LAKERS -at- KNICKS - 12/23 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

20,000... The Lakers managed to turn the "Boo's" and "Fire Isiah" chants into cheers by blowing a huge lead in the second-half. Once they got the 25-point lead, they played way too loose and careless with possessions, Kobe included. Jordan Farmar came up with a huge steal and dunk in the final seconds to seal the 95-90 win. Kobe became the youngest player in NBA history to reach 20,000 career points.

Only two players reached double figures for the Lakers -- Kobe and Bynum. Meanwhile, we had no answer for Jamal Crawford, who scored 30 of his 31 points in the second half.

"We got a little lackadaisical and too relaxed," Kobe said.

The Lakers had only 8 turnovers to the Knicks 17. Despite the comeback, we held the Knicks to 39.5 percent shooting for the day. Randolph and Lee compbined for 12 offensive boards.


Kobe -- -- Kobe was a couple assists shy of the triple-double. He hasn't played in MSG for a couple of years because of his bogus suspension last season. He put on a show. Some sensational passes and shots throughout, and he led the Lakers in points, boards and assists. While he played a great game, he was also part of the reason they lost the lead. He had several throw-away possessions, hoisting long threes early in the shotclock instead of working for good looks. The tone of the game changed with our loose play and the once-lifeless Knicks crowd came to life. Defensively, he looked a little more like himself out there, which is a good sign that he's recovering well. He is the 31st player to reach that 20,000th point. He beat out Wilt by 12 days to be the youngest to reach it. The Stats: He scored 39 points on 14-28 shooting (5-12 from three, 6-7 from the line), he had 11 boards, 8 assists with 2 turnovers and 2 steals in 41 minutes. The Action: He swished a tough step through with a man still on him. He missed an easy reverse. He missed a couple long jumpers. He up-faked, blew past his man and scored an And-1 on Lee, he made the FT. He pumped twice and hit a top-of-the-key jumper. He missed a wing three. He stole a pass, pushed it up and drew a foul, he made both FTs. He airballed out of a timeout. He drained a three on the next possession. He found Sasha and Farmar for jumpers. He hit Mihm off the pick and roll with a no-looker for a dunk. Good help D, jumping the passing lane behind the screen-roll to swipe a pass. He swished a pull-up three from the wing. He missed a three, short. He missed another three, this one trying to beat the shotclock. He missed a putback jam. He flushed down a Turiaf miss with one hand. Sick sequence by Kobe: Bynum set up the screen, Kobe split the double going between his legs, then lost a third defender with a no-look dump off to Drew for the dunk. He whipped a pass to Ariza in the corner for a three at the halftime buzzer. He came down court, rose up and drilled the wing three for his 20,000th career point. He swished a long wing three a couple possessions later. He missed a three next time down the court not getting off a clean one, he wanted the foul. He swished a corner three over Robinson with ease. He missed another real long three. He drew the D, fed back to Ronny cutting for the And-1. Bad shot after we got the rebound back with a fresh 24, he quickly hoisted up and missed another long three. He got a piece of Crawford's throwdown attempt to reject him. He swished a long fallaway from the right wing. He got fouled on a pull-up jumper and made one FT. He hit a face-up wing jumper. He swished a pull-up jumper from long range next time down. He attacked from the wing and drew FTs, missing a layup trying to avoid the charge, he made both FTs. He fouled Crawford's three attempt, giving him three FTs. He sank a long two with his feet on the three line. He missed a long pull-up with a man all over him. He pulled up from the elbow and bounced in a jumper with a minute left. Wasted possession, he dribbled the ball off his foot with 20 on the shotclock and under a minute left trying to probe in early offense. He missed a long jumper with 10 seconds left.

Lamar -- -- Foul trouble followed Lamar throughout the game, limiting him to short minutes despite our need for size. It seemed like he got called for a couple of cheapies that made the difference. He got his money's worth later with a flagrant. So, after a string of good games, Lamar fell short in this one. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 4-9 shooting (0-2 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 6 boards in just 30 minutes. The Action: He missed a three. He swished a long baseline jumper off the kickout from Kobe. He scored a layup out on the break with Fish. He posted up Q after taking the offensive board, went up and under, missed, got it back, missed and drew the foul, he made one. He busted out after a made basket and hit a layup on the other end. Good job holding off Randolph trying to overpower him, then Lamar drew a foul in transition trying to beat him down court. He missed a stepback jumper. He attacked and scored over Curry. He picked up his third foul of the half with more than 4 minutes left and had to sit. He poked a ball loose on the post entry to force a turnover. He missed a FT jumper short (he was fading for no reason). He bricked a long three trying to beat the shotclock. He gave up a flagrant, dumping Crawford from behind with 3:41 left. He charged with 2 minutes left and fouled out.

DFish -- -- One of those games where our guards were getting torched. Usually, Fish gets some back on the other end, but not in this game. He did manage to make a few nice passes, but not a pretty game at times. His chemistry with Bynum has been developing over the last couple of weeks, and they tried to work a few sequences together in this one. The Stats: He scored just 4 pionts on 1-6 shooting (0-1 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 6 assists, 2 steals and 1 turnover in 28 minutes. The Action: He stole the ball, pushed up the break and hit LO for the layup. He got dribble penetration and fed Drew for the layup. He missed a layup down the middle of the lane. He missed a long wing jumper. He missed a three, short. He beat a couple Knicks to a loose ball, pushed up the dribble past a couple more, then lobbed to Bynum for the dunk. He got his man on his hip and drew FTs on the drive, he made both. He missed a three in semi-transition, got it right back and hit an 18-footer. He missed a layup. He charged on the three-on-one to erase a lob to Bynum.

Bynum -- -- Bynum had 39 tickets to friends and family in this game. He played well against Curry, and once again the Lakers had to be nagged by the coaches to keep going inside. Wasn't happening like they wanted. Defensively, this is where you could see Bynum's growth. Last year, Curry was able to overpower him consistently in the post. While Curry did manage a power move or two in this one, Bynum stood toe-to-toe with him on several defensive stands, even swatting a couple. Curry finished with 8 points on 2-8 shooting. The Stats: Bynum had 13 points on an efficient 6-8 shooting (going just 1-4 from the line), he had 8 boards, 2 blocks, 1 assist and 3 fouls in 38 minutes. The Action: He dunked off an interior feed from Vlad to start. He picked up a quick foul on the first defensive stand. He scored a layup when Fish got penetration and slipped him an interior feed. He tried to post up Curry and traveled when Curry didn't bite on Drew's move. He got stripped trying to pull down a board and scored on. He got bumped off the block by Curry and dunked on. He forced an airball or got a piece of a Curry's next attempt. He dunked after working the pick and roll with Kobe. He missed a turnaround jumper over Curry in the post. As Stu is talking about Bynum not having confidence in his left hand from the left side of the floor, Bynum drop-stepped his man and hit the left-handed jumphook. He dunked in the lob after Fish pushed up the break and found him. He took the return feed off the pick and roll, recognized he had a little one on him, pivoted and dunked (another good job of avoiding a potential offensive foul). He couldn't finish the lob on the two-man game. He and Kobe combined to swat Curry. He got a cheap foul away from the ball on Curry denying him postition. Curry tried to post Bynum up and got rejected badly. He earned a couple of FTs hustling for a long rebound, he made one FT (shooting both flat). He drew FTs in the post after rolling to the hoop, he bricked both FTs.

Radmanovic -- -- With Luke out for the game, Vlad got the start. He filled in about as well as Luke has been...which is to stay we're not getting much from our starting SFs. The Stats: Vlad scored 4 points on 2-5 shooting (0-2 from three), he had 3 boards, 1 assist and another block in 26 minutes. The Action: He found Bynum with an interior feed for a dunk. He missed a pull-up jumper. He pulled down an offensive board, spun and banked. He missed an open three. He swished a 17-footer, working off Bynum. He missed a three on a kickout.

Turiaf -- -- With Mihm freed up to play the back up C role, Turiaf got in at the PF tonight. His shot was off and he was largely ineffective on the offensive end. Defensively, he got a couple of swats and generally battled, but was foul prone. Randolph didn't go off on us like he has in the past. Ronny did draw a late charge in the game with a good job getting to the spot outside the restricted circle. The Stats: He scored 3 points on a poor 1-7 shooting (1-3 from the line), had 2 boards, 1 steal, 2 blocks and 4 fouls in 15 minutes. The Action: He missed a 19-footer on his first attempt. He missed a 17-footer, but Kobe cleaned it up. Out on the break and he got fouled, he made one FT. He scored an And-1 layup off the Kobe pass, he missed the FT. He missed a jumper.

Farmar -- -- With the Lakers up by three and the Knicks inbounding the ball at midcourt with a few seconds left, Farmar jumped the passing lane to swipe the inbounds and took it in for a game-icing dunk. Huge play. Farmar at his best on the defensive end. Prior to that, he had an up and down game. He struggled from behind the arc and settled for too many. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-9 shooting (0-4 from three), he had 2 assists with 1 turnover, the 1 steal and 2 fouls in 20 minutes. The Action: He missed a corner three. He missed another open three. He spotted up in the corner and hit a long jumper when Kobe found him. He missed a layup off dribble penetration. He bricked a long pull-up jumper badly. He found Sasha on a drive and kick for a three. Next possession down, he rattled in a wing jumper off the Kobe handoff. He missed a corner three trying to beat the clock. He missed a wing three. After sitting out for a while, Phil brought him back in for the final minute. Huge play jumping the passing lane on the inbounds and dunking with 1 second left in the game to put it away.

Mihm -- -- Mihm was dusted off to give us depth against the Knicks big front line. Despite some foul-prone minutes, he held his own out there better than I expected, even gave the Lakers a couple scores. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-3 shooting, had 1 board, 1 steal and 3 fouls in 10 minutes. The Action: He airballed a jumphook badly on his first attempt. He posterized Curry on a pick and roll throwdown (Kobe was fired up about that play). He sank a baseline jumper with the shotclock low. He gave up an And-1 to Crawford, challenging his jumper. He got sealed by Rose and gave up FTs, so Phil sent him back to the bench.

Ariza -- -- Decent minutes from Ariza. He finished out both quarters in the first half for us with scores...evening hitting a three. He probably should have had more minutes in the game with Luke out. The Knicks were sagging off him though, disrupting some of our triangle post entries. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 2-4 shooting (1-1 from three, 2-2 from the line), he had 2 boards and 1 steal in his 12 minutes. The Action: He swiped a pass and drew a foul in transition out on the break with Kobe, he made the FTs. He took the kickout in the corner, attacked baseline, and made the layup just before the shotclock buzzer at the end of the first. He sank a corner three at the second-quarter buzzer when Kobe whipped a pass to him. He missed a couple jumpers.

Vujacic -- -- He got some lengthy run against the Knicks. He managed to sink a couple of threes while he was out there. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-5 shooting (2-4 from three), he had 2 boards and didn't commit a foul in 18 minutes. The Action: He back-rimmed a three on his first attempt. He sank an open corner three. He drew a clear-out foul trying to reach on help D. He missed a wide open three. Total brick layup attempt off the dribble. He swished a corner three off the Farmar kickout.

Crittenton -- -- I was disappointed when the Lakers let their lead slip away because that took away from minutes for Crit...or so I thought. Phil must have decided Crit was getting minutes no matter what the Lakers did after building that 25-point lead, so he threw him out there with the game still in doubt with a few minutes left. That will wake you up. The Stats: He didn't score on one attempt and had 1 foul in his 3 minutes. The Action: With the lead down to 6, they doubled off him for Kobe and Crit missed the 19-footer. He didn't seem rattled despite the pressure D and situation.

Phil -- -- The Lakers got off to a 31-21 start, getting into the paint a lot early on with multiple players. (They went away from this later)... The Lakers went with a Mihm, LO, Ariza, Sasha, Farmar unit to start the second quarter. Phil didn't like the way things were going and brought back in Kobe and Turiaf for LO and Ariza. So, Turiaf in at PF again... That unit did well until midway through the second quarter when they missed a few threes, and Phil decided to bring back the starters... The Lakers led by 18 in the first half as Kobe played a well-rounded game, scoring and setting up others. We held the Knicks to 34 percent shooting, while shooting 47 percent ourselves. We had a 12-3 turnover advantage, as well, and we led 55-37... The Lakers again stressed getting the ball inside more at halftime. Pretty much the same thing they have been saying every game... The Lakers pulled out to a big lead in the third, then got careless with possessions, Kobe especially. The Knicks cut the lead in half and we led by just 75-61... The lead was cut to 7 points with just a minute and a half into the fourth. Phil had a Mihm, Vlad, Ariza, Sasha, Farmar lineup. He brought back in Kobe...With the Lakers up by 9, Phil subbed in Crit for the first time with a few minutes left... Seems like everytime the coaches stress going inside, we do just the opposite...

Video Highlights -- LINK -- Highlights from TACH. Bynum at the end: "We don't have the ability to keep our foot on someone's throat."

GameFlow -- LINK -- The Knicks went on a 17-4 run late in the game...which would have been fine, except they also went on a 14-3 late third quarter run.

[20,000]

Why can't this team hold leads?

Is it a youth thing?

A coaching problem?
_________________
Courage doesn't always roar.
Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying...'I will try again tomorrow.'

[DancingBarry]

[24KaratGold]

Hey DB, I just realized you're the EIC now. Don't know how long you've had that status for but congrats! Thanks for the writeup. I overslept and missed the game
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Double rings > Double rainbow

[TOTALECLIPSE24]

Great recap. Its a win and I will take it!

[Mr. EiGhTy-OnE]

[wolfpaclaker]

This was another game where the lack of a good ballhandler, decision maker and penetrator at the guard spot made it's mark.

We are a good team, but if the goal is to win rings, things have to change in the backcourt. 3/4 guards are completely me first. Disgusting to watch at times.

[hi_ma]

enjoyable to watch. 2 games in one. Blowout and nail biter. Kobe does what he does, put on a nice show to get sunday started. Thought Clemons words at half were telling when he told ireland that we should get the ball inside EVERY play. Didnt happen. W's are King.
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The lakers will get prince.

[Exick]

[hoopschick29]

^^^Road being another factor. Even with a team like the Knicks, it's hard to hold leads on the road. Home teams make runs.
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So glad we gave you your flowers while you were here, Kobe.

[Exick]

[hi_ma]

[LakerFan1972]

DB nice writeup.

I wonder what you and other think of Phil's tendency to make wholesale substitutions. I sort of understand it in Phil is trying to make substitutions as units but it sometimes seems to breakup the Lakers momentum. It is one thing to substitute like this when the 1st unit is cold and you want to shake things up, but if the starters are on a roll doesn't make more sense to more gradually substitute in the 2nd unit. Wholesale substitutions are not something I see often with other NBA coaches.

[golakersgo121]

[BigE32]

Thanks for the recap, DB. It appeared that we started playing too loosely when we had a 25 point lead in the third quarter. Amazing that the Knicks had the ball with four seconds left with a chance to tie it if they hit a three. Nice job by Farmar at the end with the steal and dunk to finally seal it. Luckily, we didn't blow it. Now, let's get ready for the Suns on Christmas. Happy Holidays to you and your family, DB.

[KOBE 2.0]

[Klone_dd]

The mustard almost came off the hot dog. Too much Spike Lee influence, playing to the crowd and overconfidence.

A more normal game from Kobe, but you could see everything stall when he went one on one, which was much of the 4th Q. Kobe has a right to be overconfident. The rest of the guys... not so much. It would've been a perfect time to get in some 2nd team minutes, but they got too sloppy and overconfident themselves.

3-1 roadie so we shouldn't complain much. Still, it could've been a 4-0 trip with plenty of momentum leading into the Xmas day showdown.

[SoCaLjAy]

Thanks DB...I missed the game so it was great to read your recap...next best thing to watching it.

[DancingBarry]

[DancingBarry]

[DancingBarry]

[KOBE 2.0]

I just think its a mental thing, teams always have had history of being loosen up when they think the game is over when its not.

[- Sean -]

Hopefully Radmanovic's wrists are quick to heal. Vlad hasn't made a three since injuring them (prior to today's game, he hadn't even put a point on the board). Some shooters can make adjustments when their mechanics are affected by injury -- it doesn't appear Radmanovic is one of them.

[LAkers 4 Life]

They can't hold leads because of their inexperience. And that means they sometimes need coaching from the staff, if Philsy would ever use his timeouts to instruct them.

[targetman]

I really didn't understand all the playing time for Vlad Rad. This was the first game of the road trip where he even scored a point and his defense is nothing to write home about, so why not a little more Tariza, a little less VladRad?
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