Kobe out for tonight’s game. Never thought I’d type that sentence again. Thank God we have Sasha to step-up! Ugh. Who am I kidding? The curse continues after tonight. Seriously folks, Lakers squad need to play one perfect game to escape with a win in Portland.
Lakers Basketblog: Lakers guard Kobe Bryant will miss Saturday evening’s game in Portland due to his sprained left ankle, an injury he originally suffered in Philadelphia on Jan. 29 and that he aggravated against Charlotte on Wednesday.
It will be the first game Bryant has missed due to injury since Dec. 8, 2006, when a sprained ankle kept him out of L.A.’s game against Atlanta.
He will be re-evaluated on Sunday in Los Angeles; the Lakers next game is on Monday, Feb. 8, against San Antonio.
Yahoo! Sports: The Lakers and Nuggets won’t know for another few months who’s got the other’s number. For now, though, give Denver the edge.
Chauncey Billups scored a career-high 39 points, including nine 3-pointers, and the Nuggets won 126-113 Friday night, ending the Lakers’ eight-game home winning streak and improving to 2-0 against them.
Billups was 12 of 20 from the floor, including 9 of 13 from 3-point range, and made 6 of 8 free throws to go with eight assists for the Nuggets, who played without Carmelo Anthony for the seventh straight game because of a sprained left ankle.
“You’ve always got to be confident. There’s a lot of people that can say it, but until you can do it, you’ve got to get that confidence from the right place,” Billups said. “They’re the world champs. But we feel that we can compete with them.”
Billups scored 21 points in the third quarter alone, the most against the Lakers in one period since Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia 76ers had 23 in a game in February 1966. Billups’ nine 3-pointers were the second-most ever against the Lakers.
“He was shooting considerably beyond the line,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. “I’m just glad that didn’t happen in a playoff game.”
Kobe Bryant scored 33 points on his sprained left ankle, but the first-place Lakers proved no match for the Western Conference’s No. 2 team, the one they beat in last year’s conference finals en route to their 15th NBA championship.
“I could still be effective and play,” Bryant said tersely. “Obviously, I’m not as explosive as I was but I can still command double teams, things like that.”
Continue reading ‘Lakers are defenseless in ugly loss to Nuggets’
The Lakers 13 game odyssey is over, and the Grammy’s hands the keys to the Staples back to the Lakers.
Join G-Small and D-Bricks as they talk Lakers basketball with Eric Pincus, Senior Writer from HoopsWorld.com. The guys break down the significance of Kobe becoming the all-time leading Lakers scorer, and look ahead toward the All-Star break.
Was 5-3 a let down on this trip for a Championship team? Is Kobe not passing the ball enough? We’ve never heard that before…
Tune into the #1 place for EXCLUSIVE Lakers talk with Voice of the Nation #70!
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Thelonious Monk – Black And Tan Fantasy
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G-Small – Lakers Haters
Ele e Ela – Marcos Valle
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Download Link: Voice of the Nation – Episode #70
ESPN: With his superstar hobbling and the Charlotte Bobcats refusing to go away, Phil Jackson never got terribly comfortable while becoming the winningest coach in Los Angeles Lakers history.
Andrew Bynum had 17 points and 14 rebounds, and Lamar Odom scored 19 points while making several big plays down the stretch, making sure Jackson added another superlative to his matchless coaching career in Los Angeles’ 99-97 victory over the Bobcats on Wednesday night.
Jackson, also the winningest coach in Chicago Bulls history, passed Pat Riley with his 534th win with the Lakers. The Hall of Famer won 545 games and six titles in nine seasons with Michael Jordan and Co. before winning four more rings in his first nine seasons with the Lakers, rising to fifth on the NBA’s career coaching victories list when he passed Charlotte’s Larry Brown earlier this season.
“It’s been a really good run,” Jackson said. “Having this opportunity to coach this team is always special. The fact that we’ve had some great teams, great players, is always a credit to them. It’s not really an individual record in my mind.”
Jackson is the winningest playoff coach in NBA history, and the only coach to win more than 70 percent of his regular-season games. Against the pesky Bobcats, he managed to coax a late-game win out of his Lakers even with just a season-low five points from Kobe Bryant.
Continue reading ‘Phil Jackson reaches milestone as Lakers hang on’
ESPN: Kobe Bryant scored 44 points, passing Jerry West as the Los Angeles Lakers’ career scorer, but it wasn’t enough as the Memphis Grizzlies got 22 points and 17 rebounds from Zach Randolph to defeat the Lakers 95-93 on Monday night.
Rudy Gay led Memphis with 25 points, and his 3-pointer with 29.5 seconds left helped Memphis end its two-game losing streak.
Ron Artest’s 3-point attempt from the right side bounced high off the rim as the horn sounded, snapping the Lakers’ four-game winning streak.
Bryant passed West’s mark on a breakaway dunk in the third quarter. Bryant made 16 of 28 shots, including 4 of 7 outside the arc. Artest added 18 points, while Pau Gasol had 10 points.
Lester Hudson had 13 points for Memphis, and Marc Gasol finished with 11 points and 13 rebounds for Memphis.
While Bryant got the franchise record for scoring, the loss prevented Lakers coach Phil Jackson from passing Pat Riley as the winningest coach in regular-season games for Los Angeles. The two are tied at 533.
The game was tied at 88, when Memphis ran the shot clock to near the end before Randolph made a 22-footer for a 90-88 lead with 1:08 left. His two free throws extended the lead to 92-88. Bryant scored on a drive before Gay’s 3-pointer with 29.5 seconds left gave Memphis a 95-90 lead, and the Grizzlies held on.
Continue reading ‘Lakers lose on last-minute shot to Memphis’
The (37-11) Los Angeles Lakers are in Memphis, Tennessee for a back-to-back against the (25-21) Grizzlies.
The Lakers frontline went out and played big against the Celtics helping the team win in Boston. Lakers approached that match up as a playoff game; the Celtics wanted to play the role of the schoolyard bully and got beat. The Celtics defense is formidable, but it was the Lakers defense that was the difference in Sunday’s game holding them to 16 fourth quarter points and helping the Lakers achieve a 5-2 mark on their annual extended Grammy road trip.
The game was chippy before it started with all of the jostling going on before the opening tip, but Ron Artest set the tone in the beginning, Andrew and Pau followed through in the middle of the game, and Kobe closed the show and ended the ‘who is the better team’ debate.
As expected Phil Jackson tied Pat Riley at the top of the Lakers All-Time coaching wins list and the Purple and Gold showed that they will never backdown from that team and showed that they’re ready for whatever and that it’s personal whenever the two teams meet.
The funny thing is Rasheed Wallace, a guy who hasn’t broken out a back-to-the-basket move in years was upset that his new team was bitten by the Black Mamba and is doing a lot of talking to whickever Boston beat writer that will listen, but he isn’t saying anything of substance; he needs to answer the question ‘what did the scoreboard say?’.
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ESPN: A.I. vs. Kobe delivered the throwback duel fans paid to see. Just like in the 2001 NBA finals, Bryant’s Lakers came out on top.
Bryant roused the 20,000 fans who came to jeer him as much as they did to root on the 76ers, scoring 24 points to lead Los Angeles to a 99-91 win over Philadelphia on Friday night.
Bryant always packs the Wachovia Center when the he makes his yearly visit to his old stomping grounds. He rarely disappoints in putting on a show for the fans who boo his every touch, yet line the court to snap countless photos.
While Bryant is still in his prime, Allen Iverson is in a steady decline. Lakers coach Phil Jackson said the All-Star showdown misses some of the buzz of years past when both could make the argument they were tops at their position.
Don’t tell Iverson. He crossed-over and crashed his way toward a season-high 23 points.
Iverson and Bryant are responsible for Philadelphia’s only two sellouts this season. Iverson’s first game back in Philadelphia drew 20,664, and Bryant helped draw 20,809 on Friday.
Continue reading ‘Lakers beat 76ers in rematch of 2001 NBA Finals’
Congratulations to our very own Laker, Pau Gasol! Snubbed out, Chris Kaman Andrew Bynum. ‘Fo shame, coaches! ‘FO SHAAAAAME! Thoughts?
Yahoo! Sports: The West includes the New Orleans’ Chris Paul, the Lakers’ Pau Gasol, Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant, Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki, Memphis’ Zach Randolph and Portland’s Brandon Roy.
ESPN: Andrew Bynum played as though he was making a final statement ahead of Thursday’s All-Star reserves announcement.
The center scored a season-high 27 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to help the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Indiana Pacers 118-96 on Wednesday night.
Bynum finished second in the Western Conference voting at center with more than 980,000 votes. The fans voted Phoenix’s Amare Stoudemire in as the starter.
Lakers forward Pau Gasol said Bynum should be on the team. The coaches choose the reserves.
“There are a few guys on this team, Andrew is one of them, that has All-Star caliber potential,” Gasol said. “He would get my vote, absolutely. Right now, Andrew is definitely one of the top centers in the league.”
Bynum scored 22 points in the first half. Kobe Bryant took over in the second half and finished with a game-high 29 points to go with nine rebounds and seven assists.
Bynum scored 22 points in the first half. Kobe Bryant took over in the second half and finished with a game-high 29 points to go with nine rebounds and seven assists.
Continue reading ‘Kobe, Bynum set pace as Lakers win in Indiana’
Ya think?
L.A. Times: The Lakers got the rings and all the accolades that go with being NBA champions.
They did it by playing as one, by playing as a team in winning the title over the Orlando Magic in June.
In the eyes of Coach Phil Jackson, it’s not difficult to get his team to buy into the team concept again this season — if only because his players have seen what the results can be when they play as a collection and not individuals.
That was the case Tuesday night when the Lakers defeated the Washington Wizards, 115-103, at the Verizon Center.
Five Lakers scored in double figures.
Nine of the 10 Lakers who played scored.
It was a team effort, something Jackson believes they will continue to give this season.
“It’s got to start somewhere,” Jackson said. “That place is really difficult unless you have leadership. The first thing is your top player has to show the leadership that’s necessary, or make the sacrifices they make. In our situation, Kobe [Bryant] playing through injuries that are very likely injuries that players would take a week to two weeks off.”
Continue reading ‘Phil Jackson says teamwork is the key’
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