Bench gives Lakers a big boost
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES -- They don't have a nickname or a much of a reputation -- except for being inferior to most of the reserves they're playing against these days.
And the Los Angeles Lakers' substitutes don't much care.
"We have three All-Stars," Rick Fox said, referring to Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant and Glen Rice. "We at times are left
wide open, we at times make things happen.
"It's the bench that gets the criticism when we lose."
Entering the Western Conference finals, it was the bench that
many thought gave the Portland Trail Blazers an advantage.
Maybe so, but not in the second quarter Saturday as the Lakers
blew the game open on their way to a 109-94 victory in Game 1 of
the best-of-seven series.
"Every bench in the league outscored our bench," said Robert
Horry, who led the way for the Lakers' reserves with 12 points -- all in the second quarter. "We don't worry about that, we're just
doing our job. We just go out and play."
Horry and his mates went out and performed superbly after the
Lakers and Blazers battled to a 26-all tie after one period,
combining for 20 points as Los Angeles outscored Portland 37-16 for
a 63-42 halftime lead.
Portland made it interesting in the fourth quarter, drawing
within nine points with five minutes left. But that was as close as
the Blazers would get as the Lakers overcame their tactics of
continually fouling O'Neal by stopping them at the other end of the
court.
"We were just clicking today, on the offense end and on the
defensive end," Brian Shaw said of the reserves. "If we're
hitting our shots like that, it's going to be easier for Shaq."
With Horry scoring his 12 points, Shaw adding five points and
Fox three in the second period, the trio combined to make 7-of-9
shots -- including 5-of-7 from behind the 3-point line -- in
outscoring the Blazers by themselves.
"Their bench hurt us," Blazers coach Mike Dunleavy said.
"They made some big shots, and stretched our defense with their
3-point shooting."
They reserves also impressed Bryant, who was held to an
uncharacteristically low 13 points.
"We're deeper than we thought," he admitted. "But the bench
has been doing a nice job for us all playoffs long coming in and
hitting some big shots for us and getting the momentum going."
Perhaps so, but it was the Sacramento Kings who had the "Bench
Mob," and the Phoenix Suns who had Rodney Rogers, the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year.
The Lakers beat both teams earlier in the playoffs with some
help from their reserves, and now they're up against the club
considered to have more talent on their bench than anyone.
"They're the better bench," Fox admitted. "Their bench outplayed our bench. We've heard this talk before. I don't think we played any different than we have all year."
Portland's substitutes wound up with 41 points in 79 minutes,
while the Lakers' reserves had 28 points in 66 minutes. But the
events of the second quarter proved decisive.
Horry's first 3-point shot came with the Lakers leading 30-28
and triggered a 14-0 run, with Horry scoring nine of the points and
Fox capping the spurt with his 3-pointer.
The advantage was 24 points before the end of the second period.
"It's just one of those days where you're shooting the rock,
it's falling, the guys are looking for you," Horry said of his
performance. "Everybody's double-teaming Shaq, sometimes tripling
him. A lot of teams like to sag off our (power forwards).
"I just took my shots when I had them. I wasn't being
aggressive, I just took the shots they gave me. Once I make two
shots, I'm going to take that third one, test that gun to make sure
it's working."
It was in this game.
"Robert played very well," O'Neal said. "I think Robert likes
it when they double me, he stepped up and shot the ball very
well." |
