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Lakers' youth movement offers plenty of fun in season-opening win
The Los Angeles Lakers are not going to be very good this season. With Kobe Bryant safely ensconced in retirement, the NBA’s most consistently successful franchise has opted to engage in a rare intentional rebuilding year centered around a number of high-potential youngsters and widely admired 36-year-old head coach Luke Walton. The front office expects success sooner rather than later for various reasons, but everyone is settled in for plenty of losses in 2016-17. It’s an odd position for Lakers fans so used to contending for championships.
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However, everyone is willing to accept it for now in large part because this season’s Lakers have the potential to be really fun. Expect high-scoring games, plenty of flashes of greatness from second-year guard D’Angelo Russell and rookie forward Brandon Ingram, and maybe even genuine stretches of excellence by the end of the campaign. A team that grew sour in Kobe’s final years could serve up plenty of smiles. It’s all very fresh and invigorating.
Those qualities were all in evidence during Wednesday’s season opener vs. the Houston Rockets at Staples Center. Facing one of the few defenses that could be worse than their own, the Lakers shot 50.6 percent from the field with eight players scoring at least seven points to pick up a 120-114 win. The hosts trailed by six entering the final quarter but used a nice performance from Jordan Clarkson (25 points on 8-of-12 FG, 7-of-7 FT) and some poor offensive sets from the Rockets to take the period 30-18.
This was not an especially well played game. Both Walton and new Houston head coach Mike D’Antoni want their teams to play at fast paces, which helped lead to a 38-38 first quarter that saw both sides create open looks with ease. Neither team played with much discipline, and there’s a solid argument to be made that the Lakers only won because the Rockets let them. It’s hard to take a young team too seriously when they have to count on Nick Young to check James Harden for several possessions in crunch time.
However, that open style of play meant that Clarkson, Russell (20 points on 4-of-10 3FG), and Julius Randle (18 points, seven rebounds, six assists) had many opportunities to show why the Lakers are hopeful for the future. (Ingram looked a little lost in his debut and finished with nine points in 24 minutes.) These players have lots of talent and do not play scared, attacking the basket with confidence and a willingness to make plays from nothing. It doesn’t always work — the Lakers rushed through plenty of possessions late when they should have been eating clock — but it sure beats watching Byron Scott depend on veterans when the team has nothing to play for.
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The Rockets offered up more joy than they did in 2015-16, as well, although the result wasn’t a happy one for a team that hopes to return to contention by this spring. Nevertheless, there was something enjoyable watching them play a speedy, free style after a sludge of a season in which most of the rotation appeared to hate playing together. New starting center Clint Capela did not look up to the task of covering for four minus defenders — this team will badly miss the injured Patrick Beverley and his ability to harass opposing point guards — but at least everyone looked engaged. Plus, James Harden (34 points, 17 assists, seven rebounds) showed that his offensive skills can mesh very well with D’Antoni’s preferred offensive approach.
It’s all still a work in progress. Harden put up 14 of his assists in the first half and failed to register any in the fourth quarter, which suggests he’s still inclined to rely on isolation play in crunch time. The defense is also likely to remain a problem until general manager Daryl Morey brings in one or two guys who excel at that end.
If nothing else, though, both the Rockets and Lakers showed that they are going to offer neutrals more reason to watch than they did last year. Add in a thrilling first game for Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers, a monster night for Anthony Davis in a New Orleans Pelicans loss, and several other squads, and it’s fair to say that the NBA will have plenty of bad teams that offer reasons to watch in 2016-17.
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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at efreeman_ysports@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
