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Lakers Lay Another Egg…Still Winless at 0-3
11.03.12
Kobe battles through double-team against Clippers.
The By The Numbers recap for the Lakers 105-95 loss to the Clippers at Staples Center on Friday. The Lakers are now 0-3, and next play home to Detroit on Sunday.
1,725
The amount of steals Kobe Bryant has in his Lakers career, after picking one up against the Clippers. He passed Magic Johnson for first all-time in Lakers’ history.
107
The number of points Lakers’ opponents are averaging through the first three games of the season.
59
The number of turnovers the Lakers have committed in the first three games this season, including 45 combined in the last two against Portland and the Clippers.
48
The number of points the Lakers’ bench has scored in the first three games of the season. No player has yet to score in double-figures off the bench either.
40
The number of points Kobe Bryant scored on Friday, on a brilliant 14-23 from the field and 10-10 from the foul line. Problem was he got little help, as three Laker starters had at least five fouls, including Dwight Howard. Kobe is shooting an amazing 61.4% from the field, and 94.1% from the line through the first three games.
34
The number of years since the Lakers last started a season 0-3. You want to know how that season ended? Here’s a hint, not with a championship. Magic Johnson was drafted #1 by the Lakers the next season, and the rest is history.
20
The number of points Steve Nash and Antawn Jamison have scored combined this season. Granted Nash didn’t play on Friday night, but it is highly unlikely that anyone saw those numbers coming.
11
The number of assists that leads the Lakers. While that number certainly isn’t impressive to begin with, what’s really disturbing is that Steve Nash isn’t the guy that has them. Both Pau Gasol and Steve Blake lead the team with those 11 assists. Nash has just eight so far this season in his two games.
Let’s hope next game’s numbers are a lot more fun to talk about, besides Kobe’s record steal of course.
Ugly Start
12.27.11
Usually I’ll write some recaps of the games as the season progresses, but after the first two games of the 2011-12 season, there’s really not much positive to say for the Lakers. Hence I haven’t felt like writing all that much. Of course box scores and stats have been updated as they always will be, although that has been a chore too after losses.
There’s really not much to say so far. The Lakers blew Christmas Day’s game against Bulls with some inexplicable decision-making down the stretch, as well as four costly missed free throws. They couldn’t have helped the Bulls more unless they put the ball in the basket for them.
Monday’s game in Sacramento wasn’t much better. The Lakers never found any rhythm, and when they finally got to within two in the fourth quarter at 89-87, they allowed Marcus Thornton a wide-open three-pointer and that was pretty much that.
Two really ugly losses for different reasons. Hopefully tonight against Utah will finally allow the Lakers to right the ship, but right now it’s difficult to know what team will show up. Hoping this is just an early season bump in the road with the short training camp, new players, and new coaching staff.
Trying to stay positive!
Lakers Winning Streak Ends at Nine
04.04.11
Kobe Bryant forcing his way for a shot against Nuggets.
The Lakers played sloppy, shot the ball poorly, Pau Gasol hurt his knee, and they lost the services of Andrew Bynum late. All of that added up to a disappointing 95-90 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Sunday afternoon at Staples Center.
Kobe Bryant scored 28 points, but shot just 10-27 from the floor, and was clearly bothered by the Nuggets’ aggressive defense against him, and the lack of foul calls.
His frustration boiled over and he picked up his 13th technical foul in the second quarter after slamming the court with his hand after a missed shot. He also missed several shots in the fourth quarter, including a key baseline jumper in the final moments with the game still on the line.
The Lakers also got a huge scare when Gasol went down clutching his knee after taking a hard foul on a made basket in the third quarter. He briefly went to the locker room, but did return to finish the game. Team officials have said he will have a precautionary MRI on Monday. Gasol finished the game with 16 points and 12 rebounds, but clearly didn’t have the same impact on the game after injuring his knee.
Bynum also left the game Sunday with seven minutes left after tweaking his knee on a collision with Lamar Odom. He appeared to grab his knee on the bench, but said after the game he was fine and expects to play on Tuesday against Utah. He scored eight points and grabbed a game-high 16 rebounds.
The Lakers led 47-40 at halftime in a very uneven game, with neither team shooting the ball well. The second half was a grind, the Lakers held the lead late in the third until Denver went on a run, and briefly grabbed the advantage. The score was tied at 69 at the end of the quarter.
The Lakers opened up a 75-69 lead early in the fourth, but the Nuggets took over from there. Point guard Raymond Felton scored all 16 of his points in the second half, including several key buckets down the stretch to keep Denver ahead.
With Denver up 91-83, the Lakers scored four straight and had the ball with under a minute left, but Bryant missed a tough baseline shot. The Nuggets split two free throws to go up 92-87. Odom, who had 17 points and seven rebounds off the bench, hit a three-pointer with 16 seconds left to bring the Lakers to within two. After Nene made his first free throw, he missed the second, and Kenyon Martin forced Odom under the basket to grab the putback, which effectively closed the door on the Lakers’ winning streak.
For the game the Lakers shot just 42.9% (36-84) from the floor and 4-18 (22.2%) from beyond the arc. They outrebounded Denver 45-44, but were undone by the 20 turnovers they committed. The Nuggets shot just 43.9% (36-82) from the field themselves, and turned the ball over 17 times as well.
Danilo Gallanari led the Nuggets with 22 points and seven rebounds. Kenyon Martin had 18 points and eight rebounds, and Nene scored 12 to go along with seven boards.
The loss dropped the Lakers 2.5 behind the Spurs for first in the Western Conference with six games left. The Lakers are now 17-2 since the All-Star break.
The champs’ next game is Tuesday night at Staples Center against the Utah Jazz, who were eliminated from the playoff race on Friday by the Lakers. After Tuesday’s game, the Lakers go on the road at Golden St. on Wednesday, and then Portland on Friday.
Kobe Gets Lakers Past Celtics
02.11.11
Kobe Bryant drives to hoop against Celtics.
Ray Allen may have gotten the biggest cheers for his record-setting night, but Kobe Bryant got the last laugh, as the Lakers rallied from 15 points down to beat the Boston Celtics 92-86 at the TD Garden on Thursday night.
Bryant scored 20 of his game-high 23 points in the second half, including eight in the fourth quarter, as the Lakers avenged a very poor 109-96 loss they suffered against the Celtics two weeks ago at Staples Center.
The game got off to a rocky start for the the champs, as they shot poorly early, and Ray Allen torched them for 12 points in the first quarter, including his 2,561st three-pointer that put him past Reggie Miller as the league’s all-time leader in field goals beyond the arc. But Allen struggled after the first quarter, as the Lakers worked hard to run him off the three-point line, and he finished the game with 20 points but just 3-8 from deep.
The Lakers trailed 37-22 early in the second quarter, before the bench helped to chip away at the lead led by Lamar Odom and Shannon Brown. A 10-0 spurt late in the quarter pulled the Lakers to within eight at 53-45 at halftime.
In the second half, the Lakers again had a 10-0 run to start the half, and took their first lead of the game at 61-60. The teams went back and forth for most of the third quarter, with the Lakers holding a slim 72-68 going into the fourth quarter.
With Bryant on the bench to start the fourth, Lamar Odom hit a three-pointer, Brown followed up a miss with a wild putback to give the Lakers a 77-68 lead. The Celtics put their starters back in, and got the game to within 82-79, but Bryant hit several crucial baskets down the stretch, including a 12-footer with 54 seconds left that sealed the win.
The win was easily the Lakers’ biggest of the season, as they have struggled both home and away with the league’s elite teams. The Celtics did play without Shaquille O’Neal again, and lost Nate Robinson early in the game, but did have their four All-Stars.
Pau Gasol rebounded from a poor performance against Boston in the last meeting, to score 20 points and grab 10 rebounds. Andrew Bynum was a force down low on both sides of the ball, scoring 16 points to go along with nine rebounds. Shannon Brown had 12 off the bench, and Lamar Odom chipped in with 10 points and a game-high 12 boards.
The Lakers managed to shoot a solid 47.9.% (35-73) from the floor, and outrebounded the Celtics 47-36. Boston, who is the only NBA team that shoots over 50% from the floor, were held to 40.2% (33-82) from the field and just 5-16 (31.3%) from the three-point line. Los Angeles also had 20 assists in the game, doubling the paltry 10 they had in the first meeting.
Besides Allen’s 20 points, Paul Pierce had 15 points on just 6-15 from the floor, Rajon Rondo had 12 points and 10 assists, and Kevin Garnett added 10 points and 11 rebounds, but hit just 4-13 from the floor.
The Lakers are now 3-0 on their current seven-game road trip, but are in the midst of playing four games in five nights. They play tomorrow night in New York against the Knicks, for the team’s second and final meeting this season. The Lakers won the first match up easily 109-87 at Staples Center back on January 9th. Bryant led the way that night with 27 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists.
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