Lakers Lounge

The Lakers haven't opened strong. Things are rolling in the right direction. Injuries just keep stacking up for other teams. So long as those things continue? The guys talk about the early returns one week or so in, Jarred Vanderbilt finally getting a shot, and plenty more -- plus why both the guys think Rob Pelinka should cash in every asset he can this season.

Anthony steps aside and lets Raj get as nerdy as he wants about the early returns on this Lakers group.

Anthony and Raj both hope Jarred Vanderbilt is now a cemented part of the Lakers' rotation. How does that change the rest of the pieces around him?

The west is now wide open with a few tough injuries to key figures. The Lakers look good. There's a clear hole in the roster they NEED to address. They only have so much at hand to do so. So... Once again, Anthony is asking the front office to go all in. Raj agrees.

Luka Doncic and Ziaire Williams got the night off. Austin Reaves didn't really have it. The Clippers sold out to stop Walker Kessler. This means other guys would have to step up if the Lakers wanted to win this one. Well, they sure did. This was a fun, albeit ugly win. Anthony breaks it down.

Collin Sexton and Quentin Grimes caught plenty of criticism from the loss to Portland only a day ago. Well, they responded with two very solid performances when the Lakers needed them. Anthony breaks down the win over the Clippers zoomed out, then celebrates Grimes and Sexton's success.

JJ Redick is almost famously online, which means he hears or sees all the criticism of his coaching. Sometimes (as we saw with Darvin Ham), coaches will stick by their instincts out of spite because of that criticism. Anthony was happy to see Redick not do that with Jarred Vanderbilt.

Anthony breaks down the game from a macro point-of-view, then zooms in on some of the individual performances than led to the outcome. Luka and Austin did more than enough to earn a win. Teams have adjusted to Kessler on both ends. Can the Lakers counterpunch?

Sometimes in a loss like that, it's easy to focus too much on the negative. What we can't lose sight of is how ridiculous Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves has been. Anthony discusses that, then wraps with a little live chat Q&A.

Utah sold completely out to make sure Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves couldn't just keep lobbing the alley-oop over the top to Walker Kessler. This put the impetus on shooters to open that lane back up. Portland went with a similar strategy that likely isn't going anywhere.