Despite cloudy skies in Los Angeles Saturday morning and a forecast of continued rain throughout the weekend, Lakers fans are feeling much better after their team dismantled the Utah Jazz on Friday night 102-84. The Lakers played stifling defense behind terrific effort from Dwight Howard. Steve Nash took 11 shots and made six of them. Pau Gasol was 7-8 with seven boards off the bench. And Kobe Bryant had 14 assists to three turnovers, and only 10 shot attempts.
Many wise people are shaking their heads today. To them, the key is those 14 dimes and only 10 shot attempts. There is certainly some truth to the notion that a facilitating Bryant is more beneficial to this Lakers squad. He probably shouldn't be taking 23 shots a game. That said, the Lakers didn't win because Bryant passed the ball. If Bryant is shooting over 50 percent, he should be shooting the ball. This game does nothing to dispute that logic and that strategy.
What this game did is prove that matchups are everything.
The crux of the Lakers problem still remains their defense, namely their defense against speedy point guards. But the Lakers held the Jazz to only 84 points! While this is true, the Jazz are the perfect team for the Lakers to exploit.
If there are two point guards left in the Association that Steve Nash can still guard, it's Jamaal Tinsley and Earl Watson. Neither player has ever been known as a scorer. Tinsley is a terrific passer, but is slow. Watson gets after it defensively but is a complete non-factor on offense. Neither can space the floor as three point shooters. Tinsley is a career 30 percent from beyond the arc. Watson is shooting 19 percent from there this season. Neither guard can get into the paint and cause havoc. They are both game managers best suited for second and third string backup guard duties at this point in their respective careers. Case in point, this dynamic duo went a combined 4-17 in the game.
Furthermore, the Jazz win games because of their size. Al Jefferson, Paul Milsap, Enes Kanter, and Derrick Favors are a nightmare matchup for most of the teams in the Association. But not the Lakers who, when engaged, have the best duo of bigs in the league. Especially with Gasol coming off the bench. In fact, an engaged Howard is a terrible matchup for Jefferson, who is not an explosive athlete.
The Lakers were able to seal off the paint against the Jazz, who are a terrible three point shooting team. Gordon Hayward is shooting 39 percent from three, but he is a feast or famine type gunner in the Metta World Peace mode, capable of going 5-7 from deep one night, and 0-5 the next. He's either got it or he doesn't. Friday night, he didn't have it. The only other legitimate deep threat is Randy Foye and he's an undersized two that isn't faster than Bryant--which means, he's an ideal defensive assignment for the 10-time first team all defensive player.
While the Lakers played an extremely well-balanced offensive game, offense has never really been the team's problem. Defensively, they were dominant on Friday holding the Jazz to 42 percent from the field and outrebounding an excellent rebounding team by 15.
But this outing is more pyrite than anything else. No other team in the league presents such an ideal matchup.
Sunday against the Thunder, the best team in the league, will be a better indicator of how much this team has actually learned to play together.
The Lakers will be forced to cross-match against Russell Westbrook on defense, and will be unable to seal off the paint since the Thunder have deadly outside shooters to space the floor. While the Thunder are a nightmare for every team in the league, they are probably the worst matchup for the Lakers.
Westbrook is the type of point guard that can hound Nash into irrelevancy. Thabo Sefolosha is long and disciplined and gives Bryant a horrible time. Kevin Durant is unguardable. Serge Ibaka is mobile, super athletic, and can pick-and-pop and pick-and-roll. Too big for Earl Clark, too athletic for Gasol. And Kendrick Perkins' sole existence in the NBA is because he is one of maybe three other centers that can guard an at-his-peak Howard one on one.
After last night's game, people may have forgotten, but Howard is still far, far away from his peak...
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