Lakers-At-Mavs: The LA Secret?

   The blogosphere has created any number of fancy-schmancy explanations for the Lakers’ 5-0 start.“Strong-side zone defense.’’ Gasol’s increasing unwillingness to get elbowed in his ugly mug more than twice. Stay-the-course stability. And all of it adds up to “Just so you know, we now think this whole NBA season is rather pointless on account of the Lakers.’’

   But I’ll tell you what I’ve seen in my glimpses of LA’s games this year, and it casts an ominous cloud over the head of “I’ve-Got-To-Get-The-Troops-Ready’’ Dirk as he and the Mavs prepare for the 7:30 Tuesday visit from The Drama Queen and his Lakers:

   LA refuses to let the other team’s best scorer score.

   I noticed, as we probably all did, that LA completely stifled Tracy McGrady on Sunday, allowing him just three points (!) on 1-of-11 shooting. Now, T-Mac is complaining of suffering from some sort of ailment (yeah; he’s a puss). … but. … three points?

 

 

   The “duel’’ between The Drama Queen and T-Mac and the Rox star makes one basket?

 

  

 

 

Turns out, it’s a trend.

 

 

 

 

 

 

   In the Lakers game before that, they beat the Clippers and limited Baron Davis to 17 points on a highly-inefficient 7-of-21 shooting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   In the Lakers game before that, they beat Denver as Carmelo Anthony also shot 33 percent (5-of-15) and scored just 13.

 

   In the game before that, it was the poor Clippers again. And Baron scored 11 on 4-of-13 shooting in a Lakers win.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    And in the Lakers’ opener, they handled Portland while limiting Brandon Roy to yet another star opponent’s 33-percent night (5-of-15) and just 14 points.

 

 

 

   That’s rather uncanny, really.

 

 

 

   When Baron Davis, Carmelo Antony and Brandon Roy play the Lakers, they are reduced to being 33-percent shooters? And when Tracy McGrady plays ‘em, he makes one basket while coming down with some sort of vaginal pain?

 

 

 

  Add it up: That’s four stars, in five games, averaging 10.4 points per game while making just 22 baskets on their combined 74 shots.

   Meanwhile, of course, The Drama Queen has been aces. His respective scoring totals in this star-to-star matchups are 23, 16, 33, 27 and 33 … and he would’ve likely gone for much more in the lower-scoring of those games had the Lakers not been winning that night by 20 or 30 points.

  Tuesday night’s Lakers-at-Mavs meeting is about a lot of things. Invincibility and stability and toughness and strong-side zones and Kobe. (Who isn’t my Hero, Guitar or otherwise.) And for sure, the marquee will read “Kobe-vs.-Dirk.’’ But if the Lakers’ 5-0 start is about any one thing, I think it’s about their notable ability to shut down the opponent’s star.

   Which suggests that Dirk’s “troops’’ might want to be ready to help him out here.

 

745pm nov 10 2008

---

---