Sometimes there are quotes that can sum up greatness. This is one of them. After the loss today against the Cavs, Bryant said this about Andrew Bynum…
“He [Bynum] developed into the player that I prayed about having on my team for years,” Bryant said.
L.A. Times: LeBron James and Kobe Bryant went back and forth throughout an intense fourth quarter.
James and his Cleveland Cavaliers won out in the end, even surviving a few raindrops at Staples Center.
James scored 14 of his 41 points in the final period, and the Cavaliers beat the short-handed Lakers, 98-95, this afternoon for their 12th win in 15 games.
Bryant scored nine of his 33 points in the fourth quarter, and also had 12 rebounds and six assists, but it wouldn’t be enough to keep the Lakers from losing their third straight to match their longest losing streak of the season.
Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 16 points and 11 rebounds before fouling out with 6:14 to play, and Larry Hughes also scored 16 points for the Cavaliers (24-19), who have beaten the Lakers in their last five meetings.
Lamar Odom had 14 points and nine rebounds for the Lakers (27-15), who have a 2-4 record since center Andrew Bynum injured his left knee. It was their fourth game without Trevor Ariza, who broke his right foot. Neither player is expected to return before the middle of March.
Continue reading ‘LeBron carries Cavaliers to win over Lakers’
Interesting report about Kidd wanting out… Also, check the “related links” for more reports. Should be interesting for New Jersey right now before the deadline. Do the Lakers pursue Kidd?
RealGM: New Jersey’s Star-Ledger has reported that Jason’s Kidd’s agent Jeff Schwartz has asked Nets’ President Rod Thorn to trade his client to a contender before February’s trade deadline. The information was received from several unnamed league sources.
The problems continue to add up for Thorn as trading Kidd will not be easy if he wants to get even close to equal value in return.
“Right now things are going very poorly for us,” Thorn told the Star-Ledger. “Historically, those are the times when you don’t get offered what you might consider fair deals. And sometimes you feel that maybe you should do something to do something, but those are the times you have to be very cognizant and careful about what the results of your actions might be.”
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LD2k’s: I AM LAKER
Related Links:
Nets Ready to Make Moves
Kidd has asked for trade
The Lakers have lost 3 out of their last 4, and are 2-3 without Andrew Bynum in the lineup.
The Lakers not only need this game to get back on track, but I doubt anybody forgot what happened last time these two teams met.
Sure they need this game to get back on track, stay towards the top of the Western Conference, and pull closer to Phoenix for the Pacific Division title. However, more then anything they need a W for revenge.
Back on December 20th, The Lakers faced the Cavaliers on what was the 2nd of a 4 game road trip. They had won 6 of their last 7 and were firing on all cylinders going into that game.
Here is a Vlad-Rad injury update. Despite his own struggles earlier in the year, he will def. contribute immensely to this downgraded-from-injury Lakers squad:
PE: Radmanovic May Play – Jackson said he expects Vladimir Radmanovic to practice today, and if all goes well, Radmanovic could play against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday at Staples Center.
Radmanovic has been out with a sprained right ankle.
Another loss against a great team for the Lakers, 112-105. Tonight, it was only the third time in 100 games that the Lakers lost despite shooting 56.2% from the field. Why did they lose? 16 turnovers compared to only 8 from the Mavs, and they were outrebounded by 4. It was just a sloppy effort by the Lakers. Too many forced turnovers.
I thought the benched stepped up tonight to make up for the starters poor effort (cough Kwame, cough Lamar, cough Luke). It seemed only the Lakers backcourt showed up tonight. It was a long game to watch as the Lakers went 28-40 from the line and the Mavs went 29-36. If the Lakers make 75% of their free-throws tonight, we have a different ball game.
Now, the bests of the night…
Bryant scores 40, but Odom and Walton continue to fizzle as L.A. gets swept in Texas.
L.A. Times: Another rough third quarter. Another punchless effort from the frontcourt. Another loss in Texas.
When all else failed, the Lakers turned into the Kobe Bryant show, but it wasn’t enough to prevent a 112-105 loss Friday to the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center.
Bryant had 40 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, but there were more questions than answers after the Lakers fell to 2-3 without Andrew Bynum.
Luke Walton and Lamar Odom each had four points, marking another eerily quiet game for their starting forwards. When will they turn it around?
The Lakers botched another strong first half with a suspect third quarter in which they were outscored, 35-19. Will they ever outscore a team in the third quarter the rest of the way?
They came up with two losses through an admittedly tough two-game trek though Texas, but how difficult does that upcoming nine-game expedition look now?
L.A. Times: Kobe Bryant was voted by fans to start his 10th All-Star game, almost a formality for one of the game’s most enthralling talents.
“It’s always exciting,” he said Thursday. “It doesn’t get old at all. Nowadays, it’s such a huge spectacle.”
Joining Bryant as Western Conference starters Feb. 17 in New Orleans will be Denver guard Allen Iverson, Denver forward Carmelo Anthony, San Antonio forward Tim Duncan and Houston center Yao Ming.
Bryant led the West with slightly more than 2 million votes. He finished fourth overall in the league, behind Boston forward Kevin Garnett (2.4 million votes), Cleveland forward LeBron James (2.11 million) and Orlando center Dwight Howard (2.07 million).
Bryant, averaging 27.4 points, six rebounds and 5.1 assists, has largely bought into the team concept this season, with a few isolated forays.
He seems increasingly satisfied with what the Lakers (27-13) have become, a reality that was almost unthinkable last May, when he requested to be traded. He answered in the affirmative Thursday when asked if this was the best team the Lakers had fielded since their trip to the NBA Finals in 2004.
Damn it. Damn it. DAMN IT!!!
L.A. Times: Ronny Turiaf has been slowed by a sore big toe on his right foot, an injury that keeps him from playing extended minutes, Coach Phil Jackson said.
Turiaf was initially injured when the toe was stepped on in Monday’s game against Denver. His toe was again stepped on in Wednesday’s game against San Antonio.
“Hopefully he can mend as we go through it and we don’t push him too hard during this period of time,” Jackson said. “But we’ll see where it goes. We may have to use him more minutes than I want to.”
Turiaf was not the first post player off the bench against San Antonio, and it cost the Lakers for a brief stretch.
Lakers need Odom more then ever now. Will he step up? Or will he be a complete dud for the next 7 weeks? Sound-off in the comments and tell us what you think!
L.A. Times: As evidenced by Wednesday night’s second-half meltdown at San Antonio, this could be a rough patch for Lamar Odom and the Lakers. . . .
L.O. goes AWOL too often. . . .
That could become especially troublesome for Phil Jackson and the Lakers, who play only eight of their next 22 games at Staples Center before Andrew Bynum’s expected return in the second week of March. . . .
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