King Odom
Just like the first time the Lakers played the Cavaliers, the headline was “Kobe vs LeBron.” And just like the first time, Kobe came out on top. There isn’t much to say about this that we haven’t already told you before. Let’s recap.
LeBron is still a poor jump shooter. He still reminds of Ben Wallace from the line at times. What he didn’t do today, which is usually the most consistent part of his game, was throw down some ‘bron slams. I don’t know if he dunked the ball once in the game. He got to the rim plenty of times but couldn’t finish. He was 5-20 from the field and, surprisingly, at least 2 of those were jump shots.
The Lakers showed him defense from a few different guys. Bryant, Walton and Ariza all guarded him in the game. It was clear that Phil Jackson was content with playing off of Zydrunas Ilgauskas as Gasol gave him his mid-range jumper every time he stepped out for it. They were going to take the ball out of LeBron’s hands just like teams try to do to Kobe on a nightly basis. It worked for the Lakers. It worked to their advantage since LeBron, being the supposed superstar, countered by trying to take over the game. His selfishness is what lost the game for the Cavs.
Two players from this game that I really thought would be a factor were Lamar Odom and Mo Williams.
Lamar Odom, in today’s game, was who everyone says LeBron James is on a daily basis. He worked hard on the offensive and defensive boards and got to the rim seemingly whenever he wanted.
Mo Williams showed everyone watching the game who he thought deserved to be the leader of the Cavs. At the end of the 1st half, with James trailing the break, Williams took the ball to the hole by himself, leaving LeBron standing there flatfooted and confused. There’s no doubt he would have gone up for a monster ‘bron slam and ignited the home crowd. I liked it. The Cavaliers should run their offense through Williams. It might just help.
Overall, the past few days of basketball have been really exciting. We’ve seen the Lakers complete their season sweeps on the top 2 Eastern Conference teams, Boston and Cleveland, as well as break some significant win streaks for both teams. And we’ve seen Boston drop a second game at home to another Western Conference borderline powerhouse, San Antonio. I can’t wait for the second half of the season.
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