For the third time this season, Brandon Ingram rose to the occasion for a big
game.
All three of his highest scoring outputs have been against marquee opponents:
Golden State, Philadelphia and, most recently, Cleveland.
Thursday night’s battle with the Cavaliers might have been Ingram’s most
impressive display yet in terms of mixing scoring and playmaking, as he racked
up 26 points (10-of-15), six assists and six rebounds.
Brandon Ingram scored a team-high 26 points to go along with 6 helpers and 6
boards tonight. pic.twitter.com/VaUxemr0uq
The Lakers got Ingram rolling early on by giving him the ball mid-stride,
increasing the velocity of his rim attacks with this running start.
They fed him two handoffs, making his trademark slashing all the more effective
with so much momentum behind him. L.A. also put him in position to make
high-speed cuts off the ball, most notably on a pretty transition give-and-go
with Brook Lopez.
While driving to the rack has been Ingram’s moneymaker all season, he and coach
Luke Walton recently spoke about the necessity of developing counters,
particularly for teams that can protect the rim like New York, which held him to
2-of-12 shooting the game before.
His most important counter at this stage in his career is his pull-up jumper,
which Walton said he works on every day.
On the (slowed down) play below, Cleveland’s Jae Crowder tries to deny Ingram
from going to the middle of the court with his positioning on Lopez’s screen.
Ingram gladly accepts his path to the left and snakes around to the middle of
the floor anyway. Kevin Love and Jose Calderon both have good contests his
pull-up, but he sinks it anyway with his high release point.
That 7-foot-3 wingspan of his is what makes his jumper so dangerous. If he can
sink that shot consistently, it’s going to be tough to alter even when the
defense does a good job of challenging it.
Said Walton: “When you’re able to attack downhill and stop on a dime at his
height, and raise up and shoot that, it puts the defense on its heels and makes
it really challenging to stop.”
Of course, Ingram’s length also comes into play in many other areas of the game.
Most notably, he uses it to stride to the hoop and finish at crazy angles with
his long arms. But he’s also making progress with it defensively.
Here, he sneaks in and pokes the ball away for a fast-break that leads to a
Lopez dunk.
And here is a ridiculous use of his wingspan against the greatest player in the
world.
Ingram goes under the screen and is in the paint when LeBron James pulls up for
a 3-pointer. The 20-year-old nonetheless is able to contest the shot and leaks
out for an absurd outlet pass, as Lonzo Ball launches the 90-foot assist on a
dime.
Brandon Ingram & Lonzo Ball impress in a heavyweight fight.B.I.: 26 pts (10/15
FG), 6 astZo: 13 pts, 11 ast, 8 rebPlay of the night Ingram goes under the
screen & still contests LeBron’s 3. Lonzo instantly whips a 90-foot dime off the
glass.: https://t.co/pLXOrOIKkL pic.twitter.com/4Fg7qezBpp
Ingram was the Lakers’ best defensive option against LeBron, who shot just
1-of-5 when guarded by L.A.’s 2016 second-overall draft pick.
LeBron was still clearly the best player on the floor, stitching together a
25-point, 12-assist, 12-rebound triple-double, but it was encouraging for the
Lakers to see Ingram able to bother him with his length.
Speaking of length, he uses it in the (sped up) play below to get way up for a
grown-man rebound. Then (as he has the green light to do) Ingram immediately
pushes the ball up the court himself.
This catches the defense off balance and starts a chain reaction that leads to
Julius Randle’s put-back score. Ingram doesn’t get credit for the assist, but
it’s a textbook display of his improved playmaking.
Ingram has lately done a much better job of using his own scoring threat to set
up chances for others. It’s no wonder he went from one five-assist performance
in his first 16 games to seven in his last 11.
The sophomore impressed with his entire game in L.A.’s loss to the Cavs. He
attacked the rim with ferocity, shooting 6-of-7 on such attempts. He had his
best 3-point shooting game of the year by hitting 3-of-4 from deep.
His development has been eye-opening thus far, and the Lakers will look for more
such performances by Ingram as they continue into their toughest stretch of the
season.
A post shared by Lakers Scene (@lakersscene) on Dec 14, 2017 at 6:47pm PST
Player: Brandon Ingram
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