The Lakers need this game if they have any hope of moving up to the 4th or 5th seed. KG is playing like a monster right now, but the rest of the Wolves are doing their parts too. The Wolves, like the other 28 NBA teams, have no one to stop Shaq. And, like the other 27 NBA teams, (excluding the Pacers with Ron Artest) they have no one to slow down Kobe. This game should be exciting, as KG and Kobe are currently the Top 2 MVP Candidates! Keys to victory for the Lakers: 1) Don't let KG dominate the inside and the boards, he is a killer if he can do this. 2) Feed the ball into Shaq early and often. 3) Play good rotation defense, we can't let guys like Peeler, Hudson, Wally and Gill get multiple wide-open shots. 4) Give Kobe a few one-on-one opportunities early on, we need to know if he has found some kind of a groove again.
Shaq is playing like a BEAST in the first half! He has two great blocks on KG and Mike Wilks, and he is running the court really well. He is very mobile, it is clear that his foot is much better. Of course, we'll probably lose our ten point halftime lead in the third quarter. BTW...what a play by Foxy and Kobe before the half!
Well, Madsen and Horry were just all over Garnett, who had a very bad game. They held him to only 12 points, and he just got 3 garbage points at the end. Mad Dog had a season high 10 points to go along with 6 boards! What a great game for him! Shaq had his best game of the year with a season high 40 points, and 14 rebounds and 5 nice blocks! He just completely dominated the whole game! Kobe also had a nice performance with 30 points, 4 rebounds, and 7 assists. Fisher took way too many shots, and missed far too many easy ones. He only had 9 points on 3-14 shooting, but he did have a season high 6 rebounds, to go along with 5 assists.
