Tag: Lakers

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.