Category: NBA Basketball

Shelburne: Josh Hart made calls to Lakers after podcast remarks

The former Los Angeles Lakers guard apparently called the team after statements on his podcast about the Lakers being ‘depressing.’

Anthony Davis and his first game in New Orleans as a visitor is already making plenty of headlines even though Davis and the Los Angeles Lakers don’t play the Pelicans until Wednesday night. But of course, there’s another side to the coin and that is that Wednesday will also be the first time for many of the former baby Lakers of last year to play against their former squad.

One Pelican who made headlines after leaving the Lakers was guard Josh Hart, who had some interesting things to say on an episode of his podcast with fellow teammate Lonzo Ball. Hart alleged that times within the Lakers organization were depressing but apparently, that was a part of the podcast that wasn’t meant for listeners, according to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne.

“When my sarcasm, that wasn’t supposed to be in that — it was supposed to be cut — was in there, I called some of the people in the [Lakers] front office, I called some of my teammates that I had and made sure they knew that none of this stuff was about you guys,” Hart told ESPN on Sunday night.

“I loved my time here. I loved my time here and I wouldn’t have changed it for the world. I love Laker Nation. They show so much love, so much support.”

Hart was one of the most beloved Lakers on last year’s team and Lakers fans understandably wish him well despite the comments that went public. But given the way things are going this year with Anthony Davis next to LeBron James and a 14-2 record with the possibility of going 15-2 in a couple of hours, I think they can forgive Hart considering they have little be jealous of in the NBA these days.

Lakers continue on road trip with second visit to San Antonio

LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers have already won once this season in San Antonio and look to win their eight straight on Monday.

The Los Angeles Lakers are back on the floor Monday night as they play the penultimate game of their four-game road trip later this evening against the San Antonio Spurs at the AT&T Center. It’s the second meeting between the two teams this season while Monday is also the second and final visit to San Antonio for the Lakers this season.

The Lakers were in San Antonio during their last long win-streak, a 103-96 win when they were without Kyle Kuzma and Rajon Rondo but were led by a monstrous 14-point, 13-rebound performance off the bench from Dwight Howard.

The primary focus for the Lakers defense on Monday will be the same as it was in their Nov. 3 win at San Antonio: point guard Dejounte Murray. Murray nearly saved the Spurs in their last Lakers game by scoring 16 consecutive points for them in the 4th quarter, showing his talent even against an elite defensive squad is difficult to contain.

Although Murray managed to get loose, the Lakers did an excellent job against the Spurs star duo of LaMarcus Aldridge and DeMar DeRozan, holding the team to 22 points on seven of 24 shooting from the field.

The Lakers will need another solid performance on both ends to come through with the road win and push their current win-streak to eight games.

LeBron James drops 30 to survive nail-biter at Grizzlies for seventh straight win

LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers have matched their longest winning streak of the season with Saturday’s win at Memphis.

LeBron James had a game-high 30 points to go with six rebounds and four assists to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to their seventh straight victory, 109-108 over the Memphis Grizzlies. In addition to James, Anthony Davis had 22 points but the Lakers overall had a rough offensive night as they shot lower percentages than Memphis in every category save for free-throws. The Lakers forced 19 turnovers however and they made timely plays for the victory.

For much of Saturday night’s game against the Grizzlies, the Lakers played the part of a team that played the previous night in another city and arrived in Memphis in the wee hours of the morning. But down the stretch, Davis and James both made the requisite plays for the Lakers to match their longest winning streak of the season at seven games.

The Lakers took a 109-106 lead with just over 35 seconds left and after a rebound by Kyle Kuzma, Kuzma lost control of the ball to give the Grizzlies the ball leading to a lay-up by Ja Morant. A missed 3-pointer by James gave the Grizzlies one final shot to win the game with 1.3 sesconds left. The Grizzlies threw a full-court pass down the court and it was deflected by the Lakers to help them escape with the win.

The Lakers had a rough shooting night but they did get some solid production from the bench, especially from Dwight Howard, who had 10 points and nine rebounds on just four field goal attempts. Rajon Rondo had 14 points and six assists but he had 15 points to just three on the night for Kuzma, clearly a a reflection of the way the Grizzlies guarded the Lakers second unit.

Now the Lakers will head back west as they’ll visit the San Antonio Spurs on Monday night.

Rajon Rondo fined $35k for ‘unsportsmanlike physical contact’

Rajon Rondo was fined by the NBA after getting ejected in Friday night’s win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Los Angeles Lakers are in pretty good shape as they are riding a six-game winning streak heading into Saturday night’s game against a Memphis Grizzlies team that shows promise but is very inexperienced. However, one of their players was hit in the pocketbook after a moment in Friday’s win over Oklahoma City.

The NBA announced that Lakers guard Rajon Rondo has been fined $35,000 for “unsportsmanlike contact” with Thunder guard Dennis Schroeder, which resulted in a flagrant two foul for Rondo and an ejection, as well as the “verbal abuse of a game official” and “failing to leave the court in a timely manner upon his ejection.”

Video of the offense is available on NBA.com as it looks like Rondo hit Schroeder below the belt with a knee before arguing with the officials on his way out.

Rondo is expected to play for the Lakers tonight against the Grizzlies but he will be doing so without a significant chunk of change in his pocket. Rondo made his debut a earlier this month after missing about a month of time with a calf injury.

The Lakers are set to play the Grizzlies for the second time this season in about two hours at the FedEx Forum in Memphis.

A band interrupted LeBron James’ pre-game nap attempt on Saturday

LeBron James believes the fans in Memphis pulled out some extra stops to distract the Los Angeles Lakers before Saturday’s game.

Memphis may not get enough credit when it comes to being a tough place to play, even now as the team is at the bottom of the Western Conference. Because to see what LeBron James said on Saturday afternoon, it looks like Grizzlies fans are bringing postseason energy to their disruption of the visitors.

The Lakers are in Memphis to play the second game of a back-to-back on Saturday night and after getting in after last night’s game in Oklahoma City, so LeBron tried to get a customary road trip afternoon nap before facing off against the Grizzlies later Saturday night. But James was unable to get to sleep as he tweeted about a marching band playing outside of their hotel since 9 a.m.

The Lakers are on their first extended road trip of the season and tonight will be their first road back-to-back, but you have to wonder if the Grizzlies fans poked the bear on a night that he may not have otherwise gotten up for. If they did, grab your popcorn, Saturday night should be show.

Anthony Davis hits clutch free throws to seal Lakers win at OKC

LeBron James had 23 points and 14 assists as the Los Angeles Lakers extended their current win-streak to six games.

Anthony Davis iced the game at the line with 3.8 seconds left up 130-127 and the game was sealed by a late steal by LeBron James as the Los Angeles Lakers won their sixth straight game on Friday night over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

In addition to Davis, LeBron James had another excellent night in both scoring and assisting. James finished with 23 points, 14 assists and six rebounds while Davis had a game-high 33 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.

The Lakers led for most of the night in their game against the Thunder, but never where they comfortable. Davis was making plays with the pass and shooting well while James was scoring and assisting in the dominant way he does. But the Thunder stayed with the Lakers all throughout the night.

The Lakers had six players in double figure on the night while the Thunder matched that while also having a host of other scorers in their nine-man unit on Friday. The Lakers also had a great night from the outside as Danny Green, Davis and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope each made four 3-pointers apiece.

The Lakers took care of business on Friday night but as their longest road trip of the season continues, they’ll have to fight through fatigue as they visit Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies tomorrow night in Tennessee.

LeBron, Anthony Davis and KCP combine for epic gamebreaker

LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers may as well have been in a video game during a moment in Friday night’s game.

The Los Angeles Lakers likely got more than they bargained for as they were pushed to have a very competitive game against the Oklahoma City Thunder for the second time in the same week. To Oklahoma City’s credit, they didn’t backdown against what has been the best team in the Western Conference and a bonafide championship contender.

But nobody would have faulted them if they had wilted midway through the third quarter of Friday night’s game when a trio of Lakers combined for a play more usually apt for a video game than a regular game that’s only televised on NBA League Pass. The steal from KCP, the pass ahead to a stumbling Davis over his head to a dunking LeBron looked more like a scene from NBA Street than a game between professionals.

James set the tone early on in this game and Anthony Davis says he’s getting healthier, creating opportunities for his teammates while he’s also shooting better than he has all season over the last few games.

The Lakers must remain tight to close Friday night’s game out but without a doubt, they continue proving on a nightly basis that Showtime is really back in purple and gold.

Harassment charges dropped against Lakers DeMarcus Cousins

After charges were filed for a domestic dispute in August, they’ve reportedly been dropped, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Although the Los Angeles Lakers oddly chosen to say it’s not out of the question for DeMarcus Cousins to return during the playoffs after tearing his ACL in August, the tangible news that came Friday afternoon is of much greater importance for their injured center.

Charges filed against the Los Angeles Lakers for third-degree harassment have been dropped in Mobile, Alabama, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. A few days after suffering the knee injury in a pick-up game, Cousins was wanted for arrest in Alabama after a domestic dispute regarding a former girlfriend and his four-year old son whom they share.

Shortly after Cousins was injured, the Lakers agreed to a contract with Dwight Howard that is currently paying wonderful dividends for their team. With Howard much older than Cousins, the Lakers may be thinking of keeping Boogie on the roster in order to bring him back once he’s healthy.

Cousins also has a strong relationship with Anthony Davis and Rajon Rondo dating to their lone season together in New Orleans, which can’t be discounted in the calculus of keeping him on the roster even though he won’t be able to contribute this season.

Lakers begin longest trip of season so far on Friday in Oklahoma City

LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers are hitting the road for their first extended trip after playing most of their games at home.

Of the first 14 games the Los Angeles Lakers played this season, a whopping nine of them were played within the friendly, stage lit confines of the Staples Center. The results have been an 8-1 home record, with their lone loss at home coming to the defending champion Toronto Raptors. But starting today, the Lakers will have their longest road trip of the season that will take them right to Thanksgiving.

Friday’s game is a rematch of a game played earlier this week between the Lakers and the Oklahoma City Thunder, who played a very tough game and have been a very scrappy 5-9 with the No. 12 defense in the league.

Tuesday night’s 112-107 win showed that the Lakers could slow down the strong Thunder backcourt of Chris Paul and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, while back-up guard Dennis Schroeder pitched in a team-high 31 points off the bench.

Tuesday’s match-up was also the rare night for the Lakers this season where they won with their offensive firepower more than their defense. A big part of that firepower was one of the best shooting nights for star forward Anthony Davis as he finished with 34 points and a season-high three 3-pointers.

While all the games on the Lakers road trip will be against teams currently below .500, it will be interesting to see how the team reacts to their longest trip of the young season.

Don’t discount LeBron’s defense in Lakers surge to the top of the standings

While plenty of ink has rightfully been spilled on LeBron’s offensive resurgence, it’d be a mistake to ignore his and his team’s defense.

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The Los Angeles Lakers currently own the best record in the NBA by a nose, and LeBron James’ rejuvenated play has almost everything to do with it.

This is not, of course, to disparage the outstanding play coming from the other top-ten player on the Lakers’ roster, Anthony Davis, mind you — far from it. But James’ resurgence has made the pair a truly lethal combination, a testament to the traction his #WashedKing hashtag has had as L.A. has surged to the top of the standings.

Tuesday night, LeBron added to his growing resume of achievements by getting a triple-double against the Oklahoma City Thunder. On its surface, it wasn’t an especially remarkable achievement, particularly given that club’s comparatively weakened conditioned compared to seasons past.

That it was the final remaining team James had yet to log such a feat against was both remarkable in its completeness and in that it had only just occurred now in his 17th season despite being seen as a “walking triple-double” for his entire basketball life.

But the headline-grabbing feat is only one part of what’s driving the Akron native’s success — defense, a quality James hasn’t been known for in recent years, has also been a significant factor.

“It’s a new year,” to paraphrase the man himself (via The Score), and indeed it is. Despite a number of analysts questioning the makeup and depth of the roster in the preseason — to say nothing of the defensive reputations of LeBron in recent years, to which the above comment alludes — the Lakers are now among the league’s best defenses, much of which can be credited to the Ohioan’s buy-in as a defender.

The replication of head coach Frank Vogel’s defensive approach used in his time with the Indiana Pacers has been amplified by the commitment ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported James making to Davis over the summer, resulting in defensive performance unseen since his stint with the Miami Heat.

Logging the third best defensive rating (100) of his career and tying his second-best defensive box plus/minus (2.8) James has found teammates JaVale McGee, Dwight Howard and Danny Green as competent as ever on that side of the court, as well as Avery Bradley, Alex Caruso and even Rajon Rondo taking steps forward compared to recent years.

And of course, having All-Defensive monster big man Anthony Davis leading the league in blocks doesn’t hurt, either.

Taken together, a team some questioned whether would even be in the postseason conversation is now sitting atop the league, in no small part to their rejuvenated defensive chops, also currently atop the league. A blueprint lifted from head coach Vogel’s past successes has proven quite a potent combination, to the consternation of foes across the league.

How far can this defensive renaissance take the new-look Lakers? So long as health and a concurrently elite offense continues to flow from La-La land’s finest, it’s looking like the sky’s the limit.