Alright welcome in to your full recap of game 3 of the NBA's Christmas games between the Lakers and the 2x defending champion Miami Heat, where the Lakers played competitive all game long, but the Heat displayed why they are the champs as they used that very same championship formula to knock off the Lakers 101-95.
First and foremost to the Laker Nation, Merry Christmas. I know I did my greetings a lot in my Q-by-Q and halftime post, but in all seriousness I hope you guys are having a wonderful time with your family and unwrapping presents. Today reminds us that it's about the season of giving and as this day winds down, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Onto the game, probably a game where I am not mad at all that we lost. Every analyst expected the short handed Lakers to just bow down to mighty Miami Heat, but I'm happy they didn't just lay down and call it a day, they fought, they fought hard, and they fought until the end. But at the end of the day, teams are measured by wins and losses and no moral victories and this still counts as a loss in the Lakers' book in the canon law of pro sports.
Let's start out with positives: Nick Young, 20 points on 7-18 shooting. It's pretty easy to forget that Young started 1-8 this game with his bucket coming from a 3, but in the 2nd half he came alive and took over. In the 3rd quarter, he drew fouls for both a 3 point play and a 4 point play, and fired the final shot in that quarter over LeBron to put us within 3. Young just has that "it" factor that he needs to work on and polish. He has the ability of stepping up in crunch time, if you remember his heroics in the final seconds of the 2012 1st round game vs. the Grizzlies as a Clipper, he hit clutch 3's to help the Clippers come back from a big deficit. If he can master that clutch ability, truly he'll be the next key holder once Kobe retires. Another positive this game Xavier Henry, 14 points on 5-8 shooting. Not only was X doing it offensively, but he defended well for most of the game generating 2 turnovers and pretty much contained the point guard duo of Mario Chalmers and Norris Cole and both those two are underrated defenders as well. Other positive performances: Pau Gasol, the Lakers' top performer with 13 points, 13 rebounds, and 3 assists and Jodie Meeks with 17 points with 2 steals; I thought they also created big buckets especially to keep us within striking distance of Miami's lead for most of the game.
Onto the negatives, the turnovers are still an issue. Against a team like the Heat, when you commit a turnover, your defense is dead meat when you see Wade and LeBron running the floor in transition. The Lakers committed a total of 17 turnovers, most of those credit to the Heat's swarming D, but the others just turned out to be dumb and boneheaded plays, especially in the 4th. The two Jordans, Farmar and Hill were negatives although I'll give Farmar a pass since he just returned after tearing his hamstring, but Hill, he's simply just not a player you want to put on the floor when the game's on the line in the 4th. J Hill was missing a lot of make-able jump hooks and not to mention he missed some critical free throws. I will still give him a positive in his rebounding numbers with 10 boards, but it's safe to say Hill was the weak link of the young bench mob this game.
Alright, I hope you guys enjoyed my full recap of this Christmas game. Like I said I wish you all a very Merry Christmas. I'm out, I'll see you guys later.
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