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Archive for December, 2010
Lakers End Losing Streak, Cruise Past Hornets
12.30.10
Lamar Odom lays up two against Hornets.
The Lakers avoided another four-game losing streak in fine fashion, as they led virtually all the way, in a surprisingly-easy 103-88 win against the Hornets in New Orleans on Wednesday.
After the loss on Tuesday against the Spurs, coach Phi Jackson decided to shake up the lineup, and put Andrew Bynum into the starting five for the first time this season, thus moving Lamar Odom back to his familiar sixth man role. And did that move pay off on this night for both players.
Odom scored a game-high 24 points on 10-15 from the floor, the most points scored by a Laker bench since 2005 when Tierre Brown had 27 against Atlanta. He also had a highlight play when he wrapped the ball behind his back on a drive to the rim, and after missing the layup, casually slammed home his own rebound. It was that kind of night for the Lakers.
Andrew Bynum scored 18 points and grabbed six rebounds in his first start of the season, and is looking more comfortable now as he works his way back from knee surgery. Kobe Bryant scored 20 points, hitting 8-14 shots from the field, and needed to play less than 28 minutes in the win. Pau Gasol had 11 points (on only five shots) and 12 rebounds.
The Lakers led 26-23 after one quarter, but outscored the Hornets 33-18 in the second, for a 59-41 halftime advantage. The Hornets never got closer than 13 points in the second half, as the Lakers cruised to their seventh win in their last 11 meetings in New Orleans.
For the game, the Lakers shot 58.6% from the field, and at one point late in the second quarter were still shooting over 70%. They also held the Hornets to just 41.8% from the floor, and 4-16 (25.0%) from the three-point line. The Lakers also dominated on the boards, holding a 44-24 rebounding advantage. In fact the Hornets only had 18 defensive rebounds, that’s how well it on both sides of the ball for the Lakers.
Chris Paul led the Hornets with 20 points and seven assists, but wasn’t really able to be much of a factor as he usually is against the Lakers. Marco Belinelli had 15 points, most of them in the second half when the game was out of reach. He only shot 4-16 from the floor for the game.
The Hornets did have a scary moment when leading-scorer David West went down with an ankle injury after landing on Ron Artest’s foot in the second quarter. He left the game, but did return for the second half. He scored just eight points in 28 minutes.
With their losing streak behind them, the Lakers play their next three games at home. The first will be New Year’s Eve against the Philadelphia 76ers. This will be the second meeting of the year between the two teams. The Lakers won the first meeting 93-81 in Philadelphia back on December 17th behind Lamar Odom’s 28 points.
Lakers Struggle Again in San Antonio
12.30.10
Andrew Bynum slams home two against Spurs.
In another lackadaisical second-half effort, the Lakers were blitzed by the San Antonio Spurs and dropped their third straight by 15+ points, 97-82 at the AT&T Center on Tuesday.
It was a game that started off well for the Lakers. They kept it close early on, erasing a nine-point first quarter deficit, and taking a 44-42 lead into halftime. After briefly getting up by four in the third quarter, that’s when the wheels came off, and the Spurs took over.
Led by the hustle and inside play of undersized center DeJuan Blair, and Tony Parker’s relentless attacking of the basket, the Spurs turned the game in their favor and took over in the third quarter, outscoring the Lakers 29-18 in the period. The Lakers never could recover, and never got the game close again, as the Spurs cruised to the win.
Kobe Bryant had another off shooting night, scoring a team-high 21 points, but hitting only 8-27 from the floor. He also picked up another technical foul, his fourth in the three games, after getting into a spat with George Hill in the second quarter. These technicals surely are a sign of the Lakers’ frustration on the court, as they continue having trouble beating good teams.
It was another miserable night offensively for the Lakers, as only Andrew Bynum and Ron Artest scored in double-figures, and they both had 10. Pau Gasol took only eight shots, scoring nine points, to go along with nine rebounds. For the game, the Lakers shot a season-low 35.4% from the field. They did outrebound the Spurs 51-50.
During this three-game losing streak, the Lakers are also averaging just 80.3 points per game, and have shot under 41% in two of the three games. They also are turning the ball over far too much as well, over 15 per game during the streak.
The Spurs were led by Tony Parker’s 23 points on 10-18 from the field. DeJuan Blair had a dominant second half, and scored 17 points and grabbed 15 rebounds for the game. Richard Jefferson had 15 points and seven rebounds
The blowout win was even more impressive for the Spurs, when you consider that Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili scored only 11 points combined on 4-19 from the floor. In fact Duncan only grabbed four rebounds in 30 minutes of action, yet the Spurs won convincingly.
The Lakers will try to avoid their second four-game losing of the season when they play tomorrow night in New Orleans against the Hornets. The Hornets, after starting the year 11-1, have gone only 7-12 since, as they have encountered their own problems the last month.
Link: Lakers @ Spurs Box Score
Lakers Lay Giant Egg Against Heat
12.27.10
Lamar Odom slams home two against Heat.
In one of the most-forgettable Christmas Day games the Lakers have played, the Miami Heat flexed their muscle, and embarrassed the champs 96-80 at Staples Center, in front a huge national television audience.
After the game got off to a good start for the Lakers with an 8-4 lead, it fell apart just that quick. LeBron James punished the the Laker defense all game long, got Ron Artest to commit two silly fouls early, and had his way with every other defender thrown at him. James finished the game with a triple-double, scoring a game-high 27 points, with 11 rebounds, and 10 assists, hitting 5-6 from the three-point line.
Chris Bosh, who has had his troubles against the Lakers in the past as a member of the Toronto Raptors, found little resistance up front from Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, or Andrew Bynum on his way to 24 points and a game-high 13 rebounds, including hitting 11-17 from the floor.
There’s really nothing positive the Lakers can take from a second-straight beat-down at home. With both the Lakers and the Heat looking for a signature win to start the season, it was the the visitors from Miami who would get the job done on this day. They dominated every statistical category, including outrebounding a much bigger Laker front line 44-43. The Lakers shot a paltry 40.5% from the floor, and just 6-19 (31.6%) from the three-point line.
Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 17 points, six rebounds, and seven assists, but he was frustrated all game long by his teammates’ struggles as well as the officiating. After getting kicked out of Tuesday’s game against Milwaukee with two technical fouls, he picked up another one on Saturday arguing with referees over non-calls.
Pau Gasol also had 17 points to go along with eight rebounds, but was a non-factor most of the game. Lamar Odom had 14 points and nine rebounds, and Shannon Brown scored 10 off the bench. No other Laker scored more than eight points.
The Heat held the Lakers to a season-low 14 points in the first quarter, and led 45-36 at the half. After the Lakers got as close as 51-45, the Heat never let them get that close again. Every time the Lakers made any run at the game, James continued to bury the them with long range daggers. And if it wasn’t James hitting shots from deep, it was Mario Chalmers, who hit 3-9 from beyond the arc , en route to 13 points off the bench.
About the only bright spot for the Lakers was that Dwyane Wade had a sub-par game, scoring just 18 points on 6-17 from the floor. But he was hardly needed on this day, and he did an admirable job defensively against Bryant.
For the first time in Los Angeles Lakers’ history, the team suffered back-to-back home losses of 16 points or more, and only averaged a miserable 79.5 points in the process.
It doesn’t get any easier for the Lakers this week. Their next game is Tuesday in San Antonio against the Spurs, who have the best record in basketball at 26-4. They then play a back-to-back game in New Orleans on Wednesday against the Hornets. And they have had a notoriously hard time winning in New Orleans over the years, no matter how good the Hornets are.
Christmas Showdown: Lakers Playing to Make Statement; Heat Gunning for Respect
12.23.10
By Scotty Wampler
LakerStats.com
Kobe Bryant brushed off the magnitude of Saturday’s home contest versus the Miami Heat this week, telling ESPN’s Michael Wilbon the outcome of the game won’t impact the big picture for either team’s season.
“It doesn’t matter,” he said. “It’s all about how you improve as the season goes on.”
Not so fast, Mamba.
It’s no surprise to see Kobe playing his usual aloof self when it comes to promoting quite possibly the most hyped regular season NBA game since…. well, three weeks ago in Cleveland. But the fact of the matter is, the marquee Christmas matchup on this year’s NBA calendar holds greater significance — for both teams — than a lot of folks expected. Maybe, more than some are willing to admit.
Yes, the expected storylines one could have written about in July remain relevant. The Heat, still lacking a true statement win in this 2010-11 season, figure to be more focused than ever Saturday afternoon. After all, how better to punctuate winning twelve or thirteen of their last fourteen games than to whip the champs at Staples? The Lakers, on the other hand, after LeBron and his talent-taking excursion last summer, want nothing more than to prove why their championship story was the headline worth talking about.
But the deeper story here are the parallels between the Heat and Lakers on Christmas Day 2010. Twenty-nine games into the regular season, the Lakers arguably have yet to beat an elite opponent, save for a seven-point victory over the Bulls last month. That same Chicago team, with the addition of a healthy Carlos Boozer, topped Los Angeles in Chicago on December 10.
The Lakers also lost to the Nuggets in November, as well as the Jazz, a team with only one more loss on the season than the reigning champs.
Granted, L.A. just completed a 6-1 road trip, but victories against the Sixers, Nets, Clippers and Wizards are nothing to write home about.
Miami’s troubles began with an opening night loss at Boston. The Heat followed that up with losses at New Orleans, Orlando and Dallas, also falling to Utah at home on November 9. Both the Celtics and Mavericks added two more defeats for Miami, going a combined 4-0 against the Heat so far.
It’s a collision of mediocre seasons, at least by the hefty expectations of the stars on each team, and, probably to a larger degree, the fans, that defines the first post-Cavaliers battle between Kobe and LeBron. And you have to wonder, following a summer and fall of monumental personal criticism, following a disappointing first several weeks in South Beach, what better way to establish the Heat’s super-trio as a viable threat to the Lakers than to kick Kobe and Co. in the teeth, at home, in front of what will surely be a larger-than-average TV audience?
We all saw how the self-appointed king responded to the pressure of his return to Cleveland only three weeks ago, dismantling the Cavaliers with his thirty-eight points, eight assists and five boards in a measly 30 minutes on the floor. With what we only can assume will be greater motivation, and certainly a lot less pressure (read: no fear of size D Duracells), what can we expect from LeBron on Saturday?
One thing’s for sure: he won’t have Anderson Varejao blocking his path to the basket.
Five games back from being sidelined due to a surgically repaired knee, Andrew Bynum is averaging only seven points in about sixteen and a half minutes, but offensive production isn’t why the big guy separates the Lakers from the rest of the NBA. He gives the Lakers even more size and length, flanking Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom and, more importantly, giving Gasol valuable minutes on the bench to rest.
Though Boston is clearly the class of the Eastern Conference again this season, LeBron and Wade both know the team that matches up best against the Heat, should Miami survive the East, is a healthy Lakers squad and their unequaled size. Slaying the Lakers on Christmas Day, and the Heat’s critics in the process, would essentially solidify Miami as a title threat. That, in effect, is what LeBron and his cohorts are playing for Saturday night. Respect.
For the Lakers, it’s an opportunity to right the ship, and to remind the South Beach crew that, though their time as the class of the NBA is coming, it’s not today, and it’s not this year.
Kobe, of course, actually knows exactly what he’s talking about. What the Lakers look like on Christmas is much less important than what they look like on Easter.
As for his comments, though, he’s not fooling us. Rest assured, the five-time champ decided Saturday mattered on July 8.
Lakers Take Care of Business in Toronto
12.19.10
Kobe Bryant reverses home two against Raptors.
The Lakers should feel pretty good about themselves on their long flight home, as they finished up a seven-game road trip with a 6-1 record, after a 120-110 win over the Toronto Raptors at the Air Canada Centre on Sunday afternoon.
Kobe Bryant, playing with a sprained pinkie on his shooting hand, scored 20 points in only 28 minutes, as the Lakers used the bench for big minutes on this day. Pau Gasol scored 19 to go along with 8 rebounds in just over 30 minutes of action.
In fact the Lakers’ bench outscored the Raptors’ bench 57-27, led by Andrew Bynum’s 16 points and seven rebounds, easily his best game since his return on Tuesday. Shannon scored 14 points, Matt Barnes had 12, and even seldom-used Luke Walton scored a season-high nine points. The Lakers bench also hit 6-12 from the three-point line.
It was a game the Lakers had control of by the middle of the second quarter, yet they never could quite put the Raptors away, despite having as much as a 16-point lead at 68-52, early in the third quarter. The injury-depleted Raptors continued to make a game of it, but never were able to get any closer than six points in the second half.
Linas Kleiza led all scorers with 26 points to go along with 10 rebounds for the Raptors. Former USC star DeMar DeRozan had a brilliant third quarter with 19 points, and scored 23 for the game, including 11-11 from the foul line. Jose Calderon chipped with in a double-double, scoring 20 points and dishing out 12 assists.
For the game, the Lakers shot 51.9% (41-79) from the floor and outrebounded Toronto 46-35. The Lakers also went to the foul line 39 times, making 31 of them for 79.5%. But it really was the bench that did most of the damage on this day, as their play continued to keep the Lakers safely ahead when the Raptors would make runs to get back in the game.
It is not uncommon for Phil Jackson to play his bench big minutes on the last game of a long a road trip, and with the Lakers’ depth this year, it makes it an even easier decision for the coaching staff.
The Lakers have now beaten their last four opponent by at least 10 points, and have won five in a row, their longest winning streak since starting the season 8-0. They’re now 11-5 on the road.
The champs return home for two games this week, Tuesday night against the Milwaukee Bucks, and of course the game of the year in the NBA, Christmas Day against the LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, and the Miami Heat. The Lakers also play seven of their next 10 at the friendly confines of Staples Center.
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