In the 15 minutes that treaded by between the first and second half of Game 4, the Lakers packed up their defense and stowed it away in the locker room, completely collapsing in the final two quarters to the will of Big Baby.
Kobe Bryant’s third quarter brilliance was once again wasted by the rest of the players that were accompanying him on the floor from Pau Gasol down to Jordan Farmar. In a flash, Pau reverted back to his 2008 form and was tossed around like a paper mache crane by Glen Davis who bulled his way to four offensive rebounds and 21 points on 7 of 10 from the field.
Lamar Odom had no chance all night at stopping the drooling Big Baby, a matchup that had begun unraveling for us since Game 3. Last night, Davis took a Sharpie to his forehead and wrote, “Big Baby owns you”.
At some point, Odom going to have to realize that for him to be mentioned in the same breath as the plethora of great role players in Lakers history, he must develop the skill of recognizing what the game demands of him at whatever moment.
In Game 4, especially given the absence of Bynum, what we needed from LO was nothing more than boxing out to protect the glass and staying solid on defense. Play after play, he let Big Baby drive baseline for preschool level looks at the rim – abominable basketball to put it kindly.
The Celtics’ second unit led by Davis, played so well against our bench and starters included, that Doc Rivers did not reinsert Kevin Garnett, Rajon Rondo and Paul Pierce until there were less than four minutes to play.
Kobe did everything he could getting to the free throw line nine times in the fourth quarter, but like a damaged skipping record on repeat, Pau and Lamar were bulldozed as the Celtics pulled away to earn the win.
To make matters worse, Andrew Bynum played roughly two minutes in the third quarter and was replaced full-time by Odom who was clearly exhausted on the defensive end as the game was winding down. It was as if Boston’s apprehension in the paint diminished once they realized that Bynum was not only going to sit the rest of the game, but that his impact in the rest of the series is questionable.
We obviously sorely missed Drew’s strong rebounding and interior defense as the C’s outscored us 54-34 in the paint.
With the NBA Finals now a best of three series, the Lakers’ chances literally hinge on the health of Drew’s deteriorating joint.
As the case may be, there are absolutely no justifiable excuses for the Lakers’ incompetent, half-hearted effort on defense. To allow Big Baby all the inside looks he wanted and open lanes to the cup for Nate Robinson, was simply embarrassing to watch as a fan.
NEXT: On the wrong side of the glass
I really don’t understand what it’s going to take for the Lakers to realize that rebounding and sound defending are what’s going to capture a 16th NBA title. Boston tanked us on the boards 41-36, grabbing 16 offensive rebounds, many of which were immediately put back into the confines of the rim with relative ease. Surprise, surprise, the team that won the battle on the glass won the game.
The Lakers’ defense and rebounding were superb in the first half, which is what makes their performance in the second so mind boggling. You have to wonder whether or not the absence of Andrew Bynum had some sort of discouraging effect on our mental fortitude.
Our will to win Game 4 can basically be summed up by one simple play – when Nate Robinson, the little engine that could, dove on the ground to rip possession away from Jordan Farmar who meekly flapped his arms towards the ball to no avail.
Bluntly put, the Lakers played with no heart in the second half.
The other alarming element of Game 4 was our inability to hold onto the rock. While the Celtics turned it over 12 times to our 15, the Lakers gave it away in the most critical junctures of the fourth quarter. Both Pau and Kobe’s turnovers with less than a minute to play, down six, sealed the game for the C’s.
What was especially frustrating in the fourth quarter was how we caved offensively as well under the pressure of Boston’s 6-0 run that opened the stanza. Rather than calmly moving the ball and making cuts off of the Celtics’ trapping defense, the Lakers played right into Thibodeau’s scheme by running too many single-side isolation plays and non-chalant high pick and rolls, both of which were all too easily contained by Boston due to lack of ball and man movement by our players.
At this point, it’s not about Ron Artest’s malnourished shooting percentage or Andrew Bynum’s ailing knee. The rest of the series is going to come down to rebounding the basketball, staying solid defensively and playing as if we actually want to win the game, regardless of our lineup. We’re four games in, there are no excuses anymore.
Effort, effort, effort.
You won’t find any grand undiscovered answers to victory in this series. I hate to sound like a broken record myself, but for the Lakers to come away as champions against the Celtics, the entire team must dedicate themselves to the dirty things that don’t always show up in the box score, every single possession from here on out. I don’t care who’s hurting where, there are only three games left to win two.
If we lose playing with heart, then so be it. But to lose without even projecting an ounce of concerted effort towards winning the unsung plays during the game, there can be no greater insult to all of us fans who inject our souls into the fabric of the team game after game, year after year.
I’ll say it now without fear of reproach, Game 5 is for the series. Play to win.