True Lakers Fans

(18-24) at (15-29)

Sunday, January 15, 2017, 6:30 PM PDT
Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA

Referees: Marc Davis (#8), Curtis Blair (#74), Derrick Collins (#11)

Line: Pistons -1.5





GAME PREVIEW: PISTONS AT LAKERS

BY NBA.COM

Bad things come in threes for the Detroit Pistons.

Perimeter defense has been a major issue for the Pistons in recent weeks, including their current five-game West Coast swing. Opponents have hit 49.6 percent (59 of 119) of their long-range shots during the first four games, a major reason why Detroit has lost three straight. The Pistons (18-24) will try to salvage the final game of the trip when they face the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center on Sunday night.

Utah fired in 16 of 31 3-point attempts on Friday in a 110-77 blowout that left Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy disgusted with himself and his defense.

"We can't stop anybody. We just can't," Van Gundy lamented. "I mean for the first 21 games we were the second-best defensive team in the league and now we are one of the worst. I'm frustrated. Not with our players, I'm frustrated with myself that I can't figure this out. I mean, we literally can't stop anyone, ever."

Detroit has dropped to 25th in defensive 3-point field-goal percentage (37.4) while its offense ranks 24th in that category (34.1). The defense completely collapsed in the second half against the Jazz, who outscored the Pistons 65-34 after the break.

"We got to defend. We got to make someone miss," Detroit point guard Reggie Jackson said. "I don't know what it is. We'll do it for about a total of half of a game, whether it be the first, third, or be the middle of the first, middle of the third, half the fourth. We're just not playing together for 48 1/8minutes 3/8. It's really coming back to bite us each and every night."

Making matters worse is that the Pistons are playing without two starters. Shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell Pope is expected to miss his second straight game with a shoulder sprain, while power forward Jon Leuer is sidelined with a bone bruise on his right knee.

Los Angeles (15-29) hasn't played any better this week, losing its last three games by an average of 25.7 points. The Lakers were dominated by the Clippers on Saturday afternoon, 113-97. They allowed the Clippers to shoot 52.2 percent and got overpowered by center DeAndre Jordan, who piled up 24 points and 21 rebounds.

The Lakers' promising duo of forward Julius Randle and point guard D'Angelo Russell combined for just nine points on 3-for-14 shooting while making five turnovers. Russell has been held to single digits in his last three games.

"We need him to be more aggressive and be the player we know he is capable of being," coach Luke Walton to the Los Angeles Daily News.

Walton was unhappy with the offense in general, especially a starting unit which only produced 41 points.

"We need to see sharper execution," he said to the Daily News. "The way we started the game tonight, our bigs weren't rolling and we weren't setting screens. Our spacing was 1/8bad 3/8. When we did get open, there was nothing to do with the ball there."

Forward Luol Deng is expected to return to the lineup on Sunday. He was rested on Saturday by Walton on the front end of the back-to-back.

The teams split the two-game series last season, with each winning on their home floor.

http://www.nba.com/games/20170115/DETLAL#/preview

Lakers looking good in the 1st half! Up 38 to 31

Lakers up 49 to 38

Halftime:

Lakers 57
Pistons 59

Sloppy 3rd quarter by both teams. Both teams haven't scored for 5:00 minutes. Turnovers. Missed shots.

Tough night for Randle so far

Lakers lose


Lakers 97
Pistons 102

Another loss. I have patience but some of these losses are inexcusable like tonight. We shouldn't lose to Detroit at home if we are making progress, JMO. Is everyone in here really content with our team? Just asking. This will be the 4th season in a row we probably wont even win 30 games. I am ready for Baseball to be honest.

Shot poorly from 3. Plus 4 buzzer beaters from a team who has talent vets

I think we are going to have a good February

Also I see a great deal of potential in this group
Russell can be anywhere from a borderline All Star to a HoFer
His efficiency and of course health is key.
Randle is the same. His value increases as his jumper and defense does.
He'll get better inside and his passing and playmaker skills will get better too.
Ingram has talent, smarts, will, length, etc to the point where he has All Time potential
Clarkson can be anywhere from a bench spark plug to a multiple six man candidate

But I said that to get to Zubac. Looks like a Marc Gasol potential.

If all hit the low end of their potential, that's a contender.
High end , dynasty.

Nance's ceiling is Draymond esque

3Peatkb24 wrote:Another loss. I have patience but some of these losses are inexcusable like tonight. We shouldn't lose to Detroit at home if we are making progress, JMO. Is everyone in here really content with our team? Just asking. This will be the 4th season in a row we probably wont even win 30 games. I am ready for Baseball to be honest.

I understand your pain brutha 3-Peat. We our in uncharted waters as a franchise. We are going to miss another playoffs. But I'm focusing on:

#1. Players growth. (And I've seen that with Randle, Russell, Ingram, Zubac & sporadically Clarkson)

#2. Coaching style. ( He's still growing but Walton seems like the right fit who is learning on the fly with are yutes)

#3. Competing. (We put ourselves in a position to win almost every night including last night but tend to fall apart at the end of quarters and especially at the end of the game. (NO KOBE = No closer) So it makes sense. These are just part of the growing pains a young team goes through. These same close games we're losing this season we'll probably win a lot more of next season with another year of experience under our belts)

4. Other young up & coming teams. ( I look at Philadelphia, Minnesota etc.. and we are still either have a better record or similar one to most of those teams. And they arguably have similar or better talent than we do. So we got to trust this process)

#5. Wins. (Least importance but We already are on pace to more victories than last years and should almost double our wins (26-30). That's progress)


A few last points: Don't underestimate the value of Larry Nance Jr & other injuries and their effect on our progress & win total.

And lastly, when this team is clicking on all cylinders, it's a beautiful thing to watch. And we have seen glimpses of our future. All we're missing are experience/growth. Then the victories will start piling up.

Patience my young Padawan. Because fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. And Hate leads to the darkside