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Friday, April 30, 2004
Sayson: LA’s vulnerability
By Homer Sayson
Second overtime
CHICAGO – LA braced itself against a storm with Houston in town for Game 5 of their best-of-seven first-round series yesterday at the Staples Center. It turned out to be just a harmless breeze as the Rockets melted in a blizzard of 22 turnovers, giving the Lakers a 97-78 win and a date with the San Antonio Spurs.
Kobe Bryant, who spent the last three days in Colorado for hearings on his sexual assault case, flew in to LA in time for tip-off. Except for missing his first field goal, he showed no signs of jetlag.
In fact, Kobe buried Houston with a turbulent effort of 31 points, 10 rebounds and six assists.
LA is 28-0 when leading a best-of-seven series. The win over Houston was the team’s 10th straight series-clincher and Phil Jackson is 14-0 in the first round of the playoffs.
Shaq had another lame effort in 40 minutes – 12 points, nine rebounds and five assists. But the 7-foot-1 pivot made up for his dormant offense with aggressive defensive play. Shaq had four shotblocks and he harassed Yao Ming to 3-of-10 from the field. Yao, who never got going, finished with just 10 points and five rebounds.
Three days after he became the first 40-year-old player to score 30 or more points in the post-season, Karl “The Mailman” Malone delivered another dandy, this time an 18-point, nine-rebound and five-assist masterpiece.
With Malone commanding too much attention in the paint, the Houston defense left the perimeter wide open, allowing the Lakers to shoot 50 percent from the field (39-of-78). Houston struggled with 28-of-68 (41.2 percent) with Steve Francis leading the brick parade with 5-of-15.
Rebounding had been a fateful barometer in deciding games in this series. Although Houston tied LA’s rebounds with 38, the Rockets didn’t survive their 22 miscues and the pathetic 13 assists. LA, meanwhile, only had 12 turnovers while dishing out 31 assists.
UNBEATABLE? With the Lakers finally advancing to the second round, reader Teddy II Piasidad (johnd_doh@yahoo.co.uk) asked if the Lakers are “infallible”.
I think not. On the contrary, the Lakers are very vulnerable. Their weakness lies in free-throw shooting (last in the league at 67 percent), guard play (Gary Payton is getting old and slow) and a highly-questionable bench, which hasn’t had a meaningful output thus far.
It’s easy to say that LA has Shaq and Kobe, two of the NBA’s most devastating forces. But it should also be noted that San Antonio owns the league’s best defense. The Spurs play with an enchanting sincerity on defense. They rarely leave a man open, they dive for loose balls, chase Kobe, and are not afraid to stand in front of Shaq to absorb an offensive foul.
Credit that toughness to their coach Gregg Popovich, a US Air Force veteran.
The Spurs will give Phil Jackson a migraine.
PLAY TO LOSE. Remember the time when Kobe mysteriously refused to shoot the ball against the Kings many Sundays ago, fueling speculations that LA wanted to lose to get a lower seeding and face Dallas instead of Houston?
Lawrence Sabellano of Isuzu Cebu asked if “intentionally losing is okay in the NBA?”
Certainly not. That’s tantamount to game fixing, which digs a knife into the heart of the game’s integrity. Playing to lose, however, is almost impossible to prove. And in the Lakers’ case, the matter became moot and academic when LA beat Portland and eventually won the Pacific Division.
(e-mail: homsay@hotmail.com)
(April 30, 2004 issue)
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