NBA Playoffs Insights into Lakers vs. Warriors Game 5: Lonnie Walker madness counters the Dubs’ (last?) trump card

LeBron James uses a well-known stylistic device. Insights into Game 4 between the Lakers and Warriors.

Lakers: Lonnie Walker IV does it like Kobe Bryant

A little history lesson first. Lonnie Walker IV becomes the first reservist to score at least 15 points in the fourth quarter of a Lakers playoff game. The last? A certain Kobe Bryant against Utah exactly 26 years ago. There are coincidences! Don’t confuse Walker with the Black Mamba, but the guard gave the Lakers exactly what the team needed at this stage.

Anthony Davis and especially LeBron James were tired and lacked a real shot maker after it wasn’t D’Angelo Russell’s (4, 1/10 FG) evening. Coach Darvin Ham noticed that too and decided to take the courageous step in such a trend-setting game. Game 4 is usually the key to a series and Walker opened the door to the Conference Finals with his jumpers. Now it needs one more win to go through.

Possibly even in San Francisco, the place where Walker IV drew attention to itself a few days ago in Game 2’s Garbage Time. The guard hadn’t been part of the rotation until then, and hasn’t been since the big trades in February. “It wasn’t his fault,” said Coach Ham after the game, citing the changes in squad and an injury. “It was all very unfortunate for him. Still, he took it like a pro.”

Lakers vs. Warriors: The series at a glance

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Now he got his moment. Even when the game was on the razor’s edge LeBron James entrusted the ball to the 24-year-old and this one did not disappoint. Walker hit five jumpers in the fourth quarter, all other Lakers recorded just three field goals together. “I’m very proud of myself today,” Walker said, and he could be.

The No. 18 pick from 2018 was one thing above all during his four years with the San Antonio Spurs – little constant. He never really gained the trust of head coach Gregg Popovich and was accordingly not given a follow-up contract. The Lakers offered a new chance, but the signing was viewed critically. Not a few suspected that Walker only ended up with the Lakers because he was a Klutch client, one of LeBron buddy Rich Paul’s protégés.

Although the start of the season was good, the minutes became fewer and fewer before February changed everything for the Lakers and Walker with the trades. “He continued to stand his ground, continued to support the team and stayed positive,” said Ham. That also speaks for the Lakers, who suddenly pulled a rabbit out of the hat with Walker.

Lakers: LeBron James uses his favorite stylistic device

It was also badly needed. LeBron was briefly substituted in the fourth quarter because the tank was simply empty. You just have to watch this scene in transition. Still, James was there early in the fourth quarter as Golden State led by +7 and the Lakers desperately needed to get through the minutes without Davis.

And they did it with a few minutes of vintage LeBron. The King was now doing what he’s done his whole career and what he can do better than anyone else – he went mismatch hunting. He kept looking for the right screen, play for play, until finally Stephen Curry stood opposite him. Then it was time to get to work. According to this scheme, the Lakers scored points until James’ legs couldn’t keep up and Walker took over the scoring.

LeBron hadn’t really been expected to do that. Many throws were short even postups against curry surprisingly didn’t lead to success. The intensity was often not there defensively either, James only jogged back several times, while the Warriors got many easy points. There were a few examples of this, especially in the third quarter, when the Warriors ran 11-0 and fended off a run by the Lakers with seemingly no problems.

LeBron made 2 turnovers here, missed a pass and was accordingly out of position. These are things that you are not used to from him. The close timing of the games is definitely having an effect on LeBron. He can still dominate in phases, but it’s no longer enough for a whole game.

And in the end there are 27 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists (but also a plus-minus of -8), as if nothing had happened. With the win, the Lakers have a small buffer again, in theory they can start Game 5 on the back burner, but that doesn’t reduce the pressure. It won’t always work that way.

Warriors: Three quarters of the plan works with Stephen Curry

What was wrong with the Warriors’ offense in the fourth quarter? Just 17 points on 6/17 from the field, plus the Dubs attempted just six throws in the zone. The champion played an enigmatic quarter, forgetting why they hit 50 percent of their shots in the first 36 minutes.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr drew his best (and maybe last?) big trump card, betting Stephen Curry’s pick ‘n’ roll. For this he brought Gary Payton II into the starting five. The goal: involve Anthony Davis in every action, pull him away from the basket and make him tired. And that worked perfectly. In the first half alone, Curry ran 25 PnRs, Davis was involved 21 times and the Dubs posted an offensive rating of 122 from that play.

The Lakers didn’t find an answer for a long time, but Golden State eventually said goodbye to it. Just why? Instead, Klay Thompson took two extremely ambitious three-pointers in crunch time that had rather slim chances of success (note Steve Kerr on the sidelines here). At the same time, the Lakers managed to slow down the game and finally switched Davis to Curry, who stayed in front of Curry twice in the best Kevin Love Game 7 manner and forced two misses.

It was no longer the Warriors offense with ball movement or a clear structure, but one-on-one basketball on a night that Curry, who otherwise had a brilliant all-around game, couldn’t find an outside rhythm (3/14). Possibly the point guard’s tank was empty, too, who shouldered so much load as rarely in this game and was drained by LeBron in the fourth quarter.

Lakers: Dennis Schröder continues to make winning plays

And if that was the case, then Dennis Schröder should not go unmentioned at this point. Walker will make the headlines, but Braunschweiger was also indispensable in Game 4. The guard played through the last 19 minutes and stuck to Curry again with mixed results. Schröder is the constant of this Lakers season, his commitment is there game after game and especially in the third quarter he was able to relieve the stars offensively. Schroeder was the answer to the Warriors small ball as D’Angelo Russell just couldn’t be hidden anymore and was by far the weakest Lakers player of the night.

Schröder, on the other hand, chased Curry, defended self-sacrificingly even after switches against Draymond Green (among other things, he pulled an offensive foul) and occasionally put pressure on the basket himself, which D-Lo completely misses. 10 points (5/9 FG) and a team best value of +14 were recorded for Schröder. There are some questionable plays here and there, but this series shows once again that Schroeder is at his best when the intensity is high and individual plays decide.

So it was with the Brunswick who stopped the Warriors’ last attack, when he didn’t fall for Draymond Green’s fake and instead stayed in front of the forward. The result: a turnover.

And another note: The fact that the Warriors ran a “hammer set” with the last attack against the coach who initiated this play is also interesting. This play was created by George Karl for then-Milwaukee Bucks player Darvin Ham in the late ’90s. Did Kerr and Co. know that?