2008 NBA Playoffs

Kobe takes Melo to the rack

Image details: Los Angeles Lakers v Denver Nuggets – Game Three served by picapp.com

Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers make you think of offense with Kobe and his jumpers raining down from up high.

Tim Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs

The Spurs make you think of offense with Tim facing up and playing like a power forward and Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker slicing through the defense.

Truth be told, both teams are very efficient on offense, but even more efficient of defense.

More truth to be told, the Suns and Nuggets do not play a lot of defense. In fact, one of the main factors in getting Shaq for the Suns was to guard Tim Duncan. Maybe they should guard the other four guys on the court too.

As for the Nuggets, they don’t guard much of anyone.

Phil Jackson

Like all good coaches; Phil Jackson was not satisfied with the Lakers latest effort.

Anthony and A.I. shot a combined 10-for-38 and finished with 16 and 15 points, respectively.

No thanks to the Lakers, either, suggested coach Phil Jackson.

“I thought our defense packed it in on them, but they missed some easy shots,” Jackson said. “I told the team at halftime, ‘They’re not going to shoot like this for the whole game. They missed some close shots, some shots they usually make. We’ll have to play better defense in the second half.’

“But they never showed up. They never got it going.”

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Spurs

Tony Parker was on fire for the Spurs in game 3.

The Spurs led from opening tip to final buzzer, playing what Manu Ginobili later called “almost a perfect game.” Parker never has been better, scoring a career-best 41 points, distributing 12 assists and peppering the Suns with jump shot after jump shot for the 40 minutes he spent on the floor.

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You wonder how many points Tony Parker would have had if any of the Suns had bothered to guard him?

Teams like Denver and Phoenix can cruise through the regular season winning on all offense, looking great, placing players on the All Star team, but it all becomes a joke when they try to win playoff games against good defensive teams.

NBA Basketball special comment You must have a balance between offense and defense to win big games.

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Now the Denver Nuggets do not play a whole lot of defense with the exception of maybe Marcus Camby, but that did not stop them from talking smack to Kobe Bryant.

By halftime the Nuggets were signing guys from the stands to guard Kobe Bryant.

Image details: Denver Nuggets v Los Angeles Lakers, Game 2 served by picapp.com

What were they thinking?

So there was J.R. Smith standing next to Bryant Wednesday night, yapping away.

Bryant grinned. Then he took the ball and Smith to the rim, bumping the Nuggets guard back as he banked in a tough layup and collected the foul. Bryant simply shook his head as he stepped to the foul line and swished the last of his 49 points.

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You just do not want to make Kobe angry. He reacts.

Unable to guard Bryant, they choose instead to anger him. Kenyon Martin ran his mouth on Sunday and Smith followed by opening his Wednesday. Bryant punished them both, along with everyone else the Nuggets threw at him, leading the Lakers to a 122-107 victory that gave them a 2-0 advantage in the teams’ first-round playoff series.

Kenyon Martin thought he had done a masterful job on Kobe in game one and talked about it constantly. Kobe did not take too kindly to that.

Bryant naturally didn’t see it the same way, and he didn’t need long Wednesday to show why, scoring 20 points in the first quarter alone. He made 10 consecutive shots during one stretch as the Nuggets shuffled through defenders, moving from Martin to Linas Kleiza to Smith.

“The way he was going,” Allen Iverson said, “we could have put 10 people on the court and probably not been able to stop him.”

The next two games are in Denver and the Nuggets better wake up and close their mouths.

NBA Basketball special comment What is Denver thinking bragging about holding Kobe to 32 or yakking at him during the game. Kobe Bryant will eat you alive.

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Post from: NBA Obsessed