Conspiracy Over Game 5 Lingers

“The Lakers paid $50,000 to win that game. They got their money’s worth,” said one of the Denver Nuggets, preferring to remain nameless, to Denver Post columnist Mark Kiszla after the Lakers beat the Nuggets 103-94  in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals, showing the officiating debate over the game still remains. Game 6 is tonight in Denver and after practice Thursday (May 28) Kobe Bryant would only offer this comment on the conspiracy theory: “Is that a question? No, I didn’t hear it.” Lakers’ Coach Phil Jackson said, “It’s unfortunate, but that’s the way sometimes these series boil down to who’s got home-court advantage and who thinks they’re going to get the advantage from that end of the game. But we don’t want to make any issue out of that … it’s not something we want to focus on or get them focused in that direction.”

The NBA declined to comment on the Denver Post quote when asked by the L.A. Times and while everyone seems to be talking about the aftermath of Game 5, Derek Fisher didn’t seem fazed. “Overall, I’m a conpiracy theorist … but nah. It’s not any different than any other time in postseason that I’ve been here. It’s just the way it is. I remember going into San Antonio over the years and every time we went to San Antonio, Shaq would get two fouls in the first two minutes. That was just a fact … There are too many things that happen in a basketball game that even if you felt as though the game was officiated poorly or not in your favor, there are so many other things you can control,” said Fisher.

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Permalink - Posted in General on May 29, 2009 - Post a comment

Shannon Brown Helps Lakers Win Game 5

Third-year guard Shannon Brown solidly defended Denver’s Chauncy Billups last night (May 27) at Staples Center, helping the Lakers secure a Game 5 victory over the Nuggets. Prior to last night, Brown had only played one minute of a playoff game, as a rookie with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2007, but last night the Lakers needed his help in the fourth quarter in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals and he delivered, helping the Lakers defeat the Nuggets, 103-94. Brown played 14 minutes 14 seconds, all in the second half, and now the Lakers take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.

“I’m definitely learning. At the same time, I think my coaches and my teammates are doing a great job of helping me. They are helping me get everything that’s going on. It’s almost surreal. But at the same time, you definitely can’t be afraid of the moment,” said Brown. On Feb. 7 the Lakers acquired Brown from the Charlotte Bobcats along with Adam Morrison for Vladimir Radmanovic; he played in 18 regular-season games and has played in all 17 playoof games for the Lakers. Said Lakers’ Coach Phil Jackson on Brown, “He really is learning. Shannon, he doesn’t really know how to get all this stuff operated. He’s a forward basically playing guard.” Jackson continued to say, “I put him in the ballgame and he got a dunk, had a really big play, kind of motivated us, kind of animated the crowd. I thought he did a really good job on defense. He hit a big shot when the clock was running out on him. It was a big play.” Read the full article at the LATimes.com.

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Permalink - Posted in General on May 28, 2009 - Post a comment

Lakers Need to Win or Face Elimination in Denver

The Denver Nuggets were physical in Game 4, causing Kobe Bryant to embrace their aggression and Paul Gasol to criticize it. As for Lakers’ Coach Phil Jackson? He remained pretty mum of the subject. The usually mild-tempered Gasol, who is averaging 17.8 points on 62.5% shooting this series, told reporters, “I just want to go on what’s effective, what works out there and what’s been working for us and what’s been a strength of ours. I think we should explore that a little more. They get away with a few things and obviously at home they get away with more stuff. I think the league is pretty aware of it at this point in time and they should be able to cut it off, so hopefully they will.”

The NBA made three rulings related to Game 4, fining Jackson and the Lakers each $25,000 for Jackson’s critical comments of the referees after the Nuggets beat the Lakers 120-101 in Game 4. Andrew Bynum’s fourth-quarter flagrant foul was reduced to a personal foul and Dahntay Jones wasn’t suspended for purposely tripping Kobe Bryant in the third quarter but rather assessed a flagrant foul 1 (Jackson called the play “unsportsmanlike basketball” while Bryant shrugged it off saying, “It’s just good playoff basketball. It’s cool with me”). After the league reviewed and allocated all of the infractions, Denver officially wound up with three technical fouls and one flagrant foul while the Lakers had one technical foul and a steep financial penalty. None of the rulings will directly affect Game 5, which will be held at Staples Center tonight and give one team a 3-2 series lead. Lakers spokesman John Black told reporters, “We’re not shocked, but we’re disappointed.”

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Permalink - Posted in General on May 27, 2009 - Post a comment

Western Conference Finals Now Tied 2-2

The Lakers got blown out by the Nuggets last night (May 25) in Denver, 120-101, and the Western Conference Finals are now tied 2-2. The Lakers will luckily be back home at Staples Center for Game 5 Wednesday night (May 27). After being beaten by the Lakers in Game 3, the Nuggets made it up in Game 4, with Denver Coach George Karl telling the L.A. Times, “There was an urgency to our performance and I think the result showed in the scoreboard.”

The Lakers were outscored in the paint, 52-34, and shot only 41.5%. Kobe Bryant had 34 points but made only 10 of 26 shots while Pau Gasol had 21 points and Andrew Bynum 14. Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said, “They beat us to the ball numbers of times tonight. It was tonight. I hope it’s not on Wednesday night.” Bryant seemed optimistic saying, “We did our job in terms of coming in here and getting one of these games. We would have loved to get both of them. Now it’s time to go home and see if we can’t take care of business at Staples.”

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Permalink - Posted in General on May 26, 2009 - Post a comment

Lakers and Nuggets Now Tied in the Series

The Lakers let a 14-point lead get away from them last night at Staples Center, losing to the Denver Nuggets 106-103. The Western Conference finals are now tied at 1-1 and Games 3 and 4 will be held in Denver, where the Nuggets have won 16 consecutive games at Pepsi Center, not losing since March 9. Summing up what everyone was thinking after the Lakers’ defeat last night, Kobe Bryant said resignedly, “They have home-court advantage now.”

The Lakers began to fall apart in the second quarter and diminished their large lead into just 55-54 at halftime. “It was a free-throw shooting contest and we caved first, simple as that,” said Bryant about the game with 56 fouls and 72 free-throw attempts. The Nuggets haven’t been beaten in Denver since their 97-95 loss to the Houston Rockets over ten weeks ago but Derek Fisher told reporters sarcastically, “We might as well not go, then, if that’s the case. This is for an opportunity to win an NBA championship. We’re going to play to win on Staurday night.” Bryant chimed in, “We’re not the best road team in the NBA for no reason.”

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Permalink - Posted in General on May 22, 2009 - Post a comment

Kobe Needs Help From Fellow Lakers in Game 2

During Game 1 of the Western Conference finals Kobe Bryant scored 40 points, played 43 minutes and was practically the only Laker playing offense against the Denver Nuggets. The best-of-seven series resumes at Staples Center tonight and hopefully the Lakers will get some help from Andrew Bynum, Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom and not have to rely soley on Bryant. Denver has their own trio, comprised of Nene, Kenyon Martin and Chris Andersen, which the Lakers will have to contend with.

After practice yesterday Kobe told the L.A. Times, “Their bigs just did a phenomenal job defensively of beating guys to spots. But we’ll be ready to go. Pau is a great player down there in the mid-post-up area. So it’s something that we’ll take advantage of and try to put their bigs in jeopardy.” The Lakers’ trio wanted to match Denver’s on Monday but Gasol told the Times, “Not just match it, but hopefully dominate it if we can. We’ve got to be ambitious. You can’t just settle for trying to match somebody. If you want to be a better team, a better player, you have to overplay and outplay the other guys. That’s our objective.”

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Permalink - Posted in General on May 21, 2009 - Post a comment

Lakers Beat Nuggets 105-103

Game 1 of the best-of-seven series was last night at Staples Center, and the Lakers beat the Denver Nuggets 105-103. While many questioned the Lakers’ decision to trade for NBA unknown Trevor Ariza a year and a half ago, he has since proven himself. Kobe Bryant may have had 40 points, six rebounds and four assists last night, but it was Ariza everyone was talking about. Although Ariza was the main culprit in giving up 39 points to Carmelo Anthony, he protected a 101-99 Lakers lead with his third steal of the game, prompting the usually-quiet Lakers’ Coach Phil Jackson to say, “That was a huge play for us.” For his part Ariza was modest about his achievement: “He threw the ball with enough air for me to get it. That’s all.”

The Lakers stood strong during the fourth quarter against Denver in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals, after struggling to get through a seven-game series against Houston. With 13 points each, Derek Fisher and Pau Gasol were the only Lakers in double-figure scoring other than Kobe Bryant, who was basically the Lakers’ lone threat on offense. Said Jackson, “We had so many guys that looked indecisive out there, which is a credit to their defense. [Bryant] was a scoring threat for us. We had very little else going for us.” Bryant did pick up his fifth technical foul of the playoffs in the third quarter; he will be suspended for one game is he picks up a seventh in the playoffs. Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is at Staples Center on Thursday.

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Permalink - Posted in General on May 20, 2009 - Post a comment

Kobe Bryant Predicted Denver Would Be Next

Back in February, when the Denver Nuggets beat the Lakers, Kobe Bryant told Nuggets’ forward Carmelo Anthony that the two teams would meet again, and he was right. “I told ‘Melo, ‘I’ll see you in the Western Conference finals.’ I just felt they had all the pieces there, they had the depth, they had the toughness, they had the camaraderie, It’s no surprise to me that they’re here,” says Bryant. It might be a surprise to everyone else though, as the Nuggets haven’t made it this far since 1985. Denver plays their first game against the Lakers in the best-of-seven conference finals at Staples Center tonight.

The Lakers have one 10 of their last 11 games against the Nuggets and while two-time All-Star Anthony has been averaging 27 points a game in the playoffs, the Lakers held him to 14.5 points a game and 32.8% shooting while going 3-1 against Denver this season. Lakers’ Coach Phil Jackson said of Anthony, “The way he’s playing now, he’s playing exceptionally well. We just can’t let him sit on shots when he gets hot.”

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Permalink - Posted in General on May 19, 2009 - Post a comment

Lakers Win Game 7, Will Face Off Against Denver Nuggets Tuesday

The Lakers walked away with an unexpected 89-70 victory against the Houston Rockets Sunday in the deciding game of the Western Conference. “We’re bipolar,” said Kobe Bryant, in reference to the Lakers’ ability to make a comeback and win Game 7. Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant were both impressive, Sasha Vujacic made a jumper, Derek Fisher had a steal and Andrew Bynum was with it.

When asked about the Lakers’ overall performance in the series Bryant did admit to the L.A. Times, “Our effort could have been much better. We definitely could have played a lot harder.” Lamar Odom weighed in as well, “These are the playoffs, everyone is going to lose games. It’s how you bounce back that shows your heart and character. Today, we showed that.” “I think we’re stubborn. I think we thought we could be the best team on talent alone. I think we learned that in the playoffs, teams will step on your throat to get where they’re going,” said Trevor Ariza.

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Permalink - Posted in General on May 18, 2009 - Post a comment

Lakers Lose in Texas

The undermanned  Houston Rockets scored another one-sided victory over the Lakers last night at the Toyota Center, 95-80, ending the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal at 3-3. Despite the Lakers’ 40-point victory over the Rockets in Game 5, Game 7 will be held at Staples Center on Sunday and if L.A. loses they will end their season way earlier than anyone predicted.

After a promising effort in Game 5, Andrew Bynum finsihed with no points and seven rebounds in 19 minutes last night. Kobe Bryant was somewhat consistent, with 32 points on 11-for-27 shooting, but Dererk Fisher only scored two points on one-for-seven shooting. Lakers’ Coach Phil Jackson declined to make an opening statement and brushed off a reporter’s question about whether L.A. was “embarrassed” by Houston. Later Jackson said, “There’s nothing to worry about. It’s just a game and we’re going to go out there and play, and it’s our home court … The last game [at home] we bea them by whatever. We play a different game on our home court. It’s pretty obviosu now to see.” Byrant seemed unfazed as well” I said the last game they’re not a chump team. They’re not,” he told reporters.

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Permalink - Posted in General on May 15, 2009 - Post a comment


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