Not looking good for the boys in Forum blue. The odds are 98-to-0 against the Lakers taking this series from the Mavs. Zero. That's how many teams have come back from down 3 games to none.
We've never seen Phillip as mad as he was last night. That scene where he was barking at Gasol and Bynum on the sideline laid his frustrations bare, and when he gave Eurotrash a back-handed knuckle-sock right in the chest -- ostensibly to fire the big man up -- what did Gasol do? He shrank away from the blow and grabbed at his chest like a freaking wimpy kid backing down from a fight on the schoolyard playground. I thought he might cry...and I knew the battle was lost.
In last night's game the wheels came off, but for me the most telling number is still zero. Kobe Bryant has too many zeros for the rest of the team to overcome. To wit:
Game 1: Zero assists, zero offensive rebounds.
Game 2: Zero points in the 1st half, zero rebounds for the game.
Game 3: Zero points in the final four minutes.
Game 3: Zero points in the final four minutes.
No team can win without consistent contributions from its superstar. Kobe Bryant disappeared for vast stretches of each of the first three games of this series. Now, for the Lakers to have any chance at all, he's going to need to go 40-10-10 in the next four straight.
Wasn't the zero points in the first half against the Hornets? I'm pretty sure Kobe scored in the first half of game 2 against the Mavs. Still, desperate times...
ReplyDeleteGood catch, sorry. Still a helluva a lotta zeros on the board, and not a lotta "get up on my back while I win another championship" type activity. Definitely a "win or go home" situation now...
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