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Editor’s note: This is the Monday Dec. 6 variation of the Purple & Bold Lakers newsletter from newsman Kyle Goon. To person the newsletter successful your inbox, sign up here.
WEEK IN REVIEW
Tuesday, W, Lakers 117, Sacramento Kings 92
Friday, L, Clippers 119, Lakers 115
The Lakers (12-12) are successful a four-way necktie for No. 5 successful the Western Conference standings, 7.5 games down Golden State and Phoenix who are some 19-4.
HIGH POINT: How astir a blowout? The Lakers haven’t won large overmuch this year, but they yet ripped disconnected a comfy triumph successful Sacramento connected Tuesday acknowledgment to a second-half antiaircraft effort that held the lowly Kings to conscionable 33 points aft the break. Coach Frank Vogel said helium tore into them astatine halftime. Dwight Howard and Malik Monk turned successful large performances disconnected the bench, and Russell Westbrook cranked the motor successful the 2nd fractional to get the Lakers going. It was a needed triumph for an embattled team.
LOW POINT: It’s tenable to simply prime the nonaccomplishment here, but the Lakers were astatine slightest competing with the Clippers successful the Friday nighttime tilt. To beryllium hyper-specific, the debased constituent was astir apt halftime successful Sacramento. With LeBron James retired for a still-to-be-determined magnitude of time, the Lakers showed up lifeless astatine Golden 1 Center, playing to a double-digit shortage successful a sparsely attended crippled against the struggling hostile who had conscionable beaten them successful 3 overtimes astatine home. Through 24 minutes, determination was astir nary combat successful the Lakers, who weren’t precisely giving overmuch crushed to hope.
TRENDING TOPIC: How tiny bash the Lakers privation to go? A favored lineup of precocious has been a tiny radical with LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony arsenic the 2 bigs, enabling the Lakers to abstraction retired the level and unfastened driving lanes. It didn’t truly enactment against the Clippers, particularly erstwhile Isaiah Hartenstein was driving successful pick-and-roll again and again, but James took the blasted for it, saying his defence was, well, bad. But it besides has manifold benefits: “I tin spot everything that’s developing, truthful it’s been beauteous bully for america this twelvemonth erstwhile we’ve had myself and Melo astatine the 4 and the five, too those archetypal 5 minutes, whatever, oregon archetypal six minutes of the 4th fourth erstwhile I was beauteous bad. But that’s been a bully lineup for us, particularly defensively. And besides evidently offensively due to the fact that we person truthful overmuch abstraction and truthful galore shotmakers connected the floor.”
READ OF THE WEEK: When asked astir the rumors that helium erstwhile tried to nexus up with Kawhi Leonard lone for Leonard to usage that accusation to get Paul George connected his side, Russell Westbrook was antiaircraft and combative. It’s an indicator that helium inactive feels sore astir the machinations that led to his nonrecreational break-up with George (even if the 2 are inactive idiosyncratic friends to this day).
HEATING UP: You person to announcement however good Malik Monk has been playing of late. His 2 games successful the past week were sensational: He changeable 51.6% from the floor, but adjacent amended from 3-point scope (10 for 18), and his 42 combined points against the Kings and Clippers were much than anyone but Anthony Davis (52 points). Most importantly, the Lakers outscored their contention by 33 points successful his 65 minutes – a borderline built up against Sacramento, but inactive impressive. But erstwhile the Lakers lost, Monk didn’t absorption connected the threes helium hit, but the ones helium missed: “Them 2 threes instrumentality retired for me. I’ve got to deed those. And if I deed those, we win.”
COOLING DOWN: DeAndre Jordan has been removed from the starting lineup before, and helium came back. It seems tenable helium could beryllium backmost again sometime successful a crippled wherever the Lakers request depth. But it wasn’t a bully improvement for Jordan erstwhile helium played each of 4 minutes against the Kings and was yanked, clearing the mode for Dwight Howard to play 35 minutes successful his champion crippled of the season. Howard started against the Clippers and Jordan was obscurity to beryllium found. Vogel has suggested repeatedly erstwhile Trevor Ariza is healthy, the squad volition play Anthony Davis astatine halfway adjacent more. A squad root told SCNG aboriginal connected that Jordan was being fixed “every opportunity” to beryllium helium was a worthy starter, but it’s wide that erstwhile it comes to needing to win, Howard is the enactment that Vogel trusts.
INJURY REPORT: Every week, it seems similar this is simply a little downcast contented for the Lakers. Trevor Ariza is inactive connected the comeback. There’s been nary update connected Kendrick Nunn, who inactive seems a agelong ways away. Avery Bradley didn’t play this week with a thumb wounded that Vogel said didn’t necessitate surgery, but helium whitethorn play successful a splint. With James emerging from the protocols connected Thursday, the Lakers are the healthiest they’ve been since the play started.
QUOTABLE: It whitethorn beryllium that Vogel, who is facing immoderate nationalist scrutiny astatine this point, was upselling his relation successful the second-half cascade the Lakers deployed to apical the Kings. But helium shared a sentiment that the Lakers astir apt needed to hear, according to Dwight Howard: “Coach was beauteous upset. But I deliberation his full constituent was halt talking astir wanting to triumph a title and not giving the close effort. And he’s right. He was spot-on. You can’t support saying we privation to win, we privation to execute these antithetic things if we’re not consenting to enactment successful the enactment and the effort and to play together. I deliberation that successful the 2nd fractional we did that.”
AHEAD OF THE CURVE: The Lakers look a pugnacious opening trial against Boston, who knocked them astir successful T.D. Garden past month. It’s different grudge lucifer with Dennis Schröder, who “fumbled the bag” this offseason aft turning down a immense hold with L.A. conscionable little than a twelvemonth ago. That’s astir apt the spiciest match-up of the week successful a week of winnable games, unless you privation to constituent retired that the Lakers are 0-2 against the Thunder, including an unsightly nonaccomplishment successful OKC. Memphis besides is simply a fascinating squad, connected a four-game winning streak contempt playing without All-Star campaigner Ja Morant.
COMING UP (All times PT)
Tuesday, Boston, 7 p.m.
Thursday, astatine Memphis, 5 p.m.
Friday, astatine Oklahoma City, 5 p.m.
Sunday, Orlando, 6:30 p.m.
– Kyle Goon
Editor’s note: Thanks for speechmaking the Purple & Bold Lakers newsletter from newsman Kyle Goon. To person the newsletter successful your inbox, sign up here.
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