Kobe: Blake Griffin “punked us”

For the better part of three quarters the Lakers kept Blake Griffin under wraps. Then, the Clipper rookie unleashed the beast on the Lake Show. Griffin’s streak of 20 and 10 games game to an end but just barely. By game’s end, Blake beasted the Purple and Gold to the tune of 18 and 15 after collecting three fouls and scoring just 2 points in the first half.

The end result was Lamar Odom allowing Griffin to get so far under his skin that a minor skirmish ensued. After the dust settled, Odom, Ron Artest, Griffin and Baron Davis had all been ejected.

Kobe Bryant summed it up with one line by saying Griffin “punked us”.

"“He just ran through us. We didn’t put up much of a fight.”"

While Blake is an uncontrollable beast, he alone did not orchestrate the Laker meltdown. Once again, Phil Jackson had his team in position to roll over their competition and once again they failed to apply the final blow. This was in stark contrast to their recent form but it is a problem that has plagued the Lake Show this season.

Credit to the Clippers, this team is really starting to play with intensity and confidence the likes of which we haven’t see from L.A.’s other team in years. Still, this was one that got away from the Lakers.

Getting their lunch handed to them is one thing. But to again have to go through these concerns of other teams being more physical is a major step back. I’m not saying this is the Finals debacle against Boston of a few years ago but the Clippers brought the fight to their Staples neighbors and the Lakers cowered.

There’s a tough stretch coming up so if there was ever a time to send a message to the league, it’s right now. For the time being, this team has got to did deep and avoid being
“punked” by Oklahoma City.