Celtics 87, Lakers 86 at Staples Center

The Lakers suffered a tough loss at Staples Center last night (Feb. 18), losing to longtime rivals the Boston Celtics 87-86, reports the Los Angeles Times. Kobe Bryant didn’t play last night, missing his fifth consecutive game due to a sprained ankle; the Lakers’ next game is Tuesday (Feb. 23) in Memphis so if Bryant is back by then he will have had 18 days rest. Derek Fisher had a poor shooting night last night and his off-balance jumper as time expired led the Lakers to their first loss in five games. Fisher was one-for-nine shooting from the field while Pau Gasol led the Lakers with 22 points.

The Lakers are currently 1 1/2 games behind the Cleveland Cavaliers for the best record in the NBA, although the Denver Nuggets are five games behind the Lakers for the best record in the Western Conference after beating the Cavs on Thursday (Feb. 18).

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Permalink - Posted in General on February 19, 2010 - Post a comment

Kobe Bryant Doesn’t Think He’ll Be Ready to Play Celtics

As reported by the Los Angeles Times, Kobe Bryant doesn’t think that he will be ready to play against the Boston Celtics tonight (Feb. 18), although it is a sore small tendon on his lower leg, not the sprained ankle that has been keeping him out, that is the problem this time. Bryant didn’t practice yesterday (Feb. 17) and when asked if he would be ready to play the Lakers’ longtime rival he answered honestly, “Right now it’s a no. If I wake up [Thursday] and I feel drastically different, then I’ll play, but I doubt it.” Bryant also revealed that his tendon was giving him trouble saying, “I’ve played through sprained ankles. Tendons are a little different. They kind of have their own agenda on when they want to heal. It’s sore. Can’t push of it enough to play so I’ll just take my time, do therapy around the clock, go after it as aggressive as I play.”

The Lakers are more concerned with securing another championship, as opposed to winning individual games. Said Bryant to reporters, “It’s important for everybody to understand what we’re playing for. I would love to come back [against Boston] and play, but I’m not ready so I won’t. But we want to win a championship … If that means missing a big TNT doubleheader, then so be it.” Without Bryant, the Lakers are 4-0 (including this week’s lackluster victory over Golden State) and they don’t play until Tuesday (Feb. 23) so Kobe would have 18 days off between games after tonight.

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Permalink - Posted in General on February 18, 2010 - Post a comment

Career Game Against Golden State for Shannon Brown

Despite his less than stellar performance in the dunk contest, Shannon Brown had a career game last night (Feb. 16) when the Lakers beat the Golden State Warriors 104-94, reports the Los Angeles Times. Scoring 27 points with 10 rebounds, Brown started for the injured Kobe Bryant and proved his disappointing dunk contest performance was behind him. Brown was the favorite going into the dunk contest, but on Saturday night (Feb. 13) his dunks didn’t even get him past the first round. That was all forgotten at Staples Center last night, when Brown told reporters, “Actually, to be honest, I didn’t care what the story was after Dallas. I’d rather be remembered as a good basketball player than a great dunker.”

Brown started for the fourth consecutive game in place of Bryant (who was out again due to a sprained left ankle) and had a career best in points (27), rebounds (10), shots attempts (19) and baskets (11). “Actually, I didn’t know that Kobe was out or that I was going to start until we had out pre-game talk. So I just tried to come out and be aggressive,” Brown admitted to reporters before adding, “We know that coming back off All-Star break is usually one of them times where everything is not clicking like it was leading into the All-Star break. So we just tried to come out and execute on both ends of the court and got a victory.” Brown made four of five shots and all four of his free throws for 12 points in the fourth quarter, leading the Lakers to victory.

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Permalink - Posted in General on February 17, 2010 - Post a comment

Kobe Bryant Will Be Back for Tonight’s Game Against Golden State

Kobe Bryant was sidelined with a sprained ankle for three consecutive games before the All-Star break, and the rest of the Los Angeles Lakers stepped up in his absence. As reported by the Los Angeles Times, Bryant will return today (Feb. 16) to face off against Golden State. Along with Bryant, who spent the All-Star weekend making promotional appearances in Dallas, Andrew Bynum was back at practice yesterday (Feb. 15). It will be Kobe’s first game since he aggravated a sprained ankle on Feb. 5, and while he didn’t speak to reporters, Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said, “He said he didn’t have the normal strength he’d like to have, but it’ll come back. That’s just getting back in the flow and getting some strength there again, reconditioning it. He hasn’t played in two weeks, so there’s a lot of things that he was trying out and trying to figure out–passes that went away and shots he was reluctant to shoot–but he’ll come [around].”

22-year-old Lakers center Andrew Bynum didn’t appear to be as healthy as Bryant. Bynum missed two games due to a swollen bursa sac and bruised right hip. He told reporters, “I’m definitely limited, but I’m going to try to give it a go. I just want to see if it’ll get worse. Every step you take, the muscle rubs over the top of it and it’s real painful.” Forward Luke Walton will take another indefinite leave of absence due to persistent back pain caused by a pinched nerve; he missed two months this season because of back issues. “Right now it’s kind of experimental with Luke. We’re trying to see where he can get to in this season and can continue on, hopefully, without having to do anything that would eliminate his year.”

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Permalink - Posted in General on February 16, 2010 - Post a comment

Kobe Bryant Will Sit Out All-Star Game

As reported by the Los Angeles Times, all of the speculation as to whether or not Kobe Bryant will play in Sunday’s (Feb. 14) All-Star Game came to an end yesterday (Feb. 11) when the NBA announced that Bryant would sit the game out because of his sprained left ankle. Dallas veteran Jason Kidd will replace the Lakers guard, squashing So Cal fans’ hopes that Kobe would lead the West All-Stars to victory, and Black Griffin would dunk on a sophomore-year player. Lakers guard Shannon Brown is still competing in the dunk contest.

Bryant, who refused to speak to the press about his All-Star status, has been absent from the Lakers’ last three games, the last being a victory over the Utah Jazz on Wednesday (Feb. 10). The silver lining about Bryant missing Sunday’s game is that he will be able to rest during the 10-day All-Star break before the Lakers play Golden State on Tuesday (Feb. 16). Bryant hasn’t missed an All-Star game since the 1999 lockout and this will be the first time he hasn’t participated in a game that has been held since his 1997 rookie season. Last season, Kobe was co-MVP of the game with Shaquille O’Neal. Read more about the All-Star game at LATimes.com.

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Permalink - Posted in General on February 12, 2010 - Post a comment

Lakers Step Up in Kobe’s Absence

The idea that LeBron James might just be the NBA’s most valuable player was reinforced last night (Feb. 10) when the Los Angeles Lakers stepped up in the absence of Kobe Bryant, reports the Los Angeles Times. The Lakers beat the Utah Jazz 96-81, ending the Jazz’s nine-game winning streak and securing their third consecutive victory without guard Kobe Bryant. Bryant has been sidelined due to a sprained left ankle but has not confirmed yet whether or not he will play in the NBA All-Star game on Sunday (Feb. 14). Also absent Wednesday was center Andrew Bynum, who sat out the second half against Portland Saturday (Feb. 6) and the subsequent two games against San Antonio and Utah due to a bruised hip. Bynum is reportedly mulling over getting a cortisone shot so he will be able to return after the All-Star break.

As he has in the past three games against the best teams in the Western Conference, Lamar Odom was aggressive on the offense, with a team-leading and season-high 25 points and 11 boards on an efficient clip of 7 of 9 shooting. Gasol had 21 points on a 10 of 15 clip, 19 rebounds and five blocks while reserve guard Jordan Farmar had 18 points on 7 of 11 shooting. As pointed out by the Los Angeles Times, “the performances from these past three games will bring up the debate before and after the All-Star break on how long the Lakers (41-13) can sustain these type of performances, especially whenever Bryant and Bynum return to the lineup.” Read more at LATimes.com.

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Permalink - Posted in General on February 11, 2010 - Post a comment

Lakers to be Short-Handed Tonight Against Utah

As reported by the Los Angeles Times, the Lakers expect to be undermanned when they play the Utah Jazz tonight (Feb. 10). Kobe Bryant has missed the last two games due to a sprained left ankle, and although he will travel with the team to Utah, it is undetermined whether or not he will play. Lakers Center Andrew Bynum is suffering from a bruised hip (he missed Monday’s game against the San Antonio Spurs) and will travel to Utah as well, although Lakers Coach Phil Jackson revealed to reporters that he won’t likely play. Lakers forward Lamar Odom is also injured; he missed Tuesday’s practice and underwent a CAT scan and MRI after suffering a sore right foot during the Lakers triumph over the Spurs. The team has listed Odom as a game-time decision, but he told The Times’ Broderick Turner that he will play tonight.

Bryant spoke to reporters after the Lakers’ win earlier in the week saying, “I’m not an idiot. I’m not going to just run through a wall to run through a wall. If it’s an injury I feel like I can play through and it happens to heal while I’m playing, then I’ll play. But if it’s a type of injury where it’s going to get worse when I play, I won’t.” For his part, Jackson has said that Bryant’s absence has been “a time for ourselves to back each other up,” adding that it “simplifies things” because without Bryant there is no clear-cut player for the opposing defense to double team. Read more at LATimes.com.

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Permalink - Posted in General on February 10, 2010 - Post a comment

Lakers Beat Spurs, Even Without Bryant and Bynum

The Los Angeles Lakers may have been shorthanded, without Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum, but they still managed to beat the San Antonio Spurs 101-89 thanks to Pau Gasol’s near-triple-double and overall teamwork. Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol and Ron Artest were key components in the Lakers’ win at Staples Center last night (Feb. 8), and overall the team showed it is picking up speed after suffering a defeat in Memphis, near-loss against Charlotte and poor effort against Denver (without Carmelo Anthony!); this is good news, as there is just one game left until the All-Star break. Gasol had 21 points, Artest had 18, Odom had 16 and Derek Fisher had 13. Additionally, Gasol had 19 rebounds and eight assists, coming oh-so-close to a triple-double.

The Lakers reserves also made a solid showing: Jordan Farmar had 13 points and Sasha Vujacic had eight (all in the first half). The Lakers’ defense held San Antonio to 42.7% shooting and after the game Lakers Coach Phil Jackson told reporters, “Give credit to some of the guys out there that played extra special tonight.” As the Los Angeles Times points out, when the Lakers win without Kobe Bryant (who received treatment for a sprained left ankle and watched the game from the locker room), you know it is a special win. Said Kobe of his ankle, “I can’t push off it. It’s just as simple as that. I can’t move.” If Bryant doesn’t play against Utah Wednesday (Feb. 10) he may have the option of sitting out Sunday’s All-Star game at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Bynum has already made the decision not to play against Utah.

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Permalink - Posted in General on February 9, 2010 - Post a comment

Lamar Odom Appears in Super Bowl Ad, Kobe Bryant Talks Peyton Manning

Everyone knows that the Super Bowl ads are some of the most coveted TV advertisement slots of the year, and this year Lakers forward Lamar Odom got into the action. Odom, who is married to reality star Khloe Kardashian, appeared in a Taco Bell add during Super Bowl XLIV alongside Charles Barkley. The pair promoted the NBA 5-Buck Box, which boasts items like the burrito supreme, cheesy gordita crunch, crunchy taco and cinnamon twists. Odom just became the eighth-fastest player in NBA history to have 3,000 assists and 6,000 rebounds.

In related news, the Los Angeles Times reports that Lakers star Kobe Bryant can’t measure up to Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning. Bryant told ESPN prior to the Super Bowl, “I know he’s going to be ready. I think the Colts will win.” Odom is also a Peyton Manning fan saying, “I love Peyton Manning. I love watching him play,” although Odom revealed, “There’s personal reasons why I probably want to Saints to win. Family and I want everyone to prosper and do well … The Saints are pretty good. It’ll be good for their city as well.” Odom’s sister-in-law Kim Kardashian is the girlfriend of Saints running back Reggie Bush, for those who forgot the connection. Looks like Kobe was wrong in this case, as the Saints beat the Colts 31-17.

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Permalink - Posted in General on February 8, 2010 - Post a comment

Lakers Coach Phil Jackson Thinks Kobe Bryant May Have to Sit Out a Game or Two

As reported by the Los Angeles Times, Lakers Coach Phil Jackson has seen All-Star player Kobe Bryant endure several injuries in his career, and has been thinking recently that it might be time for him to sit out a game … or two. Said Jackson yesterday (Feb. 4), after Bryant had just five points on two-for-12 shooting in the Lakers tight win against the Charlotte Bobcats, “It occurred to me yesterday during the course of that game.” The Lakers are slated to play Denver tonight (Feb. 5) and although Bryant sat out practice yesterday, it would be surprising if he didn’t play tonight.

Bryant initially injured his ankle last Friday (Jan. 29), when he collided with Philadelphia 76ers forward Elton Brand. Teammate Lamar Odom stepped on Kobe’s foot during the final minute of the second quarter on Wednesday (Feb. 3), further aggravating the injury. Bryant was a non-factor it terms of scoring against the undermanned Bobcats. The Lakers barely beat the Bobcats, 99-97, and Kobe had six assists without a turnover in 37 minutes.

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Permalink - Posted in General on February 5, 2010 - Post a comment


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