On Friday, the Los Angeles Lakers played against the San Antonio Spurs in a grueling match-up. The Lakers were out classed and out matched, but they played with their heart against the Spurs. In the third quarter, the Lakers were down 91-76. They could have put their heads down, but they did not. The Lakers went after the Spurs in the paint, played sound defense, and took great shots when they could.
“They’re talented, they’re playing hard — it looks like they want to play hard for Luke, and they play with a lot of energy and they have great pieces…” said Spurs point guard Tony Parker. “I give them credit. In the first half, we had a good lead, they came back. They played physical, they got into us, they created turnovers, and in the second.”
The Lakers’ bench outscore the Spurs 57-28, but the Spurs’ starters did just enough to close the Lakers out with an 116-107 victory.
“Luke’s (Walton) done a great job of making them believe and playing aggressively, and you can really see it,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “They came back and stuck it to us… We got after it and executed better, but I am just so impressed with what he has done with this group.”
Sunday the Lakers lost to the Bulls 118-110, but they had moments where their defense had gotten stops to get them back in the game. On the defensive end, Julius Randle has been picking up the pace for the Lakers. He has 3.9 blocks a game and has sealed the Lakers’ inside presence. Randle has quick feet and the Lakers’ weak side help is improving day by day. It will not take much longer for these players to stop their opponents.
Once they get a stop on the defensive end, they are attacking their opponents. They are not settling for the outside shot, they are going in the paint and creating opportunities for each other. Despite their losses, they’re starting to clamp down on allowing second chance opportunities, but injuries have plagued their upcoming star, D’Angelo Russell. Russell has been playing with a bum knee and hasn’t had much success driving the lane. He’s questionable for tonight’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Head coach Luke Walton had a few words about the injury to Russell. We want him to be push and be aggressive,” Walton said. “You can’t play at this level by favoring it. If that’s the case where it hurts, then we need to shut him down until he’s healthy. The league is too good only to go halfway and show some of the stuff that you can do because you’re concerned that something might hurt.”
Lakers will need to find a way to shut down the Russell Westbrook. Westbrook will be looking for his third straight triple-double against the Lakers. If the young lakers Russell, Young, can limit the turnovers, they’ll have a chance to end their two-game skid.
