I have learned many things watching years of basketball, and in the playoffs we begin to see things get remarkably repetitive. Very many times we see the home teams defend home court by winning the first two games of a series, this immediately puts the lower seed in a must-win situation once Game 3 rolls around. A loss in Game 3 and the resulting 0-3 hole is as damning as speaking a word about a potential free-agent who recently was bounced from the playoffs early, again. So, when you see the Lakers play a very dreadful game of basketball and lose Game 3 to the Phoenix Suns you must take a look at the positive aspects of the game, and begin to move forward from there.
In the playoffs so much emphasis is put on every single game that we sometimes forget that teams have off nights. In reality, all the Lakers have to do is win four games before they lose four. If they are able to do this for four series they are crowned champions. Losing one game, especially a game that the Suns had to win to save their season doesn’t necessarily mean the Lakers are on the fast track to choking.
When you dissect Game 3 and take a look at it in it’s entirety you can see that this isn’t the Lakers team that showed up the first two games of the season. Before last night’s loss to Phoenix the Lakers hadn’t lost in nearly a month, winning the last two against Oklahoma City before cruising through six games against Utah and the Suns. Considering the Lakers had played championship caliber basketball for the past 28 days I feel they are allowed to lose one.
Now, I don’t want to start excusing poor play or making considerations for off nights, because that will do nothing but cause problems as the playoffs continue to progress. I merely want to say that the Lakers are still on the right track to repeating as NBA Champions. I think that the incredible run the Boston Celtics have been on over the past few weeks is also stirring the nervousness that is currently hovering over Southern California, but we cannot let that cloud reality.
Next: Reasons why it isn’t quite yet time to panic…
Consider last season when the Lakers played a very tough Denver Nuggets team. The Lakers left Los Angeles after the first two games tied at a game apiece, and actually headed back to Los Angeles for Game 5 tied at 2. Meanwhile in the Eastern Conference Finals the Orlando Magic were cruising through their series with Cleveland, heading back to Game 5 up 3-1 with the series all but decided. While both series eventually went 6 games, the Lakers worked much harder and exerted a lot more energy to get their 4 wins than Orlando did. When Los Angeles and Orlando met in the Finals, however, the Lakers took control and cruised to a 5 game title-clinching win.
It is very important for all of Lakers Nation, the players included, not to get caught up in the hoopla surrounding the Boston Celtics and a potential 2008 Finals rematch. Looking ahead and underestimating a team that isn’t out yet is always a dangerous game, and Phoenix proved tonight that they aren’t ready to join the rest of the Western Conference on their annual fishing trip while L.A. plays in the Finals.
While the final score didn’t favor the Lakers on Sunday night, there were still plenty of things to take away from this game when moving forward. First of all, the Lakers played simply terrible in the fourth quarter. How often do we see a team led by Kobe Bryant fumble the ball late in a close game like that? Not very often, so don’t expect the Lakers to do that again in Game 4 or anytime soon. Even after the loss the Lakers are still one of if not the best team at closing out victories, especially in the playoffs. There are plenty of people in Oklahoma City and Utah who can collaborate my story on this one if you’re truly that skeptical.
Secondly, Phoenix had all the motivation to win this game while the Lakers had little to none. Other than keeping up with the Celtics in the race to the rematch, Los Angeles had no real incentives for winning a game that Phoenix had to have. Considering this, the Suns still played fairly poorly and were only able to achieve victory because the Lakers failed to take it from them. Los Angeles will not show up that flat and stagnant on offense on Tuesday night, and they won’t look nearly as befuddled by that anything but impenetrable Phoenix zone.
Next: Stay positive Lakers Nation there is much yet to be decided…
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My third point is the strange case of Robin Lopez. Now it is important to give credit when it’s due, and Lopez definitely earned all the credit last night. He hustled, worked hard, and played a brand of basketball the Lakers haven’t seen yet this series. While Amar’e Stoudemire’s offensive explosion was certainly key to Phoenix winning the game, Lopez provided a jolt of energy that got the crowd and rest of the Suns team into thegame. Lopez scored 20 points in 31 minutes, but don’t expect that from him every night. Even if Stoudemire scores 40 again in Game 4, the Suns are going to have to get someone else to step up offensively if they want to make this into an actual series.
Finally, look at the performance, or lack there of, of Ron Artest and Lamar Odom. Both players were crucial in the first two games of the series,and both disappeared during Game 3. The boys from Queens combined for an 8-27 game from the field and a combined 22 points. When Odom and Artest combined only score two more points than Robin Lopez you’re going to have problems, and the Lakers certainly did. This won’t happen again on Tuesday, count on that.
Basically Lakers fans this is merely to say that there is still a long way to go before this series is actually a series. If Phoenix is able to win Game 4 and we’re headed back to Los Angeles tied at 2 we might have something to sweat about, but until that unfortunate scenario actually plays out keep cool and weather the storm. If there is one thing I ever learned from science class it was that even on the longest summer days the sun always has to set.
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