LAKERS -at- MAVS - 3/12 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

The Man in the Middle... The fact that the Lakers can take a road win from Dallas while Kobe struggles and the Lakers miss 10 freethrows, says a lot about the distinct advantages they have over the Mavs -- power, size and a whole lot of D.

They put those advantages to use tonight, featuring more of their bigman in the middle. Andrew Bynum would lead them on both ends, scoring 22 points and grabbing 15 boards in the Lakers 96-91 victory over the Mavs.

"I'm just trying to get out and rebound and play defense and it's keeping me in tune with the game and that's the difference," Bynum said.

He's dominated games with an active presence. The difference for the team has been huge. When he's challenging shots and pursuing pursuing the ball, opponents are in for a long night.

Sometimes it's that second jump, that second effort, that is really elevating his game. Late in the game, Bynum got a key defensive challenge on Terry, then quickly turned around to grab the defensive board away from Chandler on the second effort. He iced then game taking a foul and making both freethrows.

The big news out of the game, however, is the health of Kobe Bryant. He turned an ankle badly in the third quarter.

"I thought I was done, like done," Kobe said. "I was just praying that when I stood up, my foot was lined up straight. I thought I dislocated it."

He hobbled off the court, but would return later in the fourth. That's a good sign, but you can play on a twisted ankle for a while. The real impact won't be known until overnight.

While he was sidelined tonight, the second unit did an excellent job holding down the fort. They may have to step up in the next game if Kobe can't go. Of course, this Kobe we're talking about. Never count him out.


Kobe -- -- The Lakers were up by 4 when Kobe twisted his ankle late in the third quarter during a "turnover" where he was hacked on the arm with no call. He tried to jump to recover it and came down on the side of his left foot. He would come back to play again in the fourth, but it's always after the action stops that the swelling really starts to tighten that ankle up. The schedule is light on games in the next week, so that will help. They need spry, healthy Kobe heading into the playoffs. Keep your fingers crossed. The Mavs cross-matched Marion onto Kobe defensively tonight. Despite his efforts to work on his shot after the last one, he still struggled with it a bit tonight. Give Marion some credit on a few plays. Of course, the twisted ankle didn't help when it was closing time. He made just one jumper (thankfully, Ron saved him on another miss). He also got burned on transition D by Marion for a key dunk late. The Stats: He scored 16 points on 6-20 shooting (0-3 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 4 assists, 3 steals, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 33 minutes. He was a -2. The Action: He missed a three from the top of the arc. He attacked across the lane and hit the easy pull-up jumper. He missed a drive left. He missed a wing jumper. He missed a turnaround from the elbow. He missed a wing jumper, then got to the tap out, attacked and hit the fade across the lane. He swung through and drew FTs from the corner on Brewer, he made both. He hit a turnaround from the FT line (looked fouled). Out of a timeout, he spotted the screens set up for Terry, watched as he cut across baseline, then jumped the passing lane to swipe Kidd's pass and save it to Pau. He missed a three in transition, not enough legs in it. Short on a pull-up jumper in transition (layup the other way). He exposed the zone and dunked with both hands (was pushed in the back with no call). He had 10 points, 3 assists and 3 steals in the first half. Second Half: He missed an elbow fade to start the half. He was held with no call and couldn't receive a pass. He attacked and dumped it to Pau for a layup. He pulled down an offensive board and was pushed to the floor on a putback attempt and missed it (no call, of course). He missed a three over Dirk. He hit a twisting, hanging jumper across the lane in transition (think he wanted another foul on a reach). He lost the ball on a no-call hack and came down awkwardly to twist his ankle. After returning, he missed a chuck from the wing. He sank a step-back baseline jumper over Marion. He was blocked by Marion on a jumper. Despite the twisted ankle, he lost Marion badly on a pull-back cross-over, but missed the 16-footer. He didn't stay in front of Marion after a Fisher miss and got burned for a breakaway dunk, arggh (he had time to get back defensively, but watched too long). He was fouled with 4 seconds left on a rebound and made both FTs.

Gasol -- -- Phil said they planned to feature Drew a bit more in this game. Pau still somehow always scratches out that 18 points. Phil went with some Bynum/Pau on the defensive end down the stretch. Normally, he doesn't do that in order to get Lamar's mobility out there. But with Chandler likely not to be featured in a play, he probably felt safer keeping Drew in. Pau was able to provide some of that mobility on a nice challenge on a Terry three. Don't judge who anchors the D better by the blocked shots in this one -- Pau had 1 block, Bynum none. Just a large difference with Bynum in there. He was a little flat-footed on a few defensive board sequences, but put in a serviceable defensive game against Dirk. The Stats: He scored 18 points on 6-14 shooting (6-9 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 3 assists, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 35 minutes. He was a +5. The Action: He was blocked on a drive. He hooked immediately off the post entry for the Lakers first score. He attacked from the wing and hooked while on the run. He was hacked with no call. He missed a short jumper in the lane. He grabbed a missed jumper and powered it back in at a tough angle under the hoop. He beat his man down court and Ron found him for an And-1 layup, he missed the FT. No box out and Haywood scored a putback. He was fouled on the post entry in transition, he made both FTs. Second Half: He missed a fade in the lane. Easy lefty hook over Marion before the double got there. He scored a layup off the drive and dish from Kobe. He tried to cheat on a screen and gave up an open jumper to Dirk. He missed a turnaround. He was hacked hard on a post entry from Kobe under the hoop, he made both FTs. He threw a pass away in the lane. Flat-footed on the defensive board and he gave up a putback. He missed a turnaround. He hit Lamar cutting for an And-1. He blocked Chandler's dunk. Barea scored a layup over him. He iso'd on Chandler and drew FTs, he made just one. He was stripped in the post next time down. He attacked across the lane and missed the runner with his left over Chandler. He was fouled intentionally with 24 seconds left and made just one FT, arggh. Nice challenge on Terry's three to force a brick.

Bynum -- -- "We established a good temperment and a good pace to the game," Drew said. This was the grind-it-out type of battle that Drew has been putting his stamp all over lately. The difference in this one was that Lakers integrated him quite a bit more into the offense. But just establishing that presence in the paint on D, getting to shots and pursuing the ball is what this team needs from him from start to finish. "When we don't turn the basketball over, they don't get easy points and that allows our defense to hunker them down," Bynum said. When they can do that and Drew brings his A game, not a B or C game, this team is very tough to score on. Tonight, Bynum practically had a double-double in the first half. Some ice-cold freethrow shooting early on, missing his first five attempts, but he sank his last four which were all in crunch time (last two iced it with 11 second left). Glad he dialed that in just in time. Loved his power game tonight. He was powering through contact or powering around players and finishing strong. About the only area where the team struggled in the halfcourt D was when he and Pau were switching on Dirk. Bynum tried, but couldn't stay close enough to challenge Dirk well on those situations. Look for a heavy dose of this in the next game (and look for the Lakers to defend it better, too). The Stats: He scored 22 points on 9-12 shooting (4-9 from the line) to go with 15 boards (3 offensive), 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 37 minutes. He was a -1. The Action: He took the interior feed from Artest, spun and slammed. Nice challenge on Marion's drive to force a miss. Great position on the corner entry and he scored easily off the glass. He grabbed a Pau miss and slammed it back in. Great job getting to a defensive board that Marion was about to putback in. He missed a tough jumphook that was well contested. He trailed Blake's push out and Blake found him for a dunk. He hit a lefty jumphook off the low position from the center sprint. He missed a jumphook in the middle of the lane off a repost. He slammed after gathering the pass off the screen-roll with Blake. He scooped up a loose ball in the paint and was fouled on a jumper, he missed both FTs. He was fouled when Pau and he crashed the glass on a Kobe miss, he missed both FTs again. He had 12 points on 6-8 shooting and 8 boards in the first half. Second Half: He hit a tough lefty jumphook over Chandler. Nice box out on the other end for a board. He missed a tough fade over Chandler. He drop-stepped Haywood and powered in an And-1 through the contact, he missed his fifth straight FT. He slammed down an oop from Lamar when LO and Blake collapsed the D on the two-man game. He gave up an offensive board, but challenged the putback and helped force a travel. Superb read as Terry came off screens, Blake was trailing and Drew jumped out to challenge and force an airball (or get a piece of it). He was fouled on the defensive boards to draw FTs, he finally made both of them with 3:29 left. He challenged Terry's shot in the paint with 11 seconds left, bounced back up and secured the miss. He was then fouled and made both clutch ones.

Artest -- -- The Mavs made the decision to cross-match Marion on Kobe and hope Kidd could hold ground on Artest. That hurt them badly on a key offensive putback with 54 seconds left when Ron just abused Kidd under the boards to grab a Kobe miss and score. He put on the gun show to the crowd after that play. When you try to hide a smaller defender on Ron to D-up Kobe, he tries to make you pay the price in the paint. The Lakers worked the ball to him a few times in the paint and Ron drew a few fouls and manufactured some offense. Better, however, was Ron also hitting both threes he took. He nearly finished with a double-double and the Lakers needed everyone of his points with Kobe struggling. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 5-8 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 8 boards (3 offensive), 2 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 35 minutes. He was a +5. The Action: He posted up Kidd and fed Drew for a dunk. He overpowered Kidd in the post for a layup. He drew a foul on Kidd in the post again. He missed a short baseline jumper over Kidd in the post (needed to get a better angle and go glass). He hit Pau cutting in transition for an And-1 layup. He drained a corner three on the break. He was hacked and took a little body contact with no call on a drive at the buzzer and missed. Second Half: He posted up Kidd and drew his fourth foul, then ron was called for an offensive foul trying to cut across the lane. He rattled in a sideline three on a kickout. Excellent Tri sequence: He sealed Terry while setting a weakside screen in the lane, he immediately turned and looked for the ball, got it and scored a layup around Dirk in the paint. Kidd was leaning, battling and fighting, but Artest out-muscled him to grab a Kobe miss and put it back in with 54 seconds left, huge play.

Fisher -- -- The more we could have played Blake in this game, the better. Just a huge difference on D and playmaking. Phil brought Fisher back in for the final few minutes and nearly paid the price for it. He gave up a couple of good looks to Terry and also couldn't finish a drive in the lane. DFish needs Bynum behind him to erase mistakes. When Pau is anchoring at the center spot, we've got to be careful. Usually, Pau does a strong job challenging shots near the end of games. He just seems to make a better effort when the game is on the line. But the rest of the time, having Bynum behind him is mission critical when he's covering an aggressive, attacking guard. Terry always lights him up, but Blake reeled him in. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-6 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 1 assist and 3 fouls in 21 minutes. He was a -2. The Action: He missed an elbow fade. He didn't draw iron on a three. He missed a long wing jumper. He was called for two blocking fouls, one looked like a charge. Second Half: He missed a wing jumper. He missed a runner in traffic taking some contact. He gave Terry an easy score in the paint out of a timeout in the final minute. He attacked on the other end and blew a layup (it led to a breakaway dunk). Terry broke free off a screen, but Drew saved Fish with a good challenge.

Lamar -- -- Some good moments coming up with steals or loose balls to turn defense into offense for the second unit. In the half court, I loved seeing the Blake/Lamar two-man game with Lamar rolling to the hoop, taking the pass and lobbing to Drew for the dunk. That's something the second-unit needs to run more of in order to take advantage of the various skill sets (Blake's traditional pick and roll playmaking; Lamar's guard skills; and Drew's size). With Shannon in the weakside corner and Barnes on the weakside wing spacing the floor, that's something they need to run more of. Lamar also had a couple nice off-ball cuts in that second stint to manufacture some points. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 4-11 shooting (0-2 from three, 0-1 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 23 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: He missed a three straight away. He sealed Dirk and scored a layup on the corner entry. He missed a long heave with the shotclock low (poor possession for the team out of a timeout). He missed a wing jumper. He missed a drive left. He finally hit a pull-up jumper from the top of the key. Slow recovery to Marion to give up a hoop. Another poor recovery on Marion and he fouled him for FTs. Second Half: He attacked and charged over Chandler. He cut down the middle of the paint, Pau hit him and Lamar scored the And-1 layup, he missed the FT. He missed a pull-up jumper. He stepped around a post entry to Dirk, swiped it, then immediately chucked it down court for Shannon to dunk. He scooped up the loose ball, pushed it out and hit Barnes for breakaway FTs. He lobbed to drew off the two-man game with Blake for a dunk. He whipped a pass to Shannon cutting baseline under the hoop for a layup. He attacked to his right and was swatted by Haywood. He caught Dirk watching Blake's penetration, cut baseline, took the pass from Blake and slammed. He attacked but couldn't finish again.

Blake -- -- This is the two-way game that fans were hoping he'd bring more of. Offensively, he hit from behind the arc, but the general playmaking for others within the flow of the offense or on the counterstrike was just as nice. With Kobe going down, they needed the second unit to step up and Blake led the way. "Just got into a rhythm," He said. "Guys were moving well without the ball and I was able to make some good passes. It started on the defensive end getting stops and being able to push it." Defensively, he was stellar. He shut down drives and caused a series of turnovers that helped spark a Laker run. He didn't get credit for a steal, but he knocked balls loose or forced guards into bad positions. Terry did not score with any easy when Blake was on him. Beaubois struggled, as well. The D he played, alone, would have made for a strong game, but combing that with his offensive work made this team ten times tougher. Now, string them together. Consistency is the key. Phil let him close the first half. Should have let him close the game, too. Some great chemistry between Blake and Bynum on several sequences. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 3-7 shooting (3-5 from three) to go with 1 board, 5 assists and 2 fouls in 27 minutes. He was a +7. The Action: Nice effort to recover to Terry and make him alter a jumper. He pushed the ball up court, looked like he was getting ready to pull up, instead he moved in and drew Bynum's man, then bounced to Bynum trailing for a dunk. He probed in early offense and found Drew with low position for a score. He hit Bynum again off a screen-roll for a dunk. He outlet to Barnes for the breakaway dunk. He saved a bad pass in the corner, got it back and hit the corner three. Nice D on Beaubois's drive and he forced a turnover. Tight D on him again and this time he knocked the ball loose to ignite a break. He stripped Terry's drive to force another turnover. Second Half: He sank a three over the zone. He drained another three on the kickout from Lamar near the end of the quarter. He nearly sank a 75-footer a few seconds later, just a couple inches short at the buzzer. Strong D on Terry's drive to help get a stop. He missed a wing jumper behind a screen. He missed a three on a kickout. He worked the two-man game with Lamar and it led to an oop from LO to Drew. He curled off the screen, was open in the lane, but saw Lamar cutting and hit him for the slam. He missed an open baseline jumper.

Barnes -- -- Good to see him getting up and down court again. We missed that, even since he's been back. Getting his speed and length filling lanes and going hard at the rim helps the Killer B's generate some offense. He also kept some boards alive for extra possessions with his activity. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-1 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 1 steal and 2 fouls in 13 minutes. He was a +4. The Action: His offensive board led to Shannon FTs. He attacked baseline, drew FTs and made both. Great job crashing the glass to fight for an offensive board and draw a foul. He dunked off the break beating everyone down court. Second Half: He poked a ball loose from Dirk, Lamar got it and hit Barnes filling a lane for FTs, he made one.

Brown -- -- It may be an overlooked thing, but I thought his D on Barea saved the Lakers a lot of potential headaches. He stayed with him. The Mavs guards can wreak havoc when they get loose. That never happened tonight. Offensively, he never forced the action. Really like seeing that in a big, playoff-like road game. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-4 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 2 offensive boards, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 15 minutes. He was a +7. The Action: He iso'd, was blocked on a jumper from behind, got it back and put it in. He ballwatched and got lost defensive to give up a jumper. He attacked baseline and was stripped for a breakaway. Second Half: He beat his man down court for a dunk when Lamar swiped a pass. He cut baseline and scored over Terry when Lamar spotted him.

Phil -- -- Despite the loss in the last game, the Lakers put up an impressive road trip, stretching their road record to 25-12... No subs until Phil sat Fish with his second foul for Blake with 3 minutes left in the first quarter. Terry just came in and that hasn't always been a good match... Up 18-15, Phil sat Bynum for Lamar and Kobe for Shannon... The Lakers led 21-20 after the first... He started a Bynum, Lamar, Barnes, Brown and Blake unit... He called an early 20 second timeout to bark at the second unit... Phil sat Shannon for Kobe with about 6 minutes left up by 3... With 5 minutes left and tied up, Phil sat Bynum for Pau. So he had a Pau, Artest, Barnes, Kobe, Blake unit on the floor to match up with Marion at the PF (Lamar wasn't cutting it)... He sat Barnes for Bynum a minute later... Some excellent D by Blake and the Lakers extended to a 9-point lead to force a Mav timeout... The Lakers led 50-44 at the half. The Lakers shot 48 percent (just 6-11 from the line). The Mavs shot 39 percent (9-10 from the line). The Lakers had a 32-18 advantage on points in the paint (despite giving up a 10-8 advantage on the offensive glass)... The had the pace they wanted. The coaches wanted better defensive rebounding and making the FTs... He sat Bynum and Fisher for Lamar and Blake with 3 minutes left up by 4... Kobe twisted his ankle and Phil sat him for Shannon. Kobe went to the locker room... The Lakers led 73-65 heading into the fourth... Phil started a Bynum, Lamar, Barnes, Brown, Blake unit... The Lakers were out of fouls after just 2 minutes (touch fouls called). Strong minutes, though, by this unit... Up 84-75 with 6:25 left, Phil made three subs: Kobe for Shannon, Artest for Barnes and Pau for Bynum. The previous had some nice momentum going... With 3:32 left, Phil sat Lamar for Bynum and brought in Fisher for Blake. Would have preferred to keep Blake in there to cover Terry, who he had blanketed all game... He sat Bynum for Lamar again... He went back to Drew for Lamar with 55 seconds left on the defensive end (should have also brought in Blake for Fisher). Terry would get two great looks in the lane, Bynum intimidated one of them... The Lakers won the points in the paint 56-38. They kept the turnovers to just 9...

[mhan00]

good win.

[JTS1]

second!


and i'm reading this today.
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'How many kids can say growing up that they'll turn pro and play for their favorite team in the world and spend your entire career there? IT'S BEEN A DREAM!'-Kobe Bryant 11.29.15

[Shaber]

Thanks!

Think of great stats - 22 points on 12 shots for Drew.

I just wish Kobe would get his shot back - he has not done so well after the all-star game.
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Lakers depth chart

PG Johnson / Goodrich
SG Bryant / West / Scott
SF Baylor / Worthy / Cooper
PF Mikkelsen / Hairston / McAdoo / Gasol
C Chamberlain / Abdul-Jabbar / O'Neal / Mikan

[mhan00]

and i would really like to see kobe mixing his game up. he's been settling for too many just stand still, long contested jumpers the last couple of games, and it's killed his and the lakers' offensive efficiency during key parts of the game. the lakers' defense has stepped it up quite a bit recently, so we've managed to pull out wins, but more drives and playmaking would be welcome to see.

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks DB!

GREAT win! I hope Kobe recovers quickly

Drew was a beast. Artest too. AND the Killer B's stopped by Dallas for a visit. Been a long time since I've seen them.

Good Job Lakers!

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks DB

[Luca Brasi]

is this steve's first dancing tomato?
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"i was born down in the valley where the sun refused to shine, but i'm climbin' up to the highlands, goin' to make that mountain mine" ~ Lakers, 2011

[chickensandwich]

thanks db! bynum, ron and blake stepped it up today. i hope there will be tons of dancing tomatoes in these next few games

[limchrc]

thanks

[calistrtballr]

I hope Kobe's ok My heart skipped a beat

[Bynum4MVP]

[wolfpaclaker]

Really solid win.

Happy to have wins against SA and Dallas. Two teams we will probably have to go through to get back in the NBA Finals.

What I liked about this game was that despite Dallas going out and adding two Centers like Chandler/Haywood ... LA still was able to beat them up inside.

Bynum dominated with 22/15. Pau chipped in with a nice 18 points. That's 40 points between them.

[MedRomLaker]

Thanks db, thought it was kinda odd that pj brought the starters back in when the 2nd unit was on a roll and had extended it late in the game. Starters came through though so no biggy. Also not only blake but I really like shannon's defense on terry the times he was on him, seems like terry struggles against shan's length and athleticism.
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11/9/12 the day the brown was flushed down!!!!!!

4/30/14 the day the ant left the building!!!!!!

[JM]

[Tanlentueux]

[Rick12322]

Thanks, great recap as usual.

Yesterday I realized something, the lack of calls for Kobe have had a tectonic impact on his statistics. His FG% and total points scored would be significantly higher had they called what they saw. I suspect Stern is doing his best to suppress Kobe's greatness to at least an arguable level with MJ.

One comment about LO, his defense on Dirk may be the best in the league. He's very measured, and clever the way he can stay close, and walk into the space Dirk gives up on his fall away J.

[RVCdesigns]

DREW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Klone_dd]

When you have to grind out a game, it's great to have your big man doing damage.

Drew imposed himself on the Mavs, superb post moves, excellent anchoring. Every Mav had to keep an eye out for him when they entered the paint. Shaq used to put fear in the Mavs, now it's Drew. Too bad that Drew had Shaq-itis at the line, otherwise the Lakers win handily, but props to him for "making them when they count."

I understand that despite Kobe's struggles, the team will still go to him in crunch time. It's very predictable and causes the offense to grind to a halt. Less ball movement, less people movement. They tried to iso Pau a few times in the 4th, and again, the offense choked itself. I get that you go with the horses that got you there, but I think they'd be better served continuing to run the tri options rather than isos.

RonRon was subtlely huge as only he can be. I don't know why the Mavs didn't put Kidd on Kobe as they've usually done. Kobe's going to score anyway just on his volume shooting, but they gave up a lot of easy points to Ron simply due to Ron's strength.

Blake had a great all-around game. More please!

[busym]

Great job as usual DB. Even though I watch the game, I eagerly await your writeup to see what really happened.
Although the Lakers struggled, they easily handled the Mavericks. The same is true of their game with the Spurs. The Lakers imposed their will on both of the best teams in the west. I think the only team that can stop the Lakers is the Lakers. Come on playoffs.

[A Mad Chinaman]

Thanks DB!

It would be nice to either see Pau be able to defend Dirk better (either chase Dirk off of his "sweet sports") and/or take more advantage of him on offense (force Dirk to spend energy defending him by movement). It is understtod that Drew was more of a focus on offense during that game.

The "Kobe Incident" was very HARD to see/witness. As John Ireland stated, the only "silver lining" is that the Lakers only have 2 games in the next 7 days. Knowing Kobe, he will be playing in the Orlando game. It will be interesting to see how the Zen Master will deal with Kobe's PT and how the 2nd unit will perform.