Lakers handle 76ers
Kobe Bryant scored 35 points on Sunday to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to a 104-94 win over the Philadelphia 76ers at the Staples Center.
The bad news continued, however. Center Kwame Brown left the game in the third quarter with a severely sprained left ankle. X-Rays were termed “inconclusive” and he will undergo further tests on Monday.
Losing Brown is a further blow to Los Angeles’ frontcourt. Forward Lamar Odom has missed the last 10 games with a sprained right knee and could be out as much as another six weeks.
Bryant had an efficient night, making 15 of 22 shots from the floor. Smoosh Parker added 12 points and Luke Walton contributed 11.
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Lakers Tidbits
General fun facts and tidbits regarding the current state of the Lakers:
1. The Lakers’ game against the Magic was the 14th time this season that the team had at least five players score in double figures. The Lakers are 10-4 in those games;
2. The Lakers’ triple-overtime game against the Bobcats was the first game for them to go that far since 1980.
3. Phil Jackson had quite an interesting quote in regards to Vladimir Radmanovic.
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The Road Trip is Over, But There’s No Time to Rest
The Lakers finished their 6-game, 12-day road trip with a 3-3 record, and needless to say, they’re happy to be returning home, where they’ll play three of their next four games at the Staples Center, where they have a 13-4 record so far this season. They even get a bit of a break by playing a struggling 76ers team tonight.
However, the schedule remains demanding after this game, as their next three opponents are Sacramento on the road, Denver and then Dallas. The Lakers need to make hay against teams in the Western Conference who could/should be in the playoffs, as their final seeding could come down to several tie-breakers.
You can ring in the New Year with Lakers tickets to any of these games, and there’s no better place to find the ones you want than StubHub.com.
Loss to Bobcats Reveals a Few Warts
Although the Lakers are off to a good start, their loss to the Bobcats the other night has shown that they do have a few things to get corrected before the calendar turns towards the playoffs. Among them include the imbalanced scoring that was detailed in our previous post, but also the fact that a few role players need to step up their games.
In particular, the LA Times wrote a feature that singled out Kwame Brown, who struggled during overtime of the game in Charlotte. Others were subtely called out, including PG Smush Parker, but it appears that Coach Phil Jackson is playing one of his legendary mind games with Brown in this piece.
Regardless, the Lakers will be there in the end, and Lakers tickets are still more than worth the effort to obtain. However, the dynamic and chemistry on the team is also always worth fans’ attention.
Loss to Bobcats Illustrates Odom’s Value
Although Kobe Bryant put on one of his patented big-time shows in the Lakers’ loss to Charlotte last night, but it wasn’t enough as the Lakers fell to the Bobcats in triple overtime. Bryant had 58 points on 22-45 shooting, and it was the 14th time that Bryant has surpassed 50 in his career.
However, the statistic that jumps out at anyone looking at the box score is that no one else on the Lakers scored more than 14 points. Bryant had to literally carry the Lakers, and once he fouled out, Los Angeles was finished. The problem is that Lamar Odom is out until mid-February with an injury, and in his absence there really is no second offensive option. These Lakers without Odom are like the Lakers that took the floor immediately after they traded Shaquille O’Neal, and it looks like they could struggle until Odom returns.
The good news for fans is that they’ll get to see the most talented player in the world push for his offense, and Bryant is always exciting. Get your Lakers tickets at StubHub.com for a close look at just how good Bryant is.
Lakers-76ers once was one of NBA’s best rivalries
As the Lakers prepare to host Philadelphia on Sunday evening, thoughts turn to a time when the team’s games meant something. Of all the rivals of the Showtime Lakers, only the Celtics were bigger. Los Angeles faced the 76ers in the NBA Finals three times in the 80s, winning twice.
Those, of course, were the Lakers of Magic Johnson. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. James Worthy. Norm Nixon and later Byron Scott. Philadelphia was led by the incomparable Dr. J, Julius Erving. Henry Bibby, Moses Malone, Maurice Cheeks, the Jones boys, Bobby and Caldwell, and Doug Collins were on some of those teams.
In 1980, Johnson’s rookie year, the Lakers beat the 76ers in the Finals, four games to two. Abdul-Jabbar had to sit out Game 6 in Philadelphia and Magic started at center, scoring 42 points to lead Los Angeles to the clinching victory.
Two years later, the teams again met in the Finals. Again, the Lakers emerged with a win in six games. This was especially painful for the 32-year-old Erving, who had now lost in the Finals three times since coming to Philadelphia. Some wondered if he had enough left in the tank to earn a title.
They got their answer the next year. The team acquired Malone in the off-season and marched through the regular season with a 65-17 record. When they met the Lakers again in the Finals, it was a whole different story. Malone manhandled Abdul-Jabbar and the Lakers went down in a four-game sweep.
Things are certainly different today. Philadelphia did make it to the NBA Finals in 2001, losing to the Lakers in five games. But since that season, the 76ers have fallen on hard times. Earlier this year, they traded Allen Iverson to Denver. They are currently 8-21, last in the Atlantic Division, tied for the second-worst record in the league. Los Angeles is second in the Pacific, but may be a question mark for the postseason if they don’t get Lamar Odom back soon.
It’s a far cry from the old days.
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Kobe’s 58 points not enough as Lakers fall to Bobcats
With Lamar Odom out, possibly until the All-Star break, everybody expected Kobe Bryant to step up his scoring. But is that the best way for the Lakers to win? That’s the question after Friday’s triple-overtime loss to the Charlotte Bobcats.
In fact after the game, Bryant told reporters, “I don’t want to have to do that. It’s too tiring.”
Bryant actually fouled out of the game and his final two fouls may have cost the Lakers. Bryant fouled Derek Anderson on a 3-point attempt and Anderson made all three free throws to give Charlotte a five-point lead. Anderson later drew a charge on Bryant for his sixth foul.
Bryant took 45 shots in the game, making 22. No other Laker took more than 10 shots. “I was yellnig at them to run their offense and get away from that,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson told reporters after the game. “They just seemed to be going back to him all the time.”
It was the Lakers ninth game since Odom went down with his knee injury and Los Angeles is 4-5 in that period. They did finish their six-game road trip at 3-3 and return home on Sunday to host Philadelphia. With Phoenix having won two of three since its 15-game winning streak was stopped, first place in the Pacific Division could be slipping out of the Lakers’ reach.
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Kobe Learns to Lead
Lakers tickets are always in demand, but this year is starting to look like it could be special for the Lakers. The biggest reason for the Lakers resurgence to the top of the division standings is the newly-formed persona of the Lakers’, and perhaps the NBA’s best player, Kobe Bryant.
Bryant spent the summer recovering from knee surgery, and it appears that he used that time well. Bryant has always had a reputation as a gunner, and that’s more fact than fiction. Simply put, he was by far the best player the Lakers had, and after the departure of Shaquille O’Neal, Bryant took it upon himself to shoulder the offensive load.
However, Bryant spent some time reflecting during his rehab, and his approach to this season has been markedly different. Bryant is sharing the ball, increasing his assists and continuing to become known as one of the best defensive players in the NBA.
Will this trend continue? If it does, the Lakers will be dangerous come playoff time.
Lakers may be without Odom ’til All-Star break
The Los Angeles Lakers continued to try to keep up with the red-hot Phoenix Suns on Friday, defeating the New Jersey Nets on the road, 99-95. But as the Lakers head into their annual Christmas Day matchup with Miami, they got more bad news regarding Lamar Odom.
The Orange County Register reported that coach Phil Jackson said Odom’s sprained right knee could keep him out until the All-Star break. If so, Los Angeles would miss its second-leading scorer and leading rebounder for about two months - twice the original projection.
The Lakers are just 2-3 since Odom sprained the knee in a game at Houston on Dec. 12. They have fallen to second place in the Pacific Division, two losses behind the Suns. Phoenix had won 15 games in a row until losing in overtime to Washington on Friday night, 144-139. Gilbert Arenas scored 54 points in that game - the Lakers know well about Arenas. He scored 60 in an overtime win over Los Angeles last Sunday at the Staples Center.
Odom will definitely miss the Christmas matchup in Miami. It’s the third consecutive year the Lakers and Heat will play on Christmas Day - for some reason, television executives seem to like the idea of Kobe vs. Shaq for the holidays. However, Shaquille O’Neal will miss the game with his own knee injury.
Brian Cook and Vladimir Radmanovic have been getting the starts since Odom’s injury. Cook scored 11 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in 17 minutes in the win over the Nets. Radmanovic had eight points and five rebounds in 24 minutes off the bench.
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Lakers lose Odom, lead in Pacific
How quickly things can change. The Los Angeles Lakers finished off their homestand on Sunday with a 106-99 win over the San Antonio Spurs, then began a quick two-game, back-to-back Texas roadtrip with a 102-94 win at Houston on Tuesday.
Then, the good news came to a skidding halt. Lamar Odom sprained his right knee in the win over the Rockets. Odom was off to a career-best start but he’ll be sidelined now for at least a month and possibly longer.
The 6-foot-10 forward was hurt when he fell awkwardly while trying to shoot over Shane Battier less than two minutes into the game.
It’s a devastating injury for the Lakers. Odom was averaging a career-high 18 points and led the team in rebounding (9.1 per game) and assists (5.1). Further, Odom had carried the Lakers as Kobe Bryant recovered from offseason knee surgery.
A hint of what Odom’s absence means to the team came late in the win over the Rockets. The Lakers nearly blew a 93-66 lead, having to hold on by the skin of their collective teeth. On Wednesday, Los Angeles fell to Dallas, 110-101. Nobody stepped up to fill Odom’s big shoes. Bryant scored 33 to lead the Lakers but Luke Walton was next with just 13.
That loss dropped Los Angeles to 15-7, a half-game behind Phoenix in the Pacific Division. The Suns have won 12 in a row.
The team returns home on Friday to face the Rockets again.
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