| How Do The Lakers Win? WITH D-E-F-E-N-S-E Authored by Scott Essman - December 6, 2007 - 1:40 pm
Going into the fourth quarter at Denver Wednesday night, the Lakers were faced with a longstanding problem: they were tied with the home team, meaning another close game was likely upon them. However, these Lakers, who have shown unexpected moments of teamwork and fourth quarter energy, did the uncommon yet again, albeit in new fashion: they tightened their defense and overcame the Nuggets 111-107.
Yes, Kobe Bryant scored his typical 25, followed by 20 from Derek Fisher and 21 from Vladimir Radmanovich off the bench, a nice change from his horrendous performance last week against the Nets which included an airball with the game on the line in the waning seconds. But with center Kwame Brown out with an injury and centers Chris Mihm and Andrew Bynum ineffective with eight points and eight rebounds between them, this game was not likely to be won offensively.
Instead, the Lakers clamped down on defense, holding the Nuggets to 45% shooting and 21% from three-point range. This despite 51 from Allen Iverson, followed by 26 from Carmelo Anthony and a whopping 32 points from free throws.
Not heralded for team defense, the 2007-08 Lakers held the Nuggets to just 19 total points in the crucial fourth quarter. One understandably believes these Lakers will hang in such games till the late minutes but finally drop them due to an inadequate roster and lack of closers outside of Bryant. However, tonight was different than most nights.
Somehow, the Lakers held Iverson, who was on his way to perhaps 60-70 points, to just two points in the whole fourth quarter. The Lakers were even out-rebounded as a team 47-43, with Marcus Camby grabbing 20 on his own. But these Lakers still found a way to win, sending them to 11-8 where most experts predicted them to be under .500 by this stage.
Is Phil Jackson using his mystique to cohesively unite a group of players nobody thought to be nearly as good as their record indicates? Every Laker on their current roster is under 30 except Fisher, with only Bryant approaching 30 within a year. Perhaps the Lakers' overall youth and inexperience present the ingredients which with Jackson can work best and mold this team into possible winners. |
