Divided Lakers simply get lost on way to three-peat

With embarrassing sweep out of the playoffs by Dallas, they have seen the enemy, and it is them. And, going forward, they have no coach, no bench and little money to get better quick.

From Dallas

For six months, the Lakers' third time was a charm.

On Sunday, it resolutely and reprehensibly crumbled into a curse.

The expectations were too heavy. The distractions were too large. The bodies were too weary. The heart was too faint.

And, believe it or not, the Dallas Mavericks were too good, the NBA's softest playoff team pounding the Lakers into sweeping submission with a 122-86 victory to finish off a four-game sweep of the second-round playoff series.

"I don't know where we lost it … that drive, that bond we had in the past, that cohesive drive in order to overcome adversity," said Lamar Odom.

They weren't just beaten, they were embarrassed by two punk moves that led to ejections, humiliated by a crowd that sang and jeered them off the court, and shamed into an uncertain future.

"It's going to be a l-o-o-o-ng summer," said Ron Artest.

It's been a long three years, with the two-time defending champions finally collapsing under the weight of issues both personal and professional, a lack of locker-room trust tearing apart their fabric on the court.

"This is the worst I've ever seen the Lakers play in a game that they need," said Magic Johnson, team vice president, during a televised halftime show.

In the horrific final two hours Sunday, they didn't pass, they didn't shoot, and they didn't guard anybody, raising a white flag that allowed the Mavericks to tie an NBA playoff record with 20 mostly wide-open three pointers.


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http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-plaschke-lakers-20110509,0,2261550.column?track=rss

Connecting the dots: Lakers in trouble

"Dot-dot-dot." -- Kobe Bryant after the Lakers' Game 2 blowout loss to the Mavs.

That was Mamba's way of telling J.A. Adande late Wednesday night that the Dallas-L.A. series isn't over, no matter how dire the Lakers' situation looks after two home losses.

We're taking Kobe's dots and giving them to five writers from Dallas and Los Angeles to get their views on where Kobe, Phil Jackson, Dirk Nowitzki, the Lakers and the Mavs stand now.

Here's 5-on-5:

1. Kobe Bryant is ...

Bryant

J.A. Adande, ESPN.com: ... going to have to fill in the blanks. We've been waiting for him to take over, finish and deliver playoff victories this postseason. Hasn't happened the way we're used to it happening.

Tim MacMahon, ESPN Dallas: ... suddenly a one-dimensional offensive player. One of the best slashers in NBA history is settling for jumpers in this series. He's 2-of-7 on shots inside 10 feet this round and 21-of-42 on midrange and long jumpers. He's still getting his points, but the Lakers' offense gets stagnant when all Kobe does is crank up jumpers.

Dave McMenamin, ESPN Los Angeles: ... toying with his legacy. He already has two Finals losses offsetting those five rings of his, and a second-round flameout of this magnitude, with everything set up for the Lakers to three-peat, will always be remembered when you assess his career.

Ramona Shelburne, ESPN Los Angeles: ... trying this whole Zen thing out. The "Kobe face" thing is kinda old. If the Lakers are going out, he's playing this like Phil would.

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http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/2011/news/story?page=5-on-5-110506

Knicks Show Suns What They Were

PHOENIX — Amar’e Stoudemire peeked his head around the corner, and first surprise and then satisfaction showed on his face. A large group of reporters had gathered to hear what he had to say in his return here, with a Knicks resurgence under way and the Phoenix Suns still seeking an identity without him.

The constant in all this is that the Knicks added Stoudemire, the Suns subtracted him and the decision has reshaped each franchise.

“I knew it wasn’t going to be the same once I left,” Stoudemire proclaimed.

In retrospect, seven seconds or less did last a pretty long time in Phoenix. That was the maximum amount of time that Mike D’Antoni wanted to elapse before the ball was shot here, creating the system in which Steve Nash dished, Stoudemire dunked and fans cheered.

But D’Antoni departed as coach more than two seasons ago, moving to the Knicks, and Stoudemire took the same path over the summer. Since D’Antoni left, the Suns have had two coaches (Terry Porter and Alvin Gentry) and two general managers (Steve Kerr and Lance Blanks). They have brought in a new president (Lon Babby) and gone through several roster makeovers.

Phoenix did catch lightning last year, going 54-28 in the regular season and making it to the Western Conference finals before losing to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Stoudemire said he believed the Suns could do well again this season, and that his preference was to stay here with a new contract. But he looked elsewhere, and ultimately toward New York, when the Suns asked him to meet playing requirements in the final years of a maximum deal because of concerns about his surgically repaired left knee.

With Stoudemire gone, the Suns have retreated. The team is not deep enough nor tall enough to threaten top-tier teams, although it may ultimately find a way to grab one of the conference’s last playoff spots. Still, going into Friday’s game against the Knicks, the Suns were only 14-19.

“I wouldn’t use the word rebuilding, but obviously we’re in transition,” Gentry said, before adding in reference to Stoudemire, “We’re a different team than we are when we had him.”

Phoenix is no longer the offensive powerhouse it was, and it recently went through a three-game stretch without topping 100 points. It was the first time that had happened since January 2005.

The Suns are not even the team they were earlier this season, having sent Hedo Turkoglu and Jason Richardson to Orlando in December in exchange for Marcin Gortat, Vince Carter and Mickael Pietrus.

The Suns are 2-6 since that trade, although it did give them future financial flexibility.

The deal also served as an admission that the initial trade the Suns made to acquire Turkoglu — a transaction that involved sending away Leandro Barbosa, another D’Antoni mainstay — had failed. In a twist, Babby, a longtime agent before he assumed his current role with the Suns, had negotiated Turkoglu’s current contract.

“It was ironic, I suppose,” Babby said of the December deal that sent Turkoglu to the Magic. “But I knew from the time I represented Hedo that his place of greatest success was Orlando.”

Now, rumors are resurfacing that Nash could be traded as well, a notion that does not intrigue Babby.

“I answer this question once a week,” Babby said. “He’s the sun and the moon and the star of this franchise, and I expect him to remain so.”

The most vexing problem for the Suns is coping without Stoudemire, who is averaging 26.4 points and 9.0 rebounds for the Knicks. In debating Stoudemire’s future, the Suns opted to absorb his short-term loss and absolve themselves from the threat of a long-term risk should he sustain another major injury.

Meanwhile, Kerr, who is now an analyst for TNT, pointed to a paradox: as things have become tougher for the Suns, they have become easier for Stoudemire.

When Stoudemire was in Phoenix, Kerr said, the Suns often had championship aspirations, which raised expectations. The Knicks, after a long run of ineptitude, simply want to qualify for the playoffs. Stoudemire has the Knicks pointed in that direction and as a result, said Kerr, he is treated like a “rock star.”

“On the climb, which is where the Knicks are now, people focus on all his strengths,” Kerr said. “His explosiveness, his scoring.”

During the last few seasons in Phoenix, Kerr said, “There was a lot of frustration with the fan base because we were so close and couldn’t quite get over the hump.”

He added: “At that point, it becomes a matter of detail. And people picked over the details — Steve’s age or Amar’e’s knees or Amar’e’s defense.”

Nobody is picking apart Stoudemire in New York. Reunited with D’Antoni, he has moved on.

“We’re not the Suns East,” he told reporters on Friday. “Not at all. We’re the New York Knicks.”

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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/08/sports/basketball/08suns.html

Sixers lose a heartbreaker to Celtics

The final play of the game, an easy score for a guy nearly a foot taller than his defender, was an incorrect representation of the game's entirety.

The 76ers and the Boston Celtics were in a tug-of-war at the Wells Fargo Center on Thursday night, a back-and-forth, a basketball game unlike the Sixers had previously played.

But in those final seconds, in which Boston's Kevin Garnett caught and finished a lob pass at the rim, the Celtics scored maybe their easiest basket of the night.

It was also the final one of the night.

In front of 17,949 fans - most, but not all, of them rooting for the home team - the Celtics defeated the Sixers, 102-101.

The Sixers dropped to 7-15. The Celtics, led by Ray Allen's 23 points, improved to 18-4.

The Sixers' rotation was essentially locked at seven players: Jrue Holiday (12 points), Jodie Meeks (19), Andre Iguodala (14), Elton Brand (13), Spencer Hawes (11), Thaddeus Young (16), and Lou Williams (16).

This was nearly the defining win of the season.

After mostly losses, and a few victories over mediocre teams, the Sixers were taking a chunk out of the Eastern Conference-leading Celtics.

But, as is often the case against the top of the heap, Boston made a flurry of plays down the stretch: a three pointer by Allen, a mid-range jumper by Glen Davis, and finally that over-the-top lob to Garnett, scored over Holiday with 1.4 seconds left.

"They just drew up a great play," Young said. "We got into a situation where we were forced to switch and it was a big on a small. . . . It was just a great play that they made."

Without another time-out, the Sixers could only attempt a long inbounds pass from under Boston's basket that Garnett intercepted.

"Everything happened so fast," explained Sixers coach Doug Collins. "Garnett is rolling to the basket and they put four shooters out there. . . . Obviously, we'd have liked to have somebody make a jump shot, but it just happened so quickly. That's the difference between a championship team and a team that's cutting its teeth."

The loss ended the Sixers' streak of five consecutive home victories.

It looked like there would be six.

With 6.6 seconds remaining, Iguodala finished a swooping, driving layup - his second basket in 42.1 seconds - to give his team a 101-100 lead.

Boston called a time-out, drew up a play, and took the ball out along the sideline.

"Any time you get beat on the last play, that's a layup, it's a kick in the gut," Collins said.

After the game, Collins showed a mixture of disappointment and excitement: His team suffered a blow, but about a month ago there would have been no end-of-game play to defend.

"This would have been such a big, big win for our group," Collins said. "We've come a long way. We've come a long, long way to go toe-to-toe with the Celtics like that."


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http://www.philly.com/inquirer/breaking/sports_breaking/20101209_Sixers_lose_a_heartbreaker_to_Celtics.html#ixzz17gTUy4IK