In the morning practice for the Lakers, Phil Jackson responded to a series of questions about postseason play Friday and Sunday Easter, and then went on to talk about meaning of the holidays. In fact, addressed the issue in depth.
"is the culmination of the spring," said Jackson. "And it's so deep within us, which is paramount. It is the story of rebirth - we can see the tulips and many other things that come to life again. So it's symbolic for us. It is wonderful to recognize" .
natural Then came the reply: "The Lakers are ready for its own renaissance?
"What we are," Jackson said. "Definitely we are. We talked about improving the course of the playoffs. And hopefully this is our starting point to do it. "
Remember, these words were spoken before the Lakers beat the Hornets 100-86 on Friday night to take a 2-1 lead in the series. And the words came from the same man who had asked: "Who knows how we will react to the next game?" after the Lakers won a victory in Game 2 with much difficulty on Wednesday night.
Somehow, during the course of a practice, a flight, a meal at the French Quarter or a video session, the coach regained confidence in his team.
Jackson never gives false images. If you have questions about players or your computer, will tell the media in a second. These words represent a genuine belief that his team had gone back to playoff form.
"It's a mentality that I believe we can perceive," Jackson said later. "It was generated by a series of events that were combined. We affirm on defense. Although we won [Game 2], not really finished the game well. We talked about doing it correctly and set to Kobe as an offensive threat tonight. "
Kobe Bryant returned to its usual form, scoring 30 points for 80 th time in a playoff game, hitting 10 of 20 shots from the field after Game 2 with three hits in 10 trials during which focused on forcing the ball into the post and make a Chris Paul. Bryant's performance in Game 3 came as no surprise.
More remarkable was the vision of two digits in the memo box Pau Gasol. His arrival at the February 2008 trade with the Lakers restored their status as candidates for the championship, but lately had become the first answer to any question of: "What about the Lakers?"
Gasol still had its share of frustrating moments in Game 3. Jackson was criticized for letting it happen Carl Landry on defense. He missed some shots and was sanctioned by internal load trying to go back to Landry. What appeared to be his moment of break - an authoritative dunk - was overturned by a lack marked before it took off.
If Gasol could not take the internal control - only three of its seven field successes came in the paint - did show a scoring touch uncommon in most of the bigs. Even went a step further triple line and got the shot.
A minute and a half after his triple, scored a tray of second chance, then returned on the next possession and got a jump shot that bounced around the rim and then entered, prompting no less than five pumping while back to the other end of the court.
was not an impressive sequence (Jackson described it saying "like, you know, having two, three minutes of offensive deployment"), but if it redeems Gasol or simply lower the volume of criticism, is a less thing that the Lakers need to worry.
But here there is indeed something to feed the concerns of opponents: the emergence of Andrew Bynum as a dominant force. He scored 14 points and nine rebounds in the first half, taking away relevance to the problems of Gasol and pushing the Lakers to a 51-42 lead for the rest. Then in the third quarter gave the Lakers what is becoming a weekly shock right knee operated grab wincing. But he left that behind and remained in the game, but did not score again.
The Lakers had plenty of support, including 10 points from Derek Fisher and Lamar Odom 13. The Lakers wore long as they did during a 17-1 streak after the break for the All-Star. Involving all and defended well.
The Hornets have scored about 80 points in the last two games. Fail to implement its transition game because the Lakers are getting high percentage shots inside.
"They had an easy basket after another," lamented the Hornets coach, Monty Williams. "And I think that affected us. We have not been a team that allowed our offense affect us throughout the year."
seems that the Hornets are away from what they were, and the playoffs is not the time to do so. However, most of the playoff series, comes a time when it is clear to both parties who will win, and that time may have come at it. While Williams was not as far as Doug Collins saying the Lakers are a better team, they acknowledged, "They have many things in its favor."
Including the whole issue of the resurrection.
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