Reserves Ease Bryant’s Pain, Key Lakers Win Over Jazz
May 15, 2008
It was 81-81 at the end of the third quarter and the Los Angeles Lakers were in peril of losing Game 5 and, with the prospect of having to travel back to Utah, losing the series 4-2. To make matters worse Kobe Bryant’s sore back had stiffened to the point where he would be only minimally effective for the remainder of the game.
So, if you’re Phil Jackson in this situation, what do you do?
You begin the final period with a lineup of Sasha Vujacic, Vladimir Radmanovic, Gasol, Luke Walton and Jordan Farmar, of course.
In the biggest game of the year to day for LA, Jackson relied on his reserves to augment a hobbled Kobe Bryant, who did not attempt a shot in the final 13 minutes. The backups rewarded the coach by spurring the Lakers to a 3o-point fourth quarter to give the Lakers a 111-104 win and a 3-2 lead over the Jazz.
These were the same backups who stood and watched an badly-injured (back) struggle mightily Bryant in overtime of the Game 4 loss. They were the same players accused of bailing on Bryant by Jackson in his Game 4 postgame press conference.
The fourth began with Radmanovic making a three-pointer. Shortly after the three, Walton just beat 24-second clock, threw up a shot and got fouled and brought on the cheers from the crowd. A minute later, when Gasol returned to the game Radmanovic hit him with a nice pass for a layin.
Then, midway through the quarter, Farmar, who has had a miserable series, gave the Lakers steady point guard play. and canned some clutch shots when it counted most. And it was Farmar who, with 8:37 remaining in the game, sweetly faked Deron Williams, scored and was fouled on the play. The crowd erupted and a time out was called. Bryant greeted Farmar with a smack on the back of the head and a huge smile. Farmar came out of the break and converted his free throw for a three-point play. The play broke an 86-all tie and began a Lakers push that would carry them the rest of the game.
Though the reserves did play a huge role in the fourth quarter Lakers push it must be mentioned that Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol combined for 13 of the Lakers’ 30 fourth-quarter points. Odom finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds, while Gasol had 21 points and eight assists. Gasol revealed in his postgame press conference that he was not reacteing well to another physical pounding from the Jazz defenders. Jackson, Gasol said, challenged his heart with some extremely colorful language.
“I had to dig inside of me and bring out some energy,” Gasol said.
That energy could be used in Utah.
Speaking of the Jazz, they came out of the loss with hope. Deron Williams had another excellent game with 27 points and 10 assists though the Lakers strategy apparently wa to keep the Utah point guard from driving through the lane:
“It’s promising,” said Williams. “We feel like we can win here. We’ve just got to go back home right now and take care of business.”
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In other game news, the Game 5 statistics once again reflected the two teams’ averages on the season. Utah out-rebounded LA 44-34. The Jazz led the NBA in rebound margin, while LA was the league’s worst rebounding team. The free throw advantaqe took a swing back to Los Angeles’ favor. LA had a 38-28 edge over the Jazz even before Kobe’s four free throws in the game’s final 10.7 seconds. Utah is last in free throw disparity while the Lakers are among the league’s best, attempting almost six more free throws a game more than their opponents. Utah shot 35.3% from behind the arc (34.7% on the season) while LA was slightly below their 38.3% season average (35%).
The one glaring difference was Utah’s 18 turnovers to LA’s 14. The Jazz average 12.6 TOs per game while LA averages 12.7.
Comments
6 Responses to “Reserves Ease Bryant’s Pain, Key Lakers Win Over Jazz”
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It was nice to see the Laker reserves really step up last night. Often in the past when Kobe has deferred to guys it only resulted in losses and accusations of him quitting on the team. Whether you buy that or not, it was great to see them reward him and the Laker nation by stepping up and knocking down shots in the clutch.
The Lakers have some good reserves. I wouldn’t depend on them to win the series, though. Most of them feed on Kobe being a decoy and a passer to do well when he’s in the game. It’s tough to believe that they essentially won the game themselves in the final quarter. Hopefully, Kobe will be well in time for the Lakers to face the winner of the Hornets/Spurs series.
Hopefully, Sasha and Radmonavic can find their shots before Friday. Poor Sasha had some absolutely beautiful looks that would have put the game away a lot earlier but he was missing bad. One thing I would like to see is Odom take over a game. I know that’s not his thing but no on the Jazz can guard him.
awb-
Vujacic did miss many open looks…. but at least Farmar and Vlad got it together…. and I thought LO did take the game over - but in his own quiet way…?
Dwil
You didn’t think the refs gave the Jazz a bad deal? I know I did.
Yeah, Odom is quietly getting his 20 and 15 every game but I think he could drop 40 and 20 on those cats anytime he wants to.
Farmar is letting Williams get to him a little bit. He seemed uncharacteristicly gun shy in the 3rd (or was it fourth)but he did manage that big play. I like the Lakers bench, I hope they bring it all together on Friday and get the Jazz out of there in Utah.
The Jazz are a physical team. The Lakers are offensively aggressive. There will be fouls.