1984 NBA Finals
GAME 1
Larry v. Magic: Game-by-Game Summary
Larry v. Magic: Game-by-Game Media Coverage
Before, during and after yesterday's 115-109 Laker victory, everybody was talking matchups.
LA coach Pat Riley used the same starting five he used in Phoenix Friday night, going with James Worthy at forward and Michael Cooper in the backcourt. Worthy wound up guarding Dennis Johnson, with Cooper taking Bird.
"That threw them off a little," said Cooper, who held Bird to 42-percent shooting. "I saw the surprise in DJ's eyes when he saw James on him."
K.C. Jones played into Riley's hands by putting Gerald Henderson on Magic Johnson. On Saturday, when Jones told reporters he planned to put Henderson on Magic if Magic guarded Henderson, it was dismissed as a smokescreen. However, when Magic opened the game on Henderson, Gerald found himself looking at Magic's belly button for the rest of the day.
"That worked out really well," said Jones. "It's not really an important factor, unless I'm missing something."
If Jones lets the Lakers dictate Boston's defensive alignment, we can be certain that Magic will continue to cover Henderson. Meanwhile, veteran Laker- watchers wonder why the Celtics didn't pressure Magic from baseline to baseline. Philadelphia employed that tactic very effectively last spring.
4 comments:
Matty said...
you've rumbled us lex! it was all a conspiracy!!!!
Seriously though man, well done indeed, you should get yourself a nice cold beer and celebrate!
2/17/2010 01:43:00 AM
1111 said...
LOL!! i love conspiracy theories!! basically u dont need to do nothing, just let the other SUPPOSE u COULD have done something... ;)
2/17/2010 03:11:00 AM
1111 said...
by the way, i LOVE the Bird-Magic stuffs...
Just saw this today.
Thanks guys.
First of all, KC did what he thought was right. LETS GET ONE THING STRAIGHT. The decision to make the change to put DJ on Magic was made by Gerald Henderson who realized that magic was just to big and that DJ could not keep up with Byron Scott and Mike Cooper running the lanes. KC has never said that he made that decision. Whomever is writing these stories should get there facts correct.
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