Tues. 2/5 - Lakers @ Nets - Predictions & Comments

Tuesday, February 5th
Live: 4:30 PM PST
TV: TWCSN, NBA TV
Radio: KSPN-AM 710/KWKW-AM 1330
Online Radio Link: http://espn.go.com/espnradio/losangeles/play?s=la

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Loss

dwight returns 20/15 game, win in a blowout.

^ Is he gonna play on Tuesday?

I think its a loss...actually the Nets are a decent team and we just can't beat them on the road yet.

I actually feel like this will be a win. I think Dwight will play and Kobe will have a good bounce back game.

KB24 wrote:I think its a loss...actually the Nets are a decent team and we just can't beat them on the road yet.

I agree, if Howard plays the Lakers will have a chance, but if he doesn't... Deron Williams is gonna kill us inside the paint with lay-up drills.

Ice-Fire wrote:^ Is he gonna play on Tuesday?

no official word, i'm just speculating

I read somewhere the Nets haven't lost to a single team under .500 this season. Hard to believe but doesn't bode well for us.

JoelMyersScrotalSack wrote:I read somewhere the Nets haven't lost to a single team under .500 this season. Hard to believe but doesn't bode well for us.

They are 18-8 at home
we are now 7-16 on the road

their overall record is 28-19
our overall record is 22-26

the Nets are the favorites going by the numbers, thats for sure.

Preview coming.

JoelMyersScrotalSack wrote:I read somewhere the Nets haven't lost to a single team under .500 this season. Hard to believe but doesn't bode well for us.

I'm pretty sure we beat them earlier this season, not sure whether we were below .500.

XXIV wrote:

JoelMyersScrotalSack wrote:I read somewhere the Nets haven't lost to a single team under .500 this season. Hard to believe but doesn't bode well for us.

I'm pretty sure we beat them earlier this season, not sure whether we were below .500.

Lol we were exactly at .500 I think because that was the final game we won before the losing started. We were at all time best 6-5

Brook Lopez scores 35 points.

If Howard's out I don't see us beating them. Our rim protection is awful without him, and the Nets unlike the recent (bad) teams we've been playing will actually take advantage of that (plus they have more talented players than those teams).
If Dwight comes back however, I do think we can pull it out

Finwë wrote:If Howard's out I don't see us beating them. Our rim protection is awful without him, and the Nets unlike the recent (bad) teams we've been playing will actually take advantage of that (plus they have more talented players than those teams).
If Dwight comes back however, I do think we can pull it out

Detroit scored 64 points in the paint so I would say they took advantage of that .

On the season , we are 29th in the league in opponents points scored in the paint : 44.6PPG

Last three : 50.7 PPG

BK is 20th at 42.7 PPG

Points scored in the paint :

BK is 15 th at 41.1 PPG

Detroit is 2nd at 46.3 ...so it may not be as big a pb as you think against BK ( or at least bigger than against the others teams)

Good find. Detroit did exploit it, you are right. I'm just worried because BK, in addition to having guys that can drive and score, has a couple of skilled big men (Lopez, Blatche), and could probably hurt us in different ways if Howard's out. They are a better team than DET, and if we allow them to score with ease in the paint then we'll probably lose.

Must win ! and hopefully Dwight returns for this game.

No Dwight No Ron No defense...good luck guys

huge matchup problems without dwight and metta. sucks, as brooklyn's one of the only teams in the league that can't just run la out of the gym. they play the kind of game the lakers want to play when they've got their guns. instead, they're going to overpower the lakers at basically every spot. double digit loss coming, imo. it would have been tough even if both guys were playing given that a) the lakers have already beaten them, b) they've been a bit of a roll since firing their own mike brown (good job not compounding the error by hiring another bad coach, btw!) and c) it's a road game against a non-crappy team.

Kobe and Gasol going to have to dominate. Throw it back to '08.

QUICK PREVIEW
Lakers (22-26) at Nets (28-19)
7:30 PM EST

LAKERS
Won last 2
7-16 on the road
9-8 vs. East

PROBABLE STARTERS
Steve Nash 11.7 points, 7.8 assists, 3.0 rebounds
Jodie Meeks 7.5 points, 0.8 assists, 1.8 rebounds
Kobe Bryant 27.7 points, 5.4 assists, 5.2 rebounds
Earl Clark 7.2 points, 1.2 assists, 5.8 rebounds
Pau Gasol 13.3 points, 3.6 assists, 8.1 rebounds

NETS
Won last 1
18-8 at home
7-9 vs. West

PROBABLE STARTERS
Deron Williams 16.8 points, 7.7 assists, 3.2 rebounds
Joe Johnson 17.0 points, 3.6 assists, 3.0 rebounds
Gerald Wallace 8.9 points, 2.7 assists, 5.2 rebounds
Reggie Evans 3.3 points, 0.5 assists, 8.8 rebounds
Brook Lopez 18.7 points, 0.8 assists, 7.2 rebounds

PREDICTION
On November 20th, the Lakers beat the Nets, 90-95. The Lakers were paper thin at PG, while the Nets were at full strength. That game was in Los Angeles though. It is probably too early to say that the Lakers have solved their road woes, but they have won two in a row on the road now and have taken five of their last six contests overall. A win would be huge for the Lakers, and it would give them a day to dwell on the positives before taking on Boston and Charlotte. Neither of those games will be easy.

Alas, Lakers fans. The numbers suggest that the Lakers are in trouble. If this were in LA, I'd take the Lakers again in a heartbeat. Brooklyn is, however, an excellent home team; and the Lakers haven't won enough on the road or in sufficiently convincing fashion to make me a believer yet. Dwight Howard, the Lakers' best bet to neutralize the rebounding of Reggie Evans and the offense of Brook Lopez, is probably not playing. Look out for Deron Williams and Lopez, who posted big numbers last time, combining for 45 points, 13 assists, and 11 rebounds.

Lakers 95
Nets 99

With Metta out, this games becomes much more of a challenge.

Dwight not playing. MWP suspended because of altercation on Sunday. Thanks, Stern you little dictator, you got your whipping boy. Looking like another loss.

When I said I thought we would win I assumed Dwight would play and I didn't know MWP would be out. So yeah, this is gonna be tough, going to take a serious team effort, big games from Kobe, Pau, Nash, Clark, Jamison, Meeks, Blake, everyone. I assume Jamison will start at the 3 or 4 with Clark, I can't see Ebanks getting time even with MWP out.