While waiting for LeBron and AD, Lakers stayed close – Orange County Register

Dwyane Wade recently bought a stake in the Utah Jazz. Saturday at Staples Center, Jazz coach Quin Snyder would have had fleeting thoughts about whether D-Wade could be activated in some way.

This is what the NBA has wrought. A short turnaround and a compact schedule have led to a number of games such as Saturday’s Lakers Jazz turn, where stars and key players were injured or bad or just unavailable. Nor is it about cargo management or maintenance days.

The Jazz, who entered the day with the best record of the Western Conference, lost Donovan Mitchell to Indiana on Friday in a singles match. Rudy Gobert, who has played every game so far, sat with a bruise, as well as Derrick Favors and Mike Conley (sore knees) and Udoka Azubuike (single foot) from 7 feet. The Lakers, of course, were still without Anthony Davis and LeBron James, and in his Saturday morning media briefing, Frank Vogel was asked ‘who’s there?’

“(Andre) Drummond (against) is in again, and he will start,” Lakers coach Vogel said. ‘Markieff Morris (single) is a playtime decision. Dennis Schröder (foot) is a playtime decision … Marc Gasol is available, but it’s a deal with a stiff thigh muscle and a broken finger, but he’s available. Everyone is in, except AD and LeBron, of course. ”

All the decisions during the match, but Gasol played. Drummond had 27 points, eight rebounds and two touchdowns, and Schöder and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had 25 points each in the Lakers’ 127-115 overtime victory in an ESPN game that was in conflict with the NBA’s star-driven philosophy. The stars were in street clothes, and the others presented an entertaining show.

The dog days of the season usually come in February and March, but they are extended this time because the season only ends in mid-May. The Lakers have 15 games until the playoffs are offered, and the grinding of 72 games in 146 days – compared to the most normal 82 in 174 days the Lakers played in the last normal season of 2018-19 – created a minefield with coaches manage their schedules carefully until the real season finally begins.

But maybe that will be the dominant part of this Lakers season. The dog days in this case had a purpose.

Saturday’s victory improved the Lakers’ record to 35-22. It’s 14-15 since Davis suffered his calf injury (he will be back soon, but maybe not as early as the Jazz rematch Monday, Vogel said after the game) and 7-8 since James injured his ankle. In other words, they did a great job of treading water while integrating the new players Drummond and Ben McLemore and waiting for their stars to return, knowing that at some point the roster will be whole again and capable to inflict damage.

“We will be healthy at the right time,” Morris said. ‘It’s perfect for us, man. With this crazy season, with all these games, rugby nights, without our best two players, we mostly liked it. Now we get them healthy again, ready to make a syringe.

“We are a championship team. We got championship DNA, we won a championship last year, and we got a lot of guys who were in that team last year and won a championship. That DNA, we use it every game. ”

Caldwell-Pope mentions patience, stays together and does not panic, traits that came in handy on Saturday when the Lakers blew a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter by walking nearly 6-1 / 2 minutes without score. That patience, and the confidence gained by holding on to things without their stars, must be an asset after all.

“I feel like it helped us figure out who we are without our superstars,” Caldwell-Pope said. ‘Team-first basketball, and just play for each other. It feels like it helps us build our chemistry without our two superstars. ”