The real stars of the game were of course the “Killer B’s.” With one second left in the first quarter, Shannon hit an extremely long three and the first thought that crossed my mind was “Downtown Shannon Brown”!! That’s my vote for his individual nickname; although I’m also partial to “What can Brown do for you”, but “Downtown” has a good old-fashioned ring to it. That was just the start of Shannon’s hot shooting: he racked up 15 points in the second quarter and had 18 at the half, after starting out four of four from the 3-point line. Factoring in a missed dunk that would have brought the house down, and a speed race with Derrick Rose all night, his entire arsenal of athletic ability was on display once again.
Quick digression to talk about D Rose: the man is incredible! He has to be one of the fastest point guards in the NBA, and he had some crazy circus shots last night. Two of them were back to back beautiful layups under and around the basket. Rose also utilized his floating, eight foot runner for much of the night as well. He basically did whatever he wanted in the paint.
But yes, the Killer B’s went on a run in the second half and really put the game away for us. Kobe and Lamar contributed to the run as well, with the Mamba hitting his patented fadeaway jumper as the shot clock was down to three and Lamar converting on an insane over-the-shoulder shot in major traffic. LO had a sweet spin move for an and-one that the Lakers were desperate for at the time. To cap it off, Lamar slammed home a put back dunk off of a Gasol miss to tie the game with 55 seconds left in the third. Lamar and Shannon ended the game with 21 points each to lead the Lakers. The Lakers’ ball movement was excellent, and just one extra pass from Barnes allowed Shannon to hit a huge three with a hand in his face to put the Lakers up by one. Not long after, Steve Blake hit his first shot of the game (a three with six minutes left in the 4th). Next Lakers possession: a three from Matt Barnes! And immediately following that, another three from Blake! It put the Lakers up 95-83 and they never looked back. I loved when Patrick O’Neal interviewed Lamar in the locker room after the win and asked him about the play of the bench:
“What do you guys call them, Killer B’s?”- Lamar
“Yeah. Or the Renegades.” –Patrick O’Neal
“I like the Killer B’s.” –Lamar, smiling
Next: Phil’s Decisions and Looking Ahead
