Wilt had two offensive rebounds, a put-back tip and was 0/3 from the line in the first two minutes of the game. The Knicks were pressing from the start, and I missed a possession early on where Garrett was trying to advance the ball against Frazier. He was a HUUUGE pest, which is probably a big part of why L.A. was using their forwards to advance the ball, to deny Frazier that opportunity. He was staying with Garrett no problems, making him change directions, attacking the dribble with some reasonable steal attempts, shied him up against the sideline over by the break and made him give up the ball.
That kind of sets the tone for later, tbh.
LOVE watching the passing in Red's system. You can totally see the concepts which would inspire Phil Jackson.
Baylor was practically invisible over the first three minutes of the game. He had an air ball to open the game, a turnover (offensive foul) and then finally made a jumper from the left side. The Lakers were clearly pounding it into Wilt who, despite having "only" 3 FTA and 2 FGA to show by this point, was getting posted and re-posted a fair bit in the half court for the Lakers. He was moving the ball pretty well, didn't have sticky hands, nor did he hold the ball for too long.
I'm noticing that the press didn't seem to bother West any; it was mostly Garrett and Erickson (the guys advancing the ball) who were having trouble with it, as West wasn't really taking the ball over the time line at all in the first quarter. Baylor, Garrett and Erickson were doing that. West's first shot was a beautiful cut to a pass and hard drive to the rim for a floater off glass. Really quick move, very nice. He was pretty clearly playing 2 guard to start this game, not commanding the point at this stage. L.A. forced a turnover on the other end which started that possession; didn't catch who it was, might have been Wilt. Elgin advances after Garrett fouls Frazier for 2 points on FTs, and then West takes a straight-up J against Barnett from the right elbow, missing.
One thing about Wilt, he palms the ball and waves it around while standing in the post a lot, which is stupid. And it turned into a turnover right as I was noticing that. He waves the ball around, pointing, directing, whatever, but he's really crap at guarding the ball (or more accurately, has been in this game). I've seen him play like that a lot, though, and that's a major weakness. He also doesn't seem to dive to the floor; one loose ball went right past his feet as he bent over at the waist and went "eh, not gonna go."
Reed turned it over, the Lakers raced out in transition, West got rejected and boy did Wilt hustle down the floor because he was right there for another offensive board and a put-back jam. West got blocked in transition by Frazier, who BOOKED it down the court to contest that shot.
15-8 New York with 7 to go.
Reed, who had hit a pair of jumpers to this point (not playing super well otherwise, but with his injury, hardly a surprise), was really affecting Wilt's positioning on D, forcing him to come way far out from the rim. BILL BRADLEY managed to squeak in a flip shot, and that was... well, unexpected.
Pull-up 13-footer from Baylor, good. The Lakers actually don't seem to be fighting for shots or getting too grumpy about it. Lots of possessions, lots of shots. To this point, maybe 12 possessions have ended in a shot or FTs for West, Baylor or Wilt, who were 5/9 together (Baylor and West, 3/6, Wilt 2/3 with 3 offensive boards). Wilt had drawn a pair of fouls for 3 FTA, and committed a TOV. Elgin committed that offensive foul for another TOV.
Baylor looks... inconsistent on D. Hands down a lot, backed off of Frazier (who stuck a J on him), but worked around a screen to get his man and then hustled back when the screener peeled baseline to contest the shot. "Decent" is probably the best word so far.
West took a hard fadeaway from the right baseline, miss. 1-4 to this point.
Frazier had 9 points by this time in the game, kind of working over Garrett, who earned his third foul at this point.
FIRST time I see West advancing the ball is now. Left side, goes right, uses the drive to start elbow post. Turns baseline, pump fake, short bank shot from the left low block, money. 2-5 from the field.
West advances again, deals with some physicality well enough, gets a nice pump fake and goes for a 15-foot bank shot from the right elbow but it rims out. Wilt has 6 boards by this point.
West advances again, left side, throws a pretty entry pass to Wilt, who goes middle, comes back baseline for a badly-clanked fadeaway J from maybe 10, 12 feet on the left side. Looked ugly. Wilt really wasn't playing fluid offense when he was looking for his own shot. Ball protection aside, he seemed to have a good command over how to use the ball in the low post to facilitate the rest of the team, but really, his scoring game looks butt-ass ugly. Misses another one of those ugly finger roll things and is now 2/5.
West was 2/6 from the field with no FTs that I recall just a second ago, but now after making 1 FT has 7 points, so I must have missed a pair of FTs somewhere.
As Doc said, the Knicks really were letting fly with a loose shot selection and just DRILLING shots. Most of them were mid-range, in that 10- to 18-foot range, though, and largely contested only weakly or not at all. Not bad shots, really, and often after passes. The ball moved fluidly, but they weren't afraid to pop in transition. It really rained down on the Lakers. 30-17.
West uses pivots to get free for a 17-footer from the left side, boom. Ah, and resolution; the announcers screwed up. After THAT shot, West had 7 points. I was worried, lol. 3/7, 1/1, 7 points. 2:19 to go in the first. 30-19 NYK.
They show a replay of when Willis goes down just before the timeout (he collapses on the play before West's last J) and the replay really shows that Reed and maybe DeBusschere are literally slapping the CRAP out of Wilt's arms as they double him. Wilt goes into his strange squat and tries to power up; Reed backs off, so no foul called, and Wilt unleashes that ridiculous finger roll with his body going straight up... and front-rimming the hell out of the ball. Anyone who wants to mope that he wasn't facing multiple coverage, this is Wilt in his mid-30s getting doubled by New York's front court , and with some good physicality, too.
Next play would be recorded as an assist for Wilt today, a sort of sketchy hand-off play. Dunno if they did so then. But he made the pass to Erickson for a J with minimal delay and such. Good use of him as post playmaker out of an otherwise busted play where the first entry pass was knocked free before Wilt retrieved it.
Erickson pokes the ball away on a fast break and West retrieves it. Pops the J from 15 at the right elbow, misses. Wilt gets a loose ball foul going for the board. Baylor continues to be almost completely invisible. Knicks haven't missed from the line yet.
FINALLY, Wilt gets his finger roll to go, after getting MUCH deeper position on Reed than he'd been getting, and with some decent footwork, too. 3/6 for 6 points, 7 boards (3 offensive), 1 foul, 1 turnover. 1 assist to my eyes. Several hockey assists, though, and I may have missed one or two other assists. He was operating a lot as the playmaker from the post, passing much more than he was shooting.
West turns it over. Next possession, West gets it left side and bugger everyone, he spins baseline and switches to a left-handed dribble, but has drawn the foul, so he doesn't get the shot attempt. Goes 1/2 at the line. Frazier has 15 by now, really working over Dick Garrett.
Wilt on the left block (we really didn't see this much, even though most righties use it as their staple) misses a hook shot. Quick move, decent shot, couldn't make it. Worth mentioning that even really good post players typically hit in the mid-40s for FG% in the 3-10 range. Not a huge surprise that Wilt isn't connecting super-well when he isn't getting a ton of shots closer to the rim. All three of his makes were basically right at the rim. And that's the quarter, 38-24 NYK.
Second Quarter
Frazier was 5/5 from the line, 5/5 from the floor and had 4 assists in the first quarter. Whoo!!! 4 boards, too. He was all over everywhere, causing all kinds of problems for the Lakers, and using his own offense to mess with Garrett (though also playing good defense). This is relevant because in G6, Garrett rocked out for 18 points in the 22-point Laker win. Wilt, of course, had 45 and West 33. Wilt was 5/14 from the line in that game (wow). No Reed and the Knicks were still clinging to their "don't have Frazier shoot much" strategy. That obviously changed, heh.
Hairston starts the second instead of Baylor, who was really, really quiet in the first quarter.
West draws a foul driving right side on the first possession. Notice the FT rules, very different than in our era. There are 1-shot FT possessions. We've already seen West and Wilt both have one.
And would you look at that: West putting on a spin and switching to his left hand dribble (again) in order to combat an aggressive press defense.
People really need to stop saying he didn't have a left hand simply because he didn't rock the ball back and forth endlessly. He knew how to use his body to protect the ball when the defender was crowding him, but preferred to keep his dribble on the right side because it was his stronger side.
Guard post left side, pass out to Hairston, comes back out to the wing, receives the pass, little shoulder juke. Passes to Wilt, who turns it over.
New York shooting 72% from the field at this point, 42-27 NYK.
LA finally getting some ball movement back, working the ball from one side to the other to get Wilt a touch in the post. Perimeter guys pick up their dribble WAY too much so far. Wilt with his terrible, wide-legged dribble of awfulness (though it was great for blocking the defender BEHIND him from getting at the ball). Slowly wheeling around, you know what's coming, just like Kareem's skyhook, back-rims a finger roll. Blocks Reed's J on the other end, but the Knicks score anyway because they get the ORB with Wilt so far from the rim.
West, right wing guard post, left hand dribble, passes to Garrett for a wide-open J. Brick.
Nice feed from Wilt inside to Erickson for the layup with everyone crowding away from the rim. Second assist (at least) on the night for Wilt. Wilt jogs back on defense the next possession after missing an ORB, and the Knicks score. Wilt DRB leads to a West pull-up J in the secondary, giving him 11 points. 4/9 from the field, 3/4 from the line. Frazier gets an off-ball steal and a bucket in transition and hit the FT.
West gets a back-court violation for another TOV. West's 3rd turnover, L.A.'s 9th, that one caused by Riordan. New York KEEPS dropping buckets from 15 to 20 feet like nothing, like layups.
53-31, Frazier goes out, Barnett comes in.
ERickson gets it into Wilt in deep and his finger roll, big, sweeping, HUGE arm motion, goes in. Wilt gets stuck on Barnett on a switch on the other end and Barnett scores. Wilt turns it over on the other end trying to pass out to the pocket, but he was way too far out and the wing's defender just grabbed the pass. Third turnover for Wilt, second that quarter.
Dick Barnett has ugly form on his J and FTs. 57-35 NYK after West makes a pair of FTs after drawing a foul on the right side on a tough, contested J attempt. STILL don't see Baylor, and the Knicks are blowing out the Lakers badly.
New York's still shooting 60% (24/40) from the field at this point to L.A.'s 15/38 (39.5%). Yikes.
Baylor, in case anyone has forgotten, only played 54 games that season, and would only play 11 more games over the rest of his career, not appearing in another playoff game either as his knee issues worsened to the point of being intolerable. We're seeing a lot of John Tresvant, Happy Hairston, Keith Erickson and very little Elgin Baylor, who'd have a big second half (he had 4 points at this stage and finished with 19).
L.A. looked positively impotent this quarter (they only scored 18 points). it was really painful to watch this quarter for L.A., honestly. Frazier? 6/8 FG, 7/7 FT at this stage.
Wilt makes a ponderous move into the lane, then turns for the fade and draws the foul on Reed (his 3rd). Reed takes his first rest at this point. Wilt bricks 3 FTs (and so, SOOOOOO badly), as there was a lane violation. Baylor's back in now. Bowman hacks Wilt and sends him back to the line. The feed flashes a graphic noting that Wilt is second all-time in playoff rebounds, and first in playoff FG%. Bricks the shot, makes the second. So he missed his first 7 FTAs. Baylor, after that loooong rest, misses his first shot, a 17-footer from just above the foul line. West misses another J. New York definitely has livelier legs than the Lakers in this one, jumpers aside. Cazzie Russell and Walt Frazier embody this during the second quarter (Walt, all game, really). 68-35 NYK, 1:10 to go in the half. Knicks shooting 56%, Lakers, 36%. BOTH teams getting worse compared to the earlier update. New York was obviously coming down from the super high, but still getting lots of shots, and more offensive boards than you'd expect with Wilt in there, but L.A. continuing to cough it up and brick their shots. Frazier again sneaks in on the ball-handler as a help defender and grabs a steal, leaking out in transition for a layup.
Stallworth gives a good, Riley-esque foul on Erickson as he tried for a layup. Wilt gets doubled with 20 seconds to go in the half and throws it out but buggers the pass under pressure. Not a turnover, though, as Baylor recovered it, gave it to Erickson... who lost it, but Russell turned it over. 69-40. Erickson heaves it up off of the out of bounds play, Wilt grabs the offensive board and dunks it, giving himself a first-half double-double.
Watching this game, I'm beginning to at least partially revise my opinion of Reed's utility in this series. I still believe Frazier should have clearly won the Finals MVP, but Reed was doing a pretty impressive job denying Wilt the deepest post position, and affecting his ability to impact the game as a shot blocker on the other end. I haven't seen Wilt block a shot yet, though there was that one possession where I think he might have stripped a guy going up for his shot. For someone who was supposed to be a mythical shot blocker, that's pretty remarkable.
3rd Quarter
West opens up the 3rd by hitting an 18-foot jumper.
There was a nice transition opportunity where Baylor made a sweet right-to-left shovel pass to Erickson, who was fouled in the act and went to the line for two. Wilt got a full hand on a rebound but swatted it out; it went to the knicks who swung it around and found an open man for a jumper.
West moves onto Frazier in the third quarter.
It's really interesting to see how the Lakers just don't really care who advances the ball. Baylor, Erickson, West, Garrett, all of them do this interchangeably. There's none of this positional fixation we see now. The Knicks seem more focused on putting the ball in either Barnett's or Frazier's hands behind the time line, then generally give it to Frazier after... but only if it's a walk-up. DeBusschere and Bradley have both grabbed it and run with it out in transition. Lakers start to run a little more and West gets a nice drive for a lay up and Wilt gets a dunk. Their defensive pressure picks up. Frazier really liked using a Reed pick at the top of the circle area, going with it or against it. It's been brutally effective.
West was really effective at pivoting and faking from the post. People knew he could shoot and he baited them HARD into jumping for the ball, then leaned in and drew the foul. Did it again right there and hit the banker for his 18th and 19th points, then goes to the line for 1 for the even 20. Few possessions later, he picks up his fourth foul on a charging call (and a good one, too, out at what would be near the 3pt line today). Frazier steals it from Garrett again and goes coast to coast for the lay-in.
Now we're starting to see some of that defensive pressure people keep talking about with him, that disruptive pressure, not just with ball denial. Was an on-ball steal, too. Following possession, Wilt coughs it up in the post. The more I watch him, the less I am inclined to believe that he was a mythically low-turnover guy when he was a high volume passer in the late 60s. Obviously, this is just one game, but it doesn't look like he's being overly afflicted by chance, just poor handles and dicking around with it in one hand a bit too much, etc.
Frazier was just RIDICULOUS in this game on offense. Dropping Js all over the place, I think he made his first 10 FTAs, just nutty. Crossing and spinning and using screens, I mean he was playing good ball, not just popping the J (he pulled a few quick ones, but mostly just savvy stuff). Brilliant performance.
And yep, the more I watch the second half of this game and how active Wilt is WITHOUT Reed in the game, the more I'm inclined to revise my vitriol from earlier. Reed really was making life quite difficult for Wilt. Strong dude, that one, and his J really bent Wilt's defensive efficacy. Wilt, however, has also been compromised by teammates: he's been generally passing out of the low post pretty well, but everyone seems to miss when he kicks it to them for an open J. There have been 3 or 4 opportunities just this quarter which could have been Laker buckets and Wilt assists if it weren't for their poor shooting. That's something that'll go without mention in the final box score.
DeBusschere has long arms and goes coast to coast a lot this game; he's putting huge pressure on L.A.'s transition defense and punishing them. It really is interesting for me to see so many non-guards handling the ball so freely. They aren't dancing with it or being foolish, just grabbing it and running out on the break. It's very different from now, I find.
West deflects a pass, gets it back and ends up driving into traffic and turning it over. 4th of the game for him.
Red's offense had a lot of passing, a lot of good screen action. Not a ton of isolation at all. I mean, Frazier was doing it, but even when he was, you could see him using mid screens and passing quite a bit. It's quite nice to watch, far more interesting than a lot of contemporary ball, I find.
FINALLY, someone hits off of a Wilt pass, Garrett sticking a J. It's only Wilt's 2nd, or maybe 3rd, assist, despite all of that effort.
Barnett hits a buzzer-beater to make it 94-69 for the Knicks.
4th Quarter
When my youtube link comes back, it's 104-81 somehow, so we've skipped basically 10 or 12 points from each team, which is frustrating.
I dunno if this is the play that we were discussing, but Baylor grabbed an inbounds pass and, without coming down, lobbed it to Wilt, who then gathered, faked and put it in (foul drawn, FT bricked).
The Knicks have varied their defense, pressing or sagging, really keeping the Lakers out of sorts.
Most of that unseen run, by the way, was Baylor. After a foul and one made FT, he had 11 points in the quarter, then made a pretty floating push shot thingy in the lane shortly thereafter for 13 points in the 4th with 4:45 to go in the game. He palmed the ball, went right, hung and just said "screw you" to his defender. Really nice move.
Anyway, the Lakers cut it down as close as 14 (the final margin), but their terrible second quarter and general shooting inefficiency really killed them in this one. Wilt's 1/11 FT performance certainly contributed. The Lakers had at least 24 turnovers. While I watched in the second, third and fourth, West was 5/8 from the field and had a ton of FTAs (10/12), but he shot 3/8 in the first quarter and had 4 fouls and turnovers each over the game. Baylor was essentially invisible outside of the fourth quarter, when he heated up something fierce for the few minutes of the game I don't actually have.
The first half killed LA; they were actually +13 in the second half when they got their brains together, but after getting dusted by 14 points in the first and 13 in the second, they basically didn't have a chance from half time forward without some properly mythical play, and they didn't get especially strong play until the fourth, when they went 30-19 against the Knicks (very much like the 31-18 of the second quarter the Knicks enjoyed).
That first quarter was just UUUUUGGGG-LEEEEEE for L.A., and ultimately lost them the title as much as anything else.
By my count, in the time I watched, Wilt had 20 boards (6 offensive). Don't know what happened in the missing section, of course. I see 8 made field goals, but the official box score has him with 21 points (so the missing FT I didn't see and 4 more FGM). While I watched, he was 8/13 from the field. He wasn't really isolating, though, all of the buckets I saw from him after the fact were clean-up baskets. He pretty much stopped taking his finger roll in the second half... which might be related to his increased efficiency and some of L.A. not wasting so many possessions. Letting him be the clean-up man and a passing hub really was an effective solution for the Lakers.
Frazier was dynamite; I think I've covered a lot of that already.
Baylor, I can at least understand; like I said, this was his last playoff game and he'd only play 9 more regular season games during the remainder of his career. His knee didn't look great and he rested a long time, was otherwise uninvolved a lot of the time he WAS on until that blackout stretch in the 4th where he scored 10 points.