LAKERS -at- JAZZ - 11/26 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

The Closers... In the thick of the battle, every team needs a good closer. The Lakers rely on Kobe, the Jazz rely on Deron Williams. Both showed off their crunch-time skills tonight.

Kobe sank a number of key baskets for the Lakers down the stretch. Williams sank a huge three. A turnover on a handoff stung badly, then the wheels came off with two clanks from Ron Artest in the final minute. And the Jazz snatched the 102-96 victory.

On the most critical possessions of the game, Artest and the team flatlined. Ron had been asking for some action -- sometimes you get what you wish for, but it's granted by one of those genies who like to make an ironic point at your expense. The spotlight wasn't kind to Ron.

Really, there was only one poor shot -- a fade across the lane when he attacked from the corner with 40 seconds left. Pau's misses and Ron's missed three in the final minute were decent shots. This game was lost for other reasons, but much will be made about those who don't come through in the clutch.

Kobe, however, looks toward the bigger picture of June, not November.

"It's on me to make the defense commit," Kobe said, "and when they do, we hit our open shooters. Those shots are going to go down. It's tough for those shots not to go down four times in a series. Those are good looks. You just have to live with that."

For most of the season, Phil has leaned on a hot hand from his bench to close the game (usually at the expense of Fish or Artest). Tonight, however, that consistent, reliable bench came up stone cold.

Steve Blake and Shannon Brown were a combined 2-15. Throw in DFish's numbers and the trio of Laker guards went 3-22. (Kobe was shooting poor, too, until catching fire late in the fourth.)

Rather than extending a lead, the bench helped lose a 19-point advantage during the second quarter. That rare bench failure cost the Lakers their five-game win streak.


Kobe -- -- He struggled with his shot all game, missing a number of easy ones he is usually automatic on. Finally, he caught fire with a string of three-point plays in crunch time. The Jazz had seen enough and sent the instant double. Others had to step up. Pau missed. Artest clanked. The wheels came off and the momentum was lost. A number of things had to go wrong for the Lakers for the Jazz to take this game. Kobe seemed bemused at the frenzied November Utah crowd as the game slipped away. He nodded at them to enjoy it while they can. The Stats: He scored 31 points on 10-21 shooting (3-5 from three, 8-9 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 34 minutes. He was a +1. The Action: He set up Lamar for a layup. He missed a wing jumper. He sank a turnaround from the mid post. He set up Pau for an open jumper on the drive and kick. He changed pivot feet on a post up, travel (never see him do this). He sealed his man under the hoop and scored an easy layup when Pau found him. He missed a wing three. He missed a baseline jumper. Easy turnaround just backing his man way down before hitting. He missed a 6-footer. He missed a turnaround out of a timeout. He missed a jumper, short. He swished a fade in the paint. He was fouled on a layup in transition (hit on the head), he made one FT. He was blocked in transition, got it back, attacked and drew FTs, he made both. He missed a three at the buzzer. He had 11 points on 4-12 shooting. Second Half: He went glass on a face-up jumper to start the half. He muscled his way to a couple FTs on the next possession, he made both. He missed an open 5-footer that he's usually automatic on. He missed a 4-footer in transition. He posted up and hit the turnaround. He had 17 points on 6-17 shooting after three. He drained a wing three behind the Pau screen out of a timeout. Same play next time down and he drilled the three right over his man. He backed Bell down and swished the turnaround from the elbow. The Jazz switched AK on him and Kobe sank another three off the two-man game. He swung through on AK next time down and drew three FTs, he made all three. It looked like he was hit on a handoff with no call and it went for a layup the other way (big turnover).

Gasol -- -- Pau played 45 minutes, Kobe 34. Pau missed a couple of jumpers in crunch time after playing a strong game. Kobe was sinking his. The importance of rest to close a game could be seen in how those two finished tonight. Pau just didn't have it in the tank at the finish line. I'm sure he can't wait for Bynum to return so he can throttle back the action a little bit. Pau was 0-3 in the fourth and didn't score. He was an efficient, effective weapon until then. The Stats: He scored 21 points on 9-14 shooting (3-5 from three) to go with 11 boards, 4 assists, 1 block, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 45 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: He sank an elbow jumper. He cut baseline and scored an And-1 layup off the feed from LO, he made the FT. He sank a FT jumper on the drive and kick from Kobe. He crashed the glass and tipped in a Kobe miss. He worked across the lane for a short jumphook. He faced up and was fouled on a jumper, he made one. He missed a face-up jumper. He was mugged in the paint, he made one FT. He had 13 points on 5-6 shooting and was a +11 (needed to get him the ball more). Second Half: He swished a 17-footer. He was stripped in the post. He reversed around a defender in transition. He made a 10-footer next time down. He missed a lefty jumphook. Easy layup around Jefferson in the post. He had 21 points on 9-11 shooting after three. He bricked a turnaround. He blocked a jumper. He missed a long wing jumper (should have cut to the hoop for a high-low from Lamar). He attacked and got tapped with 4 seconds left.

Lamar -- -- Decent game by Lamar. I'd like to see him in the post a lot more verus Kirlenko who doesn't have the strength to stay with him on that match up. Lamar got in there a few times, but he also settled against that match up. LO helped provide the second unit some scoring punch to start the fourth quarter before Phil sat him. That seemed to be an untimely sub. The perimeter players not hitting shots made things tougher on post game. With slashers and cutters like Barnes and Brown, Lamar's post game should have been a bit more of a focal point and could help counter some of those doubles if we're not hitting from the perimeter. The Stats: He scored 16 points on 5-8 shooting (6-6 from the line) to go with 10 boards, 5 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 41 minutes. He was a -2. The Action: He scored a layup off the Kobe feed. He posted up and hit Pau for the And-1 layup. He drew FTs on an attack in the paint, he made both. Quick attack from the wing and he scored a layup. Easy layup when the Jazz D broke down as he probed from the wing. His jumper was blocked from the side. He had 8 points on 3-4 shooting and 7 boards. Second Half: He missed a step-back jumper over AK (back him down in the post). He crashed the glass to dunk back in a missed Artest layup. He got tapped on a fade in the lane. He scooped up a loose ball and scored a layup. He posted up and hit Barnes cutting. He cut weak to strong off the Pau post and drew FTs, he made both. He attacked Milsap next time down and drew more FTs, he made both. He was stripped while attacking an open lane.

Artest -- -- Ron was playing a quality game until the final minute. He was scoring efficiently, getting to the line. He had a huge steal with 5:40 left and took it the distance for the layup. The wheels came off for Ron in the final minute when he attacked from the corner and missed a fade across the lane with 14 on the shotlock. Not sure what that was about. That only put his missed corner three short later in a bigger spotlight. It looked like Kobe actually had Pau open off the two-man game to tie it up, but opted to go to Ron for the redemption three. Fans are going to hate on Artest for the previous miss and overreact to the missed three. Kobe has confidence, however, in his guys as mentioned in the above Kobe quote. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 3-8 shooting (0-1 from three, 5-6 from the line) to go with 5 boards (3 offensive), 2 steals and 2 fouls in 31 minutes. He was a -1. The Action: He scored a layup off the Pau handoff to start the game. He worked the post against Milsap and drew FTs, he made both. Great effort to save an offensive board back to give the Lakers a second chance. He drew FTs in the post off that, he made one. He didn't hit rim on a layup. He attacked past Milsap for a layup. He had 7 points on 2-3 shooting. Second Half: He overpowered Milsap, but missed the layup (LO cleaned it up). He missed a layup in the post, got it back and drew FTs, he made both. He stripped Milsap and took it in for an uncontested layup. He boinked a fade across the lane, missing with 48 seconds left. He missed a corner three with 14 seconds left.

Fisher -- -- He was steamed when the Jazz shotclock malfunctioned for about the fifth or sixth time in the final two minutes. That really seemed to take the rhythm and flow from the game and the Jazz seemed to capitalize. Fish has had some respectable defensive games against D-Will in the past. Tonight, Deron seemed to get whatever he wanted. That's a tough cover no matter who your PG is. Fish actually led the team in +/-. Just goes to show how poor the second unit played tonight. Deron hit a huge three over Fish in the final minute that the Lakers didn't recover from. Fish got little back at the other end, just making one layup on the night. Fish got into a little foul trouble tonight when he got run over by AK and had to sit with his fourth foul after 7 minutes into the third quarter. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 1-7 shooting (0-2 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 1 turnover and 5 fouls in 29 minutes. He was a +3. The Action: He missed a jumper coming off the double screen. Poor pass on the break, turnover, but he hustled back to help get a stop in transition. He missed a wing jumper. He drew FTs on the perimeter handoff, he made both. He missed a three taking some contact with no call. He attacked baseline and missed a layup. Second Half: He missed a long three. He attacked baseline, hung and scored with his left. He drew a push-off on D-Will on the other end. He stripped the ball off Bell in transition to save a hoop. He missed a toe-on-the-three line jumper. D-Will hit a big three right over him.

Blake -- -- A horrible night for Steve Blake. He missed everything he put up. With all the attention others were getting, he was seeing some wide open looks and shooting blanks. The Lakers really suffered from the poor guard shooting in this game and Blake only made things worse. Just hitting two or three of those would have made a huge difference to the momentum and outcome of this game. The Jazz should feel fortunate for dodging those bullets. Defensively, neither him nor Fish seemed to make an impact against D-Will. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-7 shooting (0-4 from three) to go with 1 board, 1 steal and 3 fouls in 18 minutes. He was a -9. The Action: He missed a finger roll in transition. He missed a three in transition. He missed an open corner three. He missed a wing three. He was 0-4 in the first half. Second Half: He missed an open corner three. He missed an open three from the other corner, yikes. He swiped the ball on the sideline on the other end. He missed a layup off the drive from the right side. He drew a charge stepping in from the weakside to help on the baseline.

Barnes -- -- He was the only bench player to show up tonight. One wonders what might have happened had Barnes been the guy with the ball in the clutch situations versus Artest. The first unit stomped the Jazz starters in the first stint, so Phil went back to them to close. Barnes was really the only bench player who came to play. He scrapped for his usual points and offensive boards. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-6 shooting (1-2 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 1 assist and 1 foul in 21 minutes. He was a -10. The Action: He sank a wing three at the end of the first. He scored a reverse when Pau threaded a pass to him on a baseline cut. He faked a handoff and attacked down the lane for FTs, he made one. Second Half: He cut off the Odom post and scored a layup. He missed a short jumphook off the glass. He found Brown under the hoop for a layup. He missed a wing three out of a timeout. He missed a putback attempt.

Brown -- -- The bench on the road is often a big issue for teams. The Lakers have some experienced ballers in the Killer B's, but they faded tonight, unable to hold that big lead AS the Jazz bench outplayed the Lakers bench. Shannon has been punching teams in the mouth but not tonight. Phil gave him his run, despite the poor first half and lackluster second one. That just shows some increased trust in what Shannon has been providing him. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-8 shooting (0-1 from three, 1-1 from the line) to go with 1 board, 1 assist and 1 foul in 18 minutes. He was a -6. The Action: He missed a runner. He missed a layup. He scored an And-1 layup, making the FT. He missed a pull-up from 19 feet out. He missed a tough turnaround. He was 1-5 Second Half: He missed a wing jumper. He missed a runner at the buzzer. He cut baseline, took the pass, up-faked and scored the layup. He missed a corner three.

Caracter -- -- The Lakers just couldn't hold down the fort with the rookie in the game. He was a -8 in just 3 minutes, and as mentioned, Pau had to play the bulk of the minutes to keep the ship afloat. Despite the poor perimeter shooting from the Lakers, you can probably chalk up the loss to not having the Bynum/Ratliff combo available. The Stats: He didn't score or board and had 1 foul in 3 minutes. He was a -8. The Action: He fumbled away a defensive board. Second Half: He did not play in the second half.

Phil -- -- The Lakers got off to a 15-8 lead midway through the quarter... They led by 12 when a Jazz timeout came with 2 minuets left in the quarter. Phil went to the bench, bringing in Blake and Barnes for Fish and Artest... He brought in Shannon for Kobe a minute later... The Lakers led 33-17 after the first... To start the second, Phil sat Pau for Caracter after 3 minutes with a 17-point lead. It was trimmed to 9 just 3 minutes later and Phil brought in his big guns again. Steve Blake was stone cold in this stint, missing several open shots. A 15-6 start of the quarter for the Jazz behind their bench... Phil went with the Pau, Artest, Barnes, Kobe, Fish unit... He subbed out Barnes a couple minutes later for Lamar... The Jazz cut the lead to just 2 points with 2:51 left, complete reversal of the first quarter... The Lakers trailed 46-45 with 1:40 left. He brought back in Shannon for Artest to match up the two PG Jazz lineup and they won that stretch... The Lakers lost the second quarter 29-17 (Blake and Brown combined for 1-9 shooting, Kobe 4-12)... The Lakers led 50-46 at the half. The Lakers shot 42.5 percent (17-40, just 1-6 from three). The Jazz shot 42 percent (18-43, 2-7 from three). The Lakers made 15-20 from the line, the Jazz sank 7-9... The Jazz trimmed the lead to 1 after 4 minutes and Phil called a timeout. The Laker D was giving up too many easy looks... DFish picked up his fourth foul and had to sit a little earlier in his rotation for Blake, who had a poor first half... Tied at 66-68, Phil had the Killer B's with Lamar and Pau. They quickly trailed by 5... The Laker PG/SG combos were a combined 8-35 shooting, Pau was 9-11... The Lakers trailed 75-72 heading into the fourth... Phil started a Pau, Lamar, Barnes, Brown, Blake unit... He'd sub out LO for Artest. Lamar was the only Laker doing anything offensively... With the offense sputtering again, Phil called a timeout down 3 with 7:35 left. Phil went with Kobe for Blake out of that... A minute later Fish for Brown... Kobe started to heat up, but the Lakers just traded hoops. A few stops here could have put the game out of reach... After Kobe killed the Jazz on several possessions, the Jazz sent instant doubles to take the ball out of his hands. Phil tried to get the ball in the post, but that failed to manufacture anything. The Artest fade also happened. The Kobe doubles effectively chilled the Lakers offense... There was a chance for Kobe to find Pau on a two-man game to tie it up, but he opted to go to Ron in the corner to take the lead. Not exactly sure that's what Phil was hoping for in that situation... The Lakers made just 4-15 from three and had just 14 assists...

[lounger]

tough loss but we'll be alright.

Thanks DB!

[Bynum4MVP]

16/10 with 5 assists is a decent game by Lamar these days? Man, times have changed.

But I give Lamar greater props on holding Milsap to 13 points. And in actuality, most of those points didn't even come on Lamar. I don't think Milsap scored more than 5 points on Lamar when Lamar was actually defending him.

Ron missed the clutch shots and became the goat of the game but in actuality, he didn't have a bad game. Can't blame players for missing clutch shots...sometimes they go in, sometimes they don't.

Barnes had a decent game as well, unfortunately, he's grouped in with the Fairy Bees.

FBB...Fish, Blake, Brown were the reason why the Lakers lost as DB mentioned. Bad defense and horrid offense. With their defense tonight, they might as well have just bent Pau and Lamar over for the Utah guards to penetrate because the Bigs had to help the Laker guards defend all night long.

Phil gets some of the blame as well as "let them figure it out" lost the 20 point lead. And benching Lamar right after he had scored 4 straight points?
_________________
Before Lamar trade: Lakers-57 wins (2011)
After Lamar Trade: Lakers 41 wins (2012)
Lol, people actually thought trading LO would be a GOOD thing

[tw-lakbfan]

Just one 3 pointer from Blake, and the game could be ours.

One of those nights...

[Mel Rose]

Those are the bounces. Tough loss
_________________
Insert something smart here.

[ThreePointBomber]

Amazing Run by Kobe in the fourth. BS Shot clock issues, when the Lakers had perfect spacing to set up a decent play, but some slip ups in the fourth costs us, Oh well.
_________________
The most important shot in basketball.

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks DB.

Tough loss. We'll beat them next time.

[wolfpaclaker]

[limchrc]

thanks

[angrypuppy]

Thanks DB.

It happens. Deron Williams had an outstanding game against someone who usually defends him well. Except for a brief run by Kobe our guards couldn't hit a shot all night. We ignored our front court advantage. Utah's had great comeback wins against other strong teams this season, something that won't be so easily dismissed should these teams meet again in the postseason. And besides, bad things happen in Utah... even the shot clock cheats.

Despite all the problems the game was only lost in the final minute. The Jazz fans have reason to celebrate; I don't see them having a chance against us in a seven game series.
_________________
We are stardust
Billion year old carbon
We are golden
Caught in the devil's bargain
And we've got to get ourselves
Back to the garden

-Joni Mitchell

[mhan00]

[OshadowO]

thanks DB. A tough loss is easier to swallow versus a beat down. Bench will toughen up as the season goes by. The way I see it they barely beat us at home and it took a missing starter for LA, an incredibly poor performance by our bench, and a great one by their star to eke it out.

[Klone_dd]

It was like, after the 1st Q, the team had too much turkey and tryptophan-ed out. The bench didn't show, Kobe was missing gimmes, and the 3's rimmed in and out. The timekeeper really was the unsung hero for the Utes. The malfunctions made the last 2 minutes choppy and disjointed to the favor of the Jazz.

[RVCdesigns]

0-7 from Blake, it happens. Thanks DB.

[Bynum4MVP]