Lonzo Ball pulls off a sweet punch pass for the assist
Behind a strong all around team effort from its many talented pieces, the Los Angeles Lakers dismantled the Detroit Pistons with surgical precision 113-93. Seven players scored in double digits for LA and Center Brook Lopez came within a bucket of joining the club.
Kyle Kuzma, Julius Randle and Larry Nance Jr. continued their neck and neck position battle for the starting job at power forward as each of them laid out a nice resume of at game’s end. Kuzma and Randle finished as the Lakers top scorers, but Nance cemented his starting role and edged out his teammates with double digit boards and three steals to bolster his 14 points. The power grab for minutes in Los Angeles hurts their rotational consistency, but the competitive fire and motivation it brings bodes well for their player development.
As the forwards’ grapple for playing time persists, first-year floor general Lonzo Ball has meanwhile justified the Laker’s front office decision to draft him second overall in the 2017 draft. Although his shot has been shoddy at best, Ball has exhibited his crème de la crème passing instincts, pleasantly unexpected rebounding chops and quiet leadership. One such of the eldest Ball brother’s displays of extraterrestrial vision came off of a quick-witted punch pass that lead teammate Brook Lopez flawlessly to the basket for an easy finish.
Among the standout performers in Tuesday’s game was sophomore Brandon Ingram. The small forward struggled tremendously in rookie campaign, but has slowly turned things around in his second go-round in the association. Aside from his rebounding, his numbers have improve markedly across the board from a year ago as he’s gained much needed muscle mass and the confidence to fearlessly take on the league’s better defenders.
Unfortunately for Jordan Clarkson, despite leading the Lakers in scoring with 14.7 points per game in just under 20 minutes, he finds himself as the odd man out on an incredibly deep and gifted roster. While he’s on the outside looking in, his striking efficiency in limited minutes should draw attention from teams around the league who are looking to strengthen their squad with a spark plug sixth man.
The Lakers have worked their way into a fascinating predicament, but teams around the NBA would die to attain their providential burden of fielding an abundance of skilled young talent. It’s Los Angeles’ conundrum to solve and it will be an intriguing storyline for fans to follow, if not for the endlessly versatile lineup possibilities, then at the very least for Lavar Ball’s ceaseless barrage of riveting yet incomprehensibly unrealistic year end predictions for the Lakers and his son.
