JOG - John Ireland's BLOG

Statement Game

The Lakers are on their way to the NBA Finals--that's not much of a surprise.  What is stunning is how they closed the deal.

I've seen every playoff game the Lakers have played with Phil Jackson as their coach, and put simply, LA's game six win over the Nuggets was the best they've played since 2002.  It was as dominating of a road performance as I've seen since I've been doing this, and without question, the most lopsided big-game win of Kobe Bryant's career.

Kobe has scored more points in a playoff game, but he's never controlled a game like this one.  He scored 35 points, had ten assists, six rebounds, and only one turnover.  He made all nine of his free throws.  When they double-teamed him, he found an open teammate, and when they didn't--he made the Nuggets pay.  He made 12 of 20 shots, and seemed to stop every run the Nuggets tried to make.  His plus/minus number was a staggering +31--which means the Lakers outscored Denver by 31 points when Kobe was on the court.

And he was just part of the story.  Pau Gasol scored 20 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, while Lamar Odom played his second consecutive solid game, with 20 points and 8 rebounds.  Trevor Ariza made seven of nine shots, scored 17 points, and limited Carmelo Anthony to 6 of 17 shooting.

This was domination, from start to finish, against a good team....in Denver.

Although I predicted the Lakers would win in six games on this blog, I actually thought the Nuggets were poised to force a game seven.  This was a white hot team before it ran into the Lakers, especially at home.  Charles Barkley, John Hollinger, Mark Jackson,  Henry Abbott, Tim Legler, Mike and Mike (both Greenberg and Golic), and many more experts all picked Denver.  To do what the Lakers did against team, in Colorado, was a big of statement game as we've seen in the NBA all season.

I'm writing this on Saturday morning, so I don't know if the Lakers will meet Orlando or Cleveland in the Finals.  But I do know this:  if the Lakers play the way they did in game six, it won't matter.  No team can compete with that.

Odom to the Rescue

As I've written before, this is a ridculously close series--probably the most competitive I've ever covered.

Game five was a great example:  the score was tied at 25 at the end of the first quarter; tied at 56 at the half; and tied again at 76 at the end of the third quarter (only the fourth time in NBA playoff history that has happened).  So what happened to decide it? 

Lamar Odom.

Odom has been criticized so much during this series that he admitted after the game that he had to "stop reading the paper, stop watching TV."  After game four, Mason called him "the invisible man."  But the truth is that he had an excuse--he's been hurt.  He injured his back in round one of the playoffs, and hasn't been the same since.  He appeared on the show last week and refused to admit any of that, but trust me, it's true.

So after playing with a bad back that rendered him ineffective in game four, he played like he discovered the fountain of youth in game five.  19 points, 14 rebounds, four blocked shots and three assists in 32 minutes.  Put simply, if Odom plays like that in game six, there won't be a game seven.

A Lakers win would give LA six days off before the NBA Finals.  That should be all the motivation Odom and the Lakers need.

Get Some Rest

After watching game four, it seems to me that this series is now going to go seven games. I don’t see the Lakers losing another home game, but I don’t see the Nuggets losing game six in Denver, either.

These teams are even—in almost every sense of the word. But despite what we saw in game four, the Lakers are more talented, have home court, and have Kobe. That should be enough to move on, but there’s a classic "what if" here.

What if the Lakers two stars, Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant, are really as tired as they look? Think about what life has been like since the Lakers made it to the NBA Finals last year. Both Kobe and Pau went straight to their National teams, both of which made it to the gold medal round. Then both guys went straight back to training camp, and now find themselves in a grueling playoff series (which is coming after a seven game series with Houston).

Kobe was so tired in game four, Phil Jackson took him out at the start of the fourth (I think he had to), and then didn’t put him back in for six minutes. Kobe said after game three that it was the most fatigued he had ever been after a game, and that he couldn’t feel his legs. Gasol has been so tired in this series that he has missed back-to-back free throws in the fourth quarter—twice. He is averaging 40+ minutes a game for the Denver series.

If you need more evidence, take a look at the rebounds from game four: Denver 58, and the Lakers 40. Rebounding is almost always based on effort, energy, and hustle—and the Lakers are normally a great rebounding team.

The only way to solve this problem is for the bench to play better, and give both guys some much needed rest during the remaining games. This won’t be easy. Lamar Odom and Sasha Vujacic looked lost in Denver, and both Shannon Brown and Jordan Farmar have struggled too. The series format—which calls for games every other day—doesn’t help either.

So it’s time to answer the bell. Guys who haven’t been playing are going to need to start. And the guys who have been playing should get as much rest as they can between games. I think the Lakers are in control, but like a boxer ahead on points late in a fight, it’s time to stick and move.

I Know I Said Seven Games, but Now I want Five

Just got back from watching the Lakers win game three at the Pepsi Center, and I've come to the conclusion that I've never covered a series like this before.

Part of me is blown away by the closeness of the games, and how exciting each one is to watch.  It's like getting to see a heavyweight championship fight every other night.  I've been "tweeting" a lot during the games (twitter @LAIreland), and with about two minutes to go and the game tied, I wrote that I hoped whichever team won would lose on Monday, just so I could keep watching the games.

That was the basketball fan in me coming out, but there's a problem with that.

The problem is although I'm paid to report somewhat impartially, I'm a Lakers fan.  And now that the Lakers have won, I selfishly want this series to end as quickly as possible.  If the Lakers can win on Monday, that ending could be on Wednesday in Los Angeles.

To those fans who don't have a rooting interest, that would be too bad, but I don't care.  I realize now that if the Nuggets tie this series at two, they could win it.  As a matter of fact, these games are all so close that either team could have won any game.  There is no result that would now surprise me, including Lakers in five, Nuggets in six, or either team in seven.

This series has the same feel of the Western Conference Finals that I covered in 2000, between the Lakers and Blazers.  They split the first two games, then the Lakers won the next two, in Portland.  But the Blazers were so good that they won games five and six, then forced a game seven in LA.  Portland was up by 15 in the fourth quarter, before the Lakers stormed back and won it--sending LA to the Finals.

Because of that, I want the Nuggets out of my life.  They have the same look as that Portland team.  I'm not scared of Denver, I think the Lakers are better, but I respect the Nuggets enough to worry about them.

Now, in no particular order, my favorite things about game three:

--Watching Trevor Ariza, who could barely stand up after falling hard after a driving lay-up, come back into the game and do three huge things.  He shut down a red-hot Carmelo Anthony, made three big three-point shots, and came up with another big steal of an inbounds pass that sealed the game.

--Watching Derek Fisher, who has been critcized more than any player on my radio show, pull the Lakers together in the fourth quarter and inspire everyone by saying "this is our gut check.  This is where we find out if we are championship material.  You have to do it right now."

--Watching Pau Gasol, another much-criticized player, hit two big shots down the stretch to help the one guy who had taken over the team, Kobe, get a short breather.

--Watching Kobe do it again.  As I said to Jim Hill, whatever he gets paid, he should get a raise.  No matter how tired he is, or how many times he doesn't get calls, he just keeps coming.  He's a once in a generation player, and I'm just glad he showed up while I have this job.

I think the Lakers have a great shot to get back to the NBA Finals, and as much as I love watching this series, I now hope it ends sooner rather than later.

Dead Even

I've watched a lot of playoff basketball, and I can't remember a time I've watched a series that has been as close as this one after two games.  I mean, this is freakishly close.

Consider this:

--The series is tied 1-1.

--The overall combined score of both games is Denver 209, and the Lakers 208.

--After two games, Carmelo Anthony has scored 73 points, and Kobe Bryant 72.

Game one was close, coming down to the final buzzer.  Then, after both teams made adjustments, game two was even closer than game one.  This almost never happens, but check this out:

--The Lakers had 43 rebounds (13 offensive), while the Nuggets had 42 rebounds (14 offensive).

--The Lakers had 21 assists, while the Nuggets had 20.

--The Lakers had 13 turnovers, while the Nuggets had 14.

--Denver made 29 free throws, while the Lakers made 27.  Each team missed eight free throws.

--Denver made seven three-pointers, while the Lakers made six.

--Denver shot 44% from the field, while the Lakers shot 45%.

--Each team had exactly nine steals.

The bottom line is that this is one of those series in which every possession could be the one that decides the game.  The team that executes down the stretch and hits big shots will win, and every mistake could cost a team the game.  Free throws will be critical.

Enjoy it while it lasts, it doesn't come along very often.

A Game to Remember

If game one is any indication, we have a chance to embark on one great series.

 

I’ve covered every Lakers playoff game since Staples opened in 1999, and there have only been four seven game series since that time:

 

--Lakers/Portland, Western Conference Finals, 2000

--Lakers/Kings, Western Conference Finals, 2002

--Lakers/Suns, Second Round, 2006

--Lakers/Rockets, Second Round, 2009

 

The three best playoff games I’ve seen all come from that list.  Game seven of the

Portland

series is the best game ever played at Staples.  The Lakers came from 15 down in the fourth quarter to steal the game and win a trip to the Finals.  Game four of the Kings series featured the famous Robert Horry three-pointer that won it, a game in which the Lakers came back from 20 points down.  In game four of the Suns series, the Lakers forced overtime with a last second shot, then won the game on a Kobe Bryant buzzer beater.  As Tony Kornheiser would say, “that’s the list.”

 

But game one of the Lakers and Nuggets is in the top five.  This was a game that

Denver

dominated early, taking a 12 point first quarter lead.  The Lakers fought back with a Derek Fisher three at the halftime buzzer to lead by one at the half. 

Denver

took another big lead in the second half, and seemed ready to put the game away—up by seven, with seven minutes to go.

 

But in those final minutes, the Lakers showed up big.  Guys who had been pushed around all night suddenly showed up, and the Nuggets were shocked in the last two minutes. 

 

Among the things that happened:

 

--Pau Gasol, who had played one of his worst games until the fourth quarter—and then missed two key free throws—came up with three big rebounds late, and buried two free throws in the final minute.

 

--Trevor Ariza, who spent most of the night unsuccessfully trying to stop Carmelo Anthony (Melo scored 39 points), became a hero in the final three minutes.  With the Lakers down by five, Ariza buried a three-pointer to cut the lead to two.  Then in the final minute, with the Lakers up by two and the game on the line, Ariza stole an inbounds pass from Chauncey Billups that sealed the game for LA.

 

--Derek Fisher, who seemed to miss almost every shot he took, buried a two and a three in the final minutes to save the day.

 

But the guy who put the Lakers on his back was

Kobe

, who scored 18 of his game-high 40 points in the fourth quarter.  Every time you thought he was out of gas, he delivered.  It was an MVP performance by a guy who had to have it, or this was a loss.

 

Anthony and Billups were spectacular in defeat.  These guys are so good, that I can’t wait for game two on Thursday. 

 

This is what playoff basketball should be—and this has the looks of a seven-gamer.

 

 

 

Here Come the Nuggets

If you listened to my radio show at all this week, you heard the sound of Lakers' fans jumping off of the bandwagon on a minute by minute basis.  Among the things we heard, and I'm not kidding:

--Trade Andrew Bynum now, while he still has value, because he'll never amount to anything.

--Bench Pau Gasol.  One guy actually called and suggested the Lakers go "Glory Road" and bench all of the white guys (Gasol, Farmar, Walton, Vujacic) because none of them can play.

--Retire Phil Jackson, because he was being outcoached by Rick Adelman.

--That Kobe Bryant will never win a championship without Shaq, and that Kobe is the problem with the Lakers because "he shoots too much."

--And of course the standard go-to line:  "even if the Lakers beat Houston, they'll never get past Denver."

That one is my favorite. 

Mark Jackson from ABC/ESPN jumped off of the Lakers and onto the Nuggets, and so did Charles Barkley.  The Nuggets are the new hip or trendy pick, and my guess is that at least half of the so-called experts will pick Denver.

I'm sticking with the Lakers for the simple reason that the Nuggets never win in LA, and they have to at least once to win the series.  But let's say for the sake of argument that the Nuggets win game one.  The Lakers have won seven of eight games against the Nuggets since Pau Gasol arrived in February of last year, and four of those games were in Denver.  The one game the Lakers did lose this year to the Nuggets was the second game of a back-to-back when they arrived at the hotel after 3 am.  Over the past two years, the Lakers are 10-1 against Denver.

Twice this year, the Nuggets played the Lakers while riding long winning streaks--and LA won both games.  In April, after the Billups trade, Denver came into LA on an eight-game winning streak, having won 13 of 14.  The Lakers won 116-102, with Kobe scoring 33 and Pau Gasol scoring 27.

That was a month ago, with the Nuggets at the top of their game.

So, just because Denver beat New Orleans and Dallas and the Lakers struggled against Houston, that goes out the window?

The Lakers have the better team and home court.  Tell me again why I should be picking the Nuggets?

Lakers in six.

Good News and Bad News

I’ve got good news and bad news.

First, the good: the Lakers worked all season to earn home court throughout the Western Conference playoffs, and now, they need it. There have been 101 seventh games in NBA history, and the home team has won 81 and lost only 20. The Lakers will be big favorites to win on Sunday, and if they do, they’ll have home court again in the conference finals against Denver.

The Nuggets have become kind of the "hip" pick now, with ABC’s Mark Jackson to become the latest expert to jump on Denver (Charles Barkley did it last week). But the facts are that the Lakers have had Denver’s number over the past few years, beating the Nuggets all seven times they met last year, and three out of four this season. If the Lakers can get to the next round, I’m sticking with LA.

Now, the bad news: the Lakers just aren’t right. I have no explanation as to how a team that beat the Rockets by 40 points on Tuesday could look so bad two days later. I wrote in my last blog that it’s common for a good team to take a few games off, even during the post season. But two games in four days? Against a team that is missing its’ two best players?

There is no other way to look at this other than to say that the Lakers are broken. I know that the Celtics needed seven games to beat both Atlanta and Cleveland last year on their way to a title. But it’s not the fact that the Lakers are losing that is bothering me. It’s how they’re losing.

Andrew Bynum played 19 minutes in game six and scored zero points. Pau Gasol played 43 minutes and was outscored by Luis Scola, 24 to 14. Aaron Brooks, playing mostly against Derek Fisher, outscored him 26 to 2. Other than Kobe Bryant, the Lakers can’t seem to score, or stop the Rockets from scoring. They’ve lost three of six games to Houston after winning all four meetings during the year.

It’s almost as if they are mentally exhausted, which I hope isn’t true. I have no idea what is going to happen on Sunday, but I will tell you this: I won’t be surprised by anything.

Game Five Blowout

OK....I know what you're saying:

"How can the same team that fell behind on Sunday in Houston by 29 points, turn around and beat the exact same team by 40 on Tuesday?"

I've learned over the years that the answer is simple, but one that most fans won't like. 

A lot of championship teams, not all--but a lot, don't show up every game.  Don't believe me?  We had AC Green in studio today, and we talked about that on two of his championship teams...the Lakers took games off.  In 1988, with a chance to finish off Utah in game six of the second round, they instead got blown out by 27 points.  It forced a game seven, which the Lakers won.  They also needed seven games to beat Dallas in the next round, and seven more to beat Detroit in the Finals.

In 2000, when AC returned the Lakers to finish his career, the Lakers needed all five games in round one to beat Sacramento, an eight seed.  After beating Phoenix in round two, they needed seven games to get past Portland.  In that series with the Blazers, the Lakers blew a three game to one lead, and fell behind by 15 in the fourth quarter before pulling out game seven.  In the Finals, they had a chance to finish off Indiana by winning game five, and instead lost by 33 points.  They won the title in game six.

The bottom line is that I don't know why, but teams take games off.  I can't tell you how many people have called the show lately and said:

"the Lakers have no heart"

"Championship teams don't take games off"

"This never would have happened in the Magic era....or the Shaq era"

Wrong, wrong and wrong.  The Lakers will probably beat Houston, beat Denver, and meet the Cavs in the Finals.  And guess what?  They'll lose some games along the way--and look terrible doing it.  Just don't tell me that because they do, they won't win it all.  I've seen happen too many times before.

Game Four: What Happened?

I've been watching the Lakers for a long time.  I can count the number of times they've mailed in a playoff game on one hand, but it happens.  Game four in Houston was even worse than usual, because the Rockets were missing their two all-stars, Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady.

They are going to get hammered, deservedly so, in the media until at least game five is over.  Here's part of TJ Simers' column that appeared in Monday's LA Times:

Maybe they will still claim the title when all this is over, but shocking as it might sound, an NBA team failed to show up Sunday for a playoff game -- as embarrassing an indictment as one can levy against a group of so-called professional athletes.

But after the game, Phil Jackson said he wasn't embarrassed.  He credited Houston with playing great, and felt that by winning one of two in Texas, the Lakers had reclaimed home court and taken control of the series  He doesn't appeared worried, and I have to admit, I can't imagine the Rockets winning this series unless Kobe Bryant gets hurt and can't play.

But here's my question:  does anybody think this is still a team on its' way to a title?

Cleveland is playing like a team possessed.  Denver, with Chauncey Billups playing flawlessly, appears to be developing a swagger.  Can any one say that about this Lakers team?   If I told you you had to bet your life on one team to win it all this year, could you seriously pick LA right now?

This isn't to say that they can't get it together in time to make a title run, but they aren't there right now.  Consider the following:

--I've become a big follower of the plus/minus number in the NBA.  Playing against Aaron Brooks, Derek Fisher had a plus/minus number of -26 in game four.  I realize that any one can have one bad game, but Fish struggled against Brooks in game one too.  How is he going to match up against Billups, or if the Lakers make the Finals, Mo Williams?

--Lamar Odom hurt his back in game four--he won't practice tomorrow.  Instead he'll have an MRI and a Cat Scan to determine the state of his back.  If he can't go, can the Lakers really count on Andrew Bynum (who had zero points on Sunday) to make a difference in the playoffs?

--Playing with Chuck Hayes at Center, who stands 6'6" tall, the Lakers were out rebounded both offensively and defensively.  Most notably, they were outplayed, out hustled, and looked lost.

They have less than a month to find themselves, or the Rockets, Nuggets, or Cavs will do it for them.