Both players struggled at times in the regular season and, to this point in the playoffs, are drawing the ire of fans who harken back to the glory days of Derek Fisher running the point for the Kobes in recent years.
These fans would probably do a lot less harkening if they actually watched the ghost of Derek Fisher play right now, but I digress.
Displeasure with the Lakers' point guard play reached the point of ridiculousness after Los Angeles' loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 2, when a missed three-pointer by Blake at the end of the game led to death threats against the player and his family on social media sites after the game.
The sheer lunacy of threatening a man's family over a basketball game aside, both Blake and Sessions went into Friday night's Game 3 in dire need of a strong performance, especially with the team trailing the Thunder two games to none.
Both players responded to the challenge, and not surprisingly, the Lakers went on to win the game 99-96, handing Oklahoma City their first loss of the postseason and getting right back into the series.
Sessions started the game and was aggressive from the tip, scoring six of his 12 points early while chipping in four assists in 28 minutes. The fourth-year pro attributed being able to penetrate rather than settling for jump shots as a key to his early success in the game, according to Kevin Arnowitz of ESPN.com.
"I just tried to push the ball a little bit more," Sessions said. "In this offense, it's not traditional where you have the ball in your hands a ton off pick-and-rolls. I just tried to find angles and ways I can be aggressive and get baskets."
Blake shook off the effects of the Game 2 miss and made a solid contribution for the Lakers, adding 12 points of his own. The eighth-year vete...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
