The Lakers were looking for their first winning streak of the season, but it did not come easy as they faced the revamped New York Knicks. The Knicks acquired defensive-savvy Tyson Chandler during the brief pre-season to bolster their roster, so the Lakers were in for a long night in the paint since they still were missing Andrew Bynum.
This game served as the Lakers’ fourth game in five nights, which is the most games of any team so far this season. The Lakers are obviously one of the older teams in the league so this series of consecutive games has taken a toll on their bodies. It showed throughout the night as most of the Laker players seemed sluggish on the floor and did not hustle for the ball.
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Pau Gasol started off the game strong by scoring the first four points for the Lakers in the paint and continued the first quarter with great ball movement from the paint. Gasol was able to end the night with 16 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists. Gasol is still suffering from a shoulder strain that he picked up during the Christmas day opener, so his offensive performance is a great sign that his health is improving.
One of the challenges for the Lakers was maintaining their foul control. The Knicks capitalized on the Lakers’ mistakes as they made 34 points of 41 attempts from the charity stripe and for a total of 82.9 percent for the game.
The Knicks were less aggressive in the paint during the first half, but they kept getting to the foul line. The Lakers have been pretty bad this season on the line as they have made just 75 percent from the charity strike leading up to this game, so this is something Mike Brown really needs to focus on during practice.
Even though the Lakers dominated the paint and got to the foul line as well, they were not as effective on the line in the game. The Lakers shot 63.6 percent at 14 for 22 in comparison to the Knicks’ 82.9 percent from the line. This is an area that the Lakers seriously need to improve on throughout the season because these points will count toward the end of the game, which was proven during the first game of the season.
Metta World Peace has grown into the leader of the Laker bench with his explosive offensive performances during the past three games, and he continued his effort against the Knicks. In the process, he has found a new offensive style that depends on post-up moves and drives in the paint. With his massive body size and nose for the basket, it makes perfect sense for him to limit his jump shots and camp underneath the basket.
Josh McRoberts showed his hops during the second quarter when he capitalized on a monster slam with a beautiful pass from Steve Blake. The Lakers have recently been criticized for being too old and ultimately lacking hustle, but the great effort by McRoberts and Troy Murphy has proven many of these opinions wrong. Once Bynum returns to the starting lineup, these two additions to the roster will become great sparks off the bench.
Next Page: Black Mamba Strikes
The Lakers showed their defensive power during the first quarter, as they forced the Knicks to miss seven consecutive shots. The Lakers dominated the paint during the first half as they started the game with a 14-0 advantage, which is quite surprising considering that the Knicks have Stoudemire and Chandler. With a combination of defensive stops and offensive explosions, the Lakers were able to lead the Knicks 63 – 51 at the end of the first half.
The Lakers shot a remarkable 67 percent from the floor during the first quarter. They had their highest scoring quarter of the season with 31 points, which shows some progress for their new offensive system. The new system under coach Mike Brown has proven to be one of the biggest challenges for the Lakers, and this game showed the best progress for the season.
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The Knicks looked like they fell asleep and didn’t want to wake up during the first half as the Lakers pounded the paint and continued their offensive dominance. The Lakers had a great shooting performance during the first quarter, but they did even better by posting a stellar 77 percent during the second quarter, for a total of 71 percent for the first half.
The Knicks appeared to look like a different team at the beginning of the third quarter as they found easy buckets in the paint, but that completely changed within a few minutes as their shots began to not fall. Nothing was falling for Stoudemire or Chandler the entire night as they both combined for 5-20 on the floor.
The Knickerbockers had to rely on the offensive prowess of Carmelo Anthony as he was the only one making an effort on the offensive end of the floor. Melo was going shot for shot with Bryant, but his 27 points were not enough to overcome the offensive attack of the Lakers. Anthony also posted seven rebounds and five assists.
Bryant is adjusting to the new offensive system under Mike Brown and he is taking advantage of the pick and roll opportunities that are now available. During the third quarter, Bryant was able to find Gasol on a simple pass from a pick and he showed some great power when he converted on a great two-handed slam.
Bryant showed some signs of his youth when he attempted to do a between the legs crossover while splitting two defenders, and had to chase down Stoudemire for a steal after coming up empty handed. He certainly did not look like his 33-year old self during that hustle play, and it sure seems that he will continue with this effort throughout the entire season.
The Black Mamba played a very efficient game and he was able to top it off with an amazing 4-point play during the third quarter as he beat the shot clock and was clocked on the head. Bryant smirked and looked a bit surprised when he banked the shot about five feet away from the three-point line.
He played his best during the third quarter as he posted 13 points and did multiple moves that reminded fans of his number eight days. Bryant was able to end the night with 28 points, four rebounds and six assists. He was also active on the defensive end of the floor with one steal and block in addition to his hustle plays.
Next Page: Defense and Three Point Mania
As the fourth quarter began, the Knickerbockers continued to struggle on offense as they could not find a steady flow. They looked completely lost and were not executing any plays as they relied on the moves of Anthony.
This obviously was not the best method to come back in a ball game because their ball movement suffered dramatically, which converted to 10 missed shots for the quarter. The Knicks were a dismal 31.3 percent from the field for the entire game, while the Lakers were able to post up 52 percent from the field.
Things were a bit chippy the entire game from the Knicks end as each member of their big three picked up a technical foul. During the first quarter Chandler had some words for Gasol as he picked up a technical foul. Later in the first half Carmelo Anthony picked up his own T for shouting obscenities at one of the referees for not calling a foul. And finally Stoudemire picked up a T in the third quarter.
What defined the night was a put-back slam that Barnes performed after Bryant missed a fastbreak layup during the fourth quarter . After Barnes converted on the dunk, Bryant just kept smiling and laughing. What followed this dunk was a series of three-point shots which were beautifully set up by Bryant.
UCLA alum Jason Kapano has played a very limited roll for the Lakers for the past three games, but tonight he sent a strong message to the Knicks that he still has his sweet three point game. He made two sweet three-pointers, ending the night with night points, three assists, and two rebounds. The Lakers acquired Kapano during the pre-season so that they can bolster their three-point shooting, and that is exactly what Kapano delivered last night with his effort.
The Lakers showed a great performance from behind the arc as they were able to make 9-15 of their three pointers. The bench played a huge component to this three-point effort as they made seven of those shots. This is a huge improvement in the season as they had only made 11 for 48 from downtown leading up to this game for a total of 23 percent.
The Lakers were able to pull away toward the end of the game with their offensive explosions and suffocating defense for a 99 – 82 victory, which ultimately evened their record to 2-2. What was most impressive from this victory was that their bench were extremely effective as they posted 40 points and 18 rebounds. If the bench reproduces this type of effort night in and night out, the Lakers will be a very dangerous team down the road in April.
We also learned last night that the new defensive-minded Lakers have more of an east coast style that relies on gritty play as opposed to a fast-tempo offense. Bryant has shown a lot of respect for Brown’s new system for the team and all Laker fans should learn to embrace this new style.
All of the Laker players seem to be adjusting pretty well to the new offensive and defensive systems, and once Bynum rejoins the squad, the Lakers should be in position for a great run.