Rajon Rondo makes season debut and helps Lakers dish out 39 assists against Suns which is the most by any Lakers team in the last 10 years.
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Rajon Rondo made his season debut during the Los Angeles Lakers 123-115 win over the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday. The four-time All-Star and three-time NBA assists leader helped provide a spark in the passing game for the Lakers who moved the ball effectively enough to dish out 39 assists as a team. The unselfish ball movement by Los Angeles led to 53.7% shooting from the field and 40% shooting from three on their way to the victory.
The 39 assists Los Angeles accounted for in Phoenix were the most by any Lakers team in the last 10 years. While on a restriction and logging only 14 minutes, Rondo accounted for seven of those dimes to go along with five points and six rebounds off the bench. LeBron James totaled 11 assists as well as 19 points and seven rebounds. Avery Bradley had five assists, Anthony Davis had four to go along with team-highs of 24 points and 12 rebounds, and five other Lakers had at least one.
“We really committed to the extra pass,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel told NBA.com after the game. “I challenged our guys last game to truly commit to it. … That is the secret for us. If you truly commit to the extra pass offensively and playing for each other, we are going to be near unbeatable.”
The Lakers passing game led to 70 points in the paint against the Suns while also setting up timely shots from 3-point range. LeBron and Kyle Kuzma each hit clutch triples down the stretch while Danny Green paced L.A. from distance by knocking down 3-of-5 long-range field goals.
Despite an effective debut on Tuesday, however, Rondo will not play tonight at home against the Golden State Warriors so he can rest his sore right calf. Rajon’s next game is expected to be Friday at home against the Sacramento Kings. With the victory, the Lakers move to 8-2 on the young season as they welcome the 2-9 Warriors tonight.
LeBron James and Anthony Davis both had double-doubles as they held off the Phoenix Suns for a win on Tuesday night.
Anthony Davis had 22 points, 11 rebounds and four assists, LeBron James had 19 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds, while Kyle Kuzma had 23 points off the bench as the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Phoenix Suns 123-115 on Tuesday night.
The Suns had three players score 20 points or more (Aron Baynes, Ricky Rubio, Devin Booker) but that wasn’t enough as Kuzma and Green hit big shots from the outside to support their stars.
Davis didn’t appear to be bothered too much by the shoulder issue as he totaled 14 points, five rebounds and three assists in the first half while the Lakers nursed a 60-58 lead at halftime.
Even though Rondo was back in the lineup, LeBron James didn’t look like he would slow down his role as distributor with nine assists to go with eight points in the first half. Rondo played 14 minutes and finished with five points, seven assists and six rebounds in his debut.
The Suns stayed in the game in large part thanks to the 3-point shot, scoring 58 points on what had been the best defense in the league. They shot 8-16 from the 3-point line in the first half with their role players mostly doing the job as Aron Baynes, Ricky Rubio and Frank Kaminsky each hit multiple 3-pointers in the first half. However, they cooled off considerably in the second half.
Kuzma provided a big spark for the Lakers off the bench, having his first breakout game of the season in Phoenix. He had 13 first half points including a personal 6-0 run to close the first quarter to cut the Suns lead from nine to just three in 57.2 seconds of game time. He also closed out the game two two big 3-pointers in the final minutes.
A huge 3-pointer by Kuzma with 2:10 left pushed the Lakers lead to 117-113, giving the Lakers the opportunity to play from ahead in the last two minutes. And then Kuzma hit another with 1:40 left to put the Lakers up by seven points.
The Lakers head back to L.A. as they will face a short-handed Golden State Warriors crew on Wednesday night at Staples Center.
After missing the first nine games of the season, Rajon Rondo will make his season debut for the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night.
After having LeBron James due basically all of the heavy lifting at the point guard spot for the first three weeks of the season, he will have considerably more help when he’s out of the game on Tuesday night as the Los Angeles Lakers are now officially expecting 14-year veteran guard Rajon Rondo to play against the Phoenix Suns.
Bill Oram of The Athletic reported the latest update from the Lakers that Rondo had been upgraded from questionable to probable following the team’s shoot around on Tuesday morning. The hope for the Lakers is that adding Rondo will alleviate some of the playmaking burden for LeBron, even though he’s done quite well with by leading the NBA in assists through the first nine games.
Rondo also has a strong connection with Anthony Davis dating back to their lone season together in New Orleans.
Davis has gone on the record multiple times saying how much he loves playing with Rondo and values his perspective. And unlike his first season with LeBron, the Pelicans did quite well with Rondo and Davis sharing the court in 2017-18, outscoring their opponents by 4.1 points per 100 possessions on their way to a first round sweep of the Portland Trail Blazers.
Adding another playmaker to the mix, even though LeBron leads the NBA in assists, will be good for the Lakers long-term, especially if Rondo’s New Orleans success with Davis is replicated in L.A.
Los Angeles Lakers head coach Frank Vogel said he’s hopeful they will get Rajon Rondo back when they visit the Phoenix Suns.
The saga of Rajon Rondo’s return from a calf injury has taken another interesting turn on Tuesday, less than 24 hours after Rondo himself alluded to the similarities between his injury and the one that led to Kevin Durant’s torn Achilles in the NBA Finals earlier this year.
Los Angeles Lakers head coach Frank Vogel told reporters gathered at the team’s shoot around on Tuesday morning that he was “hopeful” Rondo will make his season debut against the Phoenix Suns later this evening. Rondo has missed the first nine games of the regular season and hasn’t played in a game since the Lakers left China in mid-October.
From Dave McMenamin of ESPN
Frank Vogel says he’s hopeful Rajon Rondo makes his season debut in Phoenix tonight.
Vogel’s hopes aside, Rondo is still considered questionable for the game but if he is back that could help the Lakers and LeBron James. Rondo could also potentially give James a break when it comes to running the show alongside Anthony Davis.
Davis has gone on the record multiple times saying how much he loves playing with Rondo and values his perspective. And unlike his first season with LeBron, the Pelicans did quite well with Rondo and Davis sharing the court in 2017-18, outscoring their opponents by 4.1 points per 100 possessions on their way to a first round sweep of the Portland Trail Blazers.
Adding another playmaker to the mix, even though LeBron leads the NBA in assists, will be good for the Lakers long-term, especially if Rondo’s New Orleans success with Davis is replicated in L.A.
Following Tuesday’s loss to the Toronto Raptors, the Los Angeles Lakers look for a quality road win on Tuesday against the Phoenix Suns.
The Los Angeles Lakers were finally reminded what it feels like to lose on Sunday night and the right shoulder of Anthony Davis started to bother him a little bit more, but life in the Western Conference often means getting to leave a loss behind to face a challenge of even greater difficulty. Tuesday night, the Lakers will get that chance as they visit a surprisingly strong Phoenix Suns squad.
After nine games, the Suns have a 6-3 record and are in 6th place in the Western Conference. And they’ve done with two-way excellence that hasn’t been found from most teams in the league through the first three weeks of the season. According to Cleaning The Glass, which eliminates garbage time, the Suns have the 8th ranked defense and the 4th ranked offense in the league so far.
The biggest change of all started with the hiring of head coach Monty Williams, but the Suns front office is also reaping the benefits of offseason moves like their trade for center Aron Baynes and signing free agent point guard Ricky Rubio. Kelly Oubre Jr., who they traded for last season from the Wizards, is having an excellent start to his season as well. The added help has led to Devin Booker’s best all-around start as a pro, as he looks primed for his first All-Star berth.
Off the bench, Frank Kaminsky, Tyler Johnson and Mikal Bridges all create plenty of problems for their opponents. To avoid a result like Sunday, the Lakers bench must play better than they did against Toronto against a strong Suns second unit.
Tuesday night won’t be easy for the Lakers and Anthony Davis may still be dealing with some pain in his shoulder. But sometimes that dose of reality is what you need to see a contender show you who they are.
MRI on left knee of Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Troy Daniels comes back negative, he’s questionable tonight in Phoenix against the Suns.
Los Angeles Lakers guard Troy Daniels is battling a sore left knee and underwent an MRI on Monday. Fortunately, the MRI was negative and there is a chance he will be able to play tonight in Phoenix against the Suns. The sharp-shooting Daniels–who LeBron James dubbed “layup” because his threes are like layups–connected on 3-of-5 field goals from beyond the arc during Sunday’s loss to the Toronto Raptors while finishing with 11 points in 17 minutes.
Daniels knocked down 4-of-8 triples during the Lakers first win of the season against the Utah Jazz, but went relatively cold from distance since then prior to breaking out on Sunday. According to Mike Trudell of Spectrum Sports, Daniels will enter tonight’s matchup against his former team as questionable on the injury report.
The MRI on the left knee of Troy Daniels was negative. He is questionable to play at Phoenix on Tuesday with the sore knee. Daniels hit 3 3’s off the bench in Sunday’s loss to Toronto.
Whether he is able to go tonight or not, Daniels is one of the long-range shooters Los Angeles will need more consistency from as the season continues. In order to open up driving lanes for LeBron and others, L.A. will need to shoot it better than the 31.1% from deep that currently has them ranked No. 27 in the league in 3-point shooting as a team. Daniels is a 39.8% 3-point shooter for his career who is only connecting on 31% of his triples through these first nine games of the season. During the 2017-18 campaign with Phoenix he shot 40% from deep and last season with the Suns he connected on 38.1% of his triples.
The Lakers will meet an overachieving Phoenix squad tonight who has been the surprise of the NBA thus far. While off to a 6-3 start, the Suns are shooting 38.4% from deep which has them ranked No. 5 in the NBA in 3-point efficiency. Devin Booker is leading the way for Phoenix with 25.8 points and 5.4 assists per night. The veteran Ricky Rubio, meanwhile, is averaging 13.6 points, 8.6 assists and 6.8 rebounds.
Each week, HoopsHype ranks the Top 10 candidates for this season’s Most Valuable Player award. Find out who made this week’s rankings!
Each week, HoopsHype’s staff ranks the Top 10 candidates for this season’s Most Valuable Player award. This list highlights stars who have entered the 2019-20 MVP discussion thanks to their impressive play.
Which stars have stood out thus far? Who can sustain this production as the sample size increases? Here are our latest MVP rankings:
Drummond has been dominant through the first 10 games of the season. It’s impressive when a player has a single 20-point, 20-rebound performance, but the 26-year-old is nearly averaging that. He’s scored 20 or more points in six games, and he’s grabbed 20 or more rebounds in five games. He’s also doing a good job of finding open teammates, as he’s averaging 5.4 assists in November (and he has 25 assists in his last four games). Drummond is posting video-game numbers and shows no sign of slowing down. The Pistons are getting Blake Griffin back from injury, which should only help them as they look to improve their record (4-6) and climb up the Eastern Conference standings.
Towns missed two games due to his suspension for fighting Joel Embiid, but he’s been a beast in the seven contests in which he’s played. He’s posting career-highs across the board and he’s been able to score the ball with ease this season, inside and out. In fact, Towns has more than doubled his three-point attempts (from 4.6 last year to 9.3 this year), yet his three-point percentage has stayed at 40.0 percent. His 3.7 threes per game is fourth in the NBA behind only James Harden (4.3), Damian Lillard (4.0) and Kemba Walker (3.8). Minnesota is currently 5-4, which is ninth-best in the Western Conference and just two games out of first place.
HoopsHype’s Frank Urbina recently wrote a great article breaking down Booker’s impressive start to the season and what he’s doing differently this year. The 23-year-old is playing the most efficient basketball of his career, finishing in the paint better than ever and locking down opponents on the defensive end. Newcomers Aron Baynes and Ricky Rubio have made a huge difference for Booker too. The Suns are the NBA’s biggest surprise thus far, sitting at 6-3 with the league’s third-best offense (scoring 109.1 points per 100 possessions) and ninth-best defense (allowing 101.1 points per 100 possessions). There’s no question that Booker is a huge reason for their early success. The red-hot Suns will face off against the top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday in a game that will feature three players from this list.
Harden is once again leading the league in scoring. The main issue for Harden (and the reason he isn’t higher on this list) has been his shooting percentages. He’s currently shooting an ugly 39.4 percent from the field and 30.0 percent from three-point range – both of which are career-lows. It’s taking him 24.2 field goal attempts (and 14.4 three-point attempts) per game to get to his 37.1 scoring average. Those numbers must drastically improve if he wants to compete for this year’s MVP award. There’s always an adjustment period when a team is integrating a new star and that’s what Harden and the Rockets are doing with Russell Westbrook. Still, Houston is 6-3, which is tied for the third-best record in the Western Conference.
There’s a reason LeBron James badly wanted to team up with this guy. Davis is once again filling the stat sheet and making his presence felt all over the court, helping the Lakers win seven of their first nine games. He gives opposing head coaches nightmares, as he’s been the best rim protector in the league and he’s scoring at will. Davis is currently ranked first in Defensive Win Shares (0.9) and third in Win Shares (1.7, tied with James). He’s new to the Lakers and still getting acclimated, but you’d never know it based on his early play. It remains to be seen if voters will dock points from James and/or Davis because they’re on the same team. Opposing teams certainly hate that these two stars teamed up, as they’ve struggled to slow them down thus far.
Lillard is having the best season of his career, but he can only do so much for the Blazers. He’s getting little help from his supporting cast, which is why the Blazers are 4-6 and in 10th place in the Western Conference despite Lillard playing out of his mind. That was on display in Portland’s recent loss to the Brooklyn Nets, when Lillard had 60 points (including 7 threes), 5 assists and 4 rebounds while shooting 57.6 percent from the field and 43.8 percent from deep, but the Nets won 119-115. Injuries have been an issue for the Blazers, but they also have a new-look roster after losing Al-Farouq Aminu, Maurice Harkless, Evan Turner, Meyers Leonard, Enes Kanter and Seth Curry among others. Still, Lillard is averaging the second-most points in the league while also ranking first in Win Shares (2.4) and second in Value Over Replacement Player (1.1).
Leonard’s decision to sit out the nationally televised showdown against the Milwaukee Bucks relaunched the load-management debate. It seems that Leonard will continue to sit out during back-to-backs to ensure that he’s 100 percent for the playoffs. Leonard credits load management for his monster 2019 postseason with the Toronto Raptors and while this is probably a smart move for the Clippers, it likely means Leonard won’t have a shot at winning this year’s MVP award. Voters seem to disqualify players who rest, regardless of how productive they are when they play. HoopsHype looked at the last 15 MVP winners and they missed an average of 3.93 games in their MVP season (with no player missing more than 10 games). Leonard missed 22 games last season and he’s on pace to miss 18 contests this year, which would seemingly remove him from the MVP discussion (like last year). Still, Leonard is playing well and the Clippers are 6-3, which is tied for the third-best record in the West. If the Clippers stop resting Leonard – or the NBA decides that he’s healthy and must play – perhaps he becomes a serious candidate.
Doncic is the only player in the league who currently ranks Top 11 in points per game (sixth), assists per game (second) and rebounds per game (11th). As if Luka’s counting stats weren’t impressive enough, his advanced stats jump off the page as well: Doncic ranks third in Value Over Replacement Player (1.0), fourth in Box Plus/Minus (10.3) and fifth in Win Shares (1.6). The 20-year-old is the youngest player in NBA history to record 10 or more triple-doubles, passing LeBron James and Magic Johnson. He also became the second player with at least three 20-point triple-doubles in the first six games of a season, joining Oscar Robertson. Doncic must continue to limit his turnovers (4.9 per game) and improve his three-point percentage (32.1 percent on 8.7 attempts per game). But that feels like nitpicking when the kid is nearly averaging a triple-double and winning games for the Mavericks, who are 6-3 (which is tied for the third-best record in the West).
Antetokounmpo had an MVP performance in the Bucks’ win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday. After struggling in the first half, Antetokounmpo ripped his jersey and kicked a hole in a Thunder sign while walking back to the locker room at halftime. In the second half, MVP Giannis showed up and he finished the game with 35 points, 16 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 threes, 1 block and 1 steal while shooting an efficient 68.4 percent from the field and 66.7 percent from three-point range. Antetokounmpo has now scored 30 or more points in five-straight games. The Bucks are 7-3, which puts them in third place in the Eastern Conference and just one game back from the top-seeded Boston Celtics. Antetokounmpo currently leads all players in Value Over Replacement Player (1.3), Box Plus/Minus (13.9) and Win Shares Per 48 Minutes (.325).
As Tommy Beer of Forbes recently pointed out, no player in NBA history has ever averaged more than 7.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 7.0 assists in their age-35 season. Well, James is currently posting those marks with ease (24.6 points, 8.3 rebounds, 11.0 assists). When all is said and done, one could make the argument that James was the best teenager in NBA history (he holds the NBA record for most career points, rebounds and assists before turning 20 years old) and the best mid-30s player in NBA history (if he keeps this up). LeBron’s longevity is remarkable; in the load-management era, he’s playing 35.1 minutes per game, which is the most of any Laker and 12th-most in the league. James is currently No. 1 on this list because his individual production has been impressive and it’s translated into team success, as the Lakers currently have the NBA’s second-best record at 7-2. One area where James must improve is his three-point shooting; he’s attempting 5.2 threes per game, but he’s making just 31.9 percent thus far.
Davis added that he won’t know for sure that he will play against the Phoenix Suns until going through shoot around on Tuesday.
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Anthony Davis told reporters after the Los Angeles Lakers first loss in over two weeks that he does feel discomfort in his shoulder fairly often when he’s playing after aggravating it on a block attempt in Sunday’s game against the Toronto Raptors. But come Monday afternoon, Davis was already past his discomfort while also admitting he’s not 100 percent sure he will play Tuesday night against a strong Phoenix Suns group.
Davis told reporters on Monday that he hopes to play Tuesday at Phoenix but won’t make the final call on whether he will play until he goes through shoot around in Phoenix, according to Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times.
AD said it is his goal to play for Lakers vs Suns tomorrow night. But he will make final decision after shoot around tomorrow to see how sore right shoulder is doing
Davis also suggested that his shoulder is much better than it was when he initially injured it on a missed dunk during the team’s victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Oct. 27, according to Mike Trudell for Lakers.com.
Davis said the shoulder has gotten “much better” since the initial soreness on the missed dunk in Week 1. It gets tweaked here and there (like on a blocked shot last night) but is still much better than it felt initially.
We can forgive Davis for holding saying two disconnecting thoughts at once because it seems like his shoulder is going to be a day-to-day thing as the season goes on, so his outlook on his shoulder will likely vary from one day to the next.
Until Sunday night’s game, Davis had gone quite a while without enduring a shoulder discomfort but it’s been something he’s had to deal with for a long time. He had surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder after the 2015-16, but it’s his right one that is currently ailing. Either way, it looks like it will be something he’s going to deal with all season. Sometimes like Monday, it will be simple for Davis. But as Sunday showed, there will be complicated moments as well.
Rajon Rondo’s return from a calf injury has been a slow and deliberate one, with no clear end in sight.
All things considered, the Los Angeles Lakers are having a great start to the season. When they hit the three-week mark on Tuesday, they will still be 7-2 heading into a game against the Phoenix Suns. But if you were hoping for them to get Rajon Rondo back in the lineup soon, his two-steps-forward-one-step-back recovery from a sore calf, has complicated it.
After being close to playing on Sunday, Rondo’s return was immediately called off after a 5-on-5 workout, according to Yahoo’s Chris Haynes. And the outlook for Rondo doesn’t look any clearer after Sunday’s loss to the Toronto Raptors. Coach Frank Vogel told reporters that it would be “hopefully soon” when Rondo returns but acknowledged that the soft tissue injury has been tricky to deal with.
According to Harrison Faigen for Silver Screen and Roll, Vogel said before the game on Sunday:
It’s tough to say. With a soft tissue injury, you never know how quickly those things are going to heal. You want to have the mindset where you can ramp up activity and get through it with no pain and no soreness. And if that doesn’t happen then it can be delayed. So it’s not that unusual in my mind.
Vogel doesn’t seem too concerned by the injury given its nature as a difficult injury to recover from, let alone for a veteran like Rondo. The Lakers are taking it slow, but their patience doesn’t make Rondo’s slow recovery any less concerning.
Kyrie Irving took a lot of the blame for what went wrong in the Brooklyn Nets loss to the Phoenix Suns.
One thing Kyrie Irving has done well with to start 2019-20 is getting to the free-throw line. He hasn’t always excelled at creating contact on shots or drives, but this is also a result of his ability to elude contact — something he usually does better than anyone.
Entering Sunday’s game, Irving was averaging 7.3 free throws per game. He’s never even averaged five attempts per game over the course of the season.
Then, against the Suns, Irving did not earn one trip to the line. It’s the first time he’s failed to do so with the Nets. Last year, as a member of the Boston Celtics, Irving didn’t take at least one free throw in a game 13 times.
And his lack of free throw attempts impacted the Nets beyond his point total. Irving explained to reporters in Phoenix:
I don’t think I shot one free throw tonight. That’s just a telltale sign of how aggressive I am not in the game. You know, getting downhill and really just setting a precedent of really slowing the game down and really getting it to my spots. So, a lot of the accountability falls on me.
Kyrie Irving: "Attacking our defense and switching, got out to a 10-1 lead and really never looked back after that." #NETSonYESpic.twitter.com/ICdrGoL8CI
