Preview: Game 3 Western Conference Finals TWolves @ Lakers 5/25/04 (TNT)

What did I tell you guys?Twenty-two points in the second half,I think Kobe just scores when he wants to.Anyways did any one see what Shaq told that guy (forgot his name)who was interviewing him he said thats an ugly suit you got on,I would have responded by saying :Yeah and thats an ugly free throw you got Shaq.

 

I didn't watch the interview, was Craig Sager interviewing him...he wears some ugly suits...

Lakers pulled out a game that was beginning to look ugly. This game showed how much better the Lakers are than the T-Wolves. Even with all the mistakes they made, the Lake Show was still able to keep a firm handle on this game.

 

That game was sitting their on the t-wolves to win all night. But they just didnt reach out & grab it.

I have 2 problems in Flip rotation tonight....

The 1st was in the 2nd quarter, SHaq & Kobe was on the bench, that when you have to make a run on the Lakers yet he left KG & Spree on the bench that entire time which was about 2 or 3 minutes. So the wolves didnt have a unit on the floor that could make a run. And the laker lead stayed at 7 the entire time they were on the bench.

The 2nd was in the 4th quarter, I dont understand once Kobe started bumbing away from 3. And the lead got up to double digits why didnt Flip go to his best shooting lineup which means Fred Hoiberg is on the floor instead of D.Martin. Martin missed 2 wide open three's when the wolves went on their toward the end of that game. If fred in the game instead then he probably gets those looks.

The Wolves needed Spree & KG to carry them for 4 quarters. And they didnt do that tonight. Spree had one good quarter. And KG played well in the 1st half. KG is really struggling to score against Karl. He seems to be scoring most of his points in bulk against Slava so far in this series. Thats not a good sign for the wolves, because unless Karl gets in foul trouble like in game 2, KG seems like he is going to struggle to score 20pts. But the Wolves really need KG to score 25plus inorder to beat this team.

Wally had a big game, but I still think they need to get him & fred going in the same game that will get them a great shooting attack especially since the Lakers give up so many open jumpers.

They gave GP, Devean to many open jumpshots. It was poor rotation by the Wolves after they helped to double team the post, thats probably the main thing the wolves need to improve on defensively. And offensively they need to go to the basket more.

A big difference between tonight's game compare to the 1st two games, was that none of the wolves bigs scored any points really. In game 1 the Wolves bigs combined to score 12pts, In game 2, they combined to score 17pts, tonight only 2pts. And that was on an Ervin Johnson lay up. I know the wolves bigs arent going to score alot of points but they have to find away to produce some baskets by cleaning up the offensive boards. And moving without the ball to get layup opportunities off pick & roll.

Anyway I think the Wolves should still be confident going into game 4. They just need to tighten up a few things here & there. And they will be their at the end to try to get the victory & even this series up at 2. But once again the Wolves are in must win time for game 4 imo. So hopefully they will come out with that type of energy on the defensive end.

 

Great team game by the Lakers. I was kinda disturbed when the Lakers allowed the Timberwolves to stay in the game for that long but a win is a win so lets move on now. Highlight of the night was when KOBE BROKE LATRELL'S ANKLES HAHAHAHA. I bet he'll be iceing em all night.

 

Good W for the Lake show and more kudos for them bussing a hundred. About time, jeez.

 

We hung tough but ran out of wheels and couldn't hit shots when we needed them.

T-Wolves will make some adjustments for Game 4 tomorrow evening and come back out firing to try and get a win again. Solid effort hanging in as long as they did last night, but they need to play for 48 minutes and not 40 minutes.

 

Overall, that was a great game, but I didn't get Kobe at all. I thought he was going to explode in the second half for like 30 points but i was close. I don't think the T-Wolves have a chance at winning in LA. Lakers in 5

 

Naw, if the T-Wolves don't win tomorrow night this series will go 6 games and (miraculously could go 7).

 

I wish people would have reasons to back up their post instead of "the Lakers are going to win because their at home". I don't give two pieces of monkey crap about a teams home versus road record. I like when people give in depth looks as to why they would expect the team to win. Anyway, the Wolves could have played better, but it does show why jump shooting teams don't do as well in the championship run. But, IMHO, the Lakers took the game instead of the Wolves giving it away. They made timely shots and got rebounds when they needed them. The "Hack-a-Shaq" theory ended up hurting the Wolves because they were in the penalty early in the 4th. Do remember that the Wolves did cut to 17 point lead to 8 or something late.

 

They actually cut it to 2 and couldn't take the game.

I say Lakers in 5, because like Kenny (Smith) said, the Lakers seem to be playing with headphones on. Or my take, they seem to be playing like the Spurs. Slow, methodical, getting the job done. They aren't playing their usual Flashy, Showtime selves.

Kobe goes to court tomorrow, and if his 'streak' holds up, look for a 30/40 point game from him. If that happens, look for the Lakers to be a lot more Showtime, and a lot less Spurs.

And if that happens...Well Phil Jackson teams are like 28-0 in closeout games.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting PLATWolve:</div><div class="quote_post">Naw, if the T-Wolves don't win tomorrow night this series will go 6 games and (miraculously could go 7).</div>

How about no? If the TPups don't win tomorrow night, consider this series all but O-VAH!! (Stephen A. Smith's way of putting it of course) There is no way you'll rally from a 3-1 deficit, there is no way that you can beat this Laker team three straight times, and there is absolutely no way that you're gonna ruin Gary and Karl's hopes of reaching the Finals once again. Payton since 1996 with the Sonics and Malone's 1997 and 1998 chances. You better be biting your fingernails for each minute that goes by tomorrow night because your season could be over in a matter of hours.

 

Excellent win by our Lakers last night. It's nothing but business as we returned to Staples Center and conituned our dominant playoff winning streak at home at 7-0. Much props go out to the following Laker players: Karl Malone. Maybe he wasn't his usual self from the field hitting his 18 footers at a consistent pace, but he really did a good job of stepping up to the challenge and defending the MVP Kevin Garnett. Very much of the way he guarded the former MVP Tim Duncan, he harassed KG, disrputed him, made him work and sweat it out for each and every field goal opportunity, and yes the pulling of the chair was terrific to look at to. And another surprising stat for Garnett: FOUR trips to the charity stripe. KG will really have to give his team a massive MVP type performance very much like the Sacramento Game 7 game, because 22 points and 11 boards will not get your team a W.

Moving on, Kobe Bryant gets a nod as well. What was surprising to me and other Laker fans was scoring no points in the first half, going at the time 0/2 from the field. And do you want to know why? Because he didn't want to be selfish. He wanted to provide a share of the basketball, to get his teammates involved before himself, and he wanted a fair Laker offensive flow. And I keep preaching this in my preview. It's not a problem scoring 25 points a playoff game, but if you put your teammates first before yourself, that makes you a team leader. And what happened? In the second half, he just exploded. Knocking down two huge threes from the perimeter. Anybody notice how he broke Spree's ankles?? DID YOU SEE HOW HE SLIPPED ON THAT COURT? HAHAHAH!!

For Gary Payton and Shaq, Gary played excellent in the first period. He received a fair amount of touches, and actually scored 14 points at the half. Second half he just disappeared however, and I'd really want to see more from him rather than just scoring in the first quarter. Anybody can score baskets in the first quarter, but what's more to the team? Scoring baskets in a 12 minute quarter or scoring for 48 minutes total? Shaq showed his dominance once again in the paint, accepting the challenge of Minnesota's quartet of centers, but his free throws are still a liability. Maybe Shaq has to go back to that article that Phil gave him about the man hitting 3,000 free throws in a row because Shaq once again went back to his old habit of just clanking it off the rim. Nonetheless, the Lakers won the game and as long as we're up 2-1 in the series preparing for a huge Game 4 in our house and a chance to be one step closer to our goal, the NBA Finals, that's all that matters to myself and the other Laker fans.

BTW, can anybody smell the Just TWO MO victories!!

 

Good Game by the Lakers Last Night

 

How about no? If the TPups don't win tomorrow night, consider this series all but O-VAH!! (Stephen A. Smith's way of putting it of course) There is no way you'll rally from a 3-1 deficit, there is no way that you can beat this Laker team three straight times, and there is absolutely no way that you're gonna ruin Gary and Karl's hopes of reaching the Finals once again. Payton since 1996 with the Sonics and Malone's 1997 and 1998 chances. You better be biting your fingernails for each minute that goes by tomorrow night because your season could be over in a matter of hours."

Here's a concept; how about play the games and let the games do the talking? If the T-Wolves win tomorrow night (which they could because the game hasn't been played yet) then they have a very good chance at making this a 7 game series. If they don't win tomorrow night, then it's most likely over in 6 games (I'll conceid that) to you (The Lakers) But, I refuse to believe that the series is over because you guys won last night. Another note, what makes Karl Malone and Gary Payton so much more special than lets say Latrell Sprewell and Kevin Garnett chasing their first Championship rings? Just because they played a lot longer?

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting PLATWolve:</div><div class="quote_post">How about no? If the TPups don't win tomorrow night, consider this series all but O-VAH!! (Stephen A. Smith's way of putting it of course) There is no way you'll rally from a 3-1 deficit, there is no way that you can beat this Laker team three straight times, and there is absolutely no way that you're gonna ruin Gary and Karl's hopes of reaching the Finals once again. Payton since 1996 with the Sonics and Malone's 1997 and 1998 chances. You better be biting your fingernails for each minute that goes by tomorrow night because your season could be over in a matter of hours."

Here's a concept; how about play the games and let the games do the talking? If the T-Wolves win tomorrow night (which they could because the game hasn't been played yet) then they have a very good chance at making this a 7 game series. If they don't win tomorrow night, then it's most likely over in 6 games (I'll conceid that) to you (The Lakers) But, I refuse to believe that the series is over because you guys won last night. Another note, what makes Karl Malone and Gary Payton so much more special than lets say Latrell Sprewell and Kevin Garnett chasing their first Championship rings? Just because they played a lot longer?</div>

I agree, there'll be no way the Timberwolves are going to the Finals if they lose the next game. If they do win it, I also think the series could be extended to Game 7. But too much at stake playing the final game of the series on the Timberwolves' homefloor, and I think the Lakers know this.

The Lakers have a tendency to go fat and lazy after taking control of sth like this series. This is their main weakness, they do not have the mean killer instinct anymore. But perhaps it is understandable yet not acceptable that being on top makes it hard to stay on top. Being on top makes one forget how they get there, it happens to every human, well except LeBron James.

BTW, I didn't follow Game 3 through play-by-play, cable, nor the radio link but from what I saw in the game recap it was an unusual and strange game. Kobe SABOTAGED the game once again : http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs2004...marc&id=1809579

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting PLATWolve:</div><div class="quote_post">Here's a concept; how about play the games and let the games do the talking?</div>
That's what we do man. We use our golden opportunities to play at Staples Center and 48 quality minutes pay off. The numbers don't lie. 7-0 at Staples this year and we're on the verge of making it 8-0 by tomorrow night.

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting PLATWolve:</div><div class="quote_post">If the T-Wolves win tomorrow night (which they could because the game hasn't been played yet) then they have a very good chance at making this a 7 game series.</div>
I don't see that happening, and you may think I'm biased or whatever, but check this out. Last night, Kevin Garnett scored 22 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. A quick stat I want to throw out to you that I heard on ESPN Radio last night is the TWolves are 0-4 when Garnett scores 20 or less. And by the way Malone has been containing some of the best permier power forwards in the league like Duncan in the conference semis and now Kevin Garnett harassing his opponents, getting under their skins, and pulling out the chairs, the Wolves are in some serious trouble.

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting PLATWolve:</div><div class="quote_post">If they don't win tomorrow night, then it's most likely over in 6 games (I'll conceid that) to you (The Lakers) But, I refuse to believe that the series is over because you guys won last night. Another note, what makes Karl Malone and Gary Payton so much more special than lets say Latrell Sprewell and Kevin Garnett chasing their first Championship rings? Just because they played a lot longer?</div>

Well you can be in denial all you want, but as long as Shaq dominates the paint area, takes those lean bodied centers on a ride to the basket, and scores 30-20 it's over. If Kobe Bryant can surrender his game a bit and allow his teammates to get involved before himself, and still turn it on in the second half, it's over. If Karl Malone can continue his dominating defense over KG, it's over. And lastly, if the Lakers can guard the perimeter for a change and force the TWolves into horrific shot selections, I consider this series over. There is no way the TWolves can overcome a 3-1 series lead, there is no way they'll win three straight against the Lakers. What more do I have to say? The Finals will soon be upon us.

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting PLATWolve:</div><div class="quote_post">Another note, what makes Karl Malone and Gary Payton so much more special than lets say Latrell Sprewell and Kevin Garnett chasing their first Championship rings? Just because they played a lot longer</div>

The reason why they're much more special is because these two men made huge sacrifices in their salaries to come to a winning team and win a championship. And in today's sports society where having huge bank accounts is a tremendous plus, what other guys would go for that?

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting PupMelo:</div><div class="quote_post">Being on top makes one forget how they get there, it happens to every human, well except LeBron James.</div>
Not to be rude or anything but doesn't being on top include getting into the playoffs and winning a title. LJ is a long way from the top. Maybe the top of his team but no where near any of the stars that are playing in this series (Kobe , Shaq, KG, Payton, Cassell, etc.).

The Lakers played very efficiently in this game but their game needs a little tightening on the offensive end. Some of the turnovers prevented the Lakers from taking a huge lead in the beginning of the game.