Facing a young, injury-riddled team can spell trouble, particularly on the second night of a back-to-back. But that was not the case for the Lakers against the San Antonio Spurs on Monday as they only trailed briefly in the first quarter, led by as many as 28 point and picked up a second-straight win.
Only three players played more than 30 minutes. Two were the usual suspects, of course, in Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves. The third? Jordan Goodwin, the Laker’s two-way contract player, Jordan Goodwin, who is quickly gaining more and more trust from his team.
But don’t expect to call him a two-way player for long.
Goodwin earned his second straight start against San Antonio. After Sunday’s game, head coach J.J Redick praised him for his tone-setting and impact beyond the box score.
“Never judge a player based solely on his box score,” Redick said. “Jordan Goodwin was incredible tonight and he had two points and four fouls. He set the tone for us”
Against the Spurs, go ahead and judge the box score. Goodwin tallied up 15 points, four rebounds, three assists, three steals and a blocked shot as stuffed the stat sheet and finished a plus-nine for the game.
His defensive impact was felt immediately.
The Lakers run a variety of small ball units where players are asked to have interchangeable roles. In the play below, they have four guards and forward Jarred Vanderbilt on the floor.
Here, he flips between being the small ball five protecting the basket to switching out and getting the steal on Keldon Johnson.
Listed at 6’5, he’s sturdy and quick on his feet while leveraging his 6’10 wingspan to torment players on the perimeter. He fuses it with nonstop activity and effort.
The play above results in a Spurs basket, but notice the ground Goodwin covers. He begins by shutting off his switch on the perimeter, offers nail help while recovering back to his man and still makes it all the way down to contest Bismack Biyombo at the basket.
This constant surge of energy is vital for the Lakers, especially in with the style of defense they hope to play.
A necessary trait for a chaos-creating defender is to have good hands. Goodwin has great hands.
Goodwin strips Chris Paul so cleanly here it can almost be filed as elderly abuse. Great hands are no use without great timing. He has a good understanding of when and where to reach without fouling.
In the above action, Goodwin stays attached to Stephon Castle. Watch him shut off the baseline while simultaneously getting the strip and saving it back in bounds. This directly resulted in a Reaves three, pushing the lead to 17.
These chaos-creating plays and effort lead not only live ball turnovers but extra chances for the team. Goodwin has a nose for the ball that translates to the boards. He’s had an offensive rebound in all but one game with the Lakers.
Watch as he sneaks in from the top of the key, uses a swim move — tactic to gain inside position — with four Spurs players in the paint to steal this and get the goal-tend to score. Guard rebounding is essential in small units that coach Redick wants to run.
His defensive impact is why Goodwin is in the game. His offensive production is why he’s quickly turning into another special Lakers gem. He, like every player, has to cross half-court into the offensive zone and find ways to be a threat.
Playing with superstars should be easy. It not always is. His understanding and spatial awareness of defense carries over to the offensive end. Constant motion and energy translate into screening and finding cuts to open space.
On the above action, watch as Goodwin throws the post-entry into Dončić. He dives to occupy the defender, Castle, then sets a quick brush screen to open up Reaves for the three. These little things aren’t direct play calls, but reads made instinctually.
Redick calls the 4-on-3 following a Dončić or Reaves action when they draw two guys on the ball “the blender.” Goodwin has a good feel for keeping the blender moving.
He understands when it’s his job to pass, shoot or attack the impending closeout to keep it going.
Dončić, on the play below, draws two on the ball and kicks it to Goodwin in the corner. He follows up by attacking his closeout, keeping the blender going, and finds Shake Milton, who gets to his spot for a leaning finish.
One second of indecision stops this whole process and allows the defense to reset.
To pour an extra layer of gravy over the offense , Goodwin is hitting his threes when he’s open. He’s shooting 14-33 (42%) on his open to wide-open threes as a Laker, according to NBA’s tracking data. That includes a blistering 62% just from the corners.
Guess what? He’s going to be open.
Without LeBron James, teams will continue to dare anyone not named Dončić and Reaves to beat them, especially from the outside. He’s made teams pay early on for giving up butt-naked open shots.
The departure of Max Christie sent out a starting shooting guard who perfectly slotted into the highly coveted 3-and-D role teams look for. Goodwin has made that loss hurt quite a bit less.
While it's still early, and Goodwin still needs to be converted into a standard contract, but signs point to him being another gem the Lakers have found to fill a vital role on a playoff team.
Follow Raj on Twitter at@RajChipalu.