LA Shootaround: UCLA Dominates, Kings Lose, Lakers Tank
By Jason Gold
Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
With a big night in LA Sports we thought it would be appropriate to give our thoughts on every game in our first LA Shootaround. Here we go!
UCLA dominates Oregon in Pac 12 Tournament Quarterfinal
After a very competitive first half in Las Vegas, the UCLA Bruins ran away with their quarterfinal game against Oregon in Las Vegas. The Bruins outscored the Ducks by 17 in the second half and eventually won the game by the score of 82-63. The game, quite frankly, wasn’t even that close in the second half.
The Bruins were lead by dominating performances from Jordan Adams (15 points), Kyle Anderson (11 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists) and the Wear twins who combined for 25 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists. The Ducks played well in the first half; however, were suffocated on offense in the second half by a UCLA defense that was simply to long and rangy for the smaller, quicker Ducks.
UCLA wins the season series against Oregon by the score of 2-1 and now move on to the semifinals of the Pac 12 tournament where they will face the Stanford Cardinals, who took down Arizona State in the night cap. If UCLA plays with as much energy as it did tonight there is no reason to believe that they can’t win the Pac 12 Tournament.
Kings fail to extend their winning streak to 9
The Los Angeles Kings fell to the Toronto Maple Leafs at Staples Center last night by the score of 3-2. The Kings fail to extended their winning streak to 9, which would have tied the longest winning streak in franchise history.
The Kings were lead by Marion Gaborik, who scored the first goal of the game in his first career game as a King at Staples Center. The goal was also his first as a King. The Kings took a 2-0 lead on Anze Kopitar‘s #Tebowing Goal. You don’t believe that Kopitar actually took a shot while #Tebowing and scored? I have proof!
You all are now witness to a Tebow goal. You’re welcome.
The Maple Leafs eventually tied up the game at 2 on goals by Elisha Cuthbert‘s boyfriend (Dion Phaneuf) and Carl Gunnarson. Then, inexplicably, the Kings went on a power play earlier in the third period and somehow allowed Toronto to score short handed on a goal by Mason Raymond. The Kings had a ton of opportunities to tie up the game late; however, backup goalie James Reimer, who came in for an injured Jonathan Bernier, stopped every scoring chances and ended the game with 31 saves in two full periods of action.
It’s a disappointing end to a fantastic run from the Los Angeles Kings. This team isn’t going anywhere so let’s hope that this is but a minor blip on the way to a fantastic regular season finish.
“We Built Tank City” – Los Angeles Lakers
Does anybody remember the old Jefferson Airplane song “We Built This City”? If not you should familiarize yourself with the song because we’re changing the lyrics to “We Built Tank City”. It’s the 2013-14 official Lakers anthem. Listen to it, understand it, love it. This song should be played whenever the Lakers drop the magical white bed sheet from the ceiling of Staples Center for the rest of the season. This is non-negotiable.
If you’re going to be an NBA team that is clearly in full tank mode then somehow you need to embrace it and bring the fans in on the joke. What a better way to entertain the millions AND MILLIONS of Laker fans around the country than by creating a unique song about the 2013-14 Lakers season and own the joke of a season you have created by continuously mismanaging the team. OWN IT!
The Lakers continued their losing ways in Oklahoma City against the Thunder, which should come as no surprise. The Lakers gave up 131 points to the Thunder, which also shouldn’t come as a surprise considering the Lakers haven’t played defense since 2011. Over the past five games, over which the Lakers have gone 1-4, the team has given up AN AVERAGE of 130.6 point per game. If that isn’t tanking I don’t know what is. Is it a bad thing that Laker fans won’t even think twice after looking at the final score, which reads something like a police report. The Lakers lost by 29 points. Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant combined for 58 points and 12 assists in 53 minutes of game play. Serge Ibaka turned into Serge I”BLOCK”A with 7 blocks. It was a typical night in a miserable season.
Lastly, Derek Fisher scored 5 points tonight for the Thunder in what may be his last game against the Lakers. I speak on behalf of Laker Nation when I say that we miss you and wish you all the best this season. You may be a Thunder right now but you will always be a Laker. Never forget .4!