(Sigh)...well it wasn't very pretty at times but we did it. The season series is even at one game a piece headed back to the Hornets nest. We saw a little glimpse of heart from the Lakers last night. Maybe that 2 hour game tape session on Monday helped. P Jax pointed out that 35 of the 70 plays New Orleans ran featured the Lakers in wrong defensive sets . Phil gave some humor at the pregame conference. He took many jabs at the Lakers as usual. He said he would wear a different championship ring every game. " Hopefully I'll get through all of them before we are eliminated." On a night where Lamar Odom was finally acknowledged for his bench play, he received the 6th Man of The Year award before the game, becoming the first Laker to do so. Phil Jackson said ." Yeah I wanted them to give it to him tonight because this may be the last game of the season here." The game started off with Kobe taking on CP3. He did that last year in the playoffs against Russell Westbrook when Fish couldn't keep up. He didn't wait until game 4 this time. CP3 still got his points because you cant stop him, but he didn't really get his other teammates involved. He had 20 points and 9 assists. It paled in comparison to his opener with 33 points and 14 assists. " They tried to shrink the court on me," Paul said. They didn't want me to wiggle and dance with the ball as much ,and it worked for them to a certain extent." The Lakers came out flat again to start. The Hornets sprinted to a 20-11 lead as the Staples Center started to boo. But the defensive battle began an the Lakers went on a 10-0 run to the end of the 1st tying the score headed to the 2nd quarter. The Bench started the 2nd quarter. They came out with lots of energy. Matt Barnes with a fresh new rooster haircut, and Steve Blake with a new yellow headband and chicken pox marks on his face. Lamar Odum grinning from ear to ear with his chest stuck out because of his award. He wanted to put it on the scores table for the fans to view, but then he decided to have it displayed in the Staple Center Lobby for fans to take pictures with it. The bench held their ground but the Hornets were not going away. We went on 9-0 run and lead by 6. I actually think this was the point where we would open the game up, but the Hornets kept fighting back. They actually cut the lead to six with a CP3 buzzer to end the half. The 1st half was way better than Game 1. The Lakers had 30 points in the paint. Bynum was very active with 8 points. But, Pau Gasol was still missing. Monte Williams mentioned his guys fight each other in practice. I wish someone would knock Pau out.He still looked sluggish and lazy with 6 points. A very interesting point at the half was NO already had 10 turn overs converting into 17 points for the Lakers. They had a total of 3 the last game. The Laker defense was tightening up by the minute. Another interesting stat was Kobe only had 3 points.
The Lakers came out on fire to start the 3rd. The bench opened up the quarter much to my dismay, but they kept it steady. We went on another 10-.0 run to put us back up by 12. Steve Blake was sensational with 5 assists and he did a pretty good job on CP3 as well. Omeka Okafur continue having a horrible night. He was in foul trouble much of the game and was a non factor. Carl Landry who continued to give us fits joined Okafur with 4 fouls as the 3rd winded down. But Landry is not scared of Pau. He smells Paus fear and it shows. As as to be expected Chris Paul hit ANOTHER 3 to end the 3rd and cut the lead to 7.
I was nervous again for the bench to start the 4th, but they actually extended the lead to double digits and Matt Barnes drew Landry his 5th foul. Thank goodness for the bench and Lamar Odom who showed why he was named the 6th man of the year. He was slashing and floating through the air to the basket with ease. No one was more thrilled than the starters who were no where to be seen. At the 8:57 mark of the 4th, Kobe, Fisher, and Pau were a dismal 6-25 from the field . I'm giving Kobe an excuse though. He was chasing CP3 around all night. He did of course end with 11 points and continued his streak right behind only Jordan with 150 consecutive play off games in double digits. He even ran down the lane for a reverse dunk that was all " Vintage Kobe." All other starters sucked but Ron Artest. Ron continued his heroic play from game 1 with 15 points and 6 rebounds.. We were up by 15 with 6:42 to go in the game, but again, we couldn't hold on. The Lakers always have to make it interesting don't they? The lead was only down to 7 with 1:52 to play. But then there was a Pau Gasol sighting! Then on a Kobe miss Pau remebered how to rebound! It was only his 5th but it couldn't have come at a better time. After pulling down the rebound Pau dished it Ron Ron for a 3 and that's all she wrote. Lights Out!!! BynumLakers we much more organized holding the Hornets to under 40% shooting and forcing 16 turnovers.They also improved on funnelling drivers away from the lane, the aftermath resulted in 4 blocked shots.
Who would've thought Kobe trusted his team enough to take only 10 shots and lock the star down on defense? Who would have thought Lamar Odum had enough courage and consistency to take the team on his back primitively winning us the game? Who would've thought Bynum fresh from injury would play hard and foul out playing until the final seconds, making up for Paus mistakes;not the least bit leery of his glass knee? Anyone who still believes this is the most talented team in the NBA even if some nights you cant see it. It will have to be more appaerent in each series, in each game.
Friday night they are going into the Hornets nest. Even though they lost, the did just what they wanted. They got 1. They are still confident and hungry and we need to be ready. The starters and the bench both have to stop taking turns and both be on the same page. Lets be focused, determined, and single minded because this is only round one. Round two proves to hold bigger and badder demons. Time to dust off your crosses Lakers..this whole league needs to be exorcised.......starting Friday night
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