Andrew Bynum had a great outing the second time Lakers played Jazz this season. His absence the first time was made up by a scintillating performance last Wednesday. He blocked five shots, one of which happened to be a game saver. With just 1.9 seconds remaining on the clock, Al Jefferson tried making a short jump, but his maneuver was cut short by Bynum’s timely block winning them a 90-87 victory. But the one gunning in full form was Kobe Bryant, scoring 40 points for his side, and that’s not all, he even pulled off a pair of free throws with 0.7 seconds for the match to end.
The Lakers coach, Mike Brown defended his star Andrew by saying, ‘whatever he did, worked!’, even though he had initially advised Andrew against doing his own coverage on Jefferson. Al had a great game the previous match, with 30 points in his bag he was in full form. But given Lakers intense defending, Al just managed to get his total to 11 points. Kobe could have made the game a little less dramatic, had he scored within regulation time, but he missed!
The game went into overtime! Millsap pulled off a 4 pointer but back to back 3 pointers by Bryant and Gasol put Lakers back in the lead. Bynum had a big impact in the overtime, scoring a match-winner putting them ahead at 88-87 with 51 seconds on the clock.
Gasol had to his total 14 points added that night. He was recorded having said that it wasn’t their best game, but it was very tough out there, and he is proud that they fought to win in the end. Gasol also added that they would be a little late at hitting the beds. They had earned the right to celebrate.
This game win was extra special given that this was the first win on the road for the Lakers (8-4). Bryant added that it felt very satisfying having to face the test and having come out as winners after the fight.
The win came in after the decisive moment when Bryant passed the ball to Pau. The team has learned to count on Pau’s shooting skills and trust his judgment. Bryant said that they had seen Pau doing a lot of sound shooting in the practice and the coach had faith in him. The coach had been urging Bryant to trust Pau with the 3 pointers, and that very trust clinched the win for the Lakers in the final minutes. The points spread for the basketball game was towards the Jazz side, but no one can go back home from this game unhappy.
Jazz, even though didn’t end up winning, didn’t seem down and out, for they knew they were up against a formidable side which was quite different than the one they faced last time. Jefferson from the Jazz side was quoted saying, that it was a game that they could be proud of despite their loss. The team is in good spirits, and is looking forward to the New Jersey game.
