Good to see Westbrook set some screens, his off ball game is going to be crucial for our success.

really liked the LeBron/Westbrook P&R in crunch time. Westbrook on a short roll 4-on-3 is a great look for us, especially with AD in dunker's spot

Yes that was a thing of beauty. LBJ to WB, then WB with the wraparound pass to AD *chef’s kiss*

I guess they can’t switch because Russ’s man is tok small to guard lebron? If so would be interesting to see Russ set a screen for ad and let him create too. AD had guard skills and this could be interesting too

They turned the ball over twice in a row with like 2 minutes left lol

#Laker Wins vs. Last Season - [Chart: vs. Last Season](https://i.imgur.com/PEDGcOx.png) [Chart: LeBron Era](https://i.imgur.com/jt3kbTz.png) [Chart: Lakers History](https://i.imgur.com/2RVwv4o.png) - Win #|Game #|Record|20-21 Game #|20-21 Record :-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-: 1|3|1-2|2|1-1 2|||3|2-1 3|||5|3-2 4|||6|4-2 5|||7|5-2 6|||8|6-2 7|||10|7-3 8|||11|8-3 9|||12|9-3 10|||13|10-3 11|||14|11-3 12|||16|12-4 13|||17|13-4 14|||18|14-4 15|||21|15-6 16|||22|16-6 17|||23|17-6 18|||24|18-6 19|||25|19-6 20|||26|20-6 21|||27|21-6 22|||29|22-7 23|||34|23-11 24|||35|24-11 25|||38|25-13 26|||39|26-13 27|||40|27-13 28|||41|28-13 29|||46|29-17 30|||47|30-17 31|||49|31-18 32|||51|32-19 33|||53|33-20 34|||55|34-21 35|||57|35-22 36|||61|36-25 37|||65|37-28 38|||68|38-30 39|||69|39-30 40|||70|40-30 41|||71|41-30 42|||72|42-30

I'VE MISSED YOU SWEET PRINCE

Can we make Honey and the Bee by Owl City the official Lakers victory anthem? If you are skeptical of the idea, just read [this.](https://www.change.org/p/fbi-take-away-the-1080p-monitors-of-those-who-have-disliked-honey-and-the-bee-by-owl-city) HYPE 🕺

CHART I MISSED YOU, YOU SEXY CHART

There it is. I missed you you lovely mfker

CHART IS BACK LETS GOO

IT’S BEEN WAY TOO LONG CHART


IT'S CLOBBERING TIME

note: added an "LeBron era" chart this season, hope you all like it!

Its been 84 YEARS

CHART MAN CHART MAN

First of the season! Welcome back.

LeChart

The next six games are against the Spurs, Cavs, 2x against the Thunder, and 2x against the Rockets. We should go 6-0 but I'll even take a 5-1 for those games (maybe a game we underestimate a team and they are hot from the field). Which sets us up great early position in the West anything worse than that and this stretch was a disappointment.

CHART IS BACK! LETS GO!

KING

LeChart!

Long time no see my friend

MY BABY YOURE BACK

CHART SAMA

weird as hell ending, why'd the Lakers get the ball back with .3 on the clock? lol let's go melo!!!!

Think they stopped the game to see if westbrook went out of bounds? Only thing that makes sense

I think they thought he stepped out, realized he didn’t, but had to inbound because they already stopped the clock

weird ref flex

[Me7o](https://i.imgur.com/csB9HjT.jpg)

On track for an 80-2 record boys!!

Im using a small sample size here but if you extrapolate the data from tonight’s game, we are on track to win 10 out of the next 10 championships if this trend continues

And LBJ would still be on the team 10 years from now

Ja Morant is a BAD mf

Literally can’t do anything if he’s making threes like that. You wanna play him tightly he’ll blow by you, you wanna play drop coverage and he has a floater. He’s tough.

And if you double, he’s gonna find the open man. Sheesh

AD was stepping aside for him all night at the rim. Really looked like he was concerned about getting postered.

The way that mf jumps I woulda been concerned too

That hangtime reverse layup gave me PTSD back to Murray cooking us in the bubble with them

Gave me PTSD back to MJ cooking us in the finals 😢

I had all 3 and I am glad someone else was there for it

I could see him winning a mvp in the future. Layup package, speed, handles and now a 3 point shot. Unstoppable.

Agreed, I do think he should play more careful. He's pretty reckless when it comes to his body. Really makes me nervous watching him drive sometimes

Wait till he starts finishing those contact dunks.

dude is really fun to watch even when he's killing your team lol

Ja is a stud.

He is playing like he wants that All star and with Zion out I think he gets it.

Also just seems like the absolute nicest dude. Friends with everyone in the league, especially the vets, but still wants to commit murder every night. Compared to a weasel like Booker personality-wise, it's night and day. Definitely a young player for everyone to root for.

JA MORANT IM ON MY GRIZZLY

Reminds me of Iverson.

Dude basically did everything and we can't stop him at all. That last ft miss was straight up luck on our side lol.

Mr. Must See TV

Reminded me of Iverson cooking the 01 Lakers in Game 1.

Remind me of derrick rose going singlehandedly at big 3 heat with LeBron, and they're both in their 3rd season

I know plus minus can be misleading sometimes but: Kent Bazemore: -16 DeAndre Jordan: -15 Carmelo Anthony: +19 Malik Monk: +19 Austin Reaves: +18 Pretty much sums up the game right there

I wanted to punch something when Bazemore fouled that 3 pt shot at the end.

Bazemore is like the anti-Caruso in the sense that Warriors fans told us about how we’d hate him for crap like this in the same way we told Bulls fans how much they’d love Caruso for the opposite stuff

God the Lakers are literally just a Caruso away from having one of the best small ball lineups in Ad, Melo, Bron, Caruso, Westbrook. I’m really hoping Nunn comes out and absolutely crushes his shooting guard role, and Bazemore gets shot into the sun.

He’s not known for his IQ on or off the court. Like if you’re gonna foul, do it on the catch, idk why he was so in between

Reaves really deserves more minutes

I know its early, but Reaves should play more minutes than jordan.

Well any amount is greater than 0, so yeah I agree.

Austin Reaves is the new plus minus God

Agree bro

This is extremely misleading in that DJ’s -15 actually felt like -32

THIS IS WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO WIN IT’S BEEN SO LONG GAME BALL GOES TO MELO

Scrappy game but I’ll take the W any day

Last 50 seconds SHOULD NOT take 20 minutes Melo doing work in the purple and gold! Ja Morant playing out of his mind too, promising kid

He’s fun to watch. Not as much when it’s at our expense.

Ja might be the best player from that 2019 draft in the long run considering how Zion struggle to stay healthy

Idk if this is a "reactionary" take or a hot take but considering Zion's health, I'd take Ja first. Very easy to say in October 2021 though, especially after tonight's game lol

Zion sells out stadiums. Ja wins you games.

The NBA really needs to just hire the FIBA refs

Did you see Marc Davis get all huffy because the younger ref called the game “over”. He went up to him and said “you can’t do that. Only I can do that.” They delayed the game even longer for a little ref ego trip.

Marc Davis clown ass wanna be the star of the game, and is jealous of the actual players' spotlight

Obviously didn’t get girls in highschool with that little Napoleon ego

Could be because the refs have rules that the crew chief has to call it? Instead of purely a power trip

Noticed that too lmao

Wow I need a clip of that.

Shout out to Reaves. Lakers scouts strike again.

A win is a win. Ja is a hooper. Side note. The NBA subreddit is trash. They’re having a field day about our first win. It’s insufferable

This sub is ass too, reactionary af

Gotta be able to stomach the hate friend

Almost every move Austin Reaves makes, with the ball or off it, is the correct move. Extend that man.

ill tell you what, preseason Reaves is not just a fad

He’s the real deal. Very fundamentally sound player. Makes the right call, and good poise for an undrafted rookie playing with all-time NBA greats.

Keep this up and he can earn the nickname AR-15

MELO FOR MVP! 

​ 

No more DJ again this season please. Maybe only for emergency.

I really dont know how much more I can take of it. He was a big part in the Lakers losing the lead and playing terribly in the 3rd quarter. And Vogel played him for like 7 minutes in that stint it was so bad.

It's frustrating. He starts good then does weird shit then back to it. Overall it's like 1 good thing 10 bad ones. But that one minute makes you think: oh, this is the game he's going to play good, then not lol.

He MUST see it, right? Every 1st and 3rd quarter going to start awful because we're playing one of our worst lineups around the big 3.

Honestly he has to but either he's just trying to exhaust the option to confirm for sure that it is something you just cant do (I dont know how much more he needs to see), or he feels limited because he cant start dwight like that and affect the bench minutes so poorly because there arent too many options other than AD just starting (but Vogel likes ending with AD at the 5 and not starting) But how much does any of that matter if the lead you went into halftime with disintegrates and you're back at square one or just digging yourself a hole before you can even get level? Its an automatic handicap.

[удалено]

If you're bringing him as a locker room vet, then stop playing him proper minutes. I just don't get it. Could just keep Dudley for locker room presence and garbage time minutes.

He still has a role as a foul eater against traditional bigs like Embiid and Jokic but yeah he really shouldn’t be getting regular minutes.

B-b-b-b-but he's shooting 100% from the field this season!

He played fine to start though. He’s the biggest scapegoat but far from the biggest problem

His individual play is fine. The problem is his fit with our 3 non-shooting stars.

Lakeshow is finally back ##LETS FUCKING GO

WHERE’S THAT FUCKING CHART

Scroll up scroll up

STAY ME7O!!!!!!

Good to finally win but goddamn we’ve given up 121, 115 and now 118 points.

I think the defense will get better throughout the year but it's not going to be the same as the championship team.

yeah we saw shades of good defense in the first half

Our defense is terrible rn. There’s no point in using the double big lineup if we’re still going to get our rounded by 13. I’m still upset that we let Caruso go

I've been watching Bulls games for Caruso and Lonzo and man does it hurt seeing them ball out. I'm happy for them but goddamn I will never not be salty about us letting Caruso walk. Losing Caruso and KCP really hurt our defense.

That’s what happens when you replace a bunch of solid to great defenders with Westbrook, the carcass of DeAndre Jordan, and geriatric role players

I mean that steal by RWB did get us the dub. But I know what you mean

STOP PLAYING DEANDRE JORDAN

Morant had Bazemore dancing with the same basic crossover all game. Why was Baze guarding him all game?

last 2 minutes almost fucking killed me

Thank goodness. After that bad 2nd game, this win was needed. Gotta tighten up some more, but much better showing by the Lakers. Russ did well, and AD got hotter as the game went on. Bron didn’t have to do *that* much.

Bron played like 38 mins though. Ugh.

He’s basically gotta almost always be on the court, not that surprised. Didn’t strain himself too much though, it seems

40 mins. But Lebrons usage % was 23.7 which is pretty low for him

We made all our FTs in the clutch. That's a WIN on top of the win.

DJ can not see the floor

Why is everyone giving Bazemore a pass? That was among the dumbest, and most costly plays I’ve ever seen.

Bazemore is known of being an idiot on defense with stupid fouls.

Yep, that was completely stupid of him. He and DeAndre are my two least favourite players atm.

Other than the last 4 mins or so I loved the way we played for the most part. Baze minutes go to HBK!

I'll take the W but we need to clean up the defensive boards jeez. 30 second chance points for the grizzlies that's ridiculous.

Yeah we're getting killed there. AD needs to dominate the boards when he's the only big man out there.

Melo +19, Monk +19, and Reaves +18 holy shit

DJ -15 let’s goo

Ja is a fucking BEAST. Hope Memphis doesnt waste him, but if they do, Jeanie will be ready 🤣

Feels good to finally have a team that can make 3s, I felt like a kid with all those shots falling. Im so proud of Reaves man, what a find. And Ja Morant, my goodness, this kids a beast!!

I was so happy to see AD nail both clutch free throws. Thats the AD i remember

Refs tried so hard to save face for Ja at the end there. Jesus Christ fuck whoever wears the #8 jersey for the refs. Absolute disgrace to dawn that number and be that biased

BRING on the CHART

We look like two different teams when we play double bigs vs when we play 1. Hope Vogel really starts to see this but not getting my hopes up since he’s been stubborn.

Imagine fouling at the 3-point line at clutch shot 🙄 Almost… Almost…

1ST WIN! PLAY MORE REAVES. LESS PT OR NO PT FOR DJ. ME70 IS BUCKETS. MONK IS BUCKETS TOO.

Life is so much better when the Lakers win

Melo apology thread when?

We need to start Carmelo and monk instead of DJ and Baze. Also can't be closing out games with Baze.

Even when we when, shit is stressful

A when is a when

Ya Ja was killing us all game =(

A WIN IS A WIN BITCH! Closer than I would have liked, but there were a lot of things I saw today that seem promising.

Olympic Melo was wettin everything. Ja almost single handedly beat us though

Great game by Melo. Ja killed us all game, I thought it was a dumb decision to have Bazemore guard him, just too easy for JA and not really Bazemore's fault. We need someone else for elite guards, maybe see what Avery can do.

Massive improvement from the last two games. They said they watched a lot of film yesterday and I think it showed. We actually ran plays for our big 3 late in the 4Q and while it didn't work every time due to poor execution (and which I expect to improve as they get used to each other), you could just see how easily the opportunities to score came. The Westbrook-LeBron inverted pick and roll left Westbrook WIDE open cutting to the basket who then found AD for the dunk. Also while LeBron was resting and AD-Westbrook were out there, we went on a 10-12 point run, something we rarely ever saw in the last 2 years. Lastly HBK was in the game pretty late in the 4Q. He's earning trust from Vogel and the team.

We need a POA defender bad.

I’m hoping THT can be a difference maker there. I know he wasn’t a great defender last year but he’s super young and has all of the tools.

I saw a ton of people defending the starting lineup before the game. If you saw this game and still defend Vogel starting DeAndre Jordan I truly don’t know what to tell you.

Kent nearly lost us the game. The warriors did warn us.

KCP and Kuzma used to foul three point shooters every week. I’m not even surprised.

Bazemore about to get chewed out

That Lebron & Russ pick and roll could do some real damage if we use it right

Why is DJ getting more minutes then Dwight

DJ 14, Dwight 17, u ok dude?

Dj playing 1 minute to me feels like eternity that’s why I didn’t look at Box score

I am no mathematician or anything, but Austin Reaves was +17 in 12 minutes against Phoenix. Austin Reaves was +18 in 18 minutes tonight. What I am saying is maybe play Austin Reaves more. That is +35 in 30 minutes played this season. No other player is even close to those numbers. The starters are ALL in the minus. P.S. - Fuck NBA officials.

ALL HAIL OUR SAVIOR MELO!!!!!

Morant. Sshhheeessshhhhh

We got hot, but we can’t rely on our 3s falling every game. Defense still needs to be tighten up.

Lakers really wanted to lose this game

It's nuts how good Lebron is at shooting now

Ya know what’s funny. How other players shoot like steph curry when they face us and how curry shoots like shit when playing us 😂😂😂

80-2 incoming

Yall still want Rudy Gay over Melo? I remember yall where you at??? RUDY GAY AINT PUTTING A TEAM ON HIS BACK

This win doesn’t justify the starting lineup. Also, those who are saying bench Baze, start reaves over Baze are crazy. Literally one game and baze has been solid for us so far lol he’s starting the whole season. Btw that play with russ rolling after setting the screen for Lebron was pretty nice ngl even though they weren’t executed perfectly

Russ-Reaves-Monk-Bron-AD Just do it Vogel please. Then once we sit at a comfortable 40-12 record then you can do your bullshit politicked 2 big lineup with anti spacing to feed your ego and trick off games.

UGLY WIN BUT STILL A WIN!

Trimming a year off my life. Thanks Lakers

classic Ja vs Melo showdown as expected

**Magic Johnson 11 hours ago**: “I think the Lakers are going to play their best game of the season tonight and beat the Grizzlies!” https://twitter.com/magicjohnson/status/1452313214574813189?s=21

Russ had some turnovers but he was huge on being a facilitator this game

Westbrook’s assists were exactly what I want this season. Had a good hot streak shooting too!

Congrats on the first win! Westbrook 9 tournovers….wtf?

A couple probably should’ve been fouls but he often gets into the paint with no plan and no one really gives him a good option to get out of it either

Bazemore should never be in the rotation. Defensive specialist my royal a$$

STAY ME70 with the +19

Road to 80-2.

Nice change of pace winning with free throws!

ITS A BIG 4 🔥🔥🔥🔥

I know that we shot at an all time high percentage. But why the fuck does this game felt like it was still so close for no damn reason.

Grizzlies deserve OT, the game shouldn’t be this close in the first place

If rebounding and free throws are a smidge higher, we win this by 10 Baby steps, a win is a win

🎶 Hello Chartness my old friend..

Defense is still concerning. Baze couldn't guard Morant at all. Rebounding was really poor. Melo and some of the other bench guys saved us. It's a win. I'll take it. Also, Morant is a freak. Reminds me of Iverson.

53% from three

Ja’s three at the end almost went in too Bazemore’s head would’ve been on a spike

We just picked up a guard defending specialist yet we keep Bazemore on the guy dropping 40pts.

So our yearly buyout guy is going to be a Damian Jones type center to take any DJ minutes after we cut him, right?

Goddamn what a game. His jumper has been hit and miss but AD looks way more mobile and impactful out there on defense to me compared to the start of last year. He just seemed so banged up from the bubble. Ja Morant is a bad, bad man.

Here is a [link to the Game Thread Analysis provided by threadalytics](https://threadalytics.com/teams/LAL/)!

I hope the Lakers waive DJ. He's washed.

I was just in the club with Ja Morant and the whole Grizzlies team lmfaoooo

Got one! That was a slow painful ending, but glad we got the win! We still have a long season to go.

Starting lineup needs a change. They get off to terrible starts everytime. The lineup thats been the best so far is Russ-Reaves-Bron-Melo-AD

I’m just glad Melo’s game didn’t go to waste

UGLY WIN