It’s funny how much things can swing on a single game. Heading into Game 3, everyone pretty much wrote the Suns off and penciled the Lakers into their third-straight NBA Finals. But with last night’s 118-109 victory, the Suns proved a couple of things: 1) they can beat the Lakers in the playoffs, and 2) Amare Stoudemire can outplay Pau Gasol.
The win gives the Suns confidence and essentially stops the sky from falling. This franchise has been snakebitten for some time, so when the Lakers got up 2-0, you could cut the desperation surrounding this Suns with a knife. Stoudemire was under fire for his play through the first two games, and there was already speculation that he wouldn’t re-sign with the team. Now, the Suns head into Game 4 with some confidence, and they know that if they can win tomorrow night, that they’ll head back to L.A. having won two-straight with an opportunity to steal home court advantage in Game 5.
It’s going to be interesting to see how the Lakers respond to the Suns’ zone. It’s not like it shut L.A. down — the Lakers shot 48% from the field and scored 109 points. But the Lakers also committed 17 turnovers and shot just 28% from long range. In the first two games, the Suns’ problem wasn’t offense, so even though the zone is a little gimmicky, if they can slow the Lakers down at all, they have a shot.
The zone took the Lakers out of the triangle and knocked L.A. on its heels a bit. Suddenly, they didn’t know where the defense was coming from and they finally had to adjust to something the Suns were throwing at them, instead of running the same offense that has been so productive all season. It was a desperation move by Phoenix, but desperate times call for desperate measures.
The NBA playoffs are all about adjustments, and Phil Jackson is one of the best in the game at tweaking his strategy throughout a series. The Lakers should come out in Game 4 prepared for the zone, so the Suns will have to make some adjustments of their own if they hope to head back to Los Angeles with the series tied.
I’ll write more about the game tomorrow — I have a “Lost” finale that is screaming my name — but the Suns played very well in Game 3 and have made this a series. They went to a zone on defense and it puzzled the Lakers a little bit, leading to a 118-109 win.
Amare Stoudemire (justifiably) took a lot of heat over the last few days, but answered the critics by posting 42-11 on 14-of-22 shooting. Steve Nash went for 17-2-15 and Robin Lopez added 20 points.
The Suns won despite Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol combining for 24-of-38 shooting and 59 points. Lamar Odom went just 4-of-14 from the field for 10 points and fouled out of the game.
Phoenix had a chance to win this one. They were tied heading into the fourth quarter, but with their normally productive reserves in, the Suns started to fall behind. Down four with 7:48 left to play, Alvin Gentry put Steve Nash (11-3-15) back in the game, and he promptly threw the ball out of bounds and gave up a wide open three to Jordan Farmer…Lakers up nine. L.A. goes on to win, 124-112.
The other emerging edge for the Lakers is Pau Gasol (29-9-5). He’s simply better than Amare Stoudemire (18-6-1), or at least he looks better against the Suns’ porous defense. Lamar Odom (17-11-4, three steals) has also played well in this series, so well in fact that he forced Andrew Bynum (13-7 in 18 minutes) to the bench.
As for Kobe, he was in pass-first mode tonight, posting 21-5-13 on the heels of his 40-point outing in Game 1.
The Suns shot 49%, which is great, but L.A. shot 58%. They have to find a way to limit the Lakers easy shots as the series moves back to Phoenix for Game 3 and Game 4. The Suns desperately need to even the series. Otherwise, it’s over.
The Lakers led by eight heading into the fourth quarter, but with Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer out of the game, the Utah reserves took advantage of the Lakers’ bench, going on an 8-1 run to start the period. After Kobe and Gasol returned, the Jazz managed to build a four-point lead with four minutes to play, but the Lakers went on a 15-6 run (featuring 11 of Kobe’s 31 points) to put the game away.
These two teams actually remind me of the Bucks/Hawks first round matchup. Like the Hawks, the Lakers are more talented, yet they tend to lose focus during (sometimes long) stretches of the game. The Jazz are a more talented version of the Bucks — a team that is going to play its heart out from start to finish. What this means is that the Jazz are probably going to have a chance to steal a game or two in L.A. They almost stole Game 1, but five straight missed shots with under four minutes to play did the Jazz in.
Like Jeff Van Gundy said, when it gets into crunch time, the Jazz need to double off of Ron Artest and force Kobe to give the ball up. If Utah can put the ball in Artest’s hands, they’ll have a better chance to win. This may go against Jerry Sloan’s straight man-to-man philosophy, but I’d rather see an uncomfortable Artest launching long jumpers than let Kobe go one-on-one with Wes Matthews.
OKC led 94-93 in the closing moments of Game 6 when Kobe Bryant dribbled up the right side of the floor preparing to attempt a game-winning shot…
Watch the video again. This time, notice how Nick Collison (charged with covering Pau Gasol) starts to cheat over on Kobe to help on a potential drive to the hoop. This is by design. What’s not by design is how neither Serge Ibaka (#9) nor Jeff Green (#22) rotates down and puts a body on Gasol. The players that they were covering — Lamar Odom and Derek Fisher — were ponderously standing out behind the three-point line, so they weren’t threats on the offensive glass.
Instead, Ibaka and Green turn and watch Kobe’s shot. After the put-back, Jeff Van Gundy blamed Collison for not rotating back to Gasol, but physically-speaking, it’s tough to ask a guy to help on a Kobe drive and box out Gasol. That duty needs to fall to Ibaka or Green (probably Ibaka).
Here’s a case where the Thunder’s inexperience really cost them. But it’s not like failed box outs haven’t lost games before. In the 1983 NCAA title game, Hakeem Olajuwon stood and watched the shot go up, allowing NC State’s Lorenzo Charles to sneak in behind him, catch the airball, and dunk it for the win. Here’s another look:
Much was made, and justifiably so, of the Thunder’s blowout of the Lakers in Game 4. This is a young, talented team that has a chance to become a Western Conference power for years to come. But the Lakers clearly took the loss to heart and turned around and blew out the Thunder, 111-87, in Game 5.
Did Kobe go for 35-40 points? Nope. He posted 13-3-7 on nine shot attempts, but more importantly, he checked Russell Westbrook for much of the game. Westbrook’s quickness gave Derek Fisher fits in the first four games of the series, so the defensive change makes a lot of sense.
Pau Gasol (25-11-5) and Andrew Bynum (21-11) dominated down low, combining to hit 18-of-26 shots (69%) from the field. Even Ron Artest had a nice offensive game with 14 points and five dimes.
The Lakers lead 3-2 and head back to OKC for Game 6 on Friday. Is this series over? Not even close. The Lakers have not played well on the road in this series and if the Thunder can defend their home court yet again, they’ll have a puncher’s chance to win Game 7. It’s going to take a monumental effort to beat the Lakers in L.A. in that scenario, or the Lakers will have to lay an egg. Either way, it would be interesting to see the young Thunder play in their first Game 7.
The Lakers/Thunder series isn’t technically over, but it’s well on its way. After a pair of Russell Westbrook free throws, OKC held an 88-86 lead with 2:49 to play in the fourth quarter. But three straight turnovers — a Serge Ibaka goaltend, a Kevin Durant offensive foul, and a bad pass by Durant — coupled with a 7-0 run by the Lakers (six points came from Kobe) led to a 93-88 Laker lead and L.A. never looked back.
Kobe Bryant posted 39-5-1 (39 points and one assist…wow!), while Pau Gasol added 25-12. Ron Artest was tasked with guarding Durant, and did a pretty good job, especially down the stretch. His defense forced the first Durant turnover during the aforementioned game-changing run. KD finished with 32 points on 26 shots.
This was the Thunder’s chance to make this a series. While they could still potentially hold serve in Games 3 and 4, and tie the series up, it’s more likely that the Lakers steal one of those games in Oklahoma City and finish the Thunder off in Game 5 in L.A.
“Me and Pau Gasol got signed to the same deal when he was in Memphis and I was in Portland,” said Randolph, whose contract actually is slightly less, with Randolph making $16 million this season and $17.33 million next season and the Lakers star earning $16.45 million and $17.82 million in those seasons. “We got the same contract, and it got extended. … I hope (to get the extension done this summer). I’d definitely like to get it done.”
So is Randolph worth $57 million over three years?
Not in my book.
While Randolph’s numbers this season — 21-12, 49% shooting — compare favorably to Gasol’s (18-11, 53%), the former plays on a mediocre team that was eliminated from the playoff race a while ago. The latter plays on the world champion Lakers and takes 3.5 fewer shots per game. Gasol is a seven-footer who can play both power forward and center, while Randolph is too small to play center full time. True centers are a rare breed and teams have to pay a premium. Power forwards are a lot easier to find.
Want to go deeper? Randolph’s net impact on the Grizzlies eFG% and eFG% allowed is -0.8%, while Gasol’s is -0.3%. Gasol’s PER (22.71) is better than Randolph’s (21.25).
And then there’s the dependability factor. Randolph is on his fourth team and was traded away three times because he wasn’t wanted. Gasol was traded because the Grizzlies weren’t going anywhere and wanted to cut salary. While it seems like Randolph has matured in his stint with Memphis, his reputation still lingers.
This kind of extension talk is a perfect example. If Randolph really wanted to get an deal done, he’d do it quietly. Instead, on the heels of yet another playoff whiff, he’s giving interviews telling people how he’s worth as much as Pau Gasol, which forces the Grizzlies’ owner, Michael Heisley, to field questions about it.
In short, just because a guy is (probably) the best player that a franchise has, it does not make him a “franchise” player.
Given all the factors, if I were in Heisley’s shoes, I’d pay him $12 million per season, max. And I’d wait until the very last minute to do so. It’s not like his stock is going to get any higher, and besides, players always perform better when they’re hungry.
The Lakers’ loss to Orlando on Sunday marks the first time since Pau Gasol’s arrival that the team has lost three straight games. After the game, Gasol discussed the lack of flow on offense, which could be construed as a knock on Kobe.
“We haven’t been playing with a good flow out there offensively and it takes a lot of people out of their rhythm,” Gasol said. “We need to figure out how to move the ball a lot more so there’s a flow out there, there’s a rhythm.”
When Gasol was pointedly asked if the offense was being bogged down by how many shots Bryant has been attempting, he answered, “I don’t know” at first, but then made the point he was trying to make regardless of whether he would be treading a little harshly on the guy who just hit back-to-back 22-footers with 26.4 seconds left and 12.9 seconds left in the fourth.
“Kobe’s a great player,” Gasol said. “We have to find balance as a team, as a unit out there. Kobe’s a great player and he’s probably the best offensive player out there. We understand that. … But at the same time, we need to find that balance and we need to find balance with our interior game developing … using it a little more and moving the ball and changing sides more, because that’s the triangle, that’s what it does. … We need to get focused on that a little more. To find that balance, to find that flow.”
Kobe’s M.O. is pretty much the same game to game. He starts out by looking to set up teammates and picking his spots to take shots. If the offense is rolling, he’ll continue to pass first until the situation warrants that he take over. If the offense is sputtering, he’ll generally look to start taking a lot of shots when the Lakers get down by 8-10 points, depending on how much time is left in the game.
Gasol went 8-13 in the game for 20 points, but he was physically overmatched by Dwight Howard on the block. He looked visibly frustrated throughout the second half, which could partly be due to his lack of post up opportunities on the offensive end.
The Lakers should be all right, but the lack of flow could be attributed to Ron Artest. He went 2-10 on the night and the ball tends to stop when it finds his hands. He’s only shooting 41.5% on the year, so when he’s in with the starters, he should probably be the fourth option. He is behind Kobe, Gasol and Andrew Bynum in shot attempts, but he’s far too close (9.8 to 10.6) to Bynum for my liking, especially considering Bynum has the highest points per shot (1.40) on the team.
“[The Cavaliers] were the hungrier team and I think that they sense that they want to win a championship, they want to go after it, so they’re playing with a sense of urgency that we played with last year. We have to make some adjustments, we have to make some improvements. Our mentality has to change a little bit playing against these teams. These teams are physical, tough-minded and hard-nosed type of teams and we need to make some decisions.”
Dave McMenamin titled this post, “Bryant Lashes Out At His Teammates,” but I have no problem with anything that Kobe said. It’s 100% true. The Cavs are hungrier and there is no getting around it. It will be very difficult for the Lakers to match that hunger since they just won the title last year. So to beat the Cavs, they have to play tougher and execute better. Pau Gasol looked like a big white bedsheet on a clothesline, flapping around in the wind. And Lamar Odom is not known for his toughness either. Both players have to finish their shots inside and rebound well to offset the Cavs’ hunger (or any other opponent for that matter).
That said, let’s not forget that Kobe missed 19 shots last night and went just 1-5 in the fourth quarter. If he shoots 45-50%, the Lakers probably win that game.
“[The Cavaliers] were the hungrier team and I think that they sense that they want to win a championship, they want to go after it, so they’re playing with a sense of urgency that we played with last year. We have to make some adjustments, we have to make some improvements. Our mentality has to change a little bit playing against these teams. These teams are physical, tough-minded and hard-nosed type of teams and we need to make some decisions.” 
