http://sportstwo.com/NBA/Game/Recap/20080521NBA--LALAKERS--0 Recap: Bryant, Lakers blitz Spurs in second half LA LAKERS 89, SAN ANTONIO 85 LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- Kobe Bryant scored 25 of his 27 points in the second half as the Los Angeles Lakers erased a 20-point, third-quarter deficit en route to an 89-85 victory over the San Antonio Spurs in Game One of Wednesday night's Western Conference finals. Pau Gasol scored 19 points for the Lakers, who trailed, 65-45, with 5:54 left in the third and took their first lead of the night on Bryant's two free throws with 2:42 remaining in the fourth. San Antonio forward Tim Duncan's putback tied the game at 85-85 with 41 ticks left, but Bryant gave Los Angeles the lead for good with a jumper over Bruce Bowen with 23 seconds remaining. Duncan had 30 points and 18 rebounds for the Spurs, who had just one day to rest after eliminating the New Orleans Hornets with a dramatic Game Seven win on the road in the conference semifinals Monday night. <pre> SAN ANTONIO (85) AT LA LAKERS (89) SAN ANTONIO REBOUNDS PLAYER POS MIN FGM-FGA FTM-FTA OFF-DEF-TOT AST PF ST TO PTS T DUNCAN F 41:18 12-25 6-10 4 14 18 2 3 2 4 30 B BOWEN F 35:26 5-8 0-0 0 2 2 1 5 0 0 12 F OBERTO C 12:07 2-4 0-1 1 3 4 0 2 1 1 4 T PARKER G 41:03 7-17 4-4 3 7 10 6 2 1 2 18 E GINOBILI G 37:42 3-13 2-2 1 3 4 3 3 1 4 10 I UDOKA 24:58 3-7 0-0 0 1 1 1 4 0 1 7 M FINLEY 21:34 0-5 0-0 0 2 2 2 1 1 0 0 B BARRY 11:20 1-3 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 2 R HORRY 4:57 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 J VAUGHN 5:22 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 K THOMAS 4:13 1-2 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 D STOUDAMIRE DNP - COACH'S DECISION TOTALS 240:00 34-84 12-17 9 33 42 16 21 7 12 85 (.405) (.706) TEAM REBS: 10 TOTAL TO: 12 (11 PTS) LA LAKERS REBOUNDS PLAYER POS MIN FGM-FGA FTM-FTA OFF-DEF-TOT AST PF ST TO PTS L ODOM F 34:33 3-12 2-4 2 6 8 2 2 0 3 8 V RADMANOVIC F 24:00 5-5 0-0 1 4 5 0 1 1 2 10 P GASOL C 39:05 9-16 1-1 0 7 7 3 1 2 2 19 D FISHER G 29:43 1-9 2-2 0 3 3 0 5 2 1 4 K BRYANT G 43:34 11-21 4-4 0 5 5 9 1 1 1 27 S VUJACIC 31:30 3-8 2-2 1 4 5 2 1 1 1 10 J FARMAR 18:17 2-5 3-3 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 8 L WALTON 10:23 0-2 0-0 1 2 3 2 1 0 0 0 R TURIAF 8:55 1-3 1-2 1 3 4 0 3 0 0 3 C MIHM DNP - COACH'S DECISION I NEWBLE DNP - COACH'S DECISION D ILUNGA-MBENGA DNP - COACH'S DECISION TOTALS 240:00 35-81 15-18 6 35 41 18 16 7 10 89 (.432) (.833) TEAM REBS: 11 TOTAL TO: 10 (13 PTS) SAN ANTONIO 27 24 21 13 - 85 LA LAKERS 24 19 22 24 - 89 BLOCKED SHOTS: SAN ANTONIO - T DUNCAN 4, R HORRY. LA LAKERS - L ODOM 2, P GASOL 2, R TURIAF, S VUJACIC. 3-PT. FIELD GOALS: SAN ANTONIO 5-20 (.250), B BOWEN 2-4, T PARKER 0- 1, E GINOBILI 2-6, I UDOKA 1-3, M FINLEY 0-5, B BARRY 0-1. LA LAKERS 4- 10 (.400), K BRYANT 1-3, S VUJACIC 2-5, J FARMAR 1-2. TECHNICAL FOULS: NONE. FLAGRANT FOULS: NONE. OFFICIALS: BOB DELANEY, JIM CLARK, JOE CRAWFORD. A - 18,997. T - 2:35. </pre>
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Black Mamba @ May 21 2008, 10:51 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Phil is 40-0 when winning game 1 of a playoff series. As satisfying of a victory as that was, Odom really needs to step it up.</div> +1... But i think Farmar and Sasha compensated for Odom's absence today... Odom needs to capitalize on all his mis matches... No once can guard him on the Spurs bench
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Bryant leads Lakers to comeback victory By JOHN NADEL, AP Sports Writer 19 minutes ago LOS ANGELES (AP)?€”Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers waited until the third quarter to get going. Once they did, the San Antonio Spurs couldn?€™t stop them. Bryant scored all but two of his 27 points after halftime, including a go-ahead, 10-foot jumper in the lane with 23.9 seconds remaining, and the Lakers rallied from a 20-point deficit to beat the Spurs 89-85 on Wednesday night in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals. Game 2 will be played Friday night before the best-of-seven series shifts to San Antonio for the third and fourth games. The Lakers are 7-0 in the postseason at Staples Center, where they?€™ve won 13 straight games overall. Bryant?€™s jumper put the Lakers ahead for good after two free throws by Manu Ginobili with 1:22 remaining and a follow shot by Tim Duncan with 41 seconds left tied the game at 85. Ginobili then missed a 3-pointer, and Sasha Vujacic made two free throws with 7.3 seconds remaining to complete the scoring. The Lakers outscored the Spurs 24-13 in the fourth quarter, when San Antonio shot 4-of-18. Bryant also had five rebounds and nine assists. Pau Gasol had 19 points and seven rebounds, and Vujacic and Vladimir Radmanovic scored 10 points apiece for the Lakers. Duncan led the Spurs with 30 points, 18 rebounds and four blocked shots. Tony Parker added 18 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, Bruce Bowen had 12 points and Ginobili scored 10 for the Spurs. Ginobili shot just 3-for-13. Two straight baskets by Bryant cut San Antonio?€™s lead to three points with eight minutes remaining. Bowen made a 3-pointer with 7:38 left, but the Spurs went stone cold at that stage, going scoreless for nearly 6 1/2 minutes. The Lakers took advantage, scoring 10 straight points to take their first lead of the game. Bryant put them ahead for the first time by making two foul shots with 2:42 left, and added a jumper 24 seconds later following a turnover to make it 85-81. The Spurs outscored the Lakers 14-2 to start the third quarter for a 65-45 lead, drawing groans from the crowd of 18,997 at Staples Center, where the Lakers haven?€™t lost since March 28. Suddenly, the Lakers came together, scoring 14 straight points in a span of 3:05 to draw within six. Bryant had seven points and two assists during the run. Ginobili?€™s 3-pointer ended a four-minute scoreless drought, and the Spurs led 72-65 entering the fourth quarter. Duncan dominated the inside in the first half, getting 16 points and nine rebounds as the Spurs took a 51-43 lead. Shadowed by Bowen wherever he went, Bryant scored only two points in the half, making one of three shots and going without a free throw. He averaged 33.3 points and 13.4 attempts from the foul line in the Lakers?€™ previous 10 playoff games. Lakers coach Phil Jackson joked after the third quarter that Bryant had been on vacation. Backcourt mate Derek Fisher, averaging 11.9 points in the playoffs, went scoreless until the fourth quarter, when he scored four. Radmanovic, averaging 8.2 points in the postseason, made five shots without a miss for 10 points in the first quarter, but didn?€™t attempt a shot after that. Notes The Lakers are 52-7 when winning Game 1 in a best-of-seven series. ?€? The Lakers have beaten the Spurs in seven of their previous 10 postseason matchups, including all three in the conference finals. ?€? The teams are meeting in the playoffs for the sixth time since 1999, but the first since 2004, when the Lakers prevailed in six games in the conference semifinals. The Lakers didn?€™t win a postseason series from 2005-07. ?€? Lakers coach Phil Jackson has an NBA-record 188 postseason wins, while San Antonio?€™s Gregg Popovich has 100, tied for the third-most in league history with Larry Brown. Pat Riley is second at 171. ?€? Jackson-coached teams are 40-0 when they win the opener of a seven-game series. ?€? San Antonio?€™s Robert Horry has won seven championship rings?€”two with Houston, three with the Lakers and two with the Spurs. ?€? The Lakers have won 17 of their last 19 Game 1 home playoff games, and 19 of their last 22 home playoff games overall.</div> http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/recap?gid=2008052113
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Trench @ May 21 2008, 11:52 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Odom needs to wake up! It was all MVP!!!</div> It was just one game, everyone has an off night. What a game tonight. We were at BJ's and the house was rockin! Kobe is just getting better as every game goes on it seems. Thank goodness he won MVP, no one deserves it more. And......PROPS TO SASHA! What a great game by him offensively and defensively....not to mention those clutch ass free throws that I knew he'd knock down. Sasha is the freakin' man!
I know I was one of Sasha's harshest critics back on JBB, but he sure has earned my respect. GO MACHINE!!!!
i think we had a slow start coz of the 5 days off. we had to find our rhythm first. it took us almost 3 qtr.
QUOTE OF THE NIGHT "I thought Kobe went on vacation. I thought he went to Bermuda or something. I thought he went to the Bermuda Triangle instead of the sideline triangle, but we got him back this quarter." -- Lakers coach Phil Jackson on Kobe Bryant, who scored just two points in the first half but still finished with 27
In the 3rd quarter I started to have about my doubts about the lakers matching up wit parker and duncan, but kobe decided to show up in the 2nd half and lead an amazing come back.........I still say whoever wins the battle of odom and manu will win the series though, both were awful last night........Manu tried to force too much, and Lamar looked his pathetic alter ego.......that one move kobe put on manu (the behind the back, pump fake, off balance jumper off the glass) was sick as hell, and is a perfect example of how kobe offensively can do some things that MJ could never do............. In other news there are reports that Kobe got caught cheating with one of the laker girls..................and her name's vanessa, lol..............ole girl all of a sudden got kicked off the team for some reason (you can't even view her profile on NBA.COM, hahaha) http://www.nba.com/lakers/lakergirls/index.html the website that broke the story claims they have pictures, and they've broken other "dirty" stories before, so I wouldn't take it with a grain of salt http://www.thedirty.com/?p=27256 oh well at least he only cheated this time (like every other professional athlete).........
Eh I don't buy it, the site looks comical. I agree with the Manu/Odom matchup analysis, though. Odom needs to be way more effective. For God's sake he had Manu and Horry on him a lot last night, and couldn't convert. I don't remember him taking any jumpers or baby hooks...does that mean all of his shots were blown layups? He really needs to go back to how he was against Utah and start dunking everything. We won't lose this series if he plays good.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Eh I don't buy it, the site looks comical.</div> this is the same site that broke the matt leinhart story............... but either way he won't get into any trouble over this, because it's not like we didn't know every player in professional sports cheats so...............
Man, Spurs are getting really tired out by the 4th quarters nowadays. That horrible 4th in NO and now this. Ginobili had a god awful game, and he doesn't even have a reputation as a choker. Kinda sucks that you can't even call it a good game. During 2nd/early 3rd it's ugly for the Lakers... during 4th it's ugly for the Spurs. Hopefully Ginobili and Odom show up next game!
http://www.lakersmedia.com/?p=130 Here's a video of Sasha getting hit by Bruce Bowen Sasha's face afterwards like he was going to KILLLLLLL bruce bowen ROFL!!!!!!
sasha looks like a girl, but dude plays with a lot of heart, energy, toughness and never loses his confidence........gotta respect that.........
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (The Dream @ May 22 2008, 09:47 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>In the 3rd quarter I started to have about my doubts about the lakers matching up wit parker and duncan, but kobe decided to show up in the 2nd half and lead an amazing come back.........I still say whoever wins the battle of odom and manu will win the series though, both were awful last night........Manu tried to force too much, and Lamar looked his pathetic alter ego.......that one move kobe put on manu (the behind the back, pump fake, off balance jumper off the glass) was sick as hell, and is a perfect example of how kobe offensively can do some things that MJ could never do............. In other news there are reports that Kobe got caught cheating with one of the laker girls..................and her name's vanessa, lol..............ole girl all of a sudden got kicked off the team for some reason (you can't even view her profile on NBA.COM, hahaha) http://www.nba.com/lakers/lakergirls/index.html the website that broke the story claims they have pictures, and they've broken other "dirty" stories before, so I wouldn't take it with a grain of salt http://www.thedirty.com/?p=27256 oh well at least he only cheated this time (like every other professional athlete).........</div> Lol, she's younger than me. Well he definitely upgraded, he was partly together with his wife for the kids. There's no reason a multiple-time cheater like Kobe should be forgiven unless VB wants to maintain her lifestyle. I could care less about his personal life though, 90% of the NBA is full of people like that. There's no reason to single him out, hell, congratulate him. Yeah kind of off topic but those are my real thoughts.
Why didnt Ariza play? doesnt he have around 4 - 5 practices already under his belt since being cleared to practice?
