Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2007 10:44 pm Post subject: WARRIORS -at- LAKERS - 12/09 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings
Throwback Night... I love those Showtime-era retro jerseys. The Lakers and Warriors played at a pace that was similar to those Showtime teams, which made note taking very difficult in this one. With 7 players in double figures and contributions across the board, the Lakers outscored the Warriors 123-113.
The Lakers worked the ball into the interior with more purpose than we've seen just about all season. Bynum went for 20 points, 11 boards and 5 swats, taking over the paint. The officiating was weak, but Kobe managed to get his 28. Ariza came off the bench with another fine effort. At the end of the night, the Lakers just simply scored more.
The Lakers have won 9 in a row against the Warriors.
"They get the most shots off in the NBA in a game," Phil said about the Warriors. "I think last year they said that they wanted to get off 100 shots, and that is almost impossible in this day and age...But they average close to 90, which is quite a ways up there. And, out of those 90, 30 of them or 29, are three-pointers. They are capable of making 10 of those three pointers a night and that changes a lot about how the game is played."
My fingers agree. Hardest game to take notes all year. Just non-stop.
Kobe -- -- Kobe was getting no love from the refs in the first half. Some absurd no calls. He struggled in the first half with his shot, but found his stride in the second half (and the calls, too) and put together a well-rounded game. He had some poor first half shot selections and also tried to work the post. Defensively, he matched up with Davis and we held it together after Baron had a hot start. "If we don't turn the ball over, we will be fine," Kobe said before the game. He had 3 turnovers and the Lakers held their turnovers to a so-so 15. The Stats: He scored 28 points on 9-23 shooting (2-6 from three, 8-10 from the line), he had a team-high 8 assists, 6 boards, 3 steals, 1 block, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 38 minutes. The Action: He missed an elbow turnaround. He kicked out to Fish for the three. He missed a layup in the post. He posted up and fed Vlad under the hoop for a layup. He missed from the post again, got it back and lost it for a score the other way. He couldn't get a shot off, getting the inbounds with 4 on the shotclock. He missed a wing jumper. He swished a long wing three for his first hoop late in the first. He tried to draw a foul on a twisting three and missed with no call. He forced up a runner on the next possession and missed. He missed a heave at the buzzer. After a lengthy rest, he posted up his man and banked. He missed a three. He attacked the paint and scored a layup. Contact, no call and he missed...wow, can't believe he hasn't been to the line yet. He attacked off the two-man game and fed LO for a dunk. He attacked, got hit with no call and fed to Bynum for an And-1. He got stripped twice out of bounds with no call. Great effort after missing the shot, he went after it stripped Biedrins, dove and threw it off him. He got hit again on the perimeter, no call, with fans yelling at the refs, he got hit again and finally got FTs with 1:19 left in the first quarter, he made one. He attacked in transition and missed a layup. He had 8 points on a poor 3-13 shooting (just 1-2 from the line) and 4 assists in the first half. Out in transition to start the second half, he takes slight contact and scored the And-1 layup, he made the FT. Kobe dribbled the ball out of bounds, but the ref right in front of the play gives it to us (man, they are blind). He whipped a pass to Bynum for an And-1 dunk under the hoop. He missed a wing jumper. He posted up, contact, no call and missed. He lost the dribble for a score the other way. He was called for a charge attacking on the baseline. He swished a 20-footer off the high pinch post. He sank a long wing three. He attacked and kicked to Fish in the corner for a three. He got a reach foul while spinning and taking the J, he drew FTs and made both. He pulled up and hit a 19-footer over BD, who was crowding him. He missed a three short. He missed a poor look at a corner jumper. BD wacked him with no call, but Kobe still hit the 15-footer. He swiped the ball from the Warriors out of a timeout. He lost the pass back to LO on the break, got it back and scored. He set up Ronny for FTs next time down. He cut down the lane, was held and drew a tech on BD, which he made, he then took his two FTs and made one. He lost the handle and it led to a dunk. He attacked off the Bynum screen and drew more FTs, he made both.
Lamar -- -- Lamar got the double-double and did it in his usual quiet fashion. He took a shot to his left shoulder again, getting it bent backward by Barnes from behind. He was in pain, but bounced back up...hopefully nothing happened there. I thought LO was a little soft defensively at times, he seemed to sag off his guys more than he had to while still packing the paint. The Stats: He scored 14 points on an efficient 5-6 shooting (1-1 from three, 3-4 from the line), he pulled down 10 boards, dished 6 assists, had 1 steal and 1 block in 39 minutes. The Action: He got stripped on a drive. He hit Bynum on the two-man game for a short jumper. He attacked the paint and drew the second foul on Biedrins, he made both FTs. He sank a step-back 19-footer. He pushed up the ball and found Ariza under the hoop for a dunk. He got shoved from behind with no call and went to floor when he was about to get an offensive rebound. He dunked off the feed from Kobe. He had 6 points on 2-3 shooting, playing a bit too much of the Invisible Man role on offense in the first half despite having a clear advantage in the post. Good help D on O'Bryant with the rotation and he forced a turnover. Out of a timeout and he threw the ball away, arrggh! He took an elbow jumper off the pinch post and sank it. He swished a wing three shortly later. Good angle seal on the corner entry, he drew the D and fed Ronny for the And-1. He busted out on the break with Farmar, took the feed and finished the layup with his right. He got hit hard, getting his left shoulder yanked back, after posting up and attacking, he made one FT.
Radmanovic -- -- Vlad finally got his first block of the season. He got the start and sure looked a lot uglier than the numbers show. Could be because of the tricky matchups for him on the defensive end. His D was put to the test by the quicker Warrior players and he found himself in foul trouble. Still, he managed to produce a little. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 6-11 shooting (1-3 from three), he had 1 board, 1 assist and the 1 block. The Action: He scored a layup cutting off Bynum. He scored another layup off Kobe penetration. He drained a three. He picked up two fouls and had to sit with 4 minutes left in the first. Back in, he picked up his third foul and had to sit back down again. He had 6 points on 3-3 shooting and 3 fouls in 7 minutes. Vlad dunked off an inbounds play. He got swatted and wanted the foul. He got tapped on a FT jumper. He gave up a jumper on soft D and was then benched. He bricked a wing three badly. SJax just walked around him on a drive for a layup. He got swatted on a putback attempt. He drained an open three when Ronny kicked out to him. He missed a corner three. Crit spotted him under the hoop open and Vlad made an And-1 reverse layup, he made the FT.
DFish -- -- Steady game from DFish. Defensively, he has his hands full with the speed of Ellis and the perimeter shooting from Hudson, but neither killed us. Fisher was again consistent and steady on offense, hitting jumpers and getting to the line. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 5-9 shooting (2-3 from three, 3-3 from the line), he had 2 boards, 3 assists and 2 fouls in 28 minutes. The Action: He swished a corner three off the kickout from Kobe. He attacked and threw it up high to Bynum for the alley-oop (great play, wish we'd see that a lot more from guys). He attacked the lane to his left, pulled up and swished a midrange jumper. He drained a long wing jumper. He attacked, drew contact with no call and missed. He got Hudson on his hip, drew contact and banked an And-1, he made the FT. He pushed up the break and hit Ariza for FTs. He had 10 points on 4-5 shooting in the first half. He missed a three, hustled after it and drew a foul. He drew a foul fighting around a pick on the D end. He got swatted on the drive. He took an open corner three next time down and swished. He attacked again and missed, but Bynum dunked it back in. He drew FTs on a perimeter foul, he made both.
Bynum -- -- Great stat line from Bynum. He wrecked the Warriors weak interior and anchored the paint on the defensive end. The stat line shows the story -- the Lakers went to him with purpose to overwhelm the smaller Warrior players. Bynum had 14 attempts, a career high...which led to him tying his career high in points. Bynum is 13th in the NBA in blocks per game (1.83), he upped that tonight with 5 swats. "Phil Jackson challenged me to play some defense tonight," Bynum said afterward. The Stats: He scored 20 points on 9-14 shooting (2-3 from the line), he grabbed 11 boards, swatted 5 shots and dished 3 assists in 28 minutes. He had no fouls. The Action: He found Vlad under the hoop for a layup. He hammered the alley-oop from Fish in traffic in the middle of the lane. He attacked from the post and missed a short runner off the glass. He took a feed from LO, spun and hit the short jumper in the lane. He backed Biedrins under the hoop, faked right, went back left and hit the And-1, he missed the FT. He was called for a travel on his next possession in the post. He missed a 15-footer. He couldn't pull down a lob that looked a little behind him. He swatted Biedrins on the other end. He shed his man on an interior feed then hit the short jumphook. He had 8 points on 4-8 shooting in the first quarter. He recovered a tough pass and scored easily under the hoop against Harrington and a help defender. Kobe attacked, drew the D and wrapped a pass around Bynum's man and Drew scored the And-1, he made the FT. He swatted BDiddy to ignite the break. He dropstepped Harrington and banked nicely, sweet looking shot. He scooped up a loose ball and missed a fading jumper at the halftime buzzer. Good first half, lots of looks and he scored 15 points on 7-12 shooting to lead all Lakers. He took the feed from Kobe under the hoop, went up strong and dunked in the And-1, he made the FT. His pass was deflected for a score the other way. He followed a Fish drive and one-handed the putback dunk. Good show and Ellis dribbled off his foot for a turnover. He swatted SJax's drive attempt on help D. Bynum rested with 20 points on 9-14 shooting after three quarters. He hit Kobe with a bounce pass in the lane for FTs. He swatted SJax again.
Turiaf -- -- Ronny had been running at the C spot in practice, preparing for more minutes there. He gave the Lakers some solid offensive production and played average on the D end. Some pretty good Tri sequences from Ronny in a few offensive plays. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 3-4 shooting (4-5 from the line), just 1 board, 2 assists and 4 fouls in 20 minutes. The Action: He hit Farmar from the high post with a pretty pass as Farmar cut down the lane for a layup. He charged in the paint, attacking too aggressively. He swished a mid-range jumper. He missed a 19-footer. Weak D, giving Biedrins a touch foul on the post entry and FTs. He gave up a tip in to Biedrins. He upfaked Biedrins on the other end, attacked and scored the layup (this will be there for him in the Tri as other teams don't seem to expect that). He drew FTs on the drive and dish from Farmar, he made one. He stood in for a charge, was there in time and was called for the block (wow, another horrible call). He found Vlad on the wing for a three. He drew FTs when Kobe attacked and found him with a bounce pass in the lane, he made both. He scored an And-1 when LO worked the post, he made the FT.
Farmar -- -- Not an especially good game from Farmar on either end, but he still found some opportunities. He hit a couple of threes and had steal in the fourth that ignited the break and had the Warriors hurting. Farmar, Kobe and Ariza can do a lot of damage in passing lanes if we run some pressure D or zones. They all have explosive first steps and anticipation. I'd love to see Phil throttling up the pressure with those three. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-6 shooting (2-3 from three), had 2 boards, 2 assists with 2 turnovers, 1 steal and 4 fouls in 19 minutes. The Action: He missed a fade, attacking to his right. He swished a long wing three on his next attempt. He scored a layup, cutting quickly off Ronny in the high post and getting it back (Note to Lamar, that's how you cut in the Tri away from the ball). He attacked and threw it away for a layup the other way. He left his man inbounding and gave up an open wing jumper at the end of the quarter. He got it back to start the fourth with a sideline three. He exploded off the weakside, drew the D and fed Ronny for FTs. He got called for a charge when Ellis set him up on the perimeter (Farmar needs to learn to do more of that himself). Explosive first step to jump the passing lane and swipe an inbounds, he pushed up the break and fed LO for the layup. He disrupted another passing lane, dropping to the level of the ball and forcing SJax into a turnover. He missed a layup cutting off Kobe.
Ariza -- -- First off, glad to see him getting out there with consistency lately. We missed that energy off the bench from Mo while Ariza sat after the trade. He looks a little more comfortable in the offense...although certainly not without a few miscues. But the break between games at home has helped him work on that triangle execution. He continues to get to the line with regularity. That is something that all players benefit from as other teams get in the bonus earlier -- just another plus in Ariza's slashing and aggressive attacking. Ariza nearly had the highlight throwdown in this one we've been waiting for. It'll happen. Defensively, he continues show quality efforts and excellent athleticism. That first step and length are superb. The Stats: He scored an efficient 11 points on 2-3 shooting (7-10 from the line), had 4 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 26 minutes. The Action: He came in with 4 minutes left in the first when Vlad got a second foul, he immediately stole the ball and took it the distance for a dunk. He telegraphed a pass and BDiddy took it for a dunk (you could see that play happening way before it took place). He set up for a three, took the kickout and missed, but he followed it up, got the board and attacked for FTs, he made one. We got back his second miss from the line when LO pulled it down, he hit Ariza cutting for more FTs, he made both...so he got three points on that possession eventually. He took an interior feed from LO after cutting baseline and he dunked. He ball faked, attacked down the middle of the paint and drew FTs, he made one. He nearly swiped the ball in the backcourt as we trapped on the other side of the floor and he went for the pass (this is the role we need to put him in more ... that free safety type of position where he can have opportunities like that). He hit the floor to recover a loose ball on the defensive end. Filling the lane on the break, he drew FTs, he made both. He rejected SJax from behind. He had 10 points on 2-3 shooting (6-8 from the line) to go with 3 boards and 1 steal in 14 first half minutes. He just miss a huge And-1 throwdown over a Warrior big after a baseline drive, he made one FT. He closed on his man who was trying to shoot and forced him to pull it down and travel. He swatted his man, then was knocked over and called for a foul, poor, poor call.
Vujacic -- -- He was a team-high -11...and had some real ugly moments out there. The Stats: He scored 1 point on 0-3 shooting, 1-2 from the line and had 1 steal in 7 minutes. The Action: He bricked an open three off the side of the backboard and it resulted in a breakaway score the other way. He attacked the paint and got swatted badly. He swiped the ball from SJax and was fouled on the other end trying to finish, he made only one FT. He missed a three, short.
Crittenton -- -- Some brief run, Phil actually got him in early, too. Not much to mention, though. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-2 shooting, had 1 assist and 2 turnovers in 4 minutes. The Action: He got in the game with 8 minutes left in the second quarter to match up with Azubuike. The Warriors went right at him in the post. First attempt for Azubuike was a brick. Crit sat a minute later for Kobe and Fish. (We could have left in Crit to take on Hudson. Hudson cannot guard him as we saw in the preseason.) Back in late, he swished a 20-footer. He whipped a pass under the hoop from the three line to Vlad for the And-1 layup. He threw a pass away on the break expecting Fish to keep going to the hoop, he then teased him about it. He attacked the paint and charged on the pass off. He missed a baseline jumper.
Phil -- -- Phil decided to put Kobe on Baron to start the game. This is something he has done with success in the past. But with Ellis and Davis starting, it was a simple match up decision. The Lakers attacked their match ups on the other end, working Kobe in the post early and often. The Lakers had an advantage in the post on several positions and looked for it... Very uptempo first quarter and the Lakers and Warriors tied 31-31... The Lakers led 60-59 at the half, shooting 23-44 for 52.3 percent to the Warriors 43 percent shooting on 21-49. The Lakers shot just 3-6 from three, while the Warriors went 5-20 (good balance for us there as we don't want the Warriors pushing out after long boards). We had just 4 turnovers in the first half. Baron Davis and Monte Ellis combined for 5 offensive rebounds in the first half (we were not getting to those long rebounds)... The coaches wanted to slow down the tempo and cut down on second chances in the second half... Kobe sat a minute into the fourth with a 9-point lead. Phil went with a Turiaf, Vlad, Ariza, Sasha, Farmar lineup. Yikes. We led by just 4 a couple minutes later. Phil brought back Lamar and Kobe after a timeout and the lead went back up to 9 again. We then pushed out the lead from there... The Warriors won the battle of the break 14-3, but we held them to just 4 points on the break in the second half... The Warriors shot 8-33 from three, the Lakers went 8-18, a little more firing from downtown in the second half... Phil apparently pushed the right buttons to get Bynum to take advantage of the smaller Warriors and patrol the paint. Gettin Bynum the ball more was also a nice change of pace. Actually, working the low post more in general was nice to see...
Gameflow -- LINK -- The Lakers had a 17-4 run in the third and an 18-4 run in the fourth.
Highlights -- LINK -- Highlights with Kareem's commentary. Put together by TACH.
Last edited by DancingBarry on Sun Dec 09, 2007 11:28 pm; edited 1 time in total
Thanks, glad to see Crittenton get some burn tonight.
Yeah, would have liked to see him get a lot more with Farmar playing uninspired and Sasha playing period. Oh well.
Great game overall. AB put in work. I liked some of the skill he showed off in a couple of moves...like that spin vs Harrington.
Good win for LA. Can ya'll believe we're only a 1/2 game behind Dallas and Utah? _________________ 1949, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1972, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2010
I think the Refs were in to '80s night too. They were really letting them play out there. Great game to watch. Kobe can't buy a call. Play through it young fella.
Bynum was phenominal. That's 15 blocks in the last 3 games (Orlando, GS and Den - all playoff contenders). IF he can play this way for 75% of the season we are definitely going to win 50 and challenge for a 4/5 seed. I know, big if.
Great game. _________________ Austin Reaves keeps his game tight, like Kobe Bryant on game night.
face it I'm lucky for the Lakers every time I go they win
so don't be disrespecting me or I wont go to any games
if it assures a victory, i am sure LG will set-up a fund to get you seasons tickets.
Please Please!!!! All I need is two dollars from 2,000 people.....
Ive went to the Nuggets game the Warriors game and the Jazz game.
3-0
I went to the bulls game and it resulted to a blowout win! I went to the game Kobe 65 points last year against the Blazers it was awesome. Anyways I thought Lamar had a good game tonight nothing steller but he was like 4 assist shy of a tripple double, didn't have his regular boneheaded plays or mistake. Overall it was a nice win. _________________ My Dream Starting 5 next Season
Joined: 01 Mar 2004 Posts: 5301 Location: Redondo Beach
Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2007 11:27 pm Post subject:
Thanks as always DB! Like Kobe, sometimes we get so accustomed to greatness that we forget to take a step back and say "that guy is a really, really good re-capper; one for the ages!"
I was checking out the insights from the other bench, and liked this bit on how well the Lakers closed out each quarter. From Golden State of Mind
Quote:
One HUGE thing that playing disciplined within a system helps with is closing out quarters. Tonight, that is exactly where the game was won. Just look at the play by play at the end of each quarter. The Lakers just took over.
1st quarter
Warriors are up 31-28. Trevor Ariza of the Lakers gets fouled and goes to the line for 2. He makes the first (31-29 Warriors), but misses the second. Sweet! Oh but Lamar Odom grabs the offensive rebound, passes to Ariza who gets fouled again. Nooo! This time, Ariza makes both free throws to tie the game and nobody else scores in the final 20 seconds. So what could have been at least a 2 point lead, possibly a 4 or 5 point lead turned into just a tie.
2nd quarter
With 3:18 to go, Kelenna Azubuike makes a shot and pushes the Warriors lead to 7, 56-49. The Warriors were playing well, but the Lakers knew how to close out a quarter. A Fisher 3 point play followed by a Bynum 3 point play, a couple Ariza free throws, a Kobe free throw, and "poof", it was a 58-56 Lakers lead. The halftime score was 60-59 Lakers.
3rd quarter
Like a broken record, the end of this quarter was no different than the other two. 5:50 to play and the game was tied at 73. Fisher hits a quick 3, Bynum made a layup, and the Lakers never relinquished the lead. The lead eventually grew to 11, but the Warriors were able to make a quick run and enter the fourth with a 6 point deficit. Again, the Lakers closed out the quarter strong and kept the Warriors scrambling.
4th quarter
I guess this wasn't so much that the Lakers closed out the quarter strong, but at one point just simply took over. At 8:45, the Warriors had cut the lead to 4 points, 95-99, but that was the last time the Warriors even sniffed the lead. In just under 2 minutes, bam, the deficit was 11 points, 97-108. Fast forward another minute to 4:41 and bam, the deficit is 17 points, 99-116. Game over. Good night. Go home.
Last edited by cmonkee on Sun Dec 09, 2007 11:38 pm; edited 1 time in total
Joined: 24 Feb 2003 Posts: 6410 Location: Past left field
Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2007 11:57 pm Post subject:
Great game by Bynum. Played with a lot of purpose on the offensive end. Looked like Kobe was making a concentrated effort to get the ball to Drew also. _________________ Darvin Ham is an idiot!
Have you noticed Kobe using his Bank shoot more often this year?
He has. It seemed like he perfected it like 4 or 5 years back but then he went away from it. Then last year he tried to pull it out again a few times but it wasn't smooth. Its smooth again this year. _________________ Kobe Bryant has brought the Lakers three championships, 4 Finals, carried an absolutely pathetic team to the playoffs in a loaded Western Conference and has given us countless thrills and memories. If you are not a Kobe fan, then you are not a Laker fan.
Have you noticed Kobe using his Bank shoot more often this year?
He has. It seemed like he perfected it like 4 or 5 years back but then he went away from it. Then last year he tried to pull it out again a few times but it wasn't smooth. Its smooth again this year.
He used it in 04-05 a lot when his jumper was out of sorts. That was more consistent than his normal pull up jumper.
Yep, when i see that shot, it is smooth. I loved it. He can use it face up or backing down someone and banking. _________________
Joined: 26 Jun 2005 Posts: 2085 Location: Santa Barbara / Davis
Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 12:51 am Post subject:
thanks db, great win.
how sweet are those throwbacks? i was getting flashbacks to when kobe was a rook wearing those jerseys... _________________ bonerkillcollective.tumblr.com - peep our art.
For a second, I was thinking why is the link linked to a highlight of Lakeshow game. There's a high school graduate Kobe driving, a young fisher and SHAQ!!!!
"The Lakers worked the ball into the interior with more purpose than we've seen just about all season." Glad to see Bynum with the second-most shots of the team. That's production. I guess the coaching staff likes LO with those 15-foot jumpers; I think they were getting tired of his offensive-charge-fouls. Would like to see him work more in the post, but it just isn't coming through in the games.
Don't know if it was for the KG sweepstakes or cap room, but I'm still puzzled why they traded J-Rich. He would've definitely helped tonight and their push for the playoffs in the long-run. Liked their 24% shooting from the three. Wanted to see Belinelli and was kind of surprised he couldn't get playing time.
"Ariza nearly had the highlight throwdown in this one we've been waiting for." I wished he could've completed that monster-smash. Ownage on Mbenga!
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-- Kobe was getting no love from the refs in the first half. Some absurd no calls. He struggled in the first half with his shot, but found his stride in the second half (and the calls, too) and put together a well-rounded game. He had some poor first half shot selections and also tried to work the post. Defensively, he matched up with Davis and we held it together after Baron had a hot start. "If we don't turn the ball over, we will be fine," Kobe said before the game. He had 3 turnovers and the Lakers held their turnovers to a so-so 15. 
-- Lamar got the double-double and did it in his usual quiet fashion. He took a shot to his left shoulder again, getting it bent backward by Barnes from behind. He was in pain, but bounced back up...hopefully nothing happened there. I thought LO was a little soft defensively at times, he seemed to sag off his guys more than he had to while still packing the paint. 
-- Vlad finally got his first block of the season. He got the start and sure looked a lot uglier than the numbers show. Could be because of the tricky matchups for him on the defensive end. His D was put to the test by the quicker Warrior players and he found himself in foul trouble. Still, he managed to produce a little. 
-- Steady game from DFish. Defensively, he has his hands full with the speed of Ellis and the perimeter shooting from Hudson, but neither killed us. Fisher was again consistent and steady on offense, hitting jumpers and getting to the line. 
-- Ronny had been running at the C spot in practice, preparing for more minutes there. He gave the Lakers some solid offensive production and played average on the D end. Some pretty good Tri sequences from Ronny in a few offensive plays. 
-- Not an especially good game from Farmar on either end, but he still found some opportunities. He hit a couple of threes and had steal in the fourth that ignited the break and had the Warriors hurting. Farmar, Kobe and Ariza can do a lot of damage in passing lanes if we run some pressure D or zones. They all have explosive first steps and anticipation. I'd love to see Phil throttling up the pressure with those three. 
-- He was a team-high -11...and had some real ugly moments out there. 
-- Some brief run, Phil actually got him in early, too. Not much to mention, though. 
-- Phil decided to put Kobe on Baron to start the game. This is something he has done with success in the past. But with Ellis and Davis starting, it was a simple match up decision. The Lakers attacked their match ups on the other end, working Kobe in the post early and often. The Lakers had an advantage in the post on several positions and looked for it... Very uptempo first quarter and the Lakers and Warriors tied 31-31... The Lakers led 60-59 at the half, shooting 23-44 for 52.3 percent to the Warriors 43 percent shooting on 21-49. The Lakers shot just 3-6 from three, while the Warriors went 5-20 (good balance for us there as we don't want the Warriors pushing out after long boards). We had just 4 turnovers in the first half. Baron Davis and Monte Ellis combined for 5 offensive rebounds in the first half (we were not getting to those long rebounds)... The coaches wanted to slow down the tempo and cut down on second chances in the second half... Kobe sat a minute into the fourth with a 9-point lead. Phil went with a Turiaf, Vlad, Ariza, Sasha, Farmar lineup. Yikes. We led by just 4 a couple minutes later. Phil brought back Lamar and Kobe after a timeout and the lead went back up to 9 again. We then pushed out the lead from there... The Warriors won the battle of the break 14-3, but we held them to just 4 points on the break in the second half... The Warriors shot 8-33 from three, the Lakers went 8-18, a little more firing from downtown in the second half... Phil apparently pushed the right buttons to get Bynum to take advantage of the smaller Warriors and patrol the paint. Gettin Bynum the ball more was also a nice change of pace. Actually, working the low post more in general was nice to see...
