Boo ya! The Lakers looked more like the 2000 squad that nearly swept through the playoffs than the team that almost lost to the depleted Rockets. Their defensive intensity was incredible. They contested shots, clogged the lane, and crashed the boards. On offense, they got it down low to Pau and Bynum in the first half and let Kobe put on his mean face and create open shots in the second. The only thing we did wrong tonight was let Sasha Fierce touch the ball.
I have to question my man Van Gundy's (the fat one) decision to give Nelson that many minutes. Actually, it's not so much that he gave the minutes to Nelson, but that he took them from Alston--Rafer played 25 minutes, Nelson played 23. Skip To My Lou has played a brilliant point throughout the playoffs, managing the games and getting the ball to the right people. Not only was giving Nelson these minutes a slap in the face to poor Rafer, but a desperate move on Van Gundy's part. It's essentially Stan saying "I don't think the team you've been watching is good enough to beat the Lakers". I would understand throwing Nelson into the fire if they were down 15 points or 2-0 in the series, but 23 minutes tonight was just silly.
Lastly, the announcers made too much of an effort to sound objective. If you're gonna let the other Van Gundy call the game, let him call the game. Instead, the dudes were criticizing Stan just to criticize him--excoriating (what up SATs) him for calling a time out when his team was down 4 and a bunch of other petty shit.
On a brighter note, this was the first time SVG hasn't looked as though he was about to have a heart attack during his mid-game interview.
Salaam Alekum,
Doom Bizzle
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