Quick Returns & Kings Rally

February 25th, 2017

For the first time in 59 games, Jonathan Quick was back in goal for the LA Kings. He looked as sharp as he usually is, despite missing nearly the entire season with a groin injury. Quick made 32 saves as the Kings got a much needed 3-2 win against the Ducks at Staples Center.

Quick was excellent throughout, making several big saves in the 1st period. However, the Ducks still managed to get one by the Kings goaltender late in the 1st. Andrew Cogliano tipped in a pass from Ryan Kessler for his 14th of the season, and Anaheim was in control at the 1st intermission.

Neither team scored in the 2nd period, and despite Quick’s efforts, it looked like another game where the Kings offense was going to come up empty.

Then in the 3rd period the Kings rallied. Tyler Toffoli put LA on the board 3:37 into the period after poking the puck past a sprawling Jonathan Bernier. Bernier was unable to cover the puck during a big scramble in front of the Ducks net. A little over 4 minutes later, it was Toffoli again, scoring his 12th after tipping in a pass from Jeff Carter on a 2-on-1. 17 seconds later, Dustin Brown re-directed a shot by Kevin Gravel, which made it 3-1 Kings.

The Ducks would pressure the Kings in the final 12 minutes, but Quick continued to turn back Anaheim. Finally, after the Ducks pulled their goaltender for the extra-attacker in the final two minutes, Jeff Carter scored his 30th goal of the season on an empty-netter. Carter took a pass from Anze Kopitar, who picked up his 2nd assist of the game on the play.

The game was physical throughout, which is usually the case when these two cross-town rivals get together. Things got especially chippy in the 2nd period, when a 10-man dog pile lead to a fight between Kings defenseman Brayden McNabb and Ducks Center Nate Thompson. Later in the period, Jeff Carter and Ryan Kessler squared off, with Kessler landing a big blow to the face of the Kings leading scorer. A fight involving either of those two skilled players is rare, but the blow may have woken the Kings up from their slump.

Patrick Eaves made his debut for the Ducks after being acquired from Dallas for a conditional second-round draft pick Friday. Slotted on a line with Corey Perryand Rickard Rakell, Eaves played 16:09.

For the Kings, Coach Darryl Sutter won his 216th game with LA, passing Andy Murray for most in franchise history. Sutter also scratched right wing Marian Gaborik for just the second time this season, after Gaborik had failed to score a point in the last 9 games. Gaborik was replace in the lineup by forward Jordan Nolan, who was activated from injured reserve after missing the last 9 games with a lower-body injury.

The win tied the season series between the Kings and Ducks at 2-2. More importantly though, it kept the Kings in the playoff race. LA now trails Nashville by 3 points for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference, and they are 4 points behind division rival Calgary. The Kings will face the Flames on Tuesday night in Calgary, which will be the 2nd night of a back-to-back after playing at Minnesota on Monday.

As for the Ducks, they will now have their bye week, and do not play again until March 3rd against Toronto. Anaheim is still tied for 2nd place in the Pacific Division with Edmonton, and only 3 points behind San Jose for 1st place.

Westbrook & Thunder Too Much For Lakers

Leave a reply

February 24th, 2017

Russell Westbrook was a human tornado as usual. Westbrook scored 17 points, 18 rebounds, and 17 assists, as the Thunder took down the Lakers 110-93.

The game was also the first for two new Thunder players who were acquired on Thursday. Those players were Taj Gibson, who scored 12 points, and Doug McDermott, who scored 8. That was impressive in spite of the fact that neither was able to participate in the morning shoot around Friday.

As for the Lakers, D’Angelo Russell scored 29 points, but the Lakers shot just 39.6% as a team. Russell picked up the scoring slack after the team’s leading scorer, Lou Williams, was traded a few days earlier.

“I knew at times we’d stall out offensively because Lou was such a big part of it,” Lakers coach Luke Walton said. “But I thought they did a great job.”

The Lakers acquired Corey Brewer from Houston, in the trade for Williams. Brewer scored 2 points in 4 minutes of playing time. Jordan Clarkson scored 14 points and Julius Randle had 13 points and 11 rebounds as well, but the Lakers shot just 7 for 35 on three-pointers.

The Lakers trailed throughout. Oklahoma City led 58-51 at the half, and quickly opened up a 73-58 lead in the 3rd quarter. LA got within 9 points with just over 4 minutes left, but free throw shooting didn’t help their cause. The Lakers were just 6 of 14 from the free throw line.

Lakers new President of Basketball Operations, Magic Johnson, made the trip to Oklahoma City in order to get a better feel for the team. D’Angelo Russell recognized the importance of this.

“It’s like you’re starting over and trying to impress,” Russell said. “Everybody has to look over their shoulders once again. It’s like coming to a new team. Trying to impress the GM and the guys in the front office with your play and off the court the way you handle yourselves. So it’s all different.”

Things won’t get any easier for the Lakers. They’ll take on the Spurs at Staples Center on Sunday.

Spurs Spoil Paul’s Return

Leave a reply

February 24th, 2017

Chris Paul returned for the first time in five weeks, but it didn’t matter. The Spurs took down the Clippers 105-97 on Friday night at Staples Center.

Kawhi Leonard battled through foul trouble to score 21 points. Pau Gasol had 17 points and 11 rebounds, while LaMarcus Aldridge added 15 points and 11 rebonds of his own.

This was the Spurs first game after a nine-day layoff, while it was the Clippers 2nd straight loss after the All-Star break.

Blake Griffin led the way for the Clippers with 29 points, and Paul scored 17 but committed 4 of the Clippers 12 turnovers. Austin Rivers poured in 23 off the bench, but it wasn’t enough. The Clippers were up 47-42 at halftime, but they couldn’t hold on. Paul seemed content with an evening that he could build upon though.

“I came out unscathed, which is great,” Paul said. “It was a tough loss, but it felt good to get through an entire game.”

The Clippers were up 68-59 midway through the 3rd quarter. However, for the 2nd night in a row, their opponent erupted at that point. The Spurs went on a 16-5 run, to take a 77-73 lead into the 4th quarter.

At one point, Blake Griffin was hit in the face by Spurs reserve Dewyane Dedmon. Griffin went down on the court bleeding, and went to locker room for a moment. However, he came back out with a band-aid beneath his right eye.

The Spurs now lead the season series with the Clippers 2-1. LA dropped into 5th place in the Western Conference behind Utah. The Clippers host Charlotte on Sunday, where they’ll look to get back in the win column.

Warriors Still Have Clippers Number

Leave a reply

February 23rd, 2017

I’m not saying the Warriors have the Clippers number or anything. However, I am saying that after last night they have beaten LA ten times in a row. The Warriors handed LA a 123-113 loss at Oracle on Thursday, in a game that felt more like a lion playing with its food before devouring it.

The Clippers led by 16 points at one point in the 2nd quarter, and took a 61-49 lead into the locker room. However, in typical Clipper fashion, DeAndre Jordan lost his composure and picked up a technical foul at the end of the half. DJ was upset that no foul was called on the final play of the half. That moment alone may have changed the momentum.

Golden State exploded in the 3rd quarter for 50 points, which was the first 50-point quarter in the NBA since the Lakers had 51 against the Knicks in March of 2014. The eruption was led by Steph Curry, who scored 17 of his 35 points in that 3rd quarter. Those 17 points came in a stretch of only 3:37. Kevin Durant scored 15 of 25 points in the 3rd as well, to go along with 15 rebounds and 7 assists.

“Well, we stopped playing,” Clippers Coach Doc Rivers said. “I thought the game plan was great. I thought we played with energy defensively. They scored 50 points in the third quarter and I was more upset with our offense.”

DeAndre Jordan had 17 points and 11 rebounds in the loss, while Austin Rivers had 19 points. LA even had 6 players in double figures, and their bench outscored the Warriors 51-32. Still, their efforts were no match for the Warriors trio of Curry, Durant, and Klay Thompson, who combined for 78 points.

I’m sure Doc Rivers is trying to convince himself that things could be different when Chris Paul came back. However, we’ve already seen that movie before. As great as Chris Paul is, the trio of Jordan-Paul-Griffin is no match for Curry-Durant-Thompson as well as Draymond Green.

The Clippers seem unlikely to catch the Rockets for 3rd place in West. They are tied for 4th place with the Jazz. However, they would probably be better off dropping into 6th place, so they don’t have to face the Warriors in the 2nd round of the playoffs. The Grizzlies are currently in 6th, 1.5 games behind LA. With 25 games left, the Clippers need to catch lightning in a bottle.

Kings Still Can’t Find Their Game

Leave a reply

February 23rd, 2017

The Kings are still trending in the wrong direction. The Bruins came in to Staples Center on Thursday night and defeated the Kings 4-1, handing LA their 6th loss in their last 8 games.

LA is now 4 points behind Calgary for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference with 22 games left to play. The Kings have two games in hand on Calgary, but it feels like they’ve been using that excuse to feel better about themselves for a few months now.

The Bruins scored four minutes into the game off a turnover from Jake Muzzin, which led to a 2-on-1. Brad Marchand streaked down the right wing and beat Peter Budaj with a wrist shot on the short side. The Kings answered with a goal from defenseman Kevin Gravel, the first of his NHL career, in the final two minutes of the 1st period. Gravel’s goal was set up nicely by rookie Adrian Kempe, who collected his 2nd NHL point on the play.

Boston would answer in the 2nd period on a goal by David Pastrnak, who broke a tie with a power play goal five minutes into the period. Patrnak broke his stick on a one-timer from the left side, which fluttered past Peter Budaj. The Kings pressed in the final 90 seconds of the game, pulling Budaj for the extra attacker. However, the Bruins would score two empty-net goals, which came from Dominic Moore and David Krejci, in the final 65 seconds.

Jeff Carter knows the Kings need to score more goals to get it done. “We didn’t have it tonight,” Carter lamented. “You’ve got to score goals to win. There were games … where we weren’t good enough to win. And games where we were good enough but we didn’t score enough goals.”

As well as Peter Budaj has played this season, the Kings style requires elite goaltending to win. They may get it from Jonathan Quick before the season is over, but that looks like it’s about two weeks away. The Kings need to win now, or else the playoff race will be over by the time Quick comes back. That also means LA needs to get more offensive production from its veteran leaders.

LA is allowing the fewest shots per game in the NHL, and the 5th fewest goals per game. However, only 7 teams have scored fewer goals than the Kings, and their power play is just 23rd in the league. It seems like the Kings hit a handful of goal posts every game, but they need to find a way to finish, or else their season will be finished soon.

Help doesn’t seem like it’s on the way either. General Manager Dean Lombardi said he doesn’t expect the team to make any big moves before the March 1st trade deadline. On one hand, the Kings control their own destiny, with 14 of their last 22 games at home, and 4 games against Calgary. Still, it’s hard to have any confidence that the Kings are going to make the playoffs given how they’ve played.

Bruins Hold Off Arizona State

Leave a reply

February 23rd, 2017

It was easy to look ahead to the big showdown Saturday at Arizona. The Arizona State Sun Devils nearly took advantage of that, but UCLA held on to beat ASU 87-75.

TJ Leaf lead the way with 25 points and 8 rebounds in the Bruins sixth straight win. UCLA also got 17 points from Aaron Holiday, and 15 from Bryce Alford.

The Bruins are known for their up-tempo offense, but on this night it was their size that wore down Arizona State. They won the rebounding battle 49-30, and outscored ASU 50-22 in the paint. UCLA also held the Sun Devils to 38% shooting despite the Sun Devils connecting on 14 three-pointers.

Shannon Evans II had a slam dunk that put Arizona State up 50-49 with 15:22 left in the 2nd half. However, UCLA went on a 14-5 run from there, which was capped by an Aaron Holiday three-pointer.

Holiday had what felt like a dagger with 7:29 left, nailing another three-pointer. That put UCLA up 74-60, and Arizona State went quietly after that.

Torian Graham led Arizona State with 28 points and Kodi Justice added 19, but it wasn’t enough. The Bruins kept their win streak alive on a quiet offensive night from Lonzo Ball, who scored just 4 points, but did contribute 5 assists and 11 rebounds.

The Bruins can still finish in 2nd place in the Pac-12, and possibly even improve upon their #5 ranking with a win at Arizona on Saturday. They’ll need Oregon to lose a game or two as well, but a win against the Wildcats would do wonders for their confidence in their chase for a National Championship.

Trojans Hot Early But Wildcats Hotter Late

Leave a reply

February 23rd, 2017

The Trojans looked poised for an upset of #4 Arizona in the 1st half on Thursday night. However, Lonzo Trier scored a season high 25 points, which included four three-pointers, as Arizona defeated USC 90-77. The win keeps the Wildcats in 1st place in the Pac 12, and completes a season sweep of the Trojans.

Bennie Boatwright scored 23 points and Chimezie Metu had 15 for USC. It wasn’t enough though, as the Trojans lost their third in a row to the top three teams in the conference.

USC was shooting 58% at point in the 1st half, yet only led by only 9 points. The Wildcats closed the half on a 12-2 run, and took a 44-39 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Arizona pulled away in the 2nd half, leading by as many as 16 points. USC finished the game shooting 52% from the field, but the difference in the game was the 11 three-pointers the Wildcats hit, and the Trojans 14 turnovers.

USC will try to get back in the win column on Saturday at Arizona State. The Trojans took down the Sun Devils at home last month, and will be going for the season sweep.

The Trojans are fading in the Pac 12 standings, but should be in good shape to make the NCAA Tournament. They’ll need to build some momentum though heading into the Pac 12 Tournament in two weeks.

Ducks Top Bruins

Leave a reply

February 22nd, 2016

The Ducks haven’t been scoring much his season, but Richard Rakell is having himself a fine season. Rakell scored two goals to lead the Ducks to a 5-3 win over the Bruins on Wednesday night at the Honda Center.

With 2:34 left in the 3rd period, Rackell tapped in Corey Perry’s missed attempt that squirted to him on the right side. Andrew Cogliano added an empty-netter with 49 seconds left, which helped snap Boston’s four game win streak under new coach Bruce Cassidy.

The Bruins attack was relentless all night, but the Ducks were up for the challenge. Anaheim took a 3-2 led into the 3rd period after a goal by Josh Manson. However, Boston tied it up about halfway through the 3rd after Frank Vatrano scored on a breakaway.

Jonathan Bernier made 26 saves to get the win for Anaheim. He filled in for Jonathan Gibson who sat out because of an upper body injury.

“It was nice to get the bounces tonight,” Rakell said. “We’ve been having a tough time the last couple of games to get something going, so for sure, it was nice that we were able to help the team tonight.

The line of Ryan Getzlaf, Nick Richie, and Ondrej Kase combined for a goal and four assists in the Ducks largest offensive outbreak in their last seven games.

The Ducks will now travel up the freeway to take on the Kings at Staples Center on Saturday afternoon.

Magic & Pelinka In, Kupchak & Buss Out

Leave a reply

February 21st, 2017

Nothing much is happening with the Lakers these days right? I guess just a complete change in leadership and a trade of their leading scorer on Tuesday. Other than that, nothing much.

We knew it was coming, but just didn’t know when or how. It happened on Tuesday. Magic Johnson replaced Jim Buss as head of Basketball Operations, and fired Mitch Kupchak as General Manager. They also let go of long time publicist John Black. It was all orchestrated by Jeanie Buss, who didn’t hide behind Magic. The moves didn’t stop there. The Lakers acted swiftly, hiring NBA player agent, Rob Pelinka as their new General Manager. They also traded leading scorer Lou Williams to Houston for Corey Brewer and a 1st round pick in 2017.

Let’s start with the leadership change. You have to give Magic credit. He has guts. He had a good relationship with Mitch Kupchak, yet concurred with Jeanie that it was time for a new vision. It was time to stop reaching into their past to try and fix the future. You all thought that’s what was going to happen with Magic, but he ended up making a completely out of the box hire in Rob Pelinka.

I feel terrible for Kupchak. He has been part of the Lakers organization for the last 30 years, and spent the last 17 years as their General Manager. He also helped assemble the last five Laker Championship teams. He probably lost his job because Jim Buss proclaimed that the Lakers would be competitive within three years. That never happened. Kupchak has made some sensational trades over the last 15 years. Trading for Pau Gasol, finding gems like Trevor Ariza before anybody knew who he was, and signing Metta World Peace to a below market contract. He traded for Chris Paul and saved the Lakers $20 million along the way before the league vetoed it. Contrary to the nonsense you might hear, he’s draft well over the last three years too. However, his downfall was letting Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol walk away without compensation.

Then there’s Jim Buss. Nobody really feels bad for Jimbo. Even though he gets removed from Basketball Operations, he still retains his piece of ownership of a franchise that is worth over $3 billion. Still, Buss isn’t the buffoon that most of you think he is. His basketball acumen is actually very good, but he let his ego get in the way. Most notably when he didn’t re-hire Phil Jackson as head coach in 2012, and instead went through a series of poor coaching choices: Mike Brown, Mike D’Antoni, and Byron Scott. He also naively believed that the top free agents of the last few years would just sign with the Lakers simply because of their history and location. Buss had the resources around him to succeed, but refused to leverage them because of his ego.

The tension between Jim and Jeanie heightened after the Phil Jackson debacle, and has remained. The communication between Jeanie and the Basketball Operations department has only gotten worse. They never even told her about the Byron Scott hire a few years ago. Nor did they mention to Magic or Jeanie their recent attempts to acquire DeMarcus Cousins. No organization can succeed without communication between its top leaders, and a unified vision from them. The Lakers have that now with a new regime in the front office.

On one hand, had the Lakers waited to hire a GM, they might have had a number of options from existing executives around the league, and some good ones. It’s also a little disappointing to know that Jerry West isn’t going to be coming back, even as an advisor. However, Rob Pelinka is a forward-thinking hire, who understands the complex new CBA. He has a number of relationships with players around the league. That’s going to help when it comes to free agency. Drafting and scouting is going to be critical however, so he’ll have to rely on what remains of the Laker front office for that. Nevertheless, you have to appreciate the decisiveness the Lakers acted with in hiring Pelinka, in the same forward thinking way they hired Luke Walton.

In addition to all this chaos, Magic somehow kept things together and the team even managed to pull off a good trade today. Lou Williams needed to be traded, and the 1st round pick was much needed. I’m nit picking here, but I would have rather seen a much higher first round pick in this years draft from a team like Charlotte or Indiana. I would also have rather seen a few expiring contracts like KJ McDaniels and Nene Hilario come back in the trade instead of Corey Brewer, who is due $7 million next year. Still, the most important aspect of the trade is that the Lakers improved their chances of keeping their top 3 protected pick, and opened up more playing time for D’Angelo Russell and Jordan Clarkson.

Hopefully the Lakers aren’t done yet and can find a way to trade Nick Young as well before Thursdays trade deadline. Either way, the Lakers new leadership is bold and exciting. Let’s just hope it brings them back where they belong.

Kings Snap Skid

Leave a reply

February 21st, 2017

It took playing the worst team in the league, but the Kings final got back in the win column. Trevor Lewis scored the game-winning goal midway through the 2nd period, and Peter Budaj made 24 saves as the Kings beat the Avalanche 2-1 in Denver. The win also moved Kings coach Darryl Sutter into a tie for the most wins as coach of the Kings.

The win was the 215th win for Sutter, which tied former Kings coach Andy Murray for the most in franchise history. More importantly, the win snapped a three-game losing skid, and kept the Kings in the race for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. LA remains two points behind the Calgary Flames for the final playoff spot in the West. The Flames defeated Nashville in overtime on Tuesday night.

After a scoreless first period, the Kings fell behind on a goal by Mikko Rantanen, who stole the puck from Drew Doughty at the LA blue line. That goal came just 32 seconds in the period. However, Tyler Toffoli scored his 10th goal of the season a few minutes later while crashing the net. Kings rookie Adrian Kempe picked up his first career NHL point on the play with an assist.

About six minutes later, Lewis tucked the puck past Avalanche goaltender Calvin Pickard and the near post. Budaj did an excellent job after that. He stopped 11 shots in the third period, which might have been in his best performance in a couple of weeks.

Budaj is well aware of where the Kings are in the standings. “You seen the standings?” he said. “The standings are tight. And we need every point we can get. It’s just a big game for us.”

“We need to win some games and kind of get a streak going so we can get in the playoffs here,” Tyler Toffoli acknowledged.

The Kings return home on Wednesday to take on the Boston Bruins. They’ll get another crack at the Ducks on Saturday as well before another short road trip.