From Arash Markazi, ESPNLA: As if things weren’t already looking bleak for the Los Angeles Lakers, there’s a good chance they will have to play Game 3 of their of Western Conference semifinals series against the Dallas Mavericks without forward Ron Artest. With 24.4 seconds left in the Mavericks’ 93-81 win over the Lakers on Tuesday, Artest reached out with his right hand and grabbed Mavericks guard Jose Juan Barea by the face and basically clotheslined him. Artest was immediately ejected after picking up his second technical foul. Artest was out of position and had to run through Lakers forward Lamar Odom to get to Barea, who took a minute to recover before hitting two free throws to seal the Mavericks’ win and give Dallas a stunning 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. After the game, Lakers coach Phil Jackson said he expected Artest to miss Friday’s Game 3 in Dallas.
From Kurt Helin, Pro Basketball Talk: The Lakers are back-to-back champions for two key reasons. One is Kobe Bryant. The other is that nobody has been able to stand up to their front line. There are 7-footers Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol, plus 6’10” Lamar Odom — all very long and very skilled. All very hard to stop. Dallas has. That is why Dallas won Game 2 93-81, and is up 2-0 series. The Mavericks have won both games on the Lakers home court. They have stood toe-to-toe to the Lakers strength and not given up an inch. These are not the soft-as-tissue-paper Mavericks, and they are in total control of this series now. For two games now Dallas has shut Gasol down, been more physical inside than Los Angeles, blocked shots and done what no team has consistently done for two seasons now. In Game 2 the Lakers were 13-of-23 at the rim (shots basically inside the restricted area) and 5-of-13 from there out to 9 feet.
From Dexter Fishmore, Silver Screen and Roll: Let’s get something out of the way right up front: this series isn’t over. The Los Angeles Lakers are, I assure you, capable of playing stupendous basketball. They haven’t suddenly become untalented. They still have Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson and three supremely skilled big men. They don’t panic. They know how to bounce back from difficult losses, and they know how to play on the road. If any team can recover from two nauseating home losses to start a playoff series, it’s this one. Friday’s a new day, and with it comes an opportunity to play like champions once again. That said, there’s no denying that the odds are stacked against them at this point. Tonight, as they did on Monday, the Dallas Mavericks made the Lakers look old, tired and confused. The Mavs’ 93 to 81 victory in Game Two at Staples Center couldn’t have been any more convincing.
From Daniel Buerge, Lakers Nation: I can’t remember a certain point in last night’s Game 2 where I knew the Lakers were going to lose. Usually there is a defining moment in a game where momentum shifts and one team goes on to victory while the other ends in defeat. As I watched last night’s game I realized that it felt like watching an episode of the Twilight Zone. Over the last two seasons the Lakers have won every must-win game they’ve played. In every playoff series it always seemed that they had the edge even when they were losing. The opponents always reacted to the Lakers moves rather than the other way around.
From Kevin Ding, OC Register: Always the favorites, unwaveringly confident for so long … the Lakers now will have to show they have some underdog fight. The two-time defending NBA champion Lakers lost again at home to the Dallas Mavericks, 93-81, to fall behind in the Western Conference semifinals, 2-0, on Wednesday night. In 18 previous situations after losing the opening two games of a seven-game series at home, only three NBA teams have rallied to win the series. The Lakers have lost the first two games — home or away — of seven-game series 18 times before and come back to win the series twice; only 14 teams in league history have come back from down, 2-0. The Lakers will have to win one game out of the next two coming up in Dallas just to give their retiring coach, Phil Jackson, another chance at Staples Center. Game 3 is Friday night, and Game 4 is Sunday afternoon.
John Morris says
They’ve put themselves in a situation where they have to win 4 out of 5 with 3 of those 4 being on the road. Not impossibe but definitely not easy.
It’s like the Lakers keep trying to push the envelope further and further. How much more do they have to have their backs to the wall before they come out and play the way they’re supposed to? Last night’s loss was just depressing. This is the worst Cinco de Mayo ever.
bluesky says
Lakers and Mavs had the same problem, they lost 5,6 games in a row in the end of regular season, but Mavs fixed their problems by playing harder to beat Portland. The Lakers continue with the bad habit, loosing game 1 at home, inconsistent offensive game plan, Lakers still can’t defend P@R, they did not learn anything after round 1.
Anonymous says
If you are going to call Pau soft, then you might as well call the entire bench, especially Odom, soft. Odom, as the leader of the bench, has been inconsistent his entire life. The bench catches on and becomes that way. How many times have we seen Odom get pushed around and missed box outs? Shannon Brown does not deserve to play in the NBA. This guy has the worst handle, cannot shoot, cannot defend. All he got is the dunk. I said it before, this guy is a Globetrotter at best. Blake, normally a good 3 point shooter, now is horrible. Lakers 3 point malaise is infectious or what?
JM says
You know, if the Lakers didn’t give up a 16-point lead in Game 1, we would not be this concerned right now, as the series would be tied 1-1. Their old habit of losing big leads has bit them in the ass.
T. Rogers says
3 – Gasol should not be called soft. He is not. However, he is the second option. Lamar is the first guy off the bench. Gasol is held to a higher standard. Truthfully, Lamar has been LA’s most consistent player this season. Yes, he seems to have fallen off as has Pau. But Pau’s malaise hurts a lot more than Lamar’s.
Q says
I blame that game 1 loss on Phil Jackson. He did not put the starters back in soon enough in the 4th. Personally I feel that he doesn’t give a damn with his attitude. He will be gone in no time anyway.
Aaron says
Those Bynum possession number are shocking. He is the second best player on the team and has been so the entire second half of the season. He is unstoppable in the paint and never touches the ball. That’s the difference between having a Magic or having a Michael Jordan. We have a Jordan in Kobe… Magic would make sure Bynum got the ball so often his hand hurt when he woke up this morning. Everyone kept thinking (myself included) that when the playoffs started things would change and the Lakers would go inside more often. And to be fair the last couple games in the first round they did.
As I stated in the regular season I was worried by the fact Kobe hasn’t been getting tousle teamed this season. In fact… The Lakers only offensive player that gets double teamed with any regularity is Andrew Bynum and he doesn’t see the ball that often in scoring zones on the floor. So when you have an offense that doesn’t force the opposing defense to help it makes it very difficult to score especially in the playoffs.
Having said all that… The Lakers are just too talented to be down 0-2 to these Mavs. And when a team with more talent is losing a playoff series it’s very easy to point the finger at the coach.
T. Rogers says
@8
I agree 100%. It is almost criminal that Bynum is not getting more shots. With Kobe firing from distance all game, and Pau only wanting to face up I keep wondering when LA is going to put the “post” in the Tripple Post Offense.
I can accept losing to better team. But losing while refusing to get the most out of one of your best assests drives me insane. I’ll stop my rant there.
kwame a. says
just have to win Game 3. Best way to do that is to stay the course. Dallas made a lot of shots last night, we didn’t rebound poorly, we got decent looks. I think if we win Game 3 a lot can change.
Leffty says
Kobe needs to step up in the 4th quarter if this is going to get any better. He missed a critical shot–and made a bad turnover–in the final minute of Game One. Last night, he scored only five points in the fourth quarter, and that was in a 30-second stretch when the Lakers were already down 13. That’s not good enough from a team leader, and it has to change. Check it out:
http://bit.ly/jZSTwH
DY says
Ahh, the Prince song “When Doves Cry” encapsulates my feelings towards the Lakers.
“How can you just leave me standing
Alone in a world that’s so cold?
Maybe I’m just too demanding
Maybe I’m just like my father, too bold
Maybe you’re just like my mother
She’s never satisfied
Why do we scream at each other?
This is what it sounds like
When doves cry.”
I don’t have any further words to express my disappointment right now. Hopefully we can win the next 4 out of 5. Also, looks like there’s a changing of the guard (Spurs, Celtics, gasp…Lakers) with the emerging Heat, Thunder, Grizzlies, Chicago all making noise (except Dallas is an old team too.)
Yes, when doves cry…
Q says
I wonder how Jerry Buss feels now about giving Phil Jackson $10 million this year
DY says
13. Q. For every Lakers related sigh today, just rehash the lyrics to “When Doves Cry” and you feel much better about it all. I’m sure Buss can pay Prince to play this song live…especially with the $10m he paid Phil.
JP says
Ron Artest suspended for Game 3:
http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/news/story?id=6487063
Matt R. says
Artest has officially been suspended for game 3.
Now it’s time to play line-up bingo!
Everyone’s expecting Barnes to get the start, but I think a better way to go is to finally just give in and run the Triple Tower line-up. Run Gasol, Bynum, and Odom. The Bench has been worthless anyway, and Barnes can’t check anyone we need checked out there with the starters. Start the three big men and force Dallas to just keep shooting 3’s all night with no hope of getting inside.
Bynum in the low post, Gasol in the high post and Odom with the ball at the 3-point line and go.
What do we have to lose at this point?
Everclear says
Is anyone else kind of tired of this, “Let’s stay relaxed, composed, stay Zen, in the moment, calm,” kind of mentality? I realize it’s benefits for many (if not most) situations, but doesn’t Phil Jackson understand the importance of a good, fired-up, yelling, halftime monologue to spark the team? I hate seeing the Lakers stay calm and do their best to suppress emotions and remain unexcited. I want to see fire, passion, ANGER. I want to see yelling, cheering, taking hits, giving hits. I want to see our team ACT with some swagger, not just promise that they feel like they have it.
I appreciate the success, but I can’t help but envy the intense nature of Doc Rivers’ speeches, or the blunt barking from Van Gundy sometimes. It feels like Kobe is the only one on our team that truly gives a damn, deep down. Gasol is passive, Odom is passive, Bynum is tentative thanks to his knees, Fisher is passive, and even Ron Artest has been subdued by the league and his psychologist.
I see LeBron james bouncing and screaming, I see Kevin Garnett cheering and yelling, I see Dirk going crazy as well as the Dallas bench… but I don’t get any of that sense of energy from the Lakers. Not in this series, not in the last one with New Orleans, and not during the season.
It seems Phil Jackson’s approach to making sure his team always stays even-keeled backfires when his team gets behind, because they aren’t trained to ignite an inner fire and run off adrenaline and emotion. Which is why PJ’s teams, when they lose, they lose BADLY. It clearly isn’t working for this team right now – especially our fragile bench. Am I the only one who sees this?
I’m blaming this team’s lack of preparation and energy coming into these playoffs (and especially Game 2 of this series) squarely on Phil.
Our team is on the verge of another 2004-esque collapse. Someone needs to light the goddamn fire.
Mike Penberthy says
I would think he feels great about giving Phil $10 mil. seeing how that $3 billion TV contract the Lakers just signed is in large part thanks to the 5 championships the Jackson led teams have won him.
Darius Soriano says
#17. I’m sure many would agree with you in a time of losing. You see, that’s what fans do. They respond in the moment to the thing that they don’t like and then complain about it. When Phil’s style brings home championships, we all cheer and laud him as the best (which he is). When his tactics don’t work those same fans question the tactics becasue obviously *they don’t work*. Sigh.
Darius Soriano says
A new post is up.
http://www.forumblueandgold.com/2011/05/05/circling-the-wagons/
Kaifa says
One possession in game 2 stood out to me, and I state beforehand that I’m not trying to bash Kobe here.
If I remember it correctly, it was with something like 6 or 7 minutes left in the game. Kobe finally found a lane to the basket, leaving his man behind. Chandler rotated not to draw a charge but to challenge the shot. Kobe picked up his dribble maybe one bounce to early but he still had two steps to create contact, shoot a floater, or try to finish around Chandler. Kobe went into his steps and decided mid-air to throw the ball back to some teammate he couldn’t see in mid-air and turned it over.
For me, this was the game in a nutshell. Not to put the loss on Kobe, but at least in this game the Mavs definitely got to the Lakers and made them doubt themselves.
That’s why it will be interesting to see how they react in game 3. Maybe Fisher can gather the troops with one of his patented speeches. But if Artest really will be suspended, we need a great Odom plus at least two of Blake/Barnes/Brown to play well and can’t have any of the regulars get in foul trouble. That’s a lot of things that have to go right, but I still have hope they can turn this around.
JP says
I don’t get all the bashing of Phil, if the lakers had won game 2 (which was easily winnable), there wouldnt be any of this.
Regardless of the defense, if the lakers had made shots & free throws, they would have won. Did anyone else notice how many shots within 5 ft gasol & odom missed? Not to mention the 2/20 three pointers. This loss was not on Phil, at all. The laker players were terrible last night with the exception of andrew.
Everclear says
@Darius: I’m not saying his tactics don’t work. In fact, I acknowledged the fact in the second sentence of my comment that they mostly do.
My point is that there’s a fatal flaw in his tactic – the minority of the time when the Lakers are losing a series – and it’s being exploited right now.
PJ’s way of coaching is great for 90% of the circumstances. But this Dallas series seems to be the 10% exception when we need something extra, some powerful motivation, some verbal slaps across the ego and ask, “What are you guys playing for?”
There’s a huge element of playing sports (as I’m sure you know) of the X’s and O’s and breaking things down mentally and analyzing on the fly and memorizing mechanics. But there’s another part of sports (and other facets of life) that require a spark to ignite emotions. A parent gets it when they see their child in trouble. A soldier gets it when he sees a comrade go down. A friend gets it when his buddy gets in a fight. Not that I’m comparing these situations to a game of basketball, but the parallel context exists: Sometimes, going off pure emotion is good, especially when you’re already losing your last stand.
This is one of those rare times.
Pass on the left says
Can any of you laker fans fathom the possibility that the Mavericks are just better?
Everclear says
@Darius: Here is exactly what I’ve been saying:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/sam_amick/05/05/lakers.mavericks/index.html?sct=nba_t11_a0
Sam Amick from SI.com noticed the exact same thing I mentioned. Let me know what you think.