Maccabi Haifa of Israel deserved high marks for creating a positive atmosphere on Sunday night at Staples Center, as fans loudly cheered the visitors but did not turn sour at any stage of a game that ultimately finished 126-83 in favor of the purple and gold. No, this was not an NBA team. Maccabi Haifa may have been an easy sale in terms of tickets, but they hardly counted as a team worthy of evaluating the Los Angeles Lakers' untested NBA talent.
"I'm happy," Lakers coach Byron Scott said with a smile in response to an observation that he did not seem overly elated after the wire-to-wire victory.
LA needed this victory to provide a brief glimpse of the future that most expect to be tantalizingly two years away. Sunday evening, though, brought it to reality for an ever-so-brief game against a traveling team from Israel.
First of all, Kobe Bryant played efficient basketball. He stretched the floor and knocked down shots from distance. No. 24 scored 21 points in only 18 minutes, and the Lakers would take that type of efficiency from the 37-year-old "Mamba" any night of the season.
"It felt good," Bryant awkwardly smiled when asked about his shooting.
Bryant hit four of six from distance, 5-5 from the free throw line and six of 10 from the field overall. Bryant wasn't alone, though. The Lakers hit shots as a team, 54 percent, and scored 126 points on the night.
Everything worked, and the degree to which the opposition was responsible will be revealed over the final four games of the preseason and, more importantly, over 82 games of the regular season.
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The Julius Randle and D'Angelo Russell dream came to life, though the duo did not play together on this night.
With Russell cleared to play late, the no. 2 pick of the 2015 NBA Draft moved off the first unit. So, Julius Randle usurped the duty to bring the ball up the court more often than not, and the bulky forward physically pushed the Los Angeles Lakers to an early lead that never let up. Over the time it took the Lakers to go up by double-digits on Maccabi Haifa (disclaimer: not an NBA team), Randle used his ball-handling ability, speed and strength to score the game's first three field goals, record a steal and pull down four rebounds. Randle's talent quickly made it apparent that Sunday night would not offer a "contest" in the sense that no challenge would be offered to the Lakers on this night.
Randle did not just take over on his own, as the 20-year-old forward increased the pace of the game to just enough of a level that center Roy Hibbert could get involved in the offense. When Randle didn't drive to the hoop and muscle his way in close to the basket, he managed to find Hibbert. The center started making plays while simultaneously increasing his activity on the glass. The two-time NBA All-Star finished with 16 rebounds, of which nine were offensive--in the statistical sense, obviously.
In the Lakers' vision, Hibbert is a rebounding machine that protects the pain and anchors the defense. On Sunday, he did all of that and more.
Scott complimented rookie Anthony Brown in his starting role, and Bryant echoed the sentiment and pointing to Brown's composure to not make mistakes. Jordan Clarkson contributed 10 points, four assists and four rebounds in 23 minutes as the fifth starter. With Randle pushing the ball, Clarkson often played as an off guard—a role he would regularly play alongside Russell—but still managed to contribute to the cause.
On the topic of Russell, the Lakers' vision for this season and beyond would not be complete without a noteworthy Staples Center debut for the 19-year-old.
Anchored by Russell's passing of the rock, the Lakers' second unit shot better than LA's starters. Nick "Swaggy P" Young and "Sweet" Lou Williams both battled for the title of Lakers' sixth man. Young matched Bryant's 4-6 shooting from beyond the arc to the tune of 16 points. Williams chipped in 13 points and three assists in his 19 minutes.
Also on the second unit, second-year Tarik Black tabbed 12 points as an athletic big man, and third-year Ryan Kelly added 15 points as a stretch-four by hitting all three of his three-pointers.
Russell pulled the strings for the bench with 11 assists in only 18 minutes, and that came on the heels of two games out due to a bruised glute.
"They're far ahead of the curve," Bryant said about Russell, Randle and Clarkson after Sunday's win. "They're all great creators. They're attack players, but they can also shoot the ball, and I couldn't be more pleased with the way they've been developing."
Randle played strong, Russell used his skill, the bench scored in bunches, and Kobe Bryant played efficient basketball. Now, can the Lakers find a way to pull this off against actual NBA teams, consistently?
"We have plenty of work to do, obviously, I mean, we're so young," Bryant said. "We have a lot of learning to do, try to learn as quickly as possible so we use these (last) four (preseason) games to do that."
Bryant clearly sees the structure of the Lakers' next championship contender being built all around him, but will he still be around to take part in the Lakers' next run?
