Lakers 132, Phoenix 106

Proving there was no drama between Kobe and Shaq, the Lakers won their six consecutive victory (Lakers 132, Phoenix 106) last night with Byrant scoring 22 points with eight assists. The Lakers rising dominance over the Sun was evident last night at Staples Center, with L.A. moving 48-10 and taking a 2 1/2 game lead over Boston for the league’s best record. The Lakers now lead Cleveland by three games and hold a tiebreaker over the Celtics and Cavaliers.

The Suns were without Steve Nash (sprained ankle) and Amare Stoudemire (eye surgery) and it showed, with the Lakers leading by as many as 28 points. The Lakers shot 57.4%, made a season-high 54 field goals and tied their season-high with 132 points. The Suns, 32-25, may not make it to the playoffs at this rate, as they are now two games behind Dallas for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

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Permalink - Posted in General on February 27, 2009 - Post a comment

Lakers Defense Will Be Tested

The Lakers will face the Phoenix Suns (twice) and the Denver Nuggets (once) over the next three games and their defense will be tested, as both teams are among the league leaders in points scored. Lakers’ Coach Phil Jackson devoted Monday night’s practice to finding a solution to L.A.’s defensive problems. After practice Wednesday Jackson told the L.A. Times, “That’s a matter of focus. The depth of the season and the pressure that the amound of games puts on you, sometimes your defense becomes lax, and we just knew that we could outscore everybody. That’s a complacency that you don’t want to get caught in.”

Although the Lakers lead the NBA in scoring (108.9), they are tied in most points given up (100.6). The Lakers play the Suns tonight at Staples Center before travelling to Denver to play the Nuggests on Friday and then they have a rematch with the Suns at US Airways Center in Phoenix on Sunday; all three games will test their defense. The Suns, third-best in the NBA, average 106.5 points per game and the Nuggets, sixth-best in the league, average 103.1 points per game.

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Permalink - Posted in General on February 26, 2009 - Post a comment

Kobe Leads Lakers to Victory Over Thunder

Lakers’ guard Kobe Bryant helped L.A. pull away with 15 points after Oklahoma got close during the fourth quarter. With 36 points overall, Bryant led the Lakers to a 107-93 victory over Oklahoma City Thunder at Ford Center last night. The Lakers (47-10) improved 21-6 on the road, maintaining distance over Boston (46-12) and Cleveland (44-11) in the race for the league’s best record.

While some are used to “the Kobe show,” Derek Fisher, who has played with Kobe for most of his 13-year career, told the L.A. Times that Bryant still impresses him: “He doesn’t really do anything that amazes me any more but it’s just fun to observe, even as a teammate, his ability to just make his mind up — ‘OK, this is what I’m going to go do.’ I don’t know if there’s anybody in our game that can consistently match that ability. I know I’m biased, but it’s impressive to me,” Fisher said.

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Permalink - Posted in General on February 25, 2009 - Post a comment

Lakers Improve on the Road

After Shaquille O’Neal left the Lakers, they were known for losing road games, but this season they hold the best road record, 20-6. In 2004-05 the Lakers were 12-29 on the road followed by 17-24 the next season and 17-24 in 2006-07. Last season the team was 27-14 but this season they are the best on the road in the league and are within reach of the team-record 33-8 in 1971-72.

Despite big wins in Boston and Cleveland and two in New Orleans, the Lakers aren’t celebrating yet, as they barely beat Minnesota on Sunday, 111-108, and have another road game against Oklahoma City tonight. Lakers’ Coach Phil Jackson told the L.A. Times, “We seem to measure up on the road. We still have a lot of really tough road games ahead of us, so we’re not crowing right now about anything.”

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Permalink - Posted in General on February 24, 2009 - Post a comment

Close Win for the Lakers Against Minnesota

The Lakers beat the Minnesota Timberwolves Sunday night at Target Center, 111-108, but it wasn’t the game everyone was expecting. The undermanned Timberwolves shot 50% due to the Lakers’ uninspired defense, although the combined 78 points by Kobe Bryant, Oau Gasol and Lamar Odom allowed for the Lakers unexpectedly close win. Bryant even quipped to the L.A. Times, “We were going for ‘Best Drama.’”

The Timberwolves were without their best player, hadn’t won a home game in nearly a month and had a last-second, three-point attempt that almost pushed the game into overtime, thus Lakers’ coach Phil Jackson was rightfully upset at how close the game was. “Our pathetic defense. I thought we just played sloppy defense and didn’t put out minds to it,” Jackson commented with disdain. Despite their poor defensive performance, the Lakers are an NBA-best 46-10, a league-best 20-6 on the road and 10-1 sicne Andrew Bynum’s absence.

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Permalink - Posted in General on February 23, 2009 - Post a comment

No Moves for Lakers on Trading Day

Trade deadline day came and went for the Lakers, who didn’t make any moves, mirroring the rest of the league. Regular season play continues to night for L.A., as they play New Orleans at Staples Center, and they are more focused on that then the few minor deals that went down on trade deadline day. The Lakers continue after a 2-0 start coming out of the All-Star break.

L.A. and San Antonio were supposed to be joined by the Hornets in the Western Conference standing this season but they came into All-Star weekend tied for sixth in the 15-team conference and then Tyson Chandler (who went to Compton Dominguez High), their center, failed a physical after being traded to Oklahoma City. The Hornets had to awkwardly take him back Wednesday after the Oklahoma City team doctor said Chandler’s surgically repaired big toe was not fit for long-term play. Lakers’ coach Phil Jackson told the L.A. Times, “I was kind of happy that Chandler was traded. He comes to L.A. all the time and just has a great game and kicks our butt. He comes homes and has fun on our court, so that’s no good for us.”

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Permalink - Posted in General on February 20, 2009 - Post a comment

Another Victory for the Lakers

The Lakers improved their NBA-best record to 44-10 after beating the Golden State Warriors 129-121 last night at Oracle Arena. L.A. overcame a 12-point third-quarter deficit to beat Golden State, with Trevor Ariza making two three-pointers in the final five minutes. Also in the same time frame, Lamar Odom made all three of his free-throw attempts, pushing L.A. to their ninth victory in the last 10 games.

Kobe Bryant finished with 30 points, Pau Gasol had 24 points and 13 rebounds and Josh Powell had a season-high game with 16 points and seven rebounds. The Warriors (19-36) came into last night’s game with a three-game winning streak (their longest of the season), but the absence of injured starters Kelenna Azubuike and Andris Biedrins proved to be their downfall.

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Permalink - Posted in General on February 19, 2009 - Post a comment

Gasol and Odom Continue to Step Up in Bynum’s Absence

Many Lakers fans were worried when Lakers’ center Andrew Bynum’s injury left him out of the game, but Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom have stepped up and filled the gap left by Bynum. Bynum suffered from a torn medial collateral ligament in his right knee Jan. 31 when the Lakers played Memphis, and since then the Gasol-Odom team have been delivering just what the Lakers need, combining for 27 points on 12-for-21 shooting, 33 rebounds, 15 assists and four blocked shots Tuesday in the Lakers’ 96-83 victory over Atlanta at Staples Center.

Odom told the L.A. Times, “We play good basketball together off each other. You don’t see too many guys in the frontcourt, one at center and one at power forward, get a combined 15 assists. It shows the level we can play basketball at and out depth as a team. We’ve got good all-around players on this team.” Gasol weighed in as well, telling the Times, “I think we combine each other well. We both are skilled players and good passers and we’re unselfish. We’re working a triple-double with 12 points on six-for-10 shooting, 13 rebounds and 12 assists. It was the third triple-double of his career.” To read the full article, go to the LATimes.com.

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Permalink - Posted in General on February 18, 2009 - Post a comment

Lakers Have to Hold On to Record

The Lakers currently hold the NBA’s best record coming out of a break due to the All-Star game, but with 30 regular-season games left they need to work hard to hold on to their title. Yesterday the Lakers resumed practice at their El Segundo training facility with their league-best 42-10 record intact, all too aware that 17 of their final 30 games are road games. The Lakers are solid picks to take the West’s No. 1 playoff seeing; San Antonio would have to go 27-4 to tie L.A. for the best record in the Western Conference.

As for their biggest opponents, the Boston Celtics (44-11), they only have 27 more regular-season games. The Cleveland Cavaliers (40-11) will play 16 of their last 31 games at home (they were 23-0 at home until the Lakers beat them earlier this month). When asked if the Lakers could remain ahead of Boston and Cleveland, Lakers’ Coach Phil Jackson told the L.A. Times, “I don’t know. Who knows that? We think we’ve got the experience. Our bench has to provide a little more help for us so we have better support so that Lamar [Odom] and Pau [Gasol] don’t have to play extended minutes, We’ll see if we can’t get that going a little bit better.” Andrew Bynum will remain sidelined for an expected six to 10 more weeks, keeping Gasol and Odom as key players. Jackson admitted that Odom and Gasol are necessary to take “the load off Kobe,” as both players have increased their scoring, rebounding and minutes since Bynum’s been out.

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Permalink - Posted in General on February 17, 2009 - Post a comment

Kobe and Shaq Back Together Again

Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal haven’t been on the best terms since they both played for the Lakers, but they worked well together at the NBA All-Star game and were named co-MVPs in the West’s 146-119 victory. The former Lakers teammates, who butted heads while both playing for L.A., played together for one last memorable time, with Bryant scoring 27 points and O’Neal scoring 17 points. It was the third All-Star MVP award for both Kobe and Shaq. They now join the ranks of Oscar Robertson and Michael Jordan, with three a piece, while Bob Pettit has been the only player to win four.

After the win, O’Neal put his arm around Bryant and proclaimed them to be “The Big Legendaries.” O’Neal was nostalgic, telling the L.A. Times, “It felt like old times. I miss those times. He was really looking for me, especially when we went to pick-and-roll and Rashard LEwis was on me. He was really looking for me.” As for Kobe, not so much. “We’re not going to watch ‘Steel Magnolias,’ or something like that, you know what I’m saying? Crying, all that stuff. We had a good time. That’s all.” Shaq has good reason to be nostalgic, as it was the 36-year-old’s farewell tour.

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Permalink - Posted in General on February 16, 2009 - Post a comment


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