Lakers/Thunder Postgame, Bron, D-Lo, Rui Coach Ham Reactions | Dec 23, 2023

Lakers/Thunder Postgame, Bron, D-Lo, Rui Coach Ham Reactions | Dec 23, 2023

The Lakers with a big win they snapped the losing streak in OKC huge individual performances we’ll get to that in a little bit uh the big story heading into the game was the changes in the starting lineup V went into the starting lineup DLo came off the bench both guys did

Their jobs and played great we’ll get into that later this in my opinion one of the most complete wins uh of the season when you look at the all-around game James yeah yeah given given the fact what they’ve been through the last uh few weeks we talked about the inse uh mid-season tournament

And the injuries and you know not being able to get a win on the road sometimes you have to make a little change uh first it starts with the the the mental stage and I thought they had they covered that very well and and the subtle changes that uh the that the

Coach made to to put in putting some defense you know and I thought both reddish and uh and and and vanderbel came in with with the energy and I think it was contagious but I think they also found the formula of win the rest LeBron you know what when that’s critical he

Got a good rest Came Back 40 points and led his team to a victory tonight yeah I mean you know the Lakers plus n from the three-point line uh the the the change in the lineup we thought was uh and and was more impactful defensively in terms of like just even

Watching Van’s body language and stance on the defensive end is energy a big block that we’ll talk about later um but the off offense in the shot making you know we talked last week about scoring 108 109 points you know even 111 points and not going to done in the league

Today is it’s tough to win consistently so if the Lakers can make shots uh and and be able to score 115 120 then that gives you a much better chance in that you know it’s a old school thing of make or Miss league but it that’s really what a lot of it was

Tonight and was a really quality win for the team LeBron was ridiculous tonight let’s go back to to Oklahoma City he’s with Mike trell all right Lebron 15 of your season High 40 come in the fourth quarter saw a couple of the threes uh and the bucket

At The Rim Where mod is you have to get into to get a difficult Victory here in OKC uh last time we came here we came here on a tough back to back um started the game out well but we just lost energy uh lost steam so you know us

Having a day in between our last game and us having uh I mean this was one of the must-win one of the first must-win games of the season for us and we understand how well this team been playing but we was able to to play a

Really good game on the road to close the road trip up your birthday is coming up in a couple of days but this was the first time this year you scored more than your age so that’s pretty good no that’s pretty good I mean in a sense

That uh you know it helped us get this win versus a very good team in the Western Conference that we really needed with desperate for win tonight so um you know desperate times calls for desperate measures shift in the starting line up you guys go bigger Vanderbilt comes in

You a lot of length defensively LeBron what’s kind of just the team thinking behind that what did you see in the first rendition tonight um I think you just said it you know we add a lot of length um you know from the perimeter to

To our wings all the way down to our Center obviously in ad we have the ability to uh guard you know multiple positions switch a lot of actions but uh more importantly we able to clean glass and I thought uh when they miss shots especially in that second and third

Quarter we cleaned glass they gave us an opportunity to score another end last one for you get a a brief rest and then Boston comes in for Christmas day you played more on Christmas than anybody scored more on Christmas than anybody what is played on that day with the eyes

Of the NBA watching media uh it’s one of the best days the NBA have um has in our in our season obviously you got open tonight you got Christmas you got playoffs now in season tournament whatever the case may be so um you know it’s always special but uh more

Importantly it’s today for being around family being an opportunity for myself to be a giver you know and and give to my loved ones and people that supported me throughout my journey um every single day since I began this um and uh so it’s all about you know my family my friends

And my kids obviously uh my wife my mom so on and so on um but it’s a great day for Sports in general you know especially for basketball Teo and just probably this year especially bronnie right just after what you guys went through Christmas celebrating uh he’s the best Straight Up appreciate

It LeBron James what a performance by the Lakers but especially their leader he said uh one of the first must-win games of the season and you know we heard ad say that after the last game we have to win a lot of points in the paint

You know he drove to the paint got a lot of layups I think that opened up some of those threes and when he saw one go down hey it was on LeBron is like I mean we we have not seen this before like let’s

Not even act like we have no we we have not most of the time as a professional athlete gets older into the latter stages of his career you start to you know maybe lose some of the the speed athleticism the ability to get Above the Rim to do

Certain things so then the game kind of transitions to maybe more perimeter oriented you know maybe he shooting more jumpers you don’t see him going to the rim as much not as good defensively he doesn’t block as many shots the attacks at The Rim still being able to dunk the

Ball on anybody that wants to challenge him um it’s just a unique you know athlete and and and person as well um you know we’re we’re gifted to be able to watch it on a nightly basis and hopefully he can get some more rest in

The team as well uh get ready for a good Christmas Day contest well documented how they’ve played the last two weeks we’ve talked about it everyone’s talked about it on the national stage as well they were one and five in their last six they had lost four in a row when I came

On the Air Tonight mentioned that complete Game 37 assists that’s a season High under 10 turnovers they finished with nine turnovers on the road 46 points in the paint um 16 fast break points and then you’re 16 of 32 50% from three complete game but the story was

The switch and the change they made going into tonight in the starting lineup cam reddish remained in there V along with tan ad and LeBron a defensive minded approach and it paid dividends tonight cam reddish uh and Vando with their length their hustle you had already talked about it but I also want

To give DLo credit DLo comes off the bench plays 17 minutes 15 points three of six and three he looked loose he looked relaxed great attitude that was big and then ruy gets the extend minutes we’ve all wanted that got 30 minutes tonight and and he goes for 21 points

The bench 47 so when we say complete game game big game you want to give everyone credit because they all deserve it’s hard to just pick one person to talk about because it really was a team effort it was a collective effort you know LeBron ad obviously they do what

They do but it was a collective effort I thought vanderbelt reddish at the tone defensively I would and then I I I just want to touch you on the fact that if the Lakers had lost this game okay tan Prince 3 for7 jar Vander 1 for four cam reddish 2 for

Seven so if my math is correct that’s six out of 18 mhm for a grand total of 16 points who cares yeah because the Lakers won they win and so matters this idea that like oh you know these guys aren’t doing enough when the Lakers lose well

They didn’t open up the record books with scoring tonight yeah but the Lakers won so it’s it’s that’s ultimately the only stat that really matters obviously Hall of Fame guys are like they wake up and the stat sheet just fills up like they step out of the bed stats go up

That’s what that’s what guys do in addition to that how many points were they responsible for blocking shots steals things you have to look at the whole the whole aspect of the game yeah they’re responsible for a lot for a lot of points out there great Point all

Right let’s hear from Darin Han he’s speaking with the media how did you think the starting five looked in terms of setting a tone with energy and intensity and necessarily wasn’t maybe the the level of stops and stuff but but the intensity did did you sense a difference

Definitely um just having that size and physicality out there being able to switch on pick and rolls basically one through five um was really really really good uh rebounding and you know they had they they they got hot extremely hot in that first half well first quarter in

Particular six threes and so uh we weathered that storm but bounced back with a great defensive quarter in the second quarter um and and and you know we buckled down and set a tone for the rest of the game uh came out had a good

Third quarter and uh you know it got a little tight they made another run late but overall you know we maintain maintain our composure and we’re able to get things we wanted to get on both sides of the ball this last these last couple weeks have been a real slog um

With the travel and everything like that we’ve talked about a bunch of times but between ad0 calling it a mustn game the lineup change did did you see this team kind of recapture some of the energy you played with at its highs um just a couple weeks ago in Vegas absolutely you

Know we have to get to the point where we can uh initiate sustain and finish based on what we want Laker basketball to look like not just if it’s we’re playing for something or something at stake or whatever it can’t just be about that it has to be about how we want to

Present ourselves to the world present ourselves to these other 29 teams that we’re going up against um in a fashion that can be tough competitive together and consistent and so um you know I thought you saw a lot of that tonight especially in yeah it’s been a hell of a

Road these last 30 games but you know you’re going to have your your your your highs and your lows throughout the course of the NBA season it’s a marathon of a situation and then so uh the best thing you try to do is just keep your mind active try keep exploring ideas and

And and different ways that you can improve each and every day you mentioned pregame that you know LeBron is you know functioning the point guard in let starting unit but know other guys will initiate seem like you guys leaned a lot on ad um initiating I know you haven’t

Watch the film but how did you feel about you know running the offense through him even more than you already do absolutely it was great you know when we run open with him in that trail spot we can go either side get a lot of different looks out of it you know

Sometimes it’s flares sometimes it’s Corner splits sometimes it’s uh DH stagger so and sometimes he can just take him and we got four Shooters around him he can take and go one-on-one in the middle and so uh but his playmaking ability Austin’s playmaking ability cam had seven assists Brun had seven assists

So uh Austin led the way with 10 38 total for our team that’s great that’s that’s unbelievable ball movement and uh another great thing you know came out of the night that we took care of the ball you know we had some couple careless turnovers here and there but for the

Most part to Come Away with nine turnovers only commit nine turnovers and give them 10 points you know it’s that’s been a little bit of a KES heel for us you know not being able to take a take care of the ball in in really some really important

Segments Darin of course LeBron had the big scoring fourth quarter and kind of closing them out but just ad and his overall importance the you know anchoring things the switching defense the double teams how indispensable has he been through this stretch tonight and I don’t think he sat in the second half

No he he he allows you to do so many different things just because of his defens of Versatility and you know at the end of the third I looked over at him and he gave me the big note like signaling that you know he he wanted to

Keep going and push through and you know he was our anchor tonight our foundation for our defense he’s a big source of income for us offensively and uh again just his versatility overall is is is incredible you know he allows Toran cam Vando all those guys to be able to press

Up cuz they know if they get beat or if it’s a back door cut he’s going to be right there Brown his activity in activity we were very active tonight you know aggressive on the ball active off the ball they needed W 129 to 120 Lakers

Go to 16 and 14 Leon goes for 40 on five of five from three ad with 26 points 11 rebounds and seven assists and how about ruy haimura in 30 minutes three of five from three 21 points and six rebounds let’s go inside the Laker locker room

LeBron is now speaking with the media so true um I don’t know I think think in itself we just everybody did a good job of protecting the ball we only had nine turnovers um we didn’t give them as many Second Chance points um as they had you

Know in game one when we came here um but I think pretty much you know for the majority game was into with the game plan scoring’s never been your about weather um it’s about team success it’s about overall impact but just to score 40 weak weak before your birthday

Shooting that is it is it is it a good feeling just to to still put up numbers like that at this stage of your career uh I mean t KN can go out and still you know make game-winning plays can uh affect the game in multiple ways and uh

You know still close out of game um in the fourth quarter when our team needed when they started making run was always a good feeling for sure LeBron um you guys had a season High assist tonight um you had seven 8 he had seven Kim at seven Austin at nine

Um what led to that kind of level up ballve tonight was it their Zone was it kind of what the game called for or was that a a thing that when you guys are playing the right way that’s what’s going to happen the only way you can get

Assists if your teammates are making shots so um you know everyone was making shots when everybody were passing the ball we was trying to keep it on time on Target and not turn the ball over and that’s that was the key to it you were pretty open last year about ruy and and

Kind of the need for consistency with his like once he knows his role and he knows what it’s going to be every night that he’s going to perform got into a little bit of Rhythm um in Minnesota what did you see tonight from him and how how important were those um it was

Big time I mean he was really good for us tonight um you know like you said it’s been up and down for him as far as his playing time but you know his minutes were really consistent tonight and he he made plays for us um you

Offensively and was able to get some key rebounds for us as well wa make too much of the one of five stretch since Vegas but it was it taxing and and for a variety of reasons we’ve gone over it the the travel the back to backs the

Injuries but how does this feel for the group win needed this win um you know we didn’t want to end the end the the road trip obviously in in a losing effort so um you know we knew the second night of back Tob back against Minnesota was

Going to be very difficult on this so uh to come here versus team has been playing extremely well basketball throughout the season and get a win as a big win for us guys get another test two days at Boston um all I care about is tomorrow’s day off I can give her damn

About Monday the only thing I care about Monday right now is my daughter waking up and opening her gifts that’s it I don’t even don’t even please don’t even talk to me about Christmas day right now Christmas Eve is what I’m looking forward to I’m ready to get my

Ass on this couch hey Leon I’m sorry I came in a little late just tell me they closed it to 8 and then you kind of took over after that talk a little bit about how that was down no they’re just a good team sorry they’re just a good team um

We know there going to make a run on their home floor they do a good job of pushing the ball either through Jaylen Williams or um you know Shay they just try to you know attack the lane um put us on our heels but you know we we got

Timely stops and make timely shots so big time for our team all right El’s going in the press conference Merry Christmas Merry Christmas all right guys let’s talk some three-pointers big game James 16 of 32 in the key tonight and we had mentioned a little earlier no matter what defense

No matter what packages they were thrown at them the ball was moving and guys were knocking them down yeah the ball must was moving and the ball was going inside Gater you know the closer that ball gets to the cup the more your defense has to collapse a little bit and

I thought ad did a good job of getting there you know I thought offensively the the ball didn’t stick as much as we’ve seen it and I don’t know if it was you know due to some of it definitely due to the Thunder putting two on the ball in particular with ad

Like ad right now is a matchup nightmare for almost every team he’s too big and too strong for most guys if you try to play him one-on-one um and he’s quick enough to get around guys still if you play him one-on-one so a lot of teams are sending

That low guy over on the Baseline side and the Lakers have gotten used to that they they’re picking it apart um and then guys were just stepping in the shots basketball had air in it and and under it tonight and it was it’s good to see guys you’re not going to make 16

Threes every night uh but the quality of shots that they got you still have to step into those even if they aren’t going in and those are still the right shots to take all right guys D’Angelo Russell came off the benat for the first time this season instant offense 12 of

His 15 points coming in the second quarter speaking with Mike let’s do it yeah D’Angelo first of all team wise ad had said after the Wolves game like this was going to be one that you guys kind of circled you know important to snap the streak and get a win and LeBron kind

Of echoed the importance of that you showed what you guys could be as a team in the inseason tournament been a little tough since then what was the significance of getting a tough road win like this uh just everybody um a bunch of guys impacted tonight I think that

Was huge key for us just impact and winning um for everybody a lot of guys impacted the game for sure and of course lineup change right you go to the bench Vanderbilt goes in the starting lineup different units you’re out there playing with the second unit uh you guys had

Some good minutes how how did you take that personally what and how different are things when you get on the court relative to what you were doing with the starting group uh yeah I mean obviously switched to the lineup um the result was a win so for me that’s all that matters

Um so just f finding a way to impact winning and being energy whenever I get on the floor you know um starting is a different um different monster you know you got to you’re playing against starting units you’re playing against the Scout report you’re playing against

A lot of things like that um when you come in you got to you got to jump back on where where the where the starters left off at um as far as matchups and things like that so figuring out ways to you know still gain some type of

Advantage coming in you know in a later time what you guys uh do this is your first time coming off the bench since uh I think May 2021 Dar mentioned you know Sor La changes there pretty big deal at this level he mentioned that you guys had a conversation this hotel room just

Can you detail what was said that conversation that helped you f he say what was said he detailed a little bit about what was said that’s all I got for you you have nothing add to about the conversation no no I mean it is what it

Is I don’t have no comment or no headline for you D’Angelo I think we look at things like a starting line changes and say like how does that impact you know the identity of this team from the tip off but I think you um ruy and Austin

Tonight like 47 points or something like that Off the Bench what can that do the three of you guys that kind of fir power as you sort of mentioned again second units um how big of an advantage you think that can be for for you guys more

Huge huge huge I think any any aspect of the game that’s kind of um lacking you know through those runs before we get on the floor I think we make up for when when when coach does those subs with that group so um it’s exciting to see what what we do from

It how significant is it to have Anthony Davis come out in a minute so and say hey Saturday’s must win and then you guys out go out and do it just for like you know the character of the group to to put a goal in front of it just like

You guys within season tournament put a goal in front of it and accomplished it I mean it’s huge from from one of our leaders to you know be vocal like that and and you know as a group we follow to have his back and get the win um LeBron

Comes out and and performs the way he performs um it’s huge huge for our group it’s something we can build on for sure fish I’ll start with you um and just you know DLo he talked about it listen a win is a win and that’s what

Matters but he also produced in the new role yeah re you know it would have been easy for DLo to to not necessarily not play well tonight but his energy and mindset and approach to the game could have been different and it only takes one guy to

Like f it all up for everybody he may feel it on the inside as a competitor you’re supposed to but he didn’t bring that to his teammates or to the team and that’s what you need to build a championship quality team and so you have to give DLo credit for staying

Ready coming in impacting the game um and help Hing the Lakers get a win yeah I mean yeah he he he and Austin re are relatively close on and off the court so I’m I’m I’m pretty sure he probably looked at the Austin re situation a starter before made a sacrifice to come

To the bench it worked out so hopefully he’s looking at a younger player saying hey if this guy did it I can do it may have the same impact and he showed that tonight doesn’t matter you know I know starting for some players is a big thing particularly when they’ve been starters

But when you’re trying to build team chemistry and win games you know you have to make a little sacrifice especially if the coach communicates that to you so it’s all good ruy Darin just talked about kind of the the style that you played today in the Minnesota

Game was direct and in attacking and quick and active defensively what what have you felt as you trying to get back into this Rhythm after the injuries you dealt with the previous couple weeks um I was trying to be aggressive in both hands you know um start it started from

Defense you know they have they a good offense team and they have a couple guys that can you know do ISO oneon-one so we watch a lot of films we did a we did a shoot around this morning and then we did a pretty good job on that scouting and yeah

That’s what I think we got in the Rhythm you know as a team and for me too even yeah you got hot in the first half and then came out the first time you checked in in the third quarter hit your first three is it difficult to to find the

Rhythm that quickly again after you after the halftime and and what do you kind of focus on like that of course you know but that’s that’s you know that’s all I have to you know I have to do that the team want me to do that and I’m here

For it and I take the challenge and you know it’s just a it’s a part of the game too you know um that’s what even the last year you know I I I during the playoffs I finally found that wi even though the same rotation so um yeah but

It’s it’s a it’s hard you know but it’s I just got to I just got to keep doing um being aggressive on the both ends and yeah do what I have to do you were attacking the rim you had one quick dunk on the turn that went down

You had another one you split the double and you know missed the dunk but I got up oh my God I watched it I watched the video I felt that too when I done CH down CU I was like this and I’m like oh my God but I should I should I

Should have down the right hand that’s why yeah I I watched the film after and I was like oh yeah but it was a I was just trying to be aggressive you know he’s a Chad is a good rim protector so you know I didn’t want to just you know

He he would he would probably block block it you know if I just went to the layup so I was trying to D it I think I got foul but you know here the fact that he was there though was that adding to your desire to

Dunk it yeah for sure yeah yeah yeah that’s why I tried to yeah he’s a he’s a great shot blocker so you know remember you said something to me at one point where you said this is a big game team that this is when given the opportunity to play a big game this

Team is responded ad called this a must-win game the lineup change the shooter all these different things how do you guys take that kind of big game feel and and make it more sustainable is that sort of the the big step for you guys yeah you know we’ve been kind of

Struggling after the um in in season tournaments the schedule the travels and all that but you know we we we talk about it after the game last game to Minnesota he said look the next game is got to be my wing you know the ad like I

He said and we saw lock thing this morning to the shoot and why we got to this you know D so we got to keep doing it you know we just got to get in the Rhythm and next next next one’s big two you know the Christmas game you know uh

Against the Celtics so we just got a Lo again like we just did and yeah we trying to trying to get in the Rhythm yeah cam reddish by the way had a season best seven assists to the win back to the locker room he’s standing by with

Mike cam you had uh seven assists tonight and it was a season high and assist for the team just wondered kind of what was behind the ball movement and what you were seeing in those actions when you were able to find teammates like that

Uh I mean I think I was just being being assertive I mean my teammates was cutting to the baskets I mean we had people cutting and make people open in the corner so I mean I was just making the right read making the right play um

I mean if I can make some shots that be great yeah there were a couple actions in that first quarter they were trapping ad and you were flashing on the Baseline and then LeBron cut was that something that you three hit discuss or is that just kind of basketball that’s just

Basketball I don’t I don’t know how that happened but that happened got yeah LeBron one of the better Cutters in the league but I I guess you and you just kind of saw him coming and and fed on the ball uh different question though starting lineup change right so

Vanderbilt comes in it’s a lot of length I wondered what the coaches staff talked to you about it and the switching and just what was the key in that group uh bringing the energy I mean obviously defensively um being able to switch one through five um I think that goes a long

Way especially you know as you get later into the season I don’t want to say preserve you but it kind of does um but I think it was just the main part was just bringing that that energy and that mentality of just you know getting after her

Defensively Darin had the option if he wanted to have the lineup look more like it did last year in in the playoffs he could have swapped you out for V versus D but he kept you in and I asked him and he said I just know if C’s out there

He’s going to do the inang and we I just know he’s going to do the intangibles and cam with Talent around him looks even better um how significant was it to you that you did enough over the last 15 games or so to to keep that spot um as

You guys continue to Tinker with your best group it feels great man I mean to be honest with you I just try to do my part I don’t really got much to say about that I just do my part man just like everybody else kind of

Work um was this like a how good of a moment was this for your group you know obviously we all know the last couple weeks wasn’t the best wasn’t up to your guys standard but to lose in Minnesota have ad SA this is a must win Ry was

Talking about how professionally you and how much attention and focus you guys brought from the morning that shoot around through tip off tonight like was this like a significant step forward for you guys yeah for sure I think we’re growing every single day learning more about ourselves every single day um but

Yeah like you said shoot around was very detail oriented and um I think we were all just locked in from this morning to this very second so I think that’s that’s the key to us getting you know big wins this supped to be your first time playing on Christmas day right no

No what was the other time I me New York oh that’s yeah well guess how how much are you looking forward to being back on that stage especially you know Lakers CeX and all the history that goes into that rivalry yeah man it should be fun I’m looking forward to seeing my

Family what up haven’t seen him much this month with all this travel you get your shopping done or somebody helping you out I’m done I handle business there you go all right yeah thanks C ready basketball t-shirts for everybody

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