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Phil Retired
Joined: 03 Aug 2001 Posts: 10007
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Posted: Sat Mar 18, 2006 7:01 am Post subject: March 18th: Lakers falling apart. |
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Lakers falling apart
Nets win 92-89 as L.A. withers
By Ross Siler Staff Writer
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Another day, another city, another close loss for the Lakers, who needed only to travel a little further Friday night on the New Jersey Turnpike to reach the site of the NBA draft lottery in Secaucus.
"It's killing us right now," forward Luke Walton said after the Lakers fell 92-89 to the New Jersey Nets at Continental Arena. "If we don't start winning these games, we're going to find ourselves out of the playoffs again."
The Lakers have been through that misery before and have no interest in revisiting it this season. But they were unable again to make the timely plays they needed to beat the Nets in the opener of a three-game road trip.
All the Lakers needed was a defensive stop in the final 30 seconds with New Jersey leading 90-89. They watched instead as Vince Carter drove the middle of the lane and center Nenad Krstic followed up Carter's missed runner with ease.
The Lakers could have tied it with a 3-pointer but came apart with 13.1 seconds left. It started with Lamar Odom forcing the in-bounds pass to Brian Cook instead of calling timeout and trying to set up again.
Cook gave the ball to Walton at the top of the floor for what was supposed to be a dribble-weave ending with a Kobe Bryant 3-pointer. But the Nets played it perfectly, Bryant had to heave a shot from 32 feet and missed everything just before the buzzer. |
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Phil Retired
Joined: 03 Aug 2001 Posts: 10007
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Posted: Sat Mar 18, 2006 7:04 am Post subject: |
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Lakers notes: Jackson not happy with Kidd play
By Ross Siler, Staff Writer
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - It was five seconds that felt like forever for Lakers coach Phil Jackson on Friday night.
Jackson was unhappy the referees didn't call Jason Kidd for a five-second violation as the Nets struggled to inbound the ball with 34.5 seconds left and were clinging to a 90-89 lead.
"When (the referee) pumps his arm six times and then he doesn't call (it)," Jackson said. "I know it's tough to count over five for some of these guys, but that was ridiculous. That was impossible."
The Nets instead called a 20-second timeout and got the ball in Vince Carter's hands off the second-chance inbounds play. Carter drove the lane and Nenad Krstic followed up his miss for the decisive basket.
Calling foul: Ronnie Nunn, the NBA's director of officials, said the league has not sent anything to its referees about cracking down on Kobe Bryant's trips to the foul line, as Jackson suggested earlier this week.
"There is no focus on any particular player," Nunn said.
Jackson said after watching Bryant shoot one free throw in the Lakers' victory over Minnesota on Wednesday that he thought Nunn might have sent out an e-mail to NBA officials concerning the superstar guard. Nunn's answer: "Absolutely not." |
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Phil Retired
Joined: 03 Aug 2001 Posts: 10007
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Posted: Sat Mar 18, 2006 7:05 am Post subject: |
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Lakers falter in the end vs. Nets
Lack of defensive stops hampers L.A.
By Ross Siler, Staff Writer
For More Info
• Photo Gallery: 3/17: Lakers vs. Nets
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Another day, another city, another close loss for the Lakers, who needed only to travel a little further Friday night on the New Jersey Turnpike to reach the site of the NBA draft lottery in Secaucus.
"It's killing us right now," forward Luke Walton said after the Lakers' fell 92-89 to the New Jersey Nets at Continental Airlines Arena. "If we don't start winning these games, we're going to find ourselves out of the playoffs again."
The Lakers have been through that misery before and have no interest in revisiting it this season. But they were unable again to make the timely plays at the end they needed to beat the Nets in the opener of a three-game road trip.
All the Lakers needed was a defensive stop in the final 30 seconds with New Jersey leading 90-89. They watched instead as Vince Carter drove the middle of the lane and center Nenad Krstic followed up Carter's missed runner with ease.
The Lakers could have tied it with a 3-pointer but came apart out of a timeout with 13.1 seconds left. It started with Lamar Odom forcing the inbounds pass to Brian Cook instead of calling timeout and trying to set up again. |
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Phil Retired
Joined: 03 Aug 2001 Posts: 10007
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Posted: Sat Mar 18, 2006 7:07 am Post subject: |
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Tired Old Story for Lakers
They can't make a stop, Bryant can't make a last shot, and New Jersey gets a 92-89 victory.
By Mike Bresnahan, Times Staff Writer
March 18, 2006
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The Lakers dropped a close one, again, after another night of misses by Kobe Bryant, another frigid third quarter and more questioning of referees' performance.
They looked tired and thin, particularly after halftime, and eventually fell to the New Jersey Nets, 92-89, as questions about Bryant's stamina continued to be bandied about.
He said he was fine, but his coach said his legs looked fatigued, and the numbers seemed to support the latter — 11 assists, but only 24 points on nine-for-24 shooting, along with seven turnovers and an airballed, last-breath, three-point attempt Friday night at Continental Airlines Arena.
After the final play was thwarted and the Laker record fell to 34-33, Luke Walton best summed up what was going on with the franchise.
"If we don't start winning these games, we're going to find ourselves out of the playoffs again," he said |
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Phil Retired
Joined: 03 Aug 2001 Posts: 10007
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Posted: Sat Mar 18, 2006 7:08 am Post subject: |
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Nets counter Jackson's moves
New Jersey coach Frank anticipates a last-second play, foiling the Lakers.
By KEVIN DING
The Orange County Register
Kobe Bryant finds his way to the basket blocked by New Jersey Nets center Nenad Krstic, left, and guard Jason Kidd.
RAY STUBBLEBINE, REUTERS
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Lawrence Frank was a student-manager gopher at Indiana for Bob Knight when Phil Jackson was coaching NBA championship teams. So you automatically put the check mark next to Jackson's name in the coaching matchup for the New Jersey Nets against the Lakers, right?
Actually, Jackson lost his second of two games this season against Frank's Nets on Friday night, 92-89, with the Lakers continuing a season plagued by inconsistency that Jackson can't excise.
It didn't help their cause that Jackson pulled some wrong cards at the end - employing a zone defense that allowed a critical put-back score by Nets center Nenad Krstic then calling a final play that Frank told his Nets was coming. |
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Phil Retired
Joined: 03 Aug 2001 Posts: 10007
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Posted: Sat Mar 18, 2006 7:10 am Post subject: |
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Nets get defensive vs. Kobe
BY OHM YOUNGMISUK
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
With 13.1 seconds left, the sellout crowd at the Meadowlands stood up, not wanting to miss what they came to see.
With the Lakers down three, Kobe Bryant walked onto the floor near Jay-Z's and Beyonce's front-row seats, prepared to deliver one of his patented buzzer-beating daggers.
But on this night, Bryant would leave shaking his head. After the Nets forced the Lakers to waste precious seconds trying to get the ball to Bryant, he was forced into launching a 30-foot air ball over Vince Carter's extended arms.
Carter kept his arms raised as he celebrated the Nets' 92-89 win that felt like a playoff game before 20,098.
"I love the final seconds," Carter said. "That's what it's all about. It makes or breaks players." |
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Phil Retired
Joined: 03 Aug 2001 Posts: 10007
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Posted: Sat Mar 18, 2006 7:12 am Post subject: |
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NETS PUT KOBE, LAKERS IN SACK
By FRED KERBER
NO-GO: Kobe Bryant (left) runs into a wall in Nenad Krstic last night at the Meadowlands. The Lakers star scored 24 points but Krstic scored 26, leading the Nets to their fourth straight win. Photo: Jeff Zelevansky NO-GO: Kobe Bryant (left) runs into a wall in Nenad Krstic last night at the Meadowlands. The Lakers star scored 24 points but Krstic scored 26, leading the Nets to their fourth straight win.
Photo: Jeff Zelevansky
March 18, 2006 -- The only crime in Nenad Krstic's tap-in with :13.1 left on the clock was that there was :13.1 left on the clock. The Nets had a three-point lead, but the Lakers had Kobe Bryant. To avoid overtime, the Nets needed their best stand of an already good defensive night.
And that is just what they got.
The Lakers - surprise - looked to Bryant. Jason Kidd, who overcame another nightmare shooting performance by playing standout defense on Bryant, started the play. The ball came to Brian Cook, went to Luke Walton, who went to Kobe. Vince Carter switched and picked up L.A.'s superstar.
"I was trying to deny him as long as possible," Carter said afterward. "I definitely was trying to deny for at least eight seconds and make it a tougher shot, push him out as far as I could and just stay down. . . |
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Phil Retired
Joined: 03 Aug 2001 Posts: 10007
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Posted: Sat Mar 18, 2006 3:17 pm Post subject: |
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Kobe finally crumbling under Lakers` load?
By Brian Covert
Sat, Mar 18, 2006
With the average player tipping the scales at around 230, 2760 pounds is the weight of a 12-man NBA roster .
Multiply that number by 67 (the number of games the Los Angeles Lakers have played this season), and you get a rough idea of just how much Kobe Bryant has had to shoulder this season.
It`s not surprising then that Bryant, who squares off with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers Sunday, may finally be starting to tire. Over Los Angeles’ last four games he is averaging just 25.3 points per game while shooting 38.6 percent from the field. These numbers are down drastically from his season averages of 34.6 points and 44.2 percent shooting. The Lakers went 1-3 straight up and 0-3-1 ATS in those games.
“His legs weren`t live like he wanted them to be,” coach Phil Jackson told the Los Angeles Times after Bryant scored 24 points in a 92-89 loss to the New Jersey Nets as 3-point underdogs Friday. “That comes and goes.” |
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