NBA PM: Was it Really an Upset?
It’s been almost two days since the Hornets pulled out a 109-100 Game 1 shocker over the Lakers, but the word “upset” is slowly being replaced by “trend.”
Obviously the lower-seeded New Orleans was playing the defending NBA champs on the road and without leading scorer David West, but that lethargic performance from Los Angeles has been the norm this entire month. Even with the playoffs looming, the Lakers looked astonishingly mediocre while losing five straight games. They even needed overtime to beat the lowly Kings in the regular season finale.
“You would think they would snap back into it for the playoffs,” a Western Conference scout told HOOPSWORLD. “But they’ve been playing like that for the last three weeks to a month.
“I think the Lakers were surprised about how well New Orleans can play, but I don’t think the coaches were,” he continued. “You’d think that beating a team four times in the regular season would be good preparation, but that wasn’t the case. I wasn’t surprised to see Kobe’s [Bryant] comments.”
(For those who hadn’t heard, Bryant said he and his teammates weren’t “stunned” or “shocked”)
The Lakers didn’t have any issue beating the Hornets this year, but the two teams hadn’t played since the former was putting together an 11-1 record in March.
As the Lakers continued their disappointing trend in Game 1, Hornets point guard Chris Paul bucked his own by turning the clock back to 2008-2009, when he finished third in Player Efficiency Rating (30.04). Paul’s PER has remained under 24 for the last two seasons, and while that’s still damn good, it wasn’t his usual production.
“If you asked the majority of people they would have said he took a step back,” the scout said. “But he looked like the old Chris Paul in the last game. For him, if he continues to play like that, it gives New Orleans a very good chance.”
Strangely enough, New Orleans may have the better backcourt in spite of Bryant’s presence on the opposing roster. Los Angeles backup point guard Steve Blake has the chicken pox, which meant Trey Johnson was forced into action in Game 1. Meanwhile, the Hornets are pulling veteran point guard Jarrett Jack off their bench.
“If you asked, 95% of Lakers fans couldn’t have told you who Trey Johnson was before that game,” the scout said. “Jack is obviously better than [the Lakers backups] and can give [the Hornets] great depth. You obviously drop off when Chris Paul is not off the floor. With the injury to Blake, and the insertion of Johnson though, the Hornets have a big advantage.
“[The Hornets] have two good ball handlers now,” he continued. “And that’s good because you don’t want to stay in a half-court game with the Lakers. Now it gets to the point where the Lakers have to say this is not working and figure out a better way to guard Chris Paul.”
That may mean Bryant has to push Derek Fisher aside.
Fortunately for the Lakers, they may have caught a break when Aaron Gray went down with a sprained ankle. Los Angeles was outscored in the paint by 18 points in Game 1, but Game 2 would be much more promising if Gray ends up sitting.
“I think that definitely affects them going forward,” the scout said of Gray’s absence. “He obviously had a quite a contribution in the game and because of injuries they don’t have the depth. You need your bigs against the Lakers and he gives you six fouls. They get a lot smaller without him. Jason Smith has to play more minutes.”
The team was obviously already playing without West, but Gray’s potential absence could make it easy for Lakers power forward Pau Gasol to bounce back from an off night in Game 1.
Regardless of whether the Hornets can maintain this momentum, first-year coach Monty Williams deserves a great deal of the credit because New Orleans played like a team that was expecting to win. They got an early lead and they never let up.
“He’s done a tremendous jobs on keeping them focused throughout the year,” the scout said of Williams. “He has tremendous poise on the bench. He’s very creative in his timeout plays. He wasn’t going to let them say, ‘Woe is me, we’re playing the Lakers.’ They play good team defense and I think they surprised the Lakers with it a little bit.”
Game 2 tips off Wednesday night at 10:30 on TNT.
{AUTHOR_BOX}Odom Takes Home Sixth Man
Lakers forward Lamar Odom will be announced as the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year at a 6 p.m. (Eastern) press conference, according to multiple reports (including one by ESPNLosAngeles reporter Dave McMenamin).
Odom finished the year averaging 14.4 PPG and 8.7 RPG while shooting a career-best 53% from the field. He ranked only 30th in the NBA in PER, but that was still better than every other Sixth Man candidate including Mavericks guard Jason Terry, Celtics forward Glen Davis, Thunder guard James Harden and 76ers forward Thaddeus Young.
Odom came in sixth in last year’s voting and is the first Laker to receive the honor.
Nets Digging Deep?
The Nets might be willing to pay staffers throughout the lockout, according to a report by Mason Levinson and Scott Soshnick of Bloomberg. A source said that Nets CEO Brett Yormark addressed employees on Monday to tell them they will not lose employment or wages in the event of lockout.
The league prohibits the franchises from making any statements regarding the labor situation, which is probably why the Nets declined to make a statement on the matter.
A lot of NFL and NBA teams will have some difficult decisions over the next few months, so it’s obviously a very good thing that Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov was permitted to buy the Nets last May.
Iowa Energy Net Two Top Awards
The D-League’s Iowa Energy will face the winner of the Reno-Grand Valley series in the Finals, but have already pocketed some hardware. Curtis Stinson was named the D-League’s MVP while Nick Nurse earned the Dennis Johnson Coach of the Year award.
“Nick’s passion and dedication played a huge role in making the Iowa Energy the NBA D-League’s best team this regular season,” said Chris Alpert, Vice President of Basketball Operations and Player Personnel for the NBA D-League. “Not only did Iowa flourish as a team this year under Nick’s guidance, but the Energy also produced two players who ended the season on NBA rosters and the NBA D-League’s Most Valuable Player. Nick’s expertise and commitment to excellence have been invaluable to Iowa, and I congratulate him on this honor.”
The Energy finished the regular season with a league-best 37-13 record, thanks in part to Stinson’s impressive season.
“It’s a real honor to be named MVP of the D-League,” the 6-3 Iowa State product said in a statement. “There are a lot of great players in this league, and to receive this award is one of the highlights of my career. I am truly thankful to have great teammates and coaches, and I appreciate all they have done to help me earn this recognition.”
Stinson averaged 19.3 PPG, 9.8 APG, and 5.7 RPG in nearly 43 minutes of action per contest. Other D-League MVPs include Courtney Sims (Iowa, 2009), Randy Livingston (Idaho, 2007), Marcus Fiver (Austin, 2006), Matt Carroll (Fayetteville, 2003) and Ansu Sesay (Greenville, 2002).
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