LA Lakers @ San Antonio Spurs--Game Thread

I was just thinking... After 2 performances of Clutch Kobe in a row, what if the Rockets won yesterday?

Do the losses stop Kobe's MVP candidacy from going higher which should go higher because of his late game performances?

 

the spurs basically just tripped and fell into their final 5 points while the lakers were executing all over them and suffocating their offense. doesn't bode well for the playoffs.

 

As DD would say, THATS TRUSTING YOUR TEAMMATES!

 

It's all Fisher's fault. I don't know what he was thinking.

 

The same as last game, unfortunately we have Rafer.

 

If by suffocating their offense you mean giving Mason a point blank lane to the basket for the tying layup, then yeah, sure. If you're going to call the Spurs lucky for Mason making that shot, I'm not sure how you can't consider the Lakers lucky for Mason not taking that ball directly to the basket against that embarrassment of a defensive set.

 

YES ALMOST IDENTICAL to our game..kobe hitting the clutch three to go up to....but the spurs knew how to respond...rockets are still learning...if we had artest, we would of went to him and he would of known how to put the ball in the basket

 

given the fact Kobe shot about 0 free throws the entire series, i'm gonna say that outweighs one call. as many calls as the lakers get, they can't get 'em like the spurs. especially in san antonio.

 

From reading the Lakers forums, it would appear that they're sick and tired of Fisher and can't wait to ship him out of town for a "legit PG". They're counting the days until Farmar gets back. Sounds familiar.

 

Cosign.........

 

uhh, i was talking about down the stretch, not one play where a stupid gamble messed up good defense. from 100-89, the lakers were just picking apart the spurs defense and frustrating the spurs offense big time. until duncan threw that one in over his head they weren't doing much at all.

and embarrassment of a defensive set? LOL. the spurs were about .1 seconds from a 5 seconds violation since they had no timeouts and bonner got a pass by fisher by a few inches. fisher gambling ruined it all. i'm sure poor pick and roll defense, getting schooled by kobe, duncan over the shoulder flip shots and mason, jr. 22 foot and1's will carry the spurs to the title.

edit: and wouldn't a game tying layup be better than a lucky 3 point play anyway? not sure how the lakers came out ahead there.

 

the problem wasn't kobe passing the shot up when double teamed. it was the lakers not calling a timeout to get ariza out of the game. you need to get people comfortable shooting 3's and long jumper into the game in that situation in case the trap of kobe comes. it did, ariza dribbled into trouble, got fouled and didn't get the call because he's trevor ariza and these are the spurs. you have to know that will happen and can't have a guy like that in when you have a timeout to make offensive substitutions.

 

Dude, give the Spurs some credit. Duncan is a star that hits tough, or luck shots like that in big moments. He had one last year against Phoenix. He had one right before Fisher's .4 shot that shouldn't have counted. I wasn't amazed that Duncan made that "miracle" shot.

And the 3 point play by Mason....give him props for hitting the shot. It's not his fault Fisher made a mistake and went for the steal, giving him a wide open look.

 

I agreed with the Lakers not calling a timeout. When you have a player like Kobe Bryant, and your best play at the end of the game is to just isolate him, the offense is at an advantage before the timeout. But the Spurs are experienced, well-coached, and they were prepared for it. They sent the trap at the right time, and when Kobe gave the ball up there wasn't enough time for him to receive it back. The Lakers still had a great chance, but the play just didn't break in Ariza's favor. The Spurs were fortunate to come out of that possession with a stop.

 

I don't mind him trusting but he gave it up before creating...he gave up the creation portion....that was bad.

DD

 

i don't like the lakers but it would have been nice for them to win that game. we still have a legit shot at the #2 seed, the lakers are likely out of reach, so them winning makes no difference.

 

i would maybe agree if you just got a rebound, when the defense might be out of sorts. but this was off a made free throw, and the spurs were all back and ready. you can iso kobe just as easily after the timeout as before it, imo at least. but with the timeout you can get the more defensive-oriented players out of the game and put in the shooters. doesn't guarantee anything of course, but i'd rather have the personnel if the defense is going to be set anyway.

 

that was a fun game. Not happy that my Lakers lost the game meant more to us than them.

 

If we had called timeout, they would've triple teamed Kobe and the rest of the guys would be in scramble mode and they probably would've thrown the ball away.