Well, thats three loses in a row now. The Lakers were looking to start some momentum rolling before their 9 game roadie coming up, but fell just short in the end, falling to Cleveland 98-95.
The Lakers came out playing well early and put together a strong first quarter. The 12 minute period ended up lasting for about 45 minutes real time, because of a rare, indoor, rain delay caused by a leaky roof. The delay didn't affect the Lakers though, and they came out just as hot after the extended break.
Kobe was really the catalyst for the Lakers in the first half- playing great basketball. He was a perfect 6-6 from the field and also dished out 5 assists in the first half. However he sat out for a lengthy period of time in the 2nd quarter, and the bench wasn't able to step it up in absence, putting the Lakers down 9 at the half.
Thankfully the Lakers did not have another disastrous third quarter- in fact it was quite the opposite. Los Angeles actually opened the period on a 15-2 run, with great team basketball and good contributions from Farmar and Sahsa off the bench.
Things started to fall apart towards the end of the third, when missed shots, bad defense, and a poorly timed technical foul by Kobe, allowed Cleveland back into the game, down by only two heading into the final period.
The Lakers started off the fourth quarter with an unconventional small lineup of Farmar, Sasha, Walton, Kobe, and Kwame Brown. This turned out to be a masterstroke by Phil Jackson. They weren't able to match up great with the Cavs, but they made up for it with offensive rebounds, hustle, and the abundance of shooters which allowed them to spread the floor and get open threes.
The Cav's center, Zydrunas Ilgauskas fouled out with 6 minutes remaining, and this ended up actually hurting the Lakers. It forced them to go to a different lineup and they had less shooters on the floor. Kobe took this as an invitation to settle for one-on-ones with Lebron James, and was routinely shut down while attempting terrible shots. Phil Jackson yanked Kobe from the game with only 5 minutes left, to remind his star to play team basketball. I think this was good coaching by Phil, he knew it might cost his team a game, but he was sending a message for the rest of the season.
Kobe re-entered the contest with less than 4 minutes to go, and his team down by 4. Immediatly following his re-entry, Kobe missed a pair of freethrows, but Luke Walton made a huge play on the next possesion. He snuck up behind James, poked the ball free and went off on a one man fast break for an uncontested dunk.
The end of the game was marked by two bizzare Laker possessions. The first featured a few controversial non calls. After stealing the inbounds pass and down 1 with less than a minute, Kobe missed a layup attempt, got his own rebound, and then had the ball stripped by Daniel Gibson with lots of contact during the whole play. Kobe almost got himself ejected arguing the two non calls, and meanwhile the game clock operator had forgotten to start the clock during the whole sequence.
The officials decided to put 10 seconds on the clock and gave the ball to Cleveland despite Bryant's protests. The Lakers put Lebron on the line for two huge free throws, but despite and empty trip his last time at the line, he calmly sunk both of them. This put L.A. down 3 with 9 seconds to go, giving them the opportunity to go for a quick two, or attempt the tying three pointer. They chose to do neither. In an incredibly disappointing final play, Kobe and Luke were content to play catch and watch the time expire, finally culminating with Walton passing back to Bryant with less than a second remaining, and the buzzer sounded without a shot attempt.
POTG- Lebron James. Lebron was simply dominant in the game, and was the #1 reason the Lakers lost this game. He barreled to the hole time and time again. He looked like a monster truck, and the Lakers were the cars getting crushed- he just went right through them. Even when he was fouled, he often converted a three point play. Kobe was the only Laker who was able to guard him with any real success, but got burned on a huge final minute play. Lebron called for an isolation at the top of the key, and took Bryant on one on one. He dribbled out the shot clock, and shook Kobe before hitting a fall away 20 footer. This dagger put the Cavs up 3 with less than 30 seconds to play and the Cavs hung on for the W.
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