Lakers in the News 06/07/10 Noon update: Bynum's performance is a bright spot in Lakers' Game 2 loss

[Cha*n]

I couldn't get on LG till now, 10 after midnight. I was happy about that as I was furious with my Lakers. I have calmed and feel just deep disappointemt now. Okay, enough, here goes....

Artest's help sometimes hurts

Still finding his role in the offense, the Lakers newcomer lacks a little savvyEmail Print Comments By Ramona Shelburne
ESPNLosAngeles.com

It's hard to say exactly where Ron Artest was going or what he was doing, except that he wasn't going where he should have or doing what the Lakers needed.

Later, Phil Jackson would enjoy a laugh at his expense.

It would be a fair assessment to say Ron Artest has a rough night.
"It's one of the more unusual sequences I've ever witnessed," Jackson joked.


But really, later, after the Celtics had stolen home court advantage away from the Lakers in a 103-94 win Sunday at Staples Center, laughter was probably the only safe way of processing Artest's mind-boggling play in the final minute of the game.

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Lakers' Lamar Odom struggling in NBA Finals

The Lakers' sixth man gets three fouls within 53 seconds during the first quarter in a 103-94 loss to Boston in the NBA Finals. Odom finishes with three points and five fouls.

By Mike Bresnahan

June 6, 2010 | 10:58 p.m.

These have been forgettable games for Lamar Odom, a sixth man gone asunder in the most important series of the season.

The Lakers aren't playing Phoenix any longer, as Odom could definitely attest, the 14 points and 11.8 rebounds he averaged in the Western Conference finals apparently a thing of the past now that the Lakers are playing Boston in the NBA Finals.

Odom had a five-point, five-foul debacle in Game 1 that somehow got worse Sunday in Game 2, when he finished with three points and five fouls in the Lakers' 103-94 loss.

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BILL PLASCHKE
He makes the call . . . Lakers blew this one

Yes, the officiating was bad, but the Lakers lost Game 2 to the Celtics with their casual attitude and lack of defense.
By Bill Plaschke

June 6, 2010 | 11:53 p.m.

You were booing the wrong guys.

The jeers and catcalls that rained down upon the three referees at the Staples Center on Sunday night were as misguided as a certain wacko's jump shot.

You should have been booing the Lakers.

Don't blame the whistles when the Lakers casually showed up whistling. Don't blame the zebras when the Lakers played defense like pigs.

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Lakers forward Ron Artest is shaky on offense

He plays well on defense but fouls out with only six points in Game 2 of the NBA Finals.

By Broderick Turner

June 6, 2010 | 11:24 p.m.
E-mail Print Share Text Size la-sp--lakers-sider-20100607

Ron Artest had the ball on one side of the basketball court, a look of confusion on his face, his teammates looking at him, all of them looking frozen.

Artest deliberately began to dribble the basketball, his 6-7, 260-pound body pounding the ball from one side of the court all the way to the other side, almost 10 seconds passing with Artest still dribbling, the play resembling no part of the triangle offense.

It was, as Lakers Coach Phil Jackson described it, "one of the more unusual sequences," a play that defined the kind of uneven performance the Lakers received from Artest in Game 2 of the NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics on Sunday at Staples Center.

His defense against Paul Pierce again was stupendous, but it was Artest's offense and decision-making that was so sporadic in the Lakers' 103-94 loss to the Celtics that evened the series at 1-1.

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Lakers in danger of repeating history

By Rick Fox

Editor's note: Rick Fox offers a unique view of the latest NBA Finals showdown between the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics, having worn the uniforms of both teams. He was a Celtic from 1991 to '97 and a Laker from 1998 to 2004, winning three championships in purple and gold.


Heading into Game 2 of the NBA Finals, could the Lakers maintain the dominance in the paint against the Celtics they had established in Game 1? Would Paul Gasol continue to bury the image of his ineffectiveness left over from the 2008 NBA Finals? Would Kevin Garnett continue to struggle as he had in Game 1?

A look at the box score of Game 2 would certainly seem to indicate each of those questions is deserving of a resounding yes.

One category in particular, blocked shots, highlights that Laker dominance. They had 14 blocks, tying the all-time franchise playoff record. Gasol (six blocks) and Andrew Bynum (seven) had personal playoff highs.

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Allen and Rondo Lead Celtics Past Lakers

By HOWARD BECK
Published: June 6, 2010

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press
The Celtics’ defense collapsed on Lakers center Andrew Bynum in the first half. Bynum still managed 21 points.
The Celtics had a 5-point lead, and the Los Angeles Lakers were on their heels, when Rivers rushed onto the court with 86 seconds to play, his eyes wide and his arms flailing, a blur of excitement and urgency. He got his timeout — avoiding a backcourt violation — and the Celtics kept charging to a 103-94 victory Sunday night, tying the finals at 1-1.

“You know, I’m glad they saw me,” a calmer, sheepish Rivers said later, referring to the officials. “I don’t think they had a choice but to see me.”

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Aggressive Rondo keeps Lakers on their heels

By Frank Dell’Apa
Globe Staff / June 7, 2010
E-mail this article To: Invalid E-mail address Add a personal message:(80 character limit) Your E-mail: Invalid E-mail address
Sending your articleYour article has been sent. E-mail| Print| Reprints| Yahoo! Buzz| ShareThisText size – + LOS ANGELES — Rajon Rondo started getting on his triple-double kick in the playoffs last year, piling up numbers in losing causes. That streak helped Rondo in contract negotiations a few months later, though Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge had to talk Rondo down to $11.5 million per year. It was an investment that has paid off this season, and Rondo confirmed it with his performance last night.

Rondo had 19 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists — and this time the triple-double meant something — as the Celtics took a 103-94 victory over the Lakers, evening the best-of-seven NBA Finals at 1-1.

And, Ainge again had a role in guiding Rondo.

“DA — Danny Ainge — told me before the game, try to get a lot of [field goal attempts] up,’’ Rondo said, “and I did — I didn’t shoot extremely well but I was being aggressive. And, if we lose the game, I want to go out being aggressive, I don’t want to hold anything back.’’

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Celtics inflict rare home defeat on Lakers to draw level in NBA finals

June 7, 2010 -- Updated 1317 GMT (2117 HKT)

(CNN) -- Defending champions the L.A. Lakers are hoping to bounce back in the third game of the NBA finals series after suffering a first home defeat since the end of last season, losing 103-94 to the Boston Celtics on Sunday night.

"No doubt it's a blow to lose the home-court, but we anticipated this might happen," L.A. coach Phil Jackson told the Lakers' official Web site after the Celtics leveled the best-of-seven series at 1-1. "We're just going to have to go pick it up."

The Lakers recorded an impressive home victory in the first game on Thursday night, but the Californians could not follow that up as they lost at home for the first time since last season's Western Conference playoff finals.

The next three matches of the series will take place in Boston, with the East Coast team hoping to use their advantage to reclaim the title they last won back in 2008

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Celtics' Rondo is too much for Lakers

By MARK WHICKER
COLUMNIST
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Article Photos Videos LOS ANGELES – When Oscar Robertson was 23 years old he averaged 30.8 points, 11.4 assists and 12.5 rebounds for the Cincinnati Royals. That was in 1961-62.

Not for another generation did people begin discussing the "triple-double" as a distinguishing characteristic.

Since then, players such as Jason Kidd have turned the triple-double into a monogram, even though 11 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists is sometimes an artificial feat by a player who always possesses the ball.

Rajon Rondo had 18 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists in Boston's 103-94 Game 2 victory Sunday, the Lakers' second home playoff loss in eight series, and possibly a Finals-changing development, considering that the Celtics and Lakers are tied 1-1 with Games 3-4-5 in Boston.

Those who saw what he did to the Lakers must realize the helplessness of numbers, and the power of Rondo.

Derek Fisher uncoils for the customary 3-pointer to the solar plexus, and Rondo does what you never see anyone do. He sneaks in from behind and blocks it

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Panic-stricken Lakers deserved to lose
By KEVIN DING
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

So often it’s two steps forward and one step back with them. Incapable of focus for the sake of focus. Complacency setting in at the first possible juncture.

True, they weren’t as ready to play Game 2 as the Boston Celtics. Yet what lost this game for the Lakers was a lack of poise, which hasn’t often been their problem. In place of that poise was odd panic, which Boston seized upon to tie the NBA Finals.

Highlights of Game 2.

It’s why Derek Fisher, even as he personally tapped the DVD he was taking home to study in some nervous habit as he spoke to reporters, said the Lakers just need to relax.

“Be who we are,” Fisher said after the loss.

Fisher said the Lakers must not question themselves after this failure. He wants the team to take its 9 a.m. Monday flight to Boston and arrive there with “chin up, chest out.”

He’s right.

The Lakers need their swag back, because they sure didn’t have much of it Sunday night.

“We didn’t do our job,” Phil Jackson said. “They did.”

Just as the Celtics all seemed to be trying to do just a little too much individually in Game 1, the Lakers re-enacted that in Game 2.

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Celtics' Ray Allen sets record for three-pointers

He makes eight in Game 2 against the Lakers, including seven in a row midway through the first half.

By Baxter Holmes

June 7, 2010

"Incredible," Celtics center Kendrick Perkins said.

"Unbelievable," forward Paul Pierce said.

"The best shooter in NBA history," guard Nate Robinson said.

And, simply put by forward Kevin Garnett: "Ray, Ray, Ray — Ray was huge for us tonight."

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Ray Allen, with his sugar-sweet shooting touch, set an NBA Finals record with eight three-point field goals in his team's 103-94 win Sunday over the Lakers in Game 2 of the NBA Finals.

He finished eight for 11 from the beyond the arc, besting the record set by Houston's Kenny Smith (1995), Chicago's Scottie Pippen (1997) and Allen himself (2008).

[VALakerFan80]

Odom and Artest need to hit the freaking gym and work of their jumpshot! All NY players for some reason can't shoot!

[Rodman28]

Thanx.
_________________
*On Thin Ice*

I guess I am kind of injury prone.- Andrew Bynum

These young guys are playing checkers. I'm out there playing chess.- Kobe Bryant

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Andrew Bynum's performance is a bright spot in Lakers' Game 2 loss

After a little drainage and some time to rest his ailing knee, the Lakers center ties his career playoff high with 21 points in 39 minutes against Boston on Sunday.

By Lisa Dillman

June 7, 2010 | 9:37 a.m.

Wounded knee, you say? What wounded knee?

One of the most unexpected developments for the Lakers in Game 2 of the NBA Finals was coaxing 39 minutes out of center Andrew Bynum and his ailing right knee on Sunday night at Staples Center.

Pleasant development No. 2: Bynum equaled his career-playoff high of 21 points in the loss to the Celtics, adding six rebounds and seven blocked shots.

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Doug Mann's Lakers Stats
Prior to the start of Game 2 of the NBA Finals on Sunday night at STAPLES Center, the NBA paid tribute to legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden, who passed away on Friday night at the age of 99, four months shy of his 100th birthday. Two players who Coach Wooden regarded as the greatest who ever played for him, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (known during his career at UCLA as Lew Alcindor) and Bill Walton spoke eloquently of the man who was selected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as both a player and a coach. John Wooden was a man who stressed the importance of the fundamentals of the game.

It would have been interesting to get the late coach's thoughts on the game that followed, a 103-94 victory by the Boston Celtics over the defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers. The Celtics were able to seize the home court advantage from the Lakers in knotting the series at 1-1. It was the Lakers first loss on their home court during this post-season (now 9-1).