GSW Go on a 35-0 run against Lakers in 1st preseason game

[rondohondo]

The Lakers led 66-58 with 8:25 remaining in the third quarter, then it all went wrong. L.A. didn’t score again until Jodie Meeks hit two free throws a few minutes into the fourth quarter. Ouch. Golden State went on a 35-0 run as the Lakers went nearly 11 minutes of playing time without putting a tally on the board. As pretty as the Lakers’ opening 26-17 lead in the first quarter looked, the 37-10 drubbing they experienced in the third was equally putrid.

Obviously the Lakers are going to be really good,but I still think they have weaknesses . No way Nash can stay in front of faster PG's like Rondo,westbrook, cp3 .There's a good chance LAL see all of those PG's come playoff time. Howard can help make up for that with his shot blocking , but if you have elite shooting big men like KG and Bass(fro mid range) in there together Howard won't be able to wait under the basket and protect Nash

The other obvious weakness has got to be their bench. They got a few decent shooters in Jamison and Meeks, but no real defensive force or play makers to give Kobe and Nash some rest.

I know it's only the 1st preseason game, but 35-0 run is crazy.

[pearljammer10]

Crazy run.

But bottom line.... I really dont care cause its one preseason game. To be honest, if this happened in one regular season game, I probably wouldnt care either because its just one game.

One game or not, thats pretty [dang] impressive.

[MBunge]

Pre-season is pre-season is pre-season.  The thing about the Lakers when you look at that game is how they don't have anyone on the bench as good as Jeff Green.  Heck, they don't have any reserve as good as Sully has looked so far.  Outside of Kobe and Nash, would you take any other guard on the Lakers over Avery?  Courtney Lee?  Jet?  Darko, for all his baggage, would clearly be the back-up center in LA over anyone they've got.  And with the new luxury tax cracking down on big spenders, LA has no first round draft picks in either 2013 or 2015.

Now, when you've got Kobe, Dwight, Pau and Nash, LA might be able to win 30 games this season just playing 4 on 5.  This team has no margin for error, though.  If they suffered a string of injuries like Boston did last year, they're totally cooked.

Mike

[j804]

I don't care that its preseason it still speaks to how bad their bench is pretty hilarious 

[Kwhit10]

I don't care that its preseason it still speaks to how bad their bench is pretty hilarious 

I don't think it was their regular bench, more like their on-the-edge-of-being-cut players.

[vinnie]

And the Celtics lost to a team in Turkey in their first preseason game. So I guess both the Lakers and Celtics suck. 

[j804]

I don't care that its preseason it still speaks to how bad their bench is pretty hilarious 

I don't think it was their regular bench, more like their on-the-edge-of-being-cut players.

you're probably right but still I'm sure some of their bench guys were in Jodie Meeks is part of their bench

[MBunge]

I don't care that its preseason it still speaks to how bad their bench is pretty hilarious 

I don't think it was their regular bench, more like their on-the-edge-of-being-cut players.

Antwan Jamison was -20
Earl Clark -23
Jordan Hill -13
Chris Duhon -21
Jodie Meeks -25

Mike

[Who]

Obviously the Lakers are going to be really good,but I still think they have weaknesses . No way Nash can stay in front of faster PG's like Rondo,westbrook, cp3 .There's a good chance LAL see all of those PG's come playoff time. Howard can help make up for that with his shot blocking , but if you have elite shooting big men like KG and Bass(fro mid range) in there together Howard won't be able to wait under the basket and protect Nash

CP3 = Clippers = DeAndre Jordan, Blake Griffin and Odom
Westbrook = OKC = Perk, Collison and Ibaka

It doesn't look like the Western teams don't have enough big man shooting to threaten that flaw. It'll be tough for either team to go smaller (without D.Jordan / Perk) because I don't think either team's small-ball lineup has a big good enough defensively to check Dwight Howard. Odom is the best bet but it would take a lot of persuasion and motivation to get him up for that challenge.

So it looks like they'll be fine in this specific area until the NBA Finals.

Edit: Actually, San Antonio. Tony Parker and Tim Duncan. The offensive firepower to do it (to expose Nash and pull Dwight out of the paint). Unfortunately, I think their defensive flaws give up just as much (if not more) on the other end.

[SHAQATTACK]

Kobe "SUPERHUMAN" energy will have to fail at somepoint in his life.  He can't play like a wildman for 40 minutes 80 games a season .  At somepoint this year or next he is gonna need to be rested regularly like Pierce and KG .

 Lakers will fail becasue  The dropoff in talent is to great after Gasol ( also not young) , Howard (back) , Nash (old) and Kobe exit the game for a breather.
Lakers have had lady luck on their side with so few injuries to Kobe and Gasol all these years.

The odds are starting to stack against them with this group playing 40 minutes a night.

   

[GreenFaith1819]

Funny to see this happen, but I still think Lakers are one of the top teams. They have flaws, but to their credit they've given Kobe perhaps his best opportunity to tie Jordan with the ring count.

With that being said, I hope and expect Perk to do his usual fine job on Dwight, and Serge to negate Pau and it's business as usual - Lakers losing in the conference finals or semi-finals.

BUT - don't sleep on DEN, lol...Iggy/McGee/Faried are going to cause a LOT of problems out west...

[MBunge]

What's interesting is too look at their roster beyond the starting 5 and project forward to the rebuilding around Dwight in a couple years.  They gave up their 1st round pick this past draft to rent Ramon Sessions for half a season.  Then they let Sessions go and gave away 2 first rounders to bring in Nash.  So, when the Lakers start to retool, they'll have just one low-first rounder out of the last 4 years.

Of course, if they can keep finding idiots around the league to trade with, none of that might matter.

Mike

[Neurotic Guy]

Obviously the Lakers are going to be really good,but I still think they have weaknesses . No way Nash can stay in front of faster PG's like Rondo,westbrook, cp3 .There's a good chance LAL see all of those PG's come playoff time. Howard can help make up for that with his shot blocking , but if you have elite shooting big men like KG and Bass(fro mid range) in there together Howard won't be able to wait under the basket and protect Nash

CP3 = Clippers = DeAndre Jordan, Blake Griffin and Odom
Westbrook = OKC = Perk, Collison and Ibaka

It doesn't look like the Western teams don't have enough big man shooting to threaten that flaw. It'll be tough for either team to go smaller (without D.Jordan / Perk) because I don't think either team's small-ball lineup has a big good enough defensively to check Dwight Howard. Odom is the best bet but it would take a lot of persuasion and motivation to get him up for that challenge.

So it looks like they'll be fine in this specific area until the NBA Finals.

Edit: Actually, San Antonio. Tony Parker and Tim Duncan. The offensive firepower to do it (to expose Nash and pull Dwight out of the paint). Unfortunately, I think their defensive flaws give up just as much (if not more) on the other end.

How do you think this line-up:
Darko
KG
Green
Pierce
Rondo

stacks up against an LA lineup of:
DH
Pau
Artest
Kobe
Nash

I think it's an intereting match-up especially knowing that the bench would have JET, Lee, AB, Bass, CW, Sully, etc.

I don't like this big C's line-up in the East (maybe against Philly?) but I think it's interesting to look at vs. LA.

[Who]

Obviously the Lakers are going to be really good,but I still think they have weaknesses . No way Nash can stay in front of faster PG's like Rondo,westbrook, cp3 .There's a good chance LAL see all of those PG's come playoff time. Howard can help make up for that with his shot blocking , but if you have elite shooting big men like KG and Bass(fro mid range) in there together Howard won't be able to wait under the basket and protect Nash

CP3 = Clippers = DeAndre Jordan, Blake Griffin and Odom
Westbrook = OKC = Perk, Collison and Ibaka

It doesn't look like the Western teams don't have enough big man shooting to threaten that flaw. It'll be tough for either team to go smaller (without D.Jordan / Perk) because I don't think either team's small-ball lineup has a big good enough defensively to check Dwight Howard. Odom is the best bet but it would take a lot of persuasion and motivation to get him up for that challenge.

So it looks like they'll be fine in this specific area until the NBA Finals.

Edit: Actually, San Antonio. Tony Parker and Tim Duncan. The offensive firepower to do it (to expose Nash and pull Dwight out of the paint). Unfortunately, I think their defensive flaws give up just as much (if not more) on the other end.

How do you think this line-up:
Darko
KG
Green
Pierce
Rondo

stacks up against an LA lineup of:
DH
Pau
Artest
Kobe
Nash

I think it's an intereting match-up especially knowing that the bench would have JET, Lee, AB, Bass, CW, Sully, etc.

I don't like this big C's line-up in the East (maybe against Philly?) but I think it's interesting to look at vs. LA.

It's a very good defensive lineup for Boston but it's also a very weak offensive lineup.

It frees up Dwight Howard to play free safety defensively and be a human wrecking ball for whatever Boston try to get going offensively.

Darko is too much of a liability offensively to keep Dwight Howard engaged defensively. Frees Dwight up to roam which will make it very difficult for any of Green, Pierce or KG to create quality shot-attempts for themselves (against Kobe, Artest and Pau respectively) + limit Rondo's playmaking. Dwight Howard's team defense will make life miserable for Boston's offense.

I think they will be better off sticking with Garnett at center.

[fairweatherfan06]

No Dwight Howard 3-time DPOY might have something to do  with it...and oh yeah its the preseason.  My personal opinion is they are still inferior to OKC (especially if Perk can still be a Dwight stopper) and are vulnerable to (In no particular order) the Spurs, Mavs, and maybe the Clippers depending on how they come together.