Ball Don't Lie - NBA

Ball Don't Lie

Thu Jan 17, 2008 4:23 pm EST

Game to pay attention to: Phoenix at Los Angeles Lakers

By Kelly Dwyer

The basketball purists that don't visit this website because of all the blue links think we should all probably take time out of our busy Thursday night to take in a contest between two teams that played four of the worst basketball games in recent history last June. Whew.

And I don't mind muttering, because they're not coming ‘round this way anyway, that they can sod off. These guys have my back:

San Antonio/Cleveland is going to be ugly. The points will be hard to come by, Cleveland's offense will be unimaginative, the Spurs (as they do, too damn often) will play down to their competition, and 80-72 will result. Nobody should have to watch it, Utah/Dallas would be a hundred times more entertaining for TNT, and I'm starting to get a little worked up.

Thankfully, Phoenix/Los Angeles will redeem, even if the victor wins by 22.

It's hard to forget what Andrew Bynum brought to the table this season, so we're probably not going to get over the pangs of "what if" emanating from the Lakers side of things until Bynum's actually returned to game action in late March. That said, NBA fans had to go through a whole season of that with the 2005-06 Phoenix Suns, so we should probably shut up about missing pivots.

Confused? Then I've done my job. Watch the game, see if the Lakers continue to play solid defense, see if Derek Fisher can do anything with Steve Nash, see if Boris Diaw can get it together long enough to float past a suddenly-iffy Laker front line, and see if Kobe continues to lay off the trigger. Relatively speaking, of course. Relative Trigger. Good band name.

No NBA liveblog tonight, but we will be at the Warriors/Bulls game tomorrow (broadcast on ESPN, 9:30ish p.m. Eastern), and livebloggin' away.

Los Angeles Lakers: 26-11, 95.9 possessions per game (4th-most in the NBA), 112.2 points scored per 100 possessions (5th in the NBA), 105.4 points allowed per 100 possessions (8th).

Phoenix: 26-12, 95.9 possessions per game (4th), 114.7 points scored per 100 possessions (1st), 108.5 points allowed per 100 possessions (21st).

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45 Comments

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  1. mcwelk
    1. Posted by mcwelk Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:14 pm EDT

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    Utah/Dallas would be 100 times more entertaining; Utah/Denver will be 50 times more.
  2. blazin0009
    2. Posted by blazin0009 Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:09 pm EDT

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    Many people forget, last season the Lakers did start out 23-11, but why did they fall? They lost their second and third scoring options in Lamar Odom and Luke Walton. That left Kobe with Smush, Kwame, and Mo Evans for almost 2 months. When Walton and Odom joined Kobe in the starting lineup last year, the Lakers were 23-15 (.605); this year should be no different. Yes the Lakers lost Bynum, an important part of the team, but they have Lamar, Fisher, Walton, Farmar and Ariza whom are capable of scoring double digits night in and night out to share the load with Kobe... With Bynum they have the potential to be a top 3 team in the West; without him, they are still capable of playing .600 basketball and holding on to a 4 seed for the playoffs.
  3. thehotroute
    3. Posted by thehotroute Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:04 pm EDT

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    "sod off?" c'mon man, I've never even heard that before. What are you 87?
    thehotroute.blogspot.com
  4. dblue351
    4. Posted by dblue351 Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:39 pm EDT

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    Go suns!
  5. goathair
    5. Posted by goathair Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:10 pm EDT

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    I like your shoes. Very purpley.
  6. tinman58
    6. Posted by tinman58 Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:17 pm EDT

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    Maybe he's British????
  7. Drizzle
    7. Posted by Drizzle Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:48 pm EDT

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    It's going to be close without Bynum, but with him this game is a Joke too. Go Lakers
  8. Go Spurs
    8. Posted by Go Spurs Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:45 pm EDT

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    one of these days "you guys" will wakeup and understand the game of basketball. The Spurs have won 4 championships in 9 years and y'all still praise the "gangsters" and give ZERO credit to TEAM basketball.
  9. DRG
    9. Posted by DRG Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:42 pm EDT

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    Lakers by 4
  10. J Z
    10. Posted by J Z Thu Sep 03, 2009 11:02 pm EDT

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    once again, my fav player against my fav team....
    at least if things go well, they dun hav 2 meet in 1st round again
  11. Ruby Jay
    11. Posted by Ruby Jay Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:52 pm EDT

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    Phoenix by 16. Unless Kobe hits 40+ at 50% they can't win....
  12. Wack pack
    12. Posted by Wack pack Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:55 pm EDT

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    Phoenix redeems itself tonite with a win. With Shawn"cro magnom" Marion dropping 26 & Steve "greasy" Nash dishin 12 dimes. Kobe goes for 36. Spurs shutdown Cavalier's with their coach Mike "Mr. Potato Head" Brown getting tossed.
  13. mroct31
    13. Posted by mroct31 Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:28 pm EDT

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    "one of these days "you guys" will wakeup and understand the game of basketball. The Spurs have won 4 championships in 9 years and y'all still praise the "gangsters" and give ZERO credit to TEAM basketball."
    Until they can do it more than one year at a time they will never be given credit. I'll admit the Spurs had good teams but never good enough to repeat.
  14. Everest O
    14. Posted by Everest O Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:26 pm EDT

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    Go lakers!
  15. Everest O
    15. Posted by Everest O Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:26 pm EDT

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    go lakers!
  16. Dan
    16. Posted by Dan Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:03 pm EDT

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    The Spurs and Cavs are both good teams (they're in the top half of the league record wise) and have a bunch of players I pay to watch (Duncan, Parker, Manu, Lebron, Varejao) not as good as the late game but still plenty better than you're giving it credit for. How can you continually post about how defense is half of the game and doesn't get enough credit then immediately blow off any match-up between defensively oriented teams as garbage. I'll be watching and enjoying both TNT games tonight and flipping to Denver-Utah at the commercials because frankly that is the worst of the three games on tonight, I'll pass on watching Melo hoist up terrible shot after terrible shot and the Jazz commit more hard fouls per game than most teams do in a month.
  17. Bill R
    17. Posted by Bill R Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:08 pm EDT

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    Uhh....1st!!!!
  18. Woodstock
    18. Posted by Woodstock Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:23 pm EDT

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    We'll see if you Spurs fans are still chirping once the playoffs roll around and your tired OLD team is still trying to run it's offense through a tired TD. Meanwhile, don't forget to look over your shoulders at the team who's in first place tonight..........Oh yeah, the Lakers in case you've been sheltered by a Texas hailstorm. I hope you get all your jabs in early for the next 8 weeks while Bynum is out, because after that, no matter where the Lakers end up in the playoff picture, every team will be hoping to play someone else.
  19. kyle w
    19. Posted by kyle w Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:55 pm EDT

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    Nobody should have to watch the Cavs vs. Spurs? Sorry but I am NOT entertained by two teams that will play no defense. The Cavs or Spurs would own either team in a 7 game series. Hey Kelly Dweyer you are a typical fan that wants to be entertained. You would rather watch two teams that will be out in the 1st round. Kelly you should have watched the Cavs Memphis game, you would have loved it. Who are you and how did you get a job covering sports?
  20. kyle w
    20. Posted by kyle w Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:55 pm EDT

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    Have fun watching two teams play no defense. The Spurs have one 4 titles and LeBron is the most entertaining athelete in all sports. Call me when Phoenix wins anything!
  21. jjs dog
    21. Posted by jjs dog Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:07 pm EDT

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    The Cavs would win 75 games a season with JJ Reddick. With his shooting they would be the best team in the history of the NBA! The Spurs should trade for JJ before the Cavs do. Maybe they could trade Tony Parker for JJ.
  22. sean m
    22. Posted by sean m Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:11 pm EDT

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    Lakers by 10-15, even w/out bynum....thats how much phoenix sucks this year. Cant even win against the injured Clippers. LoL
  23. H
    23. Posted by H Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:16 pm EDT

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    If he were British, he would have referred to the game as "net ball". Weird Euros.
  24. Dik Steele
    24. Posted by Dik Steele Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:06 pm EDT

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    KD, I know you used to write for SI.com, and this Yahoo thing is not as much fun, but if you want to cover Brittany Spears and Paris Hilton, go ahead. Keep disrespecting Tim Duncan and the Spurs, you will have to eat your laptop. So don't watch the first game and don't write about it, then I won';t feel obligated to read your next column.

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Ball Don't Lie is an NBA blog edited by J.E. Skeets. Email him, and follow him on Twitter.

Contributors:
Kelly Dwyer, Rod Benson, Trey Kerby, Dan Devine, Adrian Wojnarowski & Marc J. Spears,

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