News flash: Derek Fisher sucks. The following video is actually from game one, but bear with me here…
Observe how poorly Fish defends CP3, allowing him open jumpers off of screens that he appears too lazy to fight through, and open paths to the rim because he is too damn old to stay in front of him. Last night, Paul and the Hornets had jumped out to an early 22-16 lead at the 2:30 mark of the first period. Fisher had clunked four shots to that point, and CP3 had already scored 6 of the 20 he would put up in the game. Fish was then removed from the game in favor of Steve Blake, and the Lakers immediately went on a 13-3 run, after which they never trailed. Paul didn’t score any of those three Hornet points. Lamar Odom’s entrance into the game was probably as big a factor in the run as Derek’s exit, but the Lakers just plain played better with Steve Blake on the floor last night.
Speaking of Lamar Odom, he received the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award before the game, and he proceeded to show everyone he is deserving with 16 points, seven boards, and a pair of assists. He was the guy who basically changed the momentum of the game… he came in and dropped eight points during a four minute stretch that covered parts of the first and second quarter. It’s a damn good thing he showed up, too, because Kobe and Pau combined for a total of 19 points and eight rebounds. Pau may as well have been nonexistent, and Kobe simply wasn’t very aggressive on offense, but I wouldn’t say he played poorly. He shot just 3-10 from the field, missed both of his three-point tries, and bricked three freethrows, but he didn’t force much and allowed his teammates to get the job done. Andrew Bynum was excellent with 17/11, and was the main reason why LA was able to beat NO up in the paint 50-32. Ron Artest also had another nice game with 15 points… he needed 14 shots to get there, but this was a defensive struggle, so 15 points is 15 points in this one.
As for the Hornets, they came out and played really hard; I was really impressed, actually. Defensively, they were excellent, and Gray/Okafor/Landry did as best they could with Pau/Bynum/Odom (yeah, they got out-scored in the paint, but they’re undersized, and I felt like both Okafor and Gray were recipients of a few questionable calls that landed them on the bench). Trevor Ariza did a nice job on Kobe (while also leading his team with 22 points). This was a pretty physical contest, which obviously favors the much larger Lakers, but the Hornets were able to hang around. I felt like they could’ve won the game had they just been able to make a few shots at key moments. It seemed like they got some big stops in the second half where they would give themselves a chance to cut the lead down to around seven points or so, but they could never convert on the offensive end. They held the Lakers bucketless during a few multiple-minute stretches in the second half, but it seemed like they’d always choke an open three or clunk some freethrows at the other end, allowing LA to maintain a double-figure lead.
To sum this up: give the Hornets credit for playing extremly hard, but expect the Lakers to win when they play even remotely well. They are simply the more talented team here, obviously. HUGE ups to the Hornets for fighting so hard, though. It would’ve been easy to roll over and bust out the injury excuses.
Memphis couldn’t quite hang on to a slim halftime lead, so they’ll go back home to Memphis with the series tied up at one. I feel like that’s a success… I mean, San Antonio had the second best record in the league, and Memphis is a pretty inexperienced team previously without a playoff victory in their franchise history. Earning that first W in San Antonio is a helluva feat, with or without Manu Ginobili (Grizz don’t have Rudy Gay, so don’t give me that sh!t).
The difference in game two was the battle in the middle. Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol absolutely dismantled Timmy and Dice in game one, but they weren’t able to do so last night. They combined to make just 7 of 23 shots, and although they did snag 23 boards (17 for Gasol), the Spurs came out on top in the rebounding category. Tim Duncan scored 16 points and grabbed 10 boards–a solid recovery from his subpar game one performance. Manu Ginobili’s return was also key… he led his squad with 17 points. It appears that the elbow is effecting his shot (missed 6 of 13 FTs), but with or without a jumper, the Spurs are better with him on the floor. He got to the rim effectively; the elbow didn’t appear to effect that aspect of his game. It didn’t effect his defense or dunking, either…
Said Shane Battier: “Manu’s Manu, come on. I don’t care if he’s in a body cast, he’s going to be out there and he’s going to be a handful to deal with. That’s why he’s a great player.”
That brace he was wearing was nearly as bulky as a body cast. Well, I guess it wasn’t that bad, but I don’t get how these dudes play while wearing all of this equipment. I can’t even focus with a damn wrist band on. Anyway, I figure San Antonio will return home tied 2-2 at worst, and will take care of business in six or seven.
Denver missed their first five shots from the field (it took a goaltend to get them a damn field goal), got doubled up 31-15 by the end of the first, and got their asses handed to them in an 89-106 wire-to-wire style L. Kevin Durant (23) and Russell Westbrook (21) didn’t go completely apesh!t in this one like they did in game one, but they didn’t have to, because James Harden and Serge Ibaka upped their production from 8 to 30 points. A few of Denver’s role players also played well–Harrington and Felton put up 31–but they got little from the starters not named Ty Lawson. Nene wasn’t dunking all over the place… he missed six of eight shots as Denver shot just 39 percent… so that hurt. I switched over to the Memphis game pretty quickly, but from what I saw early on, it simply looked like Denver was having a rough night. I wondered before the game if they’d come out looking like they were still focused on that offensive interference no-call rather than the task at hand… maybe I was correct? I get somethin’ right every once in a while.
I guess that’s all I’ve got for you today. I feel like that was really short, but I’m not going to force anything (writing is like basketball, you can’t force it). Oh yeah, I did want to post this Kobe dunk…
Way to slam the door on ‘em! I felt like this play officially put the game out of reach. Kobe makes an awful lot of those plays… even when he goes 3-10.
