Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Unfocused Lakers Lose to Mavericks 118-97, Despite No Luka or Kyrie

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey, everyone, welcome to Lockdown Lakers for Wednesday, Brian Kaminetsky, Andy Kaminetsky, the Lakers kick away a golden opportunity in Dallas. This was arguably the worst loss of the year. We'll talk about it 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 Lockdown Lakers first listen to every day Monday through Friday,

Starting point is 00:00:33 sometimes on weekends, no matter how or where you get your podcast. this one's always going to be free. And never behind a paywall. And, of course, locked on Lakers on YouTube is where over 27,000 subscribers were all really annoyed at what the Lakers did on Tuesday night. They go into Dallas with a golden opportunity to get a little separation between a team of them and a team chasing them in the standings. And without their two stars.

Starting point is 00:00:58 And with one of their other best players in foul trouble. And they lose the game 118 to 97, Andy, in arguably the worst game that the Lakers have played this season. We will break it all down here in a second right after I tell you that today's episode is sponsored by GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account, and use a code locked on NBA for $20 off your first purchase. I understand, Andy, every time they have a game like this,

Starting point is 00:01:24 it feels like, you know, oh, yeah, this is the worst one of this season. This one really might be the worst one of the season when you put everything together in terms of context, opportunity, meaning, all of that. Contextually, it is impossible to explain away this loss. It just simply is. This is a game where Dallas was on the second end of a back-to-back where they had traveled.

Starting point is 00:01:53 So they actually got into Dallas after presumably the Lakers got into Dallas. No Luca Donchich, no Kyrie Irving, No Daniel Gafford. Derek Lively spends much of the game in foul trouble. And this wasn't even one of those nights where, you know, vintage Clay Thompson shows up. You know, he put on the sailor cap and went nuclear for 50. Clay was the fifth leading score on the Mavericks.

Starting point is 00:02:25 And outside of a burst to end the second quarter, that, to be clear, I think was very important in terms of changing the tone of this game. Nine of his 13 points came in about two minutes in the second quarter. He was otherwise kind of an afterthought in this game for the Lakers to give up 118 while only scoring 97 in this context. And that doesn't even get into the importance of what they need to do in January and Dallas being one of the teams, as you said, right up next to them. This may be the most inexcusable loss of the season when it, but when we take stock of however this season turns out, we may very well look back on this one and say that was the one least explainable away. Nor should anybody try.

Starting point is 00:03:24 No. I mean, look, I always like to count to 10 after games like this. Be like, well, what happened? Did they play hard? Did they overlook their opponent? Did the other team, even the worst teams have great nights? You know, is that what happened? It's like, and you start to break it down.

Starting point is 00:03:42 And the answer is to most of those things is no. Like it's just, they were bad. And I think they had moments where they focused and felt like those would be enough to push themselves through. and when they didn't, they just, you know, that was one of those times with, okay, now you've got a team that's playing confident that looks around and says, okay, we've got one, two, three, four, five guys and double figures.

Starting point is 00:04:14 Yeah, five guys and double figures in this game and guys are feeling confident. And, you know, Spencer Dinwiddie is certainly not an unafraid player, PJ Washington and, you know, Quentin Grimes off the bench at 23 and 9, you know, and six. I mean, he had a great hardy. He went on a run.

Starting point is 00:04:34 He had three threes in three consecutive possessions and wide open. To me, what broke down the most, especially defensively, was this was the first night in a little bit where you just felt like the community, I'll excuse this against Cleveland. They do this to everybody.

Starting point is 00:04:58 This was a game where it felt like, their communication and the attention to detail that the coaching staff has preached over and over that they talk about at length all the freaking time because it's important. But it felt like this was a game where all of that completely and totally went out the window. And they got it together for a couple decent stretches. and I think they thought when they, you know, after kind of a, I don't want to say sluggish because they were winning after the first quarter. But Dallas gets back into it.

Starting point is 00:05:36 I think, you know, they got that push where they were up six with a couple minutes to go in the second quarter. And I think they thought, okay, now we'll just play. And we are a team that knows what we're doing and like, you know, we can get it going. Dallas goes on that flurry. Clay hits the three-threes. And then the killer, I think, was Dinwiddie getting to the rim with half a second left on the final possession. And now all of a sudden you go into the locker room and it's like, what happened? That stretch really turned the game.

Starting point is 00:06:16 They had an opportunity, I guess, to try to fix it at the beginning of the third. Dallas goes on another run to start that. It's like they had moments. It got worse as the game went along, but I'm watching this game going like, it's like they're playing fine, except for these, you know, you count the Hardy burst in there.

Starting point is 00:06:33 Like these 90-second or two-minute stretches where they're just awful. It never played great at any point either. No. Oh, no. I mean, this was a game where other than maybe Dorian, Finney Smith in his own right in terms of what's your role. Did you fill your role?

Starting point is 00:06:56 Dorian had 11 points off the bench, three or four from behind the arc, made both of his free throws, had three rebounds. Like he was not brilliant in this game, but I thought in his own right, he played a well enough game. Like he was credible on the floor. I'll give him this, Andy. I mean, cut you off. I'll give him this.

Starting point is 00:07:18 he was a plus three in a game the Lakers lost by 21. Right. That's not easy to do. No. And I thought from start to finish, Dorian was the only guy that you could look at and say he did his job reasonably well. Everybody else on the team that played tonight, there were a few guys that had like a quarter that was pretty good

Starting point is 00:07:42 or pockets of the game that were good. But nobody played. well, even close to well enough from start to finish. And some guys were just straight up bad from start to finish. I look at Max Christie, you've had a really nice second quarter. And, you know, LeBron had stretches, particularly when Anthony Davis was out where he was, there was a lot of hop in his game. But then in the second half, he had a lefty dunk for the ages.

Starting point is 00:08:12 Some of the highlights coming out of this game, you're going to think LeBron played spectacular. That was legit incredible. Switched hands. That was amazing. Yeah. He had a couple plays like that that were just highlight level. But in the end, it's kind of a quiet 18 points. 10 rebounds is good.

Starting point is 00:08:32 Eight assists is good. Only two turnovers, but they were not timely. They were not untimely. Is that a word? It is now. The Lakers didn't turn them all over. He was as bad defensively as everyone else. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:08:48 Oh, yeah. Absolutely. The Lakers didn't turn the ball over in this game. I think they had eight on the night. It was up to 10 by the end. But the second half was just sloppy in moments when they couldn't afford it. AD, you know, you look at it 21, 12 in a couple blocks, but he missed so many shots, uncharacteristically, missed a ton of shots near the rim.

Starting point is 00:09:14 Rui, you know, kind of an invisible game from him. Jackson Hayes had four fouls in his first five minutes. I was so mad at JJ. He had four fouls in four first half minutes and JJ took him out. I really wanted to see if Jackson could foul out in one quarter. Because that's not easy to do, but Jackson really seemed up for it. He was hilarious, but he was not good. I'll tell you what really bugs me about this game and why, another reason why I think this

Starting point is 00:09:44 game matters, especially in the context of a guy that we, like a lot of Lakers fans, are critical of frequently. I'll explain next. Locked on Lakers is brought to you by Ultimate College Basketball H.C. I want to take a moment to introduce a brand new mobile game that is really exciting. Ultimate College Basketball H.C. If you've ever dreamed of being a college basketball head coach, this is your chance. to step into those shoes. And it's a modernized pair of shoes. In ultimate college basketball

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Starting point is 00:11:51 Daily.com and click on Locked on Lakers in the show and a bunch of NBA analysis is delivered right to your inbox every day. So that is kind of cool also. So we are often very critical of Rob Polinca. We both like the work that he did in getting Dorian Finney Smith, but broadly critical of Rob Polinka. He has, to be fair, a very hard job. And difficult balancing out. Yeah, just ask him. You're right.

Starting point is 00:12:25 In April. It's one of his favorite topics. It's just how hard is job is. Marvel universe. Anyway, don't get the man started. Jeez, Rob. Enough about Apron world. I know your job is hard.

Starting point is 00:12:45 But he's got to figure out. Like, the Lakers don't have many assets. It will undoubtedly make whatever rebuild is inevitably going to come harder and longer. You're never going to do a rebuild, Brian. No, but some people have rebuilding thrust upon them.

Starting point is 00:13:01 No, not these guys. Whatever suckiness comes. Like, whatever dark period, reload, baby, they don't rebuild. All right. Come on. I know that's the idea. When you... 99% live.

Starting point is 00:13:18 When you trade away these assets and stuff like that, you're taking an enormous risk and you have to have to have an understanding of whether or not the the thing that you're trying to improve is is worth the quote unquote all in move and when they lose games like this I think like really good teams don't lose this game like they lose the Houston game that can happen to anybody you go to Houston even that we really upset about the Houston game. I wasn't. I mean, I thought it was potentially revealing and all that kind, but like angry about it? No, I wasn't. Good teams lose those games. Good teams almost never lose

Starting point is 00:14:05 these games. And so when you're, if you're Rob Polinkin, you're trying to figure out what is this group? Like, can they play consistently enough through an April stretch to get into a good playoff seat and then, you know, first round, second round, a conference final, whatever it might be to justify the risk that we're taking by investing in them this way. When you botch games like this, it makes it hard. Like James Worthy made the point. Like you can't go win seven out of ten or whatever they've done and think, okay, we got it. We're good.

Starting point is 00:14:42 It's you win 19 of 22. you win 25 of 32. Like you do it over a sustained period and then, then you can believe that you've got something dialed in. Their Lakers aren't nearly there yet. It's funny that you use the phrase dialed in because this was a game where I don't think the Lakers were guilty of not playing hard. Like it felt like physically they were putting,

Starting point is 00:15:11 JJ said after the game that he thought they played a little bit tired. but it didn't feel to me like they were playing half speed, but they did not play mentally dialed in at all. A couple guys after the game talked about a lack of communication, lack of talking defensively. JJ in talking about the defensive lapses, and there were so many in this game, he didn't even sound angry or frustrated

Starting point is 00:15:42 as he was straight up confused. and baffled by what they're doing. Like there were a couple times where he said, I've never seen that before, like describing whatever they were doing that was supposed to be coverage. Like he seemed genuinely like, what the F, man? Like, what are you guys doing? Not I've not seen that before in a good way

Starting point is 00:16:07 where it's like, ooh, how innovative. No, this was bad. Don't like, I don't know what they're doing and it's not good. Yeah. And like, the Lakers were just not reacting well to anything that was happening in this game. Like on Twitter at Cam Brothers, I had a few people complaining to me about the lineup combinations that JJ was using.

Starting point is 00:16:32 Like in particular, one point down the stretch where it was LeBron, A.D. Reeves, Connect, and Rui, which obviously has some defensive liabilities there. We could put it generously. And what I said to this guy is like, look, yes, they needed stops, but they were also down double digits. They need scoring. Like this is what happens when you don't have enough two-way guys. Like, could you have put DFS out there instead of Rui?

Starting point is 00:17:05 Like, sure, fine. Like, you know, this was a night where he was by his standards, because he's not a natural score, certainly not the way Dalton or Rui are. But he had a shot going. If you wanted to put him out there, fine. But like the problem in this game was not DFS not being out there in that moment because it played 28 minutes in this game.

Starting point is 00:17:26 And it's not like the defense was great when he was out there either. The problem was there was no lineup combination you can put out there when everybody is not doing their jobs. That's really, I'm not trying to be an apologist for JJ. I'm just saying there really was, it's not like he sat a hot hand tonight. You know what I mean? Or like a guy that was creating defensive momentum and you sat him. Like nobody was doing their job tonight.

Starting point is 00:17:54 I think you have a situation. You know, you mentioned in the first segment. And I think it was really instructive as to how difficult it would be to coach a game like this. When nobody is consistent, like some guys, it's like, be consistently bad. Like you can just say, oh, it's not your night. Like, okay, fine. I can, did you?

Starting point is 00:18:20 But, like, it wasn't really Max's night. And then it kind of was Max's night. And then it kind of wasn't Max's night again. Yeah. And then it was sort of, it could be AD's night, but then AD, yeah, really is not AD's night. It's just one of those days. And then it kind of was, and it wasn't.

Starting point is 00:18:35 They missed a couple fourth quarter free throws. It's like, somebody do, like, be what you are for an entire game. And so I think, you know, you talk about a lot and had a really good fourth quarter, but that was basically it. You talk about a lack of a hot hand. There was no like, like people were alternately, they were hands and then they were feet and then sometimes they were elbows. It's like you couldn't even tell what, like what they were on it.

Starting point is 00:19:04 And I will say this. Like it is interesting that Redick used the idea that they, you know, they played like a tired team. and that certainly gets to my my impression watching, which was the defensive communication was horrendous. And the first thing that happens in any sport, I think almost at any level, when people get tired,

Starting point is 00:19:32 is that they stop talking. The first thing that goes is communication. And that looks, looked like what was happening. So in that sense, you know, the diagnosis was I thought you were about to say murder.

Starting point is 00:19:51 I wanted to say murder. You always get mad at me for going with polls that like you have to be at least 73 years old to understand. You know what though? Yes. In my head, I said diagnosis,

Starting point is 00:20:07 murder. I would have been out loud out of courtesy to you. I would have. have been cool with that one because it was organic. It was not forced. It just came to you off the top of your head. And it would have been just a throwaway. People got it great, if not whatever. But anyway, I was just, I was trying to be respectful to you because you don't usually like when I do that. It depends on just how hard you're looking to jam the joke at. Yeah. That would have been pretty good. I'm looking to jam it in really, really hard.

Starting point is 00:20:38 That would have been pretty good. but anyhow like that as a diagnostic makes sense but okay well that's distressing because the Lakers play every other day until they go out on the Grammy road trip and it's not like you gain your get your energy back

Starting point is 00:20:54 off of that like you know back to back I understand there's a difference that day off makes a difference but I don't like to hear anything that implies that the team might be getting tired again because we saw what happened when they got tired It was horrible. Yeah, it was.

Starting point is 00:21:13 It was an interesting diagnosis. Murder. Austin Reeves talking about his bad performance in this game. I wanted to mention, first of all, just because I thought it was good that he called himself out, but also mentioned like Gabe played tonight and his return wasn't great. I want to raise a question that I don't think Laker fans are going to want to hear,

Starting point is 00:21:43 but I think it's fair to ask. So we'll get into that next. Lockdown Lakers is brought to you by Game Time. I love going to live events, whether it's sports, music, theater, comedy. One of my favorite memories of 2024, Hamilton on Broadway last spring. It was a terrific show. Plus, my daughter got to meet basically everyone in the cast. After the show, they were all hanging outside the theater.

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Starting point is 00:23:16 He's like 98 years old or something like that? He's pushing 100. Pushing for him. Now we're reaching it too far. That's got, man. Austin Reeves after the game was asked about being, as he put it, targeted defensively.

Starting point is 00:23:40 And this was something that was happening throughout the game. You know, Austin was not the only one, he was one of the prominent guys being targeted. And Austin described the first half of his game defensively as, quote, God-awful. And he thought maybe he was a little bit better defensively, but he said, quote, I was just really bad on both sides of the ball tonight. And that is true. It also came, though, on a night where Gabe Vincent returned.

Starting point is 00:24:06 And I recognize he's not played in a few games. And Gabe has generally played over the last, you know, three or six. so weeks, I think pretty well. But Gabe had zero points on zero-four shooting, a couple of assists, but he was not particularly helpful in this game either. And I am more, I am as much as I do like the DFS trade, and I think Dorian provides some utility that they needed. I am a bit concerned about what they miss in Dilo as far as somebody that can help create some offense, but also to provide a bit of a wild card offensively, like on a night where you might need something.

Starting point is 00:24:53 And granted, with DeLo, particularly this season, it has not been something that you can count on, even in the way that Deelow has often been a hot and cold X factor in the past. Like we've said before, his shooting, maybe the December notwithstanding, his shooting has not been up to his standards. The scoring has not been up to his standards. But if nothing else, his point guarding has been pretty good all year.

Starting point is 00:25:19 And this came to mind just when you mentioned Rob Polinka and the stuff that he needs to be thinking about in how to address needs with now a month leading up to the trade deadline. I've been thinking about it since the trade anyway, but particularly when you mentioned the Palinka piece of this. Well, look, I mean, on balance, you and I both approve of and like the trade. And, you know, it's like especially, you know, you've got to give up something to get something. What they got in Russell was something that they. I think DFS is going to help. I think DFS in particular will be helpful in the playoffs. I agree.

Starting point is 00:25:58 And I, I, but we also said it is not without cost. And they're going to be games when you miss the scoring ability of D'Angela Russell, the offensive organization ability, the, the, the distribution. you know, would they have scored 115 points of DLO was in this game? I have no clue. Would it have been helpful to have another source of playmaking and ball handling in this game?

Starting point is 00:26:25 Absolutely. And I think this is where, you know, having, you are extremely reliance on AR to be good every night. Yeah. And when he's not,

Starting point is 00:26:41 you're going to feel it because there's no, there's not a lot of just not a lot of secondary ball handling on this team. Obviously, LeBron functions as a point guard and in a lot of ways is one of the best point guards the game has ever seen. And I'm not, but like even then you've got LeBron and you've got Reeves and that's kind of it. And those guys are pretty good.

Starting point is 00:27:06 And when they're on, it's like, it's kind of all you need. But you don't have anything coming off the best. bench. I remember when, that's just not what Gabe Vincent is. No. And I remember actually when, uh,

Starting point is 00:27:20 when they made this trade, which again, both of us thought was a good trade and it was feeling pretty inevitable that Dilo was going to be traded for somebody before, before the deadline. But one of the things that I did mention was in a lot of ways, this was a bet on Austin, not just because his ball handling responsibilities.

Starting point is 00:27:41 and playmaking, stuff like that, would naturally increase. It's because you lose the safety net and delo. Like whether if Austin's not having a good night or if, say, you just need more. And look, to be clear, this game wasn't lost because Austin. Like, they're, again, I don't think anybody other than DFS had a game that they could write home about or even remotely close. but it just got it just got me thinking about some of this in terms of what they do moving forward, how they try to fix certain, because they need Austin out there a lot, but Austin is somebody that gets targeted a lot defensively.

Starting point is 00:28:22 So finding that balance is going to be very interesting. Yeah. Ultimately, they're just, they're not really constructed to get 37 points from, I'm sorry, 37 or 39 from LeBron, 39, right, from LeBron and AD. Like on a lot of nights, that's not going to be enough. Nope. You know, where, yeah, and if you are, you're going to need a, you know, a 26 point game from, from Reeves. You're going to need 24 from Christie or Rui's got to give you more than six in, in 25, almost 26 minutes.

Starting point is 00:29:04 And they are a very, a team that is very reliant on the consistent output of their stars. We talk about, you know, like they need Reeves to play. Well, I don't want to do the thing where we kind of look at all the supporting cast and this guy didn't do this and this guy didn't do that. They got 29 points from LeBron James and Anthony Davis. That is not enough from those guys. And while, you know, some of AD's issues were related to literally every time. he touched the ball, Dallas was sending two, three guys and, you know, making him pass out of it, he still missed three or four or five shots that on most nights, AD makes.

Starting point is 00:29:46 He could have had 10 extra points on layups. Yes, absolutely. And if that 10, those 10 extra points get you, you know, it only gets you within, you know, but like it changes the whole tenor of the game because you're not behind and stuff. You're instead of down four, you're down two, instead of down six, you might be down three. If 80s in the first half, they close the first half up, and that changes how they feel going into the third quarter. All of it matters. And so I think fundamentally, it starts with they did not get enough from their stars.

Starting point is 00:30:19 And so I don't want to, I probably, I mean, probably should have gotten into this earlier. And, you know, rather, you know, I know we talked about LeBron not playing great and AD not playing great. And sometimes we skip them because those guys being really good and needing to be really good. and needing to be really good is, I think, considered sort of table stakes and baked into the whole thing. Like, well, yeah, obviously.

Starting point is 00:30:42 But when you do start to get into the supporting cast and spend too much of a show, I don't mean too much like we did it wrong, but a lot of a show focused on those things and not mentioning it. It is important to circle back. 39 points from LeBron James and Anthony Davis is not going to win them

Starting point is 00:30:58 very many games. I don't care how good their defense is. those guys on a night to night basis need to be giving them 50. And that is like a starting point. I mean, and if they get less than that, you're going to need something else to compensate. And some nights you're going to get it and some nights you're not because Reams is for the most part delivering,

Starting point is 00:31:24 but is going to have an off night here. I was just going to say taking a step further, 39 from LeBron and AD isn't enough. 54 from LeBron A.D. and Reeves definitely isn't enough. Because that's your big three on this team. If you're only getting 54 from those three combined. What's the bare minimum? 65 probably that you need from those three.

Starting point is 00:31:46 Unless you're going to be playing like bad boys' pistons levels defense. That's not enough from any of those guys. So I will start there. This is, you know, this is, rephrase, I will finish there. The show is basically over. Yeah. You know, my diagnosis for when I should have gotten that in there,

Starting point is 00:32:11 I murdered that point by not mentioning it earlier and stronger. There is a zero percent chance, by the way, that I'm going to delete this little picture. It's going to come back. This was an opportunity game. and they really blew the opportunity. And it's like I've gotten like four or five really angry texts from people that text me with the Lakers do annoying things.

Starting point is 00:32:40 And they're all really, I get it. Here's the thing too. All it does is ratchet up even more games that you now have to win in January. We've talked about the importance of crushing January. Now there are a couple games that maybe you would have been okay with them dropping, just from a keeping it realistic standpoint. Now it's like you've got to be a little more

Starting point is 00:33:02 unrealistic because you have to stack these wins. Yep. And it starts on Thursday against Charlotte. My God, Andy, if they don't win that game. Charlotte at home. If they don't win that game, my diagnosis was for them. Okay,

Starting point is 00:33:21 enough. Now it's Jump the Shark, man. Enough. It didn't take long. All right. Locked on Lakers on YouTube is where you can go hang out with over 27,000, probably 26,000 subscribers now. Sign up for the Locked on the Lakers newsletter. Check out the postcast. We'll see everyone tomorrow.

Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Unfocused Lakers Lose to Mavericks 118-97, Despite No Luka or Kyrie

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