HORNETS -at- LAKERS - 4/26 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

The Hammer... "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."

The words popped into your head as you took in the scene around you. A massive crater. Smoke and debris everywhere. Bugs raining to the ground like jellybeans dropping from the sky. It was the Son of Jellybean who dropped from the night and threw down the hammer.

It was unexpected. Explosive. And it ignited the Horsemen, their Death Riders and the city they defend. As three bells chimed in victory, you look over the crater where he landed. In it a message from DancingBarry:

"The Four Horsemen were here. Behind Death, they got busy. They pounded their foe into submission with a well-balanced, physical attack. It will take a similar effort to close this battle out.

I will continue to track them..."


That wasn't a quake hitting downtown L.A. There was no miniature mushroom cloud. The noise you heard was Kobe Bryant, bum wheel and all, and the city's reaction. Staples exploded behind a massive throwdown by Kobe over Emeka Okafor in the second quarter.

"It looked like he was going to challenge me at the rim. I accepted the challenge," Kobe said.

This would be the last time the Hornets had the lead in the game. Kobe would tie the score on the next possession and the Hornets trailed the rest of the night in the Lakers 106-90 victory.

"It got the crowd going," Phil said. "It seemed to spark him ... I think that was a big statement."

With Kobe's ankles loosening up from the ankle injury ("I didn't see him limp one time, did you?" Chris Paul said afterward), the Lakers pushed back with a much-needed physical effort.

They turned the tables in the second-chance points, winning that stat 22-2 and the offensive boards 15-3.

"They were beating us at 50-50 balls back in New Orleans," said Andrew Bynum, who had 18 points and 10 boards. "That's a conscious effort on part and focus to try to get those balls tonight and we did."

The Laker bench dug the team out of a hole in the first half and extended the Lakers lead in the first five minutes of the fourth. Six Lakers would score in double digits.

"At some point you have to learn to make a playoff foul," said Hornets coach Monty Williams. He said his players were picking themselves up off the floor, the Lakers weren't. He thought his team also settled for too many jumpers instead of attacking the basket.

Look for a chippy game as the Lakers try to close out the Hornets in New Orleans.


Kobe -- -- BOOM! That was Kobe Bryant posterizing Okafor in the first half after leaping from the middle of the paint. No. 24 is in the house and you are going to have to go through his dead body to take out the Lakers. His finishing over the secondary defenders tonight was eye-popping. It has really been that help D that has mucked things up for him. Ariza can deny the jumper with his length and athleticism, then they can help Kobe on the drive behind him. Without that behind Ariza, he couldn't play the same way and sit on Kobe's shots. Tonight, Kobe ignited the Lakers with that monster slam in the first half over Okafor. That was something out of his highlight reel from years ago. Ankle hurt? Whatever. That was nasty. Truth is, it's probably that side to side stuff that hurts more. The up and down, straight drive stuff goes easier on his wheel. You can debate whether the more controlled game from Kobe helped the team, but that really hasn't been the M.O. for the Hornets victories. Guys just stepped up. Phil said, if anything, the injury allowed the team as a whole to play more purposeful to fill the void. Defensively, Ariza was able to get off to another 16-point first half. Some weak D by Kobe, but you also need to credit Trevor with elevating his game in the post season. The Stats: He scored 19 points on 8-13 shooting (0-1 from three, 3-4 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 4 assists, 1 steal, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls in 29 minutes. He was a +9. The Action: Ariza scored a layup and a three on no challenge from Kobe to open the game. He was hit on a turnaround jumper over a double team, he made one FT. Back in, he let a man fly by, moved in closer and hit the jumper. He was way short on a baseline pull-up jumper. He threw a pass away trying to hit Pau cutting. He lost his man on a behind-the-back dribble and hit the pull-up jumper. He bricked a three straight away (it hit backboard first). He missed a wing jumper. After getting ticked about an And-1 foul he gave to Ariza in transition, he took a pass in the lane, rose up and hammered down a monster dunk over Okafor (he took off from the middle of the lane...looked like an And-1, too). He attacked next time down, spun, took all kinds of contact but still banked without the call. He attacked and swished a runner going to his right. He missed a long wing jumper. He blew past Ariza and the help D to score a layup. He had 13 points on 6-10 shooting. Ariza had 16 points. Second Half: He attacked off the high screen, elevated and hammered down a lefty dunk past the help D (two in one game?!!). He missed another baseline turnaround. He threw a pass away on the other end when Pau was wide open. Slow close on Belinelli to give up a three. His lob pass hit the rim, three the other way for the Hornets. He probed the lane, spun and hit while going down. He jump passed to Lamar for a score at the rim. He had 4 points on 2-3 shooting. He tip-toed the baseline and drew FTs, he made both.

Gasol -- -- Pau was more aggressive in his offensive game today. He wasn't falling away from contact, but was attacking. When Landry would get something on him on one end, he often went back at him on the other end. They push, he pushed back. We saw Pau attack from the elbow to get to the rim, probably the first time he's done that all series, I believe. That was a play he was really working nicely before the playoffs started and it just disappeared. The next game, like the others, is going to swing on how well our bigs can impose their game on the Hornet bigs and vice versa. "At this point we have to all step up and play whether Kobe's limited or not," Pau said. The Stats: He scored 16 points on 6-12 shooting (4-5 from the line) to go with 8 boards, 4 assists, 3 blocks, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 38 minutes. He was a +12. The Action: After Bynum got the first touch, he got the second and scored on a turnaround jumper (not falling away, more aggressive). He missed a face-up wing jumper with the shotclock low. He threw a pass away, turnover, on the perimeter. He let Landry get past him for a couple easy scores. He attacked aggressively from the elbow for a layup on the other end. He drew a charge on Ariza on help D. He attacked and kicked to Bynum for a jumper. He lost the ball for a layup the other way. He missed a lefty jumphook. He missed a FT jumper. He bricked a jumphook across the lane badly. He challenged a shot then leaked out for a layup on the outlet. He deflected an inbounds pass. He drew FTs after grabbing a loose ball and attacking. His layup was goaltended. Nice challenge on Ariza's drive. He had 9 points on 4-8 shooting, 3 boards and 4 assists. Second Half: He pushed Landry from behind after getting beat again to give up FTs. He hit a turnaround on Landry on the other end, going back at him. He blocked Landry from behind. He blocked Belinelli's jumper. He iso'd on Okafor and hit an And-1 jumphook, getting undercut on the make (he was pumped off that one), he made the FT. He missed a tough turnaround. He had 5 points and 3 boards in the third. He missed a wing jumper. He was fouled in the post and made both FTs. He was hit with no call trying to iso.

Bynum -- -- Drew said the Lakers would win this game and they did. The key was those second-chance points. They lost that battle in New Orleans. They destroyed the Hornets tonight. The Lakers also outscored them by 12 on points in the paint. This is how we kill teams. If we don't have our guys imposing their game on those missed shots and using our size, we let them off the hook. Drew knows that and probably sensed that his fellow bigs were going to get after it tonight. When Drew sat down in the fourth, he led the team in both points and boards. He's going to have to man the paint strong to close out the Hornets. The Stats: He scored 18 points on 6-11 shooting (6-7 from the line) to go with 10 boards (5 offensive), 2 assists, 2 blocks, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls in 29 minutes. He was a +7. The Action: First possession, he went at it, missed a layup, got it back and scored easily. He missed a tip on an Artest miss. He sank a catch-and-shoot baseline jumper. He was stripped by Paul after grabbing an offensive board. He didn't hit rim on a bank in the paint. He cleaned up a missed jumper by Pau. Nice position, Fish found him and he was instantly hacked, he made both FTs. He missed a long turnaround, not close enough on the post position (got to be in about 5 feet closer). He erased a Paul layup attempt with a block and it led to a Fish layup. He slammed off the drive and dish from Fish. He had 10 points on 4-8 shooting and 5 boards (4 offensive). Second Half: Nice help on Landry to get a stop. He was hit trying to go up with no call, we retained possession and he hit a short jumper in the lane to beat the shotclock. He swatted Okafor's jumphook. He drew FTs on a backdoor lob to start the fourth (nice to see us change that up), he made one. He took contact off a Blake pass and hit the And-1, he made the FT. He was held after grabbing a loose ball in the paint, he made both FTs. He was called for an offensive foul on a power spin (led a little with the elbow).

Artest -- -- Before the game while I was eating dinner with the family, I was able to use Ron Artest as an example of something "right" for my children. One of them had a rough last couple of days at school and has always had a few obstacles to overcome. (Who hasn't?) Ron Artest managed to make his way into the conversation. I don't believe in "hero worship" with athletes. They can be brilliant at their craft and that is to be admired. But like anyone, they can be flawed with various problems, personal demons, bad decisions, etc. But it is ultimately up to them to overcome those. Ron has come a long way from the "bad boy" of the NBA to being awarded with the NBA's citizen of the year before this game. Well done, sir. You can learn a lot from this sport and its participants that transcends the game if you pay attention. Props to Ron, those who voted for him and for the Lakers organization. It's not surprising that something like this happens under the Lakers watch. As for the game, he put together a decent two-way effort. Belinelli only started to get going when Ron was off of him. As much as we talk about Kobe's bad wheel not being a factor, his D wasn't stopping anyone. Lakers are suffering from getting that two-way play from Kobe and Pau. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 4-8 shooting (1-3 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 2 assists, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 33 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: He missed a bank in the lane. He attacked and kicked out to Fish for a three. He sank an open wing three on a pass from Kobe. He was blocked forcing up a shot against a double team when Bynum's man came over. He drew an off-ball foul on his man trying to get an offensive board. He kept a Kobe miss alive and Pau scored a layup off it. He grabbed another Kobe miss, this one led to a Fish drive and dunk for Drew. Second Half: He sank a wing jumper off the high screen with the shotclock low. He attacked from the high post and scored a layup around Belinelli. He worked across the lane and hit a tough turnaround. He missed a three that looked set up for him out of a timeout (interesting). He knocked a ball off Ariza. He gave up back-to-back threes to Ariza. He posted up Belinelli and was fouled on the post entry pass, he made both FTs. He shed Belinelli for an offensive foul under the hoop on the next possession. He stripped Paul and it led to a turnover. He missed a long three at the end of the game.

Fisher -- -- You saw the Lakers make a much more focused effort at not leaving their bigmen out on an island against Paul. DFish even got yelled at by some on his team to move it and recover. He has to get back on his man. When the screen comes, recover quick. Don't hesitate. It's like the difference between a yo-yo that snaps back into the hand versus one that spins at the bottom of the string until it dies. Snap back to Paul and let your big get back to his man. Offensively, he played a great game. He was efficient, hit his shots, and good things happened when he got in the paint. Unfortunately, the Hornets shot 81 percent in the first quarter before the second unit came in and established the D. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 5-6 shooting (2-3 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 34 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: He sank a three on a kickout from Ron. He blocked Paul's jumper on help D. He sank a long sideline jumper on a kickout. He found Bynum in the paint for FTs. He scored a layup busting out off the Bynum block. He missed a wide open three. He attacked off the three line, drew the D and hit Bynum for the dunk (more please). He attacked again next time down, no one came to him this time and he took it all the way for the layup. He had 9 points on 4-5 shooting. Second Half: He sank a long three with the shotclock low to open the half. He was fouled trying to outlet to Shannon in transition, he made one FT. He threw a bounce pass away in the paint trying to find Pau.

Lamar -- -- He scored 11 of his points in the second half. The Lakers outscored the Hornet bench 29-14. Good D, offensive production...they turned things around with a strong second quarter and extended the lead to open the fourth. Last game, that second unit lost the game in those first few minutes of the fourth. They dominated it tonight. Lamar had a good mix to his game. He hit some jumpers, got in the paint, pushed up the break off the rebounds. Though he wasn't efficient, he was playing his game. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 4-12 shooting (1-4 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 29 minutes. He was a +13. The Action: He missed a jumphook, but got the ball back with some pressure D in the backcourt, before giving it up with an offensive foul. He was short on another jumphook. He hit Pau leaking out for a layup. He flashed to the ball, took the pass and scored the layup in traffic. He missed a wing jumper. He had 2 points on 1-4 shooting and 4 boards. Second Half: He missed an open wing three in early offense. He was hit on a throwdown attempt with no call, should have been an And-1. He choked a point blank jumphook. He missed a turnaround on iso. He drew an off-ball foul on Landry in transition on the other end. He drew FTs in the paint when he had a little man on him, he made both. He hit Barnes pushing up the break for FTs. After Barnes got an offensive board and reset the offense, Lamar hoisted up an early offense 20-footer but hit it. He missed a three next time down. He missed an open wing three (Phil not happy with LO going for a kill with 7:22 left). He took a Kobe pass on the baseline and drew FTs at the front of the rim, he made both. Lamar had a get-that-out-of-here rejection on Ariza's probe in the paint. He swished a step-back corner three.

Blake -- -- The most telling stat in his boxscore is the team-high +14. The bench guards played some strong D against Paul and Jack and the team thrived as a result. Despite Fish's offensive performance, the Lakers got some better D at the point of attack against the Hornets. Ultimately, that will make a bigger impact. As mentioned above, the Lakers did a better job of not leaving their bigs on an islaned. You also saw Blake help his bigs when they had to challenge a jumper off the screen. After Drew challenged a jumper on one screen to help Blake, Blake crashed the glass to get the miss. It's so important to team rebound when your bigman is out on the perimeter. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-1 shooting from three to go with 3 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal and 2 fouls in 15 minutes. He was a +14. The Action: He hit Shannon for an open three. Perfect outlet to Barnes in stride and over a defender on a leak out and Barnes scored a layup (after missing the first one). He drew a charge on Jack's drive to get a stop. He missed a sideline three. He was a +7 in the half. Second Half: He hit Bynum in the lane for an And-1. Tight D on Jack and he carried the ball trying to change directions. Huge three from the corner off the cross-court feed from Bynum.

Barnes -- -- We saw the Killer B's instead of Honey B's on the floor tonight. Great to see Barnes getting in on the offensive glass. Our SFs really applied the pressure in those situations and that led to a number of second chances. The Lakers needed hustle plays and second chances. Bynum and Barnes combined for 9 of the team's 15 offensive boards. Phil sat Artest at one point in the second half for Barnes so that he could D-up on Ariza better. Ariza didn't score again the rest of the game. (Artest actually did a decent job until he sagged off too far on a couple of threes). The Stats: He scored 5 points on 1-4 shooting (0-1 from three, 3-4 from the line) to go with 4 offensive boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 15 minutes. He was a +14. The Action: Poor post entry pass, deflected for a turnover. Great effort to slap down an offensive board from a Hornet, it led to a Shannon three. He leaked out, took an outlet missed, but quickly bounced up and put it back in. Second Half: Great job catching up to Lamar on the break to fill the lane and he drew FTs on the pass, he made both. He stripped Paul, then charged on the break (had Lamar open). He grabbed a Shannon miss and reset the offense. Another offensive board, he was blocked but it led to Bynum FTs. He attacked off the high screen and drew FTs, he made both.

Brown -- -- Shannon said last time Kobe dunked like that he had an afro. "Yeah, and he was like two," Kobe said. Although Shannon didn't shoot efficiently, he had decent shot selection. There was one heatcheck, but he had just hit a couple threes in a row. There as also an early offense wing jumper miss when we needed to run clock. Overall, however, we played to our strengths when he was on the floor. He didn't pound the dribble trying to create for himself. That makes a big difference. Defensively, another strong outing. He and Blake blanketed Jack to keep him to 1 point. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 2-8 shooting (2-5 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards and 1 foul in 19 minutes. He was a +7. The Action: He missed a jumper from the top of the key when left alone. He got caught in the air and gave up FTs to Jack with 0.4 left in the quarter. He drained a wing three on a pass from Blake. He swished a three from the top of the key. He missed a heatcheck corner three in early offense on the next possession (give him a pass on that one). Second Half: He swung an elbow at Green off ball when the two got tangled up after a play (that resulted in a tech FT the Lakers didn't need to give up). He missed a three on the other end. Great effort to pull down a missed Fish FT. He got tapped on a jumper in the lane. He missed a three with the shotclock low. Early offense miss on a wing jumper, really one of his poorer ideas considering we just need to run clock. He was purposely fouled and made both FTs.

Phil -- -- Kurt Rambis, the architect of the Lakers D last year, on the Lakers problems: "They've done things wrong systematically in their defense and that's what caused them the problem. They've got to get back to doing things right at that end of the floor if they expect to win the series." I don't believe he's saying the system is the flaw (he could be), but I think he's saying it's more of how the players are executing it... BShaw said the problem is getting out-worked... Both teams played even for the first 9 minutes. Kobe wasn't a factor offensively... He brought in Lamar for Pau at that timeout... Phil sat Kobe for Shannon, then Artest for Barnes with 2 minutes left down by 6... He finally brought in Blake for Fisher with 1:30 left down by 6 (Hornets shooting 80 percent)... The Lakers trailed 32-23 at the end of the first quarter. The Hornets shot 81 percent... Phil started a Pau, Lamar, Barnes, Brown, Blake lineup... An 8-0 run from the second unit (Shannon hitting two threes) and they cut the lead to 1, forcing a Hornet timeout... Up By 1, Phil brought back Kobe for Shannon... He sat Blake for Fish and Barnes for Artest with 6 minutes left and even. Blake was playing great. Lakers could use his D... He sat Pau for Lamar with 2 minutes left all tied up... The Lakers won the second quarter 31-19... The Lakers led 54-51 at the half. They shot 51 pecent (23-45 from the floor, 4-8 from three, 4-6 from the line). The Hornets shot 60.6 percent (20-33, 5-8 from three, 6-7 from the line). The Lakers had a 9-0 advantage on the offensive glass and a 14-0 advantage on second-chance points... They extended out to a 10-point lead. Phil had Ron on Ariza and Kobe on Belinelli. Ariza stopped scoring, Belinelli started... Phil sat Drew for Lamar up by 7. They missed back-to-back threes out of that timeout... Phil sat Kobe for Shannon. Another timeout, Lakers up by 11... Up 6, Phil sat Ron for Barnes after Ariza hit back-to-back threes without a good challenge... Both teams had 2 offensive boards in the third... The Lakers led 79-72 heading into the fourth... Phil ran a Bynum, Lamar, Barnes, Brown, Blake unit. The Hornets had Paul and Jack in... Despite that, they extended the lead to 11 after 2 minutes before Paul sat... They were up by 15 when Paul returned with 7:22 left... Phil brought in Kobe for Brown and Fisher for Blake with 6 minutes left up by 15. Blake again played great. Pau came in for Bynum... Lakers put the Hornets in the FT grinder in the fourth, getting to the line in the paint again and again... With 3 minutes left up big, Phil sat Kobe for Shannon... The Hornets had 19 turnovers which the Lakers scored 16 points on. The Hornets did better, scoring 24 points off the Lakers 16 turnovers... The Lakers out-rebounded the Hornets 42-25 (15-3 on the offensive glass)...

[lounger]

We're back on track!

Thanks DB!

[mhan00]

great win.

[ctb619]

Okay, now I can go to sleep. Thanks DB
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[LakerEric]

the shot distribution is what I personally love to see!! 6 players with at least 8 shot attempts! The dominance on the boards and the defensive intensity was fantastic! Kobe looked like he was in his early 20s! He can still go to the hole as well as he did back in the day. I just don't understand why he doesn't get calls when he gets butchered and gets calls when they barely breathe on him. That is what everyone sees but everyone ignores the constant butchering...saying "kobe keeps whining"...WTH? NBA refs are just so aggravating! Despite that, Great game by the Lakers!!!!! Let's absorb the refs in the Big Easy and take this series in 6 games!!!! WIN LAKERS!
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Do you believe it now, Trinity? - Morpheous

[mandywwm]

one more game, let do it, we need to give KOBE REST!!let do this for KOBE!!LAKERS!

[heatseeker08]

Thanks DB.

Best game by far.
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Ron Artest: "SAY QUEENSBRIDGE"

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks DB.

[prisma8slg]

Thanks DB.

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks DB! Huge win.

[Arbitrary]

[limchrc]

Good win. Thanks.

[RVCdesigns]

Thanks DB, my brother is in boot camp and has no way of knowing who won so I send him your recaps to him and he enjoys them, thanks.

[DancingBarry]

[datiger24]

Thx en

[datiger24]

Thx db

[RVCdesigns]

Great close out game, thanks DB.

[MedRomLaker]

thx db
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11/9/12 the day the brown was flushed down!!!!!!

4/30/14 the day the ant left the building!!!!!!

[Saikobe24]

breakfast is over now time for lunch