James in a way that looks quite effective and quite sustainable. It's next. Lock on Lakers is brought to you by five-hour energy drink. Welcome to the five-hour energy flavor draft. We are looking at every aspect of the draft to let you know which tasty flavors are the best,

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Starting point is 00:11:50 or Amazon. So, look, Luca is on a heat. Peter. I think they said on the spectrum broadcast, this is not a number that I knew, that this was, I believe, his 52nd, 30-point game as a Laker, tying him with James Worthy, who was laughing after the game because Luca played 28 games of the Lakers last year. He's played 55, I believe, this year, which means that He has scored 30 or more in all but 30 games that he's played with the Lakers. That's pretty good. Yeah. I mean, it was like when he was already ninth on the all-time franchise record for 40-point games,

Starting point is 00:12:51 as I noted the last time that happened, Luca had, has been here a year and change. Part of that year includes the offseason. And he's, and he was in. injured when he arrived, couldn't play in back-to-backs. He's had some injuries. The stats he put up in the off-season don't count either. He's had some injuries this season.

Starting point is 00:13:14 Like, thankfully, he seems like he's going to qualify for the all-NBA teams and stuff like that. But the point being, he's managed to get this eye on the list in very little time without being like AC Green or something like that, never missing games. It's just, it's astonishing. really is quite amazing. So Luke, I'd say he plays, he has played 55 games this year. He played 28 games last

Starting point is 00:13:40 year. He has scored 52 points or 52 times he's scored 30 points or more tying him with James Worthy who was laughing in the studio afterwards. It took me 14 years to do that. He's been here like an hour. Well, to be fair to big James, he was never the first option. That's true. Fair. He was, you know,

Starting point is 00:13:58 Magic and Kareem and Kube and probably was not as good of a score as Luke, but nonetheless, I mean, like, Big James was a hell of a player. He was. And so I just, he just, he did, both of those things. He once gave me a hug. I felt so safe. I know.

Starting point is 00:14:17 I remember that. Oh, everyone should be hugged by James Worthy one time in their life. Yeah. It is just the warmest, nicest feeling. I, oh, I was just a blanket of the means. I highly recommend. Oh, totally. I mean, what are they, it's like,

Starting point is 00:14:32 He could do like cameo, you know, like when you just leave somebody a voicemail for their birthday, except he just comes and gives you a hug. And that's it. It's better than a recorded video message. I agree. So I'm going to recommend that to him. The next time I happen to be. Hell of a nice guy.

Starting point is 00:14:51 He is, wonderful guy. So, but like the Lakers, Austin Reeves did some good things in this game, could not hit the broad side of a barn with his three-point shot. He missed all eight of the threes he took. He, like a lot of Lakers made up, found ways to be a positive contributor in other ways, strong defensively, took some charges, had some steals,

Starting point is 00:15:17 got to the line, made some good past. Yeah, a lot of stuff. It was a terrible shooting night, but a not a bad basketball night for AR. But it just the Lakers had a consistent offensive presence in this game in Luca that even the Rockets with Kevin Durant could not match. And that was one of the things that tilted this game. And it wasn't a game where Luca needed, you know, put up 36, but needed 34 shots to do it. You know, it was a very efficient 14 of 27 from the floor.

Starting point is 00:15:53 and just the level that he's played at over his last 10 games or so is pretty impressive to behold, especially when you consider that he is, it's not just on one side of the ball. You can tell his defense has improved as well. Yeah, I mean, we've been talking about this for a while. Like it's going on now about three weeks. Like, Luca's defense has been much, much better. It's often been, like, forget just passable. It's often been very good.

Starting point is 00:16:28 It's been part of a group that has just across the board worked better defensively. I mean, across the board, frankly, the effort and the attention to detail and just the urgency has been better. And when this stuff happens, nobody wants to be the weak link. Like if nobody's playing defense, you will see that become really contagious because defense is the hard. is the harder, more thankless part of the gig, unless you're somebody that makes their money playing defense or somebody that gets accolades like Marcus Smart a few years ago, defensive player of the year.

Starting point is 00:17:06 Like that sort of thing. For the most part, it's the thankless part of the gig. But you don't want to stand out as the guy not doing it, if everyone else is. And once everyone starts doing it, it does really become contagious. I give JJ credit for, I think, switching up more of the pitches that I think it was something I wanted to see for a while. I felt like they were often running too much of the same just constant switching and switching in a way that didn't feel particularly effective or aggressive or physical.

Starting point is 00:17:43 And often I thought bled into this group's too laid back at times for its own good collective mentality. but the type of defense that he's having them play, I think actually brings out a lot good in them because it forces them to be better. And I think they are much more up to the challenge, even if the roster as a collective does not scream Oklahoma City Thunder or bad boy pistons or whatever, like, or even 2020 Lakers. Like, just the challenge of doing more, I think brings out more in them.

Starting point is 00:18:21 Absolutely. totally agree with you and then you know you look at it as well and just the the positive trend of the big three putting you know having a you know positive minutes on the floor continues this from our friend there is Soriano Lakers starters finish the game plus 11 14 22 of game action 134.5 offensive rating 103.7 defensive rating that is a 30.8 net that's good With their big three of Luca, Austin, and Braun on the floor, the Lakers were plus 10 in 2346, a 22.2 offensive rating,

Starting point is 00:19:01 102.3 defensive rating, or 19.9, basically a plus 20 net. And, like, LeBron seems to have settled in quite comfortably into this, like a legit off-ball role where he, you know, tends to only have it when the Lakers are running in transition. Other than that, he's finishing a lot of plays. He's establishing low post position. He's catching on the move. He's doing stuff like that when all three of them are out on the floor.

Starting point is 00:19:32 When he's out, when he's playing with the reserves, it's a different story. But with those three guys, and there were multiple plays in this game, where LeBron had a very efficient 18, where he, you know, he finished an alley-Upe from Austin Reeves from like 35 feet.

Starting point is 00:19:47 It was a great play. But I think the Lakers' first or second bucket of the game was LeBron filling the lane with Austin. And Austin hits him for a dunk. And like he had a dunk in transition. And like they are finding ways to get him the ball in the most advantageous spots. And you cannot guard LeBron when he's running around like that and cutting. He's too good because he sees things you don't. Yeah, I think it also, I mean, we talked about this before.

Starting point is 00:20:20 I think part of the formula didn't necessarily come through tonight, although collectively the group played the defense to have them win. I think for the most part, they're going to need more counting stats production from, you know, Austin Reeves to begin, but also from DeAndre Aiton, who we'll talk about later in the show. Oh, yeah. Quiet for 40 to 45 minutes, massive in the last three minutes. But, you know, they need more counting stats. from Rui, they need more counting stats from Luke Kinnard has quietly gone very quiet the last few games.

Starting point is 00:20:55 You know, I think over the course of the rest of the season and whatever series they're in, for this role to work for LeBron, you know, sort of lessened, picking his spots, looking to find his spots, often having the spots manufactured in certain respects for him, because like you were talking about, more offball opportunities, there's a big. bit of a it takes a village, I think, to make that work. Otherwise, you won't be getting enough. Like, and I don't mean necessarily specifically from LeBron. I just know, I know what you mean. But tonight they made it happen through the defense.

Starting point is 00:21:32 And, you know, if you can hold a team to 92 points, it makes it a lot easier not to worry about the counting stats. 12 points, the fourth quarter. And if the Lakers, again, I just want to put, put that number out there. The Lakers scored 17 points to the fourth quarter and won it. by five. Speaking of DeAndre Aiden, Andy, get that man some coffee because coffee is for closers.

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Starting point is 00:25:22 You get an ad-free version of the show. You get into the Discord where you can talk to me, talk to Andy, talk to other hosts. Check it out. Code is March. Do it before Thursday. Get yourself into the Discord NCAA tournament thing. I, you know, I make, you know, everybody, like everybody, you sort of watch DeAndre Aten, he's like a canary and a coal mine for how the Lakers are playing and the energy and all that kind of stuff. He struggled with the, I would say, much maligned, but really, well, he maligned by him.

Starting point is 00:25:53 Clint Capella in the first half. Capella starting for Shen Goon definitely had his way and frustrated Aiton. Capella can still defend. I mean, he's not much of an offensive player anymore, but he can still defend. And he was frustrating DA. There's no question. It was a quiet first half overall. I thought you could see signs that he was a little more engaged and, you know,

Starting point is 00:26:16 kind of moving his feet. He's trying. JJ talked about it after the game. He's like, we can see you trying. It's not working. It's a struggle right now, but we can see your try. trying. But man alive, I was sitting there, you know, when the Lakers were struggling in the middle of the third, fourth quarter, I was like, really hope he brings Aiton back. Like, I feel

Starting point is 00:26:33 like they need him on the floor. And they did, about five minutes left. And he was excellent in those five minutes. I mean, it's, first of all, just the ability to grab some rebounds or put a body on somebody from Houston. Like, Houston is one of the best rebounding teams in the league. But even with that acknowledged, they were just killing the Lakers on the glass in this game. Aiton in the last three minutes of the game, he had an offensive rebound put back on a miss by Luca that got scored a golden. Then he had a putback dunk on a LeBron miss, slipped a screen, got fed an easy pass that got a baby hook basket, just a wide open lane. And JJ said afterwards, I mean, this is very similar. to what happened down the stretch of the win over Denver,

Starting point is 00:27:25 where Aiton spent most of that game not particularly impactful at all, but he was huge in overtime. You could argue he was the Lakers' best player in overtime or the most important player in overtime. JJ said afterwards he was pretty insistent when he was talking with his staff, I want to put DeAndre back in there. And I think, like you said, I think JJ recognizes the idea of if DA is putting out this sort of effort, even if you feel like this late in his career or this

Starting point is 00:27:57 far into his career, the effort should automatically be there. It is what it is. You want positive reinforcement to reward it. But it was also a case of, again, they needed a larger body out there. Right. I mean, I think it was more. I think the positive reinforcement to me is a happy byproduct of, you know, he rewarded. their move there. But the, the, the, the, the motivation there was they needed a bigger body on the floor. Sure. And I mean, again, I thought his, he's, I thought his minutes at the beginning of the third quarter,

Starting point is 00:28:33 you could see, you could see sort of the germs of like the seeds of what was going to come in the fourth. But I do think, go, you know, he sat for a while, like a long stretch of time. But that's also why it wasn't necessarily. even with what was missing or wanting a body or whatever, he was cold. I mean, he'd just been sitting for a long time. That's what that JJ said afterwards. It wasn't just a matter of, you know, are we thinking which matchups?

Starting point is 00:29:03 It's like DA's been sitting. Like, you know, coaches will more often now than they used to, but they'll divide up the game, not just in game minutes, but in real minutes. Like sometimes the third quarter takes a really long time, sometimes the fourth quarter. And that fourth quarter especially kind of got bogged down. there were multiple reviews. It took a minute to get. And so he was just literally sitting for a while.

Starting point is 00:29:28 But you can see based on the Denver game, based on his teammates' reaction to how he played in this game, that something has turned back over from that stretch in the middle of the season when there was sort of that malaise. And it looks significantly more like it did at the beginning of the season, when Aiton was quite active and quite good on more nights than not. I think it's actually an interesting point in the chat from Mr. TD 331 that JJ may have learned from benching Jackson Hayes last year during the playoffs

Starting point is 00:30:05 and like going as extreme with wearing his trust on his sleeve. And, you know, we talked about during that series against the wolves, like even if the Lakers had managed to pull out that win, where JJ played the starting five the entire second half, which was just a loud show of lacking faith in Jackson Hayes and Jared Vanderbilt and Gabe Vincent, who almost got put back into the game but didn't. And Jordan Goodwin and down the line, even if they had won that game, JJ would have to have a serious talk with his bench because he made it just so blatantly clear.

Starting point is 00:30:48 I do not trust it, you guys. And there were more games to be played. And, you know, JJ has at times, you know, Vanderbilt is in some ways kind of a bellwether for the guy that JJ loudly just does not trust. And I'm not looking to litigate it. But if nothing else, he may be recognizing, I got, I can't, I have to limit this in some ways. Like I have to either accept certain imperfections. Tonight, you know, it may have been made a little bit easier in that there was no other obvious choice to put in instead of the X. Jackson, for as as sort of marginally effective as Aiton was early in the game, Jackson was far less.

Starting point is 00:31:35 And their small lineups were just getting hammered. And it's not like the small lineups were getting hammered, but also putting up big points on the other end. Like they needed more size on the interior too. And like DA, it's interesting to just watch DA because like they get him out on the perimeter, which is actually a lot of how you could see they were intentionally trying to move him away from the basket, knowing full well that a good offensive rebounding team taking away their, you know, biggest, you know, guy around the rim was going to have an impact. But he, Aiden moves his feet pretty well on the perimeter.

Starting point is 00:32:13 He can handle those switches and stays engaged, stays in a position. You don't blow by him, you know, super easy. His reaction to a stop, like a pull up to contest is pretty good. When he's engaged, like his movement is solid and you can play a conventional lineup. And it is to the Lakers advantage if Aiton, like to their significant advantage. if Aiton is a very, very playable player in big games down the stretch as we get into the end of March, into April and in the playoffs. Well, I mean, to your point, one of the sequences, one of the many sequences where they doubled Kevin Durant up high and really just put Houston's offense on tilt, Katie, just had a difficult time getting the ball out anywhere cleanly. and the offense did not respond.

Starting point is 00:33:12 When he managed to not turn the ball over in the process, the offense did not respond well from there, but there was a sequence where DA and Luca, two of the guys often spotlighted as the defensive weaknesses or defensive problem points for this team, like certainly heading into the season at the very least, they doubled up KD really high and forced a turnover that the Lakers ended up scoring on.

Starting point is 00:33:38 Like they he was he was part of that process. And I if nothing else, I think JJ recognizes what it means to Aiton to be put back in those moments. He's not doing it for charity. You know, he said, I don't think he had a lot of better options or more glaringly obvious options than DA anyway. But that doesn't mean you necessarily go with him either, especially when, you know, these moments of extreme urgency. and two games in a row, DeAndre Aiton has been really big in crunch time moments, like one of the best players on the floor. Yeah, we'll see what happens.

Starting point is 00:34:22 You know, tomorrow the Lakers, you know, should, you know, they get the day off in Houston. You know, they had basically a full roster, no Maxie Claibah in this one. But other than that, a full roster. He's not even traveling with the team. No, not yet. So he's, you're five, you give him. most of a week before they even really try to get them moving around

Starting point is 00:34:42 again. So, but they, you know, you're talking about your third string center there. So the Lakers are more or less a full team. We'll see what happens if they get any updates on Schengen, but, you know, I think you wanted at minimum to go into these games and have a split.

Starting point is 00:34:57 Lakers have already got that. Now you can get greedy and look towards Wednesday and the opportunity to get that tiebreaker and really put a bit of a, I want to say a hammerlock, with 15 games or 16 games left or whatever it is. But put themselves in very strong position to finish at worst as a four-seat. So those are some nice whole cards to have all those tiebreakers.

Starting point is 00:35:21 That's huge. For sure. To have two of them is already good. To have three of them would be really, really significant. Locked on Lakers on YouTube is we're going to hang out with over 37,000 subscribers. We are so close to 38,000. Tell a friend, see if you can get us there. We'll see everyone.

Starting point is 00:35:38 Well, we'll see everyone later on Tuesday. That's, uh, that's, yeah, have a good one.

Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Luka Dončić Scores 36, Lakers Play Strong Defense, Beat Houston 100-92

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