Kamenetzky Brothers's post on LA Lakers | Latest updates on Sulia

If you're wondering why Mike D'Antoni went with Antawn Jamison down the stretch Tuesday, he explained after

the game: "I thought (MWP) had a tough night, and Antawn was playing really well. They had guys out there that Antawn could guard. That's probably the thing. If it was a tough guy inside, let's say a (Carlos) Boozer, then Metta would have been in there. Or Pau. But you have to match up a little bit to them. They went small, and I thought Antawn did a great job, and he's warm and he's rolling and he was hitting shots. If he can guard and hit shots and Metta can guard and didn't hit shots, you go with the guy who can guard and hit shots. It's pretty simple." While neither guy was lighting it up from downtown (Jamison 1-5, MWP 1-6), there's no question Jamison was the more impactful offensive player. Impactful in a good way, at least. He had 16 points overall, including seven between marks 7:34 and 5:56 of the fourth quarter, and came up with a big bucket driving the baseline with 15 seconds remaining. But overall, once the Hornets went on their late run -- D'Antoni said after the Lakers took their foot off the gas too early, and I agree -- I'd have swapped Jamison for World Peace. Matched up against Ryan Anderson, Jamison didn't exactly hurt the Lakers, but even he will discuss his defense in terms of not being a liability. He certainly didn't help at a point where a stop or two could have choked off the threat faster. MWP is light years more disruptive. At that point in the game, they needed a stronger defender more than the warmer shooter. --BK