With their 17th win of the season, the Lakers matched last year’s win total more than two months before the end of the season.
So there’s progress, even though most of those wins came in the first month of the season. After Tuesday’s game, Lakers Coach Luke Walton wanted to make sure the team paid as much mind to the negatives from the game as they did to the positives. That is easier said than done after a win.
Here were five takeaways from Tuesday’s 120-116 win over the Denver Nuggets.
1. During the last week we’ve heard a lot about the D’Angelo Russell-Ivica Zubac pick-and-roll. They haven’t played together much yet this year, but we got to see it a little bit during this game. Both players had nice nights and the pick-and-roll plays usually resulted in points. “Much easier when you have a guard who knows how to pass on the pick and roll,” Zubac said. “When you set a good screen sometimes you expect to get rewarded and D’Angelo definitely knows when to reward the big guy for rolling and when to take shots by himself. It feels great to play pick and roll with him.”
2. When Russell made his ninth assist, Lakers PR ace Calder Hynes made the rather shocking announcement that it was the second-year player’s career high in assists. He got to 10 ultimately, making it the first 10-assist game of his career. Even better — Russell only turned the ball over twice, and both were turnovers Walton thought weren’t altogether his fault. “Proud of myself,” Russell said. “I’ve been trying. I didn’t even know I was that close. Guys were making shots left and right, Betonbet getting stops. Made it easy for me. I know how easy it is to get assists. You can’t be a pass first guy and get assists, you gotta attack.”
3. Midway through the fourth quarter something magical happened. Luol Deng drove to the basket then kicked the ball out to Nick Young, who was open. Young loves to score, but in that moment he saw a better opportunity for the team and, without hesitation, swung the ball out to Lou Williams in the left corner for a three. Walton was positively giddy at the play, which was an example of exactly what he looks for from his team.
4. Zubac deserved all the praise he got after his 17-point effort, but the Lakers starting center also had a strong game. Timofey Mozgov was a big part of why the Lakers had 30 more points in the paint than the Nuggets did. Mozgov was very active around the rim, especially early in the game. He had three blocks by the end of the third quarter.
5. But back to Zubac. His natural understanding of the game was apparent on Tuesday, as it has been several times this year. Walton told a funny story about the first game in which Zubac played during summer league. Walton and Jesse Mermuys, the Lakers assistant who was the summer league head coach, knew Zubac was going to start since he was a draft pick, but they didn’t expect much. The two coaches laughed among themselves because Zubac was a little bit overweight and he hadn’t been able to practice yet with the team. When Zubac got into the game he shocked them with how well he played and understood the game. Zubac’s face lit up when asked about that game. “He was huge," Zubac said of the opponent’s center. “He was much bigger than me, taller, much stronger. I was like, ‘Oh man. This is hell of a first game.’ When I got in, I got in the post and I scored on him. I felt really comfortable and since then summer league was really easy for me.”
tania.ganguli@latimes.com
Follow Tania Ganguli on Twitter @taniaganguli
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