LAKERS -at- CELTICS - 6/8 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

The Heart of Darkness... You follow the stench of Leprechauns where it leads you -- deep into the jungle, where the river turns stagnant and green with algae. Bodies move in the shadows along the banks. Here the savagery closes around you. It reeks of abomination and unseen corruption. You have found the heart of darkness.

As the boat reaches a clearing, you are greeted by hordes of Leprechaun worshipers. Their pale faces are drunk on blood lust, their eyes glassy with hatred and ignorance.

Although you are vastly outnumbered, they are distracted and unsure what to do. Screams echo from the temple and bodies of dead Leprechauns tumble lifelessly down the steps. The Leprechaun worshipers are stunned.

The Man Who Can Kill You in 0.4 stands atop the steps. This blood is on his hands. Fourteen bells ring out somewhere in the distance. The Horsemen have won.

You pick up a stick poke one of the Leprechaun bodies and then flip it over. Attached to it is a note, DancingBarry:

"The Horsemen were here. Victory was neither swift nor pretty, and the smallest of Death Riders led the fight during the height of the battle.

I will continue to track them..."

Paul Pierce said this series wasn't coming back to L.A.

After the 91-84 Laker win, the only way that prediction now olds true is if the Lakers win the next two.

When told of this quote prior to the game, Derek Fisher's reply was a stone-cold stare. His reply in the game was to single-handedly back this up with one of the best fourth quarters of his career.

"He won the game for them. Derek Fisher was the difference in the game," Doc Rivers said.

The Lakers offense was stagnant, often running clock down and pounding the dribble until forced to chuck long shots. No one was rising to the occasion until DFish hit a series of shots working off of Kobe screens along the left wing. The dagger came when he caught the Celtics sleeping with 48 seconds left. He attacked in early offense and scored an And-1 layup while getting clobbered by three Celtics -- an aggressive play by the only guy playing aggressive in that quarter.

"Nothing means more to me than helping my team win," an emotional DFish said afterward. Fisher had 11 points in the fourth.

"He's the heart and soul of this team," Kobe said.

The Celtics saw the flip side of the last game. Instead of Kobe in foul trouble, it was Pierce. Instead of Ray Allen lighting it up from three, he was shooting blanks all night -- an 0-13 that was the second worst shooting performance in Finals history.

Great bounce-back performance from the Lakers. They made Allen work harder on both ends and contested shots better. Down the stretch, when DFish was doing his thing, several other Lakers gave contributions of some kind. Pau and Lamar had key scores in the paint. Ron forced a Celtic turnover at midcourt. That's what it takes.

Afterward on the board in the Laker locker room, the coaches wrote "2 More W's." The Celtics aren't going to hand them over. The Lakers will have to take the fight from them until the final buzzer.


Kobe -- -- Kobe was allowed to play this game. The result was putting pressure on Ray Allen. Even if it wasn't very effective at times, the pressure makes Allen work on D in addition trying to work off screens to get open on the other end. That will tire you. Last game, Kobe's foul trouble from the phantom fouls help allow Ray to dial it in with Kobe having to play extremely conservatively. "That takes anybody's legs out," DFish said on the importance of Allen working so hard. Kobe and the Lakers can't survive very often with this kind of game from Kobe. The offense would walk the ball up court, get into their offense late into the shotclock, and then Kobe had to jack up a ton of long jumpers with the clock winding down. The second half offense was way too stagnant because of this. They need to be making that initial pass into the offense with about 19 on the shotclock not 15. Kobe was 1-6 in the fourth quarter. Phil lobbied a bit after the game. "They're getting up underneath him on his shot," he said. After the game, Kobe wiped his nose, then styled Ric Bucher's hair with it. The Stats: He scored 29 points on 10-29 shooting (1-7 from three, 8-8 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 4 assists, 2 steals, 3 blocks, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 44 minutes. He was a +10. The Action: He missed a three in early offense on his first attempt, layup for the Celtics in transition. He watched Rondo score a layup off a post feed (no D by Kobe, just standing there watching the play). He attacked with speed in early offense and drew FTs at the rim, he made both. He swished an early offense catch and shoot, And-1 from 20 feet out, he made the FT. He hit Pau cutting for a layup. He missed a top-of-the-key jumper. He swatted Pierce from behind. He missed a step-back three. He picked up Pierce's second foul when Luke spotted him in the middle of the lane, he made both FTs. He attacked in early offense and scored an And-1 layup, he made the FT. He missed a fading jumper. He gambled in the backcourt and gave up a layup to Rondo (bad idea). He lobbed to Pau on the break for a dunk. He missed a three on a kickout from Ron. He missed a pull-up on the baseline. He drilled a pull-up from the top of the key. He missed a step-back jumper, settling. He missed in the paint, hustled after the loose ball and fed Bynum under the hoop for an And-1 while falling out of bounds. He spun away from a defender and hit the lefty floater. He got a kind bounce on the pull-up jumper from 22 feet out. He had 16 points on 5-13 shooting, 6 rebounds and 3 assists at the half. Second Half: He didn't hit iron on a long chuck on our first possession as the Lakers squandered clock. Another long attempt and he missed badly. He swished a step-back jumper. He missed an early offense three next time down. He missed a tough reverse layup in semi-transition. He was called for a charge trying to create against Allen on iso. He blocked Perkins. He banked a short one cutting off Pau to get the feed from the post. He sank a short pull-up creating with the shotclock low. He missed a 19-foot pull-up jumper. He lost a defender and hit a three to beat the shotclock. He ran over to Pau instead of letting him work in the post, Pau gave it up, Kobe missed a pumping baseline jumper. He missed a wing three with the shotclock low. Out of a timeout, he missed a pumping, forced jumper with the shotclock low. He missed another long three with the shotclock low. He bricked a pull-up 19-footer not going up quickly and the D caught up to him. Finally, he sank a pull-up elbow jumper with 1:45 left. He stripped the ball off KG with 1:29 left on a double team. He missed a long chuck with 1:10 left. He sank a couple late FTs.

Gasol -- -- KG blew past him for layups in the half court and dunks in the full court during the first half. "Horses trot, champions sprint," Van Gundy said while breaking down Pau not going full speed in transition. They cut down those transition opportunities, but the aggressive KG gave Pau lot of problems on iso D throughout the game. This was more like the issues Pau had at times with Amare in the Suns series. In that series, the Lakers would use angles and send help. They opt to just let Pau work straight up defensively against KG rather than collapse the D. Pau is going to have to move a bit quicker if that's the plan. KG went 11-16 for 25 points. The Lakers also need to continue to impose their offensive game on the Celtic bigmen. Get KG back into foul trouble. Pau needs to fight for low position better and get guys to clear out so he can go to work. He needs to be a key weapon in the fourth, not an after thought. DFish, thankfully, gave him a rare repost for Pau's only hoop in the fourth tonight. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 5-11 shooting (3-6 from the line) to go with 10 boards, 4 assists, 2 blocks, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 39 minutes. He had a +/- of 0. The Action: He gave up a layup, transition dunk and layup to KG in the first minute. He missed a turnaround jumper. He drew FTS on the Lamar feed, he made one. He scored a layup cutting to Kobe from the weakside. He blocked a three by Allen in semi-transition. He attacked baseline, was body checked and then swatted, he wanted the foul. He drew FTs off the drive and dish from Lamar, he made one. He found Shannon open off a cut for a layup. He attacked and missed a floater while yelling for the And-1. He missed a couple of tip-in attempts. He threw down a lob from Kobe on the break. Second Half: He swished a long wing jumper. He just missed a tip-in of a Bynum miss. He threw a pass away after pumping on a jumper in the lane. Finally a post feed and he hit a cutting Kobe for a layup. He sank a wing jumper on the face-up. He drew FTs on Sheed on a jumper, he made one. He missed a pull-up, fading jumper in the lane. He fell, kicked out, DFish reposted and Pau banked a short one. KG shoved Pau to the ground on a screen, offensive foul.

Bynum -- -- Midway through the third quarter, Bynum showed on a screen and tweaked his knee. He gutted it out on the play and blocked Perkins before hobbling up court. The Lakers sat him right then. He would play 4 minutes in the fourth, but a sketchy moment for Drew. No telling how the knee will feel after this one. He wasn't quite the offensive force in this game as the last, but Bynum still had a strong impact. The team needs to keep pumping the ball to the bigmen and Bynum has got to be a bit more greedy when he gets it. Don't pass up post position to set screens as much. He needs to continue to fight for position and guys need to make the quick passes to him when he's got it. Then, clear out and let him work. The only reason the Laker team goes on dry spells is when they aren't getting penetration via the dribble or pass. Get the ball up court quicker and give yourselves more opportunities to feed the post multiple times. Bynum was still able to make an impact with 5 offensive boards. Keep that up. Defensively, Bynum showed some better D against KG than Pau was giving. His extra length and size seemed to make KG a little less effective. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 3-9 shooting (3-3 from the line) to go with 10 boards (5 offensive), 1 block, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 29 minutes. He had a +/- of 0. The Action: He missed an oop dunk, but Ron cleaned it up. He couldn't secure a couple defensive boards, when he finally did, he threw it away under his hoop for a layup. He hit an easy jumphook over Sheed. He was fouled on a jumper with no call. He hit a short turnaround in the paint. He scored an And-1 off the save from Kobe under the hoop, he made the FT. He drew FTs when Luke set him up under the hoop, he made both. Second Half: He didn't power up quickly off an offensive board and was blocked. He missed a turnaround in the paint. He blocked Perkins and controlled it. He missed a two-foot bank. He blocked KG on iso D.

Artest -- -- After the game, Rivers was irked about the foul trouble for Pierce. Welcome to Kobe's world in Game 2. Funny thing was, these weren't phantom whistles like the ones Kobe picked up. These were more like the Lamar Odom type of fouls. Ron briefly suffered some foul troubles to start the game and Luke had to cover for him. The Pierce foul trouble, however, allowed Phil to pull Ron more to try to get some better offensive flow. The team will need Ron's jumper on the road at some point. After a couple poor games, he's due again. "The game was intense," Ron said afterward. Pierce ended up with 15 points on 5-12 shooting, getting some points late in the game to make those numbers look a little better than the impact he had. Artest and Pierce have their own battle within a battle going on. Phil might be able to gamble a bit more with Luke if he's got Artest there to help muck things up for Pierce. "They're here. They don't back down. We don't back down, either," Ron said afterward. Ron's best play of the night was forcing a turnover on Baby at midcourt with some pressure D. Ron's only points of the game were the Lakers first of the game. That helped sit a jacked up Boston crowd down. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-4 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 3 boards, 1 assist, 1 block, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 23 minutes. He was a -12. The Action: He hesitated and missed a three. He grabbed a missed Bynum dunk and attacked for a layup. He was called for holding Pierce while taking a pass in transition. He then picked up his second foul on the other end on Allen who tripped over him, taking a knee to the leg (perhaps that helped get Ray's legs a little worn down early). He hit a cutting Lamar for a layup. Second Half: He missed a frozen rope jumper. Nice close out on Ray to challenge a three. He took a shove from Pierce while posting up to start the fourth, drawing his fifth foul. He missed a corner three with the shotclock low. He got it back when he stripped a ball off Davis at midcourt.

Fisher -- -- Simply magnificent under pressure. Nearly tearing up, DFish just finished one of his best fourth quarters in his career. He willed the team to a win. "Just faith, man," he said. "We work hard in this game. Sometimes things don't go your way, but you just got to keep working hard, keep believing in yourself and your team." His 11 points in the fourth kept the Celtics from overwhelming the Lakers. They were pushing hard, but DFish pushed back. That's what he does. DFish said they saw some opportunities to get into the Celtic defense early by using Kobe as a decoy. Defensively, Fisher also stepped up. Ray Allen went from red hot to ice cold. Pretty amazing really. After setting Finals records right and left with threes, Allen went 0-13 from the floor and 0-8 from three tonight. Wow. Funny how things even out. Much props to Fish and to the Laker team D, but it also helps when Kobe makes Allen work defensively, as mentioned. Great game by Fish. He has delivered some strong ones in his playoff career. "It never ceases to amaze me," Kobe said afterward. The Stats: He scored 16 points on 6-12 shooting (0-3 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 1 assist, 2 turnovers and 5 fouls in 41 minutes. He was a +8. The Action: He missed a three. We got it back, he attacked past Pierce and scored an And-1 layup on him, he made the FT. He missed a layup on another drive. He attacked off the three line but airballed an elbow leaner for a shotclock violation. He drew a moving screen call on Perkins (his second foul midway through the first). Quick outlet to Lamar leaking out at the end of the first quarter and it led to an And-1. He stopped a two-on-one break by taking a charge on Allen. Second Half: He missed a three. He drew FTs on Rondo on a pull-up jumper, he made both FTs. Poor pass into a crowd, turnover. He finally drew a push off foul on Allen before an inbounds pass. He curled into the lane and powered in a layup over a defender. He missed a long attempt from three with the shotclock low. He missed a good look at a short bank. He somehow muscled in another short jumper on the next possession. He sank a wing jumper off the screen out of a timeout. He worked off the left wing again, took contact but still banked in the jumper (should have been an And-1). Excellent repost pass to Pau who banked over Davis for a rare post score (more of that, please). Fish caught the Celtics sleeping while pushing the ball up and aggressively attacking, he scored an And-1 layup getting clobbered with 48 seconds left, he made the FT. Ball game.

Lamar -- -- Finally! Finally, Lamar showed up for the series. He had more fouls than points or rebounds in the first two games. He avoided the foul trouble and was able to contribute some offense off the bench. Lamar didn't miss a shot (although, he did bank in a three...so that perfect mark might need an asterisk attached to it). He had a key drive for a layup late in the fourth. Defensively, he played a too soft at times. He even had a bonehead foul (although it did look like KG kind of shoved him into it) and couldn't secure a board (although he was fouled) in the final minute. No love for Mr. Odom. Still, he led the team with a +14. That's more like the Lamar we expect. Hopefully, he can tighten up the D more and pound on the glass. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 5-5 shooting (1-1 from three, 1-1 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 1 assist, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 28 minutes. The Action: He attacked and fed Pau for FTs. He banked in an early offense three, oiy. Davis slipped, Lamar attacked and hit Pau for FTs. Quick attack off the Rasheed missed three and he scored an And-1 layup on the outlet, he made the FT. He cut off Ron and scored a layup over Baby. He came in to cover Pierce for a final stop in the half. Second Half: He couldn't win a jumpball against Davis (no one got into proper position, either). Davis powered past him for a layup. He took an offensive board from behind Pierce and banked it in. Great baseline attack and he scored a layup. Up by 7 with 39 seconds left, he gave up an And-1 to Pierce, then couldn't secure a rebound on the miss (on instant replay, he was pushed on one, fouled on the board with no calls).

Brown -- -- Shannon needs to look at what DFish is doing on the floor. Fish was getting into the lane and into his midrange without difficulty. Also, you saw DFish make a key repost pass. If Shannon can combine that with off-the-ball cutting and simple catch and shoots, that's where he will see success. No chucks from three that are challenged. No ball stopping. No ignoring the post. Ron played just 23 minutes in this game. Usually, that means that Shannon or Sasha get extra time. Some good run for Shannon, but Phil opted for Luke even more in this one because of his heady play. Something Shannon needs to bring more of. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-3 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 1 board and 1 foul in 16 minutes. He was a +1. The Action: Pau hit him open under the hoop for a layup. He sank a wide open 17-footer in early offense. He missed a challenged wing three, poor shot selection. Second Half: Nothing to report.

Farmar -- -- Jordan had one of those sequences that pretty much got him benched after one of his stints. Shannon had just chucked up a three and missed. Jordan followed that up with a missed three and a turnover on the next two possessions. That compounding of mistakes is what the team can't afford from the bench. Phil has always had a quick hook for Jordan whenever he sees that. Got to play it smarter, especially on the road...especially in the Finals. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-2 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 1 turnover and no fouls in 7 minutes. He was a -1. The Action: He attacked Robinson and powered in a layup. He missed a challenged pull-up three. He attacked and lost the ball on the next possession. Second Half: He drew a charge on Davis on help D (more please).

Luke -- -- "We need to have some guys out there that can playmake on the floor," Phil said of Luke. A lot of action for Luke tonight and his +13 reflected how well the Lakers played when he was on the floor. He went up against Pierce for a good chunk of his minutes on the floor, too. He came in after just a couple minutes for Ron who picked up two quick fouls. Luke held down the fort during that stretch, then Phil made some subs off and on throughout the game. He made his only shot, but the key is he kept the ball moving and set up teammates when he found the opportunity. It's critical to get the Celtic's D to scramble and not lock in. Luke can't hold his own against Pierce if he's able to get in a rhythm, but with Ron there to make Pierce work for everything, switching gears back and forth on the Celtics probably makes both Ron and Luke more effective. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-1 shooting to go with 2 boards, 1 assist and 2 fouls in 13 minutes. The Action: He swished a wing step-back jumper with the shotclock low. He spotted Kobe open in the lane and it drew FTs. He worked off a give-and-go and set up Bynum for FTs. Second Half: Nothing to report.

Vujacic -- -- Sasha got just a couple quick stints in this game. Of course, one of them Phil brought him in when the Celtics needed to foul. They promptly sent Sasha to the line with 23.8 left and he knocked down both of them. Job done. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 2-2 from the line in under a minute of action. He was a +2. The Action: He came in briefly for a final possession of the half. Second Half: He came in late when the Celtics were in foul mode, he was fouled with 23.8 left and scored both FTs.

Phil -- -- Phil went to Luke at PF when Ron picked up two quick fouls in under 3 minutes... The Lakers trailed 12-5 when Phil called a timeout. Too many layups and second chances early... Perkins sat with fouls and Phil immediately sat Bynum for Lamar midway through the quarter, down by 3... The Lakers led 18-16 with 3 minutes left in the first... Despite KG's 10 points in the quarter, the Lakers pulled out to a lead. They had a 21-5 run... They led 26-17 after the first... Phil started a Bynum, Lamar, Kobe, Shannon, Farmar unit... The Lakers opened the second quarter on a 5-0 run to force a Celtic timeout... Phil sat Kobe for Ron off that timeout... Farmar and Brown were stalling the offense and causing issues and Phil brought back in his starters with over 7 minutes left. The bench guards took the wind out of the Laker sails... Phil brought back in Luke with 3 minutes left for Artest. He then made some offense/defense subs with the two... The Lakers led 52-40 at the half. The Lakers shot 48 percent (1-8 from three, 13-15 from the line). The Celtics shot 40 percent (2-10 from three, 6-12 from the line). Pierce and Allen were 1-13 in the first half for 5 points. The Lakers had a 16-8 advantage from the bench... "When you start dribbling and you start doing stuff that says 'I'm going to try to score,' that's when we get into trouble," Phil told the team at halftime. "When it's a 'we' thing. 'We're going to do this to get guys open over here,' then we're all right."... The Lakers came out with weak energy to start the third and were outscored 7-2. Kobe then got Pierce's fourth foul... Phil brought in Shannon for Ron after Pierce sat... The Lakers led 58-49 when Lamar came in for Bynum... Just a very perimeter-oriented Laker offense all quarter. They ignored the post and were paying the price... The Lakers lost the quarter 21-15, despite Pierce sitting out most of it... They led 67-61 heading into the fourth... Phil started a Pau, Lamar, Artest, Shannon, Farmar unit... When Pierce sat with his fifth, Phil brought in Kobe for Ron... The Celtics cut it to 68-67 with 9:45 left with a 6-1 run to start the quarter. Very soft interior defense by the Lakers, meanwhile they were still perimeter-oriented offensively... Phil brought in Luke for Shannon... Out of a timeout, we got a forced, pumping jumper from Kobe with the shotclock low... Horrible offensive execution again and again, forcing the clock low and long chucks with no chance... The Lakers extended their lead to 76-70 out of a timeout when Fish hit another wing jumper... Doc Rivers called a timeout, Phil then asked for a review of a strip by Kobe off KG and the refs reversed the call in the Lakers favor with 1:29 left up by 4... Fish hit a dagger And-1 layup in transition. Phil said it was the kind of play that if you have a straight line to the hoop you take it. Fish said if he didn't have it, he would have pulled it out... The Lakers made 2-15 from three, the Celtics 4-18... The Lakers made 21-24 FTs, the Celtics made just 16-24. That's the difference in this one. That and DFish...

Game Flow -- LINK -- A big run in the first and second quarters gave L.A. the early lead by 17. The Celtics chipped away, but DFish's 11 points in the fourth were killers.

[mhan00]

awesome game.

[City_Dawg]

Good Stuff DB, great win.
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*sighs*

!...

[kobe0825]

DB thanks as always.
So proud of the lakers for getting them on their own court in the first game there. BUCK FOSTON AND BUCK THE LEPRACHAUNS!!

I want them to win the next and lose game 5 so we can close it in LA though. No fun closing in Boston
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Impossible is Nothing ...
Impossible is a big word Thrown in the world by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given then to explore the power they have to change it.

Impossible is not a fact. Impossible is an opinion.

[Sister Golden Hair]

Great write-up. I think the Lakers need to stop walking the ball up the court. This allows Boston to set up their D, establish defenisve position in the post, and force the lakers to start their offense in badf position with the clock ticking. A lot of bad shoots result from the offense not even getting going until 10 seconds have elapsed.

I'm not advocating a 7 seconds or less offense, but one that gets the ball down court and start attacking early. if a good shot is there, you take it. But the key is to move the ball around and force boston to move their feet on D.

When the lakers stopp the ball movement (or simply never initiate it), that plays into Boston's overload, challenge every pass type D.

Move the ball via the pass.

Whenever you see a laker dribbling too much, you know the offense is not being run correctly. Kobe, Lo, Jordan and Shannon are all guilty of this.

The ball should be moving, and the movement starts as soon as they in-bound the ball or get the defensive stop.

LO is particularly bad at getting the ball into the front-court quickly.

Just get it up and start attacking. It doesn't mean you have to heave early threes. Tjink of it this way: you want Boston to move their feet as much as possible, because by the 4th quarter, they will be gassed.

[usa]

Lakers played great d and Fisher pulled us through in crunch time.

[ABynum17]

1) For a guy with such a great touch at the line, Pau seems to be missing quite a bit of free throws in the Finals. Come on Pau, same concept applied. Take your time and breath out or build up the nervous energy if there's pressure, otherwise, release it quickly. He's been the one guy that's consistently getting to the line, so gotta take advantage. In fact, one could say that the last two games were probably decided at the FT line.

2) So far, we still really haven't found a way for Kobe to attack this team consistently. The good thing about the win is that it buys us more time to do so, but eventually, we'll need to figure out something, because I don't think the refs will allow this kind of, one could say, "margin for futility" again.

3) If the refs are going to stop plays in the last 2 min like this, then we could call timeouts to rest Kobe in the game earlier. The key is to have our key plays already "remembered" so that we don't have to call timeouts in the last two minutes, and instead, could just simply "call the number." Despite the win, we are still pretty much the underdog. No way Allen misses this many threes again, now that the fear is back for them, and the officials will be sure to slant in their favor from now on. So I think Phil has to coach us like the underdog. Just gotta do whatever it takes to get one more here.

[PopcornMachine]

Lakers came out much more focused tonight, as I expected them to.

Effort on defense was much better and the key to the win. And Fish showed what true professional he is.

The offense did stagnate in the 4th. Ball movement stopped and the settling for jumpers started. Mistified by Kobe's shot selection late. And not all were with the clock running out. Just plain unnecessary difficult shots, without any pass first. When the Lakers attacked the hoop, they were scoring. Kobe included.

But they got the win, which is huge. If you think about it, normally the home team wins 2 and loses game 3. Well, I like this 2-1 turn out better. They just nullified their big win and showed that when focused, the Lakers are the better team.


Almost forgot to mention the Lakers secret weapon ... Luke Walton with a big +13.
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I'm with COCO!

[Qsmiff]

Thanks for you dedication and excellent work as always, DB. This was a hard-nosed gritty win for the entire team. Fish's heart and value to this team has rarely been more apparent. We need better shot selection from #24, but some of the shots that he hit were BIG time shots and definitely pushed back the green stench, and his off ball defense was phenomonal. Pau and Drew were tough in the paint. Luke came in and was solid. Once again, unfortunately, Shannon and Farmar came in and ran around like chickens with their heads cut off. I just loved the enthusiasm the whole team showed toward each others efforts......This was a big time step up for the Lakers.........................I don't mean this in a bad way, but not one shot of Ray's mom cheering him on---Priceless!!!

[LakerLanny]

[Fleur-de-Lis]

^ Lakers just looked tired. They just stopped putting in the energy in the second half, got stagnant. They just looked extremely tired. Celtics looked even more tired.
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Winning recipe: Effort, Intensity, Focus, Composure, Patience, Execution, Attention to detail, Discipline & Persistence

[Gallofa]

Thanks, DB!

To quote an idiot: "this isn't going back to LA." Beat them in Boston!!

[LakerDynasty6.0]

[Tanlentueux]

thanks for the recap...

[Texas_Pete]

Thanks DB.

Great defensive effort tonight by the champs. To go into the garden and hold them to 84 points was great to see. Even better - to NOT see their Big 3 have good games in the same game was outstanding. We can't have them all getting off. If we play to our strengths (inside game) a little bit more, we win two more game with ease. They simply cannot match up with our versatile frontline (when they are assertive that is). That being said, I would like to see Kobe go 60% facilitator mode and 40% attack mode in the first 3 quarters. That way he can have his legs fresher for the final stretch. All in all, a great road victory.

I think this game will have a lingering affect for them in game 4. From Ray going 0-13, to PP not having one good game yet, I expect the Celtic bums to come out tight next game. I think this was a crushing defeat for them bums. We need to put more pressure on them in game 4. I agree with SGH - we should speed up the game a little. Their frontline is old and a little banged up. I think us making some easier baskets will put them in full panic mode. If the Celtic bums lose the next game, PP will be right after all.

Oh, and welcome to the Finals LO. Good to finally see you do your thing out there.

[prisma8slg]

so glad we were able to hold onto the lead. Fish stepped up for us tonight
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"I define success by championships, by winning..." Kobe Bryant

"I've seen it all. Sasha dunked on somebody," Kobe Bryant said. "I'm ready to retire now."

[limchrc]

Thanks LA for the win. Hope we can win game 4 too.

[davidse]

thanks DB good to have things back to normal on all fronts...


i do however have one major disagreement this time.

phil jackson -


rotations were decent. nothing spectacular, and a lot was forced due to foul trouble.

BUT, as a whole - the team is not playing smart basketball.
and i did not see time outs (other than the first one obviously) to try and make that stop, and i did not see this actualy stop at any time at all - it's as if phil had no controll over the team.
simply horrible if you ask me.

i'm very disappointed in him.
the team is not winning because they're playing better basketball than boston. they're not.

i know i'll get killed for it, but (as usual) i don't care:

so far, doc >>>> phil.
(and more so than before last night - even though we won it and lost game 2).


phil was just lucky that d. fish is the greatest laker icon to probably not get his number retired, or we'd all be talking right now about how bad our team play has looked.


just my 2 c's...

[Nobody]

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks DB! It's good to see the Lakers immediately answer Boston and take back HCA. This wasn't a case of the Lakers playing their best possible game, nor did any Laker get freakishly lucky from way outside, this was just a solid case of defense and character.

[JTS1]

14 bells sounded.

for the leprechuans, this one hurt their collective ears.

d fisher was the one who was made this bell ring! i loved his emotion after the game. i loved the emotion that this team shows regardless of who makes a big play. everyone has everyone's back.

i don't understand how guys can stand around at some points in a game. i wish phil would shore that kind of thing up because it makes little sense. these guys have this post season on the floor together.

but that 4th quarter and all of the great plays that fisher made, as well as ronron's big hustle play helped the lakers to victory!

thanks db for another great recap!
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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

[Luca Brasi]

[lakerboy]

[JTS1]

luca brasi quote:

[squidward]

Man, I feel good.

Fish stepped up when it was necessary.

Farmar and Shannon are frustrating me. They don't pass the ball, they don't make plays, they sucked a$s. I guess benches don't travel.

Kobe played okay. Great job on defense though. And as bad as his offense might have been, he put up 29 pts, 7 boards, and 4 assists. That's not terrible. But yeah, he needs to hit open jumpers.

Lamar finally stepped it up a little.

Ron ron with some great defense.

Luke gave the Lakers some good minutes out there.

Pau was okay.

Bynum was good.

And we can't forget Sasha going 100% from the charity stripe.