Game Thread PLAYOFFS: ROUND 1, GAME 2: BLAZERS @ LAKERS - AUGUST 20, 2020 - THURSDAY, 6:00 , ESPN & NBCSNW

CBS sports guy has some ideas for Lakers, also talks about how Blazers got away with playing two centers:
1. It's time to fix the rotation
The Lakers were outscored by nine points in JaVale McGee's 13 minutes on the floor. They lost the game by seven points. That isn't a coincidence. The Lakers were outscored during McGee's minutes in all seven of his appearances in the bubble. In Orlando, they have now been outscored by 66 points in his 121 minutes on the floor. They've outscored opponents by 26 points in the minutes they've played without him.

This isn't rocket science. The Lakers are starting every game down several points because they're starting the wrong lineup. They're exacerbating the problem by sending that same lineup out there at the start of the third quarter. The version of the starting lineup that included Avery Bradley outscored opponents by 12.6 points per 100 possessions during the regular season. The version with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was outscored by 1.2 points per 100 possessions. The McGee-Caldwell-Pope-James-Davis-Danny Green fivesome doesn't work.

At a minimum, McGee needs to be excised from the rotation entirely. Whether that means playing Markieff Morris at center more or hoping Dwight Howard can avoid foul trouble is another matter, but there just isn't any evidence to suggest that JaVale can contribute to winning in the postseason. There's a reason he was a benchwarmer for the Warriors. The Caldwell-Pope situation is more complicated. They need to play him, and his numbers, on balance, have been better as a starter. But tinkering with the combinations is critical. Alex Caruso deserves a look as the fifth starter. Kyle Kuzma's place in the first five should be obvious.

This isn't March anymore. These games count. Frank Vogel can't afford to fritter them away by playing the wrong players. The Lakers are better than the Blazers. That much should be obvious. They just have to use the right lineups to prove it.

2. LeBron was great... but in the wrong ways
It's hard to argue with 23 points, 17 rebounds and 15 assists. Those numbers don't even tell the entire story. LeBron was great on defense as well. Nearly every decision he made, in a vacuum, was the right one.

But the Lakers scored 93 points against a defense that has allowed an average of 123 points over its past six outings. Yes, shooting was the primary reason for that, and the Lakers will probably hit more than five of their 32 long balls in Game 2. But role players have bad shooting nights. It happens. When it does, superstars are supposed to pick up the scoring burden themselves.

For all of the great things LeBron did in Game 1, he didn't do what we've seen him do in the playoffs time and time again: score. Despite drawing incredible matchups in Carmelo Anthony and Gary Trent Jr., James was determined to play total team basketball. What the Lakers need is something closer to the LeBron of 2018.

In Game 1 of that postseason run against the Indiana Pacers, James scored 24 points en route to a triple-double... but the Cavaliers lost. He came out and scored 46 in Game 2, a win, and wound up averaging 34.6 points per game through the rest of the Eastern Conference playoffs. If no other Laker is going to create shots, LeBron is going to have to do something like that for the Lakers to win the title. It's cliche, but he has to be more like Michael Jordan and less like Magic Johnson. His roster demands it.

3. The Blazers got away with playing two centers
It might have happened by accident. Wenyen Gabriel started at power forward for the Blazers but got into early foul trouble. So the Blazers did something that few 2020 teams would ever consider: they played their two centers together. It was a look they experimented with a bit prior to the playoffs, but without much success. That was for good reason. Neither Hassan Whiteside nor Jusuf Nurkic are particularly strong shooters, nor can they defend the perimeter all that well.

But they survived those minutes in Game 1 by crashing the boards and protecting the rim. The Lakers missed the open shots the Blazers created with their two-big lineups, and while it may not be sustainable, Portland might not have much of a choice but to go back to those groups until Zach Collins is healthy enough to return. This is a thin team. Their lineup options are limited. The entire enterprise falls apart if the Lakers start making shots, but until they do? The Blazers might have found a way to shift some minutes away from the worst players on their bench and towards better ones.
https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/...to-upset-win-over-los-angeles-in-game-1/live/

 

This is HUGE game for us. We win we cut them legs; Gotta makin adjusments for game 2, and be sharp. Lets go Blazers!

 

Getting Zach back would really help. If nothing more, he’s another tall, strong body and 6 more fouls.

 

I'd rather Wenyen foul out in the first quarter, and have to play Hoard than to have Mario play a single minute on the court.

I said it last night, but Mario making a few good plays is just fool's gold for Terry to keep him in. When he came in last night he had a few nice assists, had a steal and got a contested rebound and helped extend our lead to 16 points. Terry should have cashed out and pulled him right there because he then helped give it all back in a span of about 4 minutes. Game low -12 in 12 minutes.

 

Bruh, bars be wild lol

 

With these refs those 6 fouls are so big

 

Yeah, he is going to commit some legitimate fouls and he is also going to get called for some ticky-tack fouls based on who he is and who he guarding. A good example was the first one he picked up.....would Lebron, or AD, or even Dame have been called for that?

 

I'm absolutely pumped. After what this team has gone thru this season and end up where they're at now, this is exciting!

Nurk misses 66 regular season games due to his broken leg.
Collins misses 63 regular season games due to his shoulder injury.
Hood misses 43 regular season games due to his torn Achilles. (shooting a league leading 49.3% 3 point shooting)
Blazers were 9 games under 500, 4 games behind 8th seed, with only 9 games to play.

Dame ends the regular season as the #3 scorer in the league at 30.0 points/game, and #6 assists at 8.0 assists/game.
Dame has a historic 3 60 point games in one season.
Dame scores 50 or more points 6 times in the season.
Whiteside ends the regular season as the #1 shot blocker in the league at 2.9 blocks/game, and #3 rebounder at 13.5 rebounds/game.

This team has faced a ton of adversity and continued to fight. And now they just beat the #1 seeded Lakers in the first playoff game to lead the series 1-0.

All I want is 15 more wins this season!!

 

Zach would be a welcome addition. Need more bodies. AD will get call after call. Can't change that. Some are legit calls some meh. Only hope is to play him hard like a lead xray blanket.

 

Time and time again game after game Mario has had "A Few Good Plays" amounting to a bunch of good plays in the Bubble. Mario played just fine for the time he was on the court.

 

They said High Ankle Sprain last night.

 

We must not be watching the same game.

 

Or maybe the glasses we are using are a different color?

 

Yeah, I have a lot of faith in Hassan and Nurk to adjust to the way the refs are calling it but I don't know if Wenyen at his age will have that in him. I hope he surprises me because you're right less Rio and more Wenyen would be really nice to see.

 

This guy is missing a lot and wrong about a lot. He's right about LeBron he probably can put his effort into different areas to be more effective. I don't think McGee was that big of a problem for the Lakers. He was identifying what the Lakers did right but those offensive boards and our turnovers that even kept them in the game should have been discussed. He didn't address the fact that it was because we shut down inside scoring, which is where the Lakers make their points, that they couldn't hit outside shots which are always set up buy inside dominance in the Lakers offense... so maybe playing two lane clogging rim protectors against them, isn't the worst thing.

 

Vegas still favors the Lakers by between 4 1/2 and 6 points in game two, we'll see if that line changes between now and game time.