Ultimately, the game wasn't close enough for fans to get a full view of newly acquired superstar Luka Doncic.
Not exactly what they wanted, as they poured into Crypto.com Arena on Monday, but a nice "problem" for the Lakers.
Final score, 132-113. Doncic, who had a 30 minute cap on his minutes in his first game since Christmas, was only needed for about 23:30. It's obviously too early to make sweeping statements about what the Luka/LeBron James Lakers will look like over time, and after such a big layoff Luka's jumper was (understandably) off... but a few things feel safe to say.
First, the Lakers are going to feature some absolutely absurd passing. Both Luka and LeBron are special scorers, but they are otherworldly distributors. For the Lakers to have two guys at that size, capable of creating passing angles virtually nobody in the league can (then often sharing the floor with Austin Reaves, himself a great passer)? It's going to mean a ton of good looks. And the ball movement is contagious, so it should encourage good habits in that respect no matter what floor combos are out there.
Moreover, where the Lakers before too often found themselves forcing up horrible shots late in the clock, adding Luka could give them a far better chance to create quality shots throughout all 24 seconds. That certainly was the case on Monday. Players will pass up good shots for great ones.
Teams will figure out how they want to defend the Lakers over time—and maybe some of those ideas will work—but the percentage of quality shots the Lakers are able to generate should rise precipitously. And importantly, that should have a positive impact on the defense.
Doncic certainly wasn't great in this one, by his lofty standards. There will be far more remarkable games against much better teams between now and the end of this season. (Or even the end of this month.) But it's already clear that this version of the Lakers will produce things from night to night—even on the nights where they kinda suck—that will be tremendous fun for basketball fans, and the energy of these guys together, with the prospect for a highlight reel pass at any moment (and incentive for supporting players to put themselves at the receiving end) will be good for the Lakers.
It'll take weeks for Luka, LeBron and the rest of the team, along with the coaching staff, to get deep into the bag of tricks now available to them. It already looks like a roster that could fuel tremendous positive energy if everyone rows in the same direction.
Meanwhile, the Lakers, at 32-19, are tied for fourth in the West, with one more game against the Jazz before the All-Star break. They've bought some space to figure things out, as needed.
HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky
SEGMENT 1: Luka makes his debut as the Lakers crush Utah.
SEGMENT 2: Wow, that was fun!
SEGMENT 3: Things are really, really trending up for LA.
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