by Fresh8 on Sun Jun 12, 2005 12:55 pm
Grizzlies Surprise Lakers in OT Loss
MEM: 26 – 25 – 16 – 22 – 14 – 103
LAL: 18 – 17 – 26 – 28 – 19 – 108
21-8 Los Angeles Lakers lead series against 17-12 Memphis Grizzlies 1-0
Los Angeles – Los Angeles underestimated the Memphis Grizzlies and had to fight to claw back into a game in which they trailed by as much as 18 points. Magic Johnson was clearly angry at his players as he made clear what he wanted, “We (Lakers) cannot just stroll into the series expecting a sweep without working for it. We’re in the West, anything can happen!”
In the playoffs, teams step up their games and play at another level and Memphis seemed to have been running at two gears higher than usual. After a 15-2 run at the very beginning of the game and then a barrage of three point baskets, the Grizzlies looked as if they would easily pull out a surprise Game One win. However, Kobe Bryant took over in the fourth quarter and overtime to help his team get past their youthful opponents.
Bryant scored 10 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter including a lay up with 8.4 seconds left which tied the game and sent it into overtime. He then scored 8 more points including 4 free throws in the final minute to seal the win. Kobe added 7 assists and 5 rebounds to his own individual boxscore. Carlos Boozer had a great game as he flirted with a triple double finishing with 20, 15 and 8 while Kwame Brown dominated in the paint with 24 and 22.
Pau Gasol led his team with 15 points, 16 rebounds, Mike Miller and James Posey led the scoring attack with 24 and 22 points respectively. Jason Williams did his best to direct the offence with 17 and 8 assists.
An exhausted Ron Artest commented on the game, “Memphis aren’t as good as us but they do play better in some areas and they use it as their strengths very wisely. We need to do this!”
Artest was right as Memphis dominated with their interior defence swatting anyone who drove to the rim and intimidated those that they couldn’t swat. Pau Gasol and Stromile Swift had an impressive 7 blocks apiece. “We are proud of our defensive skills and for a team like the Lakers who have Kobe,” Gasol stated, “We need to rely on these skills to win.” And when the defence stopped the Lakers from scoring, they used their outside shooting to get ahead. Mike Miller and James Posey made 7 three pointers together in the first quarter and only missed once each in the period. “We were hot man,” Posey said, “I couldn’t believe how hot my hand was and I couldn’t miss.”
Unfortunately for the Grizzlies, their long distance shooting spell only lasted till the third quarter and by the time the second half rolled around, LA was the one who began to shoot well. Carlos Boozer and Kwame Brown scored 18 points in the third period to help pull the home team back into the game. It happened behind a 12-0 run in the third quarter and then another 8-0 run which got the home team as close as 3 points to their opponents.
Then Bryant decided to take over the fourth quarter with a few quick jumpers to get the Lakers back into a 1 point ball game. He went cold but Kwame Brown continued to dunk his way onto the stat sheet. The former number one pick scored 8 points in the fourth quarter. Los Angeles took a slight lead for a minute before losing it again to the hot shooting Grizzlies.
As they trailed 91-86 with 55.5 seconds left, Ron Artest hit a big shot from downtown. The SF then did even better on the defensive end by forcing Posey into a rushed shot and with 41.3 seconds left, the Lakers rushed the ball back down to the offensive end. The crowd went quiet as Boozer missed a dunk which could have tied the match. Memphis called a timeout and went inside to Pau Gasol on the ensuing play. Gasol’s shot was blocked by Kwame Brown and the Lakers took their time to set up their next play.
Kobe Bryant ran off a pick and then passed to the rolling Brown who went for a six foot hook shot which clanked off the rim. Boozer was there for the rebound and grabbed it and called a timeout with 15.7 seconds left. Then Bryant shone as he caught the ball on the left hand side of the court on the baseline. He drove to the hoop and somehow got a finger roll past the Grizzlies’ defence with 8.4 ticks left on the clock. Mike Miller missed a shot as time expired.
The crowd was raucous as Bryant ran off court with his fist in the air. The Grizzlies were speechless and Brian Shaw knew why, “Kobe has been incredible in the clutch, he’s done it for the third time in the last 6 games!”
Overtime saw Juan Dixon come out to hit a three to begin it then Boozer powered his way to dunk over Gasol to put LA ahead by 5. The score inflated itself while Memphis found a way for its scorers to send them back into a tie with LA. That was when Kareem Rush came in. When Juan Dixon’s three pointer was disallowed due to the shot clock and the crowd stood in protest and booed, Rush stole the ball on the next play and sank a dagger three pointer, two steps from behind the arc with 1:37 left to send LA up 104-103. The Grizzlies couldn’t get back at the home team after that and Kobe Bryant iced the game with 4 straight free throws.
“Rush’s shot was a big shot,” Team Captain Bryant said, “It was huge, reminded me of Robert (Horry) when he was with us!”
NOTES
Game 2 will be played in the STAPLES Centre in 2 days… PG Juan Dixon might start at PG for LA after Rookie Fredrik Ratchuk’s inability to step up…
STATS
LAKERS
* C K Brown: 24 pts, 22 reb, 3 ast, 2 blk, 46 min | 4 TO, 2 PF | 12/26 FG, 0/5 FT
* PF C Boozer: 20 pts, 15 reb, 8 ast, 1 stl, 44 min | 4 TO, 5 PF | 9/12 FG, 2/2 FT
* SF R Artest: 12 pts, 9 reb, 3 ast, 2 blk, 3 stl, 42 min | 4/11 FG, 1/3 3PT, 3/4 FT
* SG K Bryant: 32 pts, 5 reb, 7 ast, 3 stl, 50 min | 1 TO, 2 PF | 11/28 FG, 2/4 3PT, 8/10 FT
* PG F Ratchuk: 2 pts, 1 reb, 15 min | 2 TO, 1 PF | 1/5 FG, 0/1 3PT
PG J Dixon: 13 pts, 5 reb, 5 ast, 2 stl, 39 min | 3 TO, 1 PF | 4/9 FG, 3/6 3PT, 2/4 FT
C B Grant: 7 reb, 4 ast, 17 min | 1 TO | 0/5 FG, 0/2 FT
SG K Rush: 5 pts, 2 reb, 15 min | 1 PF | 2/6 FG, 1/3 3PT
Points: 108
Rebounds: 66
Assists: 30
Steals: 9
Blocks: 4
Fouls: 12
Turnovers: 15
FG: 43/110
3pt: 7/17
FT: 15/27
Off Reb: 25
Def Reb: 41
* denotes satarter
GRIZZLIES
* C S Swift: 10 pts, 10 reb, 7 blk, 1 stl, 39 min | 3 TO, 3 PF | 5/8 FG
* PF P Gasol: 15 pts, 16 reb, 2 ast, 7 blk, 1 stl, 42 min | 3 PF | 6/13 FG, 3/4 FT
* SF J Posey: 22 pts, 2 reb, 4 ast, 44 min | 2 TO, 4 PF | 9/21 FG, 4/8 3PT
* SG M Miller: 24 pts, 4 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 42 min | 1 TO, 4 PF | 10/19 FG, 2/7 3PT, 2/3 FT
* PG J Williams: 17 pts, 4 reb, 8 ast, 1 stl, 43 min | 1 TO, 2 PF | 7/22 FG, 1/6 3PT, 2/2 FT
F/G S Battier: 2 reb, 14 min | 2 TO, 1 PF | 0/1 FG, 0/1 3PT
F B Traylor: 3 reb, 15 min | 3 PF |
PG W Lue: 4 pts, 2 reb, 1 ast, 11 min | 2 TO | 2/8 FG, 0/2 3PT
F B Cardinal: 7 pts, 1 st, 10 min | 2/8 FG, 1/2 3PT, 2/2 FT
C L Wright: 4 pts, 6 reb, 10 min | 1 TO | 2/6 FG
Points: 103
Rebounds: 49
Assists: 19
Steals: 4
Blocks: 14
Fouls: 17
TO: 12
FG: 43/106
3pt: 8/26
FT: 9/11
Off Reb: 10
Def Reb: 39
* denotes starter
Last edited by
Fresh8 on Tue Jun 14, 2005 11:02 pm, edited 4 times in total.
I wanna keep this dynasty uniquely different to everyone elses!
......)
