I wonder how many husbands, sons or baby daddy’s got dirty looks because of the Jazz/Lakers game. I know I witnessed a couple as guys crowded around the bar at the Cheesecake Factory to see the game.
(Sidenote: best part about being 21…being able to eat at the bar. It’s fast, no wait…and you could end up drunk. Pretty much saved my mother’s day.)
This was a classic game with signature play after signature play. This is what basketball is about. Game’s like today’s game are why we love the game. It’s what the first title of this blog is all about. Utah played a magnificent game…but so did the Lakers. The Jazz got a huge lift from their bench and the Lakers got a huge lift from their stars.
Unfortunately, the big issue is Kobe Bryant’s back. Apparently Mamba’s, while incredibly deadly have sensitive backs. Didn’t catch that on the Discovery Channel. Watching the game I winced everytime Kobe did. Playing with a twisted back or back spasms is just a horrendous feeling. You feel stripped of any and all athleticism. It happened to me a couple weeks ago and what a sight it was to see a black guy in his 20’s shuffling up and down the court like a white guy in his 60s. From my experience you can’t blow by anyone, you have no lift…all you can do is shoot. And that’s pretty much what Kobe did. Sure he attacked the basket as much as he could, but he also tentatively threw up some ill-advised three-balls. You could tell in OT that his back was really bothering. He had no lift and Kirilenko nearly sent his shot to the 8th row. If they don’t get Kobe’s back fixed they could be in trouble.
(By the way…you gotta respect the guy for playing at a high level with that kind of back pain. He played smart in that 4th quarter. I need to stop this little note before I say something blasphemous that involves…that guy who wore number 23 once upon a time.)
Good news for LA: Derek Fisher proved his worth today. It’s so easy to get caught up in how well Bynum played this year and the big acqusition of Pau Gasol. Let’s take a second to celebrate Derek Fisher. In my eyes, alongside the Korver trade, the Lakers getting Derek Fisher was the most underrated move in the L this year. Think about the difference between Smush Parker and Fisher. Fisher provides a veteran presence, someone who knows the triangle, someone who Kobe trusts and someone who can get down and play some defense. It also lets Jordan Farmar being a backup instead of forcing him to be a starter too early. Fisher nearly single handedly erased the Jazz’ 12 point fourth quarter lead and played major league defense on Deron Williams in the fourth. His defense on Williams directly lead to the Jazz’s shot clock violation…which ended up turning into a Kobe three point play. The guy is invaluable.
Also kudos to Lamar Odom for making Simmons look retarded and being clutch. Gotta love that.
The Jazz got major contributions from their unlikeable bench players. Korver, Harpring and Milsap combined for 35 points. Getting that kind of production from those three guys at home is a recipe for a Jazz win. Add Ronnie Price to the mix and those 4 players scored 20 straight points for the Jazz from the 1:50 mark in the third quarter to the 6:22 mark in the fourth quarter. That’s crunch time and the lead grew from 4 (74-70) to 10 (94-84) during that span when they were in the game. They always say that home court brings the best out of your role players. Well tonight, the Jazz got the best from their guys and it’s a big part of what they won.
The other big part…Deron Williams. About as efficient of a performance as you can possibly have. He made 9 of 13 from the field. 29 points, 14 assists. So that means that Williams was responsible for at least 58 of the Jazz’s 123 points, and if you take away the fact that they shot 37 free throws that stat would look even more impressive. Also, this why I don’t deal with stats.
(That jumper with a minute left was classic Utah Jazz at home. Seriously, this play supports my theory that the most unnatural things will always go in Utah’s favor in that building. I may never step foot in that building ever because of this theory. How else does the ball float all the way to half court, Williams not only catches it but walks the tightrope, doesn’t cross halfcourt, attacks Fisher, spins off him and his a fadeaway right in Pau’s grill? How else?)
This series goes back to LA with a whole new set of question marks, different from the ones it came with. This could easily go 7.
San Antonio 100, New Orleans 80
For all the hype we gave to this series…it hasn’t given us one good game. Maybe a couple good quarters, but no good games. It’s semi-disappointing.
Why San Antonio won this game is simple simon. They played that nasty Spurs defense. They are letting Chris Paul be great. They aren’t letting Peja and David West do anything, which is the way to lock the Hornets up.
- Peja left his game in New Orleans. Pop putting Bowen on him has made all the difference in the world. Instead of 20, he’s not getting double figures. 6 points on 3-for-9 shooting and he only got to attempt 1 three pointer. Ouch.
- David West got taken out of the game. As good as he is and can be, I’m not quite sure he’s emotionally ready for the playoffs. He gets into it very easily and he wears his heart on his sleeve. It’s like Rasheed Wallace light. If he is going 4-for-15 and getting 10 points the Hornets have no shot
One second….that’s right the Hornets got 19 points from guys who need to score 45-50 combined for them to win. Those are weapons #2 and #3 right there and they were non-existant. Reasons #3 and #4 are semi-obselete. Tim Duncan was back to being Tim Duncan. And the Spurs got some *gasp* perimeter shooting from Udoka and Finley who knocked down 5 three-pointers between them.
Can the Spurs take that D to NO??