AD, Reaves, Coach Ham x James Worthy React To Lakers/Warriors | March 5, 2023

A game without LeBron James, no D'Angelo Russell, a must win as all these games as of late have felt for the Lakers. Yeah, guys, that 20-point lead for the Lakers in that first quarter, it felt nice, but you knew it wouldn't be that easy going against the defending champs who are getting Steph Curry back for the first time in 11 games and have won five in a row. But let me throw this to you. As they walk away with an eight-point victory, won 13-105 the game, You got six guys in double figures, and when you've got a guy named Anthony Davis who just posted his 51st 30-ball in a Laker uniform, a bad man, they're now a half a game out of that 10-spot Big W today. Yeah, I'm going to give AD a worthy clap just for you. Just a solo worthy clap and a team worthy clap as well because this is AD's team. And if he comes out and plays the way he played against the Warriors, that's going to be good. Not only did he play well, but everyone else around him played well. That one last solo iso against Jermon Green, a tough defender, stripped down low, going to the baseline. So yeah, his leadership was there tonight, and we don't see that too often. He was really in an aggressive mode, very motivated, and so that is good. If this team can hang with the Warriors like they did, a healthy Lakers team can compete against anybody. I thought I bench played well, Bres, with Reeves coming off. So Brown hit some big shots. They played kind of a, not a mistake-free game, but they played a pretty smart game, didn't turn the ball over as much. In critical moments, they took care of the possessions and defended when they needed to. So that's not an easy team to defend. So my hat is off in a huge Bres, Bres clap. We're going to start a Bres clap. Like that. There it is. Yeah, let's not market that to our viewers. James, I'm with you on all this. I mean, AD, back-to-back, huge games. Wait, he's only one behind you for most 30-point games ever in his Laker career. You can have it. Okay, yeah. Nice of you to let him take it. Look, AD had 39 the other night. Excuse me, 38 the other night and 39 tonight. Just a big, big step-up moment for him. A lot of pressure on him nationally. Allie, if you listen to the pundits on the national shows, you listen to the morning radio guys, AD's got to step up. He's got to be heard. He's got to make these things happen for the Lakers with no D'Angelo and no LeBron, and he did. He did everything that could possibly be asked of him today. Great all-around game for him. And as you said, six guys in double figures. Big change from Minnesota two days ago when only two other guys besides AD got to that double-figure scoring. He even said afterwards, we could use a little more help. Let's go. And he got it today. We talked about a little more help. And speaking of, if you can hang with the Warriors, you feel pretty good about yourself. You just heard Mike Breen say the Lakers took the season series 3-1, and two of those wins, big game, came without that of LeBron James. Troy Brown Jr., kind enough to join us here. Troy, what a win for you guys. No LeBron, no D'Angelo. A lot of players stepped up, you being one of them. What was your mindset today? Kind of after that Memphis game, I felt like we kind of let one go and I was in control of the last game. So today we got to get one back. We know the position we're in, so we're fighting every night to try to make the playoffs. You know, defensively, Darvon Hamm challenged you guys some after the last game. And it seemed like you did manage to find that intensity right from the start here against a very tough offense. Goals, they get stepped back, still able to limit them. No, I mean, you know, Steph is a great player. Obviously, they shoot a lot of threes. So our thing tonight was make sure we get back in transition and try to stop as many threes as possible and make sure we're rebounding. They're a great team, but we got to get as many wins as we can right now. So I was happy everybody was locked in and a big win for us. I mean, you had the three-point shot going yourself on offense. But then on the other end, you still got to get out to the perimeter. Steph's out there. Poole's out there. Klay's out there. It's a lot, right? Like, how do you manage that load with the legs? I mean, I just try to take care of myself as much as I can. I appreciate the opportunity that Dee Hamm and Rob gave me this year. So I just try to make the most of it and make the most of my opportunity every time I'm on the floor. So I'm glad we were able to come up with a win today. Troy, over your right shoulder, Anthony Davis is doing another interview. What have you seen from him this season? How dominant is he at times? And how about today, him carrying that load that he did? Yeah, no, I mean, with Bron being in and out of our lineups, AD has stepped up a lot for us. Just even the leadership part, he's usually a little bit more quieter. But he's vocal in the locker room, trying to talk to guys. And just being that leader that we need sometimes when Bron is on the side. And so, you know, I think he's stepped up huge for us. And we really need him a lot. And he's playing through injuries and battling it through a lot of stuff. And we appreciate him, so. Last quick one for you. What do you take out of this to try to keep carrying you guys forward as you push for that playoff spot? Just keep the momentum. I feel like defensively tonight, we were really good. And I feel like that sparks our offense. We get out in transition. We run. Everybody's scoring. Everybody's happy. And it gives us that free flow and joy. So we can keep this up. I think we'll be in good hands. All right, Troy, impressive effort tonight. We appreciate it. Thank you. Impressive indeed. I liked what Troy said there in terms of they felt like they let one slip away in Memphis. They bounced back in OKC. You feel like you let one slip away against the T-Wolves. You bounce back here against the Warriors. When we mentioned the six guys in double figures, 14 for Troy, 10, 13, and 4 for Vandy. We love his effort and intensity always. Obviously, you got that 39 from AD. But 12 with B's, 11 with Schroeder, 16 off the bench for Austin Reeves. I do want to talk about, first and foremost, Troy Brown Jr. There's four of seven from deep. His shot-making ability, his length defensively, this team is going to need. Yes, showing the Lakers that the three-point shooting that they've been looking for, he can provide. Given the right situation, given a game that the court is spread, the ball is moving, and the defense has to make a decision on whether to go down and help, or go help on the collapsing drivers, or go help out on AD, he's getting them in good rhythm. He's moving with the basketball. As Schroeder is moving, he's moving to the right location. So, yeah, he can knock down threes, along with Beasley and Reeves. So, we have some guys that can make them, but we don't have that one guy. We have to do it consistently with the way we run our offense and get them at the right opportunity. Troy Brown Jr., I just counted five times, he has kind of lost his starting job and gone back to the bench. And now he's back with the starters again. I give him so much credit for sticking with just himself and sticking important threes. Like today, he made four of them. He played 41 minutes. No other player in the entire game logged as much time as Troy Brown Jr. So, when you call on him to be a starter, he's going to jump in there. He's going to give you quality minutes, quality time. Good defense, too. And, Al, you kind of hit on it a minute ago. At the game the other night, Darvin Ham was not happy. He said, look, our coaching staff, we put three words on the board in our locker room before every game. Energy, effort, and urgency. He said we did not see nearly enough of that against Minnesota today. There was a lot of all of that. Lakers saying, look, 18 games left, coming into tip-off today. We've got to really win as many as we can. I know we sound like a broken record here, but energy, effort, urgency, it was all there today. I want to go there next, and you bring up a great point, Brez. And I think of a guy like, in this situation, Dennis Schroeder. Someone who hasn't been shooting the ball great as of late. Today, just 4 of 13, 1 of 4 from deep. But I think Mark Jackson hit it on the head there too late. Came up with that steal on Steph. The defensive approach, the toughness. When you're calling out your team, your guys, in terms of that category. The energy, the effort, the intensity at all times. I think Dennis is someone who, especially without your primary ball handlers and playmakers. No LBJ and no D'Angelo Russell. He still has a large responsibility to carry this team as the head of the snake. Yeah, double duty. Double duty for Schroeder. And, you know, hats off to him because, you know, he's known in the past couple years as a guy that will pick you up, full court defensively, harass you. Now you flip the switch a little bit. Now he is the point guard without LeBron. So now he's trying to run the club, get everybody in place. But his bread and butter is always making guys uncomfortable. And I think that's what he did. Can't stop Steph Curry. But you can agitate him enough. You know, bump him a little bit. Not let him get to his sweet spots. And then when your hand's being bitched like they were, getting those little deflections disturbs the rhythm of a great shooter like Steph Curry. So it's not a full-on stop, but it is something that aggravates you. It's an intangible that you won't see on the stat sheet that he really possesses. And I thought he did a good job tonight harassing the guards, getting through picks, and making sure that Steph wasn't going to get absolute open and comfortable shots all the time. As Darvin said briefly the other day, he said, Look, Dennis Schroeder is on a minimum contract, but he is not a minimum player at all for us. We saw a lot of that again today. Let's hear from Darvin. I'm sure in a much better mood this time around as we head back down to Crypto.com Arena. Darvin Hamm is speaking with Mike in the media. Darvin, you had mentioned after the last game just about the kind of energy that you wanted and then mentioned again pregame. How did you feel like you met the moment today, Steph coming back and kind of holding them to the scoring point that you told that you did? I thought it was great. I thought it was a great carryover. I told the guys just now after the game, just a great job just being on the same page, getting on the same page, having open dialogue during the film session yesterday, player to player, coach to player, player to coach, coach to coach, everybody just breaking down, dissecting what we were seeing, what we saw in that last game in particular and how much we can improve in different areas of our game. Again, it was a great carryover from our pace, running habits, maintaining those throughout the course of the game, our attention to detail defensively, our rebounding. There's another team that can also beat you up on offensive glass, get those second and third opportunities and make those threes. But they came out with a barrage, man, 18 threes. That's who they are though. They're the world champs for a reason. My hat's off to them. They have a hell of a ball club over there. But I'm truly, truly proud of our guys just coming out and staying locked in for the duration of the game and come away with a W, a much needed W. Darvin, AD was so dominant early in the game, but I want to ask you about that play where he's on the block, Draymond shot clocks down and he just attacks. Does that sort of embody kind of everything you're looking for in terms of playing downhill, playing with energy and obviously tons of urgency from your best player? Oh, absolutely. He did a great job setting the tone, blocking shots. A has been the rock. He and Brian both have been great. Just being locked in mentally, even times when it's Brian right now, not physically able to help us, but still locked in mentally, spiritually, coaching up the guys on the bench, sharing with the coaches as well what they're seeing and just, you know, the thing we came into the season saying, we wanted to play fast, physical and free with force. And, you know, he exuded all of those words on the offensive end of the night. And the thing I kept telling them is, you know, going to state, they're a very capable defensive squad, always at the top year in and year out. They force you into different compromising situations with their lateral quickness and their ability to help off and help one another switch off the ball, switch on the ball. But, you know, they're not so vertical. They're not a really vertical defensive team. By that I mean shot blocking. And I just told them, don't settle. Don't settle. I was telling my guards, attack downhill, attack the paint. You know, again, they're good at showing the crowd, putting the crowd around the ball. And I thought our ball was hopping tonight, 29 assists. So it was good. It was good. But A, it was all led by A, just his unwillingness to settle, you know, and him just, again, staying in attack mode. Darvin, 38 last game for AD, 39 tonight. Do you feel like he's fully back offensively to where he was earlier in the season? He's playing, again, first and foremost, he's playing pain free. He's in a really great rhythm. We have some different pieces around him. There are some guys that he can really play off of at a high level. And, you know, he's smiling. He's fighting through a lot. Getting hits to the face, to the arms, scratches, everything. He's battling through it all. And I just feel like I see it. He's just in a great, great place right now. Darvin, how impressed are you by Troy being able to start games, come off the bench, back to starting, just being able to play his role? You know, we have a few guys, Troy, Austin, Vando now, who are Swiss Army knives. You know, they play in that two-to-four position. And they're able to do a little bit of everything from different areas of the rotation. And Troy, you know, he's at the top of that list. It's just great to have a kid like that, the way he shoots the ball, the way he can put it on the floor, he gives rebounds. It's great he played 41 minutes tonight. You know, we needed him out there, all 41. The job he did on clay, when he got cross-matched on different guys, like, you know, he earned his weight in gold tonight. But it's been a pleasure. He's another one that's just a pleasant kid to be around. It's been a pleasure to coach this season. AD scored 12 of his game-high 39 points in the fourth quarter. He's speaking with Mike in the media. AD, what's the challenge been to try and lead the team on both ends of the court, without LeBron, D'Lo as well? And how were you able to kind of focus that energy in a game like today against a tough team? Just knowing where we are. You know, we all felt like we let one go against Minnesota Friday. You know, we had some good film on ways we can be better. You know, we know this is an elite third-quarter team. They're defending champions. They're going to make a run. They're going to make plays, make shots. You know, between Steph, Clay, and Jordan, Jordan Poole, they're elite shooters. I think we locked in defensively. They got away a couple times. But we just continued to compete, even when they made their runs, made a run of our own and was able to close the game out. And how about just for you with the weight you always carry on defense, but then having to up the usage some on offense? What is that balance like for you? I mean, I've been doing it my whole career. I mean, even in New Orleans, you know, coming here, just doing whatever the team needs. Obviously, with Ron out, you know, the team is going to rely on me more to make plays for myself, for others. And, you know, other guys are stepping up, playing well, making shots, defending. So it's a team effort. You know, I think we did a good job on Baltimore tonight. Like I said, that's a team who's seen every defensive coverage, seen, you know, a lot of shots go in over the years, been together for a while, you know, championship experience. So it was a big win for us. Eddie, kind of a two-part question. One, what does a 20-point first quarter lead against the Warriors feel like in terms of comfort? And then secondly, I mean, you guys were able to hold them off, and it felt like, you know, when you scored on Draymond on that baseline drive, that felt like maybe that was kind of you'd given yourself enough cushion. What was the emotion like in the fourth quarter for you? Well, one, no lead is safe. You know, when a team shoots the ball as well as they do, you know, like I said, there's three guys. And even, you know, Dee Vincenzo shoot the ball, you know, Lam hit a couple. So, you know, no lead is really safe. You know, we've got to continue to put our foot on the gas. And, you know, we let it off a little bit. Like I said, guys got free and were able to make some shots. But another way, they shoot the ball too well. Not just them, but, you know, 20-point lead in this league is, you know, nothing anymore. It doesn't hold its value. I mean, we've seen it when we were down 27, you know, in Dallas. So, and then even that move when it went in, you know, I think they still had some good looks. You know, they missed stuff. It's never over with them until they hit triple zeros. And that's the way we try to play the game tonight. AD, 38 last game, 39 tonight. Do you feel like you're in a similar offensive groove to the one you were in earlier this season? Do you feel like you're just fully back, I guess, from an offensive perspective? Very comfortable, confident as always. It's good to see the ball going through from all levels of the floor. Trying to do my part, but just being a little bit more aggressive. But also trying to make the right plays for our guys. Get them going as well, which is going to open the floor up even more for me. Late game. I think that means you're live. I'm in a great groove right now. Yeah, I feel good. I feel really good. Anthony. How much is Dennis gutting this out right now after he sprained the ankle? And how tough is it to see him out there? And what do you guys like about what he's doing? It's a lot of pressure on him right now. I mean, he's our primary ball handler. We're missing our two Brian and D-Lo. Guys are trying to pick him up for court. But he's finding a way to navigate it. I'm not sure if his ankle is still bothering him or not, but he's very tough. He's coming out to finish the OKC game, come play Minnesota today. He knows the stake. He wants to get to the playoffs. He wants to win. So, by any means, he's going to go out there and give it a go. And at this point in the season, I think everybody's playing with a little something. So, hats off to him, man. He's been a huge part for us this entire season. A.D., after last game we were kind of asking Darvin how the team is going to be able to better leverage performance. It's like you had 38 points the other night. Tonight you have 39. You guys win. And then the six assists, you were sort of alluding to it in Mike's question, but did you see an adjustment that you kind of had to be more of a passer to give guys more opportunities when you're having the kind of night you're having? Yeah. Just knowing any time I face up, if I'm in a post or making a move, knowing that they're probably going to come double, going to be extra bodies. So, just trying to find the guys to make the right reads. Like I said, getting them involved early gives them confidence for shots to go in late game, like Troy had, Dennis, but also opens up the floor with now guys. The defensive end can't help. And now you get that one-on-one matchup kind of that I had with Trey Mine at the end. So, just trying to make the right plays and knowing that I don't want to put so much pressure on Dennis to make the right plays or Austin. Like I said, missing two of our elite playmakers, LeBron and D'Lo. If the ball is going to be in my hands a lot, I've got to be able to make the reads and find our guys. Obviously, urgent part of the season, trying to get in. Is there a danger of guys trying to do too much or maybe just pressing and getting all wound up and not being able to get out of their own heads? No. We're in a great rhythm right now. I mean, guys are playing for each other. Obviously, you're going to have mistakes throughout the course of the game, times where maybe you should drive the basketball and not shoot it, times where you should shoot it and not drive, or have a turnover here and there. But next play mentality, you can't dwell on that last play, especially in the position we're in. You're going to make a mistake. Make sure you just do it to the best of your ability. I mean, not to the best of your ability, but as hard as you can. At the end of the day, I mean, get back and get a stop. We're not out here trying to play perfect. No one has ever played a perfect game of basketball. No team has ever played a perfect game of basketball. So we want to go out here and do the best job we can and stick to our schemes on both ends of the floor and give ourselves a chance to win. But we want everybody to be aggressive. We don't want anybody to feel like they have to defer to anyone. You know, we got a lot of depth on this team. Guys can make plays. I mean, you see JV handling the ball, you know, get a euro to a layup. You know, B's coming off pick and roll, finding guys, shooting. You know, Dennis, myself, like all these guys, they are. So, you know, we don't want guys to be one-dimensional. We want guys to go out here and play free and have fun. Thanks. Austin Reeves had 16 points and leveled Lakers with eight assists. Let's hear from him. Austin, just your role right now coming off the bench, but needing more usage, right, whether making plays or looking for your own shot, just given who's on the floor or not. Does that impact at all the way that you see and think the game or are you still able to play naturally? Play naturally. Just try to make the right play, like I've said a billion times. And it worked today, so it's a happy day. But there are contexts, though, within that where you do have to do a little more, though, right? Yeah, for sure. I mean, obviously you got Bron and A.D. out where – or Bron and D-Lo out, you know, they have the ball in their hands quite a bit. So you kind of try to fill that void, not just with me, obviously, but, you know, other guys as well. I thought, you know, Troy stepped up and played a really, really good game on both ends of the floor, shot the ball well. But like I said, it's not just me, you know, getting or trying to do what those guys do. It's more so, you know, playing the way that I like to play, the way that I feel can help our team. And then everybody else, you know, doing a little bit of the same, pitching in to try to fill that void without Bron and D-Lo. Austin, A.D. at 39 and hit a couple of free throws late, had that baseline drive against Draymond and hit that floater. What did you see from him tonight, especially kind of down the stretch of the game, just making winning plays? Yeah, I mean, A.D.'s, you know, a really good basketball player for obvious reasons. And then down the stretch, like you said, made a couple of free throws and then to get that bucket on Draymond is big. Obviously, Draymond's a really good defender, you know, but they say, you know, good offense beats good defense every day. And obviously, you know, A.D.'s a very talented offensive player, big bucket. And like you said, knocked down his free throws. We knocked down our free throws as a team late. So, you know, you kind of have grown to expect that from A.D. just because of, you know, his talent level. You know, last night game I think he had 39 as well. So, yeah, he's pretty good. Austin, you chased Steph around for a while. Obviously, up 20 in the first quarter doesn't mean a ton in the NBA anymore. But up 20 against the Warriors probably means even less. How did you guys hold off their pushes and then, you know, I think you blocked Steph early in the fourth and then it seemed like he hit a couple of shots. You got going. Honestly, I don't know how he's in such good shape with not playing for however long he played. Never looks like he's tired. You know, always coming off, you know, pin downs, ball screens. You know, I had a nice block on him and then I think he'd come off a pin down, hit a three. I think he got in the paint for a floater or something. I think he had probably like seven straight. So, if I could give the block away for him not to score, I would have. But, you know, he's obviously a really good player for obvious reasons. And it's just, you know, you try to make it hard for him. And sometimes it works and sometimes it don't. But we win, so that's all that matters. Let's toss it back to Crypto.com. Arena 12 points for Malik Beasley. He's in the locker room with Mike. You guys talked about how the Timberwolves game was clearly one that you guys wanted and you want all of them at this point. But how important was it for you to find a way to win this game one way or the other today? Oh, man, I did everything I could to just wake up. I had to change a few of my routines to push later back. So, I was game ready. But it was a tough one. You know, they're a great team. I think we're a great team too. So, you know, we got the win and played the right way. And that man over there to my right played amazing. You're, of course, talking about Anthony Davis. What has it been like for you playing with him on both sides of the court and kind of the versatility that he has on offense and defense? Well, I told him I play with Cat and Joker. So, like sometimes he has to be the one who handles the ball instead of me or like I set screens for him so I can get a smaller defender on him. If they trap him, then I got an open shot. So, we're still working on a two-man game, but it's getting better and better every game. And I think he realized that he could be more of a threat with me and the action with him. Well, you guys haven't lost back-to-back games since you got here. What have you seen out of the team's sort of constructive process and why do you think after a loss you guys always find a way to get a win? We know how important it is right now. Every game matters. If we lose one, we got to back it up. And if we win, we got to try to get three in a row. If we can get three in a row, man, we'll be in a great position. I think we have a great opportunity against Memphis with two guys out. But it's not just about them, it's about us. We got to make sure we play the right way, don't turn the ball over, and continue to play the right way. Back inside the locker room, we're going to hear from Dennis Schroeder. How is your ankle feeling now? I mean, are you getting through this? Yeah, I got a lot of treatment on my ankle. I feel good now. Last game was a little – still thinking about it a little bit. But, I mean, right now I think I feel in a good place. With LeBron and D'Lo out, your usage of having the ball is a little bit more. How do you try to handle that, knowing that you're the primary ball handler? I mean, I just try to make the right decisions. Most important that we just structured on offense and that we don't have too many waste possessions and bad shots. And I just try to run the offense and try to put people, my teammates in position to score. I mean, today was a decent job, and they all did a great job of it too. You know, I liked that question from Kyle Goon to Malik Beasley. Since the new guys came to the Lakers, they have not lost back-to-back games. Obviously, they're coming off of a win, but Malik said, we feel like if we could win three in a row, we put ourselves in a good position. Got a tough one coming up against the Grizzlies on Tuesday. How do you keep it rolling? I just love that attitude that he possesses, and he speaks about it because they know, you and Brez were talking about it a few minutes ago, of the games that they should have won. You know, Celtics-Philly, allowing Memphis to do what they did in the third quarter. So, when you have that sitting in your head as an athlete, you can use it two ways. You can say, man, maybe we don't have it. Or we can say, we're right there. If we could just knock out a few of these moments in the game and win like they did tonight. I mean, I thought tonight, against Golden State, 18 points in the first and 18 in the third for Golden State, that's pretty good defense. So, that lets you know that things are clicking along with everything else that they were doing. Yeah, they can do it. Yeah, what are those whiteboard words? You got urgency, effort, and energy, and the Lakers absolutely lived up to that. Next three games, all at home, each with their own unique challenges for the Lakers. Okay, no John Morant when they play Memphis. He's out for a couple games. Suspension. No Steven Adams. He's been hurt. Still, you got to make sure you don't let your guard down against the Grizzlies. And then after that, two Eastern Conference teams, Toronto and the Knicks, playing really, really well lately. Toronto's been a change team since they got Jakob Pirtle. Right before their trade deadline, they won 9-12. And the Knicks, they've won eight games in a row. Our old friend Josh Hart will be coming back to the arena. And Julius Randle. And Julius, of course. No Brandon Clark as well, out with an Achilles tear for the rest of the year for the Grizzlies. Which, by the way, do not forget, Pau Gasol, Jersey retirement on Tuesday. We will have all that here on Spectrum Sportsnet. For a big game for Brez, Lakers get the dub against the Dubs. Thanks for watching. So long.