Game Day: Lakers (3-0) @ Suns (2-1), Mon 10/28/24

[Superbone]

Also, it was really cool to meet SunsRIt and his lovely wife tonight!

[TOO]

Open the season with the Lakers twice , Clippers and Mavs, to start 3-1 has got me feeling pretty good.

[ShelC]

Awful start but we played pretty well the rest of the game. We just have no answer for AD when Nurk is out there. Plumlee played a lot better so the answer might just be giving Plumlee a bulk of the minutes against the Lakers. I don't know who's trading for Nurk or what we'd be getting back. And I still think he has value against certain teams/centers. He just seems to lose it against the Lakers for some reason.

Good on Bud for adjusting throughout the game with lineups. He went to Plumlee because it was necessary, worked in Allen, stuck with Royce and even used Dunn as a smallball 5 to start the 4th. It was a close game throughout so the Big 3 played some heavy minutes again but we've gotta find ways to get them rest. Also think we're still relying too much on KD, Book and Beal to initiate and go ISO. Running Beal and KD off one screen and going ISO isn't "action". But the ball and player movement was better than it's been, just want to see it consistent throughout the game. Book and Beal looked good most of the game, getting back to their midrange games more. Beal only 1-7 from 3 so even hitting a few more and his numbers look better. The end was a bit sloppy and we didn't get great shots as we went with the Book and Beal in the backcourt. 11-36 on threes as a team so not exactly letting it fly like we'd planned. Allen should help there but I just don't think we have the personnel to shoot 50 threes a game at a high clip.

The Lakers' starters did the heavy lifting with only 8 points coming from the bench so maybe that's an exploitable weakness. We got 22pts combined from Royce, Dunn and Allen and even tho Plumlee didn't score his impact was huge. LBJ was off and seemed to be laying back most of the game. Hachimura and Reeves were both annoying and really hurt us. We should be doing a better job on both, especially Reeves, who has that annoying Ginobili kind of game.

We were at full strength, interested to see how the rotation shakes out. Morris was the odd man out tonight, Allen only saw 12 minutes but it was his first game back after missing time. Royce got his 24 and Dunn saw 15. If we can peel back on Book, Beal and KD about 5-7 minutes each, those minutes should go be able to go to Allen and Dunn.

[ShelC]

Postgame Quotes and Videos

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[O_Gardino]

Always feels good to beat LA.

Like you guys said, It's a joy to root for Dunn. Happy to see Royce continuing to thrive and getting recognition. Beal has embraced playing within the offense, and he has been so good for us.

I hope Bud doesn't lose sight of Monte Morris. There isn't much talent gap between him and Tyus, and I thought Tyus wasn't at his best last night. In any case, here's the depth "problem" that we talked about during the offseason. Dunn, Allen, Morris, Ighodoro, and Bol combine for fewer than 30 minutes. Our top 10 are really good, and it shows in how well our reserves have been playing.

LeBron was -17 last night, the only Laker starter with a negative +/-, but that's because he plays with the reserves and age caught up with him. The Lakers starters are really good, but they do need depth if they are going to win this year.

Nurk + Allen + Okogie <--> Anthony Davis
Who says 'NO' besides AD and the Lakers?

[In2ition]

I think LeBron specifically was a little tired and under the weather. It was their 4th game in 6 nights. He will play better, but at the same time, I think we get more out of Dunn and Grayson in the future, along with hoping that Bud recognizing that Nurk shouldn't play vs the Lakers.

I wish the Suns could get AD, for that mess, but the second apron wouldn't even let the Suns combine salaries to send out. I know you were kidding though.

[Cap]

I Dunn know why. LeBron barely continued his 1600+ or whatever it is streak of games with 10 or more tonight.

17 years of playing almost every game, shooting in every game, and never in that whole time did he shoot less than 21.4% for a game?

[iLLmatic]

I Dunn know why. LeBron barely continued his 1600+ or whatever it is streak of games with 10 or more tonight.

17 years of playing almost every game, shooting in every game, and never in that whole time did he shoot less than 21.4% for a game?

Father time is undefeated.

[Cap]

Oh, this is awesome: last night was LeBron’s worst GmSc since this game.

[ShelC]

You know when you're calling out sick from work and you have to leave your boss a message, so you throw a few little coughs in there...

[Cap]

Oh, this is awesome: last night was LeBron’s worst GmSc since this game.

Whoa. Those are the only <7 GmSc’s LBJ has had last season and so far this season. He also had one such game in 2022-23.

[Superbone]

The Suns are LeBron's kryptonite.

[SunsRIt]

Also, it was really cool to meet SunsRIt and his lovely wife tonight!

It was cool to meet you too, it’s always nice to put a name and a face to a moniker.

[SunsRIt]

What a great game to attend. Dunn is going to be a problem for other teams with his defense. One thing I didn’t understand was Tyus Jones getting set for a corner 3 while a big brought the ball upcourt to initiate the offense. Shouldn’t the sure handed PG be taking care of the ball and setting up the scorers?

[TOO]

Also, it was really cool to meet SunsRIt and his lovely wife tonight!

It was cool to meet you too, it’s always nice to put a name and a face to a moniker.

Did you see his super bone?

[Superbone]

Also, it was really cool to meet SunsRIt and his lovely wife tonight!

It was cool to meet you too, it’s always nice to put a name and a face to a moniker.

Did you see his super bone?

Stop it.

[Superbone]

What a great game to attend. Dunn is going to be a problem for other teams with his defense. One thing I didn’t understand was Tyus Jones getting set for a corner 3 while a big brought the ball upcourt to initiate the offense. Shouldn’t the sure handed PG be taking care of the ball and setting up the scorers?

I don't get it either any time a non-PG is bringing the ball across court unless they're in a fast break situation. What are they trying to accomplish?

[pickle]

I Dunn know why. LeBron barely continued his 1600+ or whatever it is streak of games with 10 or more tonight.

17 years of playing almost every game, shooting in every game, and never in that whole time did he shoot less than 21.4% for a game?

Usually the refs bail him out.

[pickle]

You know when you're calling out sick from work and you have to leave your boss a message, so you throw a few little coughs in there...

This is why I can’t stand him.

[TOO]

Also, it was really cool to meet SunsRIt and his lovely wife tonight!

It was cool to meet you too, it’s always nice to put a name and a face to a moniker.

Did you see his super bone?

Stop it.

I don't wanna.