Amid the Fever's ups and downs, Aliyah Boston has been the stabilizing voice
"Aliyah’s constantly the one talking in our huddles. She’s the first voice we have there."
I spoke with Aliyah about her growth as a leader and how it's impacted her game
sbnation.com/womens-sports/1…
The Lakers are now 35-21, 14 games over .500. The last time they were that far above .500 was March 18, 2021 when they beat the Hornets to move to 28-13.
The next game, Solomon Hill dove into LeBron James' ankle.
Anthony Davis is hilarious. When Bronny got drafted, AD FaceTimed LeBron, but told him he didn't want to talk to him and wanted to talk to his new teammate.
.@mcten said Anthony Davis was texting players after the Lakers win over the Knicks, unaware of the looming trade
"After the game, Anthony Davis is sending congratulatory text messages about the Lakers effort getting the win without him."
Reporter: “How hard is it just to absorb a loss like this after going ahead by 20?”
Michael Malone: “The season’s over. That’s what’s hard. F*ck being up by 20… Stupid ass questions.” 😳
My favorite sequence of the night in which the Kings fouled Austin Reaves as far away from the basket as possible on back-to-back possessions. And then complained about the free throws after the game
Charles Barkley, who was offended JJ Redick said he doesn't push the NBA product, actively voiced his displeasure at the multiple replays of LeBron's dunk in the first half.
The Lakers are now 39-32 on the season.
On March 24 of 2023, they would have been the 4th seed in the Western Conference
On March 24 of 2024, they are the 9th seed
JJ Redick on LeBron postgame:
"He's a billionaire and he's playing on the second night of a back-to-back at 40 after 22 years with every freaking record and accolade. And the kids will say I'm glazing him. He's one of the greatest competitors."
Frank Vogel credited the "basketball integrity" Melo has brought to the team. When asked to describe what that means to him, Melo's response:
"Yeah, Frank be using words like that."
Boston had ALL those picks. Made ALL those shrewd trades. Drafted ALL those prospects. Refused to trade them for ALL those superstars.
And the Lakers are going to reach the Finals before them.
Anthony Davis finishes with 30 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 blocks and 4 steals.
Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon are the only players ever to achieve that stat line before tonight.
That's it. That's the list.
Sparks head coach Curt Miller had LOTS of praise for Caitlin Clark tonight, calling her an elite passer with incredible range.
He broke down her game, comparing her to Sue Bird and Becky Hammon before saying the WNBA is fortunate to have her.
Here's a segment of his quote
Imagine being the Rockets, spending half a season playing a very specific style of basketball that you’re supposed to have mastered and Frank Vogel and the Lakers come into a playoff series against you and does it better. I’d be sick.
Rui Hachimura was pretty, uh, direct in why he was so aggressive on Tuesday.
"We talked about Julius Randle, He sometimes is just standing and stuff. So we talked about, we got to kind of use that. I know I can be the screener. I can be in the corner to kind of attack the rim.”
Shareef O'Neal said he was speechless when he came into his workout.
"I walked in today and I was kind of star struck. I was born into this team. My dad and Kobe won championships with this team"
No disagreement here from @KingJames. He’s right about that. What’s messed up is the other b.s. he’s been spewing: that folks who cover the game are (bleeping) on the game. Critiquing the game, pointing out who’s doing and who’s not doing is NOT (bleeping) on the game. It’s covering the damn game. Greatness is not only measured, it’s compared to other greats. That’s the way it’s always been, some can take it. Some can’t!
Tonight was the fewest minutes LeBron James has played in a playoff game (28) since May 17, 2016.
I'll give you one guess who that opponent was in 2016
D'Angelo Russell scored 21 points in the fourth quarter.
The last Laker to score more than 21 points in the fourth? Kobe Bryant in his final game in 2016 when he scored 23.
The problem with the Lakers currently is that Darvin Ham is sitting here talking about Russell Westbrook's role on the Lakers while Rob Pelinka is 200 feet away from him talking to Sean Marks about how to trade him.
Christian Wood was available for Game 4 vs. Denver but wasn't used. Six months later, he's undergoing another knee surgery.
Jarred Vanderbilt was available for Game 5 but wasn't used. Six months later, he may not be ready to start training camp.
I have some questions, Lakers
Lakers dropped the news of the Darvin Ham hire minutes before the Celtics game, then Boston proceeded to blow a closeout game at home to force a Game 7.
What a glorious evening.
Anyway, Rui still hasn't had a game shooting under 50% from the field this season. He's now shooting 57.7% from the field and 44.8% from the 3-point line
Monk on Vogel: "I love the man. He gave me a chance...I have nothing bad to say about him because if it wasn't for him, I probably wouldn't have a chance to play basketball here."
Darvin Ham needed eight months and nearly 50 games to land a starting lineup
JJ Redick needed two months and zero games.
Redick revealed on Wednesday that he's already settled on his starting lineup: D'Lo, Reaves, Rui, LeBron and AD
silverscreenandroll.com/2024…
Anthony Davis tonight became the second player since 2001 to achieve a 32-point, 12-rebound, 4-assist, 3-steal, 5-block game.
Karl Anthony-Towns was the other in 2018.
Interesting. D'Angelo Russell mentioned tonight the Lakers haven't even gotten to the starting lineup they used for most of the postseason this year.
Russell-Reaves-Vando-LeBron-AD have played 1 minute together this season
Asked Bam Adebayo who the best defender was in the league. After clarifying he wasn’t picking anyone in the East, he chose Anthony Davis and explained why
D'Angelo Russell has been brutal this series. Unplayable, some might even say.
He also was instrumental in the Lakers even being in the Western Conference Finals. He played big roles against Memphis and Golden State.
Don't let the former point make you forget about the latter.
JJ Redick said he was pretty frustrated by the team's lack of gameplan discipline in the first half. He spoke specifically of this ghost screen from Bogdanovic, saying it was emphasized he hasn't set a screen once on this in the last five games, so they shouldn't be switching
Tonight, the Lakers...
- Had their highest scoring quarter (3rd, 40 points)
- Had their largest margin of victory (32)
- Had a season-high in assists (35)
- Had a season-high points in the paint (76)
- Moved to 7-0 when leading heading into the 4th quarter