ROCKETS -at- LAKERS - 2/1 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Overtime... For the first time this season, the Lakers got to test their mettle in OT. They proved to be resilient -- couldn't just lose three in a row at home, could they?

Led by their Kobe/Pau one-two punch, who both delivered, and a 20-20 game from Lamar, the Lakers took the 114-106 victory. It was rarely pretty, often frustrating and frequently prone to breakdowns on both ends.

The Lakers led by a dozen in the first half and were reeled in when Phil went to a small ball lineup with Lamar at center and Bynum out tonight with the bone bruise. They fell behind to start the second half. Turnovers, confusion and too many Rocket second chances saw the tables turned.

They were even after three quarters and even at the regulation buzzer after squandering a small lead, capped off by a wide open layup to Luis Scola with 5 seconds left.

"Defensively we couldn't make stops down at the end," Phil said. "A little disappointing."

Lamar seemed to pinpoint the real problem.

"For a team with so much experience, we're not communicating on defense," he said. It was apparent on several miscues, including that layup to Scola.

The Lakers took care of business in overtime, closing the game with a 14-2 run and some excellent execution on two key offensive plays.

They'll be tested again Thursday as they host the team with the best record in the conference, the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday.

"Last couple of 'big games' we've had," Lamar said, "we didn't feel like we competed like we should have."

Will they Thursday? It would be a nice change of pace.


Kobe -- -- Kobe hit the 5,000th assist mark in this game and did it with several assists to start the first quarter. He probably looked at that donut on his assist numbers in the last game and decided that wouldn't cut it. He would finish with a game-high 11 assists, including a key one to Pau in overtime off a nicely drawn up screen sequence. Kobe would score off that same sequence next time down the court. Good to see some play execution to close a game versus relying on Kobe to try to iso and create after running clock. "They went a lot of times early in the offense to Kobe rather than late," Phil said. He explained that when we work the ball through others to start a possession, it allows the defense to play more honestly instead of loading up for Kobe. Not only does it help those other guys get involved, but it helps Kobe because the defense can't easily stack up for him. Kobe picked up a tech as Rockets were getting away with a lot of hacking, grabbing and hand-checking. Several Lakers were frustrated. Pretty crazy that Kevin Martin averages a freethrow more than Kobe does per game considering how much and how often Kobe is working on just about every offensive sequence. Defensively, the Lakers probably could have used Kobe on the boards helping the bigs. He ran a lot at the SF tonight with Blake and Fish when it mattered most. The Stats: He scored 32 points on 13-25 shooting (0-3 from three, 6-7 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 11 assists, 1 steal, 4 turnovers and 2 fouls in 45 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: He was blocked on a layup attempt. He cross-courted to Fish for a three. He drilled Hayes on a drive for a charge. He lost the handle, got it back and missed a twisting one-hander in the lane. He worked the screen-roll with Pau and hit Lamar when LO's man had to leave to cover Pau. He missed a 16-foot pull up. He hit DFish in the corner for a three. He attacked baseline and set up Pau for a layup after drawing the D (his 5,000th assist). He dished to a wide open Shannon on the break for a jumper. Next time down, he broke off his man, attacked and no-looked over his shoulder to Pau for the layup. He didn't score but had 7 assists in the first quarter. He attacked, took contact expecting a call and hit the baseline fade from a steep angle. He hit a turnaround one-hander from inside the elbow on the next trip down. Low position on the next trip against a smaller defender and he easily scored on the right block. He attacked down the lane and drew FTs on the next trip, he made both. He attacked to his right, hung and hit the baseline fade. He bricked a wing three next time down (wanted the foul). He attacked and had the ball poked right to Pau for a dunk (no assist given). He airballed a three at the buzzer and had some words for the ref. He had 10 points on 4-9 shooting and 7 assists. Second Half: He attacked the lane and sank a pull-up in traffic. He iso'd on Martin, attacked him and drew FTs, he made one. No box out on Scola on a switch and he gave up a putback. Weak charge call on the other end, Hayes was never set. He made a tech FT. He missed a pumping 18-footer and wanted the call. His pass was deflected, he chased it down, attacked and hit the pull-up from the elbow with the shotclock low. He was surrounded in the paint and called for three seconds, then barked at the refs for no call on a hack and picked up a tech. He attacked off the three line and had his layup goaltended. His pass in transition was picked off. He attacked around Martin, got hit in the head with no call but still scored the layup. He was held twice on a drive and missed with no call at the end of the third. He missed a wing three. He rattled in an open jumper off the high screen out of the timeout. He lost Martin on a cross-over and powered in a layup. He swung through and hit the wing jumper over Martin next time down to give the Lakers a 6-point lead. He attacked, took contact and missed a layup in transition. He settled and missed a wing jumper when the offense stalled. He missed a line-drive turnaround on the baseline. Overtime: He swished a baseline fade to start the OT. He missed a turnaround bank. He hit Pau off the weakside two-man sequence as he came off the Pau screen to take a pass. Same set up and this time he scored a runner. He was fouled intentionally with 14 seconds left, he made both.

Gasol -- -- Much better effort from Pau in this one versus the last couple. He wasn't always perfect or without flaw, but the effort was there. Pau was extremely frustrated throughout the game by some of the contact, fouls and general hacking the refs let go. Meanwhile, he was getting tagged by touch fouls on the other end on a few occasions. I was just waiting for an "Are you serious?" tech from him. In OT, the Lakers went to Pau for a couple of scores, getting our one-two punch in during a critical juncture for once. Defensively, Pau really had to scramble in this game with some of the screen sequences. For some reason, neither he nor Lamar could stick with Scola who was left open often. Pau mostly covered Hayes. He had some decent moments under the hoop blocking shots. He was the only one. Pau, in particular, has struggled against some of the better teams in the league. Fox Sports showed a stat of him scoring 3 less points and pulling down 3 less boards against the better teams. That's Pau getting neutralized when he needs to rise to the challenge. One of the bigger issues this season. The Lakers acquired Pau three years ago to the day. "Great day obviously in my life and my career," Pau said. Good day today. The Stats: He scored 26 points on 10-20 shooting (6-6 from the line) to go with 16 boards (6 offensive), 4 blocks, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 47 minutes. He was a +14. The Action: He blocked Scola's drive. Forced a pass to Kobe, turnover for a layup the other way. He hit a turnaround from the left block. He swished a high arching turnaround over Hayes. Kobe attacked baseline, drew the D and hit Pau for the layup. He took the no-looker off Kobe's drive and scored easily. He missed a 16-footer. He missed a turnaround over Hayes. He missed a layup on the break with Blake, got it back and slammed in a crowd (that's how you finish it). He drew FTs getting smacked on a blindside attempt, he made both. He backed Scola down and banked with ease (more please). He dunked off a loose ball that went right to him. He had 16 points on 7-12 shooting to go with 8 boards (5 offensive). Second Half: He missed a wide open elbow jumper, short. He drew an illegal D taking his time on the post up. He allowed Hayes to step around him and swipe the post entry. Another post entry pass to him was picked off as his man stepped around (not quite on the mark, but still). He was blocked twice under the hoop trying to power up. He scored a tough lefty jumphook getting undercut by Hayes in the process. He swatted Hayes under the hoop with a good recovery after stepping out. He drew FTs on an attack from the elbow, he made both. He swatted another shot in iso D. He missed turnaround, Lamar got it back to him, he was mugged with no call and missed (Pau was so frustrated). Scola attacked him for a layup, Pau staggering backwards. Overtime: He missed a turnaround in the paint. He hit a lefty jumphook over Hayes. He missed a good look at an And-1 layup cutting down the lane, he made both FTs. He scored a tricky reverse off the two-man sequence with Kobe.

Lamar -- -- Back in the starting lineup as Bynum recovers from a deep bone bruise in the knee and he barely left it tonight, playing 49 minutes. If there was a trade to be made, it would seem like Lamar would be one key candidate. One might consider it selling high vs. low. Clearly, though, they would have to find a reasonable back up PF in the process. Who would you be starting on a night like tonight with Drew out? So whether those trade comments were to light a fire under some Lakers or serious, Lamar certainly stepped it up tonight with the 20-20 game. I sure wish that three at the buzzer would have went for him. I'd love to see him get a game winner. Lamar played the back-up C spot for some minutes while Phil ran Artest at the PF. That lineup didn't work well and Phil kept him at PF the rest of the game. "I wasn't happy with Lamar's performance in the first half," Phil said. He was getting outworked by Scola and we couldn't get one-and-out stops with much frequency. (Scola always gives him a hard time.) Lamar was dishing it out on the other end himself with a game-high 8 offensive boards. He sank a few clutch ones down the stretch run, too. This is his second 20-20 of his career. "It's cool. I've come close so many times, so I'm happy to finally reach that mark again," Lamar said afterward. The Stats: He scored 20 points on 8-18 shooting (2-6 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 20 boards (8 offensive), 4 assists, 4 turnovers and 1 foul in 49 minutes. He was a +9. The Action: He missed an early offense three to start the game. Bad outlet, turnover to give it right back. Soft post D after Scola made a pivot and was able to get space too easily (Scola had had his way with Lamar in the past). He grabbed a loose ball, was blocked, got it back and scored the layup. He grabbed a board from behind a player, but couldn't finish the easy one. He scored a layup when Kobe whipped a pass to him off the screen-roll with Pau. He missed a turnaround short. He attacked from the wing and missed a flip in with his left. He airballed a wing three. He had just 4 points on 2-9 shooting (0-3 from three...one was a heave at the buzzer), but he had 9 boards. Second Half: He posted up Battier, missed and turned to the ref to yell, "Nothing?" He swished a three next time down. He let Scola get around him for an offensive board (led to a three). He was fouled several times in the post before finally getting a call, he made both FTs. Good D on Scola's jumphook, didn't give ground and challenged it well. He drained a wing three after another Scola offensive board on the other end. He grabbed a board, pushed out the break like Magic, attacked and scored the layup at high speed. He drained a face-up jumper from the right side over Scola. He sank an open wing jumper off the Fish feed. He hit a lefty jumphook when Kobe found him in the lane. Huge 20th rebound to pull down a Kobe miss in the final minute and reset the offense. He missed a three at the buzzer over Lowry, close but not enough. Overtime: He was a hair too early on a putback slam and called for the goaltend.

Artest -- -- The Rockets went to the super small Brooks/Lowry/Martin trio for most of crunch time. So, Phil matched up with DFish and Blake versus Artest. Ron had been given the assignment on Martin earlier in the game (and had Scola or other Rocket bigs defending him as Adelman is prone to do). He and Fish had a strong first quarter, scoring a combined 15 points on 6-6 shooting. Ron would score just 2 points the rest of the game. He had a crazy, pull-up three miss in transition as his last shot of the night. Kind of reminded me of some of the late-game shot selection he was known for as a Rocket. He's reeled that in quite a bit as a Laker. Otherwise, he'd get the wrath of Kobe and Phil. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 4-8 shooting (1-5 from three) to go with 1 board, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 25 minutes. He was a -1. The Action: He sank an open sideline jumper after having it kicked back out to him for the Lakers first score. He scooped up a loose ball, kept going and took it for a layup. He drained a wing three on a quick catch and shoot from the sideline. Nice close out on a three to force an airball. He missed a sideline three on a kickout. He missed a sideline three on a swing pass. He attacked from the wing, kept his man on his hip and scored the layup with his left. He had 9 points at the half. Second Half: He missed an open wing three, then was called for an offensive foul trying to get position in the post on Scola. He missed a pull-up three in transition, dumb shot.

Fisher -- -- Fish lost his way on D when the team needed stops. The Rockets tied the game up when he had switched on Scola, then left him without telling Pau. The result was a layup with 5 seconds left and overtime. He gave up another bad layup there, too. Lamar mentioned communication and brought up this specific play. Pau concurred. "We've got to continue to talk," Pau said. A vet team should know better than that. The Rockets exploited our miscues in those moments of confusion. Offensively, he had an efficient 11 points tonight. He stroked a couple of threes and looked like money. Wish we could have set him up for a couple more of those. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 3-4 shooting (2-2 from three, 3-5 from the line) to go with 1 board, 2 assists, 3 steals, 1 block, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 34 minutes. He was a +7. The Action: He probed around a Pau screen on the low block and banked. He swiped the ball from Battier on the other end. He drained a wing three on a kickout (that looked like money the moment it left). He drained a corner three on a kickout from Kobe. He had 8 points on 3-3 shooting in the first. He was hit on a two-for-one three-point attempt, he made just one, uggh. Second Half: He threw a pass away, too low trying to find Pau. Battier tried to post him up and Fish tied him up. He hit Lamar with a bounce pass for an open jumper. He poked a ball loose to get a crunch time stop. He missed a pull-up jumper. He switched on Pau's man, then left him alone for a layup under the hoop with 5 seconds left to tie it up. Overtime: He swiped a bad pass, pushed it out and drew FTs, he made both. He gave up a layup getting lost again off ball.

Blake -- -- Not sure whether the trade comments had anything to with Blake being more aggressive, but this is more how he needs to play. Phil ended up once again going with Blake with the game on the line. This time, however, he was taking Ron's spot in the starting lineup. Defensively, he had a fairly strong game. Brooks and Lowry were both kept in check reasonably. Probably more important, though, was Blake's battling on the defensive glass. He got in on a couple over defensive boards in overtime. Our guards really needed to be doing more of that this game. The bigs needed help. When we get rebounding from the guard spots we tend to get more one-and-out defensive stands. Seems like forever since Blake had that superb opening night against these same Rockets. Slowly, he's been getting back to form offensively the past couple weeks. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 3-6 shooting (1-3 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 3 assists, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 29 minutes. He was a +9. The Action: He fed the post, quick cut off Lamar, took the handoff and scored the reverse (speed cut was key). He drained a wing jumper off the pinch post with Ron. He pushed up the break, fed Pau, who blew the layup, but got it back and dunked. He missed a three out of a timeout. Second Half: He missed a layup on a drive. Left alone, Blake sank a three straight away. Nice D to force his man into a turnover on a pass from the sideline and ignite a Laker break. He missed an open corner three with 2 minutes left, big miss up by 6, that could have iced it. Overtime: He was nailed in the face off a defensive board to draw FTs, he made both with 28 seconds left.

Brown -- -- Shannon along with Lamar helped electrify the crowd in the fourth quarter. Something Staples and the Lakers badly needed. Not a lot of scoring from Shannon tonight, but 5 in the fourth were timely. Shannon seems to continue to struggle with some of the mental side of the game. Offensively, he needs to be careful on some of the early offense jumpers he settles for. Work it around for a better shot, it might come back to you for a catch and shoot jumper versus something off the dribble. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-6 shooting (0-1 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 17 minutes. He was a +1. The Action: He sank a toe-on-the-three-line jumper from the wing in transition. He attacked down the lane and was called for a charge on the pass off. He missed a wide open baseline jumper (was fading to his left, should have gathered himself). He settled for a three when the Lakers had an odd-man advantage and missed (work the ball around, Shannon). Second Half: He missed an elbow jumper (don't always have to shoot). He deflected a pass at midcourt, chased it down and then dunked. He attacked off the three line, took contact, hung and scored the layup (might have been an And-1). He drew FTs off the offensive glass, he made one.

Walton -- -- Well, there's Cool Hand Luke and then there's Cold Hand Luke. Unfortunately, Cold Hand wears a Laker uni. Someone should tell him they're not yelling "Luuuke," they're yelling "Don't shooooot!" Just ugly. Luke might take first, second and third for the ugliest shots of the night. Heck, if there is an award for ugly shots, it should just be named "The Luke." At least Phil ran a little Ebanks. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-3 shooting to go with 1 board, 1 assist, 2 steals and 1 foul in 7 minutes. He was a +6. The Action: He was swatted trying to back down Lee in transition (just turned and shot right into him, ugly). He picked Budinger to ignite a break. Second Half: He short armed a runner on an ugly break. Horrible fallaway in the lane, not close and Staples groaned.

Caracter -- -- The team was back to having that huge dropoff at the C spot again. Pau was a +14, DC was a -6 in his very brief stint. He got lost on one offensive set and missed a jumper on another. He did manage to take the ball away from Martin. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-1 shooting and had 1 steal in 2 minutes. He was a -6. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: He caused Martin to turn the ball over on help D. He missed a 16-footer on his first touch.

Ebanks -- -- He got to run with the starters with just under 4 minutes left in the first half. He didn't do much in his minutes, but did get caught on a swing-through move to give up three FTs. Ouch. Sometime, for kicks, I'd like to see Phil throw him in the mix defending a PG. The Stats: He didn't score or shoot, had 1 board and 1 foul in 4 minutes. He was a -1. The Action: He gave up three FTs a couple feet behind the three line on a swing-through move by Martin, uggh. Second Half: Nothing to report.

Phil -- -- He followed Mitch's public comment that the Lakers might make a move with his own "we're open for business" remark prior to the game. The Lakers are rarely this public about making a move. Normally, that's because they don't want to disrupt the team as they go about their business. It's apparent that they certainly do want to make the players think. Seems doubtful they will actually move anyone unless there's an offer they can't refuse, but you never know. "We don't do things like that just to see if you can get a reaction (from your players)," Mitch said. The keyword there is "just"... Cross-match city between both teams: Scola on Artest, Artest on Martin, Kobe on Battier, Battier on Lamar... Phil sat Fish and Artest for Blake and Brown up 6... Kobe was setting up teammates right and left all quarter (he had 7 assists). Fish and Artest combined for 15 points on 6-6 shooting... The Lakers led 32-23 after the first quarter... Phil started Pau, Artest, Luke, Brown, Blake, Ron at the backup PF... Phil sat Pau and Luke for a small ball lineup: Lamar, Artest, Kobe, Brown, Blake. Their 12-point lead was cut to 5... Phil then went with Ebanks for Artest and the rest of the starters... Up 4, he called a timeout with a minute and half left. Lamar airballed a three out of that. Surely, that's not what we drew up... The Lakers led 54-48 at the half. They shot 50 percent (23-46, 3-12 from three, 5-7 from the line) to go with 13 assists. The Rockets shot 41 percent (18-44, 5-16 from there, 7-7 from the line). The Lakers had a 9-4 advantage on the break... The Rockets pushed out to a 16-7 start of the third to take the lead... Pau, Lamar and Kobe were all frustrated with the lack of no calls. Kobe picked up a T, Pau a delay of game. Lamar was lucky not to get a T. Absolutely no home court advantage, Rockets could do what they wanted in the paint... The score was tied 74-74 going into the fourth... Phil started a Pau, Lamar, Luke, Brown, Blake unit... Some energy by Shannon on a couple plays at the rim and the Lakers pulled out to a 7-point lead after 4 minutes... Up by 6, Phil brought in Caracter for Pau with 7 minutes left. Tried to get him some rest and avoid the small ball lineup that lost ground in the first half... A Caracter, Lamar, Kobe, Brown, Blake unit in... They were tied up a minute later after a couple threes by the Rockets... The Lakers countered with Kobe. He scored three straight hoops while the Lakers finally secured some misses on D and they led by 6 with 3:30 left... The offense died, went stagnant, and defense gave up scores to Scola. Overtime... Phil went with his starters and Blake for Artest in OT... Two off-ball screens by Pau for Kobe coming off them and the Lakers got two easy hoops out of it in the key possessions of the game. Nice play set up... The Lakers extended to a 6-point lead with 28 seconds left and held on... Better closing job in OT than regulation. "I thought we got stagnant," Phil said about regulation. He talked with the team about that after the game...

[mhan00]

good win. ugly game.

[thurloly]

Hard to imagine that 3 of our best players had monster game, but we barely won. It is so speechless to me.

[mhan00]

i'm getting really frustrated with brown. for all his athletic talent, sometimes he plays just terrible defense. i thought he killed us in the second half.

blake continues to show why a lot of us were so high on him prior to the start of the season. he did a very reasonable job defensively, and while aaron brooks did hit a couple of jumpers over him, they were at least contested and he didn't give up straight line drives to the hoop for easy layups like fish did at times tonight.

pau did a much better job of being aggressive today. this is the pau we saw earlier in the season. still settling too much for those fadeaway shots; he needs to just pivot into his man and go up for the jump hook like he did a couple times today, most notably in the fourth quarter when hayes just grabbed him and pau didn't get the call. he didn't make that shot, but more of that please.

i thought lamar did a terrible job in the first half and in most of the third quarter. scola just destroyed him during that time. he did a great job in the later parts of the third and the fourth and ot though.

kobe continues to be kobe. a little too much tunnel vision down the stretch in the fourth, but that's partly the rest of the team's fault as well. really would love to see the team go away from kobe a couple of times down the stretch instead of just deferring to him all the time. they did a much better job in the overtime period of moving off the ball when kobe had it, and kobe did a good job finding them. just can't always depend on kobe isos to bail us out during crunchtime.

ron just needs to calm down, and find his defensive center again. he's been so up and down this season, would love for him to find some consistency.

[babyskyhook]

Thanks DB.


Loved this one:

" Well, there's Cool Hand Luke and then there's Cold Hand Luke. Unfortunately, Cold Hand wears a Laker uni."

[babyskyhook]

^^^

Brown seems to have gone completely braindead over the last month or so:

bad shots on O and not focusing on D.

Huge step backwards after starting the season so well.

[babyskyhook]

[DancingBarry]

[mhan00]

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks DB

[babyskyhook]

[babyskyhook]

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks DB. I had to miss this one - good to see we bounced back but we'll need more bounce against SA.

[Arbitrary]

[limchrc]

thanks

[prisma8slg]

thanks DB.
_________________
"I define success by championships, by winning..." Kobe Bryant

"I've seen it all. Sasha dunked on somebody," Kobe Bryant said. "I'm ready to retire now."

[angrypuppy]

Thanks DB.

That was a very uneasy win. They nearly wasted an excellent effort by Pau who seems a bit charged after the trade talk. This game illustrates why the need Pau to step up... if Pau continues to wilt, they simply won't look for him during the postseason. Last night I felt they could have gone to Pau a lot more, but didn't as the team has fallen into some bad habits.

That being said, Houston always gives us a hard time. Scola always manages to work us, particularly Lamar. I'm glad Lamar atoned for much of it on offense as Lamar in previous seasons might have used that as an excuse to space out. In addition Fisher is way too slow and has way too much inertia to defend Brooks, who is quick and can stop on a dime.

Let's hope SA becomes a statement game. If Pau continues to fight I'll take that as a strategic victory even if the Lakers lose.

[RVCdesigns]

[thurloly]

[Klone_dd]

A frustrating, annoying win -- weird as that sounds,

The game showed a lot of what's been wrong this year - mental lapses on defense, RonRon's inconsistency, neglecting the post, hustle, but, in this game at least, the team showed some fight with both Pau and LO having monster numbers games and some attention to offensive detail in OT. Two nice sequences that DB mentioned.

[angrypuppy]

[babyskyhook]

[Bynum4MVP]