The Lakers’ dominant forces in the middle, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum were the only bright spots for the home team last night as they combined for 46 points (13-20 FG), 14 rebounds (6 offensive) and 13 blocks. That’s correct by the way, 13 blocked shots.
Their colossal effort would have been quite monumental had the rest of the team brought their lunch pails to work.
Kobe Bryant, Ron Artest, Derek Fisher and Lamar Odom all picked a heck of a time to have perhaps their worst games of the entire postseason. The four of them only managed a total 37 points and tallied 19 personal fouls, with Artest fouling out with the game still within reach.
The foul trouble especially hampered Kobe’s offensive production as he went 8 of 20 from the field, hesitant to drive the ball into the paint, failing to not only set himself up for scoring, but his teammates as well. Again, the stagnant offense led to easy transition setups for Rondo so needless to say, the Lakers must address their ball movement and defend without fouling as the series now shifts to Beantown.
We can only hope that the upcoming schedule in Boston with a game to be played every other day, will not severely restrict the mobility of Andrew Bynum. Drew was forced to play 39 minutes due to Odom’s foul trouble and as great as he played, the fact that his best game as a Laker (all things considered) was lost, is a rather painful reality to accept.
Pierce and Garnett afforded us every gleaming chance to win the game. Pierce was held to 10 points on 2 of 11 shooting and KG only managed an anemic six points and four rebounds, having another atrocious outing in the Finals. We should all be quite aware by now that not only can we lose a game in which our bigs dominate, but we can also lose when two of Boston’s four superstars have regrettable outings.
Something’s going to give and soon at that.
NEXT: And now to Boston…
