Somewhere in Los Angeles Mark Cuban is laughing and saying, “I told you so,” and for one night only, I am going to have to agree with him. The Lakers played the worst game I’ve seen them play since they walked off the court in Boston late June 2008 – I thought it was that pitiful.
The Lakers went from playing lackluster in the first half to playing like a girls JV highschool basketball team the rest of the game. They came out of halftime turning the ball over, playing out of the offense, not making the proper rotations on defense and ultimately lettings the refs get them rattled. Before you knew it, the 7 point Mavericks half time lead was now 16 and they were never able to recover.
Other than Kobe, no Laker scored more than 15 points tonight, as a team, they shot only 40% from the field, had as many turnovers as assists and our bench got outscored by an embarrassing 41 to 28. All a recipe for a loss.
Something positive to take from this game would be the play of Shannon Brown and Jordan Farmar. While much of the team was still in celebrating mode, Brown and Farmar played great and kept the team treading water in the second quarter by making big shots and getting back on defense
Why Phil chose to stick with Sasha over Brown in the second half for so long is something I’m trying to figure out.
Player of the Game: Shannon Brown played phenomenal tonight. He was the only one who played like it meant something. He ended the night with 12 points on 5 of 7 shooting, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.
Play of the Game: There are no rules in this post-game article, so I’m choosing 2 POTG’s: Kobe to Lamar to Bynum for the dunk in the 1st quarter (easily the play of the season by the Lakers), and Shannon’s ridiculous put back dunk early in the 4th quarter (do I need to give you a reason?).
What’s Up Next: The Lakers host the improved Atlanta Hawks on Sunday. The Hawks are 2-0 and haven’t been light on their opponents. The Lakers can’t treat this as a easy game.
Recent Comments