<font color="RoyalBlue"><font size="3"><div align="center">Los Angeles Lakers (24-22) @ New Jersey Nets (21-27) Wednesday February 9th, 2005 - 10:30PM ET Tipoff (ON KCAL)</div></font></font> Projected Lakers Starters <font color="Indigo">PG - Chucky Atkins SG - Caron Butler SF - Jumaine Jones PF - Lamar Odom C - Chris Mihm</font> Projected Nets Starters <font color="navy">PG - Jason Kidd SG - Jacques Vaughn SF - Vince Carter PF - Jason Collins C - Nenad Kristic</font> Nets lead the the season series 1-0 Key Stat The Lakers are in jeopardy of losing 4 in a row the first time this season. Key Match-Up Lamar Odom vs. Vince Carter Vince Carter dominated the Lakers at Staples in the first meeting. We all remember his 360 degree layup scoop shot. The Lakers have to find a way to slow him down tonight and keep the Nets under 100 points. It's going to be a tough task, because Vince has score over 40 point in his last two games. Add to it, Vince is also dishing out assists and make the game easier for his teammates. What ever Vince Carter brings to the table, the Lakers need Odom to match. Odom has been a 1 quarter player the last few games. He's coasted through the first 3 quarters, and then turns it on in the final quarter. Unfortunately, it hasn't been enough for the Lakers the last 3 games. The Lakers need Odom to get started early and sustain a steady attack throughout the game. He also needs to make teams pay for fouling him. Against the Hawks he went to the line 20 times, but only made 12 of them. I'd like to see Odom increase his shot attempts from 15 to 20 a game. Lakers' Keys to the Game - Lakers bench needs to outscore the Nets bench - Control the rebounding edge / BLOCKOUT - Stay out of foul trouble Nets' Keys to the Game - Get Vince going early - Force the Lakers to double team and swing the ball for open shots - Bait the Lakers into perimeter shots Prediction The Nets beat the Lakers at Staples, so it's time for the Lakers to return the favor. This is another crucial game for the Lakers, after losing to the Hawks. Moral is low and the Lakers need to stop the bleeding and get a road win. The Lakers have enough motivation to not come out flat and fall behind early. I'm leaning towards the Lakers sucking it up and stealing a close win tonight. The trio of Atkins, Butler, and Odom all show up at the same time and withstand Kidd and Carter's air show. Go Lakers! 101-98
End of the 1st Qtr.... Lakers lead (21 -20 ) LA led by 10 halfway through the 1st, lakers turned the ball over a couple times and Kidd hi back to back 3's to cut the lead to 2 with under 1 min to go in the 1st (lakers have struggled at closing out qtrs) kidd then hit a nice bank shot to end a NJ 10-1 leas to close out the qtr. Quick start for Jumaine Jones from behind the arc. Mihm had a couple nice blocks and got off to a good start as well. Caron butler had to leave the game in the 1st with a minor cut on his face, walton replaced him. Chucky atkins got into foul trouble (2) late in the 1st also. Lamar started off with 3 assists and 2 pts. LA didnt turn the ball over much, which has been trouble for them as of late.
Thanks for the play-by-play. I was hoping to watch the game live, but it's on a tape delay out here on the West Coast. Good to see JJ off to a fast start, he played well in the first meeting. Go Lakers!
Ahh my bad for no preview man... I think L.A. can win this one, we need a win badly..we are coming off of a loss to the Hawks.. I take L.A. 102-100
Ohhh!!! Lakers were down by 11 with a couple minutes to go.....went on a huge run and Chucky Atkins hit a game tying shot to send it to overtime. 92-92... LAKERS WIN IN OT! 104-103....VC tried to hit the game winner after a no call on the other end, but bricked it...loose ball out of bounds as clock expires. THATS what im talking about, lakers needed this W in the worst way. That makes 4 straight games of coming back from double digit defecit in the 4th qtr...just so happens they took the W' in this one. DMK
WOOOOO! What a win for the Lakers tonight! Chucky Atkins made a ridiculous bank shot to seal the deal. I couldn't believe that sequence at the end though. Odom and Walton got hacked like crazy, but the refs swallowed their whistles, giving the Nets a chance to win the game. Fortunately Vince Carter choked trying to shoot a fadeaway, instead of driving in a little closer. Huge win for the Lakers, but they have to gear up for the Pistons tomorrow night. Preview coming soon!
The Lakers came through on two of my three keys to the game. They dominated the rebounding battle 51-38 and they stayed out of foul trouble. Luke Walton did a nice job scoring off the bench for the Lakers. I though Hamblen did a better coaching job tonight, by being tighter with the rotation. Of course staying out of trouble helped him accomplish this, but you had to like the effort he made in the game. He was out of the seat the entire time and sweated up a storm yelling, cheering, and keeping his team focused on the game. I like seeing 6 players in double figures and more FTs shot, than 3pts.
I didn't watch the game, but it sounded exciting. What a win for the Lakers, they really needed this..to come back and win is even bigger..
