Lamar Wins 6th Man of The Year, Help Lakers Even Series

Lamar Odom became the first Laker in history to win 6th Man of the Year. Thats surprising considering the rich history of the Champs and the many great reserves they have had over the years. Sixth man extraordinare Michael Cooper was a key member of all five titles of the 80s as was Kurt Rambis and the Great Bob McAdoo. The Shaq/Kobe Title teams had Brian Shaw and reserve hero Robert Horry. Congratulations to Lamar Odom, he definately deserved it.

The Champs came out with more urgency and collapsed on CP3 who still had a good game, just did not dominate like game 1. The attack was led by 'Drew Bynum who was very active and ended up leading the Lakers in scoring and rebounding. The Champs had a nice balanced attack with four players reaching double figures and 3 more missing it by just one bucket. The 1-2 punch of Kobe and Gasol struggled all night but thanks to Artest and Bynum the starters set the tone, and when the Killer Bees were called they responded along with newly rewarded Odom. The bench played great pushing the ball and limiting mistakes outscoing the Hornets bench 27-13. The #1 key reserve had 16 points on 8/11 shooting and pulled down 7 boards, Killer Bee combined for 11 points but all contributed in different ways, Blake came back from battling Chicken Pox and dished out 5 dimes, Barnes 8 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals, and Brown hit a key trey to push the lead to 13. Known Laker hater Jarret Jack scored only 6 points and game 1 X-factor Aaron Gray came back to Earth with just 1 bucket after going perfect in the opener. The Lakers as a whole did not look lost this time around and if the 1-2 punch of Mamba and the Spaniard can get back in New Orleans, they should finish the series in 5 when they return to Staples Center.

Player of the Game: Lamar Odom, when on the floor he was superb earning a game high +12, he continues to have an outstanding season.

X-Factor: The key element most consider vital to the Lakers three-peat chances, the big guy Andrew Bynum, return to his post All-Star break form leading the Lakers in scoring, rebounding, and asserting himself in the defensive end.

Should Have Been Benched: The Spaniard now has consecutive stinkers, he is currently averaging 8 pts and 5.5 rebounds. This is from the second best in the team and considered among the best in the world. After a dominating the Hornets all season, he has so far been disspointing, I think I even heard the fans booing him at one time. If this continues, talks of Paul Gasoft will resurface.

Laker Hater: The 22 points by former Laker Trevor Ariza tie a season high for him this year. He scored more points this game, than the last three combined, no joke. Is it amazing what playing against the Lakers does?

Overtime: Elsewhere the favored heirs to the West throne OKC Thunder took care of business at home and will go to Denver leading the series by 2 games, gotta hand it to the superstar-less Nuggets, they didn't quit even after falling behing by 26 points. The #1 West seed silver and black Spurs outlasted the pesky Grizzlies and even out the series and now must travel to Memphis and hope for a split. Also today marked the anniversay of the still standing record for most points by one player in the playoffs held by Michael Jordan way back in '86. That was the only close game of the series which ended in double OT win for the eventual Champion Leprechauns in their last title before the modern Big 3 version won it all in '08. The Celtics dominated the one man show Bulls, although is still considered the best individual peformance. Funny how Kobe is always critized when he scores too much and the team loses, but MJ is idolized, I mean he was one basket from scoring half the team's total, when Kobe does it though, it's not that he had crappy team mates or just wan in a zone, he's a ball hog. Just sayin'