SPORTS DIGEST: Lakers have Warriors right where they want them

By Don Wanlass

Contributing Writer

I’m writing this about eight hours before tipoff of Game 5 in the Western Conference semifinals between the Lakers and the Golden State Warriors.

I don’t like the Lakers’ chances in Game 5. They have a 3-1 lead in the seven-game series and the Warriors’ backs are against the wall.

The Lakers had a similar lead against the Memphis Grizzlies in the opening round of the playoffs and came out and laid a big egg in Game 5 before rebounding in Game 6. I expect the same thing to happen in this series. 

For some reasons, the Lakers don’t play well when they don’t have a sense of urgency. They didn’t have it in Game 5 against Memphis 116-99 in a game that wasn’t that close.

They game out with a sense of urgency in Game 6 in that series — hoping to avoid a flight to Memphis for Game 7 — and beat the Grizzlies by 40.

In the Golden State series, the Lakers came out with a sense of urgency in Game 1 and scratched out a 117-112 win in the opener. Having already taken away Golden State’s home-court advantage, the Lakers came out with no intensity whatsoever in Game 2 and lost by 27. 

They bounced back with a 30-point win May 6 at home in Game 3 and then outlasted the Warriors, 104-101 in Game 4 to preserve the home-court advantage and take a 3-1 lead.

One ESPN talking head suggested the Lakers would be better off leaving LeBron James and Anthony Davis home for Game 5 so they would be well-rested for Game 6 May 12 at the Crypto.com Arena. I can imagine what NBA Commissioner Adam Silver would think of that suggestion. 

What the Lakers have accomplished in the playoffs so far is tremendous. Four months ago, most observers felt the Lakers would be lucky to make the play-in tournament. Now they are one win away from the conference finals, five wins away from the NBA Finals and nine wins away from a championship.

There is plenty of credit to go around. Start with general manager Rob Pelinka, who rebuilt the roster at the February trading deadline. 

He not only managed to unload a disgruntled Russell Westbrook, but he acquired players like Jarred Vanderbilt, D’Angelo Russell and Rui Hachimura. All are now key pieces in coach Darvin Ham’s rotation.

Ham gets some of the credit, too. On March 19, Austin Reaves came off the bench to score 35 points, leading the Lakers to a 111-105 win over the Orlando Magic. 

The next game, Ham inserted Reaves into the starting lineup. The Lakers went 9-2 over the last 11 games of the regular season and are 8-3 in the playoffs, counting the play-in win over Minnesota. 

That’s 17-5 since Reaves became the starting shooting guard.

Ham also should get credit for putting Game 4 hero Lonnie Walker IV back into the rotation in place of Troy Brown.

Brown and Walker are basically the same player, back-up shooting forwards. Both spent time in the starting lineup earlier in the year, before Vanderbilt arrived, which allowed James to play small forward instead of power forward.

During the season, Walker averaged 11.7 points a game in 23.2 minutes and Brown averaged 7.1 points in 24.5 minutes. 

When the playoffs started, Brown was in the rotation, but was basically a non-factor scoring 18 points in 10 games. In the Memphis series, Walker saw action only during garbage time, scoring 8 points in 14 minutes of action.

He didn’t play at all in the first game against the Warriors, but scored 9 points while playing the whole fourth quarter in Game 2, causing Ham to swap places with him and Brown in the rotation. 

Walker rewarded Ham with 27 points in Game 3 and 4, scoring 15 in the fourth quarter of Game 4 alone. 

Davis and James have also played well in the playoffs. Davis has reinserted himself into the upper echelon of NBA players with his scoring, rebounding and shot-blocking skills.

He is averaging 22.3 points and 14.5 rebounds a game while playing tight defense all over the court.

James is quarterbacking the team, inserting himself into the offense when he needs to and playing a complimentary role the rest of the time. 

He is averaging 23.3 points, 8.8 rebounds and 5.3 assists a game while picking his spots to assert himself.

D’Angelo Russell needs to be a more consistent part of the offense. He is averaging 13.5 points a game in the Warriors series, but he scored only 4 points on 1-of-10 shooting in Game 4. Another big game like the 31 he scored in Game 6 against the Grizzlies would be nice.

The Lakers have exploited the Warriors’ lack of a big man in the middle in the series. 

Keevon Looney and JaMychal Green have been unable to handle Davis down low, forcing Draymond Green to carry a heavier defensive load than normal.

The Warriors went small in Game 4, with Gary Payton II, a 6-2 guard, joining the starting lineup in place of Looney. Payton plays defense like his father, but he is nowhere close to being the scorer Gary Payton was. 

That is one advantage the Lakers should continue to exploit in the series, which I predict will end in six games with a Lakers win May 12.

STEADYING THE SHIP: It took most of the first month of the season, but the Dodgers seem to have found their footing. Maybe it just took a trip to San Diego to get them focused.

Three weeks into the season, the Dodgers were floundering to many of their fans, but the worst their record ever got was one game under .500, which they reached three times: at 8-9, 9-10 and 10-11. Since falling to 10-11 after a 13-0 beating by the Cubs April 21, the Dodgers are 12-4 heading into a three-game home series with the Padres May 12.

The Dodgers managed to win two of three from the Padres last weekend in San Diego, even though they didn’t play that well.

They lost the opener, 5-2, when Clayton Kershaw got roughed up in the fifth inning while Yu Darvish was shutting down the Dodgers’ bats.

In game two, the Dodgers got only three hits off Blake Snell and three other Padres pitchers, but one of them was a two-run home run by Chris Taylor and Dustin May and three Dodgers’ relievers made that stand up for a 2-1 win.

The Dodgers bats were quiet again in the third game May 7 until Mookie Betts hit a game-tying homer in the ninth inning off all-star closer Josh Hader. 

The Dodgers then scored three runs in the 10th inning, two on a home run by rookie James Outman, for a 5-2 win.

One reason the Dodgers are performing better is the improvement of the bullpen. 

Evan Phillips has established himself as the closer with 6 saves and the other relief pitchers have settled into their respective niches.

Caleb Ferguson has replaced Alex Vesia as the top left-handed reliever and he, Yency Almonte and Bursdar Graterol have grown comfortable in their roles as the bridge between the starters and Phillips. 

Kershaw is still the ace of the staff, even though Julio Urias was supposed to take his place this year with Walker Buehler out because of Tommy John surgery.

Kershaw is 5-2 with a 2.53 earned run average, even after getting beat by San Diego in his last start. 

Urias is 4-3 with a 3.77 ERA, which is high for him.

Dustin May has rebounded from Tommy John surgery to go 4-1 with a 2.68 ERA.

Tony Gonsolin is starting to round into shape after injuring an ankle in spring training.

Only Noah Syndergard, an off-season free-agent signing, has been a disappointment. Syndergard is 1-3 with a 6.12 ERA. He left his last start May 9 after only one inning because of a blister on his right index finger. He might have to go on the injured list, which would mean another look at Gavin Stone.

Stone gave up 5 runs in 4 innings of his Major League debut May 4 against the Phillies. The Dodgers rallied to win that game when Max Muncy hit a grand slam off former Dodgers Craig Kimbrel in the ninth inning to win 10-6.

The Dodgers aren’t hitting on all cylinders offensively yet, but the top four hitters of Betts, Freddie Freeman, Will Smith and Muncy are as good as any in the major leagues. The Dodgers are also getting enough production from youngsters Outman and Miguel Vargas to have the second best record in the National League and the fifth best in the majors.

They continue to be one of the top teams in the majors, despite their slower-than-normal start this year. It’s been five years since they had a losing month of the season. That was April 2018. 

That season they were 32-32 on June 9. They went 60-41 the rest of the way. Barring unforeseen injuries, they will be in contention for another National League Western Division title once again in September.