Lakers remain the key challenge - Arven's Blog

Arven's Blog

Lakers remain the key challenge

Posted on December 21, 2010 at 04:38 AM.

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After a myriad of games the patch came and I lost interest because behavior changed so much (subjectively). Now, with the All-Star Settings almost on Simulation (reduced CPU clutch and "make bumped shot") the game feels pretty much real (and great again

).

After whipping the Sixers the big test was the LA Lakers for the much anticipated battled for pole position in the Western Conference.

Oh my, the Lakers are so dangerous. Kobe was hot right from the start and when I blanketed him he found Odom in the first half for uncontested mid-range shots.

It's almost a good thing that Pau Gasol was hurt - he didn't perform nearly as well as expected and was in constant foul trouble.

After being down 12 after six minutes I managed to patiently claw my way back to trailing 25 : 29 after the first and equalizing the score late in the second quarter against the Lakers subs. Another Lakers rally late in the half opened up the lead again for a 59 : 53 Lakers lead at halftime.

The Lakers continued to score too easily, especially against the Man-to-Man coverage and the 2-3 zone. Essentially it was the 1-3-1 zone that gave the best results - occasionally yielding the corner 3 to Ron Artest, but also giving me most of the Lakers 16 turnovers of the game. Despite the zones I also gave up 11 offensive rebounds to the Lakers, something that has to stop should we meet in the playoffs.

The fourth quarter saw much of the same - the Lakers breaking out for quick leads, with the Jazz struggling to keep up. Jefferson and Millsap continued to attack the basket, putting Gausol into foul trouble and going to the free throw line while Deron Williams drove and shot his way to a game-high 45 points.

2 minutes from the end the Jazz were down 9, when Deron was fouled by Steve Blake on the 3-point attempt and converted all three. After trading baskets Deron made 3-pointer and the Jazz managed to defend the basket for another 3-pointer from 3 feet behind the line by Williams, 18 seconds to go. The Lakers missed and off we went to overtime.

Again Bryant and Artest made 5 quick points to take the lead, and again the Jazz had to play catch up, staying with the line-up that had gotten them into overtime: Williams and Hayward in the back court and Jefferson, Millsap and Okur making up the front court (Bell and Kirilenko start, but this crew worked so well together, I stayed with them).

In another exciting run the Jazz closed to 123 : 121 and stole the ball at the 11.1 second mark. Time-Out. Pause the game. I was going to have one shot to equalize or win the game. Giving myself a time-out I decided to play my signature "fast-play": Clear Deron's side with a quick isolation call, then get a big over for a pick & roll with hopefully a clear lane to the hoop.

In an incredible lapse of concentration I took Deron too far out (to avoid pressure by the Lakers that of course wasn't there in the computer game) and the dribbling animation took Deron Williams just over the line into the backcourt. Turnover. OH MY GOSH. What a disappointing ending for this instant classic game. I managed one more intentional foul, but that only gave the Lakers another inbounds play and they ran down the clock to stay on top of the Western Conference.

But the new sliders work and I look forward to the battle in the play-offs against the Mavericks (currently in 3rd place) and the Lakers. You know it's going to happen - playing the Lakers always happens in the Playoffs ;-).

D. Williams 45 points, 6 rebs, 13 ast, 3 stl, 8 to on 18-36 shooting
A. Jefferson 27, 10, 3 ast, 11-11 free throws
P. Millsap 20 pts, 5 rebs, 6-7 free throws
M. Okur 7 pts, 8 rebs, 3 blks

30-15, 2nd place Western Conference.