Western Conference Finals: Los Angeles Lakers (1) vs. Denver Nuggets (2) Los Angeles Leads Series 2-1
Game 3: Los Angeles 103 – Denver 97 F
Have the real L.A. Lakers finally showed up? I think so, though more out of necessity rather than that they have suddenly become motivated. This team has shown the ability throughout the season and the playoffs to raise their level of play when it they absolutely need too. In Denver they have found an opponent that they cannot afford to take games, halves, quarters even possessions off against.
Kobe Bryant was on fire last night showing off his entire offensive repertoire taking advantage of the smaller Dahntay Jones and posting him up. He was also aggressive particulary in the fourth quarter and got to the line 17 times on the night converting on 15. Bryant was also effective dishing the ball out last night, particulary in situations where the Nuggets sent double teams or when Bryant’s penetration forced them to rotate. He had a particularly nice no-look pass to Fisher in the second quarter for a wide open layup.
Bryant got a lot of help from the rest of his crew, specifically Gasol and Ariza. Gasol and Ariza both came up big in the fourth quarter with Gaosl taking advantage of his size against Chris Andersen and his quickness against Nene who was in constant foul trouble in the second half. Gasol scored on two consecutive possessions in the post mid-way during the fourth quarter. Ariza hit two open three pointers in the fourth quarter, making the Nuggets pay for leaving him open on the perimeter. Ariza also came up with the big steal again at the end of the game much like in Game 1. This was even more important since Anthony was onlyforced to foul him and in the process fouled out of the game.
The Lakers played excellent defense in the second half, particularly against Anthony who only scored 3 points, all free throws, in the second half after an 18 point first. They also limited Kenyon Martin and Nene Hilario throughout the game. The Lakers continue to lay off of K-Mart and unless he can hit that open 16 foot jumper the Lakers will continue to play off of him, closing off penetration into the lane.
The Nuggets actually led the game msot of the way, even though they had an extremely poor shooting night. They shot only 39.3% from the field and were even worse from deep as they shot 5-27 from three. Chauncey Billups and Carmelo Anthony were in all regards horrific from the three shooting 2-7 and 1-7 respectively. Both of them put up a number of questionable forced shots and Anthony even airballed a three.
The Nuggets need Nene to stay out of foul trouble since while he was in the game he was effective. He shot 5-9 for 13 points and grabbed 6 rebounds in 31 minutes. The Nuggets need to get Nene more touches in the post last night, where he operated extremely effective against Gasol in the first quarter. They also need Billups to not settle for jumpers and drive to the lane more. This will put the pressure on the Lakers defense and should lead to more free throw attempts or Billups can kick it out for open jump shots.
Carmelo Anthony was shut down in the second half and the Nuggets’ inability to hit jumpers were critical in holding Anthony back. With the Nuggets missing the Lakers were able to send extra defenders in Anthony’s direction and force him into passing the ball or turn it over. The good news for the Nuggets is that J.R. Smith looked much better last night, hitting a few perimeter shots and really playing good defense against Bryant, not giving him anything easy down the stretch.
What is inexcusable was the Nuggets’ inability to make a simple inbound pass for the second time in the series. This falls directly on head coach George Karl who has done more to hurt the Nuggets in this series than help. His decision to have Kenyon Martin inbound the ball was only made worse by the fact that it looked as if Anthony was the only option on the play on a set play coming out of a timeout they were forced to call after being unable to inbound the ball previously.
Karl should also think about giving the Lakers some different looks. The Nuggets could try and play some small ball lineups moving Anthony to the 4, allowing for Kleiza to play alongside him J.R. Smith, Billups and Nene or Andersen. This lineup would give the Nuggets 4 perimter threats on the floor spreading the Lakers defense out and making it easier to get penetration into the lane. This will also allow the Nuggets to push the tempo and play high pressure defense against the Lakers. They may also able to make Bynum a non-factor by speeding the game up.
Eastern Conference Finals: Cleveland Cavaliers (1) vs. Orlando Magic (2) Orlando Leads Series 2-1
Game 3: Orlando 99 – Cleveland 89 F
Cleveland needs to change their strategy in this series completely in order to win this game. It’s a testament to how dominant James has been for the Cavaliers in this series that they only lost by 10 points last night and split the games in Cleveland. The Cavaliers are not athletic enough to rotate out on Orlando’s shooters, are getting killed penetration and have no answer for the Magic’s pick and roll offense, especially when they run it with Dwight Howard against Ilgauskas.
Mike Brown is going to need to make some adjustments to give the Cavaliers enough speed and athleticism to match-up with the Magic. They should start a lineup with Mo Williams, Delonte West, Sasha Pavlovic, James and Anderson Varejao. Playing James at the 4 should be fine as he will be matched up with Rashard Lewis who will not be able to post James up, additionally Varejao starting at the 5 will neutralize the pick and roll to an extent because Varejao’s speed will allow him to recover quicker. They will also be able to recover more effectively in transition when the Magic try to increase the pace of the game where Cleveland has been burned all series long.
This lineup will also create more opportunities for Cleveland to create more penetration into the lane. If the Magic are forced to rotate the Cavaliers have four players in this lineup that can hit the 3. Also Varejao is extremely good at moving without the ball and if Howard is forced to rotate he can take advantage. While this lineup will be giving up size, their speed and ability to rotate faster will make it easier for them to box players out and limit offensive rebounding opportunities.
James was once again a force scoring 41 points, grabbing 7 rebounds and had 9 assists. James accounted for 63 of Cleveland’s 89 points last night and his ability to create for others was on display throughout. Even though he dominated the ball for much of the time he only turned the ball over twice. Cleveland needs to get better production from the trio of Williams, West and Pavlovic specifically in hitting the open jumpers Lebron is creating for them. Ilgauskas also needs to hit open jumpers to force Howard out of the paint. One player the Cavaliers should play more is Joe Smith specifically for his ability to hit the open jumper and draw defenders out of the paint.
The Magic were execellent last night and were incredible defensively. Their rotations were perfect and they closed out well on the Cavaliers’ shooters, forcing misses or extra passes. Their size, length and speed are proving difficult for the Cavaliers to crack. The duo of Dwight Howard and Marcin Gortat has also been able to effectively control the paint and without having to respect Cleveland’s bigs it is making it nearly impossible for the Cavaliers to get easy baskets in the halfcourt.
Howard was a beast in the fourth quarter and became indefensible when he hit 14 of 19 from the free throw line for the night. Alston finished 6 of 13 but by hitting 5 of his first 6 he provided Orlando with some early offense while Lewis and Turkoglu were sturggling and Howard saddled on the bench with 2 early fouls. The biggest contribution throughout this series for the Magic has been Mickael Pietrus however who continues to hit open jumpers, hound James on defense and provide energy plays for the Magic crashing the glass and grabbing loose balls. So far Cleveland has struggled to find an answer for Pietrus.
The Magic are moving the ball effectively and are executing their offense to perfection either leaking out after the Cavaliers miss or running the pick and roll in the halfcourt. Orlando needs to change nothing and simply continue to do what they are doing until Cleveland can force them to adjust which has not happened so far through 3 games in this series.
Horrendous Officiating:
I used to believe that officials in the NBA used to rig games and that David Stern was a puppet master controlling teams’ destiny in the playoffs. At this point it’s hard to believe that anymore with how uneven the officiating has been in all the playoff series. How can two teams shoot 86 free throws combined in a game as the Magic and Cavaliers did last night? How do Varejao, Ilgauskas and Dwight Howard foul out last night?
One thing that’s become apparent in the playoffs is that the officials have decided anytime there is contact of any kind a foul must be called. The NBA should protect its players, but last I checked contact is part of the game and it should be officiated as such. We do not need to see a foul called everytime James drives to the lane or everytime Howard posts up. The biggest problem is that these officials are anticipating contact and therefore are anticipating fouls and calling games as such. Officiating is not about anticipating what is going to happen, but about reacting to what HAS happened.
The worst part of all this has been how the flow of these games continues to get disrupted. Basketball is best viewed when it is free flowing, because we get to watch the best athletes compete at the highest level and the best part is that that in this case the game is in the players’ hands not at the whims and behest of NBA officiating crews.
The officials need to a significantly better job of doling out flagrant fouls and technicals as well which disrupt the flow of the game more than the personal fouls do and more importantly have more repurcussions for the players. Once again these are grown men and hard fouls are part of the game. Let the players determine the game on the court, because fans don’t watch the games to see officials determining the course of playoff games by which team shoots more free throws.