LeBron James, Anthony Davis and the Los Angeles Lakers don’t want to sell themselves short this year even after Sunday’s loss.
Despite the fact that the Los Angeles Lakers are set to begin a brutal stretch of games away from the Staples Center against good teams and they lost one of their two home games over the next 10 on Sunday, they still have quite the goal for their games ahead: not to lose two games in a row.
Both LeBron James and Anthony Davis vocalized that goal to the media on Sunday afternoon following the Sunday’s second-half collapse against the Mavericks, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.
“You don’t know until you [strive for it],” James said of the goal to avoid a two-game losing streak all season, which he says the team has eyed since opening night.
“Realistic is the mindset. It’s not about [accepting that] sometimes you lose games in a row. Just having that mindset and that approach.”
After the loss, the Lakers are now tied with the Milwaukee Bucks for the NBA’s best record at 17-3 through the first 20 games. But the Lakers will need that special mindset to get through what will be the toughest stretch of their season so far.
As mentioned above, Sunday’s game was one of two games in a stretch of 10 where the Lakers play eight games on the road. That includes what should be a competitive road trip this weekend against teams in the Northwest Division, starting with a Western Conference showdown against the No. 2 Denver Nuggets team who are 13-4 and also have one of the league’s best defenses on Tuesday night in the Mile High City.
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.
Luka Doncic scored 21 of his 27 points in the 2nd half to propel the Mavericks past the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday.
After going 14-1 in the month of November and coming into Sunday’s game with a 10-game win-streak, the Los Angeles Lakers were given a cruel welcome to what will be a much tougher December schedule as Luka Doncic exploded in the second half to snap the Lakers win-streak on Sunday afternoon, 114-100.
LeBron James had 25 points, eight assists and nine rebounds while Anthony Davis had 27 points but the Lakers duo got little help with Alex Caruso the only player scoring in double-figures (10 points).
After a quiet first half with just six points, Doncic scored 21 of his 27 points in the second half to go with 10 assists and nine rebounds while the Mavericks dwarfed the Lakers output from the 3-point line. Dallas was 17 for 49 from the 3-point line while the Lakers were just seven for 27, outscoring them by 30 points form the outside.
For whatever reason, the Lakers didn’t begin the second half blitzing Doncic to force the ball from his hands as they did to begin the game and he exposed them. The Mavericks also had four other players in addition to Doncic who made multiple 3-pointer on the night, providing the firepower to give the Lakers only their third loss of the season.
And as will be a theme for the month of December, it’s not going to get any easier from here. L.A. is now headed out on three-game trip starting against a tough Denver Nuggets squad that will kick off a stretch of the Lakers playing eight of their next nine games away from Staples Center. To survive, they can’t make performances like Sunday’s the norm.
Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis showed that people just can’t get as high as he can with an alley oop jam on Sunday.
The Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks meeting once again resulted in another half of excellent basketball but also one of the highlights of the year, if not the highlight of the year so far, for the Los Angeles Lakers.
After the Mavericks wrestled control of the game with LeBron James on the bench, James and Anthony Davis led the Lakers back to take a 62-59 lead into halftime. The Lakers were hustling, James was diving on the floor and Davis led all scorers at halftime with 20 points, all the while making life difficult for Luka Doncic. But no play was better than LeBron’s lob pass to Davis who caught the ball at the high point far above where Doncic attempted to break up the pass.
Doncic has a knack for being in the right place at the right time but sometimes there are things instincts can’t take care of for you, as Davis’ incredible reach and athleticism showed on the above play.
James has 15 points, six assists and five rebounds at halftime while Doncic has just six points and five assists as he’s struggled early going one for six from the field.
The Los Angeles Lakers will have one of their key players in Sunday afternoon’s showdown against Luka Doncic and the Mavericks.
The Los Angeles Lakers will be close to full strength for Sunday afternoon’s matinee against the Dallas Mavericks. After being deemed questionable to play Sunday with an ankle sprain, Kyle Kuzma will play this afternoon against Dallas, according to Harrison Faigen of Silver Screen and Roll.
The Lakers may need Kuzma’s adding scoring punch against the league’s No. 1 ranked offense led by Luka Doncic and a willing supporting cast of 3-point shooters (Dallas is No. 2 in 3-point rate). L.A. have been able to hang their hat on the defensive end but their offense has seen quite the improvement over the last few weeks.
Also, the last game played between these two teams was one of the classic games of the young season back on Nov. 1 in Dallas. In addition to the recent history, the Lakers also have a 10-game win-streak they’re attempting to keep intact today.
Sunday, albeit against a good team, is one of few home dates the Lakers will get in December. Including Sunday, the Lakers play eight of their next 10 games on the road.
LeBron James and Luka Doncic are set to do battle again after playing one of the league’s best games earlier this season.
LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers are back on the court for a Sunday matinee at the Staples Center when they host Luka Doncic and a strong Dallas Mavericks squad in just a few hours.
The Nov. 1 meeting between these two teams was a 119-110 overtime thriller with James and Doncic exchanging massive triple-double while each scoring over 30 points on the night. The biggest difference down the stretch was that LeBron had considerably more help from his co-star Anthony Davis, who scored 31 points while Kristaps Portzingis only had 16 points on 6 for 16 shooting.
Dwight Howard also played a major role for the Lakers in the Nov. 1 win, playing 27 minutes and anchoring the defense several times down the stretch and even taking Doncic in space on switches. Taking on Doncic will once again be the focal point for the Lakers defense, but it’s a job that is much easier said than done.
It will be interesting to see what kind of defensive coverages the Lakers throw at Doncic, especially with how he’s carried the team offensively. But given how great the last game was, expect LeBron and Doncic to have answers for everything thrown their way.
We’ve been telling you all season long about how the Clippers aren’t even close to being a finished product and that’s still mostly true.
But the havoc they wreaked against the Mavericks in Tuesday’s 114-99 win gave the rest of the league a glimpse at how scary they can be when they lock in.
Going into the game the Mavericks were scoring 117.4 points per 100 possessions. The Clippers held them to just 93.4 points per 100 — a full 24 points under their regular mark.
They took the most efficient offense in NBA history and tore it to shreds like it was child’s play. Luka Doncic might be the NBA’s best offensive player to this point and they made him look like a rookie again. And the scariest part of all is that they actually made it look easy.
Here’s how they did it
The key to neutralizing the Mavericks’ offensive attack is taking out their fulcrum in Doncic. He leads the league in touches with 98.6 per game. Whatever the Mavericks do runs through him.
The Clippers took that away by pressing him hard in the full court when he brought the ball up the floor. Even once he crossed half court, they kept the pressure on.
Just look at how far back Beverley is playing him. He’s not worried about what’s on the back end — just staying in front of the ball.
That’s not a normal coverage. It takes a lot to pressure the ball like this throughout a game. We don’t normally see teams employ this game after game because it wears guards down defensively, but the Clippers have the defensive depth to pull this out whenever they want.
What they really wanted to do was force the ball out of Doncic’s hands. When the Mavs tried to initiate screen and rolls, their bigs didn’t switch or drop back in coverage. Instead, the Clippers showed two and had the big men step up to force Doncic to get rid of it. Someone else had to make a play.
Even when Doncic didn’t have the ball, the Clippers still kept the pressure up and just threw everything out of wack.
The Mavs have good offensive players surrounding Doncic, but they’re not used to making plays themselves. The Clippers exploited that and forced them into 20 turnovers — Doncic had seven of them himself.
The Clippers’ ability to press is unfair
Watching them defend is like watching a game of NBA 2k. Someone is just perpetually mashing the steal button and not paying for their gambles. They’re always on the ball yet always somehow in the right passing lane.
This is a luxury most teams can’t afford. Playing an ultra aggressive style is hard. Not only because a defense can get burned for gambling, but it also takes a ton of energy to do it right.
The Clippers have the bodies to get it done. Beverley, George and Harkless all guarded Doncic when he had the ball for at least two minutes, per NBA.com’s stats tool.
“It’s good, you know, me pressuring the ball, Rodney [McGruder] pressuring the ball, of course, Kawhi guarding somebody so they turn their back,” Patrick Beverley said after the game. “PG is able to play that corner back type of defense and we get a lot of steals that lead to early offense.”
Beverley is absolutely right and it’s maddening. They shouldn’t be able to move like this.
The Clippers aren’t going to play this way for 82 games. It takes entirely too much energy and it’s impossible for bodies to fly around like this without risking injury.
But the fact that they have this type of defense in their bag is the scariest thing ever for NBA offenses. The rest of the league best beware.
The NBA retroactively gave Rockets star Russell Westbrook a flagrant foul for his shove of Mavs guard Luka Doncic during Sunday’s game.
Houston Rockets guard Russell Westbrook was retroactively given a “flagrant 1” foul by the NBA league office on Tuesday for his shove of Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic during Sunday’s game in Houston.
The action was ruled a common foul on the floor. The upgrade does not carry any direct game consequences, of course, since the game is long over. However, it does count as one flagrant foul “point” for Westbrook.
NBA players earn an automatic suspension when they reach six flagrant foul points over each regular season. Naturally, a flagrant 2 foul — which also means an ejection during that game — would count as two points.
It represents the first flagrant of the 2019-20 season for Westbrook, who led the NBA in flagrant fouls last year with four.
HOU’s Russell Westbrook assessed Flagrant 1 upon league review for his contact against DAL’s Luka Dončić at 8:42 of 3rd qtr on 11/24/19.
The contact didn’t appear to be malicious. In a transition sequence early in the third quarter, Westbrook sprinted to try and pick up Dallas guard Tim Hardaway Jr., who was open in the right corner. Hardaway had 19 first-half points, so reducing his open shots was a priority for Houston.
Doncic passed the ball to Hardaway, and Westbrook then pushed Doncic in the back in a desperate attempt to get him out of the way. The goal was to contest Hardaway’s shot, or at least chase off the three-point line.
The push caused Doncic to stumble, however, and his momentum carried him out of bounds. A foul was immediately called.
Doncic led the Mavs (11-5) in Sunday’s victory with 41 points and 10 asssists, while Westbrook had 27 points and six assists for the Rockets (11-6) in the 137-123 loss (box score).
Each week, HoopsHype’s staff gives our Top 10 candidates for this year’s Most Valuable Player award. Which stars have stood out thus far?
Each week, HoopsHype’s staff gives our Top 10 candidates for this year’s Most Valuable Player award. This list highlights stars who are in the mix for the 2019-20 MVP award due to their impressive play.
Which stars have stood out? Here are our latest MVP rankings:
Leonard hasn’t been super effective in the three games that he’s played since returning from a left knee contusion. The Clippers managed to win all three contests (over the Boston Celtics, Houston Rockets and New Orleans Pelicans), but Leonard seems a bit limited. Sure, Kawhi at 70-80 percent is better than most players at 100 percent, but we dropped him down our rankings a bit as he gets back to full strength. It’s worth noting that Leonard has been much less efficient than usual this season, which is something that the 28-year-old will surely work on. He’s shooting just 43.5 percent from the field and 30.0 percent from three-point range – both of which would easily be career-lows for Leonard. He’s only appeared in 12 games, though, so perhaps it’s just a small sample size. Fortunately for the Clippers (and basketball fans in general), Leonard and Paul George are finally playing together and it’s been fun to watch. So far, L.A. is undefeated when they have their two stars in the lineup at the same time.
Monday’s game against the Chicago Bulls was a perfect example of how adding Carmelo Anthony may help the Blazers win some additional games this season. Lillard scored just 13 points on 40.0 percent shooting from the field and 25.0 percent from three, but Portland still won because Anthony had 25 points on 50.0 percent shooting from the field and 57.1 percent from three. Lillard has been outstanding for the Blazers this year, but one player can only do so much. If Anthony continues to score this efficiently, it’ll be difficult for defenses to shut down Carmelo, Lillard and CJ McCollum. Lillard recently missed a game due to back spasms (insert joke about Dame carrying the Blazers on his back) and the point guard said that the issue is going to linger for a bit, so that may be why he’s struggling as of late. On the season, Lillard ranks fifth in Offensive Box Plus/Minus (6.9), seventh in Win Shares (2.4), seventh in Value Over Replacement Player (1.1) and 10th in Player Efficiency Rating (25.0).
This is Butler’s first time cracking our MVP rankings this season, but he’s been playing well all year for the Heat. Butler’s decision to leave the Philadelphia 76ers for Miami was one of the biggest surprises of this past offseason, but the 30-year-old forward has fit in perfectly with the Heat’s culture. With Butler leading the way on the perimeter, Miami currently has the second-best defense in the NBA (allowing just 100 points per 100 possessions). This has helped the Heat get off to a 12-4 start, which is the second-best record in the Eastern Conference. Over the weekend, Butler returned to Philadelphia to face off against the Sixers for the first time since his departure and while he would’ve loved to have a monster showing and get the win, he finished with just 11 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals while shooting 30.8 percent from the field (including 0-2 from three) in a losing effort. Still, Butler is having a strong campaign and he has the Heat near the top of the East, which is why he’s in our Top 10 this week.
Siakam has emerged as an elite scorer this season, while continuing to play the strong defense that we’ve seen from him in the past. At the moment, Siakam is ranked ninth among all players in Defensive Win Shares (0.9), 16th in Win Shares (1.8) and 18th in Value Over Replacement Player (.7). Interestingly, Siakam’s stats (25.7 points, 8.4 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 2.3 threes, 0.8 steals, 47.4 FG%, 37.4 3P%) are actually very similar to the numbers of his former teammate Kawhi Leonard (25.7 points, 8.0 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 1.8 threes, 2.1 steals, 43.5 FG%, 30.0 3P%). Everyone expected the 25-year-old to take on a bigger role this season and show some progress in Leonard’s absence, but this kind of leap is just incredible. He’s becoming one of the game’s elite two-way players and he seems poised for superstardom. Not bad for someone who didn’t play organized basketball for the first time until he was nearly 18 years old!
Towns continues to shoot the ball extremely well, making 44.4 percent of his three-pointers on 9.0 attempts per game. He’s more than doubled his number of three-pointers per game this season, which has made him an even scarier offensive weapon for Minnesota. Believe it or not, Towns’ 57 three-pointers is third-best in the NBA behind only James Harden (79) and Devonte’ Graham (60). The 24-year-old’s game perfectly fits in the modern NBA. Between Towns’ strong play and Andrew Wiggins’drastic improvement, it’s possible that the Wolves could shock everyone and sneak into the playoffs for just the second time in 16 years. After winning three-straight games (including an impressive victory over the Miami Heat), Minnesota has the seventh-best record in the Western Conference at 9-8.
The Lakers’ roster features 11 new players (including Davis), but you’d never know it from watching this team play. Rather than struggling out of the gate as they try to develop chemistry and get everyone on the same page, L.A. opened their season by winning 15 of their first 17 games. Davis and LeBron James have been a terrific one-two punch out of the gate, bringing the best out of each other. Davis may not be posting the jaw-dropping stat lines we got used to seeing from him with the New Orleans Pelicans, but that’s because he has a better supporting cast now and the Lakers aren’t asking him to carry the team on his own. Still, he’s been a dominant rim protector (leading the league in blocks) and he’s capable of scoring from anywhere on the court (averaging a career-high 1.2 threes per game). It may be tough for Davis to win MVP because he’s playing alongside James (and vice versa, perhaps), but there’s no question that he’s having a terrific season. It’ll be interesting to see how this Lakers team looks at midseason once they’re even more cohesive (and once their schedule gets a bit more difficult).
Last week, we praised Harden’s offensive output and moved him up our rankings because the Rockets held the second-best record in the league and were in the midst of a seven-game winning streak. Unfortunately, Houston went on to drop their next three games to tough teams (the Denver Nuggets, L.A. Clippers and Dallas Mavericks). Harden continues to score at will, despite constantly being double-teamed by opponents. He recently voiced his displeasure with the constant double-teaming, telling reporters: “The whole season, they’re running doubles teams at me. I’ve never seen that in an NBA game where you’ve got really good defenders and someone else running at the top of the key. Y’all let me know the last time you’ve seen that.” He uses this to his advantage at times, drawing contact from both defenders and getting to the foul line (which he’s doing more often than anyone since prime Wilt Chamberlain). With the Rockets’ current losing streak, Harden dropped one spot this week, but there’s no question that he’ll be in the mix for this award come the end of the season as long as he stays healthy.
The Bucks have now won 13 of their last 14 games (including eight-straight), climbing to No. 1 in the Eastern Conference standings. Not only have they lost just one game in the month of November, they’re winning convincingly – as evidenced by their +9.3 average point differential, the highest in the NBA. That’s in large part due to Antetokounmpo, who continues to dominate on both ends of the floor. On Monday, he had perhaps his best outing of the season in a win over the Utah Jazz, finishing with 50 points, 14 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 threes, 2 steals and 0 turnovers. The Jazz entered the game with the NBA’s top-ranked defense (allowing just 99.3 points per 100 possessions), yet Giannis did whatever he wanted against them. Antetokounmpo became just the second player in NBA history to hit all of those statistical marks in a single game, joining Michael Jordan (who did it against the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1989-90).
Recently, a courtside fan captured a funny interaction between James and a referee, with James saying, “I know you’ve been reading and they’re saying that I haven’t been playing defense these last couple of years, but it’s a new year!” Well, this season, it seems that James’ main focuses are defending and facilitating. His much-improved defense is perhaps the starkest difference between 2018-19 and this year. James ranks fifth in the NBA in Defensive Win Shares (+1.0) and 20th in Defensive Rating (101.9), and his effort on that end of the floor has been significantly better. Perhaps Anthony Davis deserves credit for this, as he’s been saying since the offseason that he was going to hold LeBron accountable and push him to play at an All-Defensive-Team level like he’s capable of doing. After Monday’s games, the Lakers actually have the best defense in the NBA (allowing just 99.7 points per 100 possessions). As for LeBron’s playmaking, he leads the league in assists per game (10.8) and assist percentage (50.7) by wide margins. In fact, he’s been involved in 49.0 percent of the Lakers’ points, which is easily the highest percentage among all NBA players this season. Los Angeles has won eight-straight and sit at 15-2, which is the NBA’s best record.
Early in the season, people were praising Doncic’s game while wondering when the sophomore would come back down to the Earth. Well, rather than regressing, Luka has only gotten better and he’s even closer to averaging 30-10-10. Doncic currently leads all NBA players in Win Shares (3.6), Box Plus/Minus (14.2), Value Over Replacement Player (2.2) and Player Efficiency Rating (33.3). In fact, his 33.3 PER puts him on pace for the best single-season efficiency rating of all-time. He makes the game look incredibly easy, destroying teams offensively. Not only does he have the league’s second-best scoring average (30.6), he ranks second in the NBA in assists per game (9.8) and assist percentage (48.9), showing just how many buckets he’s creating for himself and others. Doncic secured this week’s top spot after delivering an MVP-like performance in Dallas’ win over James Harden and the Houston Rockets, finishing with 41 points, 10 assists, 6 rebounds, 5 threes, 2 steals and 1 block. And his production is translating into victories for the Mavs, as they’ve now won five-straight games. Dallas is 11-5, which is the fourth-best record in the Western Conference. Right now, Doncic may be the frontrunner for the Most Valuable Player award and the Most Improved Player award.
Dallas Mavericks veteran wing Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 31 points during a huge victory over the conference rival Houston Rockets on Sunday.
Dallas Mavericks veteran wing Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 31 points during a huge victory over the conference rival Houston Rockets on Sunday.
After joining the team last season as part of the trade that sent star big man Kristaps Porzingis from the New York Knicks to the Mavericks, Hardaway was sidelined for the final 11 games of the 2018-19 season due to injury that required surgery. But after his recent hot streak, the wing has been named to the starting lineup for Dallas.
This is especially good news because Hardaway has been very impactful when on the court with Luka Doncic so far this season.
The former University of Michigan star has connected on 23 three-pointers during the 206 minutes he has played with the 2018-19 Rookie of the Year, including 16 long-rate shots assisted by Doncic. In fact, nearly half of the three’s Hardaway has made this year have been assisted by the 20-year-old Slovenian superstar.
Dallas has outscored opponents by a ridiculously dominant 25.9 points per 100 possessions during those minutes, the best net rating in the league (!) among all two-man lineups that have played at least 150 minutes together.
During their victory over the Rockets, Hardaway made his presence known as a spot-up threat from downtown. Considering the amount of attention that defenses must provide on Doncic, it has been important for the wing to find a niche on the perimeter and fire off the catch from his star teammate.
Hardaway is averaging 1.46 points per possession on spot-up attempts, per Synergy, which currently ranks in the 97th percentile. There are currently 140 players who have had 35 possessions as a spot-up shooter but none have been more efficient than Hardaway has been thus far.
Meanwhile, the Dallas wing is producing 5.3 points per game as a spot-up shooter. That trails only five players in the NBA, though all of them have had more possessions finished on offense.
Considering that Hardaway has only started 3 of 16 games for the Mavericks, we determined what his production would likely resemble if he were to play first-unit minutes.
Based on these calculations, only San Antonio Spurs guard Bryn Forbes has been more productive as a spot-up shooter in 2019-20.
This is an especially notable improvement for him considering last season, among the 61 players who had as many opportunities shooting off the catch, only two had a worse three-point percentage than Hardaway.
Moving forward if the Mavericks continue to be in playoff contention, they will need Hardaway to keep up his hot hand from the three-point line. But with the remarkable success of Doncic and how much attention he draws from his defenders, that is far from out of the question.
