CAVS -at- LAKERS - 1-15-15 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

The 17 Assist Game… It’s been an up and down process for Kobe trying to reinvent his game. Even though the Lakers lost 109-102, this was an “up” game for Kobe.

The Cavs sent help on Kobe early and often, trapping on the two-man game and doubling the posts, so Kobe promptly picked them apart with 8 assists in the first quarter. He had 15 assists after three quarters.

Both teams traded punches for those first three quarters until the Cavs with LeBron and Love and mostly LeBron took it to the Lakers second unit. The Cavs won the first few minutes of the fourth quarter, and the Lakers were in trouble.

Kobe returned to the floor and go the Lakers within striking distance. He just needed one or two more made shots from teammates to dig them out of the hole. It didn’t happen.

The Mamba finished with a career high 17 assists.

“When it comes to assists, it’s really the other guys that wind up making you look good,” Kobe said.

Fun game to watch. Kobe and LeBron seemed to have a good time playing against each other with their respective struggling ball clubs.

“You saw just two great players going at it,” Scott said.


Kobe -- -- Wow. A very smooth 19-point, 17-assist, 6-rebound game from Kobe. Just beautiful ball. The Cavs were sending doubles to him off the two-man game and post-ups early on, so Kobe picked them apart with the passes. He had 8 assists in the first quarter and then 10 by halftime (first time in his career he’s had double digit assists in the first half). A lot of conversation between him and LeBron on the sideline and on court, apparently about being old. “He called me old and for the first time I kind of looked at him and said, ‘okay, you got a point there,’” LeBron said. The Cavs put LeBron on Kobe defensively to start the second half. Kobe took him to the post and worked off screens to continue setting the table for teammates. He had another 5 assists in the third. After a rest in the fourth, he came in and mixed both scoring and passing to try to orchestrate a comeback. You could tell, he was still in Mamba passing mode and the shot selection was excellent. Big credit to JHill tonight who scored a ton of Kobe passes with that jumper. That was key to keeping the floor spaced and Kobe’s new career high in assists. He made the game fun to watch tonight. Kobe said he gets to appreciate the competition more as his career is winding down. He said he wished he had that Magic-Bird thing where he and LeBron went at it in the Finals as rivals, but it hasn’t happened. On whether he would shut things down later in the season, “I will do what they ask of me,” Kobe said. The Stats: He scored 19 points on 7-14 shooting (3-6 from three, 2-3 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 17 assists, 3 turnovers and no fouls in 32 minutes. He was a +3. The Action: He missed a wing three to start the game. He swished a wing jumper for the Lakers first score after a defender flew by. Sweet behind-the-back feed to Hill under the hoop and around some traffic for the layup. He drew a double team and hit Hill for the 10-footer. He attacked the lane and kicked to Hill for the open jumper. He whipped a pass in early offense to Wes for the corner three. Davis robbed him of an assist missing a dunk at the front of the rim when Kobe drew his man to him. He swiped an offensive board on a missed FT then threaded a pass to Hill for the jumper. He drew a double on the two-man game and hit Boozer for the FT jumper. He threw a pass away on early offense. He sank a pull-up with his foot on the three line in transition. He hit Black rolling off the two-man game for a layup. He swished a wing three next time down when the D didn’t follow him on the two-man game. He hit Black rolling again for a layup. Kobe had 7 points, 8 assists and 3 boards in the first quarter. He posted up and hit Wes cutting off him for the layup. His bounce pass was picked off, trying to thread it down the lane. He cut through the D with a series of nice moves, got the crowd going and was promptly swatted to the ground at the rim, so he slowly got up and cherry picked a layup a couple seconds later when the Cavs missed in transition (pretty funny sequence that had him smiling). He missed a lefty floater off the two-man game, but Davis tipped it in. He drew a double, backed it out and hit Davis under the hoop for the layup. He got a switch and swished the three over Love. He missed a full-court heave (might have been a pass). He had 12 points on 5-9 shooting (2-4 from three) to go with 10 assists and 3 boards. Second Half: He missed a three trying to beat the shotclock. He attacked the heart of the D and kicked it to Hill for the open jumper. He missed a turnaround in the post. He worked the two-man game with Hill and set him up for the jumper. He spun around LeBron in the post, drew the D and no-looked to Hill for the jumper. He attacked the paint, drew the D and wrapped a pass around a defender to Davis for the layup. He missed an elbow pull-up jumper. His pass to Boozer was picked off. He hit Hill rolling for a little half-floater. He crossed over LeBron and scored a layup with ease. He stepped into a three on iso out of a timeout and drilled it (both his passing options were covered on that play). Great D on LeBron to get a stop. He faked Marion calling for a non-existent screen then getting fouled on a three, he made two FTs to cut it to 4 with 43 seconds left (an And-1, 4-point play would have been huge there). Pressure D on LeBron and he scored a layup past Kobe and around Hill. Tough turnaround three on the inbounds in the corner with 17 seconds left and he missed. He hit Nick for a three with 10 seconds left.

Hill -- -- The Cavs were leaving him to double and Hill made them pay with the jumper early on. I don’t know if Kevin Love was watching this, but the game was made very easy when it was just Kobe and a jump shooting big. Kobe still found rollers and perimeter players on skip passes, too. The two of them led the team with points in the first half and the game. The two of them looked almost like a one-two punch tonight, which makes you realize how badly the Lakers could use a true one-two combo out there. The Lakers attack could be very methodical with how the Cavs doubled with bigmen on Kobe and everyone was on the same page. “Just be ready, he’s going to pass it,” Hill said of playing with Kobe. The Stats: He scored 20 points on 10-14 shooting to go with 6 boards, 1 assist, 3 steals, 1 block, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 32 minutes. He was a -8. The Action: He missed a jumphook in the lane, a little too far out. He was beat down court for a dunk. He scored a layup off the behind-the-back feed from Kobe. He sank a wing jumper off the two-man game with Wes. He swished a 10-footer off the Kobe pass. He hit a 19-footer off the Kobe kickout next time down. He hit the jumper from the FT line when Kobe threaded a pass to him. He airballed a jumper off a poor bounce pass in his shins from Lin. He lost his man and gave up a dunk. He swished a Dirk-ish fade at the elbow (he’s taken that once or twice this season, first time he’s made it). He had 12 points on 6-8 shooting and 2 boards. Second Half: He swished a 21-footer off the Kobe kickout. He bricked a jumphook badly on iso. He sank a step-back jumper off the two-man game with Kobe. He swished another 20-footer off the Kobe post attack and kickout. He hit a half-floater rolling off Kobe.

Davis -- -- Kevin Love was suffering from back spasms and looked very tight to start the second half. He was more decoy than threat during that stretch. Love powered through it and finished with 17 points on 4-12 shooting. We sent him to the line too much and I wish we could have taken a little more advantage of him with a physical post game, but we don’t have that with Davis and Boozer is more finesse. Davis was a little sloppy catching passes tonight and cost Kobe at least one assist with a miss dunk. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-5 shooting (2-4 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 1 turnover and 2 fouls with 22 minutes left. He was a -5. The Action: He fumbled away a post pass. He choked a dunk off a Kobe feed under the hoop and was fouled on a putback, he missed both. He tipped in a missed Kobe floater. He scored a layup when Kobe drew a double and hit him. He was fouled in transition next time down for FTs, he made both. Second Half: He missed a 14-footer off the Kobe feed. He scored a layup off the drive and dish from Kobe who drew three defenders.

Johnson -- -- Quiet game from Wes, but he still went 2-4 from three. You want three and D from him with consistency. He shoots in the low 30 percent range on anything between 10-19 feet, so it’s best if he avoids those and spots up for threes or uses his athleticism around the rim for layups and dunks. Avoid the in between. Defensively we had him on LeBron early on, then later went with Wes in on Kyrie. Tough covers for him. Asked about LBJ, he said, “Once he found his rhythm, it’s tough to defend a player of his caliber.” Asked if LeBron was his toughest cover, Wes said, no. Durant was. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-5 shooting (2-4 from three) to go with 4 baords, 2 assists and 3 fouls in 29 minutes. He had a +/- of 0. The Action: He missed a corner three in early offense. He hit Hill off the two-man game for a jumper. He sank a corner three in early offense on the Kobe feed. He missed a wing three. He cut off Kobe’s post, took the pass and scored the layup. Second Half: He sank a sideline three on a kickout. He and Kelly got lost on D and Wes had to a take a foul on Marion under the hoop with 2 minutes left, can’t have those breakdowns.

Price -- -- Scott was matching Price up with Kyrie, which meant 27 minutes for Price until Scott finally pulled the plug on that match up and went with Wes, Young and Kobe on the floor to close the game. Poor shooting night, making just one shot. He did manufacture some FTs, however. Kyrie had 22 points. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 1-5 shooting (0-2 from three, 3-4 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 27 minutes. He was a +3. The Action: He airballed a corner three. He picked a ball in transition, pushed it up and was fouled on the layup, he made both. He attacked baseline off the Kobe kickout and drew FTs, he made one. Nice read spotting Davis with a foot on his man in transition and it led to FTs. Second Half: He missed a wide open wing three. He attacked and was blocked on a layup. He airballed a three up against the shotclock. He took the Kobe kickout, attacked off the three line and hit the layup after taking contact. He was picked trying to create off the dribble.

Young -- -- “I had a talk with Kobe and he said you’ve been missing shots all your life, so just play,” Nick said. Shooters can’t worry about the misses. So many big misses in the fourth quarter during crunch time. Those, again, would have been huge for the Lakers. One or two makes and it’s a different ball game. “Just missing. Still feel confident, still feel good,” Nick said. His FT shooting streak was snapped tonight at 31 straight. He was temporarily leading the NBA in FT shooting until that miss. He blamed the reporters in a joking way for putting a lot of pressure on him at the FT line. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 4-13 shooting (2-8 from three, 4-5 from the line) to go with 2 boards and 4 assists The Action: He missed an off-balance fade on his first attempt. He swished a step-back wing three off a Lin kickout. He missed a wing three off a screen. He missed a wing three. He missed an off-balance FT jumper. He hit an And-1 pull-up from 21-feet, he made the FT. Second Half: He missed a chuck from three. He blew past Marion with ease and scored at the front of the rim. He was fouled for FTs on the perimeter and he finally missed a freethrow on the first one (he made the second). He missed a wing three. He was fouled on the perimeter trying to create, he made both FTs. Way short on a big wing three with 4 minutes left. He missed another big sideline three from the other side. He missed a huge sideline jumper with a minute left set up by Kobe. He swished a deep three with 10 seconds left to cut it to 4.

Lin -- -- He sank his first couple of jumpers, the second of which was a three which looked very calm, comfortable and smooth. I thought he might have had a chance to have a big game, but didn’t play much, just 15 minutes. The fewest of any Laker tonight, but he was still able to score 9 and dish 3 assists in the limited time. Scott didn’t go with either PG to close the game. On Kobe: “He got people in really good spots,” Lin said of Kobe’s passing game. I had wished Lin could learn a little from Nash this season, but Nash has bolted. Kobe orchestrated a pretty strong half-court passing game tonight. The team was on the same page, which is rare, but this can only help the playmakers as guys improve their spacing and know where each other will be on the floor. A little bit of nice chemistry between Tarik and Lin tonight. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 3-4 shooting (1-1 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 3 assists, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 15 minutes. He was a -12.The Action: He iso’d and swished a pull-up from the sideline. He drained a calm, controlled three straight away off an inbounds. He attacked and kicked out to Young who hit the step-back three. He attacked lane hard but couldn’t finish. Second Half: He attacked the heart of the D with speed and drew FTs, he made both. Sloppy two-man game pass trying to hit Boozer and he threw it away. He attacked off the high screen and scored a layup to start the fourth. He attacked and fired a pass to Black under the hoop for an And-1. Same trip down court after we got the missed FT and he hit Black cutting baseline for more FTs. He was called for a charge on Love (who was clearly in the restricted circle with both heels), should have been FTs. He sat after that as Kyrie came in. XXX

Boozer -- -- Right after entering the game, the Lakers looked for him. They also did it to start the second quarter. So some better purpose in integrating him offensively. Defensively, just 1 rebound for Boozer tonight. He’s been doing a good job on the glass lately, but didn’t get to them tonight. The Cavs out-rebounded the Lakers 13-8 on the offensive glass. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 4-6 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go with 1 board, 1 assist, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 23 minutes. He was a -3. The Action: He sank an open FT jumper off the Kobe double team. He swished an elbow jumper off good Laker ball movement. He drained an open elbow jumper to start the second quarter. He missed a face-up jumper. Second Half: He missed a one-hander off an interior feed. He blew past his man in the midpost for a layup. He drew FTs off a nice bounce pass, he made one.

Black -- -- Kobe was calling for him to set the high screens right after he entered the game and the two worked it for several scores. Lin found him, as well, later for scores. I’m still constantly amazed at how little he looks like a rookie out there. There was a little foul trouble for Tarik tonight, which is more what you would expect, but not a big deal as a backup. With Hill killing it with his jumper that certainly limited Tarik’s time. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-4 shooting (2-3 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 1 assist, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 16 minutes. He was a +1. The Action: He scored a layup rolling to the hoop off the Kobe feed. He finished nicely over help D on another Kobe pick and roll. He was a +12 in the first half before getting his third foul and having to sit. Second Half: He grabbed an offensive board but couldn’t finish after powering up in traffic. He powered in an And-1 layup off the jump pass from Lin, he missed the FT, but we got it back and he drew more FTs on a reverse, he made both.

Kelly -- -- He had to match up with LeBron defensively. LeBron wasn’t hitting from the perimeter early, so he started to attack Kelly with some success in the first half. When Kelly returned to the bench it looked like (reading lips) that Kobe told him to “back up” to keep LeBron from getting to the rim. Kelly sagged off in the second half and LeBron started hitting jumpers. That ended any chance Kelly had defending him. Tough position Scott put him in tonight. We could have used some better shooting from Kelly tonight. He missed all but one shot. I did like that final play where Kelly inbounded to Kobe and Kobe sent it right back to him for the open three. Kelly just couldn’t connect. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-6 shooting (0-3 from three) to go with 3 boards, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 21 minutes. He was a -6. The Action: He blocked a shot on help D. He looked hit on a drive with no call. He lost the ball at midcourt. He missed a wing three. He attacked baseline off the three line and scored a layup. Second Half: He missed an open wing three off the Kobe kickout. He missed a tough one-hander trying to the beat the shotclock. He hit Boozer with a bounce pass for FTs. He missed a good look at a three on an inbounds to Kobe who then fed back to him (I like the play, though).

Scott -- -- Cavs got easy buckets in transition early on. Lakers not stopping anything… The Lakers gave up 21 points on 73% shooting in the first half of the quarter… Then they held the Cavs scoreless for a few minutes… The Lakers trailed 21-15 when Scott sat Hill who was on fire for Black and Davis for Boozer… Kobe setting the table and racking up the assists when they double him… Lakers down 2 when Kelly came in for Wes (LeBron on the bench)… The Lakers tied it up and forced a timeout… He sat Price for Lin with 37 seconds left… The Lakers were tied 30-30 after the first quarter… He started a Black, Boozer, Kelly, Young, Lin unit… He sat Black for Hill, Lakers up 6 after 3 minutes in the second… Lakers in the penalty early in the quarter… Starters with Young in for Kobe with 5 minutes left, Lakers down 1… Kobe in for Young with 4:38 left, score tied… Kobe setting the table again… The Lakers led 61-57 at the half. The Lakers shot 58%, the Cavs 50%... LeBron on Kobe, but Kobe still orchestrating… He brought in Kelly for Wes with 5 minutes left, Lakers down 1… Black and Boozer in for the Laker bigs, Lakers up 1… Lin in for Price… Kobe out for Young with a couple minutes left. LeBron scoring on Kelly… The Lakers trailed 79-75 heading into the fourth… A 10-3 start to the quarter for the Cavs and the Lakers were down 11. Timeout… They got a 4-point trip down court from Black to cut it to 7 out of that timeout… Wes back in for Kelly, then Hill for Black and Price in for Lin with 7 minutes left… Kobe in for Price… He sat Boozer for Kelly with 2:23, running Kelly at PF. I do like the experimentation here, a little out of the norm for Scott… Young continuing to miss, Kobe willing the team to stay in this. The Lakers cut it to 4 with 43 seconds left and the Cavs called a timeout… LeBron score, timeout Lakers down 6 and in foul situation with 21 seconds. Kobe couldn’t hit the tough turnaround three in the corner… Lakers would get a three from Nick with 10 seconds left, but too little too late…

[fafan]

1st, thanks.Bad coach, good tank.
_________________
"Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience." --Sarah Cook.

[SweetP]

Great game from Kobe.
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“There is always light if only we're brave enough to see it, if only we're brave enough to be it.” --Amanda Gorman

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks DB

[H0B0]

THX DB. GO LAKERS

[Charisma]

Thanks DB, an entertaining game. Kobe played really well.

Back at it tomorrow.

[fiendishoc]

Masterful tank job by Byron, throwing away Kobe's best performance of the season. Everything down to matching up Price and Kelly with Kyrie and Lebron, benching Lin and Ellington to the lack of any adjustments at the half to the Jordan Hill reliant offense, was perfectly calculated to give the Lakers as little margin as possible to pull out the victory (without getting investigated by the league).

[summerly]

Thanks DB

[Unstable]

Thanks DB,

I missed the game - just still can't understand BS's fascination with Price.

It also appears that KB might be transitioning himself into a PG - he is more than capable of doing so.

I am just hoping after Game 40 - BS will make his next adjustment which hopefully make more sense to all of us back-seat drivers....
_________________
Calling another person idiotic does not necessarily mean you are less idiotic than that person. The best way to improve oneself is to focus on the positive things in life and build on them.

[Shaber]

Thanks, DB!

Whatever happened to Ellington?
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.

Lakers depth chart

PG Johnson / Goodrich
SG Bryant / West / Scott
SF Baylor / Worthy / Cooper
PF Mikkelsen / Hairston / McAdoo / Gasol
C Chamberlain / Abdul-Jabbar / O'Neal / Mikan

[fiendishoc]

[Honeybadger81]

[fiendishoc]

[summerly]

Thanks DB

[Honeybadger81]

[A Mad Chinaman]

Thanks for the great work, DB

[bws94]

[Honeybadger81]

[bws94]

Yes, great game by Kobe. Another botch job by coach. I'm just tired of watching Scott now. Too much LeBron, and he's not even fully healed yet.

[tyusedney1]

worst game i have ever seen in my life. i don't even know what they were doing out there because they weren't playing basketball. it was watching a bunch of grown men fondling each other on live nationally televised tv. too much love and ego stroking going around. two of the most dysfunctional teams in the league playing absolute zero defense while showcasing their stars. it's so apparent they weren't playing to win. i've seen more competitiveness in all-stars games. even WWE is more real than this garbage. question is, are they going to be doing this on every nationally televised games? no wonder ABC decided to drop the Lakers games. just pathetic. the love fest got so real!!

byron to kobe: i love you, man
byron to price: i love you, man
labron to kobe: i love you, man. here ya go, have the driving lane
miller to kobe: i love you, man
miller to blatt: i love you, man
love to kobe: i love to slap your a$$, man
byron to price: we on again tonight?
price to byron: yes, your place or mine?
anita to lawyers: yea, i got it all on tape

[Captain America]

[fiendishoc]

Yeah, at times it was hard to tell who was the one winding down his career.

[cdg]

Does Kobe read this forum?

Cos last game, I said I was losing faith in him being the distributor.

Made me eat my words.

But thought this was a winnable game.

Something is missing/needs to click.

Dont know what though.

[fiendishoc]

[Shaber]