Postcards From LA, Vol. 6: One Lakers Fan Tracks His Team Through the NBA Playoffs
May 8, 2008
As long as the Los Angeles Lakers survive through the 2008 NBA playoffs, Empty the Bench’s West Coast correspondent Christopher Thell will be submitting a local fan’s take on his beloved Lakers postseason trials, tribulations and successes. In this edition a new environment, but the same results: another Lakers win.
I don’t have cable, so in order to watch Lakers home games, which aren’t televised on local TV, I have to venture out from my Hollywood apartment. During the regular season, I simply walk down to a nearby sports bar - the place where I watched Game 2 of the Denver series.
However, my normal place was packed to the gills – standing room only, a sharp departure from regular-season games, the influx of playoff fans palpable, kind of like burgeoning Catholic services on Easter and Christmas. It was so crowded as to make the entire experience unenjoyable, even though the Lakers won.
So, it was with trepidation that I ventured out for Game 2 of the Utah series. The night had the definite possibility of going bad. Not only was I trying out a new place to watch Lakers games, but the Lakers seemed eminently capable of losing Game 2 after playing sloppily in Game 1.
But sometimes, despite your well-founded fears, things work out. And on those nights, you have to be thankful and savor the moment.
Savoring the victory in plush new diggs after the jump…
Wednesday night was one of those nights. The hotel lobby bar I pegged as a good place to watch the game was exactly that: comfortable atmosphere, big screen TV, friendly bartenders, and busy but not crowded with good seats readily available. Most importantly, the Lakers played a great game, earning another double-digit victory over the Jazz, 120-110.
The Lakers came out looking sharp, passing well and shooting 66% in the first quarter to the Jazz’s 33%, allowing Los Angeles, behind ten points from Kobe Bryant, to take a 33-18 advantage. That initial control and lead, despite several second-half Jazz runs, was something the Lakers never relinquished.
“We were never able to gather momentum in the second half, but we never really had that point where we felt threatened in this ballgame,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. “We were doing things we wanted to do.”
The Jazz came as close as 99-94 with a little under six minutes left in the game on two Carlos Boozer free throws. But Kobe found Sasha Vujacic for a jumper, Odom made a great block, and then Kobe found Derek Fisher for a 3 to make it 104-94, and that was that.
On the night when Bryant was officially crowned the MVP, accepting the trophy from NBA Commissioner David Stern before the game, Kobe was truly brilliant, scoring 34 points on economical shooting (11-18 from the field, 11-12 from the line) to go along with 8 boards and 6 assists. The other two pieces of the big three also played superb, as Gasol racked up 20 points, 5, rebounds, 5 assists, and 5 big blocks and Lamar Odom, looking inspired, had 19 points and 16 rebounds. The fourth weapon for the Lakers was Derek Fisher, who, along with his continued solid defense on ex-teammate Deron Williams, had 22 points and 3 steals.
And so, with a sterling Game 2 effort, the Lakers take a commanding 2-0 series lead and remain the only unbeaten team in the playoffs. The last four Lakers teams to start the playoffs 6-0 all went to the NBA Finals. After what I witnessed Wednesday night, I predict that this Lakers team will be playing for it all in June as well.
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Tags: Postcards from LA, Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers, Pau Gasol, Derek Fisher
Posted by ETB Contributor on May. 8, 2008 at 10:03 am in NBA
