My Game Report: Malik vs Lakers 3/29

[missmyzte]

In case this interests anyone, since it includes Malik and mentions Duncan.
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Los Angeles Lakers vs New York Knicks
By: MistiLynn
www.mistilynn.com

The game was all Cookies and Roses for me. With the Lakers on a 6-game losing streak and in desperate need of a win, the Purple and Gold pulled through at just the right moments to drop some ribbons tonight.

I arrived to an eerily empty Staples Center and decided to notch it up to the fact that it’s a mid-week game and people are still at work. Brian Cook, the former Illinois star, was warming up on the court. He was practicing defense and shooting left-handed, he did pretty well as a lefty. I walked up to the court and said, “You must be pretty happy, Illinois beating Arizona.” Cookie had a big smile and said yeah. He admired (and signed) my #34 Brian Cook Illinois jersey and told me, “Too bad I didn’t know you had this earlier, I would have made Luke [Walton] wear it.” Walton had lost the bet when Arizona was defeated and Cook said he made him wear a bright orange Illini shirt.

I asked when he would be back, since he is currently on the injured list for a sprained wrist. Cook said his wrist was feeling much better and he’d be back just as soon as he’d served his 5 games. Great to hear.

Of course I had to chat for a bit with my favorite usher, Darrell. He’s still my favorite even though he confessed to still being a Shaq fan.

A Lakers fan though I am, the reason I chose this game to attend was to speak with Malik Rose. After a surprise trade at the deadline, Malik was forced to leave San Antonio and was sentenced to New York. An outcry by fans couldn’t undo the damage and here he is, with the Knicks.

Malik emerged from the tunnel, looked up to see me and let out a smile. He greeted me with a big hug and I let him know how much we miss him in the Silver and Black. I showed him my Spurs bracelet and said, “I’m undercover,” to which he replied, “So am I.”

We chatted for a bit and he asked when the last time I’d been to SA was. I said just a couple weeks ago and had been hoping that his new restaurant would be open, he said it would be soon, he’d just gotten an update on it earlier in the day. I then revealed a gift I’d brought for him, a CD of the videos I’ve made including one for him. I asked if he remembered what he’d told me the last time he was in LA when I told him about that video, he didn’t so I reminded him: “What highlights? All 3 this season?” He kinda laughed as he recalled that.

Malik mentioned Tim Duncan, who is currently out with a grade-2 sprain of his ankle, and I asked how he was doing. He said he’d just talked to Tim and reported that he was feeling better. I told him there were rumors that TD wouldn’t be back until next season and he looked shocked and said, “No way.” That’s just what every Spurs fan wanted to hear.

When Rose finished his warm-up, which included practicing free throws one-handed, he stopped by again to get the CD from me and I also gave him two articles written by friends of mine from SpursCentral.com. One by David and the other by Sam, both written just after the trade and in tribute of him. He was reading them as he walked back towards the tunnel.

Moment of interest: After the Star Spangled Banner, each of the Knicks walked down the line giving each other a high-five. I admit to having never seen a Knicks game before so if they do this at each game, it was still a surprise to me.

1st Quarter
The Lakers won the jump but the Knicks are the ones that jumped ahead to start the game. Opening up a quick lead, they revealed a weakness of the Lakers in leaving the corner open. Four minutes in, Jumaine Jones tried to help his team with a 3 but tossed up an airball instead, followed by a foul on Chris Mihm for illegal defense (Crawford sank the ensuing free throw) and then a basket by Mike Sweetney. Not exactly what I was hoping to see. Jones redeemed himself when he did nail a trey just a couple minutes later, bring the Lakers within 5. Caron Butler tied the game with a few free throws and a SLAM dunk that sent Lakers fan in a frenzy.

Rose made his entrance at the 2:42 mark, coincidentally timed as I was on the phone with Malik’s biggest fan, Blondie. For some reason I’m still pondering, they had Malik defending Butler. I’m more accustomed to seeing him play D on 4’s and 5’s, not a player like Butler. I guess he was the best option since he is the only one who knows how to play defense and with poor Jamal Crawford pretending to guard Kobe, the Lakers second leading scorer was left to ‘Lik.

Game tied at 26.

2nd Quarter
Like batting flies away from a summer pie, Rose tried to rid himself of the pests around him. He was getting beat up out there but the refs paid no attention. About 3 minutes in, Malik got good position and called for the ball but was ignored by a teammate who ended up turning it over to Luke Walton and resulted in a fastbreak layup by Tierre Brown. Malik didn’t bother to follow the play down the court, he just watched helplessly and his shoulders noticeably slumped when the basket was made.

He turned around and scored his first basket of the night.

When I was attending Summer League games, one consist thing I noticed was that during a 2-on-1 fastbreak, instead of passing the ball back and forth between the two players the way it’s supposed to be done, one player may pass it but it wouldn’t go back. This allowed the defender to focus on that one player and often times block or alter the shot enough so that it wouldn’t go. We need to send Stephon Marbury back to the Summer Leagues because when he and Rose took off on a fastbreak, Lik passed to him and never got it back. Marbury missed the basket.

51-46 Lakers lead

As Malik walked to the locker room at half time, I gave him an encouraging smile but he just put his head down and shook his head in frustration.

During halftime, I met up with Eric Pincus and Chris (www.ld2k.com). I don't think Eric's daughter is an Illini fan but it was great to meet them.

3rd Quarter
The Lakers had some great moments, like Kobe’s And1 at the 8:19 mark, the three 3-pointers in a row all hit from the same spot on the floor (two of them by Devean George, one by Kobe), Butler’s And1 off an assist from Brown near the end of the quarter … but the Knicks hung in there with free throws and a few jump shots. One thing I noticed is that when a shot goes up, there is no battling for position, everyone (from both teams) just freezes.

How is going to a game different than watching at home? Many reasons, but the Kiss Cam is one of the funnier ones. They showed a woman with a man on her right, she shook her head. They panned to her with the man on her left, she shook her head. The camera went back and forth for a couple seconds until the 2 guys decided to just kiss each other and leave the poor woman out of it completely. I’m thinking (hoping) they were brothers.

86-79 Lakers lead

4th Quarter
If anyone didn’t know, Marbury is a good 3-point shooter. I didn’t know that before, but after seeing him hit 6 of his 8 shots from downtown, I now know. He almost got his team back in the game with his 3’s and FT’s, but the stars were with the Lakers tonight … literally, the stars were there. I saw Dyanne Cannon, Chris Rock and, of course, Jack Nicholson. With about 5 minutes left in the game, Chris Mihm held the ball for an entire possession until the shot clock got down to 2 seconds, then threw up a prayer that hit nothing but net.

Kobe Bryant went to the line for his 13th and 14th free throws of the game and was greeted by the fans (those that hadn’t left yet) chanting his name. I don’t care what BSPN or Stephen A. Smith says, LA still supports Kobe!

Game over: 117-107

Purple and Gold streamers fell from above in celebration (this is added just for your benefit, Mandy).

As the Knicks filed past us, the two guys to my right (NY fans) were yelling at the guys, “What, you didn’t feel like playing D tonight? Do you even know how to play defense?” Not cool. I held my hand out to Malik and he threw me his towel. I was actually going for his hand, but okay.

Good game, great win for the Lakers because as Kobe said, “Any win was a good win for us at this point.” Kobe scored 32 points with 5 assists, Caron Butler tallied up 26 points and Devean George had 18 points off the bench (welcome back Devean!). Marbury had a double-double with 45 points and 10 assists in his losing effort. Rose ended the night with 8 points in 28 minutes and hit all 4 of his free throws.

Go HERE to see the pictures

[Solid D]

Good report.

I watched some of that game and couldn't help but notice the Knicks used a play the Spurs run at least once per game.

You know the play where the PG dribbles up to midcourt and throws to Manu or Brent at the hash for the Subs ution box. The other players spread except for the 5 who seals on the low post. Then the PG flashes quickly to the basket and beats his man for a return pass and a layup.

The Knicks ran it the same way. Maybe Malik brought it with him.

It's good to hear Malik is an undercover Spur...or at least a Spur at heart.

[Spurgal]

Sweet report...

Any pics of Malik?

[wildbill2u]

in 28 minutes, Malik shot 2 of seven, had 4 rebounds, 5 fouls and 2 TOs.

[Spurgal]

Thanks Misti... This one Is one of my favorite pics. "Baby got back!"

[Ishta]

Nice report.. Wish we had his butt on the court for us last night....