The Lakers waited nearly four months to have a fully healthy roster available to them forFriday’s home win over the Clippers.
And they didn’t waste time in offering a glimpse of what their offensive ceiling and potential can be in their125-122 victory.
On their first possession, the Lakers ran a play for Luka Dončić to come off a pindown screen from LeBron James before receiving a dribble handoff from Deandre Ayton (a version of their 77 action), helping Dončić get to the rim before missing as wide-open of a layup as he’s going to get in the flow of a game. Their next shot: a missed stepback 3-pointer from Dončić after Brook Lopez switched onto him.
The Lakers didn’t miss much after that.
The team made its next 11 shots, and 16 of its 17 field goal attempts, in one of the Lakers’ best offensive displays of the season.
“The quality of shots was high,” Austin Reaves said. “So we had high confidence that it’s going to go in whoever’s shooting it. The ball was moving and we were moving their defense. Luka and Bron were doing a really good job making plays.”
The Lakers’ 41 first-quarter points and 84.2% shooting (16-of-19) in the opening quarter obviously stoodout.
But even more impressive than the results was the ease of how scoring came to them – which was expected when this roster was put together over the summer but still a sight to behold with the Lakers firing on all cylinders early against the Clippers.
Sure, Dončić, who scored 17 first-quarter points to go with four assists, and James took some tough early shots.
But very few of them felt forced.
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
