CAVS -at- LAKERS - 1/19 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

King James... As you approach the church, a booming voice punches through the night air. It's coming from inside, "And basketball's chosen one asked the soul of the game for..." Suddenly beams of bright light escape through every window and crack in the building. You duck and cover your eyes. As quickly as it appeared, it is gone.

You climb the stone steps and enter the now deserted building. You kneel down and run your finger through a white dust that covers the floor, the pews, everything. You taste it and spit -- powdered chalk. Leaning against a column is a man with a black shirt that says "witness" on it. Seems too obvious, but you approach him. "King James wants to talk to you," the man says, holding up a phone. "He's authorized a convo."

"Who?" you ask. He looks at you in horror. "Listen," you continue, "I see your shirt there and, well, I'm looking for a witness. Someone who saw what happened--"

"You're not a witness?" he asks, looking more horrified by the second.

"No, I'm not a witness. If you or this King James are witnesses, I'd like to talk to--"

"Come on, man. Just say you're a witness!"

"Dude, I am not a witness. Either I saw it or I didn't and I'm telling you I'm not a freakin' witness, okay. I'm looking for a witness!"

"I can't tell him you're not a witness," he says. This is going no where. "Well," you sigh, "what's this King James want?"

He repeats your question into the phone, then turns back to you. "He wants a fruit plate with pears and lemon-zest scones." You hear yelling from the other side of the phone. "Sorry," he says, looking admonished. "That wasn't for you to hear. This isn't going well. He's unauthorized the convo."

Fine. You spot arrows drawn in the chalk dust and follow them. They lead you to a confessional. You enter and see a tape recorder. It's DancingBarry, a real witness:

The Four Horsemen were here. Death cringed with pain and injury, but he would not be denied. Neither would the others. The Horsemen and Death Riders crushed their foes from the East in the second half of the battle. Their defense held strong. They simply had too many weapons, and their opponent ... too few.

I will continue to follow them...

Kobe Bryant grabbed his hand, winced in pain and immediately called to the sidelines. It's the Cleveland Cavaliers so a Kobe injury must be in the mix somehow. He dislocated the ring finger of his shooting hand.

"My teammates looked at it and looked away," Bryant said in the Times. "Not fun." Post-game x-rays were negative. Still, as Kobe said, "That might have been the worst pain I've ever played with."

He grimaced and dealt with it all game long while defending LeBron James tightly on one end and orchestrating the Laker offense to a 105-88 win on the other. The Lakers locked down the Cavs in the second half, holding them to 38 points. They played big and overwhelmed them with their size.

Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum combined for 36 points on 17-23 shooting on offense. And, without a decent shooting bigman like Zydrunas Ilgauskas on the floor, the Lakers were also able to clog the middle and keep the dribble penetration to a minimum. No pick and pops meant less space for LeBron to attack. They won the points-the-paint battle 42-28.

Make no mistake, this was a big win -- a big win by a team that looked like they were, indeed, capable of winning a championship.


Kobe -- -- If you are looking at this as a battle between MVP candidates, Kobe took it. With a bandaged right eye, he grimaced throughout the night after hurting his finger. Two minutes into the game, he dislocated the ring finger of his shooting hand and had to have to popped back in and taped up. Not the way you want to start. He said it was swollen and painful. It seemed like it affected how aggressive he was until he got used to it. His perimeter shot didn't look as effective because of it. It wouldn't be a Cavs game if something didn't happen to Kobe (sprained shoulder, sprained ankle and now a dislocated finger...wow). Kobe asked for LBJ defensively and kept him out of the paint and locked down. The Cavs never looked to LeBron in the post. LeBron ended up with 23 points on 9-25 shooting, 4 assists and 6 turnovers. Excellent work by Kobe. Nice job by the team as a whole to clog the paint and take away the drives. The Stats: He scored 20 points on 9-22 shooting (1-5 from three, 1-3 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 12 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 5 turnovers and 1 foul in 41 minutes. The Action: He missed a tough one-hander from the elbow. He threw a bounce pass away. Nice strip off LeBron for a turnover. He posted up and hit the And-1 turnaround, he made the FT. He missed an iso jumper over LeBron. He set up Pau on the pick and pop. He missed another face up jumper. He attacked and set up Lamar for a layup. Great D to deny LeBron on the break. He took contact and threw the ball away. He hit a pull-up jumper over LeBron at the end of the half. He had 5 points on 2-5 shooting and had 6 assists with 3 turnovers. LeBron had 10 points on 4-11 shooting. Second Half: He missed an open three. He missed a hook way short and was looking for a whistle. He lost LeBron with a behind-the-back dribble, attacked and flipped in the layup, grimacing. He attacked to his right, got down low and hit the short jumper. He missed a sideline three. He hung on the attack, then hit Pau in transtion for the layup. He attacked around a bigman to his left and scored the layup. He missed a three. He ripped the net on a sideline three over LeBron. He attacked down the lane, hung and was blocked. He missed a tech FT. He posted up LeBron and swished a rainbow as the shotclock went off. Next time down, he attacked to his left, took contact and hit a long fading And-1 one-hander, he missed the FT. He lobbed to Ariza in transition for the huge throwdown. He missed a three. He attacked and was stripped by LeBron, Ariza took it back on the other end and fed Kobe for the uncontested dunk. He missed a step-back jumper. He got tapped on a pull-up jumper. The Cavs cut the lead and we went to the bread-and-butter, screen-roll action. He initiated the offense from the high screen with Pau to create several scores down the stretch for teammates (he usually was making the hockey-assist). He finally sat with 31 seconds left.

Gasol -- -- Without Big Z in there, the Lakers were able to destroy the interior of the Cavs. Very efficient game from Pau. I think we went away from him a little too much at times, but down the stretch we worked the Kobe/Pau two-man game and it was lights out for the Cavs. They have no answer for him and we can milk this quite a bit. Defensively, both of our bigs anchored the paint well. No good shooting Cav bigmen on the floor and LeBron was kept out of the paint. When Z gets back, the paint will open up a little more. The Stats: He scored 22 points on 11-13 shooting (0-2 from the line) to go with 12 boards (6 of each), 1 assist, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 36 minutes. The Action: He threw down a putback jam off a DFish miss to start the game. He threw a pass away trying to kickout to Fish. Early low position, he sealed Wallace and dunked on him. Out of a timeout, he posted up and and hit the jumphook. He iso'd on his man, attacked baseline and drew FTs, he missed both. He swished a wing jumper. He swished another wing jumper off the Kobe two-man game. He had 10 points on 5-6 shooting and 6 boards. Second Half: He faced up, attacked to his left and hit the running hook. He sank the wide open elbow jumper off the drive and kick from Kobe. He faced up, jabbed a few times then hit the jumper. He scored a layup off the drive and dish from Kobe. He dunked working the two-man game with Kobe. He pulled down a missed three by Fish and reset the offense. He hit a jumphook with his left.

Bynum -- -- This was one of the better two-way games from Drew in a while. He anchored the paint well, altering shots like he had earlier in the season. He also gave some quality fouls, including a hard one on a driving LeBron. Nice to see a little old school ball out there. We wanted to play physical and we did. Offensively, he showed some power game, dislodging defenders and using his strength and size to his advantage. It may sound like a small thing, but the more comfortable he can get with his power game, the easier the hoops will come. That makes this team very tough. He was off from the line tonight. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 6-10 shooting (2-6 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 2 assists, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 5 fouls in 29 minutes. The Action: He drop-stepped and missed off the glass to start the game. He was called for a violation trying to put in a bad lob from DFish that was on the rim. He was blocked from behind in the post. He dunked off the screen and pass from DFish. He kicked out to Vlad for three. He came weak to strong, overpowered his man and hit the short jumphook (more please). He turned baseline and was covered tight on the dropstep but still hit the baseline jumper over his man. He missed a short jumphook. He picked up a couple perimeter fouls. He posted up, faked right, swung left and hit the jumphook. He snagged a miss by Fish in the paint and hit the jumphook. Good center sprint, he took an entry from Lamar and drew instant FTs, he made one. He took the entry, up-faked Sideshow Bob and drew FTs on the next possession, he missed both. He led the Lakers with 11 points on 5-9 shooting (1-4 from the line) to go with 3 boards. Second Half: Power dropstep and he scored an easy one on the right block. He blocked Pavlovic's drive. Another good challenge on LeBron and he forced a miss. He didn't chin the defensive board and it was stripped from him and led to a score. He posted up and drew an illegal D tech (Cavs concerned about him). He gave LeBron a hard foul, very nice. He drew FTs getting ready to throw down off a loose ball scramble, he made one.

Radmanovic -- -- Kobe took LeBron defensively, so that left Vlad on Pavlovic, who scored 10 points on 4-5 shooting in the first half. In the second half, Pavlovic was just 1-6. This isn't a great match-up defensively for Vlad. We're better off with either Sasha or Ariza out there. Vlad still put in a reasonable game. There was no Space Cadet in the jersey tonight. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-4 shooting (2-4 from three) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 2 steals and no fouls in 20 minutes. The Action: He missed a corner three. He swished a three from the top of the arc off the kickout from Bynum. Second Half: He swiped a kickout. He drained a three on a kickout from Pau. He missed a three. Nice position D on LeBron and he forced a travel.

Fisher -- -- DFish, like Kobe, was able to get by with some good defensive support from his team. Those clogged lanes made life difficult for the Cavs. Mo Williams scored 16 points on 16 shots and had 5 turnovers. That's how this team locked down to start the season. Offensively, DFish struggled a bit with the threes, but sank some jumpers a little closer in. He still did a decent job spreading the floor, including in our final run. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 5-12 shooting (1-5 from three) to go with 2 boards, 5 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 34 minutes. The Action: He missed a baseline jumper. He drained a wing jumper. He came off the screens and made an extra pass to the cutting Bynum for a dunk. He missed an open pull-up three. His bounce pass was picked off by Wallace. He missed a reverse. He hit the floor to force a jumpball on the D end. He swished an open three off the Bynum kickout. He missed a corner three. He missed a three a step behind the line. Second Half: He up-faked to get past Williams and scored a hanging layup. He funneled his man to a layup when no one challenged it. Next time down Pau was set up and the funnel worked to perfection as they trapped and stole the ball. He worked the two-man with Pau and swished the wing jumper. He weaved through the lane and missed a layup. He swished a 20-footer when our play busted. He missed an open wing three.

Lamar -- -- His passing was a little off in this game and he missed a couple chippies that he's been making lately, but still a good effort. Some good shot challenges and blocks as he again played strong team D. His perimeter shot was off early on and he avoided it the rest of the game. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 4-10 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 10 boards (4 offensive), 2 assists, 1 steal, 3 blocks, 3 turnovers and 5 fouls in 31 minutes. The Action: He had a pass picked off. He missed a sideline three. He came over to double LeBron and deflected a pass. He missed a sideline three in early offense (Phil might have called that an "indulgent shot"). He got blocked on a jumphook, wanted the goaltend. Next time down, he attacked in transition and threw down. He got swatted showing the ball. He was called for a charge after getting a loose ball in the paint. He missed a layup in transition. Great effort to block a layup from behind. He attacked in early offense and scored a layup. He scored a layup off the Kobe drive and dish. Weak entry to Gasol for a turnover. He had 6 points on 3-8 shooting and 7 boards. Second Half: He passed away from a post up on Szczerbiak, just kill that, Lamar. He created off the dribble against Wright and scored a layup. Nice Tri read, noticing Pau fronted, he flashed to the FT line, took the pass and gave Pau a high-low feed, but they didn't give us FTs when Pau was grabbed. After missing a pass to Pau off the Kobe/Pau two-man game, we set it up next time and Lamar connected with him for the dunk.

Ariza -- -- You don't know what hits you when the Cobra strikes. Offensive board, reset the offense. Damn, there he goes. Steal and dunk the other way. Damn, that hurt. Crunch-time three. Damn, he just broke your back. Again, that impact from Ariza is never a ball-dominant event. It's quick strikes. In the fourth, he had two steals on LeBron in transition D that had the crowd buzzing...and LeBron sick with hot Cobra venom coursing through his veins. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 3-5 shooting (2-2 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards (3 offensive), 2 assists, 4 steals, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 28 minutes. The Action: He kept two offensive boards alive to reset the offense. He missed a tip, but got it back and reset the offense. He threw a post entry away. Nice challenge on Gibson's jumper to force a brick. Second Half: He took the ball away from LeBron on the break then threw down the monster oop from Kobe on the other end. Again, LeBron in transition trying to go to his left, Ariza took it away with a reach, uncontested dunk for Kobe this time. He swished the open three off the Kobe kickout. Next offensive sequence: He attacked off the steal, got hit in the head, flagrant-1, he made both FTs with 1:38. Off the in-bounds after those FTs, he drained a corner three -- an 8-point run by Trevor in crunch time.

Vujacic -- -- Sasha opened up a can of Machine-style slap down on the Cavs. The Sick Jumpers of Death were on display from the moment he stepped on the court. Note to LeBron: You block Machine's shot, Machine hit three on you instead. Machine not witness... Great game by Sasha. With Kobe defending LeBron, we could consider giving Sasha a start against this team. Sasha could give you that perimeter shooting, but probably do a much better job defending the other Sasha. We tighted that up in the second half, but it is an option. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 4-7 shooting (4-5 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 21 minutes. The Action: He swiped a pass, pushed it out and was easily blocked by LeBron, he got it back, however, and sank the corner three. He missed a wing jumper. He drained a three with 3 seconds left in the first quarter to take the lead. He dove to the floor to recover a ball on the defensive end. He drained a wing three on the kickout from Lamar. He had 9 points on 3-5 shooting. Second Half: He hit a wing three off the inside-out sequence, he came up limping. He threw a pass away after getting an offensive board. Out of a deadball, he curled around the screens, took the pass, attacked and drew FTs on the slow developing drive, he made both. Nice tap of a loose ball to Bynum to draw FTs. Great recovery on Williams to block his jumper, Sasha using his size well on that play.

Sun Yue -- -- The victory cigar. Sun came in for the last possession of the game for Kobe. He might have been able to get in sooner had the Lakers not put the game on cruise control a little too early. The Stats: He was 0-1 from three. The Action: He didn't play in the first half. Second Half: He missed a three on iso on our last possession.

Phil -- -- The Lakers offense struggled to find a rhythm early on. They trailed 18-11 after 8 minutes... With a couple threes by Sasha, the Lakers ended the quarter on a 14-6 run to take a 25-24 lead... Both teams traded hoops throughout the second quarter. Kobe wasn't very active and we fed our bigmen quite a bit. Good job by the Laker second units. The Cavs led 50-49 at the half... The Lakers had 11 turnover to the 6 by the Cavs. The Lakers hit the boards for 13 offensive boards to 8 for the Cavs... Phil wanted the Lakers to cut down on those turnovers and keep LeBron from the middle of the floor... The Lakers opened with a 17-9 start to the third. Kobe was setting the table throughout and keeping LeBron out of the paint. Some very good defensive rotations and defensive anchoring... They led 75-66, holding the Cavs to just 16 points in the third quarter... "We have a size advantage," Phil said about the Lakers strong play. He also urged his team to keep the Cavs off the line... An 18-point fourth quarter lead dwindled when the Lakers put it in cruise control and the Cavs went on an 11-0 run... The Lakers immediately countered with a 12-1 run out of a timeout. Phil told them to run the Kobe/Pau two-man game instead of the iso type of shots they had been settling for... The Lakers shot 52 percent and kept the Cavs to 43 percent. Both teams were horrid from the line. The Cavs went 12-19, the Lakers 7-15... The Lakers had 11 turnovers in the first half, but cleaned it up with just 4 in the second half...

Game Flow -- LINK -- A series of runs from the Lakers in the second half. You could see the Lakers take the foot off the gas briefly and pay the price when the Cavs went on that 11-0 run in the fourth.

[Teamof2000]

Great win!

Thanks DB as always!


Edit: First!

[OscarWang]

FIRST!

EDIT: SECOND!
_________________
"Everything negative - pressure, challenges - is all an opportunity for me to rise."

- Kobe Bryant

[ImmortalD24]

Thanks DB!
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60!

[Vadorojo]

[bryants2hot2handle]

Thanks!! =)

[vida24]

[Downunder]

Witness that LeBron!!

Thanks DB

[SweetP]

Yeah, except for Kobe's finger injury that was a NICE game.
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“There is always light if only we're brave enough to see it, if only we're brave enough to be it.” --Amanda Gorman

[A Mad Chinaman]

DB:

What are your thoughts on Doug Collins believing that the Lakers are setting more plays for LO to get him thinking more aggresively on offense? TNT commentators that LO is better off the ball (passing, closing) that initiating the attack in the half court sets, what are your thoughts on their point?

[najim]

classic classic recap! two laugh out loud lines in there:

[Mr. EiGhTy-OnE]

-great team defense.
-lamar continues to add a spark
-sasha was clutch when called upon
-trevor's box score almost didnt show how valuable he was until his scoring binge to close out the game
-kobe fadeaway over bron (with a dislocated finger)
-Pau and Andrew killed Varejao and Big Ben in the paint
-was at the game, saw jeannie usher marbury to his seat
-lebron is still a case act in my book, no reason to hate
-TACOS!

[Doggy Dogg]

[DancingBarry]

[IPK]

[IPK]

[LakerEric]

machine not witness....


LMAO!
_________________
Do you believe it now, Trinity? - Morpheous

[Texas_Pete]

Thanks DB!

Let's see...Lakers beat Cavs by 17. Cavs beat Celtics by 15. Lakers beat Boston.

How about our frontline: 17/23 for 36 points, 18 rebs, and owning the paint all night. How about Drew standing up to big bad LBJ's "go to" move? (Put his head down and going to the hole) Nice anchorage. Drew get's his double double if not for foul trouble. Size Matters. How about the Machine, Ariza, and LO? They played solid for us tonight. I liked the agressive LO. More of that LO, please!

EDIT: Former DPOY got owned by Pau tonight. I don't think Big Z would have made much of a difference tonight.

Go Lakers!

[Addicus]

Witness - I didn't see nothin!
_________________
Stop crying and start doing.

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/addicusbrown

[limchrc]

Thanks, nice win.

[prisma8slg]

well deserved for Sasha

[RUDY IS GOAT]

Gasol was the best player on court. Bryant and James, disaster game.

[Sage_10]

Ariza was defensive stud last night.
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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

[Rick12322]

It's no surprise we beat that team and our defense was working, our kryptonite is outside shooting big men, coupled with deadly 3 shooters.

I was proud of Kobe, he deserves so much more credit and accolades than the media gives him. Kobe is the fiercest player the nba has ever seen. It was a disgrace listening to Doug Collins wet his pants moment by moment as he gushed over Lebron. That goes for the other guy too.

Ariza was just amazing last night. What an athletic freak! He's definitely improved his shooting. He's doing the right thing, his shot may not always fall, but he takes it freely when it needs to be taken in the flow of the game, much like Robert Horry would. Yes, I'm saying he can be clutch in that he's even tempered, whether the game gets close or not he just keeps playing the same, all out but still usually making the right choices.

Nobody, and I mean nobody cut off Lebron from getting to the basket better than Drew. When switched on to him he looked like he did against MVP want to be Bosh. He's huge and long and when he hunches down and moves his feet, you got to run around the block to get by him. He did a fantastic job.

It was a good and memorable game, and the first one in the last two and a half years that the refs actually let them play and allowed Bron the same contact Kobe gets every single game, most of the time without calls. Welcome to Kobe's world, Lebron.

[doven]