<font color="gold">Whoo!! Now I can exhale. A big rebound by Malone, and Kobe hitting those shots clinched the win. Big Steve Francis turnover and Malone had a great game. But I wish the Lakers could make it easier for themselves. But as long as they got the W and don't have to go back to Houston unless they lose which I doubt.</font>
I'm interested in seeing more pick & roll with GP. I think Doc Rivers pointed it out, when Kobe goes with the pick & roll he gets doubled/tripled. When Payton goes with the pick & roll, its only single coverage. Malone's play was inspirational. I love the fact that he played with the torn jersey...kinda like showing off your battle scars. Great win for the Lakers.
GP finally got to play in the 4th quarter after 2 straight games on not playing a single second in the 4th. Hopefully the <font color="gold">Lakers</font> make it easier for themselves and dominate like the last game like the <font color="yellow">Pacers</font> did the whole series against <font color="green">Boston</font>.
If shaq could hit at least half of these free throws, these games probably wouldnt even be that close. Its amazing how we can still win these games when he is constantly going 2-30 from the line. Gotta give props to malone. Mail does come on sundays. The dude is about 100 years old, has a bum foot and still delivers.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting lakeshow:</div><div class="quote_post">If shaq could hit at least half of these free throws, these games probably wouldnt even be that close. Its amazing how we can still win these games when he is constantly going 2-30 from the line. Gotta give props to malone. Mail does come on sundays. The dude is about 100 years old, has a bum foot and still delivers.</div> Yeahyeah!! On Shaq freethrows, it is one of the big reasons the Lakers struggle. Everytime I see him go to the line I'm like damn. Come on Shaq, at least make 1 man.
I was happy to see George starting the game instead of Rick Fox. Though you could have blamed Fox's slow start on the injury, it really hasn't picked up at all and his offense is horrible. George only played 22 minutes, but he atleast produced 8 points on 3 for 4 shooting, something Rick hasn't done too often. Kobe played a pretty bad game and Houston played great defense on him, but he pulled through in the end for this win. Malone was great, it's nice to see a guy other than Shaq or Kobe score 30 for a change..
Great win for the Lakers. Gotta give Karl Malone props. :thumbsup: 30 points, 13 rebounds--the first 40 year old to do so in the playoffs, and I just love how he refused to wear his backup jersey. After how well Karl Malone played, his torn jersey could be almost symbolic to him.
the lakers could have wrapped this game up early 4th quarter but they allowed houston to come back...Malone played excellent all game but the most significant player in the end was Kobe Bryant....that steal and finish on Jim Jackson showed why he is one of the best 2 guards in the league today...the complete package...tho he had a horrendous shooting game, its the W that counts...
It was close but still win is a win. Thank god for that. Malone played a great game.He has moved up into my top 10 greatest NBA players. Talk about a player with heart. I dont get Shaq. How in hell can you miss some much FT. He didnt have some much trouble the playoffs last year or the year before. Just make those FT.
Shaq is going through that infamous Nick Anderson funk of freethrow shooting. How can you go from having your career best a season ago, and then tie your worse season of freethrows? I don't understand where that supreme mental block that he has is coming from.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting 30 standing ver:</div><div class="quote_post">Shaq is going through that infamous Nick Anderson funk of freethrow shooting. How can you go from having your career best a season ago, and then tie your worse season of freethrows? I don't understand where that supreme mental block that he has is coming from.</div> One word, "Lazy."
Great win by the Lakers as we won yet another nailbiter. The player of the game is no other than Karl "The Mailman" Malone. In his best game as a Laker, he contributed when it matters most in the playoffs. 30 pts on 11/17 shooting, and crashing the boards with 13. He was on fire, kept knocking down shot after shot, and it seemed like he was more determined to win this game since that incident with Bostjan Nachbar. When he didn't change his jersey after Nachbar's rip, I just knew he'd use that as motivation and do all he can to win this game. Kobe Bryant didn't have his typical scoring streak, but he made some key plays down the stretch. He penetrated to the basket, drew contact, and that key steal he made and going up making the basket was very impressive. How about that taunt he did?? Pretty nice huh Rockets fans? Kinda answering back to what Francis did earlier in the game. I'm very concerned with Shaq. He really has to start getting into the gym and shooting free throws. Because he's horrendous at the line in this series. And if it wasn't for the other guys stepping it up on the offensive end, who knows how this series would've looked like? Ahh, 3-1 lead and going back to Los Angeles. Is it safe to say this series is over?? I think it is. Semifinals are just around the corner.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting 30 standing ver:</div><div class="quote_post">Shaq is going through that infamous Nick Anderson funk of freethrow shooting. How can you go from having your career best a season ago, and then tie your worse season of freethrows? I don't understand where that supreme mental block that he has is coming from.</div> There isn't a heck of a lot of difference between 61% and 49%. Tim Duncan's free throw shooting is more bizarre to me. He was a mid-70% free shooter for many years, and all of a sudden he's become Shaq at the line.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Laker_Fever_834:</div><div class="quote_post">Great win by the Lakers as we won yet another nailbiter. The player of the game is no other than Karl "The Mailman" Malone. In his best game as a Laker, he contributed when it matters most in the playoffs. 30 pts on 11/17 shooting, and crashing the boards with 13. He was on fire, kept knocking down shot after shot, and it seemed like he was more determined to win this game since that incident with Bostjan Nachbar. When he didn't change his jersey after Nachbar's rip, I just knew he'd use that as motivation and do all he can to win this game. Kobe Bryant didn't have his typical scoring streak, but he made some key plays down the stretch. He penetrated to the basket, drew contact, and that key steal he made and going up making the basket was very impressive. How about that taunt he did?? Pretty nice huh Rockets fans? Kinda answering back to what Francis did earlier in the game. I'm very concerned with Shaq. He really has to start getting into the gym and shooting free throws. Because he's horrendous at the line in this series. And if it wasn't for the other guys stepping it up on the offensive end, who knows how this series would've looked like? Ahh, 3-1 lead and going back to Los Angeles. Is it safe to say this series is over?? I think it is. Semifinals are just around the corner.</div> Don't count the Rockets out too early. Two of your wins were decided by Rocket misses at the end of regulation. This thing could have easily been 3-1 in favor of Houston. The Rockets are capable of winning in LA and Houston. I've seen a Houston Rockets team come back from a 1-3 deficit before (against Phoenix in '95), and the situation wasn't much different then. A 59-win team facing off against 46-win Rockets team, and the Rockets beat them three straight.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting durvasa:</div><div class="quote_post">Don't count the Rockets out too early. Two of your wins were decided by Rocket misses at the end of regulation. This thing could have easily been 3-1 in favor of Houston.</div> The Lakers were very capable of blowing the Rockets out early, but with Shaq missing his free throws, and the team forcing up horrible shot selections, the Rockets took advantage of that and made the game very close. But with the experience this Laker team has, they did enough to grab a 3-1 series lead coming home to Los Angeles. And I believe us fans are much content with that. <div class="quote_poster">Quoting durvasa:</div><div class="quote_post">The Rockets are capable of winning in LA and Houston. I've seen a Houston Rockets team come back from a 1-3 deficit before (against Phoenix in '95), and the situation wasn't much different then. A 59-win team facing off against 46-win Rockets team, and the Rockets beat them three straight.</div> It does feel great to look back in history and think your team has a shot of getting past an elimination game, but you have to come back into reality. You're not going to win Game 5, and you're not miraculously going to win three straight and eliminate our Lakers. You had a golden opportunity to win Game 4. The odds were in your possession in the closing minutes of the 4th quarter and you choked the game away. This loss drains your team's confidence, and if you can somehow contain Karl Malone who will be coming off a huge Game 4 win, and buckle down on Kobe and Shaq, then you could have a great shot to take the series back to Houston for Game 6, but the odds won't be in your favor. The Lakers want to head into the next round and take on the team that eliminated them last year, the San Antonio Spurs. And what a war that will be.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Magic Johnson:</div><div class="quote_post">One word, "Lazy."</div> Amen...
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting 30 standing ver:</div><div class="quote_post">Shaq is going through that infamous Nick Anderson funk of freethrow shooting. How can you go from having your career best a season ago, and then tie your worse season of freethrows? I don't understand where that supreme mental block that he has is coming from.</div> Its odd because during the broadcast one of the broadcasters mentioned how Shaq was practicing his free throws during practice the other day and before the game and he was making a large percentage of them. It must be a mental block of some kind.
I was extremely glad to see the Lakers pull this one out in the end. Yea, life would be a lot easier if Shaq could hit 50% of his free throws instead of 30%. That would make life A LOT easier. But, yea, HUGE game Malone. I don't know if they'd have won if it wasn't for him. Especially that clutch 3 point play in OT that cut the lead down to 1. Also, Kobe waking up in the OT was good, scored what, 6 in the OT. But, anyways, great to see the Lakers going up 3-1 with a chance to close it out at Staples.
While I too think the Lakers should wrap this up in LA, I would not be the least bit surprised if the Rockets push this series to 6, or even 7...I am having a horribly hard time convincing myself that the Lakers are the better team in this series...are they more talented, yes...better team? arguable...however, to have this much trouble with an inexperienced and young team in the playoffs for the first time in five years should be humoring the Spurs and Kings nicely...how do you have four future hall-of-famers and only be winning the series by only 8 points over 4 games??? While on the outside it appears yall have a comfortble and relaxing 3-1 series lead, as a veteran squad you should remind yourselves that 1) it could EASILY be 3-1 Rockets, and 2) this type of play will get you NOWHERE v. SA or Sac... I'm tired of Lakers fans acting all hard just because they think they got it easy...your team is very vulnerable this season and yall have to reeeeally step up your game to play against top dogs like SA...Houston has made it a more competitive series than yall ever thought, and they are playing a physical and aggressive brand of ball...and if you are struggling vs. an inexperienced team such as them, whats gonna happen against a SA, Minnesota or Sacramento? Good game and all, but yall need to relax with your bold statements of how easy a series this is and was gonna be...its STILL not over, and yall are foolish to think otherwise...
