Lakers rebound from loss to beat Nets

The Los Angeles Lakers returned home on Sunday night and defeated the New Jersey Nets, 99-93. The win was a nice turnaround after the Lakers traveled to Utah and fell to the Jazz on Friday, 114-108. That loss broke a four-game winning streak for Los Angeles.

The win over New Jersey was a team effort. Lamar Odom scored 21 points and Kobe Bryant added 19 but the two stars combined to shoot just 35 percent of their shots (14 of 40). The rest of the Lakers made 23 of their 42 shots for a phenomenal 55 percent.

It was especially sweet for Los Angeles to win in spite of Bryant being smothered by the Nets’ Jason Kidd and Vince Carter. Bryant made just eight of his 24 shots from the field.

The Lakers have so far taken full advantage of a stretch of 12 out of 14 games at home. And one of the road games is “at” the Clippers - also in the Staples Center. The Lakers have won the first five of that stretch at the Staples Center with Milwaukee up next on Tuesday. Then, Los Angeles hosts Utah in a rematch of last week’s game.

Andrew Bynum continued his solid play. The second-year player had six rebounds, three blocks and two assists although he scored just three points in his 19 minutes. He’s averaging 8.9 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game - numbers the Lakers need with the loss of Chris Mihm to ankle surgery.
Andrew Bynum

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