| 12 January 2012
A lot of criticisms have been thrown at the Lakers (8-4) when it comes to their effort in the 2nd half of a road game, particularly their decision-making in crunch time and their defense. But for one night, at least, the purple and gold did something about rectifiying their shortcomings resulting in their first road win of the season in overtime against a Utah Jazz (6-4) team that was previously undefeated at home.
The supposedly decrepit Kobe Bryant put up another 40-point performance in front of a "pretty nasty" crowd (as he put it after the game) that always lights a fire under him whenever he visits Salt Lake City. Much emphasis were put on how well the Jazz have been playing of late having won 5 straight games and how their level of intensity goes way up in their own building. Well, all of that are just motivation for Kobe. And having his ol' pal Raja Bell try a futile attempt at having Bryant react to his verbal endearments halfway through the opening quarter didn't help the Jazz much, either.
Bryant scored 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting in the 1st half before he could even thank Raja for the boost of confidence. But Kobe was the only Laker who came to play in the first 24 minutes of the game. The rest of the team just scored 20 points on 10-of-27 shooting combined.
Mike Brown keeps pointing out to his bigs each and every game that they need to be more aggressive and need to tell their teammates to give them the ball often, but especially against a team that lacks the size and length to match up with them. Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum combined for 21 shot attempts against Phoenix the previous night and 27 attempts versus Utah. Not a good sign in terms of Brown's vision with this offense.
Eventhough the team has a future Hall of Famer in Bryant, the Lakers are still the most dangerous team in the post with Gasol and Bynum. No one should have to tell them how invaluable it is to even have one legit post presence in the playoffs and to win a title in the NBA. They should all know that by now. Yet, both Pau and Andrew continue to defer to Kobe from the start of the game up until they feel the urgency of the situation that they have to contribute to help the team win. That kind of mentality will not bode well for the Lakers in the playoffs and in their hopes of becoming a team that needs to play more as a team.
But these two eventually stepped it up against the Jazz and in a big way down the stretch. Gasol earned a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Although, I must say that his clutch 3-pointer in overtime was the biggest shot for the Lakers the entire game as they never looked back after that. As for Bynum, he put in a mild 12-point and 9-board outing, but his 5 blocks, including his rejection of Al Jefferson's layup attempt with only 3.2 seconds in OT, were key to this Laker victory.
Matt Barnes continue to be an important cog for the Lakers this season. He scored 11 points by making all but one of his 6 attempts and grabbed 7 rebounds in-between. Matt may have allowed Josh Howard tie the ballgame at 76 with less than a minute in the 4th quarter, but his overall contributions, on record or not, eclipse that defensive breakdown.
After a promising start where he scored in double figures 3 times, Metta World Peace is averaging just 2.2 points the last 5 games. He had just 2 points against Utah. Defensively, he also doesn't have that push that we normally see from him. He just looks lost most of the time out there.
At this point, I think Metta is still trying to get used to Brown's rotation pattern. Unlike Phil, substitution for Mike isn't based on certain times of the game but rather the contribution and energy factor of each player on the floor. For someone who's always been a starter, it's still difficult for Peace to have the mentality and preparation of a bench player or even a 6th man. Then again, Metta had a similar pattern the past 2 seasons but he got it going in the playoffs. Not saying the same thing will happen this year, but it's hard to predict right now how the rest of the season goes for him.
The win didn't come without a collateral damage. Steve Blake went down in the 3rd quarter with rib contusion and is reported on having X-ray done on Thursday. No official word yet on his availabilty for Friday or the severity of his injury.
The Jazz were lead by Paul Milsap and Howard. Milsap played extremely well against Gasol with 29 points and 9 boards. He showed how well he's improved his outside game by posting a 58% effort from outside the paint. But if Pau had challenged his shots better or made him give the ball up often, I doubt he could've scored near the 20s.
Howard ended the game with 18 points on 6-of-14 shooting, including 2 big treys. One to tie the game in the final quarter that helped them send the game in overtime and the other is to give his team an 84-82 lead in the extra 5 minutes of play.
After having his biggest game of the season against Cleveland with 30 points and 12 rebounds, Jefferson was held to 11 points and 11 boards thanks to Bynum. He did have a monster block on Kobe that would've put the Lakers up 71-69 midway through the 4th quarter. Other than that, he wasn't much of a factor.
Overall, the Lakers grinded out another W, albeit against a smaller team. But they showed that familiar grit when the game is on the line and executed well in overtime as a team.
However, Kobe shouldn't have to carry the Lakers on his shoulders often like what they're doing now if Pau and Andrew would help out often and early. But on the flip side of that, these Lakers have always relied on what Kobe does on the floor one way or another more times than not. That's one of the biggest challenges for Brown right now. How can he get this team to rely less on Bryant?
I guess that's an answer that we'll have to wait until later in the season.
Player of the Game
Kobe Bryant: He scored his 108th 40 or more game and kept the Lakers on the hunt the entire game. All on a bad shooting wrist!
Head-To-Head Stats
LAKERS: 42.7% (35-82) FG | 44.4% (4-9) 3-pt. FG | 84.2% (16-19) FTs | 46 Rebs. | 17 Asts. | 5 Stls. | 6 Blks. | 17 TOs | 38 Pts. in Paint | 11 FB Pts. | Biggest Lead: 6 pts.
JAZZ: 38.7% (36-93) FG | 28.6% (4-14) 3-pt. FG | 68.8% (11-16 FTs | 46 Rebs. | 22 Asts. | 7 Stls. | 4 Blks. | 11 TOs | 40 Pts. in Paint | 13 FB Pts. | Biggest Lead: 6 pts.
Next Game
vs. Cleveland Cavaliers
When: Friday, Jan. 13th at 7:30 p.m.
Where: Staples Center
TV: FoxSports, NBALP
Radio: 710/1330 AM ESPN
Tickets:
Game Highlights (by LakersHighlights)
