Lakers vs Wizards (3/22/13)

Well that was unexpected.  After an emotional boost from the return of Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant, the Lakers collapsed in the second half to fall to the Wizards 100-103.

The Lakers were firing on all cylinders to start the game.  They led by as much as 18 and were up by 16 at the break.  Although Gasol was clearly out of rhythm the offense was clicking.  It was working beautifully with Bryant, Nash, and Blake all being distributors and Dwight, Meeks, and Jamison being finishers.  The Lakers were finally able to stagger Bryant/Nash and Howard/Gasol to constantly maintain that inside/out presence.  How did they lose then you ask?  The 2nd half tells the tale...

Even in the 1st half the Lakers struggled with turnovers, but in 3rd quarter it really came back to bite them.  The Wizards chipped away at the lead by converting turnovers into easy scores.  Pau Gasol was one of the main culprits as he clearly did not have the timing or chemistry with his teammates in his first game back.  To make matters worse the Lakers failed to contest Washington's shooters.  Kobe left Ariza wide open on several possessions. At other times players rotated to help protect the paint but left a shooter open behind the line.  MWP committed a crucial offensive foul with the Lakers down by 2 in the waning moments of the fourth.  From there it would've taken a couple miracle 3's to force overtime.  Kobe got one, but not the other.  Coach D'Antoni was not happy with the team's effort after attaining the lead.

Some turnovers are expected when new lineups are played, but sheesh.  And there was no excuse for the D.

Notables

The Good:
- Offense in the 1st half was superb
- Defense in the half court was good most of the 1st half

The Bad:
- Terrible perimeter defense/awareness
- Too many turnovers
- No killer instinct when up big
- Pau looked terrible (I believe he'll get back to form though)
- Jamison injured his right wrist (shooting hand)

Bottom line is the Lakers should have won this game.  They can't afford performances like this with such a tight race for a playoff spot. Hopefully Pau gets back into it sooner rather than later.

I'm not sold on Pau being in the starting lineup just yet.  Not because he isn't starter quality because he definitely is.  But the Lakers had a rhythm with Clark starting.  He fits better with the starters because of his athleticism, and bringing Pau off the bench allows him to play in the post.  We'll see how Coach D'Antoni sets the rotations in the coming games.  However, there aren't many more games left.