Los Angeles Lakers: Fourth Quarter Execution Rising
By Shane Young
For the Los Angeles Lakers, inconsistency on both ends of the floor hasn’t been the only problem. It’s been the inconsistency of wins in the standings that’s haunted them as a whole, with them unable to string together any type of winning streaks this season.
Out of their six wins, twice they have won two straight games and looked to be turning the corner. To use Mike D’Antoni‘s old phrase during the 2012-13 season, it looked to be “the start of a new season” all over again. People started believing this Lakers team wasn’t as bad as advertised, and that it was just the Western Conference schedule that ruined their chances.
Four times already, Los Angeles has managed to drop at least three games in a row — albeit to burdensome competition — and strung together short, depressing losing streaks. The constant L’s have been getting Kobe Bryant agitated more than he’s ever been, claiming it’s the toughest challenge in his career.
On Tuesday, Mike Malone and the Sacramento Kings tried their best to make it a four-game losing streak for the purple and gold. The only problem? It’s hard to even accomplish that goal without DeMarcus Cousins. Cousins, sidelined with viral meningitis, is showing how much his presence alone is valued by the Kings and their re-surged season. He leads the entire league in rebounding rate at 23.2 percent, and is fifth among all centers in value added to his team, per ESPN.com .
This was exactly the type of game, and setting, the Lakers had to take advantage of if they want to be known as a program that competes.
You could argue — and probably should scream it — that they shouldn’t be looking for wins considering their upcoming draft pick is a top-five protected slot in the 2015 draft. Magic Johnson would agree with you. But, according to Bryant, that’s not how the players operate with their jobs. No athlete is going to step on a court and not give it their all, not play with edge, and start to embrace the losing tactic. It doesn’t work that way in professional sports, from the players’ point of view.
Byron Scott couldn’t have been pleased with allowing 81 points through the first three quarters. When you consider his notion of changing the starting lineup because it fit better defensive principles, it didn’t make much sense that they were still failing on too many rotations, not getting back in transition, and misreading pick-and-rolls without communication.
Nonetheless, they held the Kings to below 30 percent shooting in the fourth quarter to make a commanding fight for the win. Sacramento couldn’t find anything easy, having all their drives contested, missing open guys along the perimeter, and uncharacteristically missing free throws.
As a result, Sacramento only shot 5-of-17 in the fourth, and only two of those attempts were from beyond the arc. They weren’t gun-slinging from deep, as they were doing the right thing in taking the ball to the Lakers’ weakness (their interior). Getting to the line and hitting the shots you’re supposed to would’ve been enough for the Kings to come away with the win, but Darren Collison missed four free throws in the fourth, and Sacramento missed six altogether in the final 12 minutes. Ask anyone if that wins you ball games.
But, it was certainly a period the Lakers deserve credit for, since their offense was nothing but fluid down the stretch of the game. If it hadn’t been for precise play-making and smart decisions, they wouldn’t have escaped with the victory.
In the last quarter, this Lakers team never coughed up the ball. Zero turnovers in crunch-time, when offenses are trying to push, is mightily impressive. Add it to the fact that nobody believes this group is assembled with great talent on the perimeter, and they have a 36-year-old that is much slower than his old self, and it’s borderline amazing how they keep from turning it over.
Believe it or not, the Lakers are one of the NBA’s best in keeping control of their possessions and not allowing giveaways. They rank fifth overall in least turnovers per game, giving it up just 11.7 times a night. Among the leaders — Clippers, Mavericks, Raptors, New Orleans, and Charlotte — are either top-notch offenses, or very slow paced groups. So, they’re not in bad company.
It was the Lakers’ longtime hero that secured the win on Tuesday, after having a rough shooting night to start.
Kobe Bryant started the night 6-of-17 from the floor, but eventually found his groove in the final minutes of the game. Scoring nine of his 32 points in the last four minutes to play, he got to the line four times as the game was coming down to the wire. Unlike the rest of this season for Bryant, he nailed 100 percent of his free throws to not allow Sacramento to stay ahead.
On the year, he’s still hitting 80 percent of his free throws, but you could always sense that something just wasn’t right with him at the line. Perhaps it’s the frustration boiling over, and he’s losing concentration when he’s there.
Whatever it may have been, he’s now been a master at the line in the final minutes.
It was Bryant’s overall sense of how to finish the game — unselfishly — that closed it for Byron Scott.
Three of Kobe’s six assists came in the fourth quarter, and none were bigger and more meaningful.
As Bryant ran point guard for the Lakers in the last five minutes, the offense was predicated on Sacramento paying too much attention to Kobe at the top of the key. That opened the gates for great screen-roll action, and Bryant has been more willing to give Carlos Boozer the ball in those situations:
Boozer has actually limited his pick-and-roll game in the last few years, acting more as a “popper” in those sets because he likes to install his jumpshot in the game more (for some weird reason). However, he’s capable of delivering the goods when the lane is uncontested.
Bryant reads the play above perfectly, and he would’ve rightly been chastised for taking any sort of shot himself there. Notice how Bryant approaches the top of the key and waits for the screen, how much attention he garners. Stauskas is only worried about getting around Boozer to stay on Bryant’s hip side. Ryan Hollins (Boozer’s man) actually slid a couple steps over in Bryant’s direction to cut off a Kobe drive.
So, who’s protecting the middle of the paint, beginning at the free throw line? Nobody, and Kobe noticed it right away. Let’s not act like it’s something miraculous — he’s been playing the sport for over 30 years. But, it’s great for him to be able to trust his teammates (especially Boozer) with the game on the line. Rudy Gay couldn’t slip back and cut off the lane too much, since he had Wesley Johnson trailing all of the action in the backcourt.
It was a beautifully orchestrated screen-roll down the stretch, and one of the few Los Angeles actually pulled off last night.
Kobe didn’t stop there, as he also helped out Wesley Johnson a great deal by running point guard late in the game:
Above, it just illustrates again how much attention Bryant will generate as a floor general. Everyone is scared of him attacking off the hedge, but you also have to be fearful of the roll man (Boozer) benefiting from being wide open.
In essence, as Gay and Hollins decide to hedge Bryant and trap him on the wing, Boozer is left with no man to stop him on the roll. You notice Boozer sort of slip the screen early, so he can get in position to catch a pass and score.
The issue Sacramento was left with was the middle of the lane (again). Either Nik Stauskas had to stay at home with Wesley Johnson (wing), or he could step in the lane and cut off a Boozer drive when the big man got the ball.
As Stauskas bites on the help defense and slides in the middle, Kobe notices Johnson being left wide open on the perimeter. At such a time of trying to close the gap, Bryant decided to trust Johnson and go for it on the 3-pointer. It worked out to perfection.
Sacramento has to understand that you can’t let Hollins get that far out in hedging and ask your guys to disrespect the outside shooting of another team. Either Rudy Gay has to fight harder to stay in front of Bryant off the screen, or Hollins has to hustle to get back once he gives a quick “show” to Bryant on the trap. He can’t get parked out there and let Boozer roam freely in the middle. It causes guys to rotate off their shooters, and Johnson showed them what could happen.
As the game came down to the final two minutes, Bryant delivered one last jab at the Kings with his play-making ability.
This time, it was to his favorite big man on the roster, Jordan Hill:
It’s one of those incredibly dangerous passes that somehow finds its way to a teammate. But, it’s also a pass that only a select amount of combo guards can make from the perimeter. People often wrongly criticize Kobe’s passing abilities, and they get the truth twisted. Bryant’s career hasn’t been predicated on being a play-maker, because he hasn’t ever enjoyed the idea of it.
But, he can make those plays of a floor general when he puts on that mask for the night. If it’s on, it’s normally on pretty tight. You usually can’t recognize him when he’s getting others involved this way.
In the left corner, Wayne Ellington‘s man isn’t even paying full attention to him. Collison is showing a lot of help on Jordan Hill, who stays rested on the block next to his man. In some way, it’s a double team cover on Hill. Nevertheless, Bryant threw a fireball in between Collison and Reggie Evans, and let Hill finish the bucket in the paint.
50 percent of the credit should go to Bryant for making the pass of the night, but the other 50 percent should go to Boozer. Take note at what made Bryant’s pass between the two defenders possible. It was the movement of Boozer, who made Reggie Evans come just two steps off Hill to guard the rim.
You really can’t have better execution in the final minutes than the Lakers had with this lineup.
To close games, the number one thing you should look for going forward is how much Bryant, Ellington, Johnson, Boozer, and Hill are on the floor in the final five minutes.
Based on Tuesday’s results, Byron Scott can’t go wrong.