Los Angeles Lakers head coach Luke Walton made a point that his players spirits were still high after their overtime loss to the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night. Despite the loss, it was one of the best games they’ve played this season against the most talented team in the NBA.
On top of that, Brandon Ingram looked the best he’s looked this season, finishing with a career-high 32 points against the player he’s most compared to, Kevin Durant. At practice, Ingram said he felt like he lost himself in the matchup against Durant, which is part of the reason why he played such a great game.
Lonzo Ball talked about facing Steph Curry and the Warriors for the first time of his career, and what he learned from the matchup.
Ball also went in depth about how he watches film after every game and discussed what he believes were his best and worst games of the season.
It’s all in our quotes, notes and videos below.
Quotes
Brandon Ingram on matching up with Kevin Durant: “I lost myself into the game a little bit. The competitive nature came out when we were scoring, just trying to get to the rim or trying to get to the midrange. Some of my best games are when I just have a clear head and getting lost in the game. … When you are lost in the game like that and having a clear head, you don’t think about anything.”
Luke Walton on Ingram becoming a closer every night: “It comes with, one, earning the respect of your teammates, by the way you prepare, by the way you work, and Brandon has that, he 100% has that, and then it’s about going in and finding a way, which I think is the hardest thing for young players, finding a way to be consistently good, every single night…but it wasn’t just about him scoring last night…he’s got to continue to play the right way and play within the system that we’re trying to play, the style of play, and if he can do that consistently then you can become that guy.”
Lonzo on matching up against Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, and the Warriors: “Gotta be locked in the whole game, cause we saw everytime we lost focus or slipped up, they scored everytime, just gotta be ready to execute.”
Notes
– Lonzo Ball said he’s watched film after every game, except the first game against Philadelphia (He thought his first game against Phoenix and the games against Milwaukee and Detroit were his best so far)
– Kyle Kuzma’s MRI results came back negative, and his status is questionable for Saturday’s game against Denver
– Walton said he knew that Larry Nance Jr. would’ve liked more minutes against the Warriors, but with the way the Warriors were switching and attacking, he felt Randle was doing a good job with that
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