Where have I seen that game before?

Let's see, Kobe goes nuts, Lakers go up 25+, Knicks get booed on their home
floor, and then stage a furious 4th quarter rally to scare the be-jeepers
out of the Lakers and their fans...

Oh yeah, the exact same thing happened in 2003:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/recap?gid=2003020618

"Bryant matched his season high with 46 points and O'Neal added 33 as the
Knicks had no answer for Los Angeles' dynamic duo. Bryant (40) and O'Neal
(28) combined to outscore the Knicks in the first three quarters as the
Lakers took a 97-67 lead.

"The Lakers (24-23) then survived a spirited fourth-quarter rally by the
Knicks to end the first half of the season with their fifth straight win,
including four on the road.

....

"The Knicks didn't go away, scoring the first 16 points of the fourth
quarter to get within 14.

"Sprewell, who made all nine of his 3-pointers Tuesday against the Clippers,
hit a 3 to make it 103-91 with 5:34 to go.

"A jumper by Michael Doleac made it 107-100 with 2:45 to go. After a
turnover by Bryant, Lee Nailon scored underneath to make it a five-point
game with 1:52 to go."

....

I was definitely having flashbacks and the way this team has been closing
out games I thought they had choked this one away big time. Kobe hit some
huge shots down the stretch. He was really good overall, but I thought the
Lakers -- especially Kobe -- played another unprofessional game... Kobe was
jacking up silly horse shots, and while I admit I laughed my head off at him
swatting Nate Robinson's butt after nailing that corner 3 in his face,
that's the kind of stuff you just don't do until the game is *out of reach*.

Kobe said it in the post-game interview, "This gives us some stuff to work
on," and I hope he and the rest take it to heart... the Knicks had
absolutely no business being back in that game.

brink

On Dec 23, 1:34�pm, "brink" <brinknos....RemoveThis@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Let's see, Kobe goes nuts, Lakers go up 25+, Knicks get booed on their home
> floor, and then stage a furious 4th quarter rally to scare the be-jeepers
> out of the Lakers and their fans...
>
> Oh yeah, the exact same thing happened in 2003:
>
> http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/recap?gid=2003020618
>
> "Bryant matched his season high with 46 points and O'Neal added 33 as the
> Knicks had no answer for Los Angeles' dynamic duo. Bryant (40) and O'Neal
> (28) combined to outscore the Knicks in the first three quarters as the
> Lakers took a 97-67 lead.
>
> "The Lakers (24-23) then survived a spirited fourth-quarter rally by the
> Knicks to end the first half of the season with their fifth straight win,
> including four on the road.
>
> ...
>
> "The Knicks didn't go away, scoring the first 16 points of the fourth
> quarter to get within 14.
>
> "Sprewell, who made all nine of his 3-pointers Tuesday against the Clippers,
> hit a 3 to make it 103-91 with 5:34 to go.
>
> "A jumper by Michael Doleac made it 107-100 with 2:45 to go. After a
> turnover by Bryant, Lee Nailon scored underneath to make it a five-point
> game with 1:52 to go."
>
> ...
>
> I was definitely having flashbacks and the way this team has been closing
> out games I thought they had choked this one away big time. �Kobe hit some
> huge shots down the stretch. �He was really good overall, but I thought the
> Lakers -- especially Kobe -- played another unprofessional game... �Kobe was
> jacking up silly horse shots, and while I admit I laughed my head off at him
> swatting Nate Robinson's butt after nailing that corner 3 in his face,
> that's the kind of stuff you just don't do until the game is *out of reach*.
>
> Kobe said it in the post-game interview, "This gives us some stuff to work
> on," and I hope he and the rest take it to heart... �the Knicks had
> absolutely no business being back in that game.
>
> brink

Bynum said after the game that the Knick rally reflected poorly on the
Lakers, because it shows the Lakers till don't know how to "keep their
foot on the opponent's throat," or something to that effect. True,
that.