Lakers/Timberwolves Postgame, J.Worthy, AD, Reaves, Hayes Coach Ham Reactions | March 10, 2024

Lakers/Timberwolves Postgame, J.Worthy, AD, Reaves, Hayes Coach Ham Reactions | March 10, 2024

Lakers close out the six-game home stand with a win a great win 4-2 overall beat the number two team in the west the Minnesota Timberwolves who without Carl Anthony towns and Rudy gobear they battled but nonetheless the Lakers proved to be too much led by Anthony Marshon Davis sorry he deserved it you

Saw the statline there first player in NBA history with these numbers 27 points 25 rebounds five assist three blocks seven steals first Laker with at least 20 points 20 rebounds assist five and five steals he understood the assignment big game in the rest of the squad followed yeah it didn’t matter to him

Who was in and who was out he came to play and dominate and you know he’s done well against both towns and gobear in the past so it’s not like if they weren’t there that he still couldn’t do this but those are exceptional numbers especially on the offensive glass uh in

Traffic and blocking shots I think he had what seven steals as well tonight uh he really filled up the stat sheet but he did it in a very impactful way it wasn’t just points going through he was really putting numbers on the board when they needed it getting offensive

Rebounds when they needed it defending when they needed it altering shots when he was not blocking them so yeah this was uh maybe one of the best games I’ve seen in his his entire career first Laker with 25 rebounds in a game since Dwight Howard back in 2013 we’re going

To get your thoughts on the other side maturation of Anthony Davis you know they got two of their big Superstars out of the game uh most guys at that time would probably take it easy cuz now that that challenge isn’t there ad said no they out I’m going dominate this game

And he’s had real good success against those two guys anyway just what you’ve seen from him from start to finish that’s the the biggest thing is he’s been out on the floor but he’s dominated the majority of the season when he’s out there yeah nobody really knew what to

Expect you know he had missed several games due to injuries over the past couple Seasons uh but he he made his mind up I believe that he was going to get even stronger I know every summer he’s been working on it working I saw him boxing earlier I saw him doing some

Some things that you know would help it enhance his game and you can see that he’s able to play through a lot of nagging injuries a lot of bumps and bruises and the contact where normally he might you know take a day or two but

He’s made up his mind that he wants to play and uh man is he really having an impact on this leer team with his dominance on the defensive end for sure came into this one true game time decision coming off that shoulder soreness from but then again turns in that stat line truly

Impressive Darin just to start with ad that specific stat line you know hadn’t been done before what how did you see his game evolve as it went on to the point where he’s you know up there with the with those kind of numbers I mean it’s just him going you know

Communicating active hands the seven steals I believe it was yes seven steals three blocks 15 defensive rebounds just just being a monster all night man him being proactive uh did a great job communicating with his teammates being a backline uh defensive captain and man just incredible incredible you know he

Uh the game comes so easy uh it’s is is for him and then you know he’s in a great Rhythm feeling great his body all of that so these are the type of stats that happen when he’s when he’s in this in this type of mode first time that you’re

Over there’s six games over 500 as a team after that Sacramento loss you get these two wins going back to sack now after a couple days what where do you feel like you’re at and and what’s the kind of importance level of that one especially the way that they were able

To run out on you in the second half again just uh regardless of who we’re playing being the best version of ourselves that’s all we’ve been talking about um how great can we be um you know obviously we have to do a little a bit of detailed work in terms of preparing

For a specific team but when we’re going out and Performing not like we’re no we know we we’re capable of um you know it’s it’s we we like our chances to say the least and so the biggest thing for us is just again to keep building on what we’re doing defensively and then

Offensively you got to correct those the turnover habit man we had too many unforced erors out there and I’m not the turnover coach I love competitive turnovers guys trying to you know play the right way but just the senseless no no defensive pressure pressure or anything like that those type of

Turnovers and wi there live ball turnovers at that those we got to uh eliminate when you look back the week you guys beat the number two team in the west tonight you beat the number one team in the West in OKC beat the number two team in the east in Milwaukee how

Far away are you guys from from being one of the best teams in the league um what needs to happen to to to be that we just got to keep stacking days again the little things we can’t get bored with the details the little things coming out

With the right energy and effort um our alertness our awareness of what we’re we’re doing and what we prepare for each individual team that we’re facing um but more so just us being in our groove and understanding how we got to play um making quick decisions um no

Indecisiveness and playing you know with with with pace in the full court half court being physical getting hits on bodies and and being deliberate with the basketball and you know defensively just just really being good from start to finish uh the transition defense you know our pick and roll coverages guys

Giving resistance on the ball and everybody behind them being alert and active with the shifts and activity and everybody gain rebounding um that that we just that has to happen each and every game uh and we can live with the results Darin you uh you switched Toran onto to

NAS in the fourth quarter what did you like about you know putting a smaller guy on him and then what what did you think the job that toan did against him I just think with with Nas’s ability to shoot the three and then you know him being the main pick pick and roll

Screener just enabled us to be able to switch get another active uh physical defender on in front of Anthony and also you know again Nas is popping 80% of the time and if he rolled we we we did it a did a great job on the backside of kicking the

Smalls out keeping them high on the perimeter and him taking the big that was rolling whenever we had red so we call that you know I read the X and so just torian’s ability you know former teammate so he you know he knows his Tendencies so his ability to get you

Know in his chest a little bit and force him certain directions and you know the physical strength of toan he provides a lot of resistance on on the ball you know ant is a very strong strong player and so uh his ability to keep him in

Front and I get broken down you know that was the whole mindset behind that switch cim was ruled out about half an hour before tip off with the ankle also didn’t play in the Sacramento game um how’s he doing with the ankle just is this something that just expected that

He’s going to have to play through or deal with for the rest of the season yeah it’s been some extreme soreness with his foot um we’re just working through it and you know we’ll have an official update tomorrow or Tuesday I’m sure um but you know we’re trying to

Manage it as best we can Darvin um you guys uh I think Dave might have mention this you guys are six games over 500 for the first time of this season um Dave did mention it but it I’m curious I think oh it was mik same difference um somebody over

There but but but this this question this season thank you this season has been there’ve been really kind of big swing wings I I mean does it feel like you guys are at a high point kind of I mean you haven’t been six games over 500

As a Lakers head coach does that does that sit normal to you considering kind of the wild swings that happened both last year and this year I guess yeah you know last year just about finding the right pieces that complemented ad and Brun and and and this year has been more

So trying to manage bodies trying to stay healthy um and so it is what it is we found ourselves here I you know I I just think we’re trending in the right direction it’s huge upswing um and the way we’re playing we’re playing for one another we’re bringing the eff playing hard some

Great great great great winning plays I can’t wait to put that section together for the film um but you know guys are in a good space we’re in a good mental space spiritual space physically you know we’ll be getting some guys back here pretty soon hopefully and uh we

Just got to keep trending in this direction just take things one day at a time one game at a time that’s all we have to do and we’ll be okay thanks coach thank you don’t talk to Jackson’s coming well I’m going sco over here so it’s easier for him to get over there

Yep Dave okay uh next question I’ve always wanted to say that yeah you guys H you should have sa it for Dan you guys closed out the week by beaten the number two team in the west you also beat the number one team in the west last week in OKC and number two

Team in in the east in Milwaukee how far are you guys away from being one of the best teams in the league and what needs to happen to to be that yeah I mean I I believe it um you know regardless of you know where we stand um if we go put

Our best foot forward and and play the basketball that you know we know we can play uh I think if you ask anybody coming in here wherever we play it’s you know it’s not easy um but we just got to keep you know keep our head down keep doing the

Right things and you know keep playing the right way uh cuz the more repetition you have doing that um the more you know easy it is to continue to do that uh instead of having these hiccups uh like we had like second quarter uh against sack you know we continue to play the

Same way as we played in the first then um you know you would believe that you you know win that game but um I think if you go ask anybody in our locker room you know we’re super confident with what we have Dan Austin um we were just kind of going

Over 80s statline tonight um just things that have never happened before since they kept track of things like blocks and steals um how active was he defensively what did you see kind of being on the court with him and did like do those stats like register at any point during

The game like oh my God like this dude has 20 plus rebounds or no um I knew he had a lot of rebounds uh I didn’t know it was 25 um 10 offensive rebounds is crazy uh uh you know I did feel as if during the

Game um you know anytime we shot and Miss he was there to uh you know give us a second you know chance opportunity um with the offensive rebounds you know getting himself to the line but the steals I I don’t know who do um the steals is crazy uh seven

Steals is very very very impressive uh I thought it was seven assists and five steals but um both of those numbers for you know um what he does is special and you know it was a special night for him and But to answer your question I didn’t

Really feel like all that was going on in the midst of the game until uh Darin said it you know after the game come take a seat my boy thank Austin kind of going back to a question that you or answer you had earlier um you mentioned that you know this last

Week or so has been a reminder of you know you guys can be any team in the league but was was those first three quarters um especially when you guys had like 18 turnovers for 26 points um just a reminder of how important it is to

Just Buckle in or lock down early just because game like that you know they’re up one in the fourth you just don’t know how that can go yeah for sure um you know you you go into every game hoping that uh you play a perfect game uh that’s unrealistic but you know from

Start to finish you want to you know dominate the game and uh felt like there were spurts you know in that uh first three quarters that you know we looked really good and then spurts that we didn’t and uh like you said going down one to start the

Fourth um is an ideal but it’s still a situation for for us to you know go win a basketball game and uh I feel like that’s what we did we you know competed really well defensively uh in that fourth quarter and you know just you know grounded that one out Jackson uh

You can probably understand kind of ads combination of athleticism and at length better than most people in the world but just what observing him today just the the sheer numbers he’s amassing the offensive rebounds the steals the total rebounds that how difficult is that in what do you make rebounds the steals the

Rebounds that how difficult is that and what do you make of that as you watch I mean the man had 27 and 25 so that’s that’s saying something that’s almost I mean that’s that’s almost 30 and 30 which I mean I’ve never even got close

To 25 boards so but uh I mean somebody with I mean like he’s just knows the game so well and his timing on everything is so good so I mean he’s able to like go contest or like get back to the rebound and he just knows where

It’s going to be um and that’s something I got to take in from him and try to learn from him but uh I mean that’s one of the best to do right there Jordan um Austin this one’s for you um you didn’t know I didn’t know you have

So much dance moves bro I saw that the behind the back snatch to the to the spin uh even D was dancing on the side um you’ve been doing a good job when people have you on your hip using that snatch but you know just talk about that

That sequence and then having Defenders on your hip and then being able to snatch back with the behind the back um yeah I work out with feel handy uh I’m I’m sure you you’ve you know seen a couple of his workouts um but no it’s really just trying to you know take um

The opportunity that the defense you know allows you know he was trying to jump over the screen on the one so the spin was there but um yeah it’s really just you know um you know kind of instinctual um but yeah it’s uh fun basketball question last question for Austin go

I guess this is for both of you guys um Austin you played with Anthony Edwards um what did you think of what he tried on ad um Jackson you’re a guy who’s dunked on people what did you think of that play that was great I don’t know um you’re putting me

In a tough situation cuz ad is my teammate uh but was it was really impressive uh something I wish wish I could do uh which would never happen but yeah I I don’t remember what you know happened in that sequence but I seen him getting to

His right left and you know that’s you know I think how he likes to jump the most and he took off and once he you know kind of hit ad he went a little higher um but no he’s just he’s a freak athlete uh amazing basketball player but

Even a better person uh spending that time with him this Summer was you know super cool to me uh getting to know him but you know everything y’all see uh all the jokes and stuff uh that he makes around he’s um you know like that 247 so

You tip your hat to a guy like that but that’s a it’s an incredible athleticism I’m out thank you atin Austin Jackson I just I’m curious you mentioned that there’s a couple things that you would like to learn from ad and kind of take from his game what are some

Of the biggest things that you’ve learned so far just uh being his teammate and playing with him uh the biggest thing for me is just the non thalon that’s a big thing we’ve been working on since I got here is just keep my verticality and like like he does

Really well is get verticality and then he gets back into the play maybe for like another block or another rebound and that’s something I’m trying to work on with him um is just how to get my verticality so I don’t go flying back and then I can actually kind of stay in

Play but uh just little things like that like his postwork his isos his midies like uh just like little like little uh like footwork stuff I can take from him I just try to learn as much as I can um Jackson um just a little bit you

Know about your journey um you know playing in New Orleans you know coming here still being super young uh want to be in the top picks of the draft too as well how’s you know the pressure and you know being here with the Lakers how has it been different you know being here

From other teams and then also what are some things you you feel like you’ve been able to Showcase since you’ve been here too as well uh I mean definitely at first it’s like a definitely big like big change up from like a mid-market team to a big Market team and uh I mean

Like you just see it with like the media like mean all you guys in here like I a’t never had this many people in my media meeting ever like after the game but uh just like little things like that and uh I mean you know you’re always

Going to have the spotlight on you out here and I mean like this is Laker basketball so I mean it’s worldwide so everyone knows who you are and everyone’s big fans and they expect a lot from you because there’s so much uh greatness that’s come from this

Organization so I mean at first it was definitely a little bit of pressure and uh I mean I felt like I felt like I was trying my best to handle that but as The Season’s gone on I’ve definitely been able to handle it a little better and

Just trying to keep learning and growing okay hey Jackson um seems like you and DLo have kind of started you know developing some good chemistry and those pick and rolles and and on the Dives to the rim can you just talk about uh that and and some of the passes he’s given

You recently yeah uh I mean shoot y’all seen it I mean he’s such a threat offensively that I mean it’s just great playing pick and roll with him because I mean if he comes off open then most likely the Big’s going to slide over to

Him and I’m going to be wide open for a dunk or if I come off open for the L then he’s just getting straight to the rim every time so I mean we’ve kind of gotten a next Rapport on that and uh we have a few certain plays that we like to

Run whenever we’re in the game just to get to that or like get to our spacing with that and uh I mean yeah I mean it just helps a lot when you have such an offensive threat like that thank you Chris you guys battled them pretty good especially offensively through the

First three quarters just what did you see happening in the fourth that made it hard to sustain what you put on uh you know I think um ball movement you know kind of dried up a little bit um but you know really it was like the those offensive rebounds

At the other end of floor that hurt us more than the fourth we got off to a slow start offensively both the third and the fourth quarter um but I felt confident we were be able to come back but when you you know so many second shots and it’s it’s

Difficult at that point so is that I mean 8 size just yeah I mean he should have dominated us he had sides he had every length he had all that stuff um you know was in the paint for seven eight seconds every time they shot the

Ball you know it’s easy to go get the got it but we got to do a better job of rooting them out so it seems like this team has been defensive first all year with the injuries that you have now you have to Pivot a little bit to more of no

I mean we don’t I mean I was a little disappointed you know it took us way too long to find our physicality on the ball um you know I don’t know if we were playing to keep ourselves out of foul trouble um it was clear they weren’t

Going to blow the whistle a lot so we should have been way more physical in the beginning of the game um you know once we started to get physical in the third we we’re right back in the game um and then just but we needed to do that

More from the beginning so so Nas 21 in the first half four after halftime and what did they do defensively to try to take him I mean they flipped the match up a little bit they put uh Davis on McDaniels left him in the paint um and

Uh you know they switched a little bit more off around the ball I thought Nas had still had good opportunities I didn’t you know didn’t feel like um you know that they kind of completely exed them out of the game you know but other guys were getting involved we were

Trying to go other other ways different matchups to kind of uh pick on some of the things that did or didn’t want to switch so General with nas last year when Carl went out that was kind of the time he really stepped up and kind of

Maybe kicked his game up a not um is this maybe an opportunity now for him to really cement you know and maybe take another step in terms of his growth and development with Carl being out I mean I think so I mean he’s proved that all

Year though I’ll be honest with you you know his his numbers have been um not just his numbers but his play his impact Off the Bench his numbers with Rudy have been really really strong um but yeah I mean we we need him to play like this

Right now you know being in the position that we’re in um so yeah understand an’s always had an important role obviously how have you seen him adjust his uh play with you know C every day out tonight well I mean it’s definitely up his aggressiveness the ball’s in his hands a

Lot more um you know he still has to continue to make the right reads out there I think he needs to play a little quicker at times catch and shoe catch and drive um but you know for the most part I see him trying to do all the right things so

You have a read on how long Rudy might be out yet no I do not no um just kind of defensively when Rudy’s not out there but you know you mentioned the physicality but does it change kind of styles we kind of searching for well you know we started

The game trying to be aggressive in pick and roll um you know they did a good they did a good job of picking that apart um you know they got a lot of you know hit the pocket they played through it you know ball found LeBron LeBron’s

Going to find the right play all the time so um we looked a little rusty there but um you know tried some Zone we tried to we tried everything we’re up we were back and pick and roll a lot of things we just got we had to be more

Physical on the ball and more impactful on the ball so do you like the shots that you generated a lot I mean the first three quarters it seemed like even Jaden a couple goty I mean wide open looks that just didn’t yeah for sure I mean um I thought the ball moved really

Well I thought the bodies were moving pretty well uh got a little static there in uh in in the second half at times but for the most part you know I thought um yeah I was pretty pleased with the offense you know so anything else thanks

Thanks thank you I know we’ve talked a lot about Anthony Davis rightfully so but I believe it was you big game that said Austin reevs had a a great night as well the 196 and four the earlier matchups between the Timberwolves he was just one of nine from three just

Obviously from beginning of the season to where we are now he was three of six from Deep tonight yeah Austin Reeves you know he’s proven to to to improve like each game each month very focused you know and I said this before undrafted but he had those four years of

College man and he got the drill work every day in practice you know 20 minutes for the guards 20 minutes for big man so when I when he came here you didn’t really have to teach him a lot he just kind of instinctually got better

The the the guys liked him took him to Vegas they fell in love with the guy and he’s you know played on the USA team that’s nothing but hard work that’s when that’s when it’s up to you like a lot of times you’ll hear the quote like look

You’re in the NBA it’s up to you what you want to do and he’s done the work he’s put in the work and the results are just amazing what he’s done with this team you got to give him a lot of credit I mean uh nobody really knew who Austin

Was you know a year year and a half ago it kind of burst on the scene and then all of a sudden everybody in La was like who is this kid uh and as the games got bigger he didn’t see seemed to disappear he seemed to get tougher so I agree with

Club as far as you know four years of school uh of teaching him in the NBA not not necessarily NBA but just teaching him the game of basketball and understanding and learning on a day-to-day basis he was more ready than most of these guys that come out after

Year because of his preparation in college so you got to give him a lot of a lot of credit for his hard work uh tenacity as far as just doing it every single day to get better as a basketball player and he”s been put in a great

Situation as well yet the fits have remained the same hoodie and Jays every game desite the production and the bag getting bigger you said it best about re though he he he thinks he belongs here ad with one of his best games as a Laker he’s with brez in the locker

Room uh ad safe to say your shoulder is feeling better um when it’s warm uh get a little loose but um you not felt it at times out there so every time out um um or stopage play where we you know Tred to just keep it heat pack

On it keep it uh keep it warm so um but I still kind of feel it Dan Wy was just telling you the history you made tonight 27 points 25 rebounds five assists seven steals three blocks incredible game for you what what led to that um effort just

Uh knowing as the importance of the game uh you know this team is number two in the west and still a good team you know obviously they’re missing you know key parts of their team but um they still have Mike you know ant um Nas play well

Like guys who can make plays and they still find a way to win ball games so um you know we just want to come out as a team effort uh knowing that where we are in the standings and how important is this game was um you know trying to

Close the gap in the in the standings were you aware you were making history out there no was it not until was it not until Dan told you that you um no I mean uh I just heard DLo on the bench that say I bet you can’t get a

Triple double with uh with steals he told me about I had seven steals um the rebounds I didn’t I didn’t know um much about so um I I think I had that many think I had like five and a half so or four or something like that so I wasn’t

I didn’t think I had ended up with 20y birthday how much 25 it’s not got a couple hours a couple hours but um yeah D just said I bet you can’t get Ste I mean triple over steal so I mean I knew I probably had at least you know like 15

Or something like that but uh had 25 I didn’t know that ID how important is it for a team to to go up against these best teams in the league like you guys have over these past few weeks you beat the Clippers you beat the Bucks you beat

These guys you beat the Thunder obviously couple of those games didn’t go your way but but what is does that improve your your big picture of confidence for this team does it reaffirm kind of how you I we’re confident in our group you know obvious still got some guys missing um you know

Cam sending out with the ankle you know V see wood uh GP you know we still got guys out but um you know we’re confident in our group uh you know we we know that we can line up against anybody and and beat them uh if we play the right way uh

And if we don’t then we can line up against anybody and lose but uh I think right now um playing against these uh top teams is going to help us later on um come playoff time um you know it’s a good test for us uh to kind of tighten

Up screws and figure out what we need to do do you feel like at this point in the season you guys know how to play the right way like how to get get the best out of this group yeah um share the basketball defend well defend first um

You know share the basketball um most point just have fun now when we out there having fun everybody’s confidence is High um know we’re talking trash to the other team we’re um holding each other accountable um and we just playing the right way so uh we know what it takes um

Just about you know having that consistency um of doing it each and every night deal brother this up we going to count this as a birthday performance s of you uh it was for my birthday so I guess I guess we can uh actually the first time

I able to celebrate my birthday my entire career like at home so um on my actual birthday so what are you going to do to celebrate uh Nothing got just know I got a couple days so got a couple days I’ll be fully I won’t say fully recovered but I’ll be uh like 80% recovered on Tuesday and then uh you know ready one of the young kids will wake you up early for sure on the birthday right

No they they for sure probably come tomorrow and try to wake me up to uh you know say happy birthday and all that they actually got school so that’s so no they won’t they at school so I won’t see them until later in the afternoon question about tonight’s game you a lot

Of the offense that you had you kind of created yourself with the offensive rebounds you’ve been setting a lot of screens kind of helping get the guards going clearly the offense is working where do you feel like the ideal balance is for you still kind of getting some of

Those post touches that seemed like they were happening a couple weeks ago a little bit more you know relative to the way that you played tonight um me anytime we throw in the post teams double and we obviously get a lot of great looks out of it um you know we get

A lot of easy basket Cuts or open threes um but our pick roll game has been you know very elite right now with the guards you know attacking downhill and creating open shots for for their shooters or easy you know walks to the rim or lobs so um you know we try to

Find the balance you know we talk about it me and Coach know talk about trying to find a balance of still getting touches it’s not just set screens all game but um when it’s going that way and you know we have an advantage in that in that

Department um you know I try to just keep doing it and then just you know getting off to rebounds and find other ways to you know to get going I know this the goal isn’t to be six games over 500 that’s no one’s goal but you guys

Are at that level for the first time since the last day of the 2021 regular season it’s it’s been a while um how have you and LeBron specifically handled the kind of wild emotional swings over these past few seasons and um does it feel like you guys are in a better place

Today maybe um in terms of opportunity um I think we are as far as opportunity um you know I think we’re starting to you know find the right lineups you know um obviously that can change when we know Lando comes back he’s a big part of our defense and what we do

Um but at the same time I think we’re hitting our stde right now um like I said it had some really good wins but you know as far me and bra we’re just trying to just keep going keep pushing um knowing that you know just like last

Year uh all we got to do is get in you know we feel like um it’s tough for anybody to beat us in a seven game series so um you know we just try to stay the course uh taking one game at a time and then uh whether it’s playing or

You know make top six um then we lock in and uh focus on their opponent opponent uh and we like our chances against anybody at that point thanks baby

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