MAVS -at- LAKERS - 4/4 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Lamar, The Beast... Asked what the difference in the fourth quarter was, Lamar quickly answered, "Will. That's the one thing I learned from playing with Kobe. You've got to want it more than the other team." Lamar definitely imposed his will on the Mavs, laying waste to their defense to the tune of 31 points on 12-14 shooting.

"It was a tough cover for Nowitzki coming back from that ankle injury and we exploited it," Phil said afterward.

The Lakers fell behind when the Mavs went on a 16-0 run to start the second quarter. We chipped our way back in it slowly. When it was winning time, the Lakers worked the Kobe high screen-roll late in the game to perfection, getting a number of scores in crunch time for Lamar, Pau and Kobe.

The Lakers were soft defensively in the first half, giving up 64 points. They tightened the clamps, not quite locking down until the final minute, and held the Mavs to 44 second-half points. "We came back the second half and matched the intensity," Phil said of the 112-108 win.

Great job showing some character to come back after a soft first half. Lamar, Pau and Kobe combined for 81 points and 18 assists. The team attacked the paint and the Mavs interior. We took only 14 threes and made 7.


Kobe -- -- With Lamar and Pau able to key the Laker offense for most of the game, Kobe let them go to work. We trailed while we did that, but that was because we couldn't get it done defensively. Down the stretch, we put the ball into Kobe's hands and let him dictate the offense. The Mavs tried to trap him off the high screens, Kobe gave it up and it led to odd-man situations for Lamar and Pau, which we converted on. The Stats: He scored 25 points on 7-14 shooting (3-4 from three, 8-9 from the line) to go with 10 boards (4 offensive), 6 assists and 4 fouls in 42 minutes. The Action: He swished a three on the first shot of the game. He pulled up in transition and hit another three on the second shot of the game. He hit Pau at the FT line for a jumper. He hit Pau cutting to him for a jumper in the lane. He iso'd, attack down the middle of the lane and drew FTs, he made both. He missed a FT jumper with a man on. He scored a putback dunk on a miss by Gasol. He missed a drive in transition, but got his own board and pulled it back out. He had 10 points and 6 rebounds in the first half. Second Half: He missed a fallaway to start the half. He attacked around Kidd with ease and scored a layup. Cutting as the ball went into Gasol in the post, he took the drop pass from Pau and scored the layup. He swished a pull-up over George in early offense. He worked off the high screen and drew FTs in the lane, he made one. He pushed out the break and found Gasol with a bounce pass for the dunk. He drained a wing three over George. He missed a long three on his next attempt. He didn't go after a board aggressively and Howard took it from him. He made a tech FT. He attacked down the lane and just missed an And-1, he made both FTs to tie it up with 3:45. He attacked with the shotclock low, got into the lane, drew the D and fed Lamar who scored over the help D. Wow, he attacked a clear lane and missed a point-blank layup short with 1:50 left, he wanted a foul. Jason Kidd stole an entry pass from him when Sasha and he couldn't connect (those last two plays had us trailing by 3 with 1:30 left). After setting up scores for Lamar and Pau by drawing the trap off the high screen, this time Kobe attacked, got into the paint and drew FTs with 17.8 seconds left, he made both to give the Lakers a 4-point lead.

Gasol -- -- This game was more like what we will likely see from Pau when he plays the PF spot. He's going to set up players for scores and hit a lot of jumpers from the high post. The passing between he and Lamar in the game was superb from our two big men. Can't wait to see it with Bynum out there. Pau's ability to move from the low post to the high post will be a deadly weapon. Pau led the team in assists again. He pulled Dampier away from the hoop and worked the jumper. And when he drew a crowd, it usually spelled trouble as our guys are willing cutters when the ball is in his hands. Defensively, he had to match his bad wheel with Dirk's, at times. That will be an advantage to the offensive player. When he wasn't on Dampier, we also had Pau cover George when the Mavs went small. Some mixed results there. The Stats: He scored 25 points on 11-20 shooting (3-3 from the line) to go with 7 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 turnover and just 1 foul in 38 minutes. The Action: Sweet look to Vlad cutting under the hoop for a layup. He got contact in the post but no call and missed the short jumper. He swished a 15-footer on the next trip down. He hit a short jumphook with his left, backing his man down. He faced up and swished a 12-footer from the left side. He missed a 15-footer. He swished a 10-footer in the lane, flashing to Kobe to get the ball. He hit Lamar cutting for a layup. Lamar returned the favor and Gasol dunked on the next trip down. He hit Farmar cutting baseline off the sideline triangle for a layup. He was called for a cheap flagrant trying to deny a layup to Dampier. He missed a face-up jumper. He hit Vlad with an interior feed for a layup. He iso'd on Dirk and scored a layup. He missed a jumper. He swatted George who tried to post up DFish. He posted up Kidd and drew FTs, he made both. He had 14 points on 6-11 shooting and 5 assists in the first half. Second Half: He swished a face-up jumper from the left side over Dampier. He missed a fallaway over Dampier. Kobe drew the double, we then got it to Pau, who no-looked to Lamar for a dunk. Next trip down, he hit Kobe with the quick drop pass from the high post for a layup. He missed a jumphook over Dirk and wanted the foul. He dunked when Kobe bounced to him in transition. He missed a FT jumper. He dunked off an interior feed from Lamar. He posted up Dirk and scored an easy jumphook over him. He missed an open wing jumper. He scored an And-1 layup off the feed from Lamar with 40 seconds left, he made the FT to give us a 2-point lead with 40 seconds left.

Lamar -- -- Going into this game, Lamar knew he would have to take advantage of the Mavs defensively. Dirk had a bad wheel and it had to be tested. He was aggressive from the start and never let up. And as difficult a cover as Dirk was and is, Lamar turned the tables on the Mavs, dropping a season high in points. He was getting in the paint and to the rim all game long. He rarely settled for a jumper. The result, an efficient, devastating offensive night. Down the the stretch, he came up big on a number of plays on the offensive end. He even made Dirk look silly on one ball fake and layup. Defensively, Dirk was still a tough cover with his length and jumper. Lamar did a marginal job there. Prior to the game, Lamar was shooting a career-best .514 from the floor this season and is pulling down a career-best 10.6 boards per game. The 3.5 assists are a career low, but so is the 2.01 turnovers per game. He's ranked No. 7 in rebounds per game, No. 6 in defensive rebounds per game and No. 26 in Efficiency (21.61). In 15 games in March, he averaged 15.4 ppg, 12.7 boards, 4.2 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.7 blocks. (His best numbers per month this season in all but assists.) The Stats: He scored 31 points on 12-14 shooting (7-10 from the line) to go with 10 boards (4 offensive), 5 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 4 turnovers and 4 fouls in 44 minutes. The Action: He blew past Dirk on his first drive attempt and scored a layup wtih ease. He had Howard on him, went to the post and immediately drew a foul. He posted up again, but didn't get out of the lane after passing and was called for three seconds. He took an offensive board that Kobe tipped a couple of times and he scored the layup. He iso'd on Dirk, attacked to his left and banked. Quick dive cut and Pau found him for the layup next time down. He slipped a screen with Kobe, drew the D and passed to Gasol for the dunk. He was hit in the head by Dirk as he went to throw down a dunk, he was bloodied and had to get glued up, he made one FT. He drew FTs attacking the rim on an interior feed from Gasol, he made both. He took the pass at the FT line, stepped around Dirk and scored an And-1 layup on him, he made the FT. He froze the D at the wing, attacked the rim and scored an And-1 layup, he made the FT. Excellent first half offensively with 17 points on 6-6 shooting. Second Half: He grabbed a missed jumper by Vlad and attacked for a layup. He blocked George on a close out. He dunked off a no-looker from Pau. He finally missed a short jumphook, his first miss after eight straight makes. He wrapped a pass around a double team to Gasol for the dunk. He gave up a layup to Dirk, who spun around him and scored with ease. He scored a layup off the nice drive and dish from Jordan. Next trip down, he attacked from the wing, backed George down and hit the jumphook from a couple feet out to cut the lead to 1. He saved an offensive possession, crashing the offensive boards and drawing a foul. He attacked, hung and missed the And-1 layup against Dampier, he made one FT. He got caught in the air trying to iso, no one cut off him and he threw it away. He missed a 16-footer when we had George trying to D-up Gasol. He dug out a loose ball in the lane and drew FTs (he had walked Howard under the hoop to get the board and Howard got a tech throwing his headband when he thought there should have been a foul. Dampier does the same thing all game long), Lamar made one FT. He took the feed from Kobe with the shotclock low, attacked Dampier, took contact with no call and banked in the layup to take a 1-point lead with 2:19. He took the pass from Kobe who drew the double, attacked, ballfaked Dirk to fool him badly and scored a layup to cut the lead to 1 with 1:14. Similar kind of sequence on the next possession, Lamar took the pass from Kobe who was doubled and set up Pau for the And-1 layup.

Fisher -- -- Fish matches up with Terry defensively while either Kobe or Sasha handle Kidd. Down the stretch, it was Farmar who took on the assignment and closed out the game. Okay minutes from Fish, but Farmar was able to contest some shots better. Fish is putting up one of his best overall seasons offensively. Prior to the game, he shot .437 from the floor (tying his career high mark from the 02-03 season). His 12 ppg is his second best scoring season of his career. The .879 from the line is his best of his career and the 9th best in the NBA. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 1-3 shooting (1-1 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 1 board, 2 assists, 1 steal and 1 foul in 25 minutes. The Action: He missed a baseline jumper in early offense. He missed a wing jumper. Good job drawing contact on Dampier in transition to earn FTs, he made both. He sank a corner three. He drew FTs on a sideline jumper in transition, he made both. Second Half: He deflected a pass to ignite the break.

Radmanovic -- -- Matched up against Howard defensively, Vlad put up a good fight at times...but we're much better off with an athletic player like Kobe or Lamar with his length and speed. Vlad was missing some open looks at threes. When he can't hit those and has to go up against a more athletic player, we're better off not playing Vlad. Vlad is the No. 15 ranked player in three point shooting percentage (.413). His .454 overall shooting percentage is the best of his career. He's averaged 11.1 points in his last 10 games. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-8 shooting (0-4 from three) to go with 3 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 25 minutes. The Action: He scored a layup off the post interior feed from Gasol. He threw a pass away not trying to power it up under the hoop. He missed a jumphook in the lane and wanted the foul. He missed a wing jumper. He hit a layup off an interior feed from Gasol. He missed a wide open corner three. He missed another wide open corner three from the other side. He missed a wide open three again from the wing, despite having Fish open next to him. Second Half: He missed a corner three. He ballwatched and gave up a dunk to his man.

Luke -- -- He played just 5 minutes in this game. Vlad had some better moments defensively, but neither is a good match up for the athletic Mavs. Luke was given open space again on the offensive end and couldn't make the Mavs pay. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-4 shooting and had 3 fouls in just 5 minutes. The Action: He missed a sideline jumper on his first attempt. Howard iso'd on him for an And-1, Luke got immediately benched after picking up his third foul. Second Half: He busted out off the turnover, took the long outlet and scored a layup against George. He missed an open 17-footer. He missed a layup, but we got it back.

Turiaf -- -- Some real minor spot duty from Ronny in this one. He played at that back up C spot and with the Mavs going small so often, Phil didn't give him a lot of run. The Stats: He didn't score, didn't shoot, had 2 offensive boards, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 8 minutes. The Action: Nice challenge on Howard to force a brick on a reverse. He hustled for an offensive board, but then threw it away. Second Half: Nothing noteworthy.

Farmar -- -- Some sketchy minutes from Farmar on the defensive end. But late in the game, he tightened things up. Phil used Farmar to match up with the speed of both Lue and Terry. Both were uneasy match ups. He did get his hands on a number of passes. Offensively, we saw some more good attacks into the paint from Farmar. That's what we want to see more of. He needs to move off that three line and collapse the D and he's been doing that with more purpose in the past couple games. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 3-8 shooting (1-3 from three, 2-3 from the line) to go with 1 board, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 23 minutes. The Action: Nice pass deflection, hustling to drop to the level of the ball. He swiped the ball from Allen after he had grabbed an offensive board. He forced a pass into traffic and it was deflected for a turnover. Lue beat him off the dribble without a screen for a layup. Dumb, dumb foul trying to go for a steal with 2.6 seconds left after we just used our foul to give (we had the Mavs passing the ball into the backcourt and it gave up FTs)...luckily Lue missed both. He reversed after cutting off the Pau post and taking the baseline feed. He missed a jumper trying to beat the shotclock. He missed a pull-up jumper. Second Half: He got crossed over badly by Lue to give up FTs in the lane. He clanked a wide open three. He drained an open wing three in early offense. He attacked baseline, jumped into Dampier under the hoop to draw FTs, he made one to cut the lead to 4. He attacked the lane and dumped it to Lamar for the layup. He missed a wing three. Nice close out to "block" a Terry jumper. He stole the ball on a sideline trap. He attacked off the high screen and scored an And-1 over Howard who had his heel in the restricted area, he made the FT to cut the lead to 1. He attacked and missed a layup and wanted the foul. He blocked Terry's three from behind with 3.7 seconds left. He deflected the entry pass to push the clock to 3.1 left.

Vujacic -- -- The Kidd Stopper? He has played Jason Kidd very, very well in the past couple match-ups. This allows us to move Kobe to the SF and stop our bleeding there. Kidd didn't score in the fourth and had just 2 assists against Sasha. "Defense wins in the playoffs and defense wins the championship," Sasha commented afterward. Well said. Offensively, Sasha hit a couple of sick threes, but his biggest makes were from the free throw line with 9.5 seconds left to keep the lead at 4 points. Prior to the game, Sasha ranked No. 9 in the NBA in three-point shooting percentage (.436). He is also No. 2 in the NBA in three-pointers taken per 48 minutes (4.5). Sasha also shoots better on the road vs. home (FG%: .473 vs. .453, 3P%: .458 vs. .415). He has also averaged double digits in scoring the last two months (11.7 ppg in Feb., 10.1 in March). The Stats: He scored 9 points on 2-3 shooting (2-2 from three, 3-3 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 27 minutes. The Action: Quiet in the first half and no notes. Second Half: He swished a quick-release wing three and drew the foul, he made the FT for the 4-point play. He fumbled the ball away and it as a dunk on the other end. He drained another quick catch-and-shoot three. Soft entry pass to Kobe with under 2 minutes left and Kidd stepped around Kobe and stole it and the Mavs scored on the other end. I'm not sure if Sasha got a piece of it, but he sagged down on Dirk against Pau and Dirk fumbled it away with 34 seconds left. Up by 2 points, he was fouled with 9.5 seconds left, he made both clutch ones.

Newble -- -- A brief Newble sighting in this game. Vlad and Luke's defensive play almost made Phil give up his addiction to those guys defensively. Almost. Phil brought him in with 12 seconds left in the first half. Then later started him when Kobe sat at the beginning of the fourth. Phil went with it for as long as he could stomach (even though Newble and the Lakers were playing fine) and then he went back to Luke for a brief stint. The Stats: The Action: He grabbed an airball at the buzzer on the defensive end. Second Half: He pulled a down a defensive board, going up high. Good scramble and he helped knock a ball off Eddie for a turnover. He was then subbed out for Luke.

Phil -- -- This was a tough win. Phil finally dialed in the right defensive lineup in the fourth. He was on the team with some playoff-like timeouts to make a point... Both teams were hitting offensively early on. The Lakers were getting a lot of points in the paint. We tied 31-31 after the first quarter... With Lamar resting the Mavs went on a 9-0 run, getting scores on second chances by crashing the glass. We brought him back in, but rested Kobe and the run continued to 16-0... No D in the second quarter, as we gave up 33 points and trailed by 10 at the half, 64-54. Dallas shot 57 percent and got 9 offensive boards. Not a good combo... Phil called an immediate timeout after the Mavs hit a jumper on the first possession of the second half and lectured the team, which had matched up poorly in transition... After cutting the lead to 4, we gave up a series of scores to trail by 11. The last was an uncontested dunk when no one hustled back in transition when there was a loose ball up for grabs. Phil called another timeout... We trailed 87-80 after the third. Better D in that third quarter, holding the Mavs to 23, but still a lot of soft defensive stands... Phil went with a Ronny, Lamar, Newble, Sasha, Farmar unit to start the fourth. The Kobe-less, Pau-less lineup cut the lead to 1 point before we brought Kobe back in... We finally brought Pau back in with 6:23 left, down by 3, taking out Luke. The Mavs sat Dampier for George, so Phil sat Pau for Luke. (Are you kidding me? I'll take Pau against George defensively and try to abuse the Mavs with Lamar or Pau on the other end.) Phil changed his mind and brought Pau back shortly later after rethinking the momentary insanity. He mentioned rethinking that after the game. He was concerned because of Pau's bad wheel and needing Pau to handle George who had dunked past him earlier in the game. Someone must have reminded him it was Devean George... Down the stretch, we went to our bread and butter, Kobe off the high screen-roll. This chewed the Mavs up... Phil on clinching the playoff spot: "I told the guys congrats, but that's not good enough."...

Game Flow -- LINK -- Check out the 16-0 run the Mavs went on to start the second quarter. We struggled to recover from that, but eventually regained the lead in the final minutes.

[lakerhead]

first?

haha sweet! finally!

thanks db... now i can go to bed.

[jopay]

First!!!!

[SGSD32]

first! and I spilled a glass of wine to make it!

oh, well.. it was worth a shot!!

for the record, I was third!

[mhan00]

great to see sasha playing so well. the only worry i have (being a glass half empty kind of guy due to reading too many pokoy posts) is that with his play this season someone will throw the mle at him and force the lakers to either match or let him walk.

[DancingBarry]

[limchrc]

Nice to win again. Thanks for the recap.

[kups]

thanks for the excellent recap DB

i hope we could keep up this mini winning streak going, building up momentum & mental toughness heading into the playoffs. also hoping that we'd get everyone healthy by then.
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#2 Lonzo
#28 Derrick White, Jordan Bell, Deonte Burton

[Aces25]

Thanks for the recap, excellent game for LO, why no tomatos for him?

[DancingBarry]

I usually save the tomatos for our non-impact players...but you know what, screw it. Lamar should get one in there. I will add it.

[Addicus]

Thanks for the read DB. I had to leave after the first quarter and watch it on video. I have a friend who works security at the game and I couldn't wait so I asked who won.

Nice to read your insights. I'm hoping to get your opinion on two issues re: Sasha.

1. He is the worse player I've seen for years when he's out of control. Do you think he'll be able to get in control and learn how to be a better penetrating guard?

2. I've always felt he's had terrible handles for a NBA guard, yet he brings the ball up at the end of the game and no team presses him. Am I being too harsh about that high dribble or are the rest of the players threat enough to keep teams from pressing?
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[DancingBarry]

[KobeJaws]

if LO plays this aggressive in the post season...no team in the NBA can beat us period.

[Mr. EiGhTy-OnE]

[chazz]

10th!!! Great recap DB........I posted with a massive hangover to get 10th=)

[Sage_10]

Great game, great recap. Thanks DB.
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"You Must Be Willing To Give Up That Which Can Be Lost In Order To Gain That Which Cannot Be Lost." - FORTUNE COOKIE

[20,000]

The Odom-Pau two man game was very impressive. I can't wait until they bring this every night.

Kobe had the quietest 25 points we will ever see.

I wonder how many assists Kobe would have had last night if they tracked those like they do in hockey?
_________________
Courage doesn't always roar.
Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying...'I will try again tomorrow.'

[VujacicFan]

Some great stats on Sasha. And although his handles do need work, they're good enough to break full court press. He has his signature behind the back dribble he always does to protect the ball.

[Texas_Pete]

Thanks DB!!

Best part of the game for me? I'm on the phone with my Celtic-loving Laker-hating cousin, right? I believe we had Kobe on the bench with LO and our 2nd unit out there - mounting a come back. My cousin was giving me the business for a li'l bit until that time when Sasha hit that "Ray Allenesque" 3 ptr after running full-speed. He actually hung up on me! Anyway, Sasha looked clutch like this last night!

Oh, and in the words of Ludacris "LO, LO, LO They Know..."

Go Lakers!

[20,000]

^^Aaaahhhh...Sasha with the short hair.

I smell a poll coming.
_________________
Courage doesn't always roar.
Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying...'I will try again tomorrow.'

[Dr. Laker]

[LakersFan_73]

[prisma8slg]

[Klone_dd]

LO had a spectacular game. Who needs a jumper when you can get to the rim so easily? (But, yes, he will need one soon). LO and Pau make a great combo when Kobe is doubled at mid court. The decisions LO made last night were perfect. I can't even fault him for being OC when he threw that pass into the backcourt. He was looking for Kobe in the corner> Kobe forgot to drop to the level of the ball.

Welcome back, Pau. He may not feel 100%, but he sure makes the offense run smoothly.

Kobe had a subtle game (for him, that is). His presence, though, is something the Lakers really capitalized on because everyone and their mothers know that he can just turn it on in a flash. The Mavs sure felt it.

Sure wish we could get something out of the SF position. Vlad had a number of wide-open looks, but boinked them all. Luke, too. Neither can match up with an athletic 3.

[Mr. EiGhTy-OnE]

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"When (Kobe) gets you on life support, he won't give you mouth to mouth. HE PULLS THE PLUG." -stu