Tag: Lakers

LeBron James is displaying his versatile skill set in the purest way this season

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James is leading the NBA in assists and is averaging a career-low in minutes per game this season.

Throughout his career, Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James has possessed an extraordinary all-around game, with his playmaking skills making him one of the most talented players in NBA history. But his current performance this season may be the purest expression of his skillset that we’ve ever seen as he continues to challenge the limits of greatness in season No. 17.

Often, the versatility of LeBron’s skills has had to be placed in the background for more practical reasons. He’s had to take on a big chunk of the scoring load several times throughout his career, with his rookie season being the only time he didn’t average 25 or more points a game.

This season is different, though. For once, he’s not leading his team in scoring, though he is second behind Anthony Davis. James is averaging a career-high 10.8 assists per game and is the league’s leader in assists. If he keeps this pace, he will lead the NBA in assists for the first time in his storied career.

A player that’s wowed audiences for almost two decades, James is using his skill set in perhaps the purest way he ever has in his NBA career this season with the Lakers. He’s been playing point guard, although one could argue James has been a “point guard” his whole career. Never one to tout himself as a “scorer,” even as one of the most prolific in NBA history, James has been allowed to play basketball in a style that suits his preferences this year.

A player that’s been compared to Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson, James’ stands alone, with his unique style of play never being more apparent than this season. A big part of that is because he has the perfect pick-and-roll partner in Davis. The duo has run the action beautifully this season, with Davis scoring 4.1 points a game as a roll man, per NBA.com. 

Davis has already solidified himself as one of the most talented teammates James has played with. He’s up there with Dwyane Wade and Kyrie Irving. Davis’ game complements James’ skill set well, with his ability to score in multiple ways, inside and outside. Davis has won Player of the Week twice this season for the Lakers and is coming off back-to-back games of 39 and 50 points.

Davis has allowed LeBron’s playmaking to flourish. Per NBA.com, the assist points created tallies the number of points a player or team makes through assists. Assist points created began being recorded in 2013-14, and since then James has ranked in the top 10 of the category six times, including this season. This season, James leads the league in assist points created (27.1). He’s also doing this while averaging a career-low 34.4 minutes per game.

Whether it’s seeing an open driving lane or finding an open teammate on the fastbreak, James can usually make any play he wants.  In the video below, James floated a pass to Davis, who was running up the floor. Possessing great court vision is an important part of being a good passer, and James has some of the best court vision ever. Likely the best ever.

Davis’ quality play has helped James immensely. In addition, though, James is arguably playing with one of the best-supporting casts he’s ever had in his career in terms of spacing. With shooters such as Danny Green and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, this roster is simply built for James to succeed at the highest level. Green and Caldwell-Pope are both shooting at least 38% from the 3-point line. In Cleveland and in Miami, shooting around LeBron meant great things and this season has been no different.

He also has some help handling the ball. Alex Caruso and Rajon Rondo have come off the bench to share ball-handling and facilitating duties, giving James a break so he doesn’t have to get his minutes too high. Rondo is second in assists on the team behind James, and Caruso ranks fourth.

Dwight Howard has also been a key player for the Lakers’ top-tier defense, and he’s rebounded the ball well, too. He has a 102.1 defensive rating, and he ranks second on the team in rebounds (7.0). Davis has been great defensively as well, leading the team in blocks (2.7). Having Davis and Howard as safety blankets has also allowed LeBron to take more risks, helping the Lakers be one of the best teams in the league in forcing turnovers.

James can also still score at a high level too, but he hasn’t been asked to do it as much this season. He’s posted eight games of 30-plus points this season, with a season-high 39 coming during overtime in a win against the Dallas Mavericks on Nov. 1. 

And defensively, he’s had a resurgence as well. He’s been playing passing lanes, positioning himself for steals. James is averaging 1.3 steals, tied for second on the Lakers with Green. He’s been able to play the free safety position on defense while being the quarterback of the offense.

With all these contributions from teammates, James doesn’t have to be concerned about handling the ball, scoring, making plays and playing defense.

And because of that, fans have gotten to see James in perhaps his purest form.

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Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has been a key complementary starter

With his shooting and defense, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has been a key starter for the Lakers recently.

Los Angeles Lakers guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope made his ninth straight start Sunday against the Dallas Mavericks. The Lakers’ 10-game win streak ended as the Mavericks won 114-100.

Caldwell-Pope didn’t score in double figures for a third straight game in the loss. But during the Lakers’ win streak, Caldwell-Pope shined.

During those 10 games, Caldwell-Pope made eight starts. In his eight starts, he scored 11.8 points per game on 54% shooting from the field, per Basketball Reference. 

Caldwell-Pope has showed he can be a key complementary starter recently. In the previous eight starts before Sunday, Caldwell-Pope shot 51.5% from the 3-point line. He scored seven points and went 1-of-2 from the 3-point line in Sunday’s loss.

While Caldwell-Pope is one of the Lakers’ best shooters, he is also a solid defender. He isn’t necessarily a lockdown defender, but he does well containing his opponents as best as possible.

In the video below, Caldwell-Pope struggled at first to get through Dwight Powell’s screen, but he recovered well and helped JaVale McGee force a bad pass from Luka Doncic.

 

Caldwell-Pope began the season on the bench, starting only one game in the Lakers’ first 11 contests. That was for good reason, though, as Caldwell-Pope didn’t show any sort of consistency.

He particularly wasn’t the threat he’s capable of being offensively, scoring 5.3 points per game in the Lakers’ first 11 games.

During those first 11 games, he posted three games where he didn’t make a shot from the field.

Now, though, as the Lakers lose their first game since Nov. 10, Caldwell-Pope has shown the Lakers are perhaps better off with him in the starting lineup.

During Caldwell-Pope’s previous eight starts, the Lakers shot an average of 40.5% from the 3-point line, well above their season average of 35.8%. During his eight starts over the 10-game win streak, Caldwell-Pope was the Lakers’ top 3-point shooter three times.

Caldwell-Pope’s role could end up being similar to the one J.R. Smith had with the Cleveland Cavaliers during the team’s 2016 title season. Smith shot 40.0% from the 3-point line during the regular season — it was the second-highest mark of his career from deep.

With the Lakers 20 games into the regular season, Caldwell-Pope is shooting a career-high 40.4% from the 3-point line.

Despite a slow start to the season, Caldwell-Pope has shown he will be integral for the Lakers’ future success.

The Lakers will play the Denver Nuggets on the road Tuesday at 9 p.m. EST.

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The 6 NBA storylines we need to pay attention to in December

The league could get crazy pretty quickly.

We’re just about done with the first month of NBA basketball. Now the real games are about to begin.

October and November are typically the time teams use in the season to get their rotations together while feeling out their strengths and weaknesses.

Some of the narratives for this season are beginning to take shape. December is really when teams truly start to figure out who they are. By the end of 2019, we’ll know who is truly tanking, who is truly contending and who should give up hope altogether for this season.

Here are six things you need to pay attention to in the NBA for the next month.

1. Just how real are the Lakers?

The Lakers are the league’s best team right now with a 16-2 record and have the league’s third best net rating at 7.9. They’re legit good. That’s not a question. The thing still left to be figured out is how good has their success actually been.

Their schedule has been weak. Their opponents’ .475 winning percentage ranks 24th in the NBA. We’ll see who they really are by the end of the month after they face the Jazz, Mavericks, Nuggets (twice), Bucks and Clippers next month. Buckle in, y’all. It’s might get bumpy.

2. The Raptors might be legit Finals contenders

Don’t look now, but the Raptors are one of two teams in the league that rank in the top 5 in both offensive and defensive efficiency. The other is the Milwaukee Bucks. These Raptors look like have a real shot in getting back to the Finals.

This upcoming month will be tough. Six of their first eight matchups in December are against playoff teams — including Kawhi Leonard’s Clippers. That slate will be a great litmus test to see how real they actually are.

3. James Harden’s push for 40 points per game

As it stands, James Harden is averaging 37.7 points per game, just a shade under 40. He’s still shooting 43 percent from the field and 34 percent from deep – slightly below his career averages in both categories – so he can still get to that 40 mark.

The Rockets’ December schedule should help. They’ll play six matchups against the bottom 10 defenses in the league. They get the Spurs twice, Cavaliers, Pistons, Warriors and the Pelicans to close the month out. Harden is going to have a field day.

4. Will Kyrie Irving’s return throw the Nets off?

Kyrie Irving should return soon after missing some time with a shoulder injury. The problem? The Nets have been just fine without him. They’re 6-2 in the eight games without him after a 4-7 start and Spencer Dinwiddie has looked like an All-Star.

It’d be ridiculous to say that the Nets are better off without Irving. But there’s something to them playing better right now with him out of the lineup. The Nets are better when the ball moves and Irving’s 34 percent usage rate clearly doesn’t mix with that. They’ll have to find a happy medium when he gets back to stay afloat.

5. Can this Carmelo Anthony experiment last? 

Carmelo Anthony has been up and down in his time with the Blazers. His last two games he’s averaging 22 points per game and shooting 61.3 percent from the field. Before that? 13 points while hitting 34 percent from the field and 31 percent from deep. The real him probably lies somewhere in between that.

The problem is the Blazers badly need him to be that best version of himself. If he can’t, this experiment might end quickly. He’s on a non-guaranteed deal until January 7 and is paid by the day. Any slip and he could be out of there.

6. Victor Oladipo back?

Malcolm Brogdon and Domantas Sabonis have played like All-Stars and have the Pacers just a game back of the four seed in the East. The good news is Victor Oladipo might be back soon to help. There’s still no timeline on his return, but he was assigned to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants a couple of weeks ago and has been a full participant in practice.

He won’t be the same Oladipo when he finally gets back, but anything close to All-Star form is a bonus for the Pacers and will make them a formidable team moving in to the new year.

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Report: Hamidou Diallo out against the Lakers

Diallo will miss his third straight game as the Thunder guard continues to deal with left knee soreness.

Hamidou Diallo will miss his third straight game on Tuesday.

Billy Donovan announced the decision a little over an hour before tip-off against the Lakers, at around 8:15 p.m CT.

Diallo was first held out of Friday’s win over the 76ers with left knee soreness. He suffered an injury during the Thunder’s loss to the Pacers last week, however, no details about how or when the injury occurred has been made available.

According to The Oklahoman, Donovan had said on Friday that he didn’t expect Diallo to miss much game time.

“We don’t think it’s going to be a thing that requires him sitting out for a long stretch,” Donovan said.

In 10 games this season, Diallo is averaging 8.8 points and 4.0 rebounds in 22 minutes per game while shooting 50% from the field.

Oklahoma City wraps up their two-game West Coast road trip Tuesday night against the Lakers. The Thunder fell 90-88 to the Clippers inside the Staples Center on Monday.