Carrying a 1-0 lead after Friday’s 126-114 victory, the Lakers are set for Sunday’s Game 2 against Denver. Below are three things to know ahead of the 4:30 p.m. Pacific tip:
HOWARD KEYS DEFENSIVE LOCKDOWN
The biggest reason the Lakers have won basketball games all season is the presence of All-NBA First Team friends LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Their commitment to playing defense has filtered throughout the rest of the team, and is bolstered by a smart coaching staff that puts the right game plans in place game after game. And so in Game 1, after a feel-out first quarter in which both teams scored pretty easily (DEN led 38-36 after Jamal Murray beat the buzzer with a 3), the Lakers defense adjusted incredibly fast, assisted by the former 3-time Defensive Player of the Year, Dwight Howard.
In the second quarter, Denver managed just 21 points. Then in the third, they scored 20. Heading into the fourth quarter, L.A. led 103-79, and the game was over. Howard, after playing for only 16 total minutes against uber-small-ball Houston, was massive from the second he checked into the game at the 10-minute mark. After the Lakers started the quarter on a 9-0 run spurred by LeBron and Alex Caruso, Howard checked in at the same time as Nikola Jokic, which was Vogel’s plan. In the next three minutes, he notched two steals and two blocks, as he hounded Jokic all over the court, and even drew Jokic’s third personal foul at the 7:22 mark, sending him to the bench for the rest of the half.
Later in the quarter, Howard helped draw Murray’s third PF as well. Now, the Lakers can’t count on Denver’s two best offensive players getting in foul trouble in the first half again in Game 2, but they can count on Howard making things more difficult on Jokic than most NBA players can. Don’t be surprised if Howard ends up starting the game, as he did the third quarter.
RESTED LEBRON JAMES
LeBron was excellent in Game 1 as he always seems to be in the playoffs, hitting six of his 11 shots and 3 of 4 throws towards 15 points alongside a game-high 12 assists plus six boards in just 30 minutes of action. And yet, he really didn’t have to take his elevator to the top floor - at least physically - thanks to the contributions of his teammates all around him, from Howard’s aid on defense, to the 37 points from Davis or efficient 11 of 24 3-pointers from his teammates, led by Markieff Morris (3 of 4) and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (3 of 5).
The fact that the Lakes won by double digits without LeBron really needing to push is huge moving forward.
Like most teams, Denver doesn’t have a great matchup for LeBron, who’s too quick/fast for a player like Paul Millsap to hang with on the perimeter, and too strong for Jerami Grant, Michael Porter, Jr. or Gary Harris. The King can continue to conduct L.A.’s orchestra from the perimeter or the post, depending upon his fancy.
TRUSTED VETERANS
We covered Howard earlier, but how about the contributions of Rajon Rondo and Markieff Morris? First, the point guard: Rondo had nine assists in Game 1, many of them leading to Lakers dunks, without a single turnover. Rondo’s assist-to-turnover ratio is 7.3 to 2.2. In fact, check out his splits from the regular season and postseason:
Reg. Season: 20.5 minutes, 7.1 points on 41.8% FG’s, 32.8% 3’s; 5.0 assists; 1.9 turnovers; 3.0 rebounds
Playoffs: 25.8 minutes, 10.0 points on 50% FG’s, 47.4% 3’s; 7.3 assists; 2.2 turnovers; 4.0 rebounds
Meanwhile, Morris hit at least three triples for the third time in five games. I asked him after Saturday’s practice what the key to his shooting rhythm was, and he said repetition, before mentioning that he shot 40 percent in Detroit this season. Fair enough … he was at 39.7 percent, and is now at 44.1 percent in this postseason. He’s also playing very well on defense, both on and off the ball, giving the Lakers a big boost after GM Rob Pelinka signed him in March.
The Lakers know what they’re going to get from LeBron and AD every night, but to also get reliable contributions from veteran role players off the bench has been huge.
Meanwhile, Denver didn’t have a role player step up around Jokic and Murray. Harris, Millsap and Grant all struggled in the starting lineup, while Monte Morris, MPJ, Torrey Craig and Mason Plumlee weren’t able to get much going off the bench. We’ll see what adjustments they make for Game 2.