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Archive for the 'Postgame Comments' Category

Lakers’ skid in Portland continues…

Published by Jim Murdoc on April 9, 2008 in Postgame Comments. 40 Comments

ESPN: Though the Trail Blazers are out of the playoffs, that doesn’t mean they’re going quietly.

With the crowd at the Rose Garden chanting “Beat L.A!” Portland held off the Los Angeles Lakers 112-103 on Tuesday night.

Brandon Roy scored 23 points and matched his career high with 12 assists for Portland, which snapped a five-game losing streak. LaMarcus Aldridge added 22 points and 11 rebounds.

Channing Frye, starting in place of injured center Joel Przybilla, had a season-high 22 points and 11 rebounds.

“Coach said, ‘Go out and play with attitude and try to mess with some things in the West,’ and we did that tonight,” Roy said.

The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for the playoff-bound Lakers, fighting to finish atop the Pacific Division. They need three wins — or three Phoenix losses — to take the division for the first time since 2004. The Suns beat the Memphis Grizzlies 127-113 earlier Tuesday night.

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Lakers fend off Kings for fourth straight victory

Published by Jim Murdoc on April 6, 2008 in Postgame Comments. 26 Comments

ESPN: Kobe Bryant scored 29 points, Vladimir Radmanovic matched his season high with 21 and the Los Angeles Lakers stayed on track for the Pacific Division title with a 114-92 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Sunday night.

Radmanovic hit five 3-pointers and tied his career high with 14 rebounds, while Pau Gasol added 20 points and nine rebounds for the Lakers, who won their fourth straight. They snapped their longtime rivals’ four-game winning streak with an outstanding second half, including a 23-9 run in the third quarter led by three of Bryant’s four 3-pointers.

Although the Lakers still trail New Orleans by 1 1/2 games for the Western Conference lead, the win pushed Los Angeles (53-24) — which has the same record as San Antonio — two games ahead of Phoenix (51-26) in the Pacific standings with five games to play. The Lakers have 18 division titles, but none since 2004, Shaquille O’Neal’s last season with the club.

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Lakers qualify for postseason for 55th time in 60 seasons

Published by Jim Murdoc on April 4, 2008 in Postgame Comments. 26 Comments

ESPN: Lamar Odom scored a season-high 31 points, Kobe Bryant added 25 points and 10 rebounds, and the Los Angeles Lakers clinched a playoff berth Friday night with a 112-108 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.

The Lakers have qualified for the playoffs in 55 of their 60 seasons as a franchise, winning 14 NBA championships and 27 division titles — hoping for a 28th with a magic number of five.

Phil Jackson has made the playoffs in all 17 seasons as an NBA head coach — eight with the Lakers and nine with the Chicago Bulls. Jackson, whose nine NBA titles are tied with fellow Hall of Famer Red Auerbach, also holds the all-time mark for postseason victories with 179.

Pau Gasol had 25 points and seven assists for the Lakers, and Odom grabbed 10 rebounds. It was the sixth time this season that they have had three players with 20 or more points — all victories.

Gasol and reigning MVP Dirk Nowitzki both were playing their second game with their respective clubs since returning from ankle injuries. Gasol was 11-for-20 from the field and Nowitzki was 13-for-19.

Nowitzki led the Mavs with 27 points, Jason Terry scored 25 and Josh Howard added 23. Jason Kidd had 10 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. This was the Mavericks’ 10th loss that was decided by four points or less.

The Lakers won three of the four meetings with Dallas, reversing last year’s results when the Mavs won the season series for the first time since 1986-87 and only the second time overall.

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Gasol contributes 10 points in Lakers’ win over Portland

Published by Jim Murdoc on April 2, 2008 in Postgame Comments. 19 Comments

ESPN: Kobe Bryant scored 14 of his 36 points in the fourth quarter, Pau Gasol added 10 points in his first game in nearly three weeks and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Portland Trail Blazers 104-91 on Wednesday night.

Bryant also had 13 rebounds and seven assists for the Lakers (51-24), who trail New Orleans by 1½ games and San Antonio by one game in the Western Conference standings. The Hornets have eight games left, the Lakers and Spurs seven each.

Gasol, playing for the first time since spraining his left ankle March 14 and admittedly not fully healed, played nearly 32 minutes — far more than expected. He added six rebounds and seven assists.

“It’s going to be sore, there’s going to be pain,” he said before the game. “I just have to deal with it and get over it.”

The Lakers were 5-4 in his absence after going 15-4 in his first 19 games after Los Angeles acquired him from Memphis.

Derek Fisher scored 13 points, Lamar Odom had 12 points and eight rebounds, and Vladimir Radmanovic and Jordan Farmar added 10 points each for the Lakers.

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Kobe pours in 53, but hurt Lakers still fall to Grizz

Published by Jim Murdoc on March 28, 2008 in Postgame Comments. 40 Comments

ESPN: Rudy Gay led five players in double figures with 28 points and the Memphis Grizzlies beat the Los Angeles Lakers 114-111 despite 53 points by Kobe Bryant against the NBA’s worst road team Friday night.

The Lakers lost their second in a row to another of the NBA’s lesser teams, having been beaten by Charlotte on Wednesday night. The latest loss kept them from joining New Orleans and San Antonio in a three-way tie for the Western Conference lead.

Bryant scored 50 or more points for the 23rd time and the second this month. He had 52 against Dallas on March 2. The Lakers fell to 16-7 when he goes for that many.

He was limited to six points in the fourth quarter, when the Lakers nearly erased all of a 10-point deficit. He had 10 rebounds and one assist while taking 37 of the Lakers’ 94 shots. They attempted a franchise record 45 3-pointers, making 15.

Darko Milicic had 22 points and 12 rebounds, Hakim Warrick 16 points, Kyle Lowry 11 and Mike Miller 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Grizzlies, who are 6-30 on the road and 2-20 away from home against Western Conference teams.

The Grizzlies led by 10 early in the fourth, their largest lead of the game.

Sasha Vujacic hit a 3-pointer to cut the Lakers’ deficit to 109-106 with 3:03 remaining. Miller missed a 3-pointer, but the Lakers couldn’t convert on their end despite four attempts on the same possession, including one by Bryant.

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Bobcats build hole Kobe, Lakers can’t escape

Published by Jim Murdoc on March 26, 2008 in Postgame Comments. 28 Comments

ESPN: Jason Richardson had 34 points and 10 rebounds, and the Charlotte Hornets stunned the Los Angeles Lakers 108-95 on Wednesday night in a game where Kobe Bryant drew two technical fouls in a span of 29 seconds late in the fourth quarter and was ejected.

The loss dropped the Lakers (49-23) into a three-way tie for second place in the Western Conference with Houston and San Antonio. They trail the New Orleans Hornets by one game.

Matt Carroll added 18 points and Gerald Wallace had 15 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for the Bobcats (26-56), who won for just the second time in eight games and snapped a six-game road losing streak.

Raymond Felton added 13 points and 10 assists and Emeka Okafor had 11 points and 11 rebounds for Charlotte, which outrebounded the Lakers 52-40.

Bryant had 27 points and six rebounds before leaving with 3:40 left and the Bobcats leading 99-86. Lamar Odom had 18 points and nine rebounds, Ronnie Turiaf scored 12 and Sasha Vujacic and Luke Walton added 11 each for the Lakers.

Lakers center Pau Gasol missed his seventh straight game with a sprained left ankle. He said before the game he aggravated the injury earlier this week, and hopes to return by next Wednesday.

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Lakers finish of season sweep of Sonics

Published by Jim Murdoc on March 21, 2008 in Postgame Comments. 7 Comments

ESPN: Kobe Bryant scored 23 points, seven of his teammates also scored in double digits, and the Los Angeles Lakers beat Seattle 130-105 on Friday night, sending the SuperSonics to their 10th straight loss and completing a sweep of the four-game season series.

The Western Conference-leading Lakers returned to Staples Center from an arduous 2-2 road trip that concluded with victories over Dallas and Utah — who were a combined 58-8 at home before they got there. They never trailed in their sixth straight win over the Sonics, whose 16-53 record is the second-worst in the NBA.

Lakers center Pau Gasol, who sprained his left ankle during the opening game of the trip, missed his fourth straight contest. Friday’s signing of 33-year-old forward Ira Newble to a 10-day contract enabled coach Phil Jackson to dress 11 players and fortify a roster further handcuffed by lengthy injuries to Andrew Bynum, Trevor Ariza and Chris Mihm.

Luke Walton scored all of his 17 points in the fourth quarter while Bryant, Lamar Odom and Derek Fisher remained on the bench. All the Lakers’ starters scored in double digits, and the team is 14-1 when that happens.

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Lakers top Jazz, end 19-game home win streak

Published by Chris Manning on March 20, 2008 in Postgame Comments. 30 Comments

Pop that jersey Kobe. Lakers back in front as leaders in the West. And to quote Kobe, “All day mother F*****s, All day!”

ESPN: The Los Angeles Lakers quickly discouraged any Utah fans who hoped to see the Jazz set a team record for consecutive home wins.

Jazz fans had barely started booing Kobe Bryant before he and the Lakers made nine of their first 10 shots and were up by 20 before the end of the first quarter. Los Angeles held off every Utah rally from there and won 106-95 on Thursday night, ending the Jazz’s 19-game home winning streak.

“The important thing for us is to get off to a good start. We were able to do that and keep the crowd out of it for the most part,” said Bryant, who scored 27 as the Lakers finished a four-game road trip 2-2 and pulled slightly ahead of New Orleans for the best record in the Western Conference.

Lamar Odom had 21 points and 12 rebounds, Derek Fisher added 11 points and Vladimir Radmanovic scored 13 for the Lakers, who are the first team to win in Utah in 2008. Utah’s home winning streak ended with a pretty big thud as the Jazz were never able to get closer than 10 until the final few minutes.

“They went out and buried us right away,” Utah coach Jerry Sloan said.

The Jazz got within eight points down the stretch, but the Lakers didn’t let them any closer. One Utah fan marred the already ugly loss by throwing a beer on the court after a dunk by Odom with 21 seconds left.

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