LeBron James still figuring out scope of challenges with Lakers – Sportsnet.ca
As James ruled the East he had almost trademarked a style of play: put the ball in his hands, surround him with as many shooters as possible and let defences pick their poison. With the Lakers – or at least this version before the cavalry comes in free agency – the plan is to run and share the ball-handling, and let the young talent around him grow ahead of schedule. They have more ball-handlers than shooters and more skill than experience. In some respects, it’s working – the Lakers lead the NBA in fast break scoring and James is second in the league in transition offence.
In others? Los Angeles can’t shoot — they are 19th in three-pointer made – and they don’t defend – they are 21st in defensive rating so far. With Cleveland, James could lift some seriously flawed teams to the top of the conference in the East, but that’s easier said than done in the West.
“Um, not as fast as you guys think it’s going to happen,” James told reporters about how long it would take for the Lakers to find their legs after the Lakers lost their season opener to Portland, the one where his first moments were punctuated with a pair of spectacular tomahawk dunks and where his new team missed their first 15 three-point attempts. “I always kind of compare it to like instant oatmeal. It is not that fast. It takes a while to get to where you can close your eyes and know exactly where your guys are.”
Sounds good, but the Lakers early struggles haven’t stopped reports from surfacing that head coach Luke Walton is coaching for his job already.
Raptors' Kawhi Leonard questionable Sunday vs. Lakers – Sportsnet.ca
The Toronto Raptors announced that Kawhi Leonard is questionable to face the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday due to a jammed left ankle.
Leonard suffered the injury in Friday’s win over the Phoenix Suns. He left the game late in the fourth quarter, but the Raptors managed to cope without him.
After the game, Leonard said it wasn’t serious.
Raptors news: Kawhi Leonard never a Lakers fan, idolized Allen Iverson
Although he grew up in Los Angeles, Toronto Raptors small forward Kawhi Leonard says he was never a fan of the Los Angeles Lakers. Instead, the two-time All-Star grew up idolizing Philadelphia 76ers legend Allen Iverson.
Kawhi Leonard and the Raptors take on LeBron James and the Lakers Sunday night at Staples Center. Leonard is being listed as questionable after suffering a jammed foot in Friday’s victory against the Phoenix Suns.
“No, I wasn’t, I wasn’t at all,” Leonard said when asked if he was a Lakers fan as a kid, via Mirjam Swanson of the Los Angeles Daily News. “My family was, but I wasn’t.”
“I liked Allen Iverson. I was an A.I. fan, so I didn’t like the Lakers.”
3 Things to Know: Lakers vs. Raptors (11/4/18) | Los Angeles Lakers
Rondo is showing he’s more than just a passer
Portland’s game plan included forcing Rajon Rondo to try to score himself by taking away his passing options. The point guard gladly accepted that challenge, scoring 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting.Rondo — who also had 10 rebounds, six assists and three steals — was at his best working off of screens.
He entered the night in the NBA’s 96th percentile as a scorer on pick-and-rolls, and only added to his resume by constantly gashing the Blazers with his change-of-pace dribbles and crafty finishes.
Rondo found particular chemistry working with Ivica Zubac, hitting six shots off a screen from Zu, who had eight points and nine boards in his first major minutes of the year.
Sunday NBA preview: Toronto Raptors at Los Angeles Lakers | The Star
Probable starters: Toronto — Kyle Lowry, Danny Green, Kawhi Leonard, Pascal Siakam, Jonas Valanciunas. Los Angeles — Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, LeBron James, Kyle Kuzma, JaVale McGree.
Key matchup: Kawhi Leonard vs. LeBron James
This is what the Raptors obtained Leonard for — to defend the very best player on the opposing team, and James is certainly that. Leonard is questionable on the injury report so the matchup might get snuffed out before it happens.
Need to know: Raptors catch a bit of a break, as the Lakers played Saturday night in Portland and will be wrapping up a back-to-back … The Raptors have won 10 of their 12 games against the Lakers … At 3-5 going into their game in Portland, the Lakers are scuffling along so much that reports surfaced about president Magic Johnson’s dissatisfaction with coach Luke Walton … Ex-Raptors905 head coach Jesse Murmuys remains on Walton’s Lakers coaching staff.
Defending LeBron will be a team effort for the Toronto Raptors | The Star
“We want to be an aggressive defensive team, get our hands on some balls out there, get some deflections, get into transition in the open court and get some open threes or layups,” Leonard said after Toronto had dispatched the Phoenix Suns to run their season record to an all-time franchise best 8-1.
The Raptors know a Leonard-James matchup will make fans drool, regardless of the fact the Lakers are stumbling out of the gate this season and the Raptors sport one of the best records in the league.
But they also know it’s a much more complicated endeavour than saying, ‘Go, Leonard, guard the most dominant player in the game for the entire night.’
“That’s why we can allow him to play one-on-one,” said Danny Green.
“You’ve got guys like Kawhi that can guard and some of the other guys that can switch down the line like OG, Pascal, Serge who can guard out on the floor, and you have bigs or guards, big co-ordinated guards who can guard guys like that, it helps a ton.
“Obviously, it’s hard to stop (LeBron) 1-on-1 regardless, but you just want to make him beat you by himself and not let other guys get involved because that’s when it becomes a problem. You know he’s going to get his points, but when other guys start stepping up and scoring 20, 15 here and there, that’s what hurts your team.
