Versus
The revenge game. After sprinting to a 26 point lead in the first half, the Warriors blew it all away and almost lost it in the end so it's a gurantee tonight will be tougher. Thanks to a heroic Stephen Jackson the Warriors came away with the all important W but it didn't stop the Lakers getting the all important confidence factor for tonight. The Oracle crowd can be noisy all it wants but after the 3rd quarter disaster one hopes the Dubs are better prepared for any Laker onlsaught.
One thing I am worried about is the coaching factor. Phil Jackson always has Nellie's number and last night even though he has taken obvious flak for not taking a team and turning it around there was no doubt that last night was coaching. He doesn't create matchups but had to start Ronny Turiafand only used three bench players, none of them ‘bigs’–Luke Walton, Jordan Farmar and Sasha Vujacic. Yet the Lakers contested every rebound and Odom finished with a career high in Rebounds. If he weas more interested in scoring in the post then they wouldn't miss Gasol so much. In contrast Nellie's style of coaching just don't have an answer for when teams like the Spurs figure out the gameplan. He hasn't developed Wright, POB has been a bust and the bad news is once Gasol comes back should these two meet it will be a sweep.
Aplogies for the mini tangent but should the Lakers win tonight Phil Jacksons coaching, Kobe Bryants shooting and rebounding will be a major factor if Golden State want to defeat the Lakers in a season series.
Perdictions:
Odom and Turiaf resume destroying the Warriors on the Boards.
Monta finishes with 34
Kobe has another big shooting day
Warriors by 4
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