If this is what the next 2 Bynum-free months are going to be like, wake me up in March. Tonights game was an overall disappointing effort by the Lakers, falling to the now Western Conference leading, Phoenix Suns, 106-98.
The game got off to a horrible start for the Lakers, with the first unit looking incredibly out of sync. The absence of Bynum was painfully obvious. The Lakers showed early signs of life, hitting the offensive glass strong, and going on small runs, but Phoenix opened up a 13 point lead after the 1st half.
Kwame Brown had a very tough game- to understate it dramatically. It was already apparent in the very early goings that he was no Andrew Bynum. He is not as long, not as strong, not as patient, and lets not even talk about his hands. His finishing ability is incredibly disappointing and hard to watch after seeing Bynum the past few months. Too often Kwame settles for layups (which he routinely misses) instead of easy dunks. I hate to pile it on Kwame, I really do, becuase I think he is trying. But he's been forced into a really unfortunate situation. It's not his fault that Bynum is injured, and yet he is now inevitably compared to the young star.
In one horribly painful segment of the third quarter, Kwame had possibly the worst ever stretch of basketball to grace the Staples Center floor (well, disregarding some Clipper games). It began midway through the third quarter when he hesitated, passed on a wide open jumper, and proceeded to draw a traveling call while he headed to the basket without so much as thought to dribble. On the next possession, he grabbed an offensive rebound and smashed home a huge dunk- off the back of the rim. The crowd was booing him mercilessly at this point and I was thrilled to see him try to atone by going strong to the hole on the next possession. Sadly he blew that layup attempt. On the next possession he threw the ball to a wide open... Shawn Marion. The boos rained down like never before. I think he was getting booed louder than Kobe gets booed on the road. Finally Phil had to take him out. He finished with 8 points on 3-8 shooting, 6 rebounds, and 7 turnovers. Close to a triple double. I feel for the guy, but I just don't see how he can be our starting center for the next 8 weeks. Its a nightmare... For all parties involved.
Somehow the Lakers were able to compose themselves, and make a run in the beginning of the fourth quarter, with Kobe on the bench. Sasha Vujacic and Jordan Farmar both came up huge. When Phil Jackson finally brought Kobe back in, the Lakers were down 11 with 6 minutes to go. Some scrappy play and big shots by #24 closed the deficit to 6, but the Lakers were unable to get any closer than that.
Final Thoughts
Overall, this was a very tough game to watch. I was really hoping the Lakers would come out with high intensity and try to use this as a "statement game", as I alluded to in todays previous post. Sadly the effort wasn't really there, and Phoenix is just a better team than the Bynumless Lakers.
While I have already lambasted Kwame enough, I feel his play really did hurt the team tonight. There is simply no excuse for a big to get 7 turnovers- one third of the teams total. I hated to see the crowd booing him, I don't think we should ever boo our own, but if anyone ever deserved it, it was Kwame tonight.
Finally, I think Phil waited a little too long before he brought Kobe back in. The Lakers had their peak in momentum around the 7 or 8 minute mark of the 4th when Sasha hit back to back threes. If Kobe had come back in then, with the momentum still in our hands, we may have been able to make it close down the stretch. Instead we came up empty on our next two possessions, and allowed Phoenix to score, before calling a timeout and bringing Bryant back in.
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