The Lakers fell to Dallas 88-86 on Wednesday night in Las Vegas on a put-back layup with 1.7 seconds left, dropping their record to 1-3 and relegating L.A. to a consolation game on Friday afternoon against Utah.
Julius Randle, who was terrific in his strictly-enforced 20-odd minute limit on the floor, wasn’t able to get a final shot off before the buzzer; Summer League coach Mark Madsen took the blame afterwards, saying it was a “bad play (call)” that wasn’t on Randle. The 20-year-old finished with 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting, plus four boards, an assist and a steal in by far his best of three games.
Here’s a collection of other observations from Thomas and Mack Arena:
- D’Angelo Russell showed more than a few flashes of the skill set that made him the No. 2 overall pick, most notably with his five assists. The best of the dimes was a beautiful bounce pass he threw to Tarik Black after drawing two defenders. Russell cut down on the 6.5 turnovers per game he amassed in the first three contests by playing generally more relaxed, though he was mad at himself for a turnover in the final minute with the score tied when he tried to split a trap. Russell scored eight points with six boards, five assists and a steal in his 33 minutes. Madsen also praised his defensive effort, and was generally pleased with how responsive Russell has been to coaching and how much he cares about getting better.
- It was the defense that wasn’t clicking early for the Lakers, with the Mavs hitting 12 of their first 19 shots to take a 30-20 lead out of the first quarter — which they added to for a 50-36 halftime edge. L.A. got much better on that end in the third quarter, allowing 18 points to 25 of their own to get back into the game. Dallas ended up at only 40.5 percent, as the Lakers’ defense was pretty solid in the fourth quarter as well.
- Three-point shots weren’t falling for anybody on L.A. except Jabari Brown, who hit two of his three first-half attempts. The team finished just 6-of22 (27.3 percent), including Russell’s 0-of-5 and Jordan Clarkson’s 1-of-4. Brown led the Lakers with 19 points on 6-of-11 field goals and 5-of-5 free throws, showing why he led the D-League in scoring last season.
- Speaking of Clarkson: the All-Rookie First Team member had 17 points on 6-of-13 field goals, plus five boards and two assists. Clarkson looked good attacking the rim throughout the evening, though he didn’t find the range on his outside shot. He certainly didn’t have to prove himself in Summer League after playing well for the senior squad, but said he loves to play, and wanted the chance to grow with some of his new teammates to get more chemistry heading into the 2015-16 season.
- Robert Upshaw has a ways to go as a prospect, as Mitch Kupchak recently said on “Mason and Ireland” on 710 ESPN radio. He had a few good moments on both ends, but was often a step slow. He admittedly isn’t in basketball shape, but has the length and shot-blocking instincts to be worth the developmental time. Upshaw had five points, two boards and two turnovers against Dallas.
- No. 27 pick Larry Nance, Jr. was quiet for the second straight game. He missed all three of his shots, had two turnovers and committed two fouls in his nine minutes of action. He was more effective as the glue-guy starter in the game Randle missed (against Philadelphia) than as a bench player.
- No. 34 pick Anthony Brown had moments of good perimeter defense, but wasn’t hitting his few shots until connecting on a fourth-quarter triple. Like all of L.A.’s young players, he showed flashes this week, bu needs more time.
- Tarik Black had difficulty with Jeremy Tyler, who led Dallas with 25 points on an impressive 11-of-15 from the field plus 11 boards. Still, Black was a team-best +10 in the game. Black had four points with his four boards, but wasn’t able to slow Tyler throughout the evening.
L.A.’s final game is against Utah at 3:30 p.m. PT, providing the last chance for the young guys to play together against a live opponent until training camp starts in late September.