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Down and dirty Kings even series by applying defensive pressurePosted: Tuesday May 21, 2002 2:06 AM
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Forget the cheeseburgers and cheesecake. If the Kings really wanted to stop Kobe Bryant and the Lakers in Game 2, they knew they were going to need more than some help from the local hotel chef. Hard as it might be for them to stomach, they were going to have to play some defense. Some honest-to-goodness, no-holds-barred, in-your-face D, that is. Not the half-hearted brand they often played during the regular season or in the opening quarter of Game 1. Sacramento did just that in the third quarter Monday night, holding L.A. to 17 points on 7-of-20 shooting. The Kings battled Shaquille O'Neal in the paint, crowded Kobe on the perimeter and kept a close eye on L.A. guns Derek Fisher, Robert Horry and Rick Fox. As a result, they turned a tight 52-50 halftime edge into a comfortable 76-67 lead. "It was win or go home," Kings guard Doug Christie said of his team’s inspired effort. "We got tougher as a group." It started, as it usually does against the Lakers, with a better effort on Shaq. Vlade Divac pushed O’Neal out farther from the basket, and when the 7-foot-1 Lakers behemoth tried to score, he was met with quicker help from Chris Webber and other Kings. Shaq, who scored 23 points on 11-of-15 in the first half, missed three straight inside to start the period as the Kings built on their lead. Having avoided early foul trouble, Divac and Webber were able to get physical with Shaq and use fouls wisely in the second half to keep him out of rhythm. While Shaq might have simply missed some easy ones, he did appear to get tired. After carrying the Lakers for the first half, he just didn’t seem to have the same force to fight back against the pressure of Divac and Webber. "We had a lot of big stops. Our defense made Shaq miss a lot of shots and our defense was helping each other," Kings guard Mike Bibby said. "Like I always say, when our defense is helping each other, we’re hard to beat." With Shaq struggling inside, Christie picked up the intensity on Bryant. He hounded the Lakers superstar, who was clearly weakened by his bout with food poisoning and not able to pull off his usual second-half magic. Bryant finished just 3-of-7 from the floor in the quarter. One play, in particular, highlighted the Kings’ stellar effort. Trailing 66-60, Fox spied Christie overplaying Bryant and tried to find his teammate on a backdoor baseline cut. When Bryant caught the lob pass, however, he was met immediately by Webber, who had raced over from the other side of the lane to cut off his path. Kobe tried to spin back, but Christie was in his path and he wound up dribbling the ball of his knee for a turnover. While giving credit to the Kings' defense, Lakers coach Phil Jackson predictably saw his team’s third-quarter crash as its own fault. "I wasn’t pleased with the third quarter," he said. "I thought we were soft when we came out." It might have just been a bad stretch by L.A., but the Kings will take it. Not only are they back in the series, they now know that playing hard on the defensive end actually works. Good thing, too, because with the next two games at L.A.’s Staples Center, they’re not going to get any help from the local room service.
Marty Burns covers pro basketball for CNNSI.com. Click here to send Marty a question or comment.
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