<div align="center">@ <font color="navy">The Indiana Pacers (29-29)</font> @ <font color="purple">The Los Angeles Lakers (29-28)</font> Time: 6:30 PM Western Place: Staples Center TV: FSN, NBALP</div> <div align="center"><font size="5"><font color="navy">Pacers' Head Coach</font></font> <font color="navy">Rick Carlisle</font></div> <div align="center"><font size="5"><font color="navy"> Pacers' Projected Starting Lineup</font></div></font> <div align="center"> <font color="navy">Anthony Johnson: 5.7 ppg, 3.6 apg, 2.2 rpg Reggie Miller: 12.4 ppg, 2.2 apg, 2.3 rpg Stephen Jackson: 16.7 ppg, 2.3 apg, 5.3rpg Austin Croshere: 9.3 rpg, 1.5 apg, 5.5 rpg Jeff Foster: 8.7 ppg, .6 apg, 9.8 rpg</font></div> <div align="center"><font size="5"><font color="purple">Lakers' Head Coach</font></font> <font color="purple">Frank Hamblen</font></div> <div align="center"><font size="5"><font color="purple">Lakers' Projected Starting Lineup</font></font> <font color="purple">Chucky Atkins: 13.8 ppg, 4.4 apg, 2.6 rpg Kobe Bryant: 27.9 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 6.0 rpg Caron Butler: 14.4 rpg, 1.7 apg, 5.4 rpg Lamar Odom: 15.6 ppg, 3.6 apg, 10.4 rpg Chris Mihm: 10.2 ppg, .6 apg, 6.8 rpg</font> </div> <div align="center"><font size="5"><font color="navy">Bench</font><font color="purple"> Factors</font></font> (<font color="navy">Fred Jones</font>,<font color="purple">Jumaine Jones</font>) </div> <div align="center"><font size="5"><font color="navy">Key</font><font color="purple"> Players</font></font> (<font color="navy">Stephen Jackson</font>, <font color="purple">Kobe Bryant</font>) Projected Stats <font color="navy">Stephen Jackson: 18 points, 3 assists, 6 rebounds</font> <font color="purple">Kobe Bryant: 38 points, 9 assists, 11 rebounds</div></font> <font size="5"><font color="navy">Keys</font><font color="purple"> to</font><font color="navy"> the</font><font color="purple"> Game</font></font> <font color="purple">Los Angeles:</font> <ul> [*]<font color="purple">Defend</font>- The Lakers let another team score 100, the Mavericks, yet they won. I don't see them letting the Pacers score 100, but if they do, it will be a loss. We need to defend and get back on defense, no easy baskets. [*]<font color="purple">Step Up</font>- People stepped up last game for the W. We need people to step up in this game also, Caron, Lamar, Mihm, and Atkins all need to show up. [*]<font color="purple">Lamar</font>- Lamar is lucky, no Jermaine in this one. He needs to take advantage of that, he needs to be aggressive on offense now, he doesn't have a shot blocker to worry about. [/list] <font color="navy">Indiana:</font> <ul> [*]<font color="navy">Get Out and Run</font>- The Lakers have bad D, if the Pacers can somehow manage to run in this one, they have a great shot at winning. [*]<font color="navy">Team Effort</font>- With no Jermaine, the Pacers are going to need someone to step it up big time. That is where Stephen Jackson comes in, he needs to step up and be a vocal leader along with Reggie Miller and lead the Pacers to victory. [*]<font color="navy">Offensive Boards</font>- Offensive boards are going to be huge in this one, if the Pacers can grab some, they will win this game. They are going to need a team effort in this one, offensive boards will help them a lot. [/list] <font size="5"><font color="navy">Random</font><font color="purple"> Movie</font><font color="navy"> Quote</font>*: </font> Creasy: Revenge is a meal best served cold. *Idea stolen from Supersonic <font size="5"> <font color="purple">Prediction</font></font> After losing 4 in a row, L.A. finally won one..they will make it two when they place the O'neal-less Pacers. L.A. wins 100-95.
Lakers by all means should handle this team. Indiana has been through the mud all season long after coming off one of its finest seasons. LA @ Home....on sunday...usually a winning combo. LA Wins this one if they play well like friday.
Kobe gets a quadruple double with 27 points, 10 assist, 10 rebounds and 10 turnovers (he was realy close another game this season, he had 9 TOs then) If that doesent happend I predict he gets alot of points and the Lakers win by the last bucket.
Looks like someone just watched Man on Fire, which is appropriate, because I think Kobe will be a man on fire in this game. Kobe plays well on Sundays, and I expect him to be energized for this game. Reggie Miller brings out the best in Kobe and I wouldn't be surprised to see him go for 40 again. The Pacers don't really have anyone to guard Odom, with Jermain out. He needs to be aggressive the way he was agains the Mavs and take it strong. I just hope the Lakers don't overlook this team with O'neal and Tinsley out. The Pacers can still fill up the basket from the perimeter, so the Lakers have to stay in attack mode all game long. Caron Butler needs to step up his defense on SJax. SJax is a streaky shooter, and he's had success against the Lakers when he was with the Spurs. Butler has the size and speed to keep up with SJax, but he has to be careful of picking up fouls and trying to help on the double team in the post. SJax moves well with out the ball, so Butler needs to be alert and his teammates need to communicate with him on defense. Lakers have a great chance of keeping this game under 100, so I predict they win it 96-92.
Who would have thought, 2 of the best teams last year.... both 8 seeds this year. **OT - Anyone know of a place with updated rosters and depth charts? i need to update the rosters on my game, but ESPN doesnt sub the injured players off their depth charts.**
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting DMKfromTPL:</div><div class="quote_post">Who would have thought, 2 of the best teams last year.... both 8 seeds this year. **OT - Anyone know of a place with updated rosters and depth charts? i need to update the rosters on my game, but ESPN doesnt sub the injured players off their depth charts.**</div>I recommend checking fantasy basketball sites for that type of up-to-date info. Rotowire.com and fanball.com are the top 2.
Damn the TWolves stole a win in Boston on some clutch shooting by Spree. This puts added pressure on the Lakers to win tonight. If the lose they will fall out of the 8th spot to Denver and tie for the 9th spot with Minny.
Lakers are owning the Pacers right now...huge game by Mihm with another double double on the way and Kobe being kobe, lamar is attacking the basket and LA are doing well on the boards. Kobe has 18pts in 18 minutes on 6-11 shooting. 5rebs ,1ast Mihm 10 pts 4-5 shooting, 7rebs Caron 10pts 4-7 shooting Lamar 7pts 3-6 shooting Chucky 2pts 3 ast. Walton 3pts 1-2 shooting 2rebs, 1 ast Lakers leading at the half 50-37. ****Update.... after 3rd... Lakers lead 77-65. Kobe Bryant has atleast 3 maybe 4 highlights this game, incredible stuff. Caron butler is playing VERY well on the glass especially, but has been hinderd by a few bad calls. Chucky turned it on in the 3rd, pushing the ball and attacking the basket much like he has the last few games. Kobe is shooting 13-13 from the line and has 33pts on 10-18 shooting. ***Update! .... LMAO@ carlisle calling a timeout after Jumanji hit a 333333 on the first possession of the 3rd. lakers up by 15. ***Update..... Lakers pulling away 84-67 with 8:35 left in the 3rd. Barring some miracle LA has this one wrapped. Very few games LA has played this year that were fun to watch all the way through, this is one of them. Jumanji is 2 for 2 in 3's...ahh so pretty. ***Update.....Lakers lead by 10..95-85 with 3:44 left in the 4th. Kobe just hit a crazy fadeaway, stephen jackson is playing huge for indy just knocked down a couple of 3's. ***Update.....Lakers lead by 9...99-90. Indy made a late run, but LA has held them off . ***Update..... LAKERS WIN!!!! 103-94. Kobe finished with a Double-Double 37pts, 10 rebs 2 ast. 12-24 shooting. Chucky added 16 Mihm with 14pts 10 rebs for a double double Lamar 13pts 9rebs caron with 10pts Jumaine with 9 pts 3-4 shooting behind the arc. All 5 starters in double figures. LA utterly dominated this game as they should with indy suffering right now. Kobe played great, Caron played very well off the ball with many offensive rebounds and put back oppertunitys. Mihm played very good as well, and jumaine really helped spark LA with the 3's off the bench to put LA over the top and secure the win as Indy made a late run. If you guys missed this game, shame on you...it was a laker fan's dream pretty much with LA leading throughout. Thats 2 games in a row LA has won, with the Clippers then the hurting Mavs to round out the week followed by Bobrats on saturday and what should be a good game on monday in Washington(which i will be attending) LA can really make up for their bad play with some wins here.
What a game, Lakers win..let the Pacers within 5, but pulled away..Kobe had a good game...37 pts 12-24 pts (I think)...great game, all starters in double figures..Did I not call this game for Kobe?
You certainly did my friend, u missed by 1 which is darn good. Kobe by all rights could have atleast 6 assists, but everytime he dished the ball it was either dropped or the person got fouled (not to make any argument cause its like that with anyone in the NBA) just an observation. Like i said, it was an entertaining game for any LA fan.
Yea, I was just majorly off on the assists, oh well..was still a great game..we need to beat the Clippers next...
Yea man, but like i said...the low assist number was certainly not for lack of effort. If we just take each game qtr by qtr, game by game...LA can really make up for their recent woe's. Kobe is playing very smart ball since he has come back which everyone always knew, that once kobe started choosing his shots better, he could easily be the the best player in the league, now averaging nearly 7 assists at the 2 spot while being averaging nearly 28pts a game isint to be taken lightly while adding nearly 7 boards a night. But all in all, what matters is W's and LA has a chance right NOW! to make a serious run in saving their playoff hopes. Granted, they will not dominate every game from here on out, they can still put up a fight and steal some games.
If only Chris Mihm could produce the same results on the road like he does at Staples. He seems to be the key to victories for the Lakes. When he can stay on the court, the Lakers usually win games, when he gets in foul trouble they lose. The Lakers looked very loose on the court and more comfortable in the offense. They were actually having fun in the game, and they played without a lot of energy on both ends of the floor. I think Kobe is committed to attacking the basket for the rest of the season. He completely dominated the Pacers' defense, and forced them to react to him instead of allowing them to set their defense and then try to attack. He only had two assists, but he initiated a lot of the ball movement on offense leading to open looks. I still would like to see Odom take 15 shots per game, but the last two games him and Kobe are playing well off each other. Odom missed a couple of easy layups, but he recognized right away the Pacers had no one to defend him and he took advantage of his iso plays with Foster on him. Odom also showed a nice mid-range attack around the free throw area. I'd like to see him use that more often, it was so effective against the Pacers. Now the Lakers need to take care of business against the Clippers and keep the momentum going heading into a 6 game road trip.
I?m looking forward to see the clippers win today!!This win would really help the lakers to get a bit closer to MEM . The Clippers could help us even more by losing the game tomorrow!
