IRON MAN HAS FREEZING PROBLEM

BRY ICE:  After leading by 5 at Halftime, Kobe and Lakers freeze up like Iron Man and go Down(ey) in Series, 0-1

The Los Angeles Lakers went into BRYogenic Deep Freeze on Thursday night, losing a Road game that was up for grabs as the NBA Finals got under way in Boston.  The Lakers got off to a good start, and despite Kobe going 2-for-8, trailed only 21-23 after the 1st Quarter.  Even Jordan Farmar started well, making a driving bank shot in his first-ever attempt in the NBA Finals.  The Lakers went on a 16-6 run before the Half, to take a 51-46 lead into the Intermission.

But after that, the Lakers started missing shots that they normally make, and when Celtic Paul Pierce returned from an injury to hit two straight three’s, Boston took command.  The Lakers seemed to lose some of their fire when Pierce sprained his knee and was carried off the court — by ex-trojan Brian Scalabrine, making probably his ONLY contribution to the Series.  Then, while the Lakers — who want to compete against the best and not allow the opponent any built-in excuses — were still down about the freak injury, Pierce made his triumphant return, which energized the crowd as well as his teammates.  The landscape of the game changed immediately, and that extra spark carried Boston to a 98-88 Game 1 victory.

Boston is the NBA’s best Defensive team, but the Lakers’ set plays like the simple Pick and Roll had been working great all night… until the 4th Quarter.  The Lakers shot only 25% in the deciding period, scoring only 15 measley points.  Phil Jackson might be partially to blame:  He pulled Farmar after only 3 minutes in the First Half, uncharacteristically STARTING Derek Fisher in the 2nd Quarter, and leaving him in until Halftime.  Farmar’s minutes were curtailed again in the Second Half, so maybe Fisher’s lack of crunchtime clutch-ness was due to fatigue.  Hopefully, PJ will let Farmar play his NORMAL minutes from now on, so that Fisher will be fresh when it matters most.

Despite all their troubles, the Lakers were still within 5 points with just under 3 minutes to go, but neither Kobe, or Fisher, or Sasha Vujacic, or Vlad Radmanovic (who came in for Lamar Odom in a strategy that was looking for more Offense but killed them on the other end), could find the range to make a crucial shot.

Jackson also “threw in the towel” a little early, choosing NOT TO FOUL when the Lakers fell down by 8 with a minute to go.  Someone should show him a Reggie Miller highlight reel.

As always with tough LOSSES, you will not find a detailed dissection of the defeat on this site.  This is supposed to be fun, and analyzing a loss to your biggest Rival is NOT fun.  All we’ll say is that the First Half proved that the Lakers can out-compete the Celtics, IN Boston, at least for a certain finite amount of time, AND, all the Lakers need to do is win one out of the four games that are played there. 

And now, let us get back to doing what we do best, and according to some of the hate mail that we get, the ONLY worthwhile aspect of this site:

[Private Note:  The FIRST FOUR of today’s archival dance team photos have never been posted before, and have been seen by only one person on the planet besides me until now.  Or at least I THINK and HOPE that she’s seen them…]