The Lakers made a furious rally in the final three minutes of the fourth quarter to send the game into overtime, but wound up running out of gas against the Jazz, suffering a 123-115 series-tying loss.
“There was definitely a great chance after coming back,” said Pau Gasol (23 points, 10 rebounds) of the Lakers’ near comeback. “We had them where wanted them, and we weren’t able to execute. We didn’t get the shots that we needed to get in overtime. They got pretty good looks, and offensive boards. That is what gave them the victory.”
“It comes down to a couple defensive stops we have to make,” said Coach Jackson after the game. “I really had to jump our second unit a little bit again tonight, because they let us down in the fourth quarter. We had to come back and play out of a double digit deficit again. It put a lot of pressure on the starters to have to play at a pace in which they were pretty exhausted going into overtime.”
Continue reading ‘Game 4: Lakers vs. Jazz Post-Game’
The Lakers trailed for much of the game, but rallied to within four of the Jazz at before a critical turnover gave Utah their first win of the series 104-99 and the Lakers, their first loss of the 2007-08 post-season. Carlos Boozer led the way for the Jazz with 27 points an a playoff career high-tying 20 rebounds as his team won for the fortieth time in 45 tries this year at Energy Solutions Arena.
“(Kobe) fumbled the ball that’s what’s wrong,” said Coach Jackson about the team’s critical turnover in the waning moments of the fourth quarter. “I don’t know if he was trying to get it out of his hands too soon or what happened but it looked like he had it, and he just didn’t wrap it up.”
“We turned the ball over quite a bit,” said Bryant after the game, drawing parallels to his final mishap and the team’s sloppy play throughout the night. “Down the stretch in a critical situation we put them on the line four or five straight possessions and gave them easy opportunities. We clawed back, but with that said we can’t turn the ball over 18 times. We had a lot of open looks that just didn’t go for us. You can sustain a night like that, when shots don’t fall. We’ve really got to keep our turnovers down and not allow them to get out in transition and get some easy points.”
Continue reading ‘Game 3: Lakers vs. Jazz Post-Game’
On a night when Kobe Bryant received the top individual award in the sport–the Most Valuable Player Award–his team shined, using a balanced effort to knock off the Jazz 120-110 to go ahead 2-0 in their best of seven series.
The newly crowned MVP scored 34 points in addition to pulling down eight rebounds and dishing out six assists. After the game, Kobe said that his team was “excited” to head into Salt Lake City with a two game lead in the series, crediting the rhythm the Lakers established heading into the postseason.
Coach Jackson praised the Lakers’ fast start, using the energy of a gold-clad STAPLES Center crowd, obviously amped up after Bryant received his MVP award prior to tip-off.
“We got off to a great start,” said Jackson. “The energy of the crowd and Kobe’s night gave us a real quick start. I just didn’t think we played well the second quarter, and they kind of carried the ball from there on out the rest of the game. They kept attacking and we were able to manage point for point, but we were never able to gather momentum in the second half.”
Continue reading ‘Game 2: Lakers vs. Jazz Post-Game’
The Lakers nearly lost a 19 point lead in the second half, but were able to stop the Jazz when it mattered most en route to a 109-98 victory in Game 1 of the teams’ best of seven Western Conference Semifinals series. Kobe Bryant led the way for the Lakers with 38 points on 8-16 from the field, including 21-23 from the foul line.
Pau Gasol (18 points) and Lamar Odom (16 points, 9 rebounds) both had strong games for the Lakers, with the Spaniard pulling down a team-high 10 rebounds. As a team, L.A shot 45% from the field, but held the Jazz to just 38%, including a sub par 4-19 from behind the three point line. Derek Fisher had a stellar defensive game, stealing the ball six times.
“We just played hard for 48 minutes,” said Turiaf. “We stayed focused even though they had those runs, we weathered the storms and I think we did a good job staying together. Not getting mad at each other and I think when you pass the ball, share the ball you put yourself in the situations.”
Continue reading ‘Game 1: Lakers vs. Jazz Post-Game’
Kobe Bryant (31 points) and Pau Gasol (21 points) teamed up to bring the Lakers their first playoff series victory in four years, defeating the Nuggets 107-101 to sweep their best of seven first round matchup 4-0. The game was close throughout with the Nuggets finally displaying some of the resiliency they showed in battling for a playoff birth, entering the fourth quarter only trailing by two points.
“My wish would be that we could have had four games like we had tonight,” said a defeated George Karl after the game. “This would make everyone happy. The Lakers are a very good team. There a lot of guys in that locker room that want to win a playoff series.”
After another game that the Lakers controlled for almost the entire 48 minutes, Denver guard Allen Iverson said that his teammates were outclassed in the series by a superior ball club.
“I have never been swept in my career and it’s a bad feeling, but I don’t feel bad about my teammates or my coaching staff,” said Iverson. “I feel like they gave everything they had, they put everything on the line. We just got beat by a better team.”
Continue reading ‘Game 4: Lakers vs. Nuggets Post-Game’
For the third consecutive game, the Lakers manhandled the Nuggets, defeating them 102-84 an opening up a 3-0 series lead against Denver. L.A. outscored the Nuggets by 11 points in the second half, led by Kobe Bryant’s 22.
“We definitely got dominated in the second half–no question about it,” said Eduardo Najera after the game. “The frustration came in and we were not ourselves. We did not make enough shots. I thought we played better defensively in this game, but our offense was not there tonight.”
In all, five Lakers reached double figures, with Gasol, Fisher, Odom and Walton joining Bryant. Once again, the Lakers’ bench was also a factor with Luke tallying another 15 and Farmar and Vujacic adding nine a piece.
As a team, L.A. shot 46% from the floor compared to only 37% for Denver–an obvious source of frustration after the game for George Karl.
“I tip my hat to the Lakers in regards to their defense–they are better than I thought they were,” said Karl after the Lakers held his team to under 100 points for the first time this series. “Only a handful of teams did to us during the season what LA did to us tonight.”
Continue reading ‘Game 3: Lakers at Nuggets Post-Game’
The Lakers used a stellar second half surge for the second game in a row to topple the Nuggets in Game 2 of the teams’ best of seven Western Conference Quarterfinal series. Kobe Bryant led the way for the Lakers, scoring 25 points in the first half and adding another 24 after for a total of 49. Pau Gasol and Luke Walton had 18 points a piece to back up the Lakers’ superstar guard.
“Kobe–when he’s making his jump shot–is somewhat undefendable,” said an exasperated George Karl after the game.
After being bothered throughout Game 1 by Kenyon Martin’s defense, Phil Jackson said Bryant obviously entered tonight’s game with a completely different mindset.
“I would imagine if I were Kobe Bryant…he was out shooting early before practices started today getting himself revved up for tonight’s game,” said Jackson.
Jackson said that despite leading by 10 at halftime, the Lakers were not able to build on their advantage in a a back-and-forth third quarter in which the Nuggets actually took the lead at one point.
Continue reading ‘Game 2: Lakers vs. Nuggets Post-Game’
The Lakers rode Pau Gasol’s monster 36 point, 16 rebound effort in his first playoff game in the purple and gold to a 128-114 victory over the Nuggets. The Lakers did much of their damage in a 39 point third quarter in which they outscored Denver by 17. Despite scoring 32 points, Kobe Bryant had a dismal game by his standards, shooting only 9-26 from the field with only 4 points coming in the first half.
“We had to go away from Kobe today,” said Coach Jackson after the game. “Kobe ended up with 32 points, but he was not a factor in establishing our lead. It was getting the ball inside and taking advantage of what they gave us.”
Jackson said he credits Gasol and Odom’s muscle inside in helping the Lakers create what was a 19 point lead toward the end of the third quarter.
“I think it was our interior game, early, late in the third quarter,” said Jackson. “It helped us establish at least some rhythm in this game and some opportunities that were easy for us. Pau was the recipient of a lot of them, but I thought he made good passes, Lamar made good passes.”
“He played a great game for us today,” said Jackson about Pau’s playoff debut with the Lakers. Jackson said that he needed all of Gasol’s 44 minutes since Ronny Turiaf was feeling under the weather entering the game.
Continue reading ‘Lakers vs. Nuggets, Game 1 Post-Game’
As expected, the Lakers routed the in-state rival Kings 124-101 with all five starters sitting out the entire fourth quarter. In another display of balanced scoring, six Lakers scored in double figures, led by Pau Gasol’s 22 points to go along with seven rebounds. Kobe Bryant scored 20 points in just 28 minutes in his last showcase for MVP voters.
After the game, Coach Jackson said that his team played an “adequate” game, but he was not particularly thrilled with his team’s defense, despite holding the Kings to 44% shooting from the field. Jackson conceded that his team played a great second half–particularly in a third quarter in which they outscored Sacramento by a 39-24 margin.
“…Having home court advantage is the most basic thing you can talk about,” said Jackson in regards to the Lakers wrapping up the Western Conference’s number one seed an securing home court advantage up until the Finals. This season, Jackson said it is much more who teams draw, than actual positioning.
Continue reading ‘Lakers vs. Spurs Post-Game’
The Lakers slaughtered the Spurs 106-85 in one of the most unexpectedly lopsided victories of the entire year. The Lakers held the Spurs to only 32 points in the second half, outscoring them by 21 to break the halftime tie.
“What a half,” said Jackson. “We came out and played an exceptional second half.”
Jackson credited the Lakers’ lockdown defense in the second half, particularly with regards to slowing San Antonio’s guards down—most notable Tony Parker’s penetration.
Derek Fisher—who was the primary defender on Parker—had an impressive game on both ends of the floor, finishing with 14 points and doing a good job of attacking the Spurs guard on offense.
Although he is playing injured, Jackson said that Derek told him that he “feels like he can start extending himself a little more.”
The Lakers’ bench played on of their best games in recent memory, dominating the Spurs’ starters in the third quarter en route to 39 points. Ronny Turiaf and Jordan Farmar led the way for the reserves, scoring 10 and 11 points respectively.
“They really shot the door on the game,” said Jackson in response to the bench effort. Jackson said that the Lakers reserves played exceptional basketball in the second half of today’s game—something the group did frequently during the first half of the season.
Continue reading ‘Lakers vs. Spurs Post-Game’
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