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Lakers - Magic Gameday Page
We took a look at the Lakers - Magic contest in Orlando while it was happening, entering a thought or three each quarter as the Lakers looked to avoid losing three consecutive games for the first time since acquiring Pau Gasol in February of 2008.

Inactives
Lakers: Sasha Vujacic (shoulder)
Magic: Adonal Foyle

Starters
Lakers: Fisher, Bryant, Artest, Gasol and Bynum
Magic: Jameer Nelson, Vince Carter, Matt Barnes, Rashard Lewis, Dwight Howard

Pregame Notes
The most interesting pregame information regarded the fact that Kobe Bryant didn’t come on the team bus, instead taking a few more moments at the team hotel due to a stomach ailment. “He’ll be here,” said Phil Jackson. “He’s going to be all right.” For more, CLICK HERE.

First Quarter
11:30 Pau Gasol came out aggressively after consecutive sub-standard individual games as the Spaniard first backed aggressively into a double-team and missed a turnaround, then tipped in Andrew Bynum’s missed tip of his first shot. The Magic got a corner three from Lewis on their first possession, but the Lakers coaches were happy to see Bynum aggressively contest on pick-and-roll action, which had been stressed in Saturday’s practice.

6:07 Kobe Bryant, appearing to feel just fine (stomach) judging from his 7-0 scoring spurt that put L.A. up 12-9, watched as Bynum picked up his second personal foul on defense. Both came while trying to contest Vince Carter and Matt Barnes respective drives, as opposed to isolation on Dwight Howard, bringing Lamar Odom into the game for the first time. When Odom picked up two fouls himself in just two minutes, Josh Powell checked into the game; this effectively made the Lakers more of a perimeter-oriented team, since Howard could guard Gasol 1-on-1 and the Lakers couldn’t exploit a mismatch at the four.

1:30 The stat of the first quarter: the Magic were at the free throw line so often they nearly had time to build a house (or at least a shed), attempting a ridiculous 18 foul shots. Carter alone got to the charity stripe 10 times (without a miss) to help Orlando take a 31-24 lead into the second. Carter finished with 15 points despite only two field goals, while Bryant put up 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting for the foul-trouble-saddled Lakers. But the bottom line: that L.A. is only down seven after being saddled with foul trouble, making only 31.8% of their shots and allowing 18 FTs wasn’t bad.

Second Quarter
6:17 Continuing our personal foul watch: Both Bynum and Howard got tagged with their third fouls on iffy plays at respective ends, bringing Gasol back in for L.A. and Gortat for the Magic. L.A. had trimmed what had been a 10-point lead to just four with an 8-2 run keyed by Odom, who had six points, three rebounds and two assists in the first half of the second.

3:27 It has to be at least somewhat haunting for Magic fans to see Derek Fisher nail a three-pointer in this building after his two nasty daggers that won Game 4 of the Finals for L.A. In this case, the his first make of the game brought the Lakers within four points at 48-44.

0:05.1 The lead would stay at four heading into halftime after Artest’s fadeaway rimmed out in the final seconds. Howard and Bynum ended up playing just 11 minutes apiece in the half, nearly equaling each other statistically. The Lakers managed just 34 percent shooting from the field, but turned the ball over only four times and held Orlando to 39.5 percent shooting to hang around. Bryant did not score in the second quarter, missing his only two shots, while Odom put up six points, four boards and two assists while playing the majority of the period.
Continue reading ‘Lakers 94, Magic 96: Running Diary’

The last time the Lakers were in Orlando, they were drinking champagne in the locker room after a 4-1 series win culminating in Game 5’s 99-86 victory. Here’s the running diary from L.A.’s 15th championship-clinching contest.

Game 1
Lakers - Magic Running Diary, June 4, 2009
Lakers 100, Magic 75: Postgame 1

Game 2
Lakers - Magic Running Diary, June 7, 2009
Lakers 101, Magic 96: Postgame 2

Game 3
Lakers - Magic Running Diary, June 9, 2009
Lakers 104, Magic 108: Postgame 3

Game 4
Lakers - Magic Running Diary, June 11, 2009
Lakers 99, Magic 91: Postgame 4

Inactives
Lakers: Adam Morrison, Sun Yue
Magic: Tyronn Lue, Jeremy Richardson

Starters
Lakers: Derek Fisher, Kobe Bryant, Trevor Ariza, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum
Magic: Rafer Alston, Courtney Lee, Hedo Turkoglu, Rashard Lewis and Dwight Howard

Phil Jackson Pregame
- Jackson opened his presser by talking about Tex Winter, who he said is able to watch and enjoy the Finals from home but isn’t able to speak on the phone: “When I became the head coach of the Bulls, I asked Johnny Bach to be the defensive coordinator and Tex to be the offensive coordinator. Tex is obviously the innovator of the triangle offense … His dedication to it made him the drill sergeant to the team. He always encouraged team play and system play, so if it became too individual, he would always bring that to bear. But more than anything else, he kept a running score on the sideline, which is now done by Brian Shaw.”
- He also talked about how difficult it is to maintain a singular focus with all the outside distractions with just one more game to win. Ultimately, he said, it’s not about him and his 10th title: “It’s really about these young men and what they’re doing.”
- Finally, Jackson compared Jameer Nelson’s return to Orlando’s lineup to Andrew Bynum’s prior to the playoffs and explained that the team skipped the morning shootaround due to the time that would have been wasted getting to and from the arena. Instead, the team watched film at the hotel.

Stan Van Gundy Pregame
- “They’re prepared, they’re in a good frame of mind, it’ll come down to how well we play. I thought practice yesterday was very good, I thought the walk through this morning was good.”
- Van Gundy said he doesn’t worry about missed free throws, because they aren’t a lack of effort or execution. It just happens. He added that Dwight Howard’s improved considerably throughout the season … But just missed some shots.
- He doesn’t think Orlando is getting “badly outplayed,” but didn’t take the bait to say that the Magic should or could be up or even in the series, as an Orlando reporter suggested. “What it could be is basically anything, the reality is it’s 3-1,” he said. In other words, he said that the Magic had a chance to win two of the last three, and the Lakers had a chance to win Game 3, meaning the series “could” have been 4-0, 3-1 or 2-2. But it’s “not.”

Jim Cleamons Pregame Video
Lakers assistant coach Jim Cleamons joined us to preview the final game, and take a deeper look at the pick and roll, which has been critical for both teams in the series. CLICK HERE and scroll down to “Coach Speak” to watch.

Follow Us On Twitter
In case there aren’t enough observations for you in the diary, feel free to follow us on twitter on @Lakers or @miketrudell.

First Quarter
12:00 The energy in the building for Game 5 is noticeably less than that of Game 4 … Will that seep into the Magic (or Lakers) players? One thing to keep in mind in the early goings: Bynum, Gasol and Odom all had two fouls after quarter one of Game 1, which in large part caused L.A.’s 12-point deficit at halftime.

11:25 Lee scored the game’s first points on a deep pull-up jumper after Bynum turned the ball over trying to find Gasol down low, but quickly made up for it by grabbing an offensive board and keeping it alive for Pau’s tip in.

8:17 Orlando was extremely active on defense as the Lakers struggled to get good looks, resulting in two deep jump shots from Bynum. At the other end, Turkoglu and Lee scored on consecutive drives to put Orlando up 11-6.

7:00 Phil Jackson called timeout after Bryant was stripped and Alston converted a layup at the other end, with Kobe coming up lame surely due to pain on his troublesome finger. However, Bynum grabbed a Fisher miss and stuck it back in, his first make in seven attempts after he was forced into some tough shots.

4:15 After Bryant stuck his second consecutive jumper, Bynum converted his second straight field goal in the paint, a dunk over Howard, to bring L.A. within four at 21-17. In essence, L.A. had survived Orlando’s initial burst.

2:21 At an extended TV timeout that only the Finals can provide, Orlando’s “Dancin’ Dads” performed a bizarre dance to “Ridin’ Dirty” and “Pretty Fly For A White Guy” that you’re glad you missed, though to be fair, they sort of redeemed themselves when my top-three rap song “Big Pimpin’” came on.

0:53.4 Bryant’s two free throws cut Orlando’s lead to just one at 27-26, getting him to 11 points to lead all scorers. On the next possession, Howard got to the free throw line and missed badly on the first in an interesting situation since the last freebies he shot allowed L.A. to tie Game 4. He made the second, however.

0:00 After a Luke Walton miss, Mickael Pietrus (who moments earlier had converted a driving layup after taking six steps) couldn’t convert a quarter-ending three, making it a 28-26 margin after one. In Game 4, L.A. had trailed 24-20.

Continue reading ‘REMIX: Lakers - Magic Game 5 Running Diary’

Lakers - Heat Gameday Page
We took a look at the Lakers - Heat contest in Miami while it was happening, entering a thought or three each quarter as the Lakers looked for their fourth consecutive win.

Inactives
Lakers: Sasha Vujacic (shoulder)
Heat: James Jones

Starters
Lakers: Fisher, Bryant, Artest, Gasol and Bynum
Heat: Carlos Arroyo, Dwyane Wade, Quentin Richardson, Michael Beasley, Jermaine O’Neal

Pregame Injury Update - Shannon Brown
Brown took a few moments to describe his newly injured right thumb: CLICK HERE.

First Quarter
7:55 If you watched the Lakers defeat Denver on Sunday, it was a familiar sight when early in Miami Kobe Bryant brought a double-team to the right block, then swung the ball to the weak side for a wide-open Derek Fisher three-pointer, which swished through to knot the score at nine. In unrelated news, Miami’s introductory video looked like it was produced in the 1970’s, for some reason, with each player wearing strange outfits amidst weird bubble letters (just so you know).

6:26 Fisher capped a nice opening stretch by nailing his third straight shot for a team-high seven points, giving the Lakers a 13-10 edge. That Fisher was taking shots was related to L.A.’s struggle to get the ball inside, as Miami is one of the league’s better teams at denying entry passes to the post. Phil Jackson said the key was good ball movement from side to side within the triangle scheme, which can sometimes take a bit of time in terms of adjusting within the game.

0:07.3 Though he started slowly from the field (1-of-4) and the line (2-of-4), Bryant hit his last two shots of the second at the rim, including his hang-in-the-air-through-the-lane-and-use-the-glass (like in the 2009 NBA Finals) trick to score the final basket of the first to put L.A. up 27-26. The Lakers shot 63.2 percent from the field, but turned the ball over six times for 11 Heat points.

Second Quarter
9:58 With Bryant and Gasol on the bench, Odom began to look for his shot to open the second, connecting on consecutive jumpers as Udonis Haslem played him to drive. Earlier today, Odom was (as always) in the team hotel weight room earlier in the day with his personal trainer getting a work out in, which he says helps keep his body feeling strong and energized during games. Bryant is a well-known game day workout fiend, while Josh Powell lifts before the game at the arena.

3:02 Because of Wade’s penetration, Bryant slipped off his man - Quentin Richardson - just a bit to help, and that’s all the space Q needed to hit his third three-pointer of the game for a team-high 11 points, bringing Miami within a point of the Lakers. In other Q news, does anyone else wish he still had Darius Miles around for the two-fist-on-head bit?

1:28 After playing just six minutes in the first quarter due to foul trouble, Andrew Bynum made up for it in the second, grabbing all nine of his rebounds, including four offensive that helped earn his 10 points. Gasol and Artest added buckets for the Lakers to close the half, earning a 47-44 on 50 percent shooting with 10 turnovers.

Third Quarter
8:57 Michael Beasley, last year’s No. 2 overall pick after Derrick Rose, had a nasty put-back dunk on Gasol, then immediately drew a technical foul for taunting the Spaniard. To follow up, Beasley stared at the jumbotron for a full 25 seconds until they showed the replay.

4:27 Richardson continued to kill the Lakers from the three-point line, nailing back-to-back triples - his fifth and sixth of the game - to reach 22 points and give the Heat a 67-63 lead. Three more, and Q would tie Chauncey Billups and his nine threes against L.A. for the opponent season high.

0:10.2 Dorrell Wright closed the third quarter with a baseline jam off Wade’s pretty pass, giving the Heat a 74-68 lead heading into the final quarter. Bryant was up to 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting, while Artest, Bynum and Fisher were also in double figures.

Fourth Quarter
10:25 Wright hit a three in the corner and Arroyo a pull-up jumper in transition to give the Heat their biggest lead, at nine, as the home team was just the latest to save their best game in a long time for the Lakers. Miami had dropped four straight games before squeaking by Golden State’s D-League filled squad, but was responding to a big crowd - not the norm in South Beach - in a big way.

7:54 The Lakers bench put forth a key 7-2 stretch, featuring two monster dunks from Shannon Brown and Jordan Farmar’s three, two of the plays coming off Odom assists. Brown’s first dunk may have won him the Slam Dunk Contest, as he exploded off the baseline, double-pumped and finished with two hands. Just all nasty and fierce, and L.A. was within four at 83-79.

3:12 The team’s respective superstars hit threes on back-to-back possessions, first Wade, then Kobe, as Miami retained a 92-87 lead as the clock grew as an enemy to L.A. Then, after an impressive push from L.A., featuring a Fisher three and Kobe’s pull-up jumper plus some solid defense, Bryant drew a shooting foul on Richardson and sank both free throws to put L.A. up 97-96. That happened fast.

0:03.3 Yet it paled in comparison to Bryant’s game-tying jumper in the lane from about 17 feet over Wade, which answered Richardson’s seventh three-pointer of the game that had made it 99-97 seven seconds prior to that. Miami had a chance to win it at the buzzer, but Wade’s double-clutch jumper was well short, thanks to the defensive pursuit of both Odom and Artest. Time for some overtime, L.A.’s first extra session since Dec. 26 at Sacramento. Generally, Kobe just wins it in regulation.

Overtime
3:17 I think Kobe found his shooting touch. He followed that regulation J with back-to-back jumpers over Wade and Richardson, respectively, to put L.A. up 103-101. He’d hit once again a minute later, but Miami kept matching as the game was tied at 105.

0:37.3 L.A. got a big driving hoop from Odom to tie things at 107, but Wade alley-ooped to O’Neal for a layup that put Miami back on top. But then Odom, after just missing a three, stole the ball and fed Farmar for a layup that preceded Haslem’s open jumper to make it 111-109 Heat. Quite an entertaining final stanza, to say the least.

0:18.7 The latest biggest play of the game came as O’Neal stepped in front of a driving Bryant to draw a charge, getting possession back for Miami, which got two free throws from Arroyo to go up four. Bryant missed a three on the ensuing possession, Arroyo added 1-of-2 free throws with 0:06.2 to play, and the Lakers had been beaten in overtime for the first time in five games.

Up next is a Friday night contest in Charlotte, but until then, your numbers:

POSTGAME NUMBERS
7 Three-pointers hit by Miami’s Quentin Richardson, all in the first three quarters, for 21 of his 25 points, including the dagger that put the Heat up 99-97 with 11.1 to play. Chauncey Billups’ nine threes on Feb. 5 was the most against L.A. this season.

10 Missed free throws by the Lakers (15-of-25), while Miami made 21-of-25.

14 Points for Derek Fisher in one of his better games of late, including a late three-pointer that keyed L.A.’s late comeback.

18 Of Kobe Bryant’s 39 points that came in the fourth quarter and overtime.

22 Combined points from Andrew Bynum (12) and Pau Gasol (10), a number which will rarely get it done for the Lakers.