This is the new year, and I don’t feel any different about the Los Angeles Lakers.
Despite the strong start to their season, the youth has caught up to one of the most popular franchises in the league. They have two wins since Dec. 1 and rank 27th in margin of victory. The Lakers are awful, but they have some talent. Here are the things to watch for tonight’s game.
Filling in the Patterson gap
With Patrick Patterson suffering a knee injury against Phoenix, the Raptors have a major hole in the frontcourt to address.
As of writing this, it looks like Toronto will be without Patterson for at least the Lakers game. There is no official word yet, but Patterson’s quote in Doug Smith’s piece was telling: “Everything,” he said of the injury’s impact on his play. “(Moving) laterally, running, jumping, pushing off of it, stopping. Just everything.”
The Raptors will have to go small to soak up the minutes, possibly meaning more minutes for Norm Powell at the four. The first game of 2017 will provide a glimpse of what a post-Pat world looks like if the knee injury results in a long-term absence.
The hangover
I swear I’m not projecting my current state into this preview. NBA players are usually hungover on January 1 as well and the numbers bear it out.
Since 1997, all NBA teams points per 100 possesssions on New Years Day is 101.7.
All other games? 103.5. #NYDflu— Tom Haberstroh (@tomhaberstroh) January 2, 2016
The Lakers and Raptors had their last games of 2016 on Dec. 29, so it’s not like either team will be travelling into Los Angeles that night. They have the whole day off, in Los Angeles, so expecting them to party is reasonable. If you have ever listened to ESPN’s TrueHoop podcast, you have probably heard Amin Elhassan (among other media types) talk about how often NBA players go out.
I’m not guaranteeing a hangover game here, just pointing out that it is something to watch. The counter-argument is that Toronto has a veteran core and have a shot at getting the no. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, so they won’t mess around here. I lean towards that line of thinking, but we will see.
How does Los Angeles guard Lowry and DeRozan?
Last time around, the Lakers were short-handed. D’Angelo Russell was out, a problem that gets compounded when you have to play the aging Jose Calderon in his place. But the Lakers are 29th in D-Rtg and have surrendered a few double-digit leads in recent weeks because they just can’t stop teams. Now, a historic offence comes to town.
In the Dec. 2 match-up, Brandon Ingram guarded Kyle Lowry and it didn’t go well for LA. Lowry had 24 points on 8-12 shooting with six treys. With Russell back in the line-up, expect a more traditional defensive look, with the Snapchat snitch guarding Lowry.
Luol Deng will be tasked with guarding DeMar DeRozan, and that is an interesting match-up. Deng is the kind of player that can bother DeRozan with length. In the December match-up, the all-time leading scorer in Raptors history was held to 16 points on 6-18 shooting and only four free throw attempts. There are ways that the Raptors can create opportunities for DeRozan to score, like letting him attack on the catch after some screens against a slower Deng.
Bench defence will be an issue too. Ingram is too slight, Lou Williams is Lou Williams, and Jordan Clarkson is a bucket-getter, not a wing-stopper. Toronto’s bench unit has been written about often and will punish a line-up with that many minus defenders. (How good that line-up is without Patterson remains to be seen.)
