I almost cried last night, when the Lakers lost to the Pistons 106-95. I can't believe they lost...but what upset me more was the fact that I missed the damn game. Shit! I missed everything. I know that the East Coast teams play much more aggressively than the West Coast ones, but I would have loved to watch the game. Instead, I spent the evening shopping...damn! By the time I caught the game at the bar, they were down by 12 at the end of the 3rd quarter. I don't know what it is with the Lakers and the East Coast teams but they can never seem to get their defense up. Instead they get defeated so easily. Plus, the Pistons have A.I. now...and I used to L-O-V-E him! Especially when he was running thangs with the 76ers... But now he's trying it out with Detroit after they traded with Billups on the Nuggets.
So, since I didn't get to watch the game, I have to watch the highlights to see how poorly they played. And I can read about what happened on the Lakers running diary...you can too...however its not my words so it may not be as exciting ;) F.Y.I. I'm starting a fantasy Basket Ball Team next season...and I'm dying to go see the Celtics vs. Lakers on X-mas day...but I don't think my grandma would appreciate it.
In tonight’s matchup between the new-look (translation: A.I.) Detroit Pistons and the Lakers, five players remain from the 2004 NBA Finals won by the team from Motown. Can you name ‘em?
Kobe, Luke Walton, Rasheed Wallace, Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince. Even with Kobe, we’ll give the Pistons a slight edge there due to numbers.
But which of the rest do we like?
A) Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum, Lamar Odom, Derek Fisher, Jordan Farmar, Trevor Ariza, Sasha Vujacic … etc
B) Allen Iverson, Jason Maxiell, Rodney Stuckey, Arron Afflalo, Will Bynum, Kwame Brown
Gonna go with B on that one.
Wait, can I take that back? I’m never betting against Kobe, especially when he needs just three points to pass Larry Bird on the all-time scoring list.
Your ever-important inactives:
Lakers - DJ Mbenga, Sun Yue
Pistons - Walter Sharpe
And your starters:
Lakers: Fish, Kobe, Vladi, Pau and Bynum
Pistons: AI, Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Rasheed Wallace and Kwame Brown
First Quarter
Slow down, Detroit … The Pistons were unconscious to start the game, making six consecutive jumpers to claim a 12-2 lead before Bryant and Gasol combined for five straight points. Though allowing some good looks on those six Pistons Js, L.A.’s defense re-organized well in shutting down five straight possessions, highlighted by a swat from Bynum, the NBA’s second-leading shot blocker. Yet it was on the offensive glass that Bynum made an even bigger impression, grabbing three boards on that end that helped push L.A. to within three at 12-9 after Bynum showed his sticky fingers in catching a tough lob pass from Bryant and immediately laying it off glass to cap a 7-0 run at the 5:48 mark.
Bryant Passes Bird
The run increased to 12-0 thanks to two big slams from Bryant, the first of which gave him 21,791 points to tie Bird, and the second (which, by the way, came when he was approximately 56 feet in the air to throw down a one-handed alley-oop) that put him at No. 23 on the all-time scoring list. Congrats, Kobe, even though you’re probably happier that the game turned from 2-12 to 14-12 in a manner of minutes.
Radmanovic is struggling with his shot right now, missing his third straight attempt from mid-range, and was pulled from the game along with Gasol and Fisher in favor of Odom, Farmar and Ariza. Most notable with Jackson’s substitution, however, was the huge roar from the crowd when the subs checked in. Clearly, it’s a knowledgeable fan base that can appreciate how well L.A.’s second unit has been playing this season.
So, to start the game you have a 10-0 run by the Pistons, a 12-0 run by the Lakers, and then … guess what … an 11-4 Pistons run to close the quarter. The final four points came on two pretty Iverson buckets, the first a pull-back J from the baseline and the second a supremely athletic floater from the lane to beat the buzzer and give Detroit a 23-16 edge.
Second Quarter
Is somebody giving the Lakers salary bumps for taking contested perimeter jumpers? The offense was the opposite of Justin Timberlake and Lance Bass’ group to start the second quarter, allowing Detroit to go up by 12 before Farmar and Ariza hit consecutive shots at the rim to make it 28-20 Pistons. The defense, meanwhile, seemed content to let Wallace launch three uncontested threes from the top of the key, the final of which gave Detroit a 33-20 lead before Gasol’s baseline baby hook.
Here’s one problem: the Lakers are still struggling to hit shots, as in 7-for-22 (31.8 percent). Oucch! The Pistons, meanwhile, nailed an impressive 11-of-19 in the first, and that was before two more Wallace threes and two Stuckey hoops at the rim. Also, to refer back to the pregame entry on this blog, Detroit has certainly had success with that small lineup I was curious to see before the game. The Pistons simply spread the Lakers out defensively, and moved the ball until getting a good look, not even attempting to penetrate the defense with Stuckey’s drives being the notable exceptions. Jackson countered with a small lineup of Gasol at the four and Ariza at the three, though it didn’t help much as Arron Afflalo canned a jumper and Jason Maxiell followed a Stuckey miss with a two-handed slam to make it 45-34 Pistons with 5:46 remaining in the half.
To that point, I think it was fair to say that L.A.’s second unit got outplayed, and maybe for the first time this season.
Except for Ariza. First came a pretty steal in transition leading to a Bryant hoop, then a put-back jam on Gasol miss to cut the lead back to seven. Ariza is the rare player that almost literally contributes in every statistical category, but also does the little things. Plus, it’s hard to remember the last time he made a stupid play. I’ll now stop giving him compliments … it’s starting to get weird.
About 30 seconds later … Ariza threw the ball right to Iverson. That’s on me. At least he hustled back, contested a shot and sealed a rebound. That makes me feel less responsible. At the other end, Bryant drew a foul and converted to make the score 49-40, though Bryant does seem content to shoot jumpers right now instead of attacking the rim, other than those two early dunks.
For Detroit, Prince seemed content to shoot jumpers as well, until getting all the way to the rim after a Bryant turnover for his 11th point, joining AI and Wallace in double figures for Detroit. Kobe did manage the half’s last bucket, but the Lakers hit only 41 percent of their shots while Detroit was good on nearly 60 percent (56.1) to take a 53-44 lead into the break.
“Unexpected” is probably a fair adjective in describing L.A.’s nine-point deficit in terms of what one might have predicted heading into the contest. Yet after watching the action, L.A.’s probably lucky to be within single digits. After all, the Lakers were stagnant on offense, unable to adjust defensively to a small Pistons lineup and generally listless from an effort perspective. Yet to a degree, you have to give Detroit credit for nailing almost each one of its open looks, which is something the Hornets failed to do at home on Wednesday, and Dallas couldn’t do Tuesday against L.A.
In that game against the Mavs, the Lakers trailed by six at halftime after struggling offensively for much of the first half, but came back to dominate the second half 52-39 in taking the victory. There’s that, plus the fact that the Lakers have gone on at least one big run in each game this season. Even against a Pistons team that’s playing quite well, it’s fair to expect a purple and gold charge in the second half. You have to think the Lakers will buckle down defensively and start playing with more purpose offensively, though Iverson, Wallace and Co. have yet to show any wear in their legs from Tuesday night’s contest.
By the way, after sticking four threes and scoring 18 points on Wednesday, Fisher was 0-for-7 in the first half without an assist, while Bryant was just 5-of-13 and Vladi 0-of-3. Odom (3-of-3), Gasol (4-of-6) and Ariza (3-for-5) shot well. L.A. committed eight turnovers (pretty good) but hit only one three, to four from the Pistons.
Third Quarter
If the Lakers can come out with a nice run, we’ll be able to see pretty quickly if the Pistons have the energy to match it. That’s for what I’ll be looking early, anyways.
The first sniff of positivity from the Lakers faithful came understandable after Bryant undressed Prince with a crossover dribble, cut to the hoop and threw down a left-handed jam to cut the Detroit lead to five. Moments earlier, Fisher had connected on consecutive jumpers, a good sign after the veterans first half struggles.
But the Pistons showed some veteran mettle of their own by answering with a Prince jumper and free throws to push the lead right back to nine. So, L.A.’s first punch was answered with a body shot. Watch out for the next swing…
At the 4:45 mark, the first sign of other-worldly intervention filtered into the arena when ‘Sheed threw up a prayer three, and the backboard answered his call to put Detroit up by 12, and that with one second left on the shot clock after a pretty Bynum swat.
By the 1:49 point of the third, Detroit called a time out while holding the basketball and that same 12-point lead, and the crowd was probably as quiet as I’ve heard this season. But the general NBA rule is that you want to be within 10 entering the fourth quarter … so come on, it’s not like you’re Paris Hilton and Saks 5th isn’t accepting American Express Black cards due to a technical disruption. At the same time, what’s not good for the Lakers is that they’ve allowed a veteran team to stay in a ballgame towards which they now only have to give 12 minutes, eliminating any chance of a mental allowance from the Pistons that might have occurred with better early play from L.A.
Wait a second, Paris, the machine really isn’t working. Uh oh. With 18 seconds remaining in the third, Arron Afflalo followed a Hamilton layup with a corner three that gave Detroit a 15-point lead heading into the final period. The game’s long from over, but that five-point swing was exactly what the Lakers needed to prevent.
Fourth Quarter
An even worse omen to the evening came when Kwame Brown not only made both free throws to open the quarter, but banked the first one in. One of those nights? Too many perimeter jumpers, poor defensive rotations and some bad luck combined to dig a hole out of which the Lakers will have trouble climbing, but I wouldn’t count ‘em out just yet.
The lineup at the beginning of the period: Bynum, Odom, Vujacic, Bryant and Farmar. I like that Sasha’s in the game here, because he’s probably been the fieriest of Lakers tonight, and L.A. certainly needs some fire.
On cue, Vujacic hassled Stuckey into a jump ball on a routine inbounds play, and though he lost the tip, grabbed a defensive board at the other end (even as he turned his ankle) which led to two Bynum free throws and an 83-71 score with 7:20 to go. That ankle tweak, however, was his right ankle, good news only because the one that he’d hurt in training camp was his left.
The game’s most influential sequence to that point came when Bynum missed a dunk opportunity from Bryant (the timing was juuuust off) and Prince nailed a three at the other end, making what would have been an 11-point game into a 16-point Pistons lead with 6:40 to go.
Bryant then missed consecutive jumpers, Wallace converted two free throws with 5:30 left and Hamilton hit two from the stripe after a frustrated Odom reaching foul to make the climb back just a bit less daunting than a staring contest with Jack.
Kobe, who had made only 7-of-23 shots to start the game, quickly scored eight points* (including two triples) and swatted rip Hamilton to bring L.A. within 14 with 3:00 to go, but Detroit came right back in transition with a Wallace dunk that proved the final nail in L.A.’s coffin.
That moved Bryant past Gary Payton for 22nd on the NBA’s all-time scoring charts, after he passed Larry Bird earlier in the game.
So after 18 days of relative bliss around Los Angeles, the Lakers finally dropped a game, and fell to 7-1 on the season. They’ll have a long weekend to think about the loss before the Bulls come to town on Tuesday, which probably isn’t great news for Chicago.
Stay tuned for postgame coverage on Lakers.com, and have a good one.
NBA Season Standings - Lakers are still # 1 in the West and those damn Celtics are # 1 in the East...Fuck em'
| 2008-2009 Conference Regular Season Standings | ||||||||||||||
| Eastern Conference | ||||||||||||||
| Eastern | W | L | PCT | GB | CONF | DIV | HOME | ROAD | L 10 | STREAK | ||||
| Boston1 | 8 | 2 | 0.800 | 0.0 | 6-1 | 1-0 | 5-1 | 3-1 | 8-2 | L 1 | ||||
| Cleveland2 | 7 | 2 | 0.778 | 0.5 | 5-1 | 4-0 | 5-0 | 2-2 | 7-2 | W 6 | ||||
| Atlanta3 | 6 | 2 | 0.750 | 1.0 | 4-2 | 1-0 | 2-0 | 4-2 | 6-2 | L 2 | ||||
| Detroit4 | 7 | 2 | 0.778 | 0.5 | 4-2 | 1-0 | 2-1 | 5-1 | 7-2 | W 3 | ||||
| Orlando5 | 6 | 3 | 0.667 | 1.5 | 3-1 | 1-1 | 4-2 | 2-1 | 6-3 | W 2 | ||||
| New York6 | 6 | 3 | 0.667 | 1.5 | 3-2 | 0-1 | 4-1 | 2-2 | 6-3 | W 2 | ||||
| Miami7 | 5 | 4 | 0.556 | 2.5 | 3-2 | 1-1 | 4-1 | 1-3 | 5-4 | W 1 | ||||
| Toronto8 | 4 | 4 | 0.500 | 3.0 | 3-4 | 1-2 | 1-2 | 3-2 | 4-4 | L 2 | ||||
| Indiana | 4 | 4 | 0.500 | 3.0 | 3-3 | 0-2 | 3-2 | 1-2 | 4-4 | L 1 | ||||
| Milwaukee | 5 | 5 | 0.500 | 3.0 | 2-4 | 0-2 | 2-2 | 3-3 | 5-5 | W 2 | ||||
| Philadelphia | 4 | 5 | 0.444 | 3.5 | 3-4 | 2-1 | 2-2 | 2-3 | 4-5 | W 2 | ||||
| Chicago | 4 | 5 | 0.444 | 3.5 | 1-5 | 1-2 | 4-2 | 0-3 | 4-5 | W 1 | ||||
| New Jersey | 3 | 5 | 0.375 | 4.0 | 3-3 | 0-0 | 2-3 | 1-2 | 3-5 | W 1 | ||||
| Charlotte | 3 | 5 | 0.375 | 4.0 | 1-4 | 1-0 | 3-3 | 0-2 | 3-5 | W 1 | ||||
| Washington | 1 | 6 | 0.143 | 5.5 | 0-6 | 0-2 | 1-2 | 0-4 | 1-6 | L 1 | ||||
| Western Conference | ||||||||||||||
| Western | W | L | PCT | GB | CONF | DIV | HOME | ROAD | L 10 | STREAK | ||||
| L.A. Lakers1 | 7 | 1 | 0.875 | 0.0 | 7-0 | 2-0 | 3-1 | 4-0 | 7-1 | L 1 | ||||
| Utah2 | 6 | 3 | 0.667 | 1.5 | 5-0 | 3-0 | 4-0 | 2-3 | 6-3 | L 2 | ||||
| New Orleans3 | 5 | 3 | 0.625 | 2.0 | 3-1 | 0-0 | 3-2 | 2-1 | 5-3 | W 1 | ||||
| Phoenix4 | 7 | 3 | 0.700 | 1.0 | 4-2 | 1-0 | 2-2 | 5-1 | 7-3 | W 1 | ||||
| Portland5 | 5 | 4 | 0.556 | 2.5 | 3-4 | 1-1 | 3-0 | 2-4 | 5-4 | L 1 | ||||
| Houston6 | 5 | 4 | 0.556 | 2.5 | 5-3 | 2-1 | 2-1 | 3-3 | 5-4 | L 1 | ||||
| Denver7 | 5 | 4 | 0.556 | 2.5 | 3-3 | 0-1 | 2-1 | 3-3 | 5-4 | W 1 | ||||
| Sacramento8 | 4 | 6 | 0.400 | 4.0 | 4-2 | 2-1 | 3-2 | 1-4 | 4-6 | L 1 | ||||
| San Antonio | 3 | 5 | 0.375 | 4.0 | 2-3 | 1-1 | 2-3 | 1-2 | 3-5 | W 1 | ||||
| Golden State | 3 | 6 | 0.333 | 4.5 | 2-4 | 0-1 | 2-3 | 1-3 | 3-6 | L 1 | ||||
| Memphis | 3 | 7 | 0.300 | 5.0 | 2-4 | 0-1 | 2-2 | 1-5 | 3-7 | L 4 | ||||
| Dallas | 2 | 7 | 0.222 | 5.5 | 2-4 | 1-1 | 0-4 | 2-3 | 2-7 | L 5 | ||||
| Minnesota | 1 | 6 | 0.143 | 5.5 | 1-6 | 0-2 | 1-2 | 0-4 | 1-6 | L 6 | ||||
| L.A. Clippers | 1 | 7 | 0.125 | 6.0 | 1-7 | 0-3 | 1-5 | 0-2 | 1-7 | L 1 | ||||
| Oklahoma City | 1 | 8 | 0.111 | 6.5 | 1-2 | 1-1 | 1-4 | 0-4 | 1-8 | L 6 | ||||
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