FSN West
Nachwuchsspieler
Boah, die Refs eh. :wall:
PS: der Chat war ja mal erfreulich fair gesittet.
(...) aber seit der Pressekonferenz gegen Portland mag ich Yao.
But this was a different Ming. As he was being helped off the court and into the locker room by trainer Keith Jones, he refused to go into the corridor, wincing as he tried to prove that he was fit to play. He quickly turned around as Keith pleaded with him to get it checked and instead checked himself back into the game. He then proceeded to hit a jump shot and four free throws to put the game away. It was an emotional finish to what was a stellar game for Ming, who had a team-high 28 points and 10 rebounds.
Before the game, Phil Jackson stressed the importance of winning series openers. He should know. When a Jackson coached team wins Game 1, they are 42-0. When they don't? Well, they are 6-8. The Lakers will try to make that 7-8 now after losing home-court advantage and dropping their first home game of the postseason. Surprisingly, Jackson and some Lakers actually took some solace in the fact that they nearly won a game they had no business being in at times; promising things would be different in Game 2. "That wasn't a surprise to us, not to me at least," said Jackson. "The outcome of that game is not as bad as it seems. We're OK. We feel confident we'll come back and give a good effort on Wednesday night."
This is not to say the Rockets have the Lakers’ number or that they’ll even extend the series to seven. But it’s a real series now, and Jackson’s amazing 42-0 record in playoff series where his teams win Game 1 is now irrelevant. Jackson’s career playoff record when losing Game 1: 6-8.
Let the hand-wringing begin.
The Lakers finally make a move in the fourth, Shannon Brown’s electrifying steal leading to free throws that give L.A. a 1-point lead, but the game changes on two plays: a three-point play by Artest immediately after, snatching the lead right back, and Yao’s apparently game-ending knee injury, with the Rockets up 85-79 with 4:48 to play. Surely now, the Lakers would rally, and the Rockets would watch another fourth quarter lead slip agonizingly away.
But wait – a mere 57 seconds later after he had to be helped off the court and down the tunnel, here comes Yao (“It was like Rocky coming back,” Adelman said later) to hit a feathery jumper that silences the building, and the Rockets slowly pull away.
After the game, the Lakers — again, with more talent and size than any team in basketball — had taken to criticizing the officiating. "It had a lot to do with the refs," said Bynum.
"There were a lot of questionable calls," said Gasol.
For the record, the Laker who shot the most free throws Monday was Lamar Odom. He was 1-for-6.
Funny thing, though. I don't recall Shane Battier complaining about the refs. Early in the first quarter, Bryant tried to punk him with an elbow. Didn't work. A little later, Battier took an inadvertent shot from Vujacic. He returned with four stitches above the left eye and continued to play his brand of excellent defense — always in position, hands in the shooter's face, always on Bryant.
"He has a really good understanding that he's not going to shut Kobe down," said Houston coach Rick Adelman, who also knows such understanding wouldn't stop Battier from trying.
That certainly wasn't the start the Lakers were looking for. They came out flat, rusty, whatever you'd like to call it and the Rockets played great, especially on the defensive end. When the Lakers needed a basket, the Rockets came up with a stop en route to a Game 1 victory that few expected, but certainly ratchets up the series as we head to Game 2.
Tonight was all about getting banged up. Yao Ming hurt his knee, Shane Battier cut his eye, and I nearly suffered a heart attack while watching The Great Wall come crashing to the ground. And then after all of that, I probably strained my arm after some intense, European-techno-rave fist pumping following each and every made free throw of ours
Moving on -- can someone find me a harder competitor than Yao Ming? He's simply incredible. For a 7'6 guy to take a blow to the knee and then fight it off, return to the game, and score ten points in the final quarter is remarkable. You saw the look on his face when he was down on the ground: he was in some serious pain. I got out of my chair and sat on the floor and tried not to pull my hair out just watching it. I thought he was done. But halfway towards the locker room, Yao decided that it didn't hurt quite bad enough. If it could move, then he could play.
Despite how well the Rockets played tonight, and despite how obvious this seems, I must stress that the Lakers were not themselves tonight. They shot 2-18 from the three point line, 12-19 from the free throw line, and Trevor Ariza and Derek Fisher went 0-8 from three, many of which were literally wide-open attempts. That won't happen again.
Playing the only way that would give them a chance to win, the outmanned Rockets mugged the Lakers from start to finish, knocking Andrew Bynum to the bench and Pau Gasol into oblivion and the vaunted Laker cool into thin air.
In the end, the Lakers not only lost their poise, but their fans, the supposedly most passionate group in Los Angeles literally running for the exits in the final minutes, making it an embarrassing night for everyone.
On a day when Kobe Bryant lost the Most Valuable Player award to LeBron James, the trendy fans even abandoned him at the foul line, with only a smattering of MVP chants, nothing louder than the final buzzer boos.
"We'll be fine," assured Bryant afterward, even though Shane Battier made sure he was not. "Derek (Fisher) and I have been in this situation before, losing Game 1 ... it will be interesting to see how we progress."
Remember a couple of months ago when Bryant and Artest spent the game talking smack to each other before Bryant ultimately won in both verbiage and scoreboard?
Said Bryant at the time, "It wasn't much of a battle. I kicked his . . . "
Well, in the end, Monday night really wasn't much of a battle either. And the Rockets kicked the Lakers ... well, you saw it, you know.
Interesting now, for sure. A series now, indeed.
The Rockets believe in themselves. I'm not sure when they started to believe. It probably was sometime after the trading deadline when the roster finally was stabilized.
By the end of the regular season, they were a completely different team than they'd been just a few weeks early. They were built around terrific defense and a tenacious competitive spirit.
There's also a collective ego. There are individual egos, but there's a collective ego, too.
The Rockets think they're pretty good, and if you don't believe it, that's your problem.
Afterwards, Adelman said games like this were won when someone stepped up in the fourth quarter. Yao did that. One moment he’s lying on the floor clutching his right knee. He was helped off the floor to be examined, but then refused to go to the locker room.
He turned to go back to the court and was stopped by trainer Keith Jones.
"Yao," he said, "you have to show me you can walk."
"I’m going back in," Yao said.
"No," Jones told him, "you have to show me you can walk."
Yao had 12 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter.
Kleines Späßchen am Abend
Selbst wenn die Rox 2:0 oder gar 3:0 führen sollten, würde ich nicht auf meine Rox wetten. Dann würde selbst das erste Mal überhaupt ein 0:3 aufholbar sein durch L.A.Sollte wir wirklich das 2 Game holen, müssen wir die Serie fast Zuhause closen.....SWEEP!!!!! :laugh2: