Los Angeles Lakers: Late-Game Execution Leads to 13th Loss
By Shane Young
Byron Scott and the Los Angeles Lakers have been in a world of hurt all season long, even though they’re still undefeated against the Eastern Conference.
With the rigorous schedule the team is always faced with in the West, they haven’t been able to feel proud about their conference record. The disparity in their record is humorous for now, as they’re just 1-13 against West teams thus far, but 2-0 in the East.
Friday, though, was supposed to be the best opportunity for the Lakers to sneak out a win in the West. It’s a statement that seems ridiculous, since 90 percent of the conference is a deadly trap for the Lakers, but there’s one other franchise currently in regression.
The Minnesota Timberwolves, led by head coach Flip Saunders, are every bit as poor and noncompetitive as the Los Angeles product right now. Still, Byron Scott didn’t believe there was any way a team with a 3-12 record (bingo, the Lakers) should be labeling anyone as “inferior.”
“You can’t play good, hard-nosed basketball one night, then look at the opponent the next night and say, ‘Oh, we have an easy one.’ It doesn’t work that way in this sport,” Scott said after the loss.
Kobe Bryant’s 12-point first quarter impressed everyone at Staples Center to kick things off. After all, he was 5-of-6 from the floor to start the night, and that’s not something the Lakers have been accustomed to this season. He’s accumulated a True Shooting Percentage of just 49.1 through the first 16 games, which would be a career-low for his 19 seasons. Even last year, directly after his return from the torn Achilles, he was at 50.5 percent in true shooting.
As it turned out, the first quarter would be the only impactful quarter for Los Angeles on Friday. They out-scored the Wolves by seven after the first, while scoring 30 points on offense. It was looking like a flashback to last season, when the Lakers’ offense was one of the best in the league.
All chaos broke loose after the first 12 minutes, however.
In the next three quarters, Minnesota out-scored the Lakers in each of them. It also included a 39-point quarter by the Timberwolves, as rookie Zach LaVine continued to shine through the lights of Hollywood.
LaVine, who many criticized for his weird reaction to getting drafted by the Wolves in the first round, played his freshman year in college at UCLA. His college campus was less than 20 minutes away from Staples Center, meaning he surely got to see his childhood idol perform live numerous times.
His idol was undoubtedly Bryant, the veteran that’s 17 years older than the rookie. When Bryant was LaVine’s age, he was winning the Slam Dunk Competition in 1997. With all of the shots he’s taken and games he’s played since 1997, it’s hard to know if Bryant even remembers being 19.
Nonetheless, LaVine didn’t play like a 19-year-old just getting his feet wet.
His career-high (in just 11 games) before tipping off with the Lakers was just 13 points. He more than doubled that total on Friday, burning his favorite childhood team for 28 points on 11-of-14 field goals. 18 of his 28 came in the second quarter alone, when Flip Saunders finally let him out of the cage. When you have a rookie score more than a point a minute (LaVine played just 26 minutes), you should be in tremendous shape for the game.
“(Saunders) is going to coach me hard and be on my butt, but that’s because he wants me to be great,” Lavine said. “That’s all that I want from myself as well.”
Minnesota’s 66-point second half was uncalled for when considering Scott’s defensive attitude. The Lakers may be giving up 117.1 points per 100 possessions — their worst mark in more than a decade — but it doesn’t mean that he’s not stressing defense. Besides Mike Brown back in 2011-12, there hasn’t been a coach for the Lakers recently that’s spoken about defense as much as Scott. He just doesn’t have the personnel to stop anyone on the perimeter or in the middle.
Down the stretch of the fourth quarter, it was the Lakers’ lack of attention and heart on defense that cost them the game. Under no circumstance should 119 points not be enough for them to pull out a win. In no situation should an efficient night for Bryant (26 points on 55.6 percent shooting) not be enough to defeat another 3-win team.
Los Angeles, regardless of their lineups and guys on the floor, couldn’t get back in transition defense in the fourth quarter. It was 12-year veteran Mo Williams who tormented Scott, hitting two crucial 3-pointers in the fourth to lead the Wolves in scoring. Eight of his 25 total points came in the final 12 minutes, but none was bigger and better than his triple to tie the game at 115-115.
As the Lakers continued to use their offensive possessions poorly, there was a scramble on the floor with 3:14 left in the game. After Nick Young missed an ill-advised mid-range jumper, he got on the floor to fight for the loose ball with a pack of Wolves:
Instead of getting back on defense in a hurry when it was clear Minnesota had the ball, nobody seemed eager to get to Minnesota’s 3-point shooters.
Bryant was the first one back, and was covering Mo Williams on the wing for a second. As LaVine pushed the ball down the throat of the defense, Wayne Ellington tried to stop the ball by getting in front of him on the break. Falling off-balanced after getting tripped up, LaVine decided to hit a red-hot Williams with the kick-out.
There’s where Bryant made a mistake. But, you probably couldn’t blame him, since he knew LaVine was having his way with the Lakers all night.
LaVine’s aggression in the first three quarters set up this easy score for Williams, as you can tell that Bryant comes over for help defense late in the play. When he sees that Ellington may not have a chance in transition, Bryant slides off Williams on the wing to give help on LaVine.
Bad mishap, especially when he had no teammates back on the perimeter to cover Williams. Bryant was literally the only Laker over there near the 3-point line, and he showed too much commitment to LaVine’s drive. It allowed the rookie to find Williams, who knocked down his fifth 3-pointer of the night.
No bigger shot killed the Lakers’ minds than that one, and Bryant made the ultimate mistake of giving it up. In that situation, you’re better off taking a chance with LaVine having a tough two-pointer, in which he was already in traffic in the paint. If you’re going to give up a score at that point, you don’t want it to be the one that ties that game.
What hurts even more for Byron Scott is the fact that Williams was even found that wide open. Typically, if someone is killing you in a game, you make adjustments to limit the rest of his night. Adjustments weren’t made, and hustle wasn’t given. Hustle is rarely given on defense with this team. Not with these players, and not in this era of Lakers basketball.
The only thing Los Angeles has to look forward to is the four-game Eastern Conference journey they’re on next. After Toronto (13-3, 1st in the East) comes to town on Sunday, Kobe and company will venture off to take on Detroit, Washington, and Boston out East. If their record against projected playoff teams in the East (Charlotte, Atlanta) is any indication of the future, perhaps they will return home feeling jovial.
I wouldn’t bet on it, however.
Given the amount of disappointment the Lakers have blessed their fans with since 2012, Byron Scott could be firing off more F-bombs and slamming tables even harder by mid-December.