Dinwiddie debuted, the Lakers beat the Pistons, and Ham can use his beloved three-guard again

The 8-44, league-bottomed Pistons are undoubtedly an ideal first-game opponent for the Lakers and new signing Dinwiddie.

The trade deadline saw off the team's best players on the perimeter and outside, Bo Yang and Box, whose only goal this season is probably to avoid "surpassing" the Philadelphia 76ers (9-73) in the '72-73 season and playing the worst record in history.

For both sides, the significance of this game is closer to a warm-up match.

Thanks to Coach Ham, he didn't impulsively let Dinwiddie start directly, forming the starter of his dreaming "three guards + thick eyebrows", in fact, from the perspective of last season's Western Finals, this system can maximize the firepower on the offensive end, but it is undoubtedly self-defeating to meet a large playoff team, so today's game Dinwiddie still starts from the bench, and the Lakers start is still Zhan Mei Lila + Hachimura.

After all, for the Lakers, who are still in ninth place in the West and have the Warriors behind them, they don't have the confidence to try the experiment casually, and win the game first.

After the opening, the two sides showed the difference in pure strength.

On the Lakers' side, the "triple core drive" of James + Lira played extremely smoothly on the offensive end, and in the time when James was not ready to take over, Reaves and Russell, as well as the thick eyebrows that gradually developed a high-level strategy, made the Lakers' offense significantly improved compared with the first half of the season.

In the first half of the first quarter, Hachimura enjoyed the feed from all directions as the arrows, and James and Reaves assisted each other.

In front of the Pistons' immature and rough defense, the Lakers rubbed the basket in various ways, and by the time there were 5 minutes and 41 seconds left to pause the substitution, the difference had widened to 19-11.

But that's when the real game begins.

The biggest focus of this game is the appearance of Spencer Dinwiddie, who the Lakers have just signed in the buyout market.

The bosses will take a sample first, and the score will be opened and you will come up to perform, and there will be no pressure to make your debut.

Dinwiddie replaced Russell, and the previous rotation order was originally Christie.

That is, Hamm's current positioning of Dinwiddie is closer to a swingman in the second and third positions.

It wasn't until James scored another six points in one go, with Prince replacing Hachimura and Wood replacing James, that Dinwiddie began to play the role that people were most looking forward to.

Partnered with Reeves in the backcourt as a dual driver for the transition section.

As the "own person" that the Lakers value very much, the biggest problem that Reaves, who has shined throughout 2023, this season is that once he is on the court, not only is he targeted on the defensive end, but also has a poor grasp of the offensive end when he handles the ball in the transition section.

He is a very traditional No. 2 position, and it is not easy to develop the "Playmaker" attribute in a short period of time.

And as a veteran who has been in this position in the league for ten years, Dinwiddie's arrival finally allows him to return to the most comfortable position.

He quickly played a high double spin with Wood, accurately sending the ball to the "little thick eyebrows" who cut inward, which was what the Lakers wanted Reaves to do all season.

For most of the game, the two teams played separately.

The Lakers are running in a new rotation, and the Pistons are testing the newcomers they have acquired before the trade deadline, and the firepower is not a match, and the game is essentially more practical than winning or losing, and the Pistons chased it to 24-34 with three-pointers in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Dinwiddie was still on the floor, paired with James and Russell, with Hayes and Prince as the two forwards.

Prior to this, Ham would have used Wood at this point, with Dinwiddie's height of 1.96m bringing him closer to the number two position on the court.

The ball is still dominated by James and Russell, and Shui La has not fluctuated due to Dinwiddie's arrival, and the Lakers still maintain a double-digit lead (45-34) after scoring seven straight points during this period.

After that, the thick eyebrows returned, Hachimura replaced Dinwiddie, and the Lakers returned to the lineup after the opening game.

The thick eyebrows who finished charging were full of might, assisted Hachimura and James in a row, and then completed 2+1 by himself, and won a rare three-point shot.

Where can the Pistons withstand such a beating, and the score difference will soon run to 20 points.

And this is when Ham finally couldn't hold back his hands and adjusted the lineup again, with Dinwiddie replacing Prince and Russell replacing James.

On the field, it has become a three-guard of thick eyebrows + Hachimura with Reeves, Dinwiddie, and Russell, and Coach Ham still loves the "multi-point ball" system after all.

But this lineup is still easy to use in front of the Pistons.

Dinwiddie assisted Russell and Reaves on three-pointers in a row to stretch the gap to 20+, and although the Pistons' young people have a size advantage, they are too far behind the Lakers in terms of experience.

Either hit the iron on the outside, or rushed to the inside to give the thick eyebrows a hat, and the Lakers had a 71-48 lead at halftime.

Thick eyebrows played 20 minutes and scored 18 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 blocks to dominate the offensive and defensive ends, while Dinwiddie missed 1 shot in the half but delivered 4 assists, two of which were three-pointers

His presence makes both Russell and Reeves more comfortable to play.

At the beginning of the third quarter, the Lakers continued to start the first half.

In the case of Dayou, the two bosses of Zhan Mei seemed to be in a mood, and the two of them only shot three times in this section, and ceded the right to fire to the younger brother next to them.

Reaves, Russell and Hachimura took turns firing and scoring, while the Pistons also focused on scoring, chasing 74-88 at one point.

After the timeout, both sides sent a rotation lineup, and Dinwiddie's first score of the game also came, and it was the French sharpshooter Fournier, who had also just experienced a trade, to complete 2+1 and help the Lakers stabilize the situation.

He then called on Fournier again to hit a three-pointer to score all six points of his own, and his main focus was still on the defensive and offensive tandem. At the end of the third quarter, he made another steal and assisted Wood's fast-break hit to get his fifth assist of the game.

At the end of the third quarter, the Lakers led 99-79.

In the final quarter, the Pistons had effectively given up, and James still played 7 minutes on the Lakers' side, but with Russell and Dinwiddie by his side, he didn't need much on the offensive end.

The Lakers and Pistons each ran in on the offensive end of the tactical system, Dinwiddie assisted Prince for three points again, LeBron suddenly found his touch and hit two three-pointers in a row, and even played a "Logoshot" to reward himself, and the Lakers firmly controlled the score at around 20 points.

Dinwiddie played a total of 8 minutes in this quarter, and played 31 minutes in the whole game, third on the team. Coach Hamm gave him plenty of time today to get in touch with his teammates.

And he didn't disappoint, with a beautiful breakaway at the end of the fourth quarter helping rookie Schifino dunk it. The final stats were 6 points, 2 rebounds and 7 assists, and the only regret was only 1 of 5 from beyond three-point range.

This season's Lakers are very high-quality and comprehensive in terms of offensive resources, whether it is outside projection or finishing resources in the restricted area.

However, in recent years, the Lakers have lacked stable breakthrough killers except for James, whether it is Reaves, Russell, or the previous Wei Shao and Schroder, they have not been able to create stable vacant opportunities for the people around them.

It also explains Beasley's ability to shoot the league's No. 1 three-point efficiency this season with the Bucks in order for Beasley to make a mess with the Lakers last season.

The arrival of Dinwiddie will further improve the Lakers' ability in this regard.

It's too early to predict whether he will be in the Lakers' starting lineup or even the core lineup, after all, his size and form in the last two seasons are not enough to convince the Lakers to immediately entrust him with a major role.

But this once famous "big heart shooter" and "Kobe supporter" in the league gave up the Mavericks with a higher bid this season and chose to come to Los Angeles to realize their dreams, which is enough to satisfy the Lakers.

Before the game, Dinwiddie revealed that "our whole family is Lakers fans, and they all cried when they heard the news of my joining."

After most of the season, although there are still three big players such as Vincent, Van der Biao, and Reddish who are still out due to injury.

But with 27 regular season games remaining, Dinwiddie's addition is likely to have a "catfish effect" and allow the Lakers to replicate the comeback in the second half of last season.

Tomorrow we play the Jazz away and hopefully get to know him more fully and in depth.