Walton genetics -- Keeping the Lakers alive

Oh what a story it would have been if Luke Walton had single handedly brought the Lakers back from the dead!

He woke his team up out of its apathetic play late in the first quarter of Game 2 of the '04 NBA Finals by injecting desperately needed energy into the game.

However, his teammates couldn't hold on to the momentum he had seized for them, and all was nearly lost for L.A., who looked a 2-0 series deficit with three straight road games coming up, dead in the eye.

Kobe Bryant continued to make the impossible a basketball reality.

Shaquille O'Neal converted on the unlikeliest of three-point plays, and Derek Fisher drilled a few necessary threes.

But, the Lakers wouldn't even have had the chance to make their miracle comeback if not for this 24-year-old rookie drafted in the second round.

Walton didn't just score points.

At the end of the first quarter, he found an open Kareem Rush for three after avoiding a Detroit trap double team along the baseline.

He went coast to coast for a layup. He penetrated and dished to Shaq inside for an easy jam.

Repeat: Walton penetrated and found Shaq for dunks again and again, something his veteran Lakers' teammates are mysteriously hesitant to do.

This bench player, a non-factor throughout the playoffs, was setting up his teammates for baskets in a championship game with flashy yet smart, dazzling passes, like he was Magic Johnson.

Walton kept the Lakers in the game in the late first quarter and early moments of the second.

He was a part of the Lakers run that turned a tight back-and-forth game into a 43-36 Laker lead after his rebound and baseball pass to the cherry picking Karl Malone, waiting alone at the opposite end of the floor for the layup (not an assist because the Mailman had his first attempt stuffed by Tayshaun Prince).

Luke did something that the Pistons are afraid of: he played full court basketball.

By pushing the ball and keeping the pace up tempo with his penetration dishes, he turned this game from the Pistons style to the Lakers style.

Once the style was changed, Kobe had free reign to go to the basket, get open passes for jumpers he could knock down, and Shaq could receive passes right under the basket for dunks that finally got the Lakers crowd involved in the game.

That energy from the fans fed the Laker players in return, who turned up their defensive intensity to a higher level.

It is difficult to look at Luke Walton without thinking of his father, after all, the elder Walton is both a basketball legend and goofy quotable personality.

Bill Walton's playing career wasn't all sunny days though.

He was probably the greatest college basketball player in history, and the most dominant center ever to play the game.

Think of the offense of Wilt Chamberlain combined with the defense of Bill Russell and you've got a healthy Bill Walton.

A healthy Bill Walton was not a common sight during his NBA career.

When he could play though, as in his magical MVP season with Portland, he played at a legendary level.

There was something about Bill that was special, and it carried over to his broadcasting career.

There are more forgettable announcers in the world than missed Allen Iverson jumpers, but everyone knows that Bill Walton voice: "This is terrrrrible," "Throw it down big man," "Of all the great players over the years...," and so on.

As a viewer you had no choice but to love or hate him because he talked incessantly with strong opinions and excessive comic rambling.

There is no middle ground with him.

The point is that Bill Walton has "it," and apparently he passed "it" down to his son.

So Luke, where did this burst come from?

If a person had strong math skills and they were to admit that their father was a mathematician, it would make sense.

If someone is tall and you met their parents and saw that they were both tall, it would be understood why.

So, maybe the fact that Luke Walton rose to the occasion in the NBA Finals with his team looking listless in one of the biggest games they can ever play, shouldn't be a surprise.

The Walton gene was all set to carry Los Angeles to this rousing victory as they would run away from a Detroit squad that supposedly can't score points.

Then they played the second half.

Luke sat on the bench for the entire third quarter while Malone hobbled around and the Lakers saw their lead cut down to 68-66 at the end of the quarter.

Phil Jackson was probably worried about Rasheed Wallace going hard at Walton and making him play defense on a superior athletic talent.

Detroit tied the game early in the fourth, grabbing every loose ball and coming up with offensive rebounds in bunches.

Tied at 68, young Walton re-entered the game.

With his team down 71-70, Walton denied his man from receiving the inbounds pass leading to a five second violation, forcing a turnover.

Derek Fisher hit a three at the other end of the court.

Walton would later find Kobe cutting under the basket for a tough layup off of his laser pass inside.

Of course the impact of Walton in the second half didn't come close to what he contributed in the first, and if it weren't for megastar, Hall-of-Fame, NBA-legend caliber plays from Kobe and Shaq, the series would be a done deal.

The game was not the perfect story of this son of a legend taking his team on his back while Gary Payton and Malone did almost nothing to chase their championship dream.

That being said, after Kobe forced overtime with a cold-blooded three and dominated that OT period with his killer aggressiveness, the game still needed an exclamation point to wrap it up.

Luke Walton - pump faked his defender into the air --and tossed a soft lob to an above the rim Shaq.

It was Magic to James Worthy, John Stockton to Malone, Gary Payton to Shawn Kemp, Kobe to Shaq.

The nail in the coffin.

"Throw it DOWN Big man!"

Even though Shaq was the one that dunked the basketball, Bill Walton's son was a big man in Game 2.