Lakers Survive Ariza Bowl I

fish 0-5 with 0 points???
oh well we won!!!
and we get gasol back friday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After Dallas missed 3 straight FTs that would have iced the game (they were up three) , Peja hit is only shot of the night, a three pointer to tie it

To wash out back to back foul taste left by the Lakers’ stinkbomb of a win.

I know they say a win is a win, but good lord have we not learned ANYTHING from the Magic’s Game 4?!

Three point lead at the end of regulation and we let TA tie it!!!! AGGGGGGHHH
I love TA and all ,but come ON

Back to back OTs ugh

Ugly ugly wins … but I suppose I’ll take it. I would have been hella even more pissed if the Lakers had lost and forced me to watch b2b crapfests.

Still, I couldn’t help pining for TA. Seeing him in the Rockets jersey and laughing with the LA players made me wish he was still on the team. I want him back :)

Ron had a good game, I’m glad to see he’s been playing well. Fish has become a black hole on offense :(

Bench was less sucky but crappy nonetheless …

Hopefully Drew will be alright and Pau’s able to make a full recovery. I don’t think I can stand to see how badly our offense is operating without him.

Bryant’s trust in Artest late was a huge key to the win, I think. If Artest feels comfortable in the offense, he WILL start shooting more, but he can do more with the ball than Ariza. (We miss you, #3!) I didn’t like the offense this game, besides Kobe (and even some of his shots were, as usual, questionable at best), Bynum needs to go up stronger, Brown shouldn’t drift 10 yards in the air before firing, and Odom didn’t have shooting stroke today, but Kobe and Artest (and Bynum, we have to give the kid credit) pulled the Lakers through.

I can’t wait for Artest to get more open looks with Gasol coming back. Imagine the possibilities!

Also, Farmar played an excellent game tonight, I thought. So far, he is looking like the long term solution, and not Shannon.

Mike Bresnahan reports on Twitter than Bynum was “very sore” dressing after the game.

But did I mention that Rockets getting two points from the bookmakers would be a good bet?

Oh yeah, I did

Just looked up the odds at Yahoo!

And Los Angeles is favored by 2 points. On the road!

IF I gambled (which I don’t) I’d feel comfortable betting on Houston tonight. It’d be a good risk to take.

I’m still rooting for the Lakers, shhhhheee.

“This is not a game for boys. This is a game for men.” – Phil Jackson

by Gils_Keloids on Nov 4, 2009 11:00 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

It was the best of both worlds: The Rockets covered the two point spread, and the Lakers won!

How Hollinger will use statistics in whichever manner suits him:

As for Artest versus Ariza, statistically it was basically a draw — each player had 15 points.

Err no, it wasn’t a draw, it was a unanimous decision to Artest, as Ariza took 21 shots to get his 15 points, while Artest took only 14. Here’s a statistic: 21 is 50% more than 14.

I don’t really care too much about the man to man comparisons myself, but it is worth pointing out how people spin certain events to their liking.

Not huge in the sense that the Lakers needed it, but it was huge in making me feel like this is the same team as last year. In the big moments, they tend to come through.

And if Bynum misses any amount of time because of an intentional and very hard foul, why isn’t anybody calling Chuck Hayes dirty? You take a swipe at somebody like that, not caring if you hurt them or not?. Fucked up even if you are just trying to win.