Cavaliers 98, Lakers 95
January 27th, 2008, 3:40 pm · 2 Comments · posted by KEVIN DING, OCREGISTER.COM
LOS ANGELES – The Lakers lost their fourth game in five outings, surrendering 41 points to LeBron James at Staples Center on Sunday. The game ended with neither Kobe Bryant nor Luke Walton able to get a 3-point shot off despite having a chance to tie.
In a game Lakers coach Phil Jackson put great emphasis on given the 8,713-mile, nine-game trip coming up after the Lakers play New York on Tuesday, he dared to rest Bryant (33 points) with 5:22 to play and the Lakers up, 86-85.
After Ronny Turiaf’s miss and then two Jordan Farmar turnovers, Bryant returned with the Lakers down, 90-86, with 4:00 left. The Lakers got back the lead, 93-92, after Luke Walton hit one foul shot after James missed two, but James came back with the next two baskets. The Lakers didn’t score during that time because Bryant charged into a double-team and then Lamar Odom missed a floater off Bryant’s pass and didn’t get a foul call.
DRIP, NOT LEAK
Although it initially appeared to be a leak from the Staples Center roof that delayed the game with 3:36 left in the first quarter, it turned out to be wet gear left on a catwalk that was dripping down.
WHERE’S KOBE?
The Lakers did not score from the time Bryant sat to rest with 8:56 left in the second quarter until he came back with 5:19 left. Their 31-30 lead became a 36-31 deficit.
WHAT WAS HE THINKING?
James got the ball but forgot there were only 4.2 seconds left in the third quarter, and the horn sounded without Cleveland getting a shot up.
NEXT
New York at Lakers, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, FSN, KLAC/570
January 28th, 2008 at 5:29 am
It’s becoming disarmingly lucid who the most valuable player on the Lakers is.
Clue. It’s not Bryant.
I doubt Bryant would’ve been able to lead the same roster James had last year past the Detroit Pistons. I also doubt Bryant’s ability to lead the current Hornets roster to where Paul has them at.
It’s painfully obvious that Bryant’s game is on the decline. He’s settling for way too many jumpers. The explosiveness is no longer there. Hence, all the bobblehead pumpfakes that infuriate Phil, Tex, and the rest of Laker Nation.
One would expect the so-called best player in the league to step it up since the Lakers are without Bynum, Ariza, and Radmonovic. I guess that’s too much to ask of him.
Maybe that’s just how the cookie crumbles.
Jeffs Aho
January 28th, 2008 at 11:59 am
Jeffs Aho… you’ve got to be kidding. Kobe goes out gives you 33 points 12 rebounds and 6 assists and you think he’s over the hill? That really is laughable. The Lakers lost the game at the line which is becoming a habit with them. They lost the game by three but missed 13 from the charity stripe. That’s roughly 65%. That’s not going to win you any games. Lamar reverted to his usual mediocre game and Luke is still trying to find his stroke. Drew is sorely missed and it’s obvious how important he is to the Lakers success. But if you take Kobe out of the line up for 6-8 weeks I doubt the Lakers could beat Minnesota or Memphis even with Drew in the line up.Make no mistake Kobe is the most valuable player on the Lakers but he needs someone who can post up and score and play defense on a consistant basis. Drew was filling that need quite nicely.