Quote:
Originally Posted by Inspired
Actually, Dwight actually did OK at the free throw line in the 4th quarter. He actually made a couple clutch ones. Lakers need Dwight to anchor the defense. He is the only center on the team. And with Gasol out, there is really no other option available.
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Completely disagree.
Dwight shot 50% (5/10) down the stretch so that's 5 points he gave us, but more importantly giving them an EXTRA 5 possessions because obviously no time is wasted since we're at the line. They started fouling him at 3:18 left in the game. Because we ran off no time with Dwight shooting FT's, they scored 7 points in 1:18 of game time. A time frame which wouldn't have existed.
Benching Dwight for 1:18 (when they started fouling Dwight) while Jordan Hill has played great defensively wasn't going to hurt us that badly. It gave the Rockets time that would have never existed.
Although that wasn't the end all, I think it was the biggest factor in the game. Kobe's pathetic defense to close out the game as well as our inability to grab a rebound also killed us.