Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Luka Dončić's 44 Point Triple-Double, Big 4th Quarter Give Lakers a Win Over Utah

Starting point is 00:00:00 The defense was terrible, but a win is a win, right? Lakers beat Utah will break down next. You are Locked on Lakers. Your daily Los Angeles Lakers podcast, part of the Lockedon Podcast Network, your team every day. Thanks everybody for making Lockedon Lakers first listen to every day, Monday through Friday, no matter how where you get your podcasts,

Starting point is 00:00:30 you are part of making the Lockedon Podcast Network, the number one podcast, sports podcasting network, in the universe. The Lakers, Andy, they won. That's about the nicest thing that I can say about them. The offense looked pretty good. They scored a lot of points. But the commitment to defense, I think, that JJ Redick was looking for

Starting point is 00:00:59 and that they had been talking about after a really bad stretch on that side of the ball, did not materialize against the U.J.S. Utah Jazz, maybe you could say in the second half, it got a little better. I would say the fourth quarter, right. I think it got better in the fourth quarter. I think Utah missed more shots in the third quarter than the Lakers defense actually got better. I agree. Totally.

Starting point is 00:01:27 143 to 135 is the final score. Hope you all took the over. It was just, it was one of these games where the Lakers, just seemed content to kind of run with Utah. I think they thought it was going to be a little bit easier to do that. Utah spent most of this game out in front, and it was only a late push by the Lakers. They started to tighten the game up in the end of the third,

Starting point is 00:01:58 really took the game over in the fourth. But overall, it was an uninspiring win, despite some gaudy statistics from Luca, you know, good statistical night from LeBron, and genuinely good contributions from the bench. Yeah, the bench and Marcus Smart. Those guys really help step up in this game. I mean, it's funny, what ended up happening in this game,

Starting point is 00:02:23 albeit in a win, was the exact scenario that we had talked about heading into this game that if the Lakers did not take this seriously, it could become more of a game than it should be for the reasons that we talked about. We said Utah will work you on the offensive glass if you are not conscious of keeping them off it. I'm pretty sure Utah's first three baskets came by way of second chance points, offensive rebounds. We also said the Lakers, if they take care of the, you know, if they turn the ball over,

Starting point is 00:03:01 that's going to be on them, not Utah, because Utah can't turn you over. And to the Lakers credit, and this was a big reason they managed to stay in this game despite defending from a lawn chair, they only turned the ball over one time in the first half. They only had seven turnovers in the game. They did a very good job not completely shooting themselves in the foot, like, with an Uzi, but they were definitely using a handgun. And either way, they were just, they seemed extremely content to just, as you put it, Brian, put out the minimum effort.

Starting point is 00:03:45 They cranked it up in the fourth quarter. And even then, though, Marcus Smart filed out in this game. I don't think it was a coincidence that Utah started to make a push in the fourth when Marcus Smart filed out. I think that helped. And then I think, you know, they, I was. about this close in the fourth quarter texting you and saying, you know, they're doing a much better job of continuing to run an offense down the stretch. You know, the lead was up to, you know,

Starting point is 00:04:14 10, 11 points. And, you know, they had taken control of the game. And it really looked like they were going to kind of keep it. And then they, you know, they strung together two or three pretty bad possessions, I thought, and gave the jazz an opportunity to, um, to, to, um, to, you know, they strung together. to make the game closer down the stretch than it needed to be. And so I think, you know, I mean, it's not that, I'll tell you this. I understand. How many years have we been doing this now getting close to 20? Something like that, give or take.

Starting point is 00:04:52 We've been covering the Lakers, whether for the L.A. Times, for ESPN, for the athletic, for 710 ESPN now locked on Lakers. 20 years, give or take. I understand how the NBA works. It's a long season. Gabe talked about it in that clip we played for Thursday's show. It is impossible to be 100% dialed in all the time for every game. There are strategic considerations to it.

Starting point is 00:05:25 The Lakers were playing without a couple guys, especially DeAndre Aiton, who can make a difference for them, in terms of their defensive integrity, and so on and so on and so on. All caveats aside here, the level, this wasn't cruise control defense, like we could do a little bit better, we could, you know, whatever, that you see high-end teams play. This was terrible defense. It was awful.

Starting point is 00:05:53 It was Utah shooting, you know, 70% for much of the first. half. And while they were shooting six, they were shooting halfway through the third quarter, 62% from behind the arc from behind. I'm not even just talking overall from the field or from two. They were shooting 62. Like to put this in perspective, Utah finished the game 49% from behind the arc, which is pretty damn high. That's because the Lakers turned things up in the fourth quarter. That was them being relatively mindful of the three point line in the fourth quarter. Yeah, and look, I mean, Isaiah Collier hit a couple open ones. You know, they let Nurkich take one.

Starting point is 00:06:40 Like, these are not good volume three point shooters and stuff. Okay, fine. But like, they're also the backdoor plays and, you know, the easy penetration to get to the rim. And just stuff that was just too simple. And, you know, JJ Radick was not happening. with the with the quality of of their defensive play like it was it was not it was not like he was hiding that behind platitudes of you know we're short-handed and we're playing hard you know it's altitude like he was this was flat out not good enough and you know it was good enough

Starting point is 00:07:21 to get the job done against a you know improving Utah team a team that works hard that I think looks like they're going to play, trying to maybe make a play in or give themselves some real games to play for the young players. They're also playing without Laurie Marketing in this game. And so it's not like the Lakers were just lit up by, you know, an all-star caliber player on his own. Like this was a Utah team playing without its best player.

Starting point is 00:07:51 I thought it was really telling that after the game, JJ was asked a question about Luca's offensive night and Luca was fantastic on that side of the 45 points on 14 to 28 shooting. This is how bad the defense was, Andy. Like, we really can't headline other than if we wanted to just sort of, you know, throw red meat to the Luca fans. We can't even headline with a 45.14 of 28 from the floor, 13 of 16, 11 rebounds, 14 assists, 5.6.

Starting point is 00:08:23 11 rebounds, 14 assists, 5 steals. Like we can't headline with that because the team defense was that bad. Against just one turnover. I mean, Luca offensively in this game, other than from behind the arc, 4 of 12, I will continue to say he's taking too many threes. I just think Luca is taking more threes than are necessary. I think they're often threes that take the team. out of rhythm as a whole.

Starting point is 00:08:55 And sometimes it feels like Luca is just trying to shoot his way into a three-point groove, as opposed to just scoring, which Luca can do from anywhere on the floor. I mean, I recognize the idea that once he starts hitting that step back, he basically becomes unguardable. Yeah, I understand it, but I'm just saying. I actually would go on.

Starting point is 00:09:15 We can talk about it later in the show. I have a different view of sort of sometimes why he gets into that mode. But yeah, go on. But I think he's just, Luca is averaging around 12-3s a game and shooting around 32, 31 percent. Like, it's just too many empty, in my opinion, too many empty offensive possessions for a guy that is so good scoring so many other places around the floor. But anyway, I mean, Luca's control, though, over the offense tonight was nothing short of masterful.

Starting point is 00:09:48 Again, 14 to 28 from the field, 45 points, 14 assists against just 1.4.5. turnover. Great night, by the way, for LeBron. On that side of the ball, 28 points, efficient, eight of 17, missed all five of his three-pointers. That's going to happen sometimes. But he made 12 of 13 free throws, which means he took 13 free throws. He had 10 assists like Luca, limited his turnovers, only two. So highly efficient ball sharing from your two primary ball movers. The offense was fine. There were any problems with the offense.

Starting point is 00:10:23 Well, that's what I'm getting at. It was telling to me that JJ, and I do not remember the exact question that he was asked, but it was something about Luca's offensive night. Right. And he asked about Luca's offense and got a very different answer, and we'll get to that next. Locked on Lakers is brought to you by DoorDash. The season's heating up. DoorDash has a way to keep fans in their bag the whole way through, whether you are watching the highlights, the tunnel fits are just your favorite player.

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Starting point is 00:13:20 So, you know, the question that was asked of JJ Redick after the game was something about Luca's offense. Again, 45 points, 50% from the floor, made it to the free throw line constantly throughout this game. 14 assists, one turn, like all that stuff was great. What was the response? Luka, JJ mentioned that Luca's, you know, offense was pretty good through much of the night, but there was a little bit of waning on the defensive end. He worked an assessment of Luca's defense into a question about the offense. And so it is clear, JJ went out of his way to say that Luca was not the only problem defensively.

Starting point is 00:14:11 He said this was what went on for everybody during this game. So it wasn't, it was not a. about him trying to call out Luca specifically. Right. I think he was trying to call out the team. That being said, Lucas' defense in this game was really bad. And you and I have been generally proponents of the idea that while Luca is not, you know, a shutdown defender, he's not, I don't think he is as bad for the most part as his reputation.

Starting point is 00:14:41 This was a game where I don't know if playing without Austin is starting to catch up to him in terms of some of the responsibility, or it was a night where he was disinterested or both. But he was one of the primary candidates in terms of losing shooters, losing backdoor cuts, leaving guys open. Again, he had a lot of company. The first five or six minutes of this game for Rui were brutal. But other than, you know, the usual suspects that you know are going to be putting in the effort

Starting point is 00:15:16 defensively regardless. Like there was there were a lot of lapses to go around. But I'm, I think it is telling that JJ mentioned this in a question about Luca's offense. I think because we are coming off the heels of that meeting that JJ had with Luca and LeBron and Lucas seemed extremely receptive about the idea of we need you guys to set a tone defensively. And I, and I think it was.

Starting point is 00:15:43 Oh, you mean, you mean now like right away. Tonight. We thought you meant just over the course of the season. It's like we're going to build toward this, right? It's a goal, long-term goal. And I imagine JJ found it disappointing that this is the way that they approach tonight's game for the first three quarters after all of the talk about defensive intensity and urgency and all that stuff. it wasn't there tonight until the fourth quarter. And I, you know, and for a team with Aspre,

Starting point is 00:16:22 I'm sure there are going to be people who look at this and you're like, you guys are spending way too much time talking about you're picking on the wrong guys. He scored 45 points. He had 14. It's like, all true. And he had company and if he doesn't perform the way he does. Oh, he was not the only problem. They're not going to stick in the game long enough to make the assist.

Starting point is 00:16:42 So it's crystal clear. was not the only problem. And, you know, I see somebody noting in the comment section, this is actually where I was going. You know, the comment section would do with the show, you know, if you join the show on the YouTube channel when we go live, that Luca had five steals. And I pointed that out when I mentioned a stat line. And some of these were good, just legitimately good defensive plays, you know, good anticipation, good hands, all that stuff. but there are times, you know, steals for so long were seen as a kind of proxy for good defense.

Starting point is 00:17:19 And I think we've moved past that sort of as a basketball culture of being like, oh, this guy had two or three or four steals. That means he's good at defense. It can, but it doesn't always. And I think with Luca, he always. It's not that steals really quick. It's not that steals don't matter because you were quite literally ending a possession for a new team. Like they do matter for defense. But they can hide certain things.

Starting point is 00:17:48 There are times when steals are actually a product of defensive players cheating and playing kind of outside the framework of what the team is trying to do or taking chances. that when you get the steel, awesome, but often can compromise the integrity of your defense when you don't. And I think some of that was what we saw on Wednesday with Luca, like a little bit of cheating. And sometimes it works, but most of the time it screws the guy next to you. And so it just wasn't good enough. Like if you were a team with aspirations and the Lakers certainly are. I don't know if anybody in the building realistically thinks,

Starting point is 00:18:39 yeah, we can really give Oklahoma City a run for its money in seven games. I bet they think they do. They could. But even if you define success for this team as one of the two teams left standing in the Western Conference or finishing top four, you know, beating Houston, beating Denver in the first round, whatever it might be first or second round, you can't do that with the level of defense that they were playing. And this wasn't even like build toward it. Like if this is the baseline or anywhere close to the baseline,

Starting point is 00:19:13 you're never getting where you need to go. And this team has just been flat bad on that side of the ball for the last couple weeks. Yeah. And look, like I said, I do think there's an element for Luca defensively where not having Austin out there, it adds more to his plate. like JJ mentioned that in the Phoenix game, down the stretch of the game, he said that Luca refused to bring the ball up.

Starting point is 00:19:39 And it was very clear. He was not being critical of Luca. He said Luca was exhausted. Like he, Luca was, I took it to mean refusing to bring the ball up because he's like, I don't think it's a good idea for me to do it. I need somebody else to.

Starting point is 00:19:55 So like he wasn't being like obstinate. He was like, not now. I need somebody else to do it. it. Right. So I would expect that, you know, similar to what was going on with Austin, where we saw that some of the use from earlier in the season when Luca and LeBron were both missing some games, it may have caught up to Austin. Some of this may be catching up to Luca. Because like I said earlier in the show, I actually think Luca takes more crap for his defense for the most part than is deserved. Yeah. But this was a night where it was problematic. And until the fourth quarter, not enough guys stepped up to sort of fill the void collectively. And not having Aiden, Gabe Benson didn't play in this game.

Starting point is 00:20:43 He, just as a side note, is out for at least a week. So the Lakers are shorthanded in the back court, at least until AR returns, which in theory, the day, the evaluation day for Reeves, technically speaking is Friday ahead of the Clipper game on Saturday. So, you know, we should get some kind of update on Austin before Saturday at the least. We'll see.

Starting point is 00:21:17 But without Austin, as much as we have legitimate criticisms with Vincent, you're short a lot of back court, your short a lot of ball handling. Gabe at least always tries, and I think is one of the players who is most aware of what your defensive strategy is as a team on any given night. And so when he's not available,

Starting point is 00:21:42 it hurts you there too. So yeah, I mean, they were playing shorthanded. They didn't have Ait and who's been, you know, a hard worker on that side and could have mitigated some of the problems they had on the glass.

Starting point is 00:21:52 But it's still just a lousy effort. And they just, they need to be better as a group. They've shown they can be better, too, even when they are missing guys. And so performances like this are a little hard to swallow when they come consistently because we've seen evidence that they can do it better.

Starting point is 00:22:12 That said, though, there was a very good fourth quarter in this game. So let's at least somewhat... Like Mark McGuire here, we're no longer here to talk about the past, Andy. Right. Let's talk at least about the fourth quarter, because the fourth quarter did some good things happen in there, particularly with the bench guys and Marcus Smart, LeBron leading the way there. So we'll get into that coming up next.

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Starting point is 00:23:47 Three months free payroll at gusto.com slash locked on MBA. One more time, that's gusto.com slash locked on NBA. I am you're right like you do want to make sure that the positives here are pointed out because there's a long way to go on the defensive side of the ball to be considering an elite team but they are continuing to win they beat phoenix the other night they beat Utah on Thursday they are now going to go play a clipper's team that is to say the least struggling. In free fall in chaos. I mean, wow. And like, you've seen the pictures from inside the building? Like, folks ain't showing up to watch that stuff.

Starting point is 00:24:47 And so it's a dark time. Like, every once in a while, you know, Darien, like, Darien Vizeri hosts Locked on Clippers. You just see these videos of him, you know, on social media. He looks just so sad. He deserves better. Defeated. Daryne deserves so much better, man.

Starting point is 00:25:05 He really does. So you've got the Clippers on Saturday, which is going to be a Lakers home game. I think the way it is going to, what that crowd looks like. And, you know, a chance to continue winning games, even when you are not playing at your peak.

Starting point is 00:25:22 That is, I think, the sort of the optimistic way of looking at it. But they did legitimately, for the second game in a row, get meaningful performances from the bench. That has been a problem over the course of this year,

Starting point is 00:25:36 and it's worth pointing out when they get, you know, real contributions. Yeah, Maxi, Cleba, five points, two rebounds and assist. It won't show a block for a little chase down block.

Starting point is 00:25:49 I was going to say, a chase down block, plus 17 for the game. And I wanted to start with him just letting you know that that plus 17 felt real. And plus minus is an imperfect stat just like any stat. But it really felt indicative of how a guy can an effect an overall game.

Starting point is 00:26:06 He was part of that fourth quarter. Jared Vanderbilt now clearly back in the rotation. Seven points on three of seven from the field. He hit another corner three. Huh? Uh, 11 rebounds, five on the offensive glass. He was plus 15 in this game. Jake LaRavia, 12 points.

Starting point is 00:26:23 Four of six from the field. Two of four from behind the arc. six rebounds, four assists, three on the offensive glass, plus 14. The three of them were the main guys off the bench who were playing very well, I thought, throughout a lot of this game, but particularly in the fourth quarter, which began with LeBron, Smart, Cleva, Vano, and Loravia, and Loravia. And that's really when they began to pick things up. Marcus Smart, I believe, hit three threes in the fourth quarter before eventually

Starting point is 00:26:56 following out. And first of all, like, it almost felt emblematic of just the Marcus Smart experience. He's going to hit all the, he's going to hit the threes. He's going to make some big plays. He's going to be all up in everybody's space. He's going to play with that physicality. And he may just foul out. But I don't think it was a coincidence that the Lakers started to lose the threat a bit. And Utah, while never making it a serious, seriously endangered victory, Utah started to make a push in the second half of the fourth quarter after Smart filed out. I don't think it's a coincidence just because Smart provides that intensity and that urgency. And you do, I think one of the things I've really noticed with Smart being out

Starting point is 00:27:44 there is he's very good at just helping the team maintain collective focus. And this is a, This is a group that can sometimes be prone to losing that focus and smart helps. It's, I don't know, whether focus is the right word, organization is like, you know, he just, he is a person who is better at and understands the concepts of defense and sees what the opponent is doing better than, many other players on the field. And so, you know, when your starting quarterback is in the game, your offense operates better. He, you know, communicates better, does the little things better, organizes the group better, getting in and out of the huddle faster. The play calls are clear.

Starting point is 00:28:43 The backup, when the backup comes in, the offensive line is still blocking just as hard. Guys run their routes, generally speaking, like in the same way. People are doing, it doesn't work as well because quarterback's not as good. And smart in a lot of ways is operates as a quarterback. And when he is really dialed in and then everybody else kind of, you know, is there too. Some of it again, you're right, is focused, like in the most traditional sense, the way people think about it. But I just, like, there's a skill there. Like when LeBron is really engaged, he functions in a very similar way.

Starting point is 00:29:22 But, you know, Anthony Davis, that's what, it's not just the fact that he's a sick athlete. He has incredibly good defensive instincts. And, you know, guys like that can cover a lot of sins. And the Lakers are sinners. And sinful. Sinners. They need to be cleansed and excised and all kinds of stuff. You know, 5,000 Hail Marys.

Starting point is 00:29:55 You mentioned Claibor, though. Like, I wish awesome screens was a stat in the box score because that the plus 17 that you mentioned is like three quarters awesome screens. Helps guys get open. It does. Yeah. You know, Luca hit a couple that were just like with maxi blocking for him, essentially. Like this is just the little stuff. And like, so when you you look at what are generally modest box scores with somebody like Kleba

Starting point is 00:30:27 and wonder why the coaching staff seems so willing to put him in games any time he's healthy, it's because of stuff like that. And he is another guy who understands structurally defense where he's supposed to be helping other guys be where they're supposed to be. Because when one person gets out of position, somebody else has to compensate, somebody's got to compensate for that guy. It's a waterfall.

Starting point is 00:30:54 The best way to do it is by having everybody do what they're supposed to do. Yeah, and it helps to, you can get away with it a little bit easier, just like the five points, just the two rebounds, when Jared Vanderbilt grabs 11 rebounds himself and has seven points.

Starting point is 00:31:09 La Ravia has 12 points. All five Laker starters were in double figures. really quirky fun stat for Jackson Hayes. Oh, I'm glad you were mentioning this. I was going to go there. Yes. Jackson Hayes, 16 points, 7 of 7 from the field. As a Laker, Jackson Hayes is shooting 100% from the field against the Jazz.

Starting point is 00:31:31 I was not aware of this until Billy and Stu brought this up during the broadcast, but he is shooting as a Laker 100% from the field. That is amazing. Yeah, I mean, you don't, I mean, it's not, it's not like he's shooting 25 times a game, but like it's still, it's like three seasons worth of games against a conference opponent. It's not like he never plays him. For his career, though, that boosts his shooting percentage up to 76.6%, not the team he does the most damage against.

Starting point is 00:32:10 So you can, you know, in doing this. that his time in New Orleans, I don't think he performed very well against Utah at all because he hasn't missed a shot with the Lakers against the jazz. And he's still got like three or four or five teams that he has shot better against. So look, it's one of these sort of underwhelming wins. There are many nights when I'll be the first

Starting point is 00:32:42 on the, yeah, it wasn't great, but it felt like a professional effort and one where you know that they know that they can do better. This was less than that to me. I did not think this was the type of sort of quote unquote professional win for a team like the Lakers, but they are, Andy, 19 and seven. They are playing at a 7 to 31 winning percentage. They are currently tied for third in the Western Conference with the Spurs. They're winning games and they're playing well and they've won seven of 10. They're putting space between themselves and that seven seed. There's a lot to like about what they're doing. And again, they're playing a team that's won six times on Saturday and should win that game. They're having a really good

Starting point is 00:33:36 season. 19 and 7's 19 and 7. All right. Locked on Lakers on YouTube is ready and go hang out with over 37,000 subscribers to the channel. Please check the show notes to learn more about the everyday club. If you want to get rid of the advertisements on the show, don't want to listen to those anymore. This is your way to do it. $5 a month, $50 a year. You can check that out in the show notes. We'll be back after the game on Saturday. Everybody get ready for a great weekend.

Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Luka Dončić's 44 Point Triple-Double, Big 4th Quarter Give Lakers a Win Over Utah

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