Lakers Win Ugly in Jersey but Take the West

It wasn’t very pretty, but it got the job done. The Lakers 103-95 win against the New Jersy Nets at the Izod Center gained them their second consecutive Western Conference Championship and homecourt advantage throughout the conference playoffs.

Typical of many of their 58 wins this year, the Lakers gave up too many points in the paint and too many offensive rebounds. The pattern of the game was consistent as well. The Lakers were again consistently inconsistent.

They jumped off to a 14-point lead in the first quarter only to see their bench give most of that advantage away in the second quarter. The Lakers went in at halftime with a narrow 51-49 lead and Kobe Bryant limping off on a slightly sprained ankle.

Just like they did in Detroit last night, the starters sprinted out to a 22-point advantage in the third quarter. Again, three reserves—Jordan Farmar, Sasha Vujacic and Luke Walton—entered the game and allowed the Nets to cut the Lakers lead in half by the end of the quarter, 81-70.

The Nets’ zone defense completely confused the Lakers’ subs, and Jersey further narrowed the gap to 86-83 at the 6:28 mark of the final quarter.

Re-enter the Laker starters—Derek Fisher, Lamar Odom, and Trevor Ariza—to plug up the leak. They managed to hold off the surging Nets and build a slight cushion. But after a Jarvis Hayes three-pointer with two minutes remaining brought the Nets back within three points again, 93-90, Pau Gasol closed out the game at both ends of the court.

Gasol took rookie Brook Lopez to school in those last two minutes and showed why he should be a first-team NBA power forward selection. Gasol finished with 36 points on 14 of 19 shooting and nearly had a triple double with 11 rebounds and seven assists. No one else was even close.

Derek Fisher hit eight of his twelve shots including two three-pointers for 18 points and added four assists. Kobe Bryant was only one of nine in the first half but hit three consecutive three-point shots in the final stanza to end 5-of-19 for 14 points and added nine assists.

Vince Carter and Jarvis Hayes were the high-scorers for the Nets with 20 points and 19 points respectively. Brook Lopez had 16 points and 10 rebounds.

Even though they now have homecourt advantage in the West, here are two troubling statistics. The Lakers’ bench after scoring only 15 points in Detroit contributed even less tonight with 12 points, going 5-of-19.

Meanwhile, Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant on a sprained ankle were in the game for 45 and 41 minutes respectively. Lamar Odom and Trevor Ariza played 36 minutes each. That is way too long. These guys are not going to have any legs going into the playoffs.

This is especially troubling if the Lakers have to go against a quick team like the Hornets in the first round. As I have suggested before, if the three guys on the bench with lucrative contracts don’t start earning their money, the Lakers will not make it through the Western Conference playoffs.

That is, of course, if Andrew Bynum isn’t in condition to play 25-30 minutes by then. With Bynum, you never know.

By the way, tonight’s game marked Phil Jackson 728th with the Lakers surpassing Pat Riley for the most games coached as a Lakers head coach.