Stein's article on the Lakers losing luster

[Real Deal]

LOS ANGELES -- When the closer isn't closing -- when the closer has a gimpy ankle and isn't even driving -- you don't need too many guesses to predict where the majority of the scrutiny is going.

 

Especially when the closer's name is Kobe Bryant.

 

Yet you're advised to look deeper when diagnosing the Los Angeles Lakers' latest 1-0 series deficit in the NBA playoffs. Don't simply settle for the Kobe Shot Too Much theory. Trust us: Bryant's rocky crunch time is not what cost them Game 1 of this second-round series against the dangerous Dallas Mavericks.

 

If you prefer to trust Phil Jackson, even he'll say the same.

 

"Here, guys, I'll give you some help," the Lakers' coach told his media audience late Monday night, sensing the inevitable focus on what Kobe did (29 shot attempts that included zero layups) and didn't do (zero assists to go with his 36 points).

 

"The game was won in the third quarter."

Rest assured that the Mavs, though, will presume that all the above data only mean Bryant is due. And for all the external suspicion that Bryant's left ankle is still vulnerable -- thereby persuading him to hoist nine 3s and otherwise rely on his midrange game as opposed to attacking the rim -- it sure looked from press row as though he was suffering most from the affliction that so often plagues Nowitzki.

 

No one else to throw it to.

 

Gasol looked as lost/passive as you can while assembling a 15-point, 11-board, 7-assist evening. Ron Artest shot a wild 1-for-8 from the floor and did little beyond goading Nowitzki into a flailed elbow that drew a costly technical foul during the Mavs' composure crisis late in the first half.

 

Jackson, frankly, had an off night, too. The Zen Master left Kobe on the bench too long to start the fourth quarter -- even with Bryant's ankle in mind -- and made a costlier choice by putting Gasol on Nowitzki on a game-turning possession with 19.5 seconds to go. Gasol's silly over-the-back foul on the entry pass made Dirk's job a lot easier, sending his fellow Euro to the line, but perhaps Pau was so overzealous because he knew Nowitzki was shooting 5-for-5 when guarded by the Spaniard before that late tangle.

 

"S--- happens," Gasol said, dismayed by the whistle and generally stunned by the Lakers' various second-half malfunctions.

http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/columns/story?columnist=stein_marc&page=Lakers-110503

[Check my Stats]

His ankle is why he is taking pull ups? Hmmm lol.

[Lkr]

1 game and the media panics...