GRIZZLIES -at- LAKERS - 1/13 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Bynum DOWN!... Early in the third quarter, Andrew Bynum tangled his leg with Lamar under the defensive glass and quickly went down grabbing his left knee. Staples was stunned for several minutes. The x-rays were negative and they are hoping it was just a sprain. Bynum was in a lot of pain. Laker fans were, too.

"I don't think it's bad," Drew said. "We'll know tomorrow." His words are optimistic (Video), but an MRI will tell the story.

The Lakers took the game 100-99. Kwame Brown hit one freethrow with 8 seconds left to give the Lakers a one-point lead, then he denied Lowry's attack at the front of the rim to hold the line against the Grizzlies. Sketchy last few seconds, but the Lakers survived.

The game was nearly lost midway through the fourth when the Grizzlies when on a 14-0 run. Phil was too late to react, waiting until the 6-minute mark before bringing his starters back in. Kobe was about the only one to be effective offensively down the stretch. Phil said he rested him longer than usual because Kobe was winded.

The Lakers enter survival mode again with Bynum down. Kwame will now move into a bigger role, but one he is familiar with. "Unless Wilt comes back from the dead, I don't know what else we are going to do," Phil joked when asked if Kwame would start.

They will be hard pressed to continue winning in the same fashion as they had. Things suddenly got a whole lot tougher.

"We have to get Kwame in the mix and have him play within our rhythm of what we like to do and hopefully we will be okay," Kobe said afterward.


Kobe -- -- Miller was getting loose for scores early and often against Kobe. Kobe locked down in the third and held him scoreless for the first 11 minutes until Kobe sat. Down the stretch, No. 24 carried the team. With Fish struggling and Bynum out, we looked incredibly dependent on him. Phil thought Kobe was struggling with his energy and wind because of the viral infection. You could see Kobe trying to catch his breath a few times. Sick and tired, though looking better than the previous game, he still gave us a big scoring night...although not very efficient. The key part of his game was manufacturing points at the line. This helped in crunch time. The Stats: He scored 37 points on 10-25 (3-10 from three, 14-15 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 4 assists, 4 steals, 1 turnover and just 1 foul in 36 minutes. The Action: He missed a three on his first attempt. He missed a long wing jumper. He sank an easy 10-footer from the right side. He missed a corner three. He leaked out, took the pass from Lamar and dunked softly. He attacked from the wing, drew contact and got to the line, he made both FTs. He attacked from the top of the key to his left, drew the foul on Gay and scored the layup, he made the FT. He posted up, got into the middle of the lane, hung and took the foul on Darko to draw FTs, he made both. He attacked across the lane, took contact with no call and scored the layup over Gasol. He missed a long three. He spotted Luke with a mismatch in the post and hit him for the easy layup. He sank an open three in transition. He sank another three next time down. He missed a runner at the end of the half and screamed at the refs for the foul. He had 19 points on 6-12 shooting and 4 assists in the first half. He missed a baseline jumper, we got it back, he attacked again and drew FTs, he made both. We pressed on the inbounds, he swiped the ball under the hoop and drew more FTs, he made one (he was huffing and puffing at the FT line). He missed a three, short. He missed a scoop in the post, but got it back. He pushed out the rebound, probed and scored to his right. He missed a pull-up at the wing. He drew FTs on a swing through move at the wing, he made both. He stepped out and drained the wing three. He missed a wing three. He missed a top-of-the-key jumper. He picked up a tech when Miller carried the ball badly and the refs missed it. He missed a three. He bricked off the glass badly from 18 feet out. Back in, he attacked to his left and scored with his right to stop a 14-0 run (he then gave Miller room on the other end and gave up a three). He drew FTs curling around a screen and drawing a crowd, he made both with just over 2 minutes left. He blew past a double team and took contact on a third man and drew FTs with just over a minute left, he made both to give the Lakers a 1-point lead with a minute left. Kobe deflected a pass, then Kwame hit Kobe who pushed it up and scored a layup on the bust out with 42 seconds left, the Lakers led by 3. Memphis didn't want him to beat them and doubled him on the perimeter, Kobe gave it up, Luke attacked and we got Kwame to the FT line.

Bynum -- -- He stepped on Lamar's foot and twisted the knee. It will be a setback for the Lakers and Bynum if he's out for extended time. Personally, I've been looking forward to each and every game because we were watching Bynum's growth and maturity. I hope Drew is right. I hope it's not as bad as these things usually are. He said he can put weight on in it. He can move right and left, but to take a step forward is what hurts. Icing it down helped reduce the pain. Any kind of pain off that type of injury usually means someone is out for weeks. Prior to the injury, Drew was putting together another one of those big, well-rounded games that displayed his continued growth. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 5-7 shooting, grabbed 9 boards, dished 3 assists and didn't foul in 20 minutes. The Action: He gathered the miss by Fish on the break and dunked. He took an interior feed, spun away from the D and scored off the glass with his left. He kicked out to Fish and LO for jumpers. He posted up Gasol and hit a jumphook with his right. Great foot work pivoting around Darko and then dunking. He took the high feed, gathered it, then pounded several dribbles as he wheeled around the defender into the lane for the jumphook (very nice speed on that attack). He lost grip on dunk attempt and blew a sure highlight dunk. He had 10 points on 5-6 shooting to go with 9 boards in the first half. He missed a jumphook. Underneath the hoop with 8:52 in the third quarter, he went down after stepping on LO's foot.

Lamar -- -- Bynum was just replacing LO's spot on my Thoughts and Ratings. Bynum had become the Lakers second option. Lamar is going to have to pick it back up. It will be tricky because foul trouble from him could have a ripple effect at the PF spot as we lack bodies. In this game, Lamar had his usual stretch of "where'd he go?" ball on offense. That won't cut it if we lose our major post presence. Lamar is going to have to step it up on that end. He's giving us double-double ball, but we need more offensive punch. Defensively, he was matched up with Gasol...and Gasol had a big night, especially with the boards and assists. The Stats: He had 10 points on 4-9 shooting (0-1 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 10 boards (4 offensive), 3 assists, 1 block, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 33 minutes. The Action: He swatted Gasol on one end, then bricked a layup on the other. He pulled down a board and quickly outlet to Kobe for an uncontested score. He sank a baseline jumper off a kickout from Bynum. He hit a runner in the lane attacking the zone. He missed a wing jumper. Out in transition, he attacked to his left and scored the layup. He pulled down a long rebound off a missed three by Luke, Luke cut and Lamar hit him for the layup. He missed a three. He got blocked on a reverse. He sprint down the middle of the floor after outletting the rebound, took the return feed from Fish and scored the layup. He took a long pass from Fish, bobbled it on the break, but drew the foul, he made both FTs. He somehow blew an offensive board that was right in his hands with a minute and a half left.

DFish -- -- Not quite the shooting night he had in Memphis and that could be one of the reasons the game was a lot closer (Bynum being the other, of course). Fish struggled from the freethrow line, which is rare since he's a top 10 shooter from their. Fish did have a couple moments of spark in the middle of the fourth. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 3-9 shooting (1-3 from three, 2-5 from the line) to go with 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block and 2 fouls in 29 minutes. The Action: He got swatted on a drive. He missed a layup on the break. He drew FTs cutting away from the ball, he made one. He rattled in a sideline three off a Bynum kickout. He swished a jumper with his toe on the three line. He missed a layup, then fouled the rebounder. He spotted LO cutting down the middle of the lane for a layup. He drew FTs under the hoop, he made one. He missed a sideline three. He got swatted on a drive. He pushed out the break, took contact and scored the And-1 over Gay, he missed the FT...we got it back and Fish missed a three. He then stole the ball and ignited the break, which led to LO freethrows.

Luke -- -- It seemed like Luke was in on several "almost" big plays that just never happened. It happened a number of times, even down to the end of the game. He ended up leading the Lakers with 5 turnovers. They left him to double Kobe late in the game and Luke took it into the heart of the D and set up Kwame for a dunk attempt...that would have been huge had Kwame finished. Still, it set up the game-winning point from the freethrow line. Luke played a little PF with LO in foul trouble and Bynum down. We might see that more with Ronny having to go at the C spot. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 4-8 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 6 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal and 5 turnovers. The Action: He swished a face up jumper from the right side for the Lakers first score. Weak pass to a cutting Fish and it was picked off. He hit Bynum with a bounce pass in the lane for a score. He made a layup on a quick strike in the post after a Memphis miss. He posted up a smaller man in transition, Kobe found him and Luke scored the layup. He missed a three, LO rebounded it, Luke cut and took the pass for a layup. He forced an interior feed into traffic for a turnover. Uggh, he saved a ball on the D end under the hoop to the Grizzlies for a score. He missed a turnaround in the lane. He tried posting up Warrick and got rejected badly, then he fouled. He deflected a pass to ignite the break. He missed a short floater. Gay hit a three to tie the game as Luke tried to help and recover. He attacked down the lane, drew the D and fed Kwame, who got fouled on the dunk attempt with 9 seconds left. Luke nearly had Kwame's freethrow miss but fell out of bounds with the ball.

Kwame -- -- Just enough. That's what Kwame gave us tonight. Hopefully, that what he can give us while Bynum is out. Kwame hit one freethrow in four attempts tonight -- the one as the game winner. Defensively, while Lowry attacked hard to the hoop, Kwame jumped straight up to challenge him and kept his arm extended straight up. If he brought it down or jumped into Lowry, the refs might now swallow their whistle. In any event, we got the point and the stop. The Stats: He scored just 3 points on 1-5 shooting (1-4 from the line), he pulled down 6 boards, 1 assist and blocked 3 shots in 26 minutes. The Action: He attacked, got a good look and blew the easy layup. Quick first step to his left and this time he didn't miss the easy one. He took the post entry, went up for the jumphook and drew FTs, he missed both. He missed an oop and wanted the shove foul. He swatted Jones in the lane. Wild post up attempt and he bricked badly. He rejected a lob pass out of bounds to save a hoop. He gave up FTs trying to steal the ball from Navarro, luckily he missed both FTs. Kobe deflected a pass off the two-man game, Kwame grabbed it while recovering to his man and quickly hit Kobe who scored on the bustout with 42 seconds left. He missed a dunk with the score tied 99-99 with 8 seconds left (should have had the And-1), he made the first, stepped back up to the line and missed the second -- 1-point lead with 7.5. He challenged Lowry's drive at the front of the rim, he missed and the Grizzlies missed a heave at the buzzer.

Ariza -- -- We missed some of those garbage points or scores on the breakaways. Seems like he's been a fingernail short on a few steals and bustouts in the past few games. He and Kobe had their hands full trying to defend Miller. They had some good stretches of D after Miller's big first half. Ariza helped slow him a little after the first quarter burst Miller had, but that's a lot of work with all the picks and off the ball movement. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-2 shooting, both attempts from three, he grabbed 2 boards, had 1 steal, 1 turnover and didn't foul in 16 minutes. The Action: He deflected a pass out of bounds. He sank a corner three on a kickout from Farmar. He missed a sideline three. Great hustle to go to the floor to keep a loose ball alive, it led to a score by Crit. He stripped Gasol who had the defensive board, then reset the offense and it led to a three by Crit.

Turiaf -- -- Ronny's birthday tonight. "I'm very disappointed because we have to leave right now," Ronny said, wishing he could get in on a little birthday celebration. With the Bynum injury, uUfortunately, Ronny will be thrust back into the center minutes if Bynum is sidelined for any extended amount of time. Hopefully, he can bring the kind of impact he played with earlier this season, but that was coming at the starting PF role, not the backup C. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-3 shooting, had 1 steal, 1 block, no boards and 1 foul in 11 minutes. The Action: He sank a face-up elbow jumper on his first touch. He missed a wing jumper. Nice D, challenging Conley's drive and securing the miss. He then drew FTs on the other end working the two-man game, he made one. He was rejected from behind.

Farmar -- -- A bit of a three-heavy game from Farmar, but he led the bench in scoring. He had one of those stretches in the game where he was coming up with loose balls and pushing the tempo the other way. Good to see him get into one of those two-way frenzies. He had done that a lot more earlier in the season. Hopefully, he can continue with that kind of spark. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 4-11 shooting (2-7 from three), he grabbed 2 boards to go with 3 assists, 3 steals and 2 fouls in 19 minutes. The Action: He missed an open three. He missed an early offense three. He missed another three with the clock low. He took the handoff from Kwame and scored the reverse. He attacked and kicked to Ariza for the three. Gasol bobbled the ball and before he could recover Farmar was on him to swipe it. He scooped up a loose ball, pushed out the break against his man and scooped the layup over him. He missed a layup a few seconds later on the break. Out in transition again with Kobe, he gave it up, got it back in the corner and sank the three. He scooped up another loose ball on the next D stand. He missed a two-for-one three, too far out. He drained the second three attempt with 0.6 left in the quarter when Crit found him. Pressure D in the backcourt and he forced a turnover. He missed a baseline pull-up. He missed an open wing three in early offense.

Crittenton -- -- He came in for Kobe at the end of the third quarter. Better minutes from Crit, hitting all his shots. He was playing great until a couple of turnovers at the end of his stint when the wheels were starting to come off the Laker lead. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-3 shooting (1-1 from three) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 2 turnovers and a foul in 7 minutes. The Action: He pushed out the break, dropped a pass off to Farmar who drained the three at the end of the third quarter. He scooped up a loose ball, attacked and hit a jumphook in the lane. He crossed over to lose his man, then hit the 19-footer with the shotclock low. He swished a wing three on his next attempt. He was called for a travel, shuffling his feet before dribbling. He was called for a charge trying to attack and finish strong.

Karl -- -- Brief stint as the backup for Kobe. He didn't play great, so Crit got the next stint. The Stats: He had a couple boards and didn't score on his only attempt in 5 minutes. The Action: He lost the handle on a drive that looked like a sure score. He got blocked on a breakaway layup.

Phil -- -- "I was all prepared for that game to go the other way," Phil said "because everything seemed to be happening the wrong way for us tonight. Shots being made, fouls being called that put us in jeopardy."... Kobe was getting scored on by Miller early. Phil called a timeout late in the first and brought Ariza in to cover Miller. The Lakers led 31-29 after the first quarter... He started a Kwame, Lamar, Ariza, Karl, Farmar unit to begin the second quarter. The Lakers held their own and scratched out a bigger lead... The Lakers led 61-51 at halftime, shooting 57 percent to Grizzlies 45 percent. Mike Miller had 19 points on 8-12 shooting... The coaches didn't like the energy, nor the looks Miller was getting. Kobe locked down in the third on Miller... The Lakers had a 11-point lead when Bynum went down. They held things together despite the setback... Out of a timeout late in the third, the Lakers threw the ball away and gave up an And-1. The Lead went to just 6... The Lakers led 80-70 at the end of three. They shot just 25 percent in the third quarter... Phil waited until the 6-minute mark and the lead down to just 5 with before bringing back Kobe and LO. It as cut to 2 a second later on the D end and then Kobe picked up a tech and it as cut to just 1 point. New ball game... The Lakers didn't fold down the stretch, despite giving up a three to Gay in the corner to tie the game up in the final minute... We shot just 43 percent for the game (going 8-25 from three for 32 percent)... Phil said they were committed to the time frame with Mihm, and they are midway through the four-week process. So, we can't expect his help in the near future if we need it. They will likely be very conservative with Bynum's knee...

[MedRomLaker]

first!woot my first time being able to reply to your post 1st but I only feel down, get well drew , thanks for the recap db just can only hope for the best

[Thugnomoe]

thanks DB... get well soon DREW...

[venicebeach]

thanks for the recap db, go lakers go and hope for the best for drew

[LakersFan_73]

Oh man. I sure hope it's nothing too serious. Kwame's play (or lack thereof) drives me nuts.

Thanks for the recap, DB.

[Klone_dd]

It was too painful to watch. Not just Bynum's injury, but the finish to the game as well.

Everything Kwame brings (or doesn't bring) to the table showed up in the last two minutes of the game. Committing a stupid foul going for a steal against a PG, but lucky enough that the PG missed both FTs. Quick enough to challenge a wide open three at the top of the arc, then forgetting about his man and letting him drain a corner three. Strong enough to get to the rim, but not able to finish the dunk. FT shooting. Challenges a point blank shot, lucky enough to not have a foul called on him. Sometimes you'd rather be lucky than good.

Bynum's injury certainly deflated the team and all of Staples. There was no energy after that. Critt hit some big shots in the 4th and Kobe was able to close it with some FT. Oh, yeah, and Mr. Lucky came through.

[Sister Golden Hair]

[babyhook]

Hope I'm wrong and totally bummed but as a physician watching, that looked like a torn ACL. Mechanism of injury suggests it.

Word on TV, "sprained knee" somewhat encouraging though as often you can tell early on if it's an ACL.

[KingKobe]

[LAkers 4 Life]

If the Lakers are left with freakin' Kwame to hold down the fort in the middle, they might as well tank the season and go after a quality big-man in the draft.

[DancingBarry]

[Vadorojo]

[lakerboy]

:- ((

[targetman]

Interesting that Phil and teammates said encouraging words about Kwame's late game performance. Phil said Kwame did some good things, Kobe said it didn't matter if Kwame hit both his free throws or not because they Lakers still had to defend against the late shot, and Turiaf said the -4 free throws still produced the game winner.

We need to pump his fragile ego up because we are going to have to rely on him now. First and foremost, I wish they would send him a trainer to help him drop the extra weight. He can barely elevate.
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Hope for the best. Prepare for the worst.

[Annihilator]

[prisma8slg]

thanks DB.

Kwame winning the game at the line...it's a miracle and I'll take it.
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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."

[Texas_Pete]

Painful W, but I will take it. 25-11. 1/2 game out of the top seed in the West. Hopefully Mihm can come back soon to help out.

Kwame, if you read LG at all, remember this is a KT year for you. You gotta step up like the way you hit that FT last night!

Drew, get well SOON!

Go Lakers!

[JM]

[Dr. Laker]

[LakerLanny]

Kwame Brown
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Love, Laker Lanny

[JTS]

this is the first time that i’ve posted in one of these recap threads.

first of all, being a long-time lurker, these threads are a reflection of someone who not only understands basketball, but really loves basketball. lg is one of the best sites because of this one thread.

so although i’m a rook and all, i like the :- )), but we also need a :- (( because of bynum going down. when bynum was clutching his knee and then watching him being aided to the looker room, the energy and vibe of the entire game at that point was equal to letting the air out of a hot-air balloon.

SGH’s post was so good; and painfully it shows why any injury to bynum becomes worse whether it be a nick-knack injury or one like this one which could have implications. crummy not being able to finish that dunk is another painful reminder that bynum has become an integral, vital component to this team on offense and on defense and he will be sorely missed.

so like many in lg have noted, we won a game but we took a very heavy loss in a rather meaningless game.

[Alpha]

Thanks DB!

Welcome babyhook... hope you are, like you said, wrong about the prognosis.

SGH, agreed about the "chippies" ... dang that is so frustrating to watch. At least Lamar has the skill to make some of them and does, once in a while dunk it. With Kwame, the guy is such a huge physical beast but chooses to play like a ballerina. I wish someone could reprogram his brain as there is no reason (physically, well except for the health issues) why he couldn't dominate with brute strength like DHoward or others.

[FloppyDiskz]

Great Read! I'm just glad the team pulled out the W despite Stafford reffing and as his trademark seems to be - giving Kobe a Tech or screwing the Lakers out of a "W"
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