Game Grades: Nick Young Saves Lakers In San Antonio
By Jacob Rude
110. 29. 112. 20. Final
MVP: The one. The only. Swaggy P. Are you serious Nick Young? Aside from his absurd dagger three-pointer that turned out to be the game winner, he poured in 29 points and was 6 of 9 from deep. That’s an MVP worthy performance if I’ve ever seen one.
LVP: Ronnie Price. I mean, his 0 for 4 shooting was bad, but he managed just two assists and one steal and was all around bad tonight. Considering how Jeremy Lin played, it may not be long until he’s back on the bench.
Stat of the Night: Bench scoring. The Lakers got 61 points from their bench. Anytime you get that kind of production, you should win ball games. Much credit to Lin, who was aggressive all night long.
The Starters
KOBE BRYANT. A-. <strong> 40 min, 7-22 FG, 1-4 3P, 7-8 FT, 22 PTS, 5 REB, 9 AST, 4 STL, 0 BLK, 5 TO</strong><p>The bad? 7-22 shooting. The good? 9 assists, 5 rebounds, and 4 steals as the Lakers de facto point guard again down the stretch.</p>. SG. Los Angeles Lakers
B+. <strong> 35 min, 7-16 FG, 0-0 FT, 14 PTS, 10 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 1 BLK, 0 TO<br /></strong><p><strong><a href=. C. Los Angeles Lakers. JORDAN HILL
D-. <strong> 17 min, 0-4 FG, 0-4 3P, 0-0 FT, 0 PTS, 0 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL, 0 BLK, 1 TO</strong><p>Seriously, what does <strong><a href=. PG. Los Angeles Lakers. RONNIE PRICE
B+. <strong> 28 min, 5-7 FG, 3-3 3P, 0-0 FT, 13 PTS, 5 REB, 1 AST, 2 STL, 0 BLK, 1 TO</strong><p>One of the rare nights <strong><a href=. SF. Los Angeles Lakers. WESLEY JOHNSON
ED DAVIS. C+. <strong> 21 min, 1-3 FG, 0-0 FT, 2 PTS, 6 REB, 4 AST, 1 STL, 0 BLK, 1 TO</strong><p><strong><a href=. PF. Los Angeles Lakers
The Bench
A+. <strong> 32 min, 9-14 FG, 6-9 3P, 5-5 FT, 29 PTS, 1 REB, 1 AST, 0 STL, 0 BLK, 1 TO</strong><p>Young credited Bryant’s tirade and trash talking yesterday to have motivated him. But Kobe’s the bad guy.</p>. SG. Los Angeles Lakers. NICK YOUNG
Los Angeles Lakers. JEREMY LIN. A. <strong> 30 min, 6-14 FG, 2-3 3PT, 0-2 FT, 14 PTS, 2 REB, 8 AST, 0 STL, 1 BLK, 3 TO</strong><p>Definitely Lin’s best performance since moving to the bench, if not longer. He was aggressive all night. Certainly question <strong><a href=. PG
C. Los Angeles Lakers. ROBERT SACRE. B-. <strong> 18 min, 2-3 FG, 0-0 FT, 4 PTS, 6 REB, 0 AST, 1 STL, 0 BLK, 0 TO</strong><p>Nothing great, nothing bad out of <strong><a href=
C. <strong> 13 min, 0-1 FG, 0-1 3P, 0-0 FT, 0 PTS, 1 REB, 0 AST, 1 STL, 0 BLK, 1 TO</strong><p>Scott’s odd rotations had Ellington on the outside looking in for most of the night.</p>. SG. Los Angeles Lakers. WAYNE ELLINGTON
<strong> 31 min, 7-12 FG, 0-0 FT, 14 PTS, 13 REB, 1 AST, 0 STL, 2 BLK, 1 TO</strong><p>Carlos Boozer is still susceptible to bonehead plays, but he’s done well since moving to the bench, somewhat revitalizing his career.</p>. C. Los Angeles Lakers. CARLOS BOOZER. A-