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Game 33: 12/27/17 Grizzlies at Lakers at GAME THREAD

PostPosted: Wed Dec 27, 2017 8:22 am
by KobeMVP888
(10-24)Image at Image(11-21)

Wednesday, December 27, 2017, 7:30 PM PDT
Staples Center • Los Angeles, CA

Referees: Derrick Stafford (#9), Ron Garretson (#10), CJ Washington (#12)

Replay Center: Brian Forte, Ben Taylor

Line: Lakers -2.5

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GAME PREVIEW: GRIZZLIES AT LAKERS


by NBA.com

LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Lakers are expected to have second-leading scorer Brandon Ingram back in the starting lineup at small forward when they host the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night at Staples Center.

Ingram, who is averaging 16 points a game, missed the past two games with a right quadriceps contusion and left quad tendinitis. He was listed as questionable on Tuesday, but he went through a full practice with no issues.

"I almost silly-fined him for looking so good and not playing last night," Lakers coach Luke Walton told reporters after practice on Tuesday.

The Lakers lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves 121-104 on Monday night for their third straight defeat and sixth in the past seven games.

Los Angeles (11-21) will continue to be without two starters, rookie point guard Lonzo Ball and veteran center Brook Lopez.

The Lakers will be up against a Memphis team that lost 99-97 to the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night. The game ended on a dunk by Tyson Chandler off an inbounds play with 0.4 second left.

Memphis leading scorer Marc Gasol (18.9) scored 18 points, but shot 4 for 16.

"They shrunk the floor," Memphis coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. "They did a really good job of putting bodies in the paint when he touched it, so we as a group have to do a better job of creating space for him."

Ball injured his left shoulder against the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday, and an MRI revealed a sprain. He will be sidelined at least through this week. Lopez has missed the past four games with a sprained right ankle and is expected to remain out another two weeks.

Ball was enjoying his best stretch of the season when he was injured while trying to box out Portland 7-footer Jusuf Nurkic. He was averaging 17.2 points in the previous five games and shooting 47 percent to up season mark to 34.9.

The Grizzlies (10-24) continue to be without starting point guard Mike Conley (left heel), but starting power forward JaMychal Green and reserve forward Chandler Parsons should return after missing the loss in Phoenix on Tuesday.

Green, the team's fourth-leading scorer at 9.7 points, sat out with knee soreness and Parsons, the fifth-leading scorer at 8.9 points, rested in the first game on back-to-back nights.

Another rookie in the Lakers' starting lineup, versatile forward Kyle Kuzma, continues to elevate his play.

Kuzma is averaging 27.8 points in his past five games to lift his team-high average to 18.1. He also has shot 22-for-39 from 3-point range in those games. Kuzma already has won Western Conference Rookie of the Month honors for October and November and appears a lock for his third straight award.

"Kuzma's competitive spirit is pretty awesome," Walton said. "For us, and the way we want to play, we want it to come organically to him, so we're not just running plays for him every time and things of that nature. Get within the flow of how we're playing, how we're pushing the ball, and I think he's done a really nice job of that recently, making strides in that area. But for a rookie to kind of continue to play at the level he's playing at against very good players, very good teams, playing big minutes, is impressive."

Another rookie for the Lakers, guard Josh Hart, moved into the starting lineup in place of Ball and contributed 12 points and six rebounds in the loss to Minnesota on Monday night. Walton was particularly impressed with Hart's aggressiveness on the boards.

"He was in there every time, just cracking people," Walton said. "Jumping with players bigger than him and playing a physical brand of game."


http://www.nba.com/games/20171227/MEMLAL#/preview

Re: Game 33: 12/27/17 Grizzlies at Lakers at GAME THREAD

PostPosted: Wed Dec 27, 2017 12:04 pm
by lakerevolution
We have good players. But we still don't have a team. Nothing really happens until Lonzo gets back, but the winds they are a-blowin' . . any trade scenarios NOT involving Boogie or PG?

Oh yeah -- a winnable one tonight. After the Houston win and our efforts vs. Golden State, they should all be considered winnable. Getting back to .500 seems to be the only realistic goal for the rest of the season.

Re: Game 33: 12/27/17 Grizzlies at Lakers at GAME THREAD

PostPosted: Wed Dec 27, 2017 8:37 pm
by Julius Russell
Hoping for a win but without Lonzo and Lopez we have holes that

Re: Game 33: 12/27/17 Grizzlies at Lakers at GAME THREAD

PostPosted: Wed Dec 27, 2017 11:08 pm
by Julius Russell
No Lonzo
Kuzma 24 shots for 9 points.
Weird pt for Randle led to pouting.
Free throws fucked us again

Re: Game 33: 12/27/17 Grizzlies at Lakers at GAME THREAD

PostPosted: Wed Dec 27, 2017 11:14 pm
by Lakers4Life
We made Tyreke Evans look like a superstar tonight. Our defense was MIA

Re: Game 33: 12/27/17 Grizzlies at Lakers at GAME THREAD

PostPosted: Thu Dec 28, 2017 2:14 am
by lakerevolution
Didnt see the game but reading reactions . . is it Luke? Are his 4th quarter rotations making sense? Could there be a smarter way to utilize this team, and its pieces? We seem stuck in a fog, and as the hole gets deeper and deeper, I know Magic and Rob are going to feel pressure to make some significant changes.

Re: Game 33: 12/27/17 Grizzlies at Lakers at GAME THREAD

PostPosted: Thu Dec 28, 2017 3:20 am
by 3Peatkb24
This summer is super critical. Some may agree with that or disagree with that but we need to add a SuperStar (maybe Cousins/maybe PG) and another significant Role Player that can hit 3's. Once again our 3 point shooting was bad tonight and we got nothing from the Center spot. Adding that to our youngsters is key if we want to start winning like everyone was used too back when Kobe was playing in his prime. Yes in time Lonzo, Ingram, and Kuzma will all be Very Good maybe Great but the Great part is a wait and see thing. If we keep the Roster close to the same and don't add at least 1 SuperStar we wont do much next season either IMO. 11-22 is not what I envisioned 33 games into the season. I don't think anyone did as most people in here thought going .500 was possible. I understand we are young but 11-22 is pretty Bad guys. Until we get a SuperStar we wont get any respect from the REFS either.

Re: Game 33: 12/27/17 Grizzlies at Lakers at GAME THREAD

PostPosted: Thu Dec 28, 2017 5:40 am
by Lakers4Life
Come on now. Both of you guys are way too focused on our wins and losses. When nobody thought we were going to win a lot of games this year anyways. Yeah we were optimistic but so are 31 other teams going into the season. What we should stay focused on is seeing Kuz, Ball, Ingram, Clarkson, etc.. improve. We’re now seeing glimpses of what BI strengths are and what he’s becoming. Focus on the moments & games where he uses his length to attack the defender and get to the basket. Focus on Lonzo creating harmony on the court by his natural ball moving abilities and how he improves his shot throughout the year.

Let’s not forget that The Lakers have had the toughest schedule up to date yet still beat Houston and has taken Golden State to overtime and have won their respect by how resilient we play. Durant likes Kuz and says he’s going to be a problem.

The wins have been hard to come by but we are competing this year. We play every team tough and have proved that the talent is there and we can hang with anyone (and that’s without a superstar). But the schedule softens up quite a bit in January. And hopefully we’ll see a correction in our win/loss column.

#Trust The Process

#Mommy’s all right...Daddy’s all right (Luke is all right)

Re: Game 33: 12/27/17 Grizzlies at Lakers at GAME THREAD

PostPosted: Thu Dec 28, 2017 6:02 am
by 3Peatkb24
[quote="Lakers4Life"]Come on now. Both of you guys are way too focused on our wins and losses. When nobody thought we were going to win a lot of games this year anyways. Yeah we were optimistic but so are 31 other teams going into the season. What we should stay focused on is seeing Kuz, Ball, Ingram, Clarkson, etc.. improve. We’re now seeing glimpses of what BI strengths are and what he’s becoming. Focus on the moments & games where he uses his length to attack the defender and get to the basket. Focus on Lonzo creating harmony on the court by his natural ball moving abilities and how he improves his shot throughout the year.

Let’s not forget that The Lakers have had the toughest schedule up to date yet still beat Houston and has taken Golden State to overtime and have won their respect by how resilient we play. Durant likes Kuz and says he’s going to be a problem.

The wins have been hard to come by but we are competing this year. We play every team tough and have proved that the talent is there and we can hang with anyone (and that’s without a superstar). But the schedule softens up quite a bit in January. And hopefully we’ll see a correction in our win/loss column.

#Trust The Process

I dig what you are saying, I love Lonzo, Kuzma, and Ingram. I can even make an argument for Kuzma being Rookie of the Year. Having said that what I also Posted has a lot of validity to it. Without at least 1 SuperStar teams cant win anything big or get respect from the REFS. I think in time Lonzo, Kuzma, and Ingram could all be All-Stars, not sure SuperStar status though? Aren't you guys sick of losing every season by now is all I am saying. We haven't been above .500 since the 2013 Season and this is 2018. That is a long time folks. I just think this summer we can make some big splashes while our young guys improve as well to get back to winning time. We have been awful for 5 seasons now 2014-2018, that is having patience out the butt waiting for some winning.

Re: Game 33: 12/27/17 Grizzlies at Lakers at GAME THREAD

PostPosted: Thu Dec 28, 2017 11:18 am
by KobeMVP888
I didn't watch the game and have no plans to. I guess Kuzma had one of those nights. We probably miss Lonzo more than we figured we would. Our poor efforts in his absence show his value.

Re: Game 33: 12/27/17 Grizzlies at Lakers at GAME THREAD

PostPosted: Thu Dec 28, 2017 11:28 am
by KobeMVP888
3Peatkb24 wrote:Aren't you guys sick of losing every season by now is all I am saying. We haven't been above .500 since the 2013 Season and this is 2018. That is a long time folks. I just think this summer we can make some big splashes while our young guys improve as well to get back to winning time. We have been awful for 5 seasons now 2014-2018, that is having patience out the butt waiting for some winning.


My attitude is that the CBA and CP3 ordeal screwed us royally. Also, Mitch Kupchak was behind the eight ball compared to other GMs when it came to the new CBA. Payroll was through the roof, limiting our ability to sign free agents (we only had the mini-midlevel exception). Our players got old, we had no assets to trade and the first summer that we could rebuild was 2014, the Randle/Clarkson draft. Also, Mitch and Jim assumed that players would want to come here and that is something else that is no longer the case. Players want to go play for winners RIGHT NOW! Am I sick of losing? Sure. Do I understand why we are where we are? Absolutely. The truth is that without all the losing, we don't have high picks, so it actually worked out better. The biggest fucking mistake was signing Deng and Mozgov (and not drafting Porzingis). I think the ship is definitely point in the right direction with Kuzma, Ingram and Lonzo as the focal points moving forward. Soon players will come and we have finally accumulated enough assets to trade for them. The shittiness will be in the rearview mirror before you know it. There's no need to dwell on it.

Re: Game 33: 12/27/17 Grizzlies at Lakers at GAME THREAD

PostPosted: Thu Dec 28, 2017 2:41 pm
by lakerevolution
Lakers4Life wrote:Come on now. Both of you guys are way too focused on our wins and losses. When nobody thought we were going to win a lot of games this year anyways.


With the OBVIOUS talent we have - from FO to Coach to flashy young players - we should FLAT-OUT be winning more games. I don't care if we make the playoffs, but we are acting and performing as if we aren't focused or just don't give a fuck. If we can beat Houston and take Oakland to two OT games, we cannot lose to the Portlands. No fuckin excuses. I will not lower my expectations just because we have new pieces. We are BETTER than the Minnesotas and Philadelphias . . we are the Los Angeles Lakers!! It seems that in the fall from grace since 2011, that magical aura has been forgotten or perhaps lost. "Get your shit together" is all I have to say to this team at this point. Luke is on a mini hot seat already. Randle is not appreciated. Clarkson may have mentally checked himself out already. We're wasting time, money, effort, and fan patience.

Re: Game 33: 12/27/17 Grizzlies at Lakers at GAME THREAD

PostPosted: Thu Dec 28, 2017 5:39 pm
by 3Peatkb24
lakerevolution wrote:
Lakers4Life wrote:Come on now. Both of you guys are way too focused on our wins and losses. When nobody thought we were going to win a lot of games this year anyways.


With the OBVIOUS talent we have - from FO to Coach to flashy young players - we should FLAT-OUT be winning more games. I don't care if we make the playoffs, but we are acting and performing as if we aren't focused or just don't give a fuck. If we can beat Houston and take Oakland to two OT games, we cannot lose to the Portlands. No fuckin excuses. I will not lower my expectations just because we have new pieces. We are BETTER than the Minnesotas and Philadelphias . . we are the Los Angeles Lakers!! It seems that in the fall from grace since 2011, that magical aura has been forgotten or perhaps lost. "Get your shit together" is all I have to say to this team at this point. Luke is on a mini hot seat already. Randle is not appreciated. Clarkson may have mentally checked himself out already. We're wasting time, money, effort, and fan patience.


I agree 100%, that is all I have been saying in a nut shell. Thanks Rev. I mean 11-22. We are capable of beating Houston easily and taking GS to OT twice but lose to bad teams. Just gets old. We should've beat Memphis at home without Lonzo, they suck and we lost by 10.

Re: Game 33: 12/27/17 Grizzlies at Lakers at GAME THREAD

PostPosted: Thu Dec 28, 2017 8:39 pm
by KobeMVP888
3Peatkb24 wrote:
lakerevolution wrote:
Lakers4Life wrote:Come on now. Both of you guys are way too focused on our wins and losses. When nobody thought we were going to win a lot of games this year anyways.


With the OBVIOUS talent we have - from FO to Coach to flashy young players - we should FLAT-OUT be winning more games. I don't care if we make the playoffs, but we are acting and performing as if we aren't focused or just don't give a fuck. If we can beat Houston and take Oakland to two OT games, we cannot lose to the Portlands. No fuckin excuses. I will not lower my expectations just because we have new pieces. We are BETTER than the Minnesotas and Philadelphias . . we are the Los Angeles Lakers!! It seems that in the fall from grace since 2011, that magical aura has been forgotten or perhaps lost. "Get your shit together" is all I have to say to this team at this point. Luke is on a mini hot seat already. Randle is not appreciated. Clarkson may have mentally checked himself out already. We're wasting time, money, effort, and fan patience.


I agree 100%, that is all I have been saying in a nut shell. Thanks Rev. I mean 11-22. We are capable of beating Houston easily and taking GS to OT twice but lose to bad teams. Just gets old. We should've beat Memphis at home without Lonzo, they suck and we lost by 10.


Before the season even started, we KNEW this would be a poor three point shooting team, which sadly is an absolute necessity in today's NBA. Our free throw shooting has been collectively horrible and we're adjusting to the fastest pace offense in the league and making sloppy turnovers that are a combination of playing at that pace and just been young, dumb and full of cum. Now that we've gotten through that brutal stretch of games, injury bug hit as did the KCP thing, so that was bad luck. I expected more slumps like this current one, quite frankly, but like Craig, I ain't record watching quite yet. Look at it this way, our "Big Three" are 22, 20 and 20, respectively. It doesn't mean squat that they happen to wear P&G in this NBA or any NBA that I can remember.

Re: Game 33: 12/27/17 Grizzlies at Lakers at GAME THREAD

PostPosted: Fri Dec 29, 2017 6:28 am
by 3Peatkb24
KobeMVP888 wrote:
3Peatkb24 wrote:
lakerevolution wrote:
Lakers4Life wrote:Come on now. Both of you guys are way too focused on our wins and losses. When nobody thought we were going to win a lot of games this year anyways.


With the OBVIOUS talent we have - from FO to Coach to flashy young players - we should FLAT-OUT be winning more games. I don't care if we make the playoffs, but we are acting and performing as if we aren't focused or just don't give a fuck. If we can beat Houston and take Oakland to two OT games, we cannot lose to the Portlands. No fuckin excuses. I will not lower my expectations just because we have new pieces. We are BETTER than the Minnesotas and Philadelphias . . we are the Los Angeles Lakers!! It seems that in the fall from grace since 2011, that magical aura has been forgotten or perhaps lost. "Get your shit together" is all I have to say to this team at this point. Luke is on a mini hot seat already. Randle is not appreciated. Clarkson may have mentally checked himself out already. We're wasting time, money, effort, and fan patience.


I agree 100%, that is all I have been saying in a nut shell. Thanks Rev. I mean 11-22. We are capable of beating Houston easily and taking GS to OT twice but lose to bad teams. Just gets old. We should've beat Memphis at home without Lonzo, they suck and we lost by 10.


Before the season even started, we KNEW this would be a poor three point shooting team, which sadly is an absolute necessity in today's NBA. Our free throw shooting has been collectively horrible and we're adjusting to the fastest pace offense in the league and making sloppy turnovers that are a combination of playing at that pace and just been young, dumb and full of cum. Now that we've gotten through that brutal stretch of games, injury bug hit as did the KCP thing, so that was bad luck. I expected more slumps like this current one, quite frankly, but like Craig, I ain't record watching quite yet. Look at it this way, our "Big Three" are 22, 20 and 20, respectively. It doesn't mean squat that they happen to wear P&G in this NBA or any NBA that I can remember.


I have really said all along next season would be the break through year regarding making the Playoffs. Have said it actually for a couple years now. Ingram will be in year 3, Lonzo a year under his belt, Kuzma a year under his belt and Magic IMO will add Good players if not a Great player to the Roster. I did expect us to be around .500 this season though is really my only gripe, like Rev's. It's the losing to Bad teams is what is bothersome because look at how we play vs Houston and GS. With another Draft and Free Agency + another year for our youngsters to mature, I think if we don't make the Playoffs next season that is Bad. We need to get rid of Lopez, Bogut, and KCP then bring in some heavy hitters. I am ok with not making the Playoffs this season as I understand why but in 2018/19 to me it's Playoffs or bust.

*By the way I feel the same way about the Colts next season. To me that is a tell all year for Luck to see if he can come back 100%. See if he can be like he was in 2014 when we went to the Final 4. Colts will have a new Coach, another Draft, and if Luck is healthy I expect at least a 10-6 season and a Playoff berth. Reason why I am Posting this is to show I am just not on here to bash the Lakers. I AM LIKE THIS WITH ALL THE TEAMS I ROOT FOR. I just hate losing and both the Lakers and Colts have a short rope with me at this point. Both need to make the Playoffs next season. Never thought my favorite Baseball team = the Cubs would be better than those teams :roflmao: how fuckin funny is that? Cubs just won the WS in 2016 so they have tons of rope now. Lakers have won 10 Championships since I have been a fan but hasn't won since 2010, that was 8 seasons ago when we won it all. Quite a while. Colts haven't won it all since 2006, so their rope is down to a shoe string with me :deskbang: