Overwhelmed at the outset, the Lakers clawed their way back into Wednesday’s Summer League tilt with Dallas after trailing by 14 points in the second quarter. L.A. led for only 34 seconds all game, but it managed to tie at 84 after Jabari Brown hit a layup and pair of free throws with 1:25 left.
From there, however, the Mavericks took the lead for good on a put-back layup by Jeremy Tyler with 1.4 seconds left. This cleanup was the exclamation point on a 25-point, 11-rebound double-double by Tyler, who was a member of the Lakers’ 2014 training camp.
“We just had to rotate over and box him out,” Jordan Clarkson said. “Other than that, I thought we moved the ball well offensively; we played better together this last game. It’s just a work in progress. That’s why we’re here in Summer League.”
Trio Goes Off
Despite the loss, three members of the Lakers’ young core put forth solid scoring nights. Jabari Brown led the team with 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting, while Clarkson (6-of-13) and Julius Randle (6-of-11) each pitched in 17.
Brown, who also hit all five of his free throws and grabbed six rebounds, was able to follow up nicely on his 20-point night against New York on Monday. This pair of games has been a positive sign for Brown, especially considering that he missed the Lakers’ first two Summer League games after suffering a small laceration on his left eye in practice.
“I shot better today than the last game,” said Brown, who averaged 22.0 points in his last four games of the regular season. “I’m just trying to improve every game and just show that what I did at the end of the year wasn’t a fluke.”
Clarkson, meanwhile, continued to be L.A.’s most impressive player in Las Vegas. The First Team All-Rookie selection is now averaging a team-best 18.0 points at Summer League.
However, it was Clarkson’s fellow 2014 Draft class member, Randle, who made the most waves against Dallas. Playing only 21 minutes due to a limit imposed by the coaching staff, Randle — who averaged 9.0 points on 29.4 percent shooting in the first three games — made the most of his time on the court by displaying an offensive arsenal, which included downhill drives, transition floor-running, dunks and even a couple mid-range jumpers.
After the game, Randle insisted that he was not doing anything differently than he had throughout the rest of Summer League play. Instead, he was finally finishing on the looks that he wanted and got all week long.
“It’s the same stuff I’ve been seeing the whole week,” Randle said. “I just slowed down this game and trusted myself and did what I’ve been working on. I just didn’t press.”
Russell Report
No. 2 overall draft pick D’Angelo Russell put forth a stronger effort than his eight-turnover showing against New York. Russell finished with eight points, six rebounds, five assists and just three turnovers. However, he shot 3-of-11 from the field and missed all five 3-point attempts.
Still, Russell expressed confidence that he understands why certain parts of his game have been off. The 19-year-old says that this is why he hasn’t watched game tape like he usually does.
“I haven’t really wanted to watch them at all, because I knew what my problem was,” Russell said. “I usually go to film to better myself, but I knew what my problem was and what our team’s problem was. … Just slowing down as a team and being patient on the offensive end; getting stops on the defensive end.”
Madsen Accepts Blame
Following Tyler’s put-back, the Lakers had one final chance to tie or win the game. L.A. used a pair of timeouts with 1.4 seconds left to draw up a play, but the result was fruitless, as Randle did not release a shot on time from well beyond the 3-point line.
“I was trying to get a deep pin-down, get the ball to Julius and with 1.4 (seconds), have him make a play,” Madsen said. “Bad play. I told that to Julius after the game. Julius did everything he was supposed to do. I drew up a bad play.”
One More Game
The Lakers will hit the court in Las Vegas one last time this summer against the Utah Jazz. Win or lose, the game, which starts at 3:30 p.m. PT on Friday, will mark the end of L.A.’s 2015 Summer League run.
“It doesn’t matter who’s playing in the park; you always want to win,” Brown said. “To lose like that (against Dallas) was kind of tough, so we’ve got to have a short memory and … finish strong.”