There was nothing inspiring about Sunday's 110-106 win for the Lakers over the Pistons at Staples Center. After a dominant third quarter (no, seriously), it looked like L.A. might finally get themselves the type of easy win that would make it possible to have a little fun, and at least feel for a minute or two like they're a legitimately good team. To get a little swagger and build some momentum.
Nope.
A 19-point advantage was whittled away, and the Lakers had to hold off Detroit down the stretch. So that's the downside. The upside? They won, and given how the season has gone to this point, that's about all you can ask for. It was a good night for the Big Three, with Anthony Davis dominating early (13 first quarter points), Russell Westbrook (25/6/9 w/ only three turnovers) playing well throughout and LeBron James (33/5/9) doing LeBron things. After, they talked about building blocks and small goals as they try to right the ship. Whether the patience and calm is performative or not - really, what's the other option? - it's clear the Lakers as a group know there is a tremendous amount of work to be done.
To that end, more changes in the rotation are coming. Vogel indicated that they plan to lean more into small ball, particularly in the second units, which means that for the time being fans are likely to see DeAndre Jordan or Dwight Howard on any given night, but likely not both. That's good! And while you can debate which guy is better or when he should play, some of that is just not all that important. On the other hand, Avery Bradley still looks like he's going to absorb a decent chunk of playing time, night to night.
That's a little harder to defend.
On to Sacramento!
HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky
SEGMENT 1: A win's a win's a win's a win, right?
SEGMENT 2: What do the Lakers think of themselves? And is LeBron, who aggrivated that ab/groin thing on Sunday, really as "good to go" as he claims?
SEGMENT 3: The rotation may change, again. What to expect, and will it help?
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