Fancap: Killer Bees, Swans, and Snakes… Oh My!

Last night’s game in New Orleans was pretty spectacular and really entertaining to watch. The stars of the first half wouldn’t surprise anyone in Lakers Nation: Andrew Bynum continued his domination of everyone in the paint and the Black Mamba flashed a bit of #8 lurking beneath that purple cloth #24. There were three consecutive plays in the first quarter where I literally yelled “OHHH WHAT!” and meant it. I was blown away…. And it was all Kobe flowing and looking fresh.  He hit a number of threes as well, including a quick pull up bomb straight on; I love that.

Bryant had a huge block from behind on Emeka Okafor towards the end of the first quarter, and on the next possession showed that he still has some mad hops.  He cut down the left side of the lane from up by the three point line and finished with a monstrously vicious dunk worthy of his former ‘fro and #8.

It was more like what we’ve come to expect from Shannon Brown this season as opposed to Kobe. What an insanely beautiful play. And to follow it up, Kobe drove into the paint and showed exceptional body control by drawing the foul while making a sideways hook-shot.

His performance last night was masterful and still in the context of the offense. The whole team played well in that regard; there was a lot of activity on the left side of the floor, the ball movement was good and everyone seemed energized on both ends of the floor.

Next: The Law Offices of Bynum, Brown, Barnes and Blake
[phpbay]Lakers Swingman, 3, “”, “”[/phpbay]

Andrew Bynum was the other main force of fury last night and he was incredible.  I agreed with the announcers who said they have never seen him look so confident; even after another scare last night (the whole team immediately gathered around their fallen giant, which proves how integral he is to the team’s championship aspirations), he came out of the timeout playing inspired basketball.  He was backing defenders down, using drop step moves and just playing aggressively and confidently on both ends of the floor. It was beautiful.

Points in the paint and second chance opportunities were huge last night and the Lakers won both battles handily, as well as the battle of the benches.  Lamar was quiet for him, but still managed a double double and played very well. Steve Blake looked sharp, and Matt Barnes had some great defense plays last night as well as some sweet moves inside.

And what would a Lakers game be without a Shannon Brown slam? A quick cut in the post, drive left baseline and there it was: an explosive, expected but still awe-inspiring, Shannon Brown dunk. Ron Artest didn’t finish with big numbers by the way, but he came out of the gate continuing recent surge and had two pretty moves back to back: a spin move in the post and a cut inside for a dunk that resulted in a 3 point play.

Next: The Black Swan Returns
[phpbay]Lakers Gear, 3, “”, “”[/phpbay]

There was a classic Derek Fisher sequence in the 3^rd quarter that I loved. Fish was fouled on his way to the basket, but swung his elbow into the defender’s face and got called for a technical.  It was kind of cute because he knew he did it; he didn’t argue with the official and stood there placidly with his hands behind his back. The Lakers got the ball because of the other foul called and Fisher buried a three. As the announcer said, “That’s Derek Fisher!”

Wouldn’t you know it: Pau finally came alive last night!! It took a little while, longer than I would have liked, but the second half belonged to the Black Swan. Gasol made a momentum-changing corner 3 in the beginning of the fourth quarter, which seemed to get him going.  It was his second 3 of the year and only the 21^st of his career, serving to finally energize his game.

After the big shot, he dished to Steve Blake who hit is own three, then collected two rebounds on his own misses for second chance point opportunities and hit a soft jumper off an excellent pass from LO. Pau had 13 of his 17 points in the second half and had 10 boards as well as 4 assists to complete his resurgence last night.

I loved watching him operate; he was aggressive and working in the paint, and even had a Kobe-like snarl and chest pound for himself after one particular play. It was great to see and is an excellent sign for the Lakers moving forward. They won by 14 points last night and stole back home court advantage to take a 2-1 series lead over the Hornets.

It was great to see them come out so focused and ready to play for their first road game of the playoffs. Game 3 was a fun win with contributions from multiple sources and in multiple ways. I have a feeling the switch is in the “ON” position from now until we get that 16^th win!

[phpbay]Los Angeles Lakers, 3, “”, “”[/phpbay]