Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Reaves Returns, Luka Scores 38 Points, as Lakers Beat Hornets 121-111!

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey, everyone. Welcome to Locked on Lakers for Tuesday, Brian Komenetsky, Andy Kaminetsky, the Lakers bounce back from a bad game in Atlanta. Use big third quarter to get past Charlotte. Are they ready for Oklahoma City on Wednesday? 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. Thanks to everyone for making Locked on Lakers, your first listen of every day. and thank you for making the Locked-on Podcast Network, the number one sports podcast network anywhere on this or presumably, Andy, any other planet.

Starting point is 00:00:46 I don't know how you feel about these sorts of things, but if there is another planet, I doubt they have a sports podcast network bigger than this one. So we appreciate everybody there, subscribing through Apple iTunes, subscribing through Spotify, wherever you get it. And of course, locked on Lakers on YouTube. There are over 37,000 subscribers to the channel

Starting point is 00:01:05 are all hanging out. They're talking to each other. They're talking to us. And they are, I think, reasonably pleased with the outcome Monday night after a slow first quarter, well, actually, a fast first quarter with no defense in it. The Lakers. I don't say the first half was pretty damn fast because not all sporting events. Side note.

Starting point is 00:01:24 All sporting events should go this quickly. I mean, it was really nice. In the first half, the Lakers did not seem particularly interested in playing defense. and as we established in our preview on Monday show of this game, the Hornets are incapable of playing defense. So when you combine those two elements together, you get a game that zips along in ways that I don't think made JJ Redick particularly happy. But if you're looking for time efficiency,

Starting point is 00:01:55 particularly these East Coast games that run into like dinner and some family responsibilities, it is nice for to zip along. I mean, I got dinner on the, the table it looks, you know, seven o'clock after watching a full NBA game. It was nice. But you can't, the referees can't blow the whistle if the two teams do not go anywhere near each other defensively. Lakers did, though, after giving up a robust number of points, 40 in the first quarter did buckle down after that. Third, fourth quarter got away from them a little bit. But in they, they sandwiched that with a 23 point second quarter in a great third quarter where

Starting point is 00:02:31 They only allowed 15 points. And that's where they really took control of the game. This was obviously another great night for Luca Dant. It's just sort of a ho-hum, 14 of 28, 5-5, 38 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, took care of the ball. The Lakers as a team took care of the ball, only two turnovers for Luca. Austin Reeves came back into the lineup. Obviously, good news there. Rui Hachamura, another star of this game.

Starting point is 00:03:00 So we'll break all of this down. in a moment. But before that, of course, we do need to let you know that today's episode is brought to you by, who is it today, Andy? I see you. Game time. Game time. Just trust me that it's brought to you by Game Time. Download the Game Time app. Create an account. Use the code locked in MBA. I'm going off memory because I accidentally closed the window. Anyway, we'll make up a plane. Land the plane. It's landed. A little bumpy. Anyway, this was a game the game. The last one. Lakers needed to have. They didn't come out with exactly the level of defensive intensity. I think everybody would have hoped to have seen. Even with probably some unnaturally good shooting from

Starting point is 00:03:43 Charlotte, it was not a great effort in the first quarter. But as good teams are supposed to do, they took control of the game and then kept it. Yeah, I think the second quarter, there was still some defensive prowess and intensity and focus that left something to be desired. There was a sequence, and I'm not looking to pick on Rui. We're going to spend a lot of time, I'm sure, in the show praising Rui. I think his performance in the third quarter, I think more than anything else, broke the game open for the Lakers. His performance really on both sides of the ball.

Starting point is 00:04:20 Yeah, he was great. But there was a sequence in the second quarter where he was ISO defensive. against Miles Bridges and seemed to be actively giving Miles Bridges his left hand and the left side of the court

Starting point is 00:04:37 seemingly not remembering that Miles Bridges is left-handed. So it was as if he was actually trying to make this as easy as possible for bridges. And it's, well, it felt in debt. I mean, and Stu Lance

Starting point is 00:04:53 tried to try to note this also. in his most politically correct way as a as a Laker employee. Hey, you might want to do this a little bit differently. But it felt endemic of the Lakers just not, they were more active. They had way more energy in the first half than they did really against Atlanta, the entire game.

Starting point is 00:05:17 At any point in the game. Right. But like, you know, for starters, they looked like they actually wanted to play the Hornets, which was a big step up from the way they were. Atlanta, but it took them, I think, a while before they really started cranking up their focus and accountability defense. But once they did, again, that third quarter team-wide, they were great. Look, this is as Lakers, fans, observers, like you said, like, you always want

Starting point is 00:05:47 the team playing a lesser opponent, which they obviously were, to do everything sort of by the book, like the way you would want a championship team to play against a bad one. You get out to a hot start. You don't let the other team think they've got a chance. You step on their necks and you do all that stuff. The reality of how most teams play through the season in terms of this stuff is, you know, Charlotte is filled with professional basketball players. You know, it is not crazy that they could have a deal. No, they have uniforms and everything. The idea that you know, they're not currently flush with high-end NBA players. No, I didn't say high-end, and I'm getting to that. But like, so Charlotte comes out and has a really good first quarter.

Starting point is 00:06:37 You sort of regulate that going forward. You don't allow them to continue to, you don't let them stay in the game. You build a lead. The Lakers took a lead into halftime. They stopped letting Charlotte score in every possession, which was nice. And in the third quarter, they played a really dominant third quarter built. out a lead that they never gave up. That part of it where you get a extremely championship level effort for a quarter to put a team away is much more the norm of how these things tend to go. And it's a missed opportunity to get guys off the floor and maybe Luca doesn't have to play. If you take that, don't let that 10 point lead get down to six in the last minute, Luca can get off the floor a little faster and stuff like that.

Starting point is 00:07:27 And over the course of the season, that matters. 38 minutes for Luca could have been 35. And enough of that starts to pile up. But overall, I think, you know, this was much more of the type of game that they needed. If they had done this in Atlanta, they'd be 2 and 0 on the trip. Absolutely. And look, like I said, the third quarter was fantastic. And it created enough of a cushion where Charlotte had a,

Starting point is 00:07:54 bit of a push in the fourth quarter. Some of it was really a sequence in about, they went on an 80 run in probably 90 seconds. There was a basket followed by Jake LaRavia following Concanipple on a three. And then there was a botched defensive possession that left Miles, I believe it was Miles Bridges open for three. And that happened in a fury. I don't disagree with you with what you're saying about like this being the natural norm for even contending teams. Sure. The difference I would say, though, for this particular team in a way that I'm not going to get upset over it.

Starting point is 00:08:34 I'm happy about it. They won the game. And like I said, the third quarter, they were fantastic. And there was a lot to like in this game. I would say, though, this team needs to establish its credentials more. Oh, for sure. Before they could start getting into those type of habits. Oh, yeah, I don't disagree.

Starting point is 00:08:53 I don't disagree. They need to have a, you know, it's kind of like parents just don't understand. You're only 16. You don't have a rep yet. Right. Like they need to actually create a rep. No, I 100% agree with that. I'm not, my point in saying that wasn't that there isn't room for improvement or that there isn't a better model, you know, for that.

Starting point is 00:09:16 I just, you know, you see a lot of frustration. Like, why aren't they up by 30? And sometimes you do end up up by 30, but like most of the time you don't. Yeah, that's fun. I was. They have not earned playing with their food privileges. That's the way I was. And I think after the first quarter, they didn't.

Starting point is 00:09:36 I think more or less they didn't. I thought the second quarter. I think the second quarter, they were playing with some food. I don't, I don't think so because I don't, you know, you look at things like turnovers. You look at things like, like, you know, the, obviously defense is not always just, you know, measured by how many points your opponent scores in a quarter. But I do think in the second quarter, certainly as they built, you know, they had a strong finish to the quarter to get into the half.

Starting point is 00:10:02 You know, they, they turned the ship around, so to speak. They started playing with more attention. And they never got into the sort of super careless ball handling and stuff that they did in, at least. aside from Marcus Smart. We'll talk about. No, I understand. I know where you're going. I know where you're going.

Starting point is 00:10:23 capable of turning teams over. And Marcus Smart tested that. Yes, you did. It was actually really, I do want to spend a few minutes talking about smart because this was a, people like to talk about the Marcus Smart experience. This was all of it in one 48-minute evening in Charlotte. We'll get to it next.

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Starting point is 00:13:06 But certainly was, I think, a very strong contributor to this game, a little inefficient from the floor, but made it to the line 11 times, 7 of 17 from the floor, missed eight of his 10-3s. that's really where most of this was. But he finished with 24 points because he got the line so much. Seven assists, again, like Luca, really took care of the ball. Only one turnover for Austin Reeves. He also had a pair of steals. The Lakers had 12 steals as a team, which is a lot. Seven is the mark of smart.

Starting point is 00:13:36 Yeah. So, you know, that was a big thing. But honestly, for me, the guy that like really turned the game, you expect it from Austin, you expect it obviously from Luca. Rui Hachamara continues to be absolutely insane from the midrange. Yeah, it's interesting. The loss to Atlanta, obviously everything went wrong, including the Lakers seemingly disinterested in playing the game in the first place.

Starting point is 00:14:07 But it was the only game where Rui has not shot above 50%, or at least 50% from the field this entire season. and while that is not the reason they lost that game, it feels emblematic of what this team often is at their best. When Rui's got it going, we've talked about how he's a weird combination of very consistent, like he's been putting up very consistent numbers the last few years. You know, he has been 50-ish percent from the field,

Starting point is 00:14:42 40 percent from behind the arc for basically his Laker career. Yeah. But he also becomes an X factor for this team because when he plays well, like he often takes this team to a different ceiling or is he is a part of the team entering a different ceiling. 13 points in the third quarter, 5 of 5 from the field, 3 of 3 from behind the arc. He had 17 in the second half, 7 of 7 from the field in the second half. but he also made really good plays on the defensive end as well. There was a sequence where Concanepel had the ball along the perimeter.

Starting point is 00:15:23 Rui made a lunge at him defensively. He lost the handle. They ended up on the ground, jump ball. Rui tapped the jump ball to Marcus Smart, who ended up getting the offensive rebound when D'Andre Aiton missed his shot. And Smart kicked it out to Rui. three. Then later, Ruey ran, you know, there was plays where he was running the floor.

Starting point is 00:15:47 There were plays where Charlotte started to get a little bit of a push. And Rui just started hitting shot after shot after shot. It's just, again, from everywhere on the floor. But that it's that midrange that is, that is particularly automatic. He made all three of his threes. But he, you know, nine, it means nine of his shots were from inside the arc. And the thing, you know, we get to the defense too in a second. but I think one of the things that makes him so valuable offensively,

Starting point is 00:16:12 and JJ points this out fairly frequently, is that he stays consistent even when he doesn't get a lot of shots, even when the time between shot one and shot two takes a while because he isn't somebody who handles the ball on the way up the floor. He is not somebody necessarily, you know, who's going to put the ball on floor and create and do all that kind of stuff. So he has to be delivered the ball. And that, if you're one of those guys, you can go stretches where you're just not touching it a lot.

Starting point is 00:16:50 It does not impact his consistency as a shooter, as an offensive player. And, you know, the discipline it takes mentally to stay connected to what's going on when you might have four or five possessions in a row where you're barely touching the ball and certainly not touching it in a position to score. that is really valuable for what they do. And that's, you know, aside from vastly improved defensive awareness. Well, it's also, too, I think it's reflective of how Rui's general focus has improved since joining this team. Like, it's now easy to forget because he's been a really good Laker. When he arrived from the Wizards in that trade, he had been considered a disappointment. You know, Rui was a top 10 pick for Washington.

Starting point is 00:17:40 You know, obviously a lot goes bad with the Wizards. And, you know, he had some mental health stuff going on that I still don't know what it was. And he's not obligated to tell anybody. And I have no idea how much, if at all, it contributed to him asking to be traded. But he was clearly unhappy with the Wizards. And the Wizards did not do a good job developing a lot of players in Rui. era. It's still a problem. Right. Well, hopefully it'll start getting a little bit.

Starting point is 00:18:11 I hope so. Because I guess some really intriguing young players. Yeah. Yeah. But like you can see the benefit of structure with Rui. Like he's still, he's not a perfect player and he still will have lapses, but he has grown much more just focused and intentional, particularly defensively, about both sides of the ball. We've talked before about and so far I think we're seeing it, why Rui was a great test case for optimism with DeAndre Aiton and just like the idea of what can happen with somebody with obvious talent, but often in the wrong setting, shows up somewhere that's more serious with better players and more team-wide aspirations. It's big time with Rui. And again, I thought he was

Starting point is 00:18:58 maybe the key to really getting the Lakers on track to where they could control this game. Yeah, and I agree. And I think what's the game. It's funny. You can look at certain guys and be like, gosh, you know, improve these three things that you're not good at. He's not, Rui averages like a tenth of assist a week. It's not his strong suit. But he's selfish. He's just, you know, it's not his deal. It's not his jam. He is a very large human who is not a good rebounder, you know, for his size, for his athleticism, also not as jam. And when you put those two things together, it's really important that, you know, but what he has. I mean, say he has though improved his defense. So he put, he's taking one thing that was a negative and putting it in the positive. And it makes it really important, though, that he does the things that he does well consistently well. And that's the thing this season.

Starting point is 00:19:55 It's like Aitin is another good example. You can drive yourself nuts waiting for the day that D'Andre Aiton becomes somebody who draws a lot of files and gets the line. You know, there's a good chance of DeAndre Aten has a 12. 20-point game. It's because he's got nine field goals, you know, eight at the minimum. And you're so, okay, it would be better if DeAndre Aden drew more files. It would be. It would be better if Rui Hachamura was a good rebounder. He is not. But what he is very good is that the things that he's good at and the Lakers have an architecture where they can take advantage of it. And then Rui has compensated by saying,

Starting point is 00:20:38 okay, I'm not good at these things, but I have improved in this other really important space. Aitin so far this year hasn't fixed a lot of other stuff, but you know what's been consistent? That motor that everybody talks about that I don't have. That part, I, you know, I've controlled that. And there's an area where I've made some improvement. Another guy, Andy, who was all over this game was Marcus Smart.

Starting point is 00:21:03 And it was fascinating. So watch and we'll get to it next. Locked on Lakers is brought to you by game time. Basketball season, obviously, it is here, baby. And there is nothing that beats being in the arena for these opening games. But getting tickets, give me a headache between waiting in cues, the surprise fees, prices that jump right in front of your eyes as you're checking out. it's easy to get frustrated and all you want to do is cheer on, I'm guessing, the Lakers. Jumping like Luca Donchich on his dunk on Monday.

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Starting point is 00:22:56 from yourself. Expect more from your money. Get started today at robin hood.com slash your money. Again, that's robin hood.com slash your money. Your money, your move. Real quick, before we get into Marcus Smart, I am very pleased that other people in the chat, Andy, who are watching this game, listening to it perhaps on the radio, also giggled every time somebody said, can nipple. I just, in my brain, because I am a seven-year-old,

Starting point is 00:23:29 just kept saying he said nipple. It's, you know what? even dirty. I mean, it's a no, nipples are funny word. Nipples are funny things and they are funny words. If he actually falls down on the ground, it's a canip slip. It is.

Starting point is 00:23:48 I'll be here all week. That's for free. That's for free for that. That's fantastic. Knip slip. Yep, there you go. You mentioned two. I have nipples. Can you milk me? Luca, if we want to,

Starting point is 00:24:01 if we want to jump to huge conclusions about Austin, We talked about Austin Reeves coming back just will make Luca's life easier, help preserve some energy. He is one for one for dunks in games where Austin Reeves comes back. Look at the energy Luca had. He was throwing down dunks. Do you know how many dunked Luca had to this point as a Laker?

Starting point is 00:24:24 I believe this was number one. This was his first dunk at the Los Angeles Laker. And by the way, only his third dunk since the 24th, 25 seasons. Luca has something like 75 dunks to his NBA career, and I want to say about 74. Yeah. Now 75.

Starting point is 00:24:44 It's been updated. Right. And I want to say like 25. Yeah. I want to say like 25 came in his rookie year. 25 came in his rookie year. 14, then 11, then 7. Then he found some hops in 22, 23 with 12.

Starting point is 00:24:58 And since then, he has remained low to the ground, which by the way, Andy, is where he should stay. I don't need Luca jumping. The Anthony Davis experience where every time he left the ground, he ended up on the floor, it was horrible. Luca don't, I don't even want Luca to jump, really. Just stay on the ground. It's fine.

Starting point is 00:25:18 Marcus Smart was a lot in this game. He had seven steals. He was enormously disruptive. At the same time, while his steel to turnover ratio ended up being relatively favorable, That is only because, as you noted, going into the game, as you mentioned in the first segment, Charlotte's not very good at stealing the ball because Lord knows, Marcus Smart tried to let them have some opportunities. I tweeted during the game at Cam Brothers. If the Lakers, instead of being coached by JJ Reddick were coached by Marcellus Wallace, Ving Reims' character in Pulp Fiction,

Starting point is 00:25:57 he would have told Marcus Smart, you lost all your passing privileges. And it's weird because he had six assists. It's not like... There were some decent ones in there, but there were some decent ones, but there was also some where it was like, are you trying to turn the ball over? Like, there were a few where it felt like Marcus Smart was actively trying to turn the ball over. Right.

Starting point is 00:26:20 And to be clear, I don't think he was. No, like, there was a few. I'm like, are you actually seeing if you can roll the ball to a teammate without Charlotte turning it up? Like the Marcus Smart experience, he has such a rational confidence that is equal parts. Yeah. Inspiring, terrifying, infuriating, and kind of adorable. You know what a lot of those passes reminded me of like from a visual standpoint to your point is the scene in Star Wars where they're on the ship and, you know, and the, the empire is, is vading.

Starting point is 00:26:59 and C3PO and R2D2 have to cross one side of the hallway to the other and they just sort of go and there's laser fire going back. They just kind of make it. That was like half of smarts passes. Yeah. Where R2D2 and C3PO just sort of going while the lasers were firing everywhere around them. Yeah. The ball, I guess, was the lasers. But it was just crazy.

Starting point is 00:27:25 But he was really important in this game. He was. He was net positive for sure. And brings energy and, you know, a defensive integrity and a defensive intensity. And, you know, a little bit of scoring when guys are off the floor. Like he, we talked about this for, for Monday show. Like, I don't love him doing point guardy stuff. But, you know, he can obviously pass a little bit.

Starting point is 00:27:53 And he is a decent, like, don't over rely on it. but he can put the ball on the floor and get to the basket. You know, his three-point shooting is streaky, but when it's on, it can be valuable. He is not a totally one-dimensional player. And he offers, I just, I think when LeBron comes back, given how Rui is playing on both sides of the ball, smart will go back to the bench. But he's going to play a huge part on this team all year long.

Starting point is 00:28:24 And you can already see how he has influenced the culture in terms of how they play on the floor. Well, he's like DFS last year in that he showed up very much confident in his ability to be a voice in the locker room, in his ability to set a tone with a new team. Like in the same way DFS, it was very clear, was asked to do that stuff. Like JJ knew DFS from their time together as teammates in Dallas. you know, JJ wasn't there long, but, you know, this was something that DFS has a reputation for, and he was not in any way uncomfortable to lend his voice to the mix.

Starting point is 00:29:08 Marcus Smart has never been uncomfortable with that, but the difference is after the last couple seasons of being part of a dysfunctional Grizzlies team and an irrelevant Wizards team, where I'm sure he tried to mentor some young kids, but there's nothing to lead there, like in terms of tangible basketball. No, and they didn't want him to do it because they were that he led too well, they might win. Right. But here that voice combined with that edge and, you know, he's he's like the A-list

Starting point is 00:29:40 Jared Vanderbilt. Like Vando does a lot of similar things that Smart does, but Smart does them better, certainly on both sides of the ball and with more, he's got more credentials. Like he's got more bona fiends. He's a significantly better player. Yeah. And I like Vanderbilt, but I just, he, and when Vando is contributing, it really is noticeable.

Starting point is 00:30:05 But then there are games like Monday where, whether it's just not the sort of the flow of it, Vando statistically was extremely quiet. He played 16 minutes. He had one assist, one rebound, you know, four fouls. So that's not great. But like, I like that they are in a position this year, at least for the time being, where they don't need to rely on Vanderbilt

Starting point is 00:30:27 to provide that. Because while he is a defender with a lot of intensity and energy, when he's healthy, he is not as complete a defender as smart is. And then the total lack of versatility offensively becomes problematic. It makes him harder to use.

Starting point is 00:30:48 Smart is not going to be confused with Luca at any point in a game, but he's not, He doesn't limit you. Only by Marcus Smart. He doesn't limit you in the ways that Vanderbilt does. No, he's been. When they get to the playoffs, Andy, they're going to have to guard Marcus Smart.

Starting point is 00:31:04 Marcus Smart has been a great addition so far to this team. Like he really need to keep him healthy. Yeah, they need to keep him healthy. They need to keep him in the starting lineup. When LeBron comes back, I suspect they will. I suspect Rui will move to the bench and they will go out of their way to make sure Rui gets shots and opportunities for a reserve unit that frankly needs a lot of punch. We saw it tonight.

Starting point is 00:31:29 The bench was in terms of production non-existent, six points from Jake LaRavia, three from Dalton Connect, who I'm going to double check now. I think he got benched in the second half. I don't think he played in the second half. He played, well, three seconds. Okay. He lost the canuple to cannibal, connop. Caniple.

Starting point is 00:31:53 Well, we talked about that before. He's, con caniple is thus far the A-list Cannot. Do you think that's in Knaq's head? Like he used to be the dominant Knaa, and now he's not.

Starting point is 00:32:08 I mean, he's Knaut. Look, man, there's a lot of emotions for Dalton, you know, first time facing his old team. It's difficult being in that building. When he hit that first three, I didn't have my computer. in front of me. I was, I wanted to like find it.

Starting point is 00:32:24 And it was like revenge game. Oh, I, I, I was wondering, did he get a thank you video? That would have been fantastic. Probably cannot. Probably cannot. But yeah, I mean, Dalton was, he had a few, Donald had a few decent plays in this game. It's not that he was, it wasn't that he was terrible, but like he, they, they went in another direction in the second half.

Starting point is 00:32:46 And he just, he's, he is yet to, the thing about it is when you're in the situation he's in, he has to do something sort of to elevate himself above the guys who are getting that time. And he's not doing it yet. And so I think he's uniformly terrible. He's just not. No. And I actually thought Jackson Hayes played well off the bench. But I agree. He cannot be the guy you're counting on to score. Like it just can't be. It is a bad situation, put him in. You want to deploy Jackson, you know, scientifically and surgically for, you know, 10 to 15 minutes a game, which is basically the position that he's been in and he's played that role really well this year.

Starting point is 00:33:26 All right. The big marquee event of the road trip is coming up on Wednesday. Lakers visiting the Thunder. So tomorrow's show will get you ready for that game. Locked on Lakers on YouTube. So we can hang out with over 37,000 subscribers do leave us questions and comments. We read them every day and they inspire us often to, with the, with the content we're doing particularly on non-game days.

Starting point is 00:33:52 So we will see everyone tomorrow.

Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Reaves Returns, Luka Scores 38 Points, as Lakers Beat Hornets 121-111!

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