The reason why the Lakers lost by 15?
OMG. LAKERS LOST. THERE WUZ BAD REFEREES. YOU CANT BREATH ON LEBRICK CUZ THEY CALL FOUL. KOBE RULLZ!!!1111!!
Let's not be ridiculous here.
I was personally thrown off when I saw Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Shaquille O'Neal play together early for the Cleveland Cavaliers. It clogged up the lane and the twin towers of the Cavs took Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum out of the game. It forced Kobe Bryant to shoulder the load a lot more and, as a result, it looked more like the 2005-07 Lakers playing than championship-caliber ball.
The Lakers show their loss of confidence every time things in the offensive end don't go their way and it totally affects them on the defensive side. Mo Williams was killing the Lakers all day and part of that is the Lakers defense relaxing on the perimeter. And in the all-important second quarter, the Cavs bench thoroughly dismantled the Lakers bench. Kobe and Ron Artest did help L.A. get back within six in the third quarter but the Cavs did a good job of stopping a Lakers surge with timely jumpers by Mo Williams (who scored the first 10 points of the 3rd quarter for the Cavs). Sure, it didn't help that the refs made bad calls (and no-calls)... but Kobe, as a 14-year veteran, should know better than to complain when the ball was right behind him after a terrible no-call (I think it was Mo Williams that hustled to pick up the loose ball while Kobe yelled at the ref). The Lakers lost their composure and, like I mentioned, resembled more of the struggling playoff team of a few years ago instead of a title team in this 102-87 loss.
Part of the reason the Cavs won? They shot better. 54 percent by Cleveland. The Lakers struggled the whole game and shot 36.5 percent. Sure, Kobe had a nice line of 35 points, 9 rebounds, and 8 assists... but it took Kobe an arm-killing 32 shots to get to 35. I knew it was going to be bad news when I saw that Kobe already had 15 shots in the first half of the game. We all know one player can't usually win it alone and it showed today in this Christmas game.
If you asked me which Laker played well in this game, I couldn't name you one. Ron Artest played so-so and struggled with LeBron at the end (he eventually fouled out). Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom only put up nine shots together. Both seemed discouraged the whole game. Pau Gasol shot 11 times but was mostly invisible as well. Derek Fisher kept getting burned by Mo Williams. And the Laker reserves were killed by the Cavs bench. On the other side, Shaquille O'Neal played well in his limited time. Players like Delonte West, Anderson Varejao, and Jamario Moon stepped up and provided energy for the Cavs. LeBron James had his usual 26 points and 9 assists but Mo Williams was the real killer with 28 points. I mentioned that the key to the Cavs winning was to jump all over the Lakers and get off to a great start. They did just that. The smallest margin of a Laker loss this year was 8 points and all of those losses resulted in the opposition getting out to double-digit leads early in the game.
Throughout the game, the Lakers just didn't have as much energy as the Cavs. The Cavs played like they were on a mission and I have to give the much-maligned Mike Brown credit for making adjustments and getting them ready for this big game. This is probably the worst game the Lakers played this year from start to finish. And, on the other side, this is probably the most complete game I've seen the Cavs play all year. They have seriously caught fire now and will be talked about being an elite Eastern team sooner than later if they keep playing like this.
As for the refs, I have news: there will always be bad (no-)calls in each game. I'm not going to disagree that it didn't help the Lakers' cause but they're NOT the sole reason why the Lakers lost. Sometimes, you'll get calls and, sometimes, you won't. The Lakers were already down 20 in the first half. Blame the lackluster play. As fellow Laker fan Violet Kanian said, "In the beginning, we were kicking ass. Until we got to 8 points!"
The point is this: the Cavs just outhustled and outplayed the Lakers. Sometimes, it's as simple as that.
Now get that Foam Finger Of Death away from me.
PHOTO CREDIT: Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images.
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