Lol Eddie Robinson was never on New Orleans, he was on Charlotte lol so that comment would have been a little more appropriate in the first game.
You cant be serious. Eddie Robinson was on the Charlotte Hornets, who moved to New Orleans to become the New Orleans Hornets. Then in 2004 a new expansion team started in Charlotte.
Is Kwame out for any games at all? Good luck vs Houston and Dallas
Nah man, he will be active during his injury. Which is good. I don't really want to be starting Jason Caffey or Scott Williams, But, it would be a great challenge. Thanks for the kind words.
NBA Trade
Sonics trade Earl Watson to New York for Malik Rose. Wow what a realistic trade. New York gets another point guard.
Lakers @ Mavericks
The Lakers scored their first 5 points all from the ft line, and the Mavs were on fire in this game. Kobe picked up his 2nd foul with over 5 minutes left in the second, but Lamar Odom led the way as the Lakers took a 17-16 lead. The Mavs however were really using their transition game well and were up 38-27 before Odom made the last 5 points of the quarter to bring it back to 6, 38-32. Odom had 14 in the first, stack had 12.
In the second Kobe came out very aggresive, taking the ball right to the heart of the defense and he made 6 ft's early on to tie the game at 44. But then he picked up his 3rd foul and had to sit the rest of the half. The Mavericks went on a 3-2 run immediately before Smush hit back to back 3's to bring it back to 7 (59-52), then lamar had back to back dunks to make it 59-56, and Walton hit a 3 in trainsiton to tie the game, and the run was capped with an Odom jam to give the Lakers a 61-59 lead. The lakers would take a 63-62 lead into halftime.
2nd Half
The Lakers came out strong again to start the 3rd, with Kobe converting on a 3 point play, and smush doing likewise in tranisiton to give the Lakers a 69-62 lead. Kobe picked up his 4th foul though with 7:31 left in the quarter and once again had to sit the rest of the period. But this time, the Lakers held strong and didnt give up a big run. The score was 73-67 when Kwame blocked dirks dunk, and set up Devean George for a 3. Later in that run, Smush had a big block on Harris and spooted up in tranisiton for another 3 as the lead was now 14. The lead would then be trimmed down to 4 as the Mavericks finally wore the Kobe-less lakers down, and the score entering the fourth was 93-89. Odom had 30 points and 7 rebounds through 3 quarters.
The Mavericks didnt waster anytime overcoming that small deficit, and were up 94-93 after kobe picked up his 5th foul. I kept him in the game and he carried the lakers down the stretch of the 4th quarter. In the period there were 6 lead changes alone, but Kobe eventually wore the Mavs down and hit a dagger 3 that gave the Lakers a 114-109 lead with under a minute left. Kwame sealed the deal with a tough layup and the lakers won 123-118 in a tough test on the road.
Player of the Game
Lamar Odom
30 points
8 rebounds
3 assists
2 blocks
Kobe 34 points (23 in the fourth
) 1 rebound, 3 assists 1 steal
Smush 29 points 2 rebounds 2 assists 1 steal 1 block
Devean George 12 points 6 assist 1 steal 1 block
Warrick 12 points 4 rebounds 1 assist
Dirk had 30 for Dallas. Stack gad 22 and Harris had 18
[
b]Kobe skies for a rebound in traffic
Devean George with the dunk on the break
Walton with the 3 in transition[/b]
Lakers @ Rockets
The last game against Dallas was so fun I decided to finish the road trip off with the game against Houston. The Rockets had moved into first place in the Midwest Division with the Mavs losing and this could very well be a playoff preview. In the first quarter, both teams struggled to find their mark offensively, but the Rockets built a 7-4 lead before the Lakers responded and led 10-7. Tmac and Lamar had a nice duel in the second half of the quarter, but the lakers led 26-19 after one. Tmac had 13 points, and Odom had 12. The rockets cut the lead to just 2 (36-34) before a 10-2 run by the lakers gave them a 10 point lead (46-36), The Rockets closed it to just six, and Tmac hit a 3 on the buzzer to make it 46-43 Lakers. Odom had 18 points and 9 rebounds, and tmac had 20.
2nd Half
The second half saw the rockets defense remerge as they tied the game 50 on a tmac jumpshot. Kobe hit a 3 to give the lakers a 57-54 lead, but it was the rockets who led by 2 after 3 quarters, 72-70. Tmac had 31 points. The rockets lead by 4, 76-72, but after a kwame layup, 2 free throws to Lue and a Lamar floater, the Lakers retook the lead 78-76. The rockets were up 80-78 when Kobe drilled a 3, but Houston kept grinding defensively and lead 88-84 with under a minute to go. Kobe then sealed a triple double with a big rebound and dished it to smush for a 3 which brought lakers back to down just one. Lamar was fouled and made 1 of 2 free throws to tie the game at 88, and then Kwame would make a tough layup around Yao to give the lakers a 90-88 lead with 22 seconds left. The rockets dribbled the clock right down and tmac, with kobe draped all over hit, hit a 3 with 0.1 left on the clock to give the rockets a 91-90 win.
Player of the Game
Tracy McGrady
35 points
11 rebounds
2 assists
Yao had 11 points, 9 rebounds 2 assists 2 steals
Kobe had 32 points, 10 rebounds 12 assists
Lamar 27 points 15 rebounds 1 assist
Kwame in his first decent game since his injury had 16 points 7 rebounds 1 assist and outplayed yao.
Smush had 2 points 9 assists 3 steals and one block
Hakim Warrick had 8 points 6 rebounds 1 assist
The lakers dropped to 38-11 (so much for tying the bulls 72-10 record
).
Tmac's game winning 3
Kobe on an alley oop. Look at how high his head is.
Warrick with the facial on Swift
After the game the Hornets (not the Bobcats Hammertime.) offered Jackson Vroman for Antonio Burks, I declined the deal becuase it just didnt benifit me in any way, plus I dont do trades just for the sake of doing them. I simmed a few days forward as I dont have any games inbetween, and here are the current playoff standings:
There are some interesting logjams in both conferences. If it holds up, I'd love to see how the Wizards go against the Celtics. A first round matchup against the Blazers will be fun for the Lakers, as the Lakers since 1997 have won every playoff series they've played against portland (5-0)
But to add to this update, I also decided to show the projected starters for the all star game.
East
Point Guard: Iverson
Shooting Guard: Wade
Small Forward: Peirce
Power Forward: Bosh
Center: Shaq
West
Point Guard: Nash
Shooting Guard: Kobe
Small Forward: T-mac
Power Forward: Duncan
Center: Marcus Camby
These are based just on the all star votes, and I guess if the players are injured, they wont play.