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Archive for December, 2010
Lakers Avoid Disaster in New Jersey
12.12.10
Kobe Bryant dishes off for two against Nets.
As the old sports adage goes, “a win is a win,” and that saying would certainly apply to the Lakers’ shaky 99-92 victory over the New Jersey Nets at the Prudential Center on Sunday afternoon.
In a game that was a lot closer than it should have been, the Lakers got a strong performance from Kobe Bryant, who scored a game-high 32 points, to go along with six assists, four rebounds, and four steals. He also scored 14 points in the decisive fourth quarter when the game was still very much in doubt.
The Lakers led for most of the game, but never could put the Nets away. It was a 52-42 halftime lead for the Lakers, who then briefly opened up a 12-point lead early in the third quarter. But the Nets continued to fight back, and by the middle of the fourth, had taken the lead 78-77 after a pair of free throws by Brook Lopez.
With the game tied at 87-87 late in the quarter, the Lakers went on an 8-0 run, topped off by a Pau Gasol three-point play. That run was enough to finally put the pesky Nets away, and the Lakers got the seven-point victory. They are now 2-1 on their current seven-game road trip.
Lamar Odom continues to play well in a starting role, scoring 22 points, and grabbing seven boards. He also scored five key points down the stretch of the game. Pau Gasol struggled with his shot again, but scored 15 points, to go along with 11 rebounds, and five blocked shots. Gasol is averaging nearly 3.5 blocks in his last five games.
Shooting continues to be an issue for the Lakers during this last 10-game period that has seen them go just 5-5. On Sunday, they shot only 41.5% from the field, missing a lot of wide open shots during the game. They did manage to make 7-16 (43.7%) from the three-point line, and 24-29 (82.8%) from the foul line, where they have shined all year.
The Nets, who have now lost seven in a row, shot only 40.4% from the field, and a worse 4-20 (20.0%) from beyond the arc. They did manage 15 offensive rebounds which helped them stay close in a game few thought they had a chance in. For the game, the Nets held a small rebounding advantage at 45-42.
Brook Lopez, who has had his struggles at times this year, led the Nets with 25 points and nine rebounds. Devin Harris had 16 points and 10 assists, and Anthony Morrow had 15 points, but hit just 3-9 from the three-point line.
The Lakers will spend Monday in the nation’s capital meeting with President Barrack Obama, who will congratulate them on their second-straight NBA Championship.
Their next game is Tuesday night against the Washington Wizards at the Verizon Center. The Wizards, another team struggling at 6-16, have lost eight straight to the Lakers including last week’s 115-108 loss at Staples Center. The status on Andrew Bynum playing his first game of the year Tuesday is still up in the air.
Link: Lakers @ Nets Box Score
Lakers Get the Horns in the Chicago
12.10.10
Kobe Bryant slams home two against Bulls.
If the Lakers played the rest of the game Friday like they did at the beginning and the end, they wouldn’t have suffered their fifth loss in their last eight games. But, in yet another lackluster effort, the Lakers fell short to the Bulls at the United Center, 88-84.
The game started well for the world champs, as they jumped out to 13-point lead in the first quarter, and still led 29-20 midway through the second. But that’s when the wheels came off, as Derrick Rose got hot, and the Bulls went on a 16-3 run to end the half, and take a 36-32 lead into the break.
In the second half, things didn’t get much better. The Lakers took a couple brief leads early in the third quarter, but couldn’t stop Rose from breaking down the defense inside, and stepping out for three-pointers. Eventually they found themselves down 82-69 with just over three minutes left in the game.
That’s when the Lakers put on a furious rally, and got as close as 83-80 with 48 seconds left after a Derek Fisher three-pointer from the corner. After Rose split a pair of foul shots to put the Bulls up 86-82, Kobe Bryant was fouled, but he was only able to make 1-2 from the line. After a Lakers’ foul on the rebound, Ronnie Brewer hit two from the line, and the Bulls had the win.
Bryant led the Lakers with 23 points, but only shot 9-23 from the field, and continues to struggle from the foul line, going 4-6 on Friday. Bryant did however pass John Havlicek, and move into 11th place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list with 26,398 points.
Pau Gasol did have a solid game with 21 points, eight rebounds, and four blocked shots. Lamar Odom added 18 points and eight rebounds.
Early on, the Lakers dominated the game inside, with Gasol the recipient of several easy scores inside. As the night wore on however, the Lakers got away from going inside, starting taking a lot of three-pointers and watched their early double-digit lead slip away quickly. They hit just 3-13 from beyond the arc for the game.
Derrick Rose led all scorers with 29 points, to go along with nine assists, five rebounds, and several key baskets down the stretch, as the Bulls beat the Lakers for the first time since 2006. In fact only one member of the current Bulls was on the team when they last beat the Lakers, and that was Luol Deng.
Deng scored 14 points, and Carlos Boozer added 10 points and 11 rebounds. Boozer didn’t play the first time the two teams met this year in Los Angeles, a 98-91 Lakers’ win.
The Bulls didn’t shoot the ball particularly well, hitting only 41.3% from the field, but made up for it by hitting 8-17 (47.1%) from the three-point line, which proved to be the difference in the game.
In a rather disheartening statistic, the Lakers have now only beaten two teams this season with a winning record, but will play just one more .500 team (Indiana) during the rest of this five-game trip.
The Lakers’ next game is Sunday in New Jersey against the slumping Nets. Also, the Lakers are hoping to have center Andrew Bynum back for Tuesday’s game in Washington.
Link: Lakers @ Bulls Box Score
Fisher’s Buzzer-Beater Gets Lakers By Clippers
12.09.10
Derek Fisher hits the game-winner against Clippers.
Normally when Derek Fisher hits a game-winning shot, it’s a jump shot. On Wednesday night he tried something a little different, as he banked in a layup at the buzzer, to lead the Lakers to a wild 87-86 win over the Clippers at Staples Center.
The game seemed to played in mud all night, as neither team had much of an offensive flow. After an early lead, the Lakers found themselves down the rest of the night, never really did find their rhythm, but were able to make enough plays down the stretch to pull out what was seemed to be a loss to their hallway rivals.
Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 24 points, and while he only scored four points in the fourth quarter, his two baskets in the final two minutes of the game, set up the dramatic finish.
With the Clippers leading 84-83 after a Bryant basket, Ron Artest knocked away a pass for a steal, and Bryant then drilled an 18-foot jumper to put the Lakers up 85-84 with 22.8 seconds left.
After a timeout, the Clippers’ Eric Gordon, who scored 24 points himself, spun down the lane and found DeAndre Jordan for dunk, and an 86-85 lead with 15.5 seconds left. Not calling a timeout, the Lakers brought the ball down and Bryant was fouled by Gordon before he could get up a shot with 3.1 seconds left. The Clippers had a foul to give, although Gordon didn’t appear to commit the foul intentionally.
After a Laker timeout, Fisher took the inbound pass above the top of the three-point line, and drove the left side of the lane to the basket against Eric Bledsoe, and floated in the running layup at the buzzer over the outstretched fingers of DeAndre Jordan, who nearly blocked the shot, for the exciting 87-86 win.
Fisher only hit three baskets in the game, but the last one mattered the most.
Shannon Brown had a big night off the bench for the Lakers, scoring 16 points, and single-handedly keeping the Lakers in the game in the third quarter after they had fallen down by 12 points, including a 50-foot heave at the buzzer to bring the Lakers to 71-65 after three.
Lamar Odom, plagued by foul trouble, scored just 8 points and eventually fouled out of the game. Pau Gasol also continues to struggle, scoring just 10 points on 4-13 from the field, although he did grab 11 rebounds.
Clippers’ rookie star Blake Griffin, who also was in foul trouble early and struggled to find his game in the first half, wound up with 16 points and 11 rebounds in the loss. Eric Bledsoe added 11 points and seven assists, and DeAndre Jordan scored nine points, and grabbed 11 rebounds.
The Lakers were once again were outrebounded, 52-39, and shot a miserable 42.5% from the field. The Clippers were their own worst enemy down the stretch, turning the ball over on two straight possessions to allow the Lakers the chance to get close in the final two minutes. Ron Artest had four steals for Lakers.
While most thought the game wouldn’t be close, the Clippers were not intimidated by the world champs, and weathered an early 20-12 Lakers lead to take a 43-41 lead into the break. They led by 68-56 late in third before the Lakers mounted a charge to get back into the game. The lead changed hands three times in the final 22 seconds of the game.
The Lakers next game is on Friday in Chicago against the Bulls, who now have Carlos Boozer back in the lineup. Boozer didn’t play in the first meeting between the two teams, an 98-91 win by the Lakers back on November 23. The Lakers are hoping to have Andrew Bynum back on Tuesday when they play the Washington Wizards in the nation’s capital.
Lakers Do Enough To Get By Wizards
12.08.10
Pau Gasol lays in two against Wizards.
In game that was far closer than it should have been, the Lakers got 32 points from Kobe Bryant and beat the slumping Washington Wizards 115-108 at Staples Center on Tuesday night.
The game wasn’t exactly a walk in the park for the Lakers, although it looked like it would be for a while. They led 69-56 at halftime, and by the middle of the third quarter, had a 19-point lead.
But the Wizards chipped away late in the period, and cut the Lakers’ lead to 87-84 after three. They got no closer in the fourth, however, as the Lakers managed to make enough plays down the stretch for the 7-point victory.
Pau Gasol nearly had his second triple-double of the season. He wound up finishing with 21 points, 14 rebounds, eight assists, and five blocked shots, in almost 43 minutes. It appears that whatever was wrong with Gasol’s hamstring seems to have improved over the last several days, as he showed no signs of injury on the court.
Lamar Odom also had a nice night with 24 points and seven rebounds. Shannon Brown added 12 off of the bench.
Former USC-star Nick Young scored 30 points off the bench in his return home to lead the Wizards. Gilbert Arenas played his first game against the Lakers in over three years, scoring 23 points. The last time he played at Staples, he scored 60 points in a 147-141 overtime win. That was also the last time the Wizards beat the Lakers, they have lost eight straight since.
Rookie John Wall was very impressive, scoring 22 points and dishing out 14 assists, as he showed his incredible speed and quickness in the open court scoring several dazzling layups.
The game certainly wasn’t a thing of beauty for the Lakers, as their field goal percentage plummeted in the second half, and they finished shooting just 44.9% from the floor for the game. They also struggled again from the three-point line, hitting just 7-25 (28.0%). They did outrebound the Wizards 45-34 including 22-9 on the offensive end. The Wizards also did turn the ball over 17 times, compared to only 13 for the Lakers.
While it may not have been the ideal way to go out before the upcoming seven-game road trip, a victory is still a victory. And with everyone in the West playing so well right now, the Lakers can ill afford to falter against any more sub-.500 teams.
The Lakers’ next game is tomorrow night against the Clippers. And while the Lakers are technically considered the “road” team for the game, they really won’t hit the road until they play in Chicago on Friday. It will be the Lakers’ first look at Clipper rookie-sensation Blake Griffin.
The Lakers also hope to have Andrew Bynum back at some point on the road trip, as he completed his first full practice on Monday with the team, and experienced no pain or swelling in his knee. A good sign for a return soon.
Lakers End Slump, Bury Kings By 33
12.03.10
Kobe Bryant scores two over Luther Head.
The Lakers’ longest losing streak in 2 1/2 years is over. Back at home on Friday, the Lakers made short work of the Sacramento Kings in their easiest win of the season, 113-80, ending a four-game skid.
The champs came out focused from the start, and played strong defense from the opening tip to the final horn. They shot 56.6% from the field, and held the Kings to just 40.3%, including 5-16 (31.3%) from the three-point line. All stats were a vast improvement over what had been happening at both ends of the court during the losing streak.
Kobe Bryant was the game’s leading scorer with 22 points, and got to be a spectator the entire fourth quarter during the Lakers’ largest blow out of the season. He played a little over 26 minutes for the night.
Pau Gasol, playing despite a sore left hamstring, scored 16 points, with five rebounds, five assists, and three blocks in under 27 minutes. It was also a welcomed, short evening for Gasol, who has logged heavy minutes in recent games as the Lakers continue to try to get by without Andrew Bynum and Theo Ratliff.
Lamar Odom added 16 points and seven rebounds, and the Lakers’ bench, led by Shannon Brown’s 14 points, outscored the Sacramento bench 52-37.
The Kings kept the game close for most of the first quarter and trailed only 21-16 after the first 12 minutes. But the Lakers took over from there, leading 52-35 at the break, and by as much as 35 in the fourth quarter en route to the 33-point win. The 80 points were also a season-low for a Laker opponent.
Jason Thompson led the Kings with 19 points and 10 rebounds, although most of his damage was done when the game was well out of hand in the second half. Tyreke Evans had 15 points, but continues to struggle with his shot, hitting just 5-15 from the field.
A game against the struggling Kings was just what the doctor ordered for the Lakers, as they will head out on a six game road trip beginning next week, and are in desperate need of a positive swing of momentum before the two-week marathon.
The Lakers next game is Tuesday night at Staples Center against another stuggling team, the Washington Wizards, who do boast one of the league’s most-exciting rookies, and the number one pick in the draft, John Wall.
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