Official Los Angeles Lakers Thread

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2/8/04: Lakers win by 2 (I forgot score)

boy, this game almost made me a manic-depressive

first, the Lakers got out to an8-point lead at end of 1st quarter

then, the 2nd and 3rd quarter came, and everything fell apart: Lakers starting clanking shots; Magic started making shots, led by T-Mac, and the Lakers fell behind, by as much as 18 freaking points!!!!

boy, 2 Hall-of-Famers, and we fell behind by 18 to the worst team in the NBA?!?!!

but, in the 4th quarter, Phil Jackson put in the reserves, including Luke Walton, and the comeback rally began, with Walton doing a great job, 7 assists and a couple of buckets in just 13 minutes!!

the starters came in and finished the job!

the last couple of minutes saw Juwan Howard score on 3 straight possessions, taking advantage of Howard-Walton matchup (Horace Grant was waiting to get in the game)....

Lakers, down by 3 with 20 seconds, got a 3-pointer by Rick Fox, his only basket of the bal game!!!

Then, with 11 seconds left, Rod Strickland got the ball stolen by the pesky Derek Fisher, who passed to Payton for the game winning layup!!!! What a play by Fisher, who 3 nights earlier couldn't do anything worth a lick vs. Philly

Magic had 4 seconds to try a shot. Ball was inbounded to Giricek, who had a chance to pass the ball to T-Mac; instead he tried to shoot the ball, only to have Payton block the shot.

whewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!

Lakers ESCAPE with a 2-point win!

next up = Tuesday at Miami...Kobe expected to play!

[skyracer3]

The steal by Fisher was CLUTCH!! That steal attempt was planned since they had a foul to give, and thats why Gary got a good head start for the easy lay up.

Very well done.

[minew_m]

Great game by the Lakers. It made me proud to be a Laker fan (first time I could say that in a while, lol)!

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2/10/04: Lakers beat Heat by 11

boy, the Lakers started the game down 19-5

to one of the worst team in the NBA!!!

But, like the Sunday game where they fell behind Orlando, the worst team in NBA, by 18 in the 3rd quarter..........


the Lakers came back in the 2nd and 3rd quarters to keep it close

then the 4th came and Shaq awoke!!!!

tremendous game by Shaq, including a GREAT steal as he stepped into the passing lane, stole the ball, dribbled all the way down court for the jam and got several hugs from fans as he tumbled into the crowd.

Fisher and George were awesome!! combining for about 36 points off the bench

Fisher made a couple of tremendous steals and passes for assist to blow a close game into a blow-out

this was the first time the Lakers actually played a 4th quarter game.

next up: Shaq vs Yao, with Kobe in the mix too!!

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2/11/04: Lakers lose by 15

I don't know if it was bad defense by Lakers or great offense by Houston, who shot lights out, including Francis, who went 9 for 11 with 21 points, and Ming went for 29

Kobe played, took 7 shots, had 14 points

but the big question is this: why the hell did Slava keep shooting?!?!?

Slava is a great offensive player. He can shoot the outside shot well. But, he is not consistent.

Tonight, he was 1-8 (more shots than Kobe), and his misses were BAD misses --- wide open, uncontested 15-footers

Yet, in a crucial stretch late 3rd and early 4th quarter, Slava keep shooting.

It's ok for Iverson, T-Mac, Kobe, etc to try to shoot their way out of slumps when they are having a bad night.

But a role player like Devean George / Slava / Fisher should never keep putting up shots after they are 1 for 10, or 2 for 11

that's farking ridiculous!!!

[minew_m]

That is ridiculous! Look how many lay-ups Slava missed at the begenning of the game too. On a better note, Shaq did go quite well from the foul line. He went 14-19!

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I can't believe Shaq made 14 free throws in 19 tries!!!!!

but, on a very very disturbing note:

all the talk in Lost Angeles is that Kobe is leaving.

(SIGH)

oh well....he could've been the next Magic Johnson, and possibly have a statue right next to Magic.

Kobe has it all - money, rings, and the chance to make more money and get more rings.

I've seen Kobe play countless games, with and without Shaq.

There is no way Kobe can win an NBA title without a big man (Shaq, Tim Duncan)

Michael Jordan is one that rare player who didn't need a big man.

As good as Kobe is, and I think he's Hall of Fame 1st ballot worthy, Kobe is no Jordan.

what a shame it would be for him to leave (and he's gonna be paid less money, about $12M less, since by rule, no team can sign Kobe to a higher contract than the Lakers.)

I will still root for him, b/c he's still one of the very few who spends his offseason working on his game

I would prefer to have Phil Jackson leave, Kobe and Shaq stay, and let Byron Scott coach the team.

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2/17/04: Lakers win by 3, in a close game that shouldn't have been, as Portland is a bad road team

Shaq only shot 13 times, making 9, and had about 21 points

Kobe shot 13 of 23, missed 4 of 9 free throws, but made some clutch plays in the end to seal the victory. Without Kobe, Lakers are dead next year.

Shaq is a dominant player who can wear out all the big men the other team has.....but in a close game, Shaq is useless, b/c he can't make free throws (he always says he makes them when it counts...but if he hit free throws in the 1st quarter, he wouldn't have to hit them in the 4th quarter. All free throws are important). That's where Kobe is so good - you simply cannot contain him unless you send 2-3 players to swarm on him. He can create his own shots, can shoot right or left handed, and is a reliable free throw shooter, at an 85% clip.

next up = at Golden St. Tomorrow. Lakers have been HORRIBLE in 2nd of a back-to-back.

Dallas lost to the surprisingly strong Memphis Grizzlies, and Lakers are percentage points ahead of Dallas for 4th spot. And 2 games behind San Antonio for 3rd.

The ideal thing is for Minnesota is to finish 2 or 3, and Lakers to get the other spot.

Then have Sacramento finish #1, San Antonio #4

now that's a tremendous series in the playoffs

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2/18/04: Lakers 100-99 over the Warriors of Golden St

whhhhhhhhewwwwwwwwwwwww!

this was a close game, with leads being exchanged a bunch of times (I would guess over 15 times), and the only reason the Lakers won was because Shaq decided to play defense

Kobe is always dependable, on offense and defense, as he scored 11 points in the 3rd quarter to keep the Lakers close

But this was Shaq's best defensive effort, as he was everywhere - jumping out on pick-and-roll, blocking shots, getting defensive AND offensive rebounds.

Even with a lousy 1-9 free throw shooting, with the Lakers up 1, and 2.3 seconds to go, Shaq blocked Cliff Robinson's last shot of the ball game to help the Lakers win a very rare back-to-back.

Gary Payton didn't do much, got into a verbal fight with Speedy Claxton in the 3rd quarter, and both were ejected.

This was all Kobe (36 points and 7 assists) and Shaq (31 points and 7 assissts)

Luke Walton played the entire 4th quarter, in a big surprise for a rookie!

the bench players didn't do much.

The Warriors, as always, played the Lakers tough to the end, as Van Exel made shot after shot in the 4th quarter.

Jason Richardson had 25, with several athletic dunks
Cliff Robinson chipped in with 23
Nick had 13

Lakers play Philadelphia Friday at Staples.....and we'll see how Iverson does after being benched for missing practice (practice!) by new interim coach Chris Ford

Dallas won, San Antonio won.....Lakers barely percentage points ahead of Dallas for 4th place; San Antonio still 2 games up

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2/20/04: Lakers 116-88 over the Sixers, as the fans at Staples Center all get 1 free chalupa since the Lakers held the Sixers to under 90


Just before All-Star break, the Lakers came into Philly on the 2nd of a back-to-back, and got destroyed.

Today, they return the favor as Philly comes to LA on the 2nd of a back-to-back (having lambasted Seattle the night before).

This really wasn't much of a contest, as the Lakers outscored the Sixers in all 4 quarters.

Iverson had a horrendous shooting night, going 3-for-18, with 13 points....helped partially by Payton's defense.

Shaq had 29 points, 10 boards, and 3 assists, while not playing the entire 4th quarter

Kobe, who played only 2 minutes of the 3rd quarter due to picking up his 4th foul, had 28 points, 7 assists, 3 steals, 2 block shots, and 5 boards....all in 30 minutes of play

Kareem Rush played well in garbage time, with 13 points on 6-9 shooting and 3 assists

Bryon Russell played for the first time in several games, and performed admirably, with 4 points, and 6 boards. He played mainly b/c Rick Fox and Slava got into foul trouble early

Luke Walton, who is a SUPERB passer, played well in his 17 minutes

and Brian Cook, back from an injury, played ok for having missed about 12 games. His highlight included receiving a pass from Kobe as he raced down the court and slamming it in.

Spurs lost, so Lakers and Spurs now have 19 losses apiece, and Lakers 1 full game behind them for #3 position.

Sacramento and Minnesota tied for best record in West