Lakers Remain Undefeated

The Lakers rallied to beat the Dallas Mavericks 106-99 for their sixth consecutive victory.Unlike the team’s sweep against the Clippers, the Lakers had to fight for their victory at American Airlines Center. Lakers’ coach Phil Jackson has declined to compare the current Lakers team to the earlier incarnation that won three championships earlier this decade, but Kobe Bryant issued a statement about the team’s gritty win to the L.A. Times that showed he thought they did Jackson proud: “It’s one of those games where we trailed pretty much the entire game and nobody panicked. We just kept at it and were able to take advantage of it late in the ball game.”

When asked if he compares the current Lakers to the Bryant-Shaquille O’Neal team, Jackson told the Times, “No. We really haven’t had to get into the grit of playing that type of game yet where everything’s got to be fighting things out in the paint, control the boards at the end of the game, have to run a tight ship and good execution down the stretch.” The Mavericks had the run of the court in a 60-point first half but the Lakers came back in the second half. They play in New Orleans tonight so we’ll see if they have another slow start.

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Permalink - Posted in General on November 12, 2008 - Post a comment

Fifth Straight Win for the Lakers

On Sunday the Lakers won their fifth straight game of the season against the Houston Rockets at Staples Center. Although the Lakers had a slow start, with a 16-point deficit in the second quarter, they came back and won 111-82. Winning by 29 points, the Lakers tied their third-largest margin of victory in a 41-year history of playing the Rockets. The trend this season has been the Lakers having an “awakening” during the second half of the game. When they played Denver, for example, Kobe Bryant’s fourth-quarter bailout led them to victory and the team also made a comeback toward the end of the game against the Clippers as well.

As for Sunday’s game, Lakers’ coach Phil Jackson told the L.A. Times, “The momentum of this game just turned upside down after the first quarter.” Aaron Brooks issued a layup that gave the Rockets a 16-point advantage with 11:01 left until halftime but Jordan Farmar’s aggressiveness allowed for the Lakers triumphant comeback. Rockets center Yao Ming, who scored 12 points, told the Times, “I think it was the worst game we ever had.” The last time the Lakers beat the Rockets this bad was 1984 when they won 131-102. Ouch.

To see if the Lakers’ winning streak will continue, get all your Los Angeles Lakers tickets at StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on November 10, 2008 - Post a comment

Lamar Odom Comes Off the Bench

Lakers’ forward Lamar Odom is coming to terms with his new role off the bench as the team’s sixth man, telling the L.A. Times, “It humbles you.” Odom is no longer in the starting lineup and is trying to mentally accept his new role with the Lakers. He has previously expressed his disdain at the idea of coming off the bench but is recently altered his mind-set to try to embrace his new role as a challenge. Odom told the Times, “I think mentally it was different. It humbles you. But being humbled has been a part of my life for a long time . . . But for these guys in this locker room, this great organization, a great coaching staff, if that’s what it has to be, that’s what it has to be.”

Odom has thus far seen his playing time equal to those of a starter; the Lakers are four games into the season and Odom is second on the team in minutes played (26.8), fourth in scoring (10.0) and third in rebounds (6.5)  and he has been on the court at the finish of the games. On Wednesday’s game against the Clippers, Odom played 10 minutes in the fourth quarter and delivered season-highs in points (15) and rebounds (9). Lakers’ coach Phil Jackson told the Times, “I thought he played emotionally. Sometimes that’s a concern; he got technical. But he had some good moments out there.” Kobe Bryant commended Odom’s attitude and new role for the Lakers: “A player of his talent and his caliber coming off the bench improves the team tremendously. I think it was very unselfish of him to be gracious in accepting the role, and you see his game flourishing because of it.”

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Permalink - Posted in General on November 7, 2008 - Post a comment

Lakers Triumph Over Clippers

The Lakers and the Clippers met again last night and although the Clippers lost, at least it wasn’t by 38 points this time. The Lakers didn’t have a great first half in last night’s game at Staples Center, but much to fans’ relief they pulled through in the second half and emerged the winners with a 106-88 victory over the Clippers. This was the fourth consecutive win for the Lakers and the Clippers’ fifth loss.

While the Lakers emerged the victors, it was evident that they hadn’t played a game since Saturday. Bryant had 27 poorly-shot points (missing 13 of 21 attempts) and Pau Gasol wasn’t on top of his game either, scoring nine points on two-for-seven shooting. Lamar Odom (who turns 29 today by the way) did play a key stretch of the fourth quarter with the starters, finishing with 15 points, as did Trevor Ariza. Although the Lakers pulled through it was hard to believe that just last week they dominated the court so much over the Clippers.

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Permalink - Posted in General on November 6, 2008 - Post a comment

Lakers and Clippers Face Off Again

The Lakers will face off against the Clippers as the home team at Staples Center and the down-the-hall rivalry will resume. Last week the Lakers exercised a 177-79 victory over the Clippers. It was a home game for the Clippers and their season opener and a 38 point loss isn’t the best way to kick off the season, especially when Baron Davis promised Clippers fans that this season would be different. The Lakers are now 3-0 and the Clippers are 0-4. Since Kobe Bryant came into the league the Lakers are 38-11 against the Clippers, although on Tuesday Bryant was careful to say that the Lakers had “probably” swung back to dominance over the Clippers from 2005 to 2007.

One thing Bryant would not comment on was that fact that he almost became a Clipper when they put a lucrative free-agent contract on the table in 2004. When asked about that by the L.A. Times Bryant was defiant, saying “I don’t know, I don’t remember, and you’re not pulling me into that . . . I’m not going for it. I’ll pass on the bait.” Bryant is undoubtedly grateful he passed on the Clippers deal, as the Lakers haven’t lost a season series to the Clippers since 1992-93. Lakers center Chris Kaman told the Times, “Shaq and Kobe, that’s been the most lethal combo that’s been in the league for a long time. They have good players now, but I think with Shaq in his prime, he was one of the most dominant in the league ever. So I don’t think it’s that good, but they’re good. They have the potential of doing it again, making the Finals again.” Stay tuned to see the Lakers and Clippers face off again.

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Permalink - Posted in General on November 5, 2008 - Post a comment

Injured Andrew Bynum to Play Wednesday

Lakers’ center Andrew Bynum strained his rotator cuff during practice today but expects to play on Wednesday against the Clippers. Bynum’s injury comes on the heels of signing his contract extension and although the team listed him as day to day, he told the L.A. Times he will play in Wednesday’s game at Staples Center. The injury occurred while Bynum was trying to block Chris Mihm’s attempted dunk ad the pair collided in the air, at which point Bynum said his arm was yanked back. Bynum told the Times he would get treatment and be ready to face off against the Clippers, saying, “I’ll be at practice tomorrow and the game of Wednesday.” Lakers coach Phil jackson agreed with Bynum, telling the Times, “I don’t think it’s going to bother him to come back to practice tomorrow. It was just the normal action that happens in basketball a lot.”

Last Thursday Bynum signed a four-year, $57.4-million contract but had a poor outing in his first game Saturday at Denver. The Lakers forward was overheard complaining today about one official from Saturday night’s game against the Nuggets, saying, “I got in a lot of trouble. One official called all five of the fouls. I don’t know, man.” The official Bynum was referencing is rookie Eric Dalen. Jackson commented on the game as well, saying “Adrew’s game, I’m sure he was disappointed. He didn’t get a basket in that ballgame. But still in all, in this game, it’s going to happen once in a while to a young player until he finds the rhythm of the season.”

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Permalink - Posted in General on November 4, 2008 - Post a comment


Permalink - Posted in General on November 3, 2008 - Post a comment

Phil’s Hopes for Pau

Lakers coach Phil Jackson would like to see Pau Gasol get the ball more and become more integrated in the game. Gasol’s tendencies are the opposite of Kobe Bryant and while he has been active in the first halves of the game he tends to disappear in the second half. Jackson’s plan to improve Gasol’s game s to get the power forward more touches after halftime. Bryant, on the other hand, is known for what the L.A. Times calls his “game-saving flurry in the fourth quarter: such as during Saturday’s game against Denver. As for the Denver game, Jackson did critique Bryant’s third quarter play on Saturday’s game, telling the Times “He had to step it up in the third quarter just a little bit and I thought pushed the envelope just a little bit too far. Some of our guys got out of sync. Pau only got one or two shots in the second half. We want to use our weapons.”
In the first half against Denver, Gasol was six for 12 and in the second half he was one for three. In the game against Portland, Gasol made seven of nine shots during the first half but again fell short later on, missing his only hot in the second half. It was a repeat performance for Gasol against the Clippers as well. Jackson offered more insight saying, “He’s ust not getting the ball in the second half. In fairness to Kobe, he’s playing the team game the first half and he’s looking for his own situation the second half. That balance has got to even out a little bit.”

The Lakers face off against the Clippers Wednesday so wait and see how Gasol does; get all your Los Angeles Lakers tickets at StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on November 3, 2008 - Post a comment


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