For the first time this season, Phil Jackson didn’t care to take questions from the media following his team’s narrow win that had been a blowout over the L.A. Clippers.
“I don’t think I’m going to entertain questions tonight,” he said. “I’m just going to tell you that I was not happy with the ball game.”
What he went on to say in his 20-second sound bite, however, told the game’s story: “It’s sometimes hard for starters to come back in and get back after they’ve sat that long.”
His comment referred to the fact that L.A. had opened a 19-point lead with 7:04 remaining in the fourth quarter despite a tangible lack of energy throughout Sunday’s contest at STAPLES. But then, randomly and suddenly, the Clippers started hitting shots. Boosted by the sound of the net actually swishing for once, they played harder on defense, leading to a 9-0 run to which Jackson responded by placing his starters back in with 4:18 to play.
The thing is, it’s never easy to produce productive effort once mentally checked out - thus Jackson’s quote. Sure enough, the run didn’t stop there, as the new-life Clips scored seven more points to complete a 16-0 run to cut the lead all the way down to 81-78 with 2:18 remaining.
That lead became just a point when Eric Gordon hit two free throws in a bonus situation, proving how difficult it can be to pull a boost of energy out of the woodwork once one’s shut things down mentally (several starters had ice on their knees, after all). Yet and still, Pau Gasol finally stopped the bleeding with a slick move in blowing by Zach Randolph for a layup with 50 seconds to go. Randolph then missed a potential tying triple at the other end, and Bryant - who missed his first three foul shots of the game - sunk two free throws with 10.7 seconds left to give L.A. a five-point lead.
That might have ended the game right there, but Gordon hit a three, and Fisher missed 1-of-2 free throws to give the Clippers a chance to tie with 5.2 seconds remaining. Flashbacks to L.A.’s double OT loss to Philadelphia ensued as Trevor Ariza draped himself to Baron Davis, but Davis missed the triple and the Lakers escaped with a victory.
Lamar Odom led the Lakers with an 18-point, 10-rebound double-double as not a single Laker scored 20 points. Kobe Bryant went for 18 and Pau Gasol 14, while the bench combined for 26 points led by Jordan Farmar’s nine while tying Bryant for the team lead with five assists.
The bottom line was that a win was needed, as Cleveland beat San Antonio at home to improve to 62-15, a game ahead of the Lakers in the race for the NBA’s best record. In the West, Utah won in New Orleans to stay a game ahead of Dallas (who beat Phoenix) for the eight spot and the chance of playing the Lakers in the first round.
Since Phil didn’t take any questions, he asked that we not offer any numbers…
…Yeah.
I don’t think I’m going to entertain any numbers tonight.
