If you missed this game, you missed an entertaining one. I would have guessed the Lakers to come out sluggish with the 9 am start local time. However, it was the other way around. The Lakers game out hot and blew the game open with a 25 point lead in the third. Boo’s came in regularly and a “fire Isiah” chant could be heard through the arena. Then the Lakers bench came in and everything went wrong. The Knicks backcourt went off on the Lakers. The night was saved by Kobe’s near triple double and Farmar’s game winning steal with 5 seconds left.
My frustration with this game is pretty simple. How do you have 9 less turnovers than the Knicks and only win by 5? And how do you shoot 26 three-point shots against one of the worst interior defensive teams in the league? Was the Curry/Randolph (combined 0.7 bpg) duo that intimidating that we needed to hoist 26 threes? Usually the team that rebounds better wins, but that wasn’t the case tonight as the Lakers got outrebounded by 14 mostly due to David Lee’s 13 off the bench. But anyways, a win is a win right? And the Lakers are 7 games over .500 going into Christmas. A successful trip I would say. Now, the bests of the morning:
Top 3 Laker performers:
1) Kobe Bryant became the youngest ever to 20,000 points for their career. He put in 39 tonight on 50% shooting. Kobe also added 11 rebounds, 8 assists, and 2 steals.
2) Bynum came back home to NY and gave his family a great game to watch. 6-8 shooting, 8 boards, and 2 blocks. He also held Curry to 2-8 shooting. 1-4 FT’s was his only downer.
3) Jordan Farmar got the game winning steal. This could have been a game the Lakers would want to forget forever, but Farmar came through with the steal that quieted the NY crowd.
Lakers Smush of the Day (Note: STD denotes the Laker that played the poorest): Javaris Crittenton came in for about 3 minutes late in the fourth. He looked nervous and lost out there. If you saw the game, you know what I’m talking about. He needs to play with more confidence.
Key play of the game: Farmar’s steal or Kobe’s three pointer for his 20,000th career point.
What to look for next game: Look for lots of pregame words. If you remember the last game, both coaches got into it with a Timeout Phil called. I expect lots of fouls and a good defensive game from the Lakers. Game is X-Mas day @ 2:00 PM on ABC (hopefully they have a better theme than last year’s song, Right Now).
TLN’s Post-Game Report: Lakers vs. Knicks
TLN’s Post-Game Report: Lakers vs. Heat
TLN’s Post-Game Report: Lakers vs. Pacers
TLN’s Post-Game Report: Lakers vs. Nuggets
TLN’s Post-Game Report: Lakers vs. Pacers
HOW THE F**K IS CRIT THE STD???? MAN U DONT KNOW HOW TO WRITE YOUR STUFF RIGHT. CRIT IS A ROOKIE AND PHIL PUTS HIM IN CRUNCH TIME IN A ARENA, DAMN HE IS NERVOUS HE DOSENT PLAY FOR LIKE A LONG TIME AND HE PLAYIN THE LAST 3 MIN OF A CLOSE GAME, DAMN GET YOUR FACTS STRIAGHT!!!!!
Lakers Smush of the day
Ronny 1-7fg 1-3ft.
Ronny is the man but he was build New York another arena with all the brickin he was doing.
Jordan also had an off night shooting.
How is it that Kobe can play with injuries but the other guys, I’M TALKING TO YOU LUKE “ANKLES” WALTON AND KWAME “6 TO 8 WEEKS” BROWN need to take games and in Kwames case months off? This is what i’ve been saying since I started posting, we need to stop trying to trade away forplayers like Kidd and trade for some heart and toughness like Artest.
Lmfao at this game. Phil is fraking hilarious. He decides to throw Critt into the fire. I was busting out loud when he put him out there like there. The rook couldn’t buy a call. Even when he gets jumped on by two players!
Great post Steve, once again i agree with you about crit… i have no idea what he was doing out there. I can’t blame the guy, phil doesn’t play him enough to be comfortable but damn he looked like sasha in the previous years. don’t expect to much playing time till next year crit, u might even get a ticket to the d league after that. I do think you will be great in time…
i was at the game today in new york…and i was really suprised when i saw crit out there for around 3minutes..espically in the closing minutes. at first i was like “hmm maybe this will work out for him..giving him more experience and see how he can adapt to the the crunch time” but that obviously was not the case. he had trouble going past the first guy so he had to settle with passing the ball away. another note, i cannot believe the knicks actually made this a game…we were UP by 25 POINTS then phil put in the WORST SQUAD..it consisted of players like turiaf, mihm, farmer, rodmonivc, and sasha…at least we got the W baby!!
i think phil is the weridest coach in the NBA !he put the rookie when the game was online and he watched the becnh blew 25 ponits lead .but thank good we won this game it was kinda scary and fun at the end of the game .kobe had fantasic game!
not impressive
yea seriously, how is crit the std? ronny should. he didnt do sh1t…crit is a rookie, playing with the game on the line, in a road arena
You guy’s got it all wrong. The real STD was Lamar. Scoring 9 pts in the first quarter and dissapearing for the rest of the game. The idiot also commited the charge on an easy fast break point and fouled out. That basket would of put us up by 7. You suck Lamar.
I think Phil was testing the rookie Crit
Phil already knew he was gonna win the game even though they got close but he knew Kobe would get them out of the trap
PJ wanted to see if he could handle the pressure anytime anywhere and thats what he did so to me smart move from the Zen Master
i think phil knows why he does things, for us can look like ideas with no sense but hey, for something he is the zen master and wins 12 mil per year…
critt is going to be good, but not this year or the next, maybe in 3 or 4…
I’m with ya David but Ronny was brickin some wide open chip shots that helped the knicks get back in the game.
Phant0m My lost brother from the hospital.
hows it been?
How did you sign up with my name? is there a glitch?
hahaha, PHANTOM can’t tell the difference between PHANTOM and PHANT0M, too funny.
Why did phil play java when farmar was availble? I thought the lineup with fish farmar kobe lamar and bynum is our best lineup and we should play that lineup more often…
Man when you all get off Critt’s jock you will realize he played terrible. Stupid fouls, couldn’t grab the ball on rebounds (instead hit out of bounds), and was just lost out there. Weather or not it was a good choice by PJ to put him in there, he was in there and did not play well.
I personally thought it was a good move by PJ to have the young guys (Farmar, Ariza, Critt). He knew the Lakers were still in control of the game, and Kobe was playing great. So letting those guys get minutes in crunch time will help them down the line. It showed them he has confidence in them (especially Farmar and Ariza after how poorly the bench has played the last few nights), and young guys feed off confidence.
Man i’ll come at you like a spider monkey!!! I’m all hopped up on mountain dew right now!!!
bottom line is that this was a typical Lakers win from last year Kobe played well and no one else contributed.. Bottom LIne— Lamar? Rad? Ronny?
Lamar has been playing alot better lately. I think he is starting to realize that Kobe wants him to shoot more. Today was a step back, but I feel that he will keep on getting better. AND….. PLEASE GIVE BYNUM MORE TOUCHES. He is a beast inside.
Phantom my young brother.
Tell me of your hard fought journey..
P.S. we need a forum..
its so much better and more convenient then blogs.
well said…
i do see why u would put crit as the std, and as a matter of fact, statistically he was the worst one out there..however, he is indeed a rookie and therefore prlly has no experience in these situations, but this is, in my opinion, a good thing for crit…phil jackson has put him in that scenerio to get familiar with it…yes its a bold move by jackson but not so much a dumb one…a dumb move would be taking kobe out with the game on the line…
so after 6 fouls in a game that was crucial to end a road trip, with one that is a flagrant, lakers need to choose…versatility? or consistency?
lamar needs to go…
Dude i dont swing that way. talk to ab4sure and lakers first they will take u up to brokeback mountain and show u what male bonding is all about…
What is of this “Swing that way”
Are you trying to infer, im talking about homosexual
intercourse?
If so, that is not the case…
How has mother been?
Phil has his ways. The Knicks are the perfect team against which to throw someone into the fire . That was good for Critt, and we still got the W.
I figured on 3 out of 4 on that trip, but I thought we would loose in Philly. Its impressive to me that Bynum could play that many minutes in a road back to back and play strongly in the second game. He’s seems to be in better condition (not just stronger).
PLay of the game?
come on!
the sick KOBE behind the leg to pass 2 defenders and assist to mihm for the dunk!
that was AMAZING!!!!!
go KOBE!
Maybe Phil is on a betting take and does it on purpose to destroy the spread. If that’s not it, he must be the second worst coach in the league (Thomas is the first). We would have a much better record if not for Phil’s lack of coaching. Only the moron can leave the worst 5 on the floor and keep them there until the lead is only 3. We should have beaten NY by 50, but barely escaped with 5.
*shakes Head ^^^^
R u {Profanity isn't allowed on theLakersNation.com -- Please go back and edit your comment. Thank you.}i…N* stupid…
Phil Jackson, is one of the best if not the best coach
of all time,
and to blame the lakers losses on him is blasphemy.
Yeah
Al u are totally out of your freaking mind
PJAX is the greatest ever
and this team wout him would not be at the same level
PJAX & KOBE The BEST!!!!!!!
Hey man, you’re the one that’s willing to get bent over by KB everytime he plays well, and let him to advantage of you, not to mention before each game you’re on your knees for him.
Which phant0m r u talking to.^
what in the f–king world u guys??????????? When critt didn’t play, and Sasha and my man farmer was playing games, you ppls were like: why isn’t critt getting minutes, we like to c him, he’s the future. now when he is playing and had a chance to actually make me think different about this guy, he f–ksup everything. and look at these lame excuses….. it was at the end of a close game, it was in middle of hostile crowd. for all you ppls: here a big fk-you. I have never seen more blind Laker fans than you guys.
Everyone who steps in the NBA hardwood has skills, rookie or a veteran ball player from Europe. A good player from bench who wants to show something, is always looking for the right time from him to prove. Today was Java’s. He messed up. If he missed the game winning shot, or turned a ball with 10 secs remaining, it’s different. But, he just looked like the guy who shouldn’t be in the floor. You Java-watever-happens supporters should know that this is the time when kevin durant and chris paul came to the floor too, but they proved something. If not for the game winning shot everytime, you could see their body language and tell they were special.
Critt should realize this is the NBA. It’s not like playing in preseason and having fun. For all you Critt lovers, I will write a letter to Santa to order Phil only to put Critt in the end of a game when the Lakers are up by 50, at home and let the refs know if anyone comes 1 feet radius near him, its a foul. ehe…ya’ll should be happy.
p.s. beside trash, i hope critt’s learned his lesson. he needs to atleast do something, i mean at leaast little better than smush to have him traded for an decent player.
thank god for nba tv. watching the replay right now =)
JACK you are way OFF. Please save these ignorant rants as they will come in handy to bury your low b-ball IQ later.
Guys the lakers played well after a 4 game road trip and 7 games in our last 11 so its good, and these think will just make us improve u know.Kobe 39 points shows us he is back to being is normal self an, and with kobe, bynum,and lamar(no foul trouble)derek, and the stealer farmar we will improve even more. Guys think of this would we have won the knicks last year if we blow a lead or let alone go 3-1 in the road. In our last 10 games we have won 8 and our loses are less than 3 pts u know and if kobe hadnt been injured we would have won
Yo Jack,
Critt has done well in the past, getting out assists, making plays happen, and taking it to the rim. If you open you eyes, you’d see Sasha has messed up his share of games: close, when the lakers have a big lead, and when the lakers are losing. And before you compare Javaris to Durant or Paul, notice Durant is averaging 33.4 minutes per game and has the chance to be the go to guy for his team, Paul 37.2 min per game (36 in his rookie year) also had that chance to play a lot of minutes, gaining experience (his rookie year was not the greatest, he was good no doubt, but he has improved to become one of the best). Javaris averages 5 minutes per game, and taking into account EVERY OTHER game other than this one. Javaris has played relatively well in his average of 5 minutes per game. In those 5 mins per game, what I saw WAS confidence, and a sense of maturity I don’t often see in Rookies.
In comparison, Jordan Farmar in his rookie season had averages 15 minutes a game, and 4.4 points. Who now is averaging 20 minutes and 9 points a game. Even Kobe in his rookie year averaged 15.5 mins a game and 7.6 points his rookie year.
Having seen both Java and Farmar play in college, I can see them both rising to the top, being up there in the point guard rankings sharing the 48 minutes evenly. However, in their college careers I believe Javaris was the better player, and not just better at scoring, better at all aspects of the Guard position. Anyways, it is just my OPINION, that Javaris is going to get better. I like what he’s shown, and anyone sitting on the bench for almost a whole game and going out when needed, deserve a pat on the back. Not playing and going out cold, and having to watch your team win without you is one of the hardest things I can imagine. I hope we see some development in Javaris, I think he’s better than Sasha, and will continue to get as good if not better than farmar, maybe D. Fish.
That’s our boy Shane reppin’ TLN!
The heights Java will reach is definetly a time thing. Until then, we all can continue arguing about how he is going to be. And this is nothing do to with IQ, it’s all prediction from what we see. The reason Kobe didn’t had a great rookie year was because he came out straight from high school. And last time I checked Chris Paul was rookie of the year. Java needs to prove Laker fans with numbers on stat-sheet, not highlight moves. After all, in sports, numbers matter most than anything.
Hey brain, is that you holding the “where Kobe happens” poster in the front page of “TLN’s Post-Game Report: Lakers vs. Knicks”?
Ronny should be STD …despite his DEFENSE blocking 2 shots …he was 1/7 from the field and had 4 fouls
I am talking to the phantom, who is utterly in love with Kobe that he wishes he was the girl from Colorado.
Critt did seem timid and not as aggressive as usual(he had a couple of open lanes in which he could have gone to the basket and got fouled) however, phil put him in in crunch time and he’s still a rookie who will certainly mature and become great
You continue to NOT make sense in you’re comments go back to
Kobe: “It’s up to the Lakers to trade me or not trade me.” and read my response to you’re retarded ass.MAYBE YOU SHOULD GO A LITTLE SLOWER AND READ YOU’RE COMMENTS BEFORE YOU POST THEM BECAUSE YOU MAKE NO SENSE AND MAKE A LOT OF STUPID MISTAKES YOU DUMB ASS
THANK YOU!!! There’s nothing I hate more than fans that are completely blind to what is going on because they are in love with their favorite player. No one would EVER shut up about how Critt needs to play. Everyone think’s he is the best PG in the NBA because when he plays its when the game doesn’t matter and he is matched up against other scrubs. Notice how the one time he got in there against some starters (the Knicks no less, possibly the worst starting 5 in the entire NBA) he played TERRIBLE. Farmar is clearly the better player right now, and Critt shouldn’t see time unless Fish or JFarm are in foul trouble or hurt. Even then I’d rather see Luke running the offense.
Notice how last year Farmar was seeing solid minutes almost every game until he hit the rookie wall. Why? Because when he was in there he proved himself. Every oppertunity he got he did something to show PJ he deserved playing time. Then over summer he worked non-stop, always the first in the gym and last one out. And look how he’s been rewarded. He’s getting a lot more time because he has put in the effort and taken every oppertunity he’s had to showcase his skills.
All Critt has done in his time playing is fancy moves (that he should know PJ doens’t like) and driving to the hoop. When you get in there with good NBA players, you can’t do that, it won’t work. You have to have other parts to your game. Being a PG he needs to learn to pass and run the offense, which in all his time on the court he hasn’t shown he can do either. He also can’t play defense to save his life, and everyone here should know by now you have to be able to play defense, because thats the reason the Lakers had a bad record last year.
And the novel begins^…
Before you give your next opinion on Critt why don’t you watch him play enough. In fact, you can see about6-7 games when he played with Farmar over the summer. Go to nba.com and click on video archives. Look up the summer games and you can watch several games all the way thru. And during that time you can compare much better between the two. The reasons Farmar is playing now is he was given the first opportunity coming off the bench and has played well. Seniority matters with PJ. Same thing with Sasha. I saw Critt play all summer and in college and made my opinion from that.
It is easy to criticize what you never saw.
chicago just fired scott skiles, i wonder what kobe thinks about the mess in chicago. Seriously laker fans, could this season be going any better for us. I just keep rooting for the bulls to lose and the lakers to keep improving so Kobe has no other option but to stay. The key is bynums development for sure.
Critt as STD??? You have to be joking. He plays for three minutes, misses one shot, a couple inches too long which he didn’t hesitate to put up when kobe was double team and you give it to him??? Yes, he looked uncomfortable but none more so than Lamar when he is out there with a couple of minutes left. In fact, lamar looked so out of it that he just drives toward the basket and runs directly into a guy for charging and he fouled out. This has to be the worst call for STD yet.
Avery,
Does this have to do with Sasha being one of your favorite players and your trying to keep Critt down??? I like Sasha he adds a new dimension and contributes off the bench, but he is just temporarily holding Critt’s spot.
Sasha is just as bad and inconsistent as Lamar. Sasha, Vlad, Luke and Mihm need to be traded. These white boys suck really bad. Every game, the STD should go to one of these white guys. They don’t play at the NBA level. But I guess we’re stuck with these guys for the season.
Avery, your favorite player is Sasha? LOL. hahahha that’s terrible bro!!!!!
hey dude, lets keep the racism out of this. thank you
white guys have a place in this league just don’t play them at the same time phil. when u put 4-5 white people on the ct at the same time u have no athletisim and the lakers really suffer. come on phil your a better coach than that!!! farmar sasha walton vlad and mimh should never be on the ct at the same time unless its garbage time….
Abs,
I thought Phil made a good call putting Crit in. It’s great experience for the kid and probably figured Kobe would just take over anyways. The plan backfired when the Knicks doubled Kobe off Crit’s man leaving Crit wide open. So what happened: Crit got a wide open look, hesitated and missed a shot. Then, the next 3 touches, he was still kind of open but didn’t even look for a shot. He wasn’t smooth. You could tell he was nervous. I love Crit–think he has some great talent. But tonight, he just looked like a rookie. It’s nothing bad, but I just thought he looked awful yesterday….thanks for the feedback.
Steve
Oh please, the lakers have used this lineup as there second unit before and they performed well. Yesterday, they didn’t but to jump and say they should never is just plain ignorant. I can see your point on athleticism but it depends on who the other team has out there. Hustle and running the offense right can make up for athleticism and dumb basketball.
Hey phantom, you can’t give a team like the nets 20 million in a trade. That is just plain you know what. I have to hand it to you though you made alot of people believe you by sounding like you knew what you where talking about on the shout box. Are you a car salesman??? you definitely should be into sales…hahaha
Whats up with the racism?
Jeez!
…found this on Si. com rumors section…. wtf? :
Online book points finger at Kobe
Posted: Monday December 24, 2007 06:25AM ET
There is never a dull moment in Kobe Bryant’s world. The latest distraction he might have to deal with is a scurrilous online book published by someone who claims to have worked as a bodyguard for the Lakers star. Patrick Graber was charged in September 2003 with soliciting the murder of the woman who accused Bryant of rape in Colorado the same year. Nonetheless, Graber recently released an online book, Dead Women Tell No Tales, in which he accuses Bryant of, among other things, asking him to kill the woman who accused Bryant of rape. Bryant, who might consider legal action against Graber, declined to comment on the book beyond saying that he doesn’t even know who Graber is and that the man never worked for him.
First of all he didn’t hesitate on the shot, and in the last few minutes he was looking to get the ball to kobe which is a smart guy. He was “kind of open”??? He did the right thing in giving kobe the ball. I didn’t see a turnover or taking a bad shot or bad defense. The award for STD should have more to it than just a player looking uncomfortable and nervous.
WELL MY FAVORITE LAKER FAN, THIS TIME I AGREE WITH YOU 100%…CRITT REALLY NEEDS TO PLAY MORE MINUTES SO HE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE ON OUR TEAM!!!!
Critt will make a minimal difference if at all..
Hes an average player..
Farmar>>>Him..
Stop hyping him up.
cuz he made a few flashy plays
smh.
You have not seen Javaris Crittenton. Just because Farmar has been playing very good doesn’t make him better than Javaris.
Well from what we’ve seen from both of them..
U cant honestly say critt>Farmar…
Please if you can show me..
I was in Vegas for the summer pro league and I can honestly say critt has way more game than Jordan. Jordan is playing great basketball, but don’t get me wrong, Javaris is Way better. Javaris played great and really actually played way better than Jordan. You ought to see him play entire games. He can create his own shot off the dribble and can penetrate the middle so easily. He just has not been getting a chance with Phil. We know what Phil does with rookies. He lets them carry bags and that is about all.