If there's one thing this Lakers team has done consistently this year, it's play well when they're backs are against the wall. They did just that tonight to get the 103-98 victory over the Sacramento Kings.
Earlier in the day both the Mavericks and the Jazz won their games. With the Jazz tied and the Mavericks only behind by 1 game, all the pressure was on LA to get the win. They responded with one of the best efforts of the season. Although bruised and battered, every player who stepped on the court gave maximum effort. Kobe set the tone by playing all but 22 seconds of the game. That's in spite of his age and in spite of the bone spur in his left foot. Dwight gave multiple efforts on both the offensive and defensive ends. His hustle was key in punishing the Kings in the paint. Meeks is always all over the court with his hustle, and he got a key defensive stop late in the 4th when the Kings were about to tie the game.
Steve Nash left the game after only about 2 minutes of action. Steve Blake filled in quite nicely by scoring 15 points on 5/8 from downtown. The Spaniard looked a lot more like "The Spaniard" with 12 points and 10 assists. Dwight Howard was a monster on both ends of the court. As stated earlier, his multiple efforts really made the difference. There were several plays where he missed his initial shot, and then immediately jumped again to get the rebound and shoot again. He had 24 points, 15 rebounds, and 5 blocked shots. Superman anyone?
The Lakers won this game tonight by relying on their defense and not turning the ball over. Great effort tonight.
Notables:
The Good:
- Dwight would not be denied tonight. Was the player of the game tonight
- Still sippin that Vino. The Mamba is just ridiculous. He put up 19 points, 14 assists, and 9 rebounds on a bum foot.
- The Lakers weathered the hot shooting 1st quarter of the Kings. The role player stepped up perfectly
- Balanced team scoring
The Bad:
- There were a few rebound the Lakers should have secured but didn't, which kept the game a lot closer
- Missed technical free throws by Kobe and Jodie :P
On a free throw line jumper in the 2nd quarter, Kobe Bryant passed Wilt Chamberlain to be 4th on the all-time scoring list. It's an incredible accomplishment. Hopefully Kobe continues to move up that list. It also may have been the Lakers last game in Sacramento.
However, the Lakers have no time to get sentimental. They're in the middle of a heated playoff spot battle. Their next game is at home against the Dallas Mavericks which is sure to be a playoff-like atmosphere. Stay tuned...
No comments:
Post a Comment