Phil started out the day by saying he doesn't believe in " sitting" players to save them for the playoffs. He said at most he will shave off a few minutes. The question had been going around the league whether or not Phil should sit his banged up players to save them for the playoffs.Drew banged the same knee he had surgery on in July, and Pau had an MRI done on Monday that showed a bone bruise.Both were cleared to play.
Pau was very active opening the game with a block then at the other end fed a pass to Bynum for a slam.
Drew was cleaning up the offensive glass early, in fact he had one block and nine rebounds in 15 minutes, but was blocked three times by Al Jefferson halfway thru the 2nd.
Starters got their first break with 2 min left in the 1st and the bench held a 4 point lead to end the first.
The reserves also started the 2nd quarter.
The turn overs started early as well. .Kobe had an off game. Yes he is allowed. He didn't shoot the ball particularly well, and got his first points from the free throw line with 3:03 to go in the 2nd. He had only attempted 1 shot. Neither team was finding a good offensive rhythm. Jazz shooting 34% Lakers 39% by half time.Our big men were keeping us in the game even though it wasn't balanced. Pau was scoring but not rebounding. Drew was the clean up man but wasn't scoring.Kobe picked up his 3rd foul at the end of the half, a debatable charge.There was a block party at Staples though and seemingly both teams were invited.The Lakers had 7 blocked shots but Jazz had 5! But, they each had 10 turnovers!!! The Lakers went to the locker room shooting13 for 33 from the field, but were up by 6.
Halftime report from the Locker room Phil simply said someone needs to step up offensively.
Lakers start the 3rd giving up an easy bucket to Al Jefferson and a Pau turnover. It Looked like we were in for a long night. The Jazz scored the 1st four points to start the quarter. I felt a migraine coming on as the Lakers got their 12th turnover at the 8:57 mark of the 3rd. Tie score with 3:50 to go in the quarter, until Ron Ron hit a long 2 after his 6th try on the night.
Drew picked up his career high 19 boards in the 3rd. We loose the 3rd by 6 with a tie score headed to the 4th. Before the 4th The Lakers assistant coach Frank Hamblin said it looked like the Lakers didn't want to be here. Joel Myers kept saying " This is a strange game". I came to that conclusion shortly after tip off. So, the 4th quarter starts off just as sluggish as the first 3. Lamar hit a 3 at the 9:30 mark of the fourth. It was the Lakers 1st 3 pointer on their 14th try!!!!!! Who told them they were the Orlando magic? We have a height advantage people!!! Throw it inside!!! Kobe still couldn't make 2 points with a paper and pencil. The Jazz point guard Gordon Hayword was torching the Lakers. He had 19 ( career high) with 7mins left in the game killing the Lakers with dribble penetration. Ron hit a 3 to put us up by 1 with 3:33 to go, but Hayward broke down the defense AGAIN and dunked the ball to put them up by 1. He must've been mad about his former college team loosing the championship because he was on a mission.They sure could've used him that night....where was I?...Ok..
Kobe put it to two with 1:10 to play, and I actually started getting into the game. It took a whole 41 minutes to interest me. Seems like the Lakers felt the same way. Kobe then drew an offensive foul on Hayward. We get the ball, but on a Kobe miss Lamar decided not to even jump ( as usual) and the Jazz get the ball. Favors then goes for the shot inside and is fouled by Pau. He misses the first. But makes the 2nd . Its now a 3 point game with 24 secs left . Kobe hits a 3 to tie at 65. "Here we go!" I thought. " The Black Mamba saves the day again!" Hayward then of course gets fouled by Pau with 6 secs left. He missed the first!! YES!!! Hes human!! He makes the 2nd. :/ ....1 point game ( sigh). Surely we can get a basket right? We don't need a 3....just a basket, a simple layup, and simple drive to the basket and get a foul...easy right?? Lakers advance. Kobe lost the ball. The 19th turnover, and just like that..Game over. The buzzer sounds as Kobe stares at his hands.Thats a total of 39 turnovers for the last 2 losses.I felt like I was in the Matrix. This had to be an alternate universe...These cant be the same guys who went 17-1 after ASB. Those Lakers wouldn't have given up 16 offensive boards. Those Lakers wouldn't have a Spaniard who is a 7 FT POWER FORWARD only grab 4 rebounds.Those Lakers wouldn't have went 31-82 from the field. Those Lakers would've listened To Assistant Coach Hamblin at practice when he said " Stick to the game plan and pound the ball inside." No, those 17-1 Lakers wouldn't have done that. But, these guys??? You bet. These guys led the game 18-8 because they were pounding the ball inside and finding Drew and Pau. These guys like Shannon Brown continued poor decision making, turnovers, and dribbling the ball too long. These guys like Steve Blake didn't even attempt one basket. Sure he had 4 assists including an alley oop to Shannon that lit the Staples Center on fire...if that had been the last play of the night, this column would've had a totally different feel. These guys have a coach who let Luke Walton in the game before garbage time( lets face it that's the only time we EVER need to see Luke), only to see him commit fouls and turnovers while Matt Barnes sat on the bench the whole 2nd half. Shannon and Luke were a combined 2 for 10. These guys have a coach who opted to sit Bynum in the 4th quarter down the stretch where his presence alone may have altered some of Haywood's drives. Bynum had a career high 23 rebounds!
When asked about the lost Kobe said " The ball just slipped out of my hands...it just slipped." Kobe said " We all have been taking the same BS pill. Its just BS..these last 2 games." Lamar Odum said it was the worst loss of the season. The Coach Dave Miller on 710 am totally agreed. " This loss was at home, they just didn't show up." said Coach. Steven A Smith stated it as boredom. He said he talked to the Lakers before the game and he got a sense of lethargy. He said he thinks the Lakers know they have no shot at 1st place now so they are just ready for the play offs to start. They know the Jazz aren't even a factor so the competitiveness was not there. Kobe even admitted to being passive tonite.I don't think Ive ever heard that one. He had 20 points on an embarrassing six-for 18 shooting! He also had 7 turnovers. None more detrimental than the last one. Stephen also said that was partly the reason for Sundays loss as well. Saying like only he can in that Ny drawl , " The Lakers hate Sunday 12:30am games! They hate them!! They hate David Stern for making them play those games. The look at the schedule in disgust when they see them. They just didn't feel like playing and its as simple as that." he went on to say, " No one panic in Lakerland. The Lakers have made a statement with Dallas and San Antonio. They don't have anything else to prove. When the playoffs come they will be ready. They always are." I can say I usually don't agree with the opinionated Steve, but he was right on the money with that one. . In the grand scheme of things this Utah loss wont even matter. They will be a distant memory on the road to the 3 peat. We are however one game behind Chicago. We play Golden State tonite and we should win on account of us having fresh legs since we took last night off. But as Kobe said. On to the next game. Flush this one. Enough said...
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