Two games announced the beginning of the 2019-20 NBA regular season on Tuesday. The defending champion Toronto Raptors defeated the visiting New Orleans Pelicans 130-122 after overtime at the Scotiabank Arena. In the nail-biting Los Angeles derby at the Staples Center, the Clippers, without Paul George, beat the Lakers, which did not send Kyle Kuzma or Rajon Rondo, 112-102.
Siakam proves Raptors right offering him max deal
Pascal Siakam of the Toronto Raptors show his NBA Championship ring before the game against the New Orleans Pelicans at the Scotiabank Arena, October 22, 2019. /VCG Photo
Before the game started, the Raptors held the traditional ceremony to give the 2019 NBA Championship rings to all the team members. Two of them, Masai Ujiri, president of basketball operations, and Kyle Lowry, the point guard who has played for the team for seven seasons, received the most cheers from the fans.
Toronto owed the victorious opener to Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet. Having signed a four-year, 130-million-U.S.-dollar contract extension right before the new season, Siakam dropped 34 points, 18 rebounds and five assists, making a good start of taking over as the new leader of the team. VanVleet continued his surprising performance from the 2019 NBA Finals by putting down 34 points, five rebounds, seven assists and two steals.
Brandon Ingram (L) of the New Orleans Pelicans tries to penetrate in the game against the Toronto Raptors at the Scotiabank Arena, October 22, 2019. /VCG Photo
By contrast, though the Pelicans did not have Zion Williamson, their young squad did quite a good job in the game. Not only did they lead in the first half, they kept it a close game in most of the time until the opponents reaped it with an 8-0 run in the last two minutes of OT. The three young men the Pelicans landed from the Lakers via the Anthony Davis trade all made good contributions – Brandon Ingram put down 22 points, five rebounds and five assists; Lonzo Ball got eight points, five rebounds and five assists; and Josh Hart had 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Lakers are good, but Clippers are better
Kawhi Leonard #2 of the Los Angeles Clippers shoots in the game against the Los Angelea Lakers at the Staples Center, October 22, 2019. /VCG Photo
Kawhi Leonard was the biggest hero behind the Clippers' victorious opener with his 30 points, six rebounds, five assists and nine made free throws. He scored 16 points in the second quarter alone, helping the Clippers launch a 40-29 run, not only coming back from the trail in the first quarter, but also establishing a valuable eight-point lead (62-54).
This was far from a perfect win. With only one big man, Ivica Zubac, who's not so reliable in their regular, the Clippers were weak from inside defensively. When Anthony Davis was able to receive the ball around the paint, no one was able to stop him from putting the ball into the basket.
That problem did not baffle Doc Rivers and his team. First, the Clippers had enough forwards who have both good enough size and quickness to switch in defense. Second, their offensive system built on screen plays was still there, if not improved by the incredible off-ball plays of Leonard. As the Golden State Warriors saw their franchise fall apart, the Clippers are officially the best pull-up team in the NBA. When George comes back, his will take the team to a higher class both offensively and defensively.
LeBron James #23 and Anthony Davis #3 of the Los Angeles Lakers in the game against the Los Angeles Clippers at the Staples Center, October 22, 2019. /VCG Photo
By contrast, the Lakers found more problems than (good) surprises with their franchise in this loss. Davis claimed 25 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and earned 14 free throws. He will give most teams a defensive headache thanks to his size, speed and finishing ability. LeBron James almost took a triple-double (18+9+8) but he missed 12 of his 19 shots, including four 3-pointers. In fact, him being freezingly cold was the reason that the Lakers struggled offensively in the game. Danny Green was the team's best-performing player in the game as he buried 10 of 14 shots, including going 7/9 from the 3-point line.
It's obvious that coach Frank Vogel hoped to introduce his defensive system from the Indiana Pacers from 2012-2014. His policies included: 1. Always keeping a big man under the rim (JaVale McGee, Davis or Dwight Howard); and 2. Sticking to one-on-one defense as much as possible. However, the purple and gold were not familiar enough with this system. They relied too much on the big men in protecting the basket and went too aggressive in defending screen plays.
Danny Green #14 of the Los Angeles Lakers shoots a corner 3-pointer in the game against the Los Angeles Clippers at the Staples Center, October 22, 2019. /VCG Photo
The other problem the Lakers need to work on is lack of orchestrator in their bench squad. When both James and Davis are on the court, the team's offense is built on the combination of James' vision and Davis' finishing ability. When James was leading the team alone, more shooters - Jared Dudley, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Troy Daniels – will be sent to the court to stretch out the space for him. Nonetheless, when Davis is leading the team by himself, the Lakers do not have a commander and, as a result, their offense will lose rhythm.
Tuesday's loss was simply one of the 82 regular games the Lakers have to go through in the whole season. The team still have a lot of time to do adjustments and improvements. However, this game was also proof that, at least now, the Clippers are the better team of the city.