Lakers' playoff fate is tough to predict
By Terry Brown
NBA Insider
Wednesday, April 14
Today, it's still Kobe Bryant taking one shot before halftime. Yesterday, it's Shaquille O'Neal not defending the pick and roll. Tomorrow, it's Karl Malone retiring or Phil Jackson ending contract talks or Gary Payton meeting an opposing team's head coach in the parking lot.
Oh, yeah, before we forget, the Lakers also play their final regular-season game tonight against the Portland Trail Blazers with the Pacific Division crown at stake.
"This team has always had a lot of drama," Jackson said in the Los Angeles Times after the Lakers, behind Bryant's 11 shot attempts in the first quarter, defeated the Golden State Warriors Tuesday night, 109-104, to tie the Sacramento Kings at 55-26. "Kobe was bound and determined to show you guys what. Heh, heh, heh. So there."
But everyone is wondering if it was too little, too late.
"They'll be all right," Jackson said. "Some of these players are new to this. Some of us are used to this. If not used to it, we've dealt with it in the past few years and we're ready to go on, put it behind us and go on."
Even coach Phil Jackson doesn't know exactly what to expect from the Lakers in the playoffs.
Like they did last night . . . right? Or the night before that. Or the night before that.
Against the Warriors, the Lakers fell behind by 10 points at halftime and by as much as 16 when Golden State scored the first six points after the break. Against the Kings on Sunday, they were behind by 19 at halftime and eventually by as much as 25.
Does anyone remember the halftime score of the last Sunday's game between the Spurs and Lakers? It was 53-42 in favor of San Antonio, which eventually turned into a 14-point lead. And the game after that against the Blazers? That one was 51-40, which swelled to an 18-point deficit after that.
In the last five games, the Lakers have been down at halftime by an average of 11.6 points.
In those same five games, they have been down at some point in time by an average of 18.4 points.
"It's like a broken record," Malone said in the Los Angeles Times after Tuesday night's come-from-behind victory. "We try to outscore people and we'll get our butts kicked. We can't be happy. We just got away with it."
Last night, they won. So they're back on their championship run . . . right? But Sunday night, they lost. So they're back to their old flawed ways . . . right? Does anyone remember that 11-game win streak? Can we forget that they're 2-3 in their last five games?
"You don't know what you're going to find with this team sometimes," Jackson said, "when you get on the court."
This is a team that usually scores 98 points a game. But in the last five, they've averaged only 42.8 by halftime. This is also a team that usually gives up only 94 points a game. But in those same five games, they've surrendered 54.4 by halftime.
Stretch those out to a full 48 minutes and that's an average final score of 108.8 to 85.6 in favor of the Lakers' opponent.
That's 23.2 points in the whole a game, every game for the last 10 days that saw them go from the top seed in the Western Conference to fourth.
"I have no explanation for that," general manager Mitch Kupchak said in the Los Angeles Daily News. "I'd like to think that, and it's dangerous to think this way, but this group needs a challenge. I think they get complacent, and being at home, and not being as challenged as they should have been, bang-bang-bang, you lose three out of four. And that's not good. But I also don't think that it's something that can't be turned around in a couple of days."
But that's exactly what the Lakers have, one game and maybe three or four days before the playoffs start. After 169 days since the beginning of the season and 2,346 NBA games played league wide, the Lakers still do not know which team will be their first-round opponent or which Laker team will face them.
As it stands now, the Lakers would finish fourth in the conference with a game against the Dallas Mavericks either Saturday or Sunday in Staples Center. Or, they could finish third and face the Memphis Grizzlies. But, then again, a win tonight and Kings loss puts the Lakers back into first in the Pacific and second in the conference with an opening-round series with the Houston Rockets.
"We kept hope alive tonight," coach Phil Jackson said in the Daily News.
Yes, but for who?
"A lot of people think we match up better with the Spurs," Maverick owner Mark Cuban said in the Dallas Morning News. "But when it comes right down to it, it's been such a funky season. If we go out to L.A. and steal a game, you just never know."
And neither do the Lakers.
By Terry Brown
NBA Insider
Wednesday, April 14
Today, it's still Kobe Bryant taking one shot before halftime. Yesterday, it's Shaquille O'Neal not defending the pick and roll. Tomorrow, it's Karl Malone retiring or Phil Jackson ending contract talks or Gary Payton meeting an opposing team's head coach in the parking lot.
Oh, yeah, before we forget, the Lakers also play their final regular-season game tonight against the Portland Trail Blazers with the Pacific Division crown at stake.
"This team has always had a lot of drama," Jackson said in the Los Angeles Times after the Lakers, behind Bryant's 11 shot attempts in the first quarter, defeated the Golden State Warriors Tuesday night, 109-104, to tie the Sacramento Kings at 55-26. "Kobe was bound and determined to show you guys what. Heh, heh, heh. So there."
But everyone is wondering if it was too little, too late.
"They'll be all right," Jackson said. "Some of these players are new to this. Some of us are used to this. If not used to it, we've dealt with it in the past few years and we're ready to go on, put it behind us and go on."
Even coach Phil Jackson doesn't know exactly what to expect from the Lakers in the playoffs.
Like they did last night . . . right? Or the night before that. Or the night before that.
Against the Warriors, the Lakers fell behind by 10 points at halftime and by as much as 16 when Golden State scored the first six points after the break. Against the Kings on Sunday, they were behind by 19 at halftime and eventually by as much as 25.
Does anyone remember the halftime score of the last Sunday's game between the Spurs and Lakers? It was 53-42 in favor of San Antonio, which eventually turned into a 14-point lead. And the game after that against the Blazers? That one was 51-40, which swelled to an 18-point deficit after that.
In the last five games, the Lakers have been down at halftime by an average of 11.6 points.
In those same five games, they have been down at some point in time by an average of 18.4 points.
"It's like a broken record," Malone said in the Los Angeles Times after Tuesday night's come-from-behind victory. "We try to outscore people and we'll get our butts kicked. We can't be happy. We just got away with it."
Last night, they won. So they're back on their championship run . . . right? But Sunday night, they lost. So they're back to their old flawed ways . . . right? Does anyone remember that 11-game win streak? Can we forget that they're 2-3 in their last five games?
"You don't know what you're going to find with this team sometimes," Jackson said, "when you get on the court."
This is a team that usually scores 98 points a game. But in the last five, they've averaged only 42.8 by halftime. This is also a team that usually gives up only 94 points a game. But in those same five games, they've surrendered 54.4 by halftime.
Stretch those out to a full 48 minutes and that's an average final score of 108.8 to 85.6 in favor of the Lakers' opponent.
That's 23.2 points in the whole a game, every game for the last 10 days that saw them go from the top seed in the Western Conference to fourth.
"I have no explanation for that," general manager Mitch Kupchak said in the Los Angeles Daily News. "I'd like to think that, and it's dangerous to think this way, but this group needs a challenge. I think they get complacent, and being at home, and not being as challenged as they should have been, bang-bang-bang, you lose three out of four. And that's not good. But I also don't think that it's something that can't be turned around in a couple of days."
But that's exactly what the Lakers have, one game and maybe three or four days before the playoffs start. After 169 days since the beginning of the season and 2,346 NBA games played league wide, the Lakers still do not know which team will be their first-round opponent or which Laker team will face them.
As it stands now, the Lakers would finish fourth in the conference with a game against the Dallas Mavericks either Saturday or Sunday in Staples Center. Or, they could finish third and face the Memphis Grizzlies. But, then again, a win tonight and Kings loss puts the Lakers back into first in the Pacific and second in the conference with an opening-round series with the Houston Rockets.
"We kept hope alive tonight," coach Phil Jackson said in the Daily News.
Yes, but for who?
"A lot of people think we match up better with the Spurs," Maverick owner Mark Cuban said in the Dallas Morning News. "But when it comes right down to it, it's been such a funky season. If we go out to L.A. and steal a game, you just never know."
And neither do the Lakers.
