Lakers turn to cool hand LukeLakers turn to cool hand Luke
LamarOdom was on the bench in foul trouble. Vladimir Radamanovicwas largelyineffective. Pau Gasol was struggling to find open looks.
Kobe Bryant was taking over, as only he can, but you knew it couldn't last.
Denverwould adjust. They'd double-team him, triple-team him if theyhad to.Trip him, foul him. When a guy drops 20 points in the firstquarter, anyteam would have to at least make it hard on him, andDenver did.
In the second quarter, Bryant scored just five points.
Fortunately, the Lakers had Luke Walton.
For the second straight game, Walton came off the bench to spark the Lakers to victory.
"With all the good games Lamar had this year, it was nice to be able to come in tonight and help him out," Walton said.
Afterscoring 17 points in Sunday's Game 1, largely in relief ofthefoul-plagued Radmanovic, Walton came up with 18 points, sevenreboundsand five assists in the Lakers 122-107 victory over the Nuggetsin Game2.
The playoff push has done wonders for Walton's confidence.Allseason, he's been plagued by injuries. It was frustrating,becauseafter signing a new contract in the offseason, Walton was eagerto showhe was worth the commitment.
Better late than never.
Lukeis getting his momentum back and playing with a lot ofconfidence,"Lakers guard Sasha Vujacic said. "He has been great inthis series. Withour bench, it comes from all different people, but inthis series, Lukehas been stepping up.
"They (Denver) don't have a great match-up for him and he's been taking advantage."
Waltonhad to play a lot of minutes Wednesday in relief of Odom, whohad threefouls at halftime, picked up his fourth foul early in thethird quarterand his fifth foul just 20 seconds into the fourthquarter. Odom playedjust 22 minutes in the game.
With the Nuggets' assortment of powerforwards trying to guard him,the quicker Walton was able to penetrateoff the dribble and cut in theopen space.
"I think I've just made apoint of being more aggressive," Waltonsaid. "My shot feels good. Ifeel comfortable. And guys have beengetting me easy looks. When you geteasy looks, it's easy."
One of Walton's biggest contributions cameon the defensive end,drawing a charging foul on Carmelo Anthony midwaythrough the fourthquarter.
The Nuggets had already started to lose their composure. Again. But the charging foul really set them off.
Anthonyprostested the call. Allen Iverson drew a technical foul.Two freethrows by Kobe Bryant later, the Lakers had a 108-94 lead with5:19 togo.
"Luke was huge for us tonight," Bryant said. "And Lamar is goingtobe well rested for Game 3. I guess it's a glass half-full,half-emptykind of thing."
作者: shenngau 時間: 2008-4-26 02:51 AM
Luke Walton 真是一个有篮球智慧的球员（果然是名人之后）！
他不但传球视野广、防守有拼劲，而且内外进攻都有一套。
