The Lakers were down by 12 entering the fourth quarter. The Spurs had all of the momentum. Kobe Bryant was the only player knocking down shots for the Lakers.
So why was he on the bench? Phil Jackson is a phenomenal coach and I usually don't question his decisions, but I cannot understand why Kobe was not in the game.
In the three-minute stretch to start the fourth quarter, the Spurs reserves, led by Manu Ginobili, expanded their lead from 12 to 17 points.
Overcoming a 12 point lead in 9 minutes is doable for a team with Kobe Bryant on it, but 17 points is pushing the envelope.
The other four Lakers starters outside of Kobe shot 14 for 41. Phil Jackson typically rests Kobe the first four minutes of the fourth quarter so he'll have fresher legs to close out the game.
However, Jackson has been indiscriminate with that policy. Keeping Bryant out of the game for that crucial stretch eliminated any chance the Lakers had of winning that game.
Phil Jackson's decision was not the prime reason the Lakers lost though.
Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol underperformed. The Spurs' Big Three manhandled the Lakers, and Bruce Bowen was able to keep Kobe off of the line.
However, despite all of their mistakes in Game 3, the Lakers still had a shot to win the game.
Yet, there Kobe was, sitting on the bench.
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4 months ago
Well, I think you're mistaken. Phil benched kobe simply because he knew that the momentum of the Spurs had been on a high note, especially with Manu knocking down every single shot he took. So, rest him for game 4 on Tuesday when he can learn how they played him and just finish them off from there.
from 4 months ago
Khalid, he's talking about the first few mins of the game, Not the last few mins of the game. Yes rest him for game 4 on the last few mins if they had no chance to win. But, being down only 12 pts starting the 4th quarter is a legitimate question...why sit him down.
from 4 months ago
Billy, I don't really see where he pointed out that he was referring to the first few minutes of the game at all in the article. Phil Jackson saw that the Spurs could not be put to a halt by Kobe alone simply because, like Sonny said in his article "Odom, fisher and Gasol underperformed". Being down 12 points starting the fourth quarter was the right decision by Phil. Seriously, let's be honest here, the Spurs couldn't be stopped yesterday by the Lakers. They had their big three score at least 20 points. That's uncomparable to the lakers supposedly "Big four" I guess.
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