NBA Playoffs 2011: New Orleans Hornets vs. Los Angeles Lakers Game 2 Report Card
Well it didn't take a soothsayer to predict this outcome.
After an embarrassing defeat in Game 1, the Los Angeles Lakers rebounded to beat New Orleans 87-78 in Wednesday night's Game 2, evening the series at one game a piece as it shifts to The Big Easy.
To the Hornets' credit, they didn't seem satisfied with earning a split and came out with the effort and intensity needed to beat a champion on its home floor in a near must-win situation. They didn't have enough offense to pull it off.
Outstanding performances by Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum offset a quiet night by Kobe Bryant, but the Lakers will need more from him and Pau Gasol if they are to advance and make a run at a three-peat.
We're getting ahead of ourselves by looking that far into the future. Let's stay in the present and hand out some grades to Game 2's participants.
PG—Derek Fisher, Los Angeles Lakers
1 of 14
Game stats: 30 minutes, 9 points (2-for-9 shooting), 4 assists, 3 rebounds.
Grade: C+
Instructor's comments: Fisher gave the Lakers a typical Fisher line. His shot was off, but he fared much better defensively against Chris Paul than he did in Game 1.
He distributed the ball well and had a nice floor game with four assists and no turnovers, with the most pivotal dish coming in the final minute. Fish took a pass from Bryant at the top of the key, got his defender in the air with a shot fake, then swung the ball to an open Ron Artest for the dagger three-ball that put the Lakers up 10 with 40 seconds to play.
His night was nothing special, but if Fisher is standing out, it's probably a bad thing. He provided a steady hand on a night when Los Angeles needed it.
PG—Chris Paul, New Orleans Hornets
2 of 14
Game stats: 43 minutes, 20 points (5-for-11 shooting), 9 assists, 3 rebounds.
Grade: B
Instructor's comments: Initially, one might be inclined to give Paul a lower grade because of how dominant he was in the series opener.
Fans must remember, however, that the CP3 we saw Wednesday night is much more likely to stick around for the remainder of this series than his Game 1 version is to reappear. Paul was fantastic on Sunday with 33 points and 14 assists, but let's not forget he averaged 15.9 points and 9.8 assists this season.
That initial outburst shouldn't be considered commonplace, and I'd be surprised if we saw him have that type of impact again.
Paul was good, but not great in Game 2 and that isn't good for New Orleans because the Hornets need him to be great in order to win another game in this series. He wasn't as aggressive as he was on Sunday and seemed to have dead legs.
Nevertheless, Paul did hit buzzer-beating threes at the end of the second and third quarters to keep the Hornets in striking distance, and his overall line shows that he hardly pulled a disappearing act.
SG- Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers
3 of 14
Game stats: 35 minutes, 11 points (3-for-10 shooting), 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal.
Grade: D
Instructor's comments: Maybe Bryant's uninspiring play and overall lack of interest shows the Lakers really didn't view this as a must-win game. Either that or he was just plain bad.
After spending time calling out Gasol following the Game 1 debacle, Bryant should spend his entire media session praising his teammates for picking up the slack. If someone told me before tip that Kobe would score 11 points and have about as much of an impact as Matt Barnes, I would tell you the Hornets were headed home up two games.
The Black Mamba had to fight in the fourth quarter to reach double figures for the game and it wasn't like it was a blow out. Kobe struggled. The Lakers better hope they get a performance closer to Game 1 when the series resumes in New Orleans.
SG- Marco Belinelli, New Orleans Hornets
4 of 14
Game stats: 21 minutes, 4 points (2-for-9 shooting, 0-for-3 3P), 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 3 turnovers.
Grade: F
Instructor's comments: Belinelli is the definition of a role player. He's in the NBA for one reason- to make three-pointers. After scoring 10 points in the series opener, Belinelli threw up a stinker in Game 2, scoring just four points and missing all three of his moneyballs.
The Hornets desperately need to hit from deep in this series to have any chance to advance. The three-point arc is the great equalizer in basketball, so Belinelli could have a major impact if he can shoot straight.
But if his shot isn't falling, he's not worth having on the floor. Wednesday's performance emphasized that.
SF—Ron Artest, Los Angeles Lakers
5 of 14
Game stats: 32 minutes, 15 points (6-for-14 shooting), 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks.
Grade: A-
Instructor's comments: Ron-Ron was a gem in Game 2. He provided the Lakers with double-figure scoring in a game where it was much-needed given Bryant's struggles.
He was mostly efficient, hitting just under half of his 14 attempts, and his final bucket was the game's biggest—a three from the left wing that took the Lakers' lead from seven to 10 with 40 seconds to play.
Artest had a hard time stopping Trevor Ariza, but he made a few big stops in the fourth quarter and filled the box score with steals and blocks.
If he continues to play at this level in New Orleans, the Lakers will have good odds at returning to Staples Center with a chance to close out the series in Game 5.
SF—Trevor Ariza, New Orleans Hornets
6 of 14
Game stats: 42 minutes, 22 points (8-for-15 shooting), 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block.
Grade: A+
Instructor's comments: Ariza was the best player on the floor for much of the night. After struggling with his shot in Game 1, Ariza went back to doing what he does best and that's slashing to the basket.
He was aggressively attacking the defense and finishing well through contact, getting to the line six times.
As great as he was offensively, his defense was what set him apart from the rest. He hounded Bryant for every minute he was on the floor. Kobe started to show frustration in the fourth quarter when he was seen talking smack to his former teammate.
Numero uno was New Orleans' primary option in the final frame, scoring a few key buckets to keep it close into the last minute. If it weren't for Ariza, the Lakers would have run away with this one a lot earlier.
PF—Pau Gasol, Los Angeles Lakers
7 of 14
Game stats: 36 minutes, 8 points (2-for-10 shooting), 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 3 blocks, 3 turnovers.
Grade: F
Instructor's comments: One figured after an awful performance in Game 1 that Gasol would rebound with a dominant showing on Wednesday.
In reality, he was equally as worthless, only this time it didn't cost the Lakers the win. The Hornets will undoubtedly be kicking themselves when they look at the box score and see that Bryant and Gasol combined to score 19 points and still managed to win.
Gasol has been tentative thus far as just four of his 10 shots in Game 2 were in the paint. He is settling for too many jumpers and needs to use his length and athleticism to his advantage in mismatches against Carl Landry and Emeka Okafor.
Rather than scream and yell and whine through every non-foul, Gasol should focus on trying to finish whether it be through contact or no resistance at all. The yelling has worked in the past, but thankfully the officials are turning a deaf ear and he hasn't been nearly as affective.
The Lakers may be able to advance to the second round without Gasol at his best, but they will go no further if he doesn't reach the level he has been at in the past two postseasons.
PF—Carl Landry, New Orleans Hornets
8 of 14
Game stats: 35 minutes, 12 points (4-for-12 shooting), 7 rebounds, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 3 turnovers.
Grade: C
Instructor's comments: Landry's line doesn't look bad, but if I'm being honest, I didn't notice he was on the floor until Jarrett Jack got in his grill for not executing a play and then not running back on defense in a key sequence late in the fourth quarter.
Landry is quick and under-sized, and he has always given the Lakers problems, but his lack of size causes him to struggle in this matchup more often than not. Landry isn't a great defender against people his size, so he is basically at the mercy of Gasol, Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum.
He isn't David West and is much better playing in a reserve role, where he can come in and give the Hornets energy while possibly changing the pace of the game.
That hasn't happened with him in the starting lineup and Landry has struggled to make a similar impact.
C—Andrew Bynum, Los Angeles Lakers
9 of 14
Game stats: 32 minutes, 17 points (8-for-11 shooting), 11 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 blocks.
Grade: A-
Instructor's comments: Bynum played one of his best games of the season in Game 2 and the Lakers needed every bit of his effort to seal the win.
He was deserving of an A or A+, but fouled out in just 32 minutes of action, meaning he is still a bit lost defensively. If he can't stop fouling, he won't be able to maximize his time on the court and that could cost the Lakers moving forward.
This is a matchup that favors Bynum on the offensive end. New Orleans is small up front and has no one on the front line to handle his strength and ability.
Bynum carried the Lakers through stretches of this game and will continue to be a double-double waiting to happen if he can become more disciplined on defense.
C—Emeka Okafor, New Orleans Hornets
10 of 14
Game stats: 24 minutes, 7 points, 5 rebounds, 1 steal.
Grade: F
Instructor's comments: Speaking of useless, how about Okafor? Heading into the final six minutes, he had zero points, one shot and four fouls.
He, like Bynum, can't stay on the floor because he can't stop fouling. The only difference is, Bynum actually impacts the game when he is in, while Okafor provides nothing redeeming.
The Hornets are short-handed and couldn't have been given a worse draw, but Okafor is a veteran and known around the league as a solid post defender. He has been anything but that in this series and hasn't provided any low-post scoring to make up for it.
New Orleans better hope and pray that he forgot to pack his game in his suitcase and finds it when he returns home, because if he can't give it any more than seven meaningless points and four fouls, the Hornets will fade quietly.
Los Angeles Lakers Bench (a.k.a Lamar Odom)
11 of 14
Grade: A+
Instructor's comments: The Lakers' bench, led by Lamar Odom, who was honored as the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year prior to the game, is largely responsible for the Game 2 triumph.
Odom scored 16 points, grabbed seven boards in 28 minutes and appeared to be the engine to the Lakers' sputtering offense throughout the game.
The bench quartet of him, Matt Barnes, Steve Blake and Shannon Brown combined for 27 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists, and the team was an astonishing plus-42 when they were on the floor.
That type of production will earn you an A+ every time, but more importantly, it will make Los Angeles very difficult to overcome.
New Orleans Hornets Bench
12 of 14
Grade: D-
Instructor's comments: After combining to score 35 points in Game 1, Jarrett Jack, Aaron Gray and Willie Green could only muster 13 points on 5-for-16 shooting in Game 2.
The Hornets received nothing from their second unit and Head Coach Monty Williams was forced to play his starters heavy minutes as a result. Where the Lakers' four primary bench players had an outstanding plus-minus Wednesday night, Jack, Gray and Green's was a pitiful minus-26 in 62 minutes of action.
New Orleans has absolutely no shot to win this series if it gets this type of production from its bench.
As we saw in Game 2, they need to give quality minutes so key starters such as Paul and Ariza can catch a breath or two to keep them from burning out in winning time.
Coach—Phil Jackson, Los Angeles Lakers
13 of 14
Grade: B
Instructor's comments: It wasn't pretty, but the Zen Master coaxed a victory out of his team on a night when his two stars were off their game.
The Lakers were solid offensively and great defensively, allowing the Hornets to shoot just 39 percent, while out-rebounding them by eight. They were ready to play and overcame a slow start to control the game for most of the final 36 minutes.
Los Angeles assumed it would have a 2-0 edge at this point, but after an awful performance in the series opener, Jackson will gladly take a split as the now best-of-five heads toward the Gulf of Mexico.
Coach—Monty Williams, New Orleans Hornets
14 of 14
Grade: B-
Instructor's comments: Williams continues to impress in his rookie season. Bringing his undermanned team to Staples Center and stealing a road victory was an incredible achievement, and the Hornets were in position to take Game 2 as well.
There is a lot for Williams to build upon from this game. People will say "don't count on Kobe and Pau being this bad again." Maybe they're right, but the Hornets were one of the best defensive teams in the NBA all season long. They will scrap, fight and claw for 48 minutes regardless of the situation and that is a credit to Williams.
It's hard to say whether or not the Hornets have another win in them in this series, but they are certain to make the defending champs earn the four victories it will take to send the pesky Hornets home for the summer.
