LA Lakers Nailing Down The Coffin on San Antonio Spurs: Game 4 Recap

Did Derek Fisher foul Brent Barry on Barry’s last-second desperation buzzer beater?

Absolutely!

Still, if the Spurs had gotten more contributions from key players, they wouldn’t have had to rely on Barry trying to pump fake Fisher at the buzzer 30-feet from the basket.

Nope, the truth is the Lakers won (and the Spurs lost) Game 4 during the first 47 minutes without the referees intervening.

The Lakers:

As has been the case in virtually all their playoff games this year, Los Angeles came out with tremendous speed and enthusiasm during the game’s initial minutes. Dribbles and passes were challenged, loose balls were ripped away, and turnovers were converted into easy buckets with blinding speed. While San Antonio eventually settled down, the initial burst relegated San Antonio to playing a forever game of catch-up.

Kobe Bryant spearheaded the charge by connecting on his first four baskets—a transition lay-up, and three jumpers to put the pressure on San Antonio’s defense to react.

After that initial surge, Bruce Bowen got the best of Kobe, staying in front of his first step, staying down on his series of pump fakes, and staying back lulling Kobe into a false sense of jump shot security.

Kobe only shot 10-25 from the field after the first seven minutes onward (the majority coming against Ime Udoka and Manu Ginobili). The most compelling evidence supporting Bowen’s mastery were Kobe’s auxiliary offensive numbers—a spare assist, two turnovers, and zero (zero!) free throw attempts.

Kobe also committed a pivotal brain lock in the game’s final minute, jacking up a needless shot with 30 seconds left, 15 seconds on the shot clock, and the Lakers up four.

Still, Bryant scored the majority of his points after San Antonio threatened to take the lead with miniature runs. If he couldn’t score consistently, he’d score when it hurt the Spurs the most, constantly forcing them to keep rolling their boulder up the mountain.

Besides Kobe’s isolations, Los Angeles undertook a number of speed cuts stemming from Pau Gasol in the midpost. Even if the shots didn’t drop, the constant activity placed the Lakers in prime offensive rebounding position. The sheer hustle resulted in Los Angeles’ totaling of 11 offensive rebounds in the first half and 20 second chance points.

While Pau Gasol (4-7 FG, 2-4 FT, 10 REB, 6 AST, 1 STL, 2 BLK, 2 TO, 10 PTS) was again, a non-factor whenever asked to create his own offense, his passwork, his cutting, and his activity on the boards were instrumental in the Lakers’ offensive continuity.

With Lamar Odom and Derek Fisher saddled with foul trouble in the first half, Vladimir Radmanovic cut and made his way for 11 first half points and a six total rebounds.

The Spurs sagged off Lamar Odom for the duration and dared him to settle for long-ranged jumpers (he made only one of these). However, as the game wore on, Phil Jackson placed Odom along the baseline and off the ball where the Spurs would have difficulty providing help on defense for his cuts to the basket. This slight adjustment resulted in half of Odom’s point total coming in the fourth.

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