Live from the Game - Lakers vs. Heat

10:03 - LO catches a semi-awkward pass from Walton in the paint (not so much the pass itself, but the Miami body waiting for him) that leaves him facing away from the hoop.  No matter.  He backs up a step, arches his head towards the backbpard and leans in the reverse (literally) layup.

8:42 - I'm not sure which raised my eyebrows more.  Kobe not drawing the foul on Mark Blount during that dunk or that Blount would risk picking up the whistle on such a weak bit of contact that did literally nothing to stop Kobe from picking up two points.  On the previous possession, Walton missesd a layup while drawing even more contact gone uncalled.  Apparently, it didn't bother either all that much, because less than a minute passes before Kobe takes the rock he stripped off D-Wade and hits a streaking Walton with a gorgeous bounce pass.  Layup good.  Lakers up 12-4.

6:23 - Fish strips Jason Williams (or as I like to call him, The Artist Formerly Known as "Good") takes the ball just shy of the paint, then dishes off to Kobe for the onehanded throw down.  16-4, Lakers.  This game has the makings of something that could turn pretty ridiculous if Miami isn't careful.  Or if the Lakers simply stop trying, I guess.

3:57 - Just inside the top of the arc, Kobe uses his patented "two hands on the ball, swing my arms around and draw the contact" move to pick up the second whistle on D.Wade (who looks none too thrilled with himself for having taken the bait).  He'll sit in favor of Ricky Davis, who's quickly joined by Marcus Banks and Earl Barron. 

For those who don't appreciate the Laker Bench Mob, here's your proof that the green can always get browner.

.8 - Marcus Banks sneaks in a trey ball to cut the Laker lead to 7.  26-19 Lakers.  Truth be told, the game ain't nearly this close.  The Heat got back into it courtesy of a few bad Laker shots and a turnover by Jordan Farmar, but the Lakers aren't in any way in danger of getting beat.  They're absoilute;y outplaying their foes.  As long as they stay focused, their ability to outplay Miami is obvious.  BK will oversee the recovery effort in the second.

SECOND QUARTER-

11:00- Bad possession again for the Lakers.  Farmar held the ball way too long with Banks all over him, trying to shake him on the dribble.  It wasn't there, and nobody gave him an outlet.  Too much time, and he had to huck the ball at the hoop just to beat the clock.  THey've had a few possessions that have taken them right down to the horn without setting up a good look. 

9:34- Lead back up to 11, Lakers 30- Heat 19.

9:13- Farmar makes Banks pay for going underneath a Gasol screen rather than fighting through it.  Farmar flips the ball to Gasol, scrapes off of him as Pau hands him the ball back, and he has plenty of space to get the shot off.  Plant, elevate, shoot, cord.  That's the sort of shot NBA players are going to make more than not.  Good little play for the Lakers, bad defense from Banks.

Timeout on the floor, Lakers up 33-19.  This one's going about how it was drawn up.  Kobe back in the game off the TO. 

8:54-  I'd be impressed with the soaring, two-handed reverse dunk Kobe just threw down after beating Wade like he was standing still- he kinda was standing still, actually- but it's the sort of thing I do in my pickup games all the time.  You gotta go large to impress this guy.

7:51- Mbenga in for Gasol, with the Lakers up 15 after two Kobe FTs (38-23).  Great play to set up the foul shots.  Pau gets the ball in the high post, and while the ball was moving, so was Kobe.  Cutting to the hole.  Pau catches and immediately hits 24 with a bounce pass.  Barron picks up the foul in the lane for Miami, and the Lakers just miss the and one.  Sweet play.

7:16- Wade gets Kobe in the air with the pump fake, then leans into contact to draw the foul on the jumper.  Wonder where he learned that (haha).

5:24- Timeout on the floor, Lakers up 43-27.  As you'd suspect going in, they've been in total control throughout.  Miami has made a couple hoops here and there, but overall hasn't put together anything approaching a threatening run.  This is the sort of game where as long as the Lakers stay disciplined on both ends, they'll run away with it.  Not even good.  Just disciplined.  Miami doesn't have the firepower to make up big points, and defensively they don't have the horses to stay with the Lakers as long as LA doesn't settle for jumpers.  They're up by 16 now, and as long as they're still in the neighborhood heading into halftime, things will look rosy.

Granted, 25 is better, right?

4:10- Sweet feed from Walton to Turiaf, for the dunk.  Comes off good ball movement.  Luke gets the ball on the cut, draws the double on the drive, then feeds over his shoulder for the dunk. The Lakers are staying pretty mobile.

1:58- Timeout Lakers as the Heat have cut the lead down to ten, 49-39.  The Lakers have given Miami some space to find open jumpers, but are also turning the ball over on the other end.  Fish has found himself in traffic down low a couple times, and lost the ball each time. 

1:16- Lead down to nine, 49-41, with Kobe at the line and a chance to run it back to eleven.  That's what he does. 

:45- Kobe spooks Davis just enough pre-dribble got get Davis to back off about six or seven inches.  Then Kobe elevated for the jumper.  It's just not fun to have to guard him. 

HALFTIME-

Lakers 53-41.  Not a really strong end to the half, but they didn't let things get too far away, either.  Anytime you go into the locker room up by more than 10, it's generally a pretty successful half.  Here, though, it's worth noting that the Lakers blew and opportunity to put the nails in this one early.  Offensively, they're still allowing themselves to catch, look, then move.  A little to much dribbling, a little to much stagnation.  When they're attacking the basket, they've had a lot of opportunities to thrive. 

On the other end, tough half for D. Wade.  Nary a point. 

AK will have the third, after the half.

Third Quarter

9:55 - Mark Blount pulls up for the long jumper with Pau's hand blurring his vision a hair or two too late.  Shot falls.  The Heat pull within 10 and while not exactly capitalizing on the Lakers' lax nature to start out the third frame, are certainly benefiting from the Lakers not choosing tus far to put them away.

9:01 - Pau swats Haslem in Miami's paint, then gets rewarded for his trouble with the pair of freebies offered up on the other end.  Like Luke Walton on a previous trip, he only sinks one of two.

7:46 -Walton turns the ball over trying to squeeze a bouncer to Gasol in the paint.  The ball ends up in Wade's mitts, who wills the floater over LO and into the bucket.  On the previous possession, Kobe put himself in no man's land (not enough help on a double to prevent penetration, too much space for Wade along the perimeter), which led to another Flash bucket.  Dude had a goose egg at halftime and in quick time has already canned 9 points.  You don't want this fella getting en fuego.

6:32 - Walton traps Marion in the corner and forces the Matrix to pass off.  Unfirtunately for the newbie Heat member, the pass is completed to Kobe, who doesn't actually play for Miami.  Perhaps Marion still needs a little more time to learn all his new mates.  At any rate, it's a Kobe dunk, an airplane move and a timeout.  The Lakers are back up by a dozen.

5:54 - Wanna see a Staples crowd leap on its feet and go batty?  It's real simple.  All you gotta do is ask Kobe to throw a halfcourt over the shoulder/backwards pass to a leaping Walton, who'll in turn hit LO with a behind the back dish for the one handed jam.  Easy as pie.  Exactly how Phil drew it up.

That, ladies and germs, is what we refer to as "good stuff."

4:29 - This whole "fancy passing" thing is catching on like hot cakes.  LO is the latest to join in the fun, feeding Gasol with an over the shoulder of his own.  Five footer goes down, pushing the Laker lead to 17.

2:36 - After Walton scrambled with Davis to force a Heat timeout, Miami comes back on the floor with a scant two seconds to avoiud a shot clock violation.  Still, that's too much time in Kobe's eyes, so he makes sure any chance of the Heat grabbing a spare bucket gets the kibbosh.  Davis puts up the desperation fling and is met with Kobe's hand.

The clock winds down with the Matrix running a fast break and trying to kick up any sense of Miami mo' to juice the final frame.  No dice.  As he goes up to throw down, Kobe rises to block his slam attempt, putting enough palm on the ball to force some goofy contact with the rim.  The rock rattles in and out.  Kobe gives the courtside fans a little "Deke Motumbo" finger waggle, which they predictably eat up.  73-58 Lakers.  Clearly, the purple and gold are in charge of this contest.  Save complacency, there doesn't seem to be much in the house to beat the Lakers tonight.  BK will guide you home.      

FOURTH QUARTER:

Ricky Davis hitting the floor for the loose ball!  You tell him Miami's season is already over!

11:54- Lakers up 73-58.  If there are no tacos tonight, something has gone horribly, horribly astray. 

11:37- Great effort from Ronny on the block attempt.  At first glance, I thought it was clean, but then on the replay, it looked like Ronny had a hand on the Miami player's chest.  Nt sure if he really pushed off, but it draws attention.  Compare it to the replay of the Kobe block, and you could see 24 kept his off arm off of Marion.  Nothing to draw attention away from the blocking arm. 

Tough call on Luke with the carry- the official closest to it didn't make the call, it was the guy at the top of the key. 

10:00- Lakers up 76-62.

8:53- Third time's a charm for Ronny, who absorbed two tough calls on block attempts this quarter already.   But on the third one, he got it clean.  I think the victim was Haslem, but really it doesn't matter.  Good to see Turiaf finally get one without the call.  I thought both were tight, but not necessarily bad calls.  He needs to do better at keeping his body out of the play.  Most of his foul calls on block attempts come not when he's going after the ball, but lower down with the body. 

6 :33- Wade picks up his fifth foul, only moments after getting beaten badly on a Sasha crossover.  Clearly, D-Wade didn't know that move was in the arsenal for Sasha.  It's only shown up over the last few games.  On the replay, you could tell he was sizing him up for the steal, but Sasha got him before he could try. 

Offensively, the Lakers are trying too hard to hit the home run adn make perfect, SportsCenter-esque, fancy plays.  Just move the ball, cut, and create easy shots.  That'll get 'er done.

5:48- Timeout on the floor, Lakers still up by 12.  86-74.

5:15- Odom passes out of the high post, feeling the double, to a wide open Farmar for three.  When they set up their jumpers that way, from inside out, they've destroyed the Heat.  When they've tried to work the ball around the perimeter for them, they've let Miami off the hook.  Pretty easy equation.

91-77 LAL.

I take that back. Sasha buries a WIDE open jumper. 93-77.

2:52- Kobe picks up the offensive foul, for his fourth personal.  Timeout on the floor, Miami.  I just saw the replay of his last dunk, too.  Am I the only one who thinks it looked like he almost dropped the ball through?  Better to avoid grabbing the rim entirely, if possible.  It's actually a pretty common way to hurt a finger.  Seriously. 

95-82, LA.  It's not quite over yet, but a couple strong possessions will just about do it.

2:18- After Wade gets the rare and-one on the three and converts, Ronny comes back on the other end with a patented Ronny Turiaf Hustle Play to get three of the four points back.  Great play.  Third effort was the one that got it done.  That's why he remains a great guy to have around.  Interesting to note, too, that he's even on the floor right now. That means Gasol is sitting, and has for a while now.  With Miami going very small, the Lakers have a much more active lineup out there.  No Gasol, no Walton.

Good matchups, and it shows the versatility of the Lakers' roster.

GAME SET MATCH

Final score, Lakers 106- Heat 88.  LA really laid the wood on them in the last two minutes of the game.  LO drilling jumpers, Sasha drilling the open three.  That's ten straight, and once again in pretty impressive fashion, controlling the game from the outset, and never letting Miami threaten. 

Dallas on Sunday.  More to come momentarily.  Thanks for following along.

BK