When Rob Pelinka reshaped the Lakers roster and revamped their starting lineup by adding high upside depth at the trade deadline, it’s easy to imagine Thursday’s 124-111 win over the Warriors as the type of game he’d like to see as a possibility.
Because in a game where LeBron James struggled with his normally great efficiency to the tune of 13 points on 5-20 shooting; a game where Anthony Davis only attempted five shots from the field (making three) to score 12 points, the Lakers mostly dominated. They led by as many as 28 points to win fairly easily, and did so mostly on the backs of that new depth and the quality role players who now populate the roster.
Malik Beasley led the way with 25 points on the night, knocking down seven of his 11 attempts from behind the arc (and 9 of his 16 attempts overall). Darting off wide pin-down screens, dashing to the deep corner in semi and full-on fast breaks, and slipping through the cracks of a defense intently tracking him, Beasley shot the ball without hesitation and to great results — something his head coach continued to encourage him to do all night.
Beyond Beasley, Austin Reaves came off the bench to chip in with 17 points on perfect shooting, making all six of his shots from the field and all four of his free throws. Austin was especially potent in the 3rd quarter, where he scored 13 points to help push the Lakers halftime lead from three up to 15 heading into the fourth.
Austin was great all over the court as a scorer, but saved his highlights for his finishing around the basket where he dazzled with an array of double-clutch reverses and crafty lefty finishes after pump-faking defenders to keep them from contesting his shot.
Of course, even though it was the team’s role players who thrived as the primary scorers, the team’s stars did contribute in other ways. LeBron led the team with eight assists, picking out teammates as he has all season when the defense tilted in his direction. Whether out of the half court or in transition, LeBron masterfully found passing angles to set his guys up for makable shots.
Davis, meanwhile, thrived on the backboards and defensively, anchoring the Lakers with 12 rebounds (nine defensive), two blocked shots, and countless other shot alterations around the rim when Warriors tried to challenge him in the paint. AD leveraged his length and excellent timing to defend without fouling, while keeping Golden State second guessing on shots around the rim whenever he was lurking.
Not all the news coming out of this game is great, however. D’Angelo Russell was limited to only nine minutes in the game after suffering a sprained ankle in the 1st quarter. X-rays on the ankle were negative, but Coach Ham did acknowledge Russell would need to be evaluated again tomorrow after receiving treatment. So, it remains to be seen if he will miss any time and we will need to wait on additional updates.
Until then, however, the Lakers are clearly looking to build on their recent play and, as this game showed, do have some other players who can step up even when their stars aren’t at their very best or, as with Russell, weren’t able to complete the game. They will resume action on Sunday when they head on the road to Dallas to face the Mavericks and look to keep their momentum going.
