Lakers staying patient with how long they can master ball movement

LAS VEGAS >> The cuts looked sharp. The passes looked crisp. And the shot attempts looked easy to make.

Ever since the Lakers hired Luke Walton as their head coach, those skills would represent the main ingredients in developing their core players. The Lakers never thought they could perfect those qualities as well as Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green did when Walton served as Golden State’s assistant coach for the past two years. The Lakers would at least try.

Plenty attention on the Lakers’ Summer League team has centered on D’Angelo Russell’s scoring outbursts or Brandon Ingram’s initial introduction to more physical defenders. But the Lakers’ main conce has centered on how well they have mastered ball movement.

The Lakers may have looked promising in summer league. That giddiness, however, ended with something as frustrating as going broke at the casino. The Lakers lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers, 88-80, on Thursday at the Thomas & Mack Center, denying them both a chance for further postseason advancement and a chance to further master their teamwork.

Instead, the Lakers (3-1) will play the Utah Jazz in a consolation game on Friday at 7 p.m. at Thomas & Mack Center.

“They’re picking it up. As far as applying it, that’s a different story,” Lakers summer league coach Jesse Mermuys said. “Everyone has a general sense of an idea of what we’re looking for, and they’ve shown a flash here or there.”

The Lakers showed some of those flashes against Cleveland early in the first quarter. The Lakers fed Ingram and Anthony Brown for open dunks. Russell showed an equal balance between facilitating, scoring and defending. After making a 3-pointer, Russell blocked an opponent’s shot at the other end.

The Lakers later coughed up a 19-point lead. Cleveland guard Jordan McRae posted a team-leading 36 points. And the Lakers shot only 14-of-28 from the foul line. The Lakers also suffered an injury scare when forward Larry Nance Jr. took a fall to the ground with 35.7 seconds remaining. The Lakers’ training staff then escorted him to the locker room.

Meanwhile, the Lakers posted only 13 assists on 28 field goals, which became a conceing theme amid Russell’s early heroics.

Russell may have averaged 22.7 points on 53.3 percent shooting through the first three games. He may have made a game-wiing 3-pointer last week against Philadelphia. He may have appeared more comfortable with the Lakers’ positive reinforcement than Byron Scott’s ste approach.

Yet, those things also masked some conces. He entered Thursday’s game averaging more tuovers (five) than assists (four). Mermuys also indicated he needed to “rein” Russell in to ensure more team play.

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“In the summer league, the ball sticks a lot and teams lose that way,” Russell said. “We don’t want to lose so just getting the ball movement and keeping it flowing is the best way to win.”

The Lakers would know.

They finished with a franchise-worst record 17-65 last season partly because of their poor offense. The Lakers ranked 30th out of 30 NBA teams in both points per game (97.3) and assists (18). The Lakers’ young core struggled adjusting with Kobe Bryant’s ball-dominant presence. Even when he missed games due to injuries, the Lakers encountered a leadership dynamic with Russell, Julius Randle and Jordan Clarkson often needing the ball to thrive.

In other words, the Lakers are preaching patience before they can replicate Golden State’s league-leading offense last season that averaged 114.9 points on 28.9 assists per game.

“I don’t think we’re going to be able to apply that for a while,” Mermuys said. “It’s going to take into our regular season and how long that takes. It’s a process. We’ve seen some flashes. They kind of understand the vision.”

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