Posts tagged ‘Lakers’

Well, at least Kobe got his grill piece busted open.

Box Score

Regulation was insane. The Warriors again came out strong and swarming in the first half. They attacked on offense and defense, leaving the Lakers scattered and turning the ball over. Jack and Baron lit it up, going for 17 and 20 respectively.

Al’s three-point shot woke up; he added 12 points and pounded the boards hard - snaring 8. Warriors up by 11 into the half.

It was another gut check third quarter for the Dubs. They looked tired and were unable to get any kind of consistent scoring runs going. Kobe got his head into the game and he teamed up with Fisher and Odom to outscore the dubs 35-23 in the third, putting the Lakers up by one going into the fourth.

The Warriors looked dead in the water halfway through the fourth. Their legs looked gone and Kobe started doing that annoying superstar thing, hitting step back jumpers, threes, and grabbing rebounds. He had possible the lamest sidekick ever in the form of the floppy haired, flop prone Yugoslavian, Sasha Vujacic.

Vujacic was deadly from three point range and he hit two big ones, helping the Lakers stretch their lead to nine points with a little under 4 minutes to play. Things looked bleak, but Monta and Kaz saved the day by converting drives off of steals to bring them back within one with 33 seconds left. Odom missed one of his free throws and Baron made two huge ones of his own and the game went into OT, much to the delight of the raucous crowd.

OT was a battle. The Dubs got up but Fisher and Sasha “Vermin” Vujacic nailed killer threes to keep the Lakers on top. Kaz made a tough, tough tip-in off of a Monta miss to tie it up with 30 seconds left, but the Lakers went up once again as Odom found himself deliciously open right under the basket.

Final play: Warriors inbounding the ball down two with nine seconds left. The Dubs run a congested rotation of screens and Monta goes down in a heap on top of Fisher. It looks like they got tangled up and Fisher may have stumbled while pulling Monta down on top of him.

Referee Bob Delaney called an offensive foul on Monta giving the Lakers two free throws and ending an incredibly exciting and hard fought game with a huge let down. The call was a bad one. Fisher either fell back and grabbed Monta as he fell, or he intentionally pulled Monta down on top of him for a call.

Talk about anti-climactic. The Dubs and Lakers battled for 52 minutes straight only to have the game be decided by an official. No one wanted to see that. Horrible.

exclusive postgame audio

Don Nelson

Phil Jackson

Kobe Bryant

Derek Fisher

Lamar Odom

Your Warriors create mad drama.

Box Score

If you ever need a time capsule game to demonstrate to our future robot overlords what the big deal in Oakland in 2008 was, this is the one.

The Warriors completely controlled the first half. They ran circles around the Lakers, tricked them into trying to play their chaotic game, and robbed them blind. Monta, Baron, and Jack ran the show with tough defense and blazing breaks. Kaz chipped in with a few points and out-of-nowhere D on Kobe. Bryant didn’t score a single point in the second quarter, Kaz absolutely blanketed him.

The Dubs went into the half with a 23 point lead and the sweet, sweet sound of Lakers fans booing their own team.

There’s a popular anti-apathy slogan out there: ”If you’re not outraged you’re not paying attention.” Here’s the Warriors version: “If you’re not concerned about losing this massive lead you’ve never watched this team.” As much as I wanted to believe that the game was in the bag after such a dominant first half - I knew nothing was safe.

The third quarter was a horror-fest for the Dubs. The Lakers stopped trying to run wild with the Warriors, executed their offense, shut down Monta, and proceeded to outscore them 32-15.

The Dubs couldn’t get anything going and didn’t seem all that concerned with trying. They started walking the ball up the court, dribbling around at the top of the key and hefting a three-pointer. 7 of the Warriors’ 15 points in the third came from free throws, they shot under 20% for the quarter, and went into the fourth with a tentative 6 point lead.

The Lakers continued to pour it on in the final quarter, eventually taking a 2 point lead with 5 minutes left. The Warriors were still having trouble shooting the ball, but Al hit a couple, and Monta and Jack were making their free throws. Brandan Wright got some good minutes, and some great blocks. The Dubs weren’t able to shut the Lakers out like they had in the first half but they were at least playing them a lot tougher.

Kobe Bryant did his best to take over and win the game. If he had been up against anyone else he probably would have gotten away with it. He nailed a deadly three to cut the lead to 1, Captain Jack answered with a three of his own, Kobe hit another cold blooded three with 30 seconds left and the place went bananas. The LA fans could smell the win, their superstar was working his magic and there was no way the Warriors were going to leave Staples alive. Captain Jack got the ball well behind the three-point line, hesitated just a second, and launched….swish. Jack’s second three pointer to answer Kobe put the lead back up to 4 with 8 seconds to play - game over. The man only made two (non free throw) shots in the entire second half, and they were the biggest ones possible.

This is the 2008 Warriors. This is why they had such an awful start to the season. Jack is that important.