Lakers aren't out of the woods yet. They have to hold serve at home.

Western Conference Playoffs, Conference Semifinals

Game 3

Oklahoma City Thunder 96 Los Angeles Lakers 99

After the first two games a lot of people were commenting that the Lakers just simply were too old to keep up with the younger run-and-gun Thunder. But Kobe Bryant came out to prove his doubters wrong, as he carried the Lakers to a much-needed home victory over OKC. Kobe Bryant led all scorers with 36 points, and they needed all of his points because the Thunder refused to go away, hanging around the entire game with a number of lead changes down the stretch. Kevin Durant led OKC with 31 points and nearly tied the game in the closing seconds with a three-point attempt, but the shot bounced off the back of the rim as time would expire.

Oklahoma City leads series 2-1.

uPtoWnNY said:

Lakers aren't out of the woods yet. They have to hold serve at home.

I still expect them to lose the series. That way, if they do lose, I won't be too disappointed. But if they win, it will be a very pleasant surprise.

Western Conference Playoffs, Conference Semifinals

Game 3

San Antonio Spurs 96 Los Angeles Clippers 86

The Clippers got out to an explosive start in this game, led by Blake Griffin, who led the Clippers with 20 points in the first half and 28 points in the game, and the Clippers built up a 24 point lead in the second quarter. But the Spurs refused to panic, and they made up that deficit by going on a methodical 24-0 run. Tonly Parker played some crushing defense on the ailing Chris Paul and led the Spurs with 23 points. Tim Duncan had 19 points and 13 rebounds while Kawhi Leonard added 14 points and Manu Ginnobili added 13. It was the Spurs' 17th consecutive victory going back into the regular season, and the now have a commanding lead on the the weary Clippers, who now face possible elimination tomorrow night.

San Antonio leads series 3-0.

Lakers are giving this game away. Horrible pass by Gasol.

uPtoWnNY said:

Lakers are giving this game away. Horrible pass by Gasol.

Kobe should have never given it, to Gasol.

Western Conference Playoffs, Conference Semifinals

Game 4

Oklahoma City Thunder 103 Los Angeles Lakers 100

The Lakers led handily for much of the game, led by Kobe Bryant who had 38 points for Los Angeles, but in the last seven minutes the Thunder stormed back, taking the lead with about two minutes left in the game. The Lakers tied the game with a little over a minute to play, and it appeared they would eke out a close victory when Russell Westbrook slipped on the court and turned the ball over with 54 seconds left. But Pau Gasol turned the ball over on the other end to Kevin Durant, who would eventually hit the crucial three pointer to put OKC up for good. Westbrook led OKC with 37 points while Kevin Durant had 31. Kobe Bryant was on fire for most of the game, but in the fourth quarter he went ice cold, hitting only two field goals on 10 attempts. The Lakers now find themselves on the brink of elimination having to win on the road just to stay alive in one of the most hostile environments for visiting teams in the NBA.

Oklahoma City leads series 3-1.

[Edited 5/19/12 22:18pm]

Gutsy comeback by the Thunder. KD is smooth as butter and at this point

more clutch than LeBron. Still wish LeBron well the rest of the playoffs.

shorttrini said:

uPtoWnNY said:

Lakers are giving this game away. Horrible pass by Gasol.

Kobe should have never given it, to Gasol.

Uhhh yep! And when he did, Gasol should have shot it or driven to the basket. One play is never really the cause of a win or a loss, but that one was pretty bad.

phunkdaddy said:

Gutsy comeback by the Thunder. KD is smooth as butter and at this point

more clutch than LeBron. Still wish LeBron well the rest of the playoffs.

Durant has won several games for them with late, clutch shots this post season alone. He's definitely setting himself up to be known as a closer. Westbrook won that game for them. He just kept making shots. And you could see they were going in as soon as he let them go.

If Harden had made just a few more shots that game would have easily been won by the Thunder. The Lakers just don't have enough scoring options, even when everybody who scores is rolling. Npt if Westbrook and Durant are going to put in almost 70 without any real help from Harden.

Here is thought. If the Lakers, get eliminated from the playoffs, does this prove Lebron right? I mean, he obviously left Cleavland because they could not win a title with the pieces they had, and more importantly with Mike Brown as coach. After watching what the Thunder has been doing to L.A. this season as well as their inability during the season to sometimes close out teams, that they SHOULD beat,(being that they are a championship, caliber team.) I think he might have a point. To me, Mike Brown, does not have that, "killer" instinct that, Phil had. He seems to just do, just enough and the rest of it, will fall into place.

Thoughts?

shorttrini said:

Here is thought. If the Lakers, get eliminated from the playoffs, does this prove Lebron right? I mean, he obviously left Cleavland because they could not win a title with the pieces they had, and more importantly with Mike Brown as coach. After watching what the Thunder has been doing to L.A. this season as well as their inability during the season to sometimes close out teams, that they SHOULD beat,(being that they are a championship, caliber team.) I think he might have a point. To me, Mike Brown, does not have that, "killer" instinct that, Phil had. He seems to just do, just enough and the rest of it, will fall into place.

Thoughts?

My thought is that Mike Brown has done an incredible job this year. Pretty much the only person who has said anything negative about him is Magic Johnson, and that was just talking head hyperbole. Nobody is Phil Jackson and nobody runs a system like he and Tex Winter.

He had to take over for a legend.

He had to install a new system and a new philisophy.

He had to deal with Kobe Bryant.

He had to deal with Meta.

He had to deal with a suspect bench that has been inconsistent all year.

He had to deal with the trade/not trade of Lamar Odom.

He had to deal with the HATED trade of a beloved LA veteran with D-Fish.

He had to deal with the pressure of being a coach in LA.

Lastly, Mike Brown has made far more adjustments this season in order to try and "make the kill" than Phil Jackson ever did. Phil Jacskon ran his system to death, but it was only ever truly effective when he had the right peices. There were many years when Phil looked stubborn because he wouldn't run something that better fit the parts he had to play with. The adjustments Mike Brown has made in this series alone have been outstanding. The Lakers could just as easily be up 3-1 if their PLAYERS had worked a little harder and made all the right decisions.

Nah, Mike Brown has done a stellar job. He isn't the problem. Coaching is not the problem with the Lakers this year.

LeBron James is right because he lives in a free country where he can say and do what he likes so long as it's within the boundaries of the law. I never had a problem with him leaving Cleveland. But he hasn't won shit yet, and it's not looking all that great for him this season. So I guess Eric Spoelstra doens't have the killer instinct, either.

Edit: I forgot to add the D-Fish point earlier.

[Edited 5/20/12 14:41pm]

Mike Brown's not the problem in the Lakers.

Timmy84 said:

Mike Brown's not the problem in the Lakers.

Bench talent and conistent effort from their bigs was the problem. Kobe averaged 28, 5.5 and 4.5 this season, but he can't do it by himself. Sessions helped. When Meta started playing like Meta, that helped. Still wasn't enough.

Like I said previously in this thread, I think Bynum is gone. He's a really good player, but his mentals aren't all there. I also think pretty much everyone else on the team, save Kobe, will be available for trade. They'll go more defensive, because that's what Brown does, and make a play for another big time talent. You can bet that they'll be willing to go big to get Dwight Howard.

OKC and Miami are exactly what I'm talking about, too.

Wade AND James, and then you still have Bosh and then you have the rest of the team

Durant AND Westbrook, and then you still have Harden and then you have the rest of the team

The Lakers have Kobe.... and the rest of the team

Eastern Conference Playoffs, Conference Semifinals

Game 4

Miami Heat 101 Indiana Pacers 93

The Pacers looked as though they were going to run Miami out of the building in the first half, but ithe second half became almost quite literally the Lebron James/Dwyane Wade show. Wade, who had arguably his most miserable perfromance in playoff history in game three, exlploded today. He scored 22 of his 30 total points in the second half, and Lebron James nearly had a triple double, scoring 40 points, grabbing 18 rebounds, and dishing out nine assists. In fact, the only other player to score for Miami outside of James/Wade was Udonis Haslem, who added 14 points. Danny Granger led the Pacers with 20 points, and Roy Hibbert had 10 points and nine rebounds but was rendered ineffective in the second half due to foul trouble.

Series tied at 2-2.

[Edited 5/20/12 15:19pm]

Cerebus said:

Timmy84 said:

Mike Brown's not the problem in the Lakers.

Bench talent and conistent effort from their bigs was the problem. Kobe averaged 28, 5.5 and 4.5 this season, but he can't do it by himself. Sessions helped. When Meta started playing like Meta, that helped. Still wasn't enough.

Like I said previously in this thread, I think Bynum is gone. He's a really good player, but his mentals aren't all there. I also think pretty much everyone else on the team, save Kobe, will be available for trade. They'll go more defensive, because that's what Brown does, and make a play for another big time talent. You can bet that they'll be willing to go big to get Dwight Howard.

I was never impressed with Bynum.

Timmy84 said:

Cerebus said:

Bench talent and conistent effort from their bigs was the problem. Kobe averaged 28, 5.5 and 4.5 this season, but he can't do it by himself. Sessions helped. When Meta started playing like Meta, that helped. Still wasn't enough.

Like I said previously in this thread, I think Bynum is gone. He's a really good player, but his mentals aren't all there. I also think pretty much everyone else on the team, save Kobe, will be available for trade. They'll go more defensive, because that's what Brown does, and make a play for another big time talent. You can bet that they'll be willing to go big to get Dwight Howard.

I was never impressed with Bynum.

He's a solid player and he's still VERY young, but he's already been in the league seven years. In his defense he was hurt a lot - this is actually his first full season, I believe. But he's probably not going to get much more talented, so his issues are all mental. He just doesn't bring it all the way every night. Time to go someplace else so he can see how good he had it in LA.

Cerebus said:

Timmy84 said:

I was never impressed with Bynum.

He's a solid player and he's still VERY young, but he's already been in the league seven years. In his defense he was hurt a lot - this is actually his first full season, I believe. But he's probably not going to get much more talented, so his issues are all mental. He just doesn't bring it all the way every night. Time to go someplace else so he can see how good he had it in LA.

Yeah I saw too many of games involving him when he didn't even seem halfway there with playing the game. He was good when I first saw him but I guess, like you said, something went wrong.

Cerebus said:

Timmy84 said:

I was never impressed with Bynum.

He's a solid player and he's still VERY young, but he's already been in the league seven years. In his defense he was hurt a lot - this is actually his first full season, I believe. But he's probably not going to get much more talented, so his issues are all mental. He just doesn't bring it all the way every night. Time to go someplace else so he can see how good he had it in LA.

He's also under a microscope in LA. It may be too much for him to handle at times

especially when the fans are expecting you to be a stellar center.

SPURSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

I havent been keeping up as I usually am with the games but hearing my Spurs lookin good this year

phunkdaddy said:

Cerebus said:

He's a solid player and he's still VERY young, but he's already been in the league seven years. In his defense he was hurt a lot - this is actually his first full season, I believe. But he's probably not going to get much more talented, so his issues are all mental. He just doesn't bring it all the way every night. Time to go someplace else so he can see how good he had it in LA.

He's also under a microscope in LA. It may be too much for him to handle at times

especially when the fans are expecting you to be a stellar center.

Shaq, Jabbar and Chamberlain left behind such a huge void that centers today who joined L.A. would have trouble filling in unless they had their own unique quality to them.

Timmy84 said:

phunkdaddy said:

He's also under a microscope in LA. It may be too much for him to handle at times

especially when the fans are expecting you to be a stellar center.

Shaq, Jabbar and Chamberlain left behind such a huge void that centers today who joined L.A. would have trouble filling in unless they had their own unique quality to them.

On one hand I see were you guys are coming from and I agree.

On the other hand, that's what coaches, trainers, veterans, sports psychologists and HUGE ASS PAYCHECKS are for! If you're making five of six figures PER GAME, I tend to be much less forgiving in regards to lack of effort. There's plenty of guys who aren't as good, who are making less money, but they still get out there and play their asses off every game.

Cerebus said:

Timmy84 said:

Shaq, Jabbar and Chamberlain left behind such a huge void that centers today who joined L.A. would have trouble filling in unless they had their own unique quality to them.

On one hand I see were you guys are coming from and I agree.

On the other hand, that's what coaches, trainers, veterans, sports psychologists and HUGE ASS PAYCHECKS are for! If you're making five of six figures PER GAME, I tend to be much less forgiving in regards to lack of effort. There's plenty of guys who aren't as good, who are making less money, but they still get out there and play their asses off every game.

Yeah you got a point there...

Unless the Lakers are guaranteed Dwight Howard, I don't give up on Bynum. He's a legit big man with lots of talent. But he has to get his shit straight.

Clippers had a wonderful season, but they have to get a few more pieces and diversify the offense. Like Kenny Smith said, too much dribbling, too much let's hope CP3 can make a play. That'll only take you so far. Look at the Spurs offense - that's how basketball should be played.

Blake Griffin needs to get a shot and better moves during the off-season. He should seek out Hakeem.

Western Conference Playoffs, Conference Semifinals

Game 4

San Antonio Spurs 102 Los Angeles Clippers 99

The Clippers fought with a lot more effort, but in the end the Spurs were just too much for the injured squad to come back from, as the Spurs came back in the fourth quarter to beat the Clippers and sweep another playoff series. Tim Duncan had 21 points while Tony Parker added 17.

San Antonio wins series 4-0.

The Spurs look like they are about 2 win another title..................who stops them?

What is up with Kobe calling out his teammates after a loss?

Graycap23 said:

The Spurs look like they are about 2 win another title..................who stops them?

If they were going against the Lakers of the, "Phil Jackson" era, I would say them.

If the Heat survive the Pacers, I would say they have a good chance but, if it is a close game, I give the edge to the Spurs.

shorttrini said:

Graycap23 said:

The Spurs look like they are about 2 win another title..................who stops them?

If they were going against the Lakers of the, "Phil Jackson" era, I would say them.

If the Heat survive the Pacers, I would say they have a good chance but, if it is a close game, I give the edge to the Spurs.

The Spurs or OKC can beat the East.