If you’ve been studying the Lakers’ offense microscopically since the team acquired Luka Doncic, if you’ve looked at the spacing, the movement, the efficiency and the organization rates, there’s only one question you could possibly have after the Lakers’ 125-109 win Monday night against the Spurs.
Is it “butt naked” or “buck naked?”
Nearly a month ago, Dorian Finney-Smith introduced the phrasing into the Lakers’ lexicon after a rare practice, saying either “butt” or “buck” when describing the nudity level Doncic’s new teammates would need to be comfortable with.
No one plays near you when Doncic is on the court, Finney-Smith said, the opposing defense leaving you alone, exposed and uncontested in ways that just don’t happen in the NBA.
“I’m back getting wide-open shots where I feel like I got a rush when I really don’t have to, I got plenty of time,” he said. “The last couple of years, I ain’t been playing with guys like Luka, so I’ve been getting hard closeouts, but now I got that time. You (butt or buck)-naked wide open.”
That was clear — just the descriptor wasn’t.
“Excuse my language,” he said with a grin. “You wide open.”
Playing for the fourth time in five nights and playing, again, without key starters in Rui Hachimura and LeBron James, the Lakers’ offense operated with the kind of ease that just doesn’t happen on most nights, the team creating the kinds of naked opportunities that would make anyone blush.
This was NC-17 levels of offense for the Lakers (42-25) against the Spurs (28-39), things looking easy even if Doncic had a rough shooting night, missing a two-pointer from the paint with his first shot.
The box score numbers were awful, Doncic making only five of 20 from the field (a game salvaged by 10 of 13 from the line). But it hardly mattered, the attention centered on Doncic leading to easy nights for others.
The Lakers’ offense always seemed like it would be the secondary piece. The defensive identity they forged in the months before the Doncic deal carried them as they tried to maximize one of the NBA’s most unstoppable offensive weapons.
For most of the game Monday, the Lakers looked like they unlocked the code, cutting at the right times, flaring to the corners for open shots and filling the right lanes in transition.
Austin Reaves feasted, the Lakers’ leading scorer getting wide-open looks at three. He attempted a career-high 13, making five on his way to a 30-point game. Jordan Goodwin, starting again, hit three of six. Finney-Smith made four of eight and Gabe Vincent and Dalton Knecht combined to make five of 12 off the bench.
The Lakers, despite trailing by seven early, mostly controlled the game save for some sloppiness in the fourth quarter when their energy significantly lagged.
Frustrated with San Antonio’s uptick in physicality as they tried to rally, Jarred Vanderbilt and Spurs wing Jeremy Sochan were ejected after Sochan threw the ball at Vanderbilt and the Lakers’ forward responded with a shove.
But by then, the Lakers had already established the terms, a game where they shot seemingly from everywhere — the defense nowhere to be seen. Butt or buck, the Lakers were definitely naked, the offense leading the way as they streaked into a win for the second game in a row.
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