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Dwight Howard gets fouled going to the basket.

The By The Numbers recap for the Lakers 108-79 win over the Detroit Pistons at Staples Center on Sunday. The Lakers are now 1-3, and play next at Utah on Wednesday night.

108
The amount of points the Lakers scored on Sunday night, their best offensive output of the season thus far. They also shot 51.9% from the floor and are shooting 50.3% through the first four games.

81
The amount of points the Lakers starters scored against the Pistons, with four of the five in double-figures, led by Dwight Howard’s 28 points on 12-14 from the field.

46
The percentage of threes the Lakers made Sunday, hitting 10-22 from beyond the arc. So far this season, the Lakers shooting from the 3-point line has been impressive at 40.6%, with Steve Blake leading the way hitting 5-8 for 62.5%.

35
The percentage that Detroit hit from the floor, making just 28-79 shots. Think about this…Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol, and Metta World Peace made 25 baskets by themselves.

32
The amount of minutes Kobe Bryant played Sunday, which makes all Laker fans happy. Kobe played 43 minutes Friday against the Clippers, and with a strained foot he doesn’t need to be logging so many minutes this early in the season. He got much needed time off against Detroit, only needing to take 10 shots as well.

28
The Lakers led at halftime on Sunday 62-34, which was easily their best performance in any half this season. They didn’t let up much in the second half, as they increased the lead to 36 at one point, before winning by 29.

15
The amount of turnovers committed by the Lakers Sunday. Might not seem like a big deal, but when a team commits 59 turnovers in their first three games, 15 sounds a lot better. Also keep in mind, many of those 15 came in garbage time with the game out of hand. The Lakers did protect the ball relatively well all night.

1
The Lakers’ current winning streak. Hey, have to start somewhere!

See you guys Wednesday after the Utah game.

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.

Link: Lakers vs. Nuggets Box Score

Kobe Bryant takes a jumper against the Mavericks.

There were five ejections and four technical fouls at Staples Center on Thursday night, but nothing could stop the Lakers methodical second half romp over the Dallas Mavericks 110-82, as they won the battle for second place in the Western Conference.

Kobe Bryant scored a game-high 28 points, and Andrew Bynum had 18 points and 13 rebounds as the Lakers moved their record to an NBA-best 16-1 since the All-Star break. They’ve also won eight straight.

In a playoff-like atmosphere, with the Lakers running away in the fourth quarter, the Mavs’ Jason Terry pushed Steve Blake under the basket, sparking a skirmish between the players on the court. 

Matt Barnes, Blake, Terry, and Brendan Haywood were all ejected, with Terry picking up a flagrant-2 foul.  Minutes later, Shannon Brown was ejected after another shoving match that followed a hard foul on Pau Gasol with the game well out of reach.

Neither of the incidents could take away what was a dominating performance by the world champs, who held Dallas to just 31 points in the second half, including closing the game on a 19-2 run. The two teams could face each at some point during the playoffs.

Gasol chipped in with 20 points and six rebounds, and Lamar Odom had 16 points and 11 rebounds off the bench, scoring 11 straight points at the end of the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth, that turned a 79-70 game into a 90-70 lead.   Ron Artest poured in 13 points.

The Lakers led a tight game 54-51 at halftime, and then slowly started to pull away late in the third quarter.  After Odom’s 11-0 run late in the game, Dallas responded after the first flare up to get to within 91-80.  Bryant was reinserted into the game to restore order, scoring six straight points and the game was never close again.

For the game, the Lakers shot 44.7% (38-85) from the field, and hit 28-39 (71.8%) from the foul line.  They outrebounded the Mavericks 52-47, and committed just seven turnovers.  Dallas shot a woeful 36.1% (30-83) from the floor, and a miserable 6-26 (23.1%) from beyond the arc. They scored just 12 points in the final quarter.

Dirk Nowitski led the visitors with 27 points and 13 rebounds, one of only three Mavs in double figures.  Peja Stojakovic had 13 and J.J. Barea had 10 points off the bench. Before getting tossed from the game, Terry hit just 2-9 shots for five points.  Nowitski was clearly the lone bright spot on this night.

The win put the Lakers 1.5 games ahead of Dallas for second place in the Western Conference, and two games ahead in the loss column.  They also hold the tiebreaker having beaten Dallas 2-1 this season.  They are also only 2.5 games behind the San Antonio Spurs for first in the West after Boston’s 107-97 in San Antonio Thursday.

The Lakers play tomorrow night in Utah against the struggling Jazz, having just finished a 7-0 homestand.  They’ll return back to Staples Center for a Sunday for an afternoon game against the surging Denver Nuggets.

Link: Lakers vs. Mavericks Box Score

Kobe Bryant drives hard to basket against Clippers.

It wasn’t a blowout, but the Lakers led wire-to-wire as they held off the Clippers 112-104 Friday night at Staples Center, to push their post-All-Star game record to 14-1.

Kobe Bryant had a game-high 37 points, coming off his season-high 42 points against Phoenix on Tuesday.  He hit 11-21 shots from the field, and went to the line 17 times, connecting on 14 of them.  He also had six and assists and four rebounds, and scored 12 points in the fourth quarter.

Pau Gasol, who scored 26 points and had eight rebounds, raised $26,000 for Japan relief as he donated $1,000 for every point he scored in the game.   Ron Artest had 15 points, five rebounds, three blocks, three steals, and played superb defense all night on the Clippers’ leading-scorer Eric Gordon, holding him to seven points on 3-14 from the field.

The Lakers jumped out fast on the Clips, taking a 30-14 lead late the in the first quarter.  The Clippers rallied in the second quarter and closed to 37-35, but never did get any closer in the first half.  The champs led at the break 57-48.

In the second half, the Lakers continued to maintain a healthy lead, pulling ahead by 12 on several occasions, only to see their hallway neighbors continue to battle back. After three the Lakers only led 85-80.

The Clippers kept it close in the fourth, closing the gap to two on several possessions.  With Lakers leading by four with 40 seconds left, Artest made a great defensive play in the open court, taking the ball away from rookie sensation Blake Griffin who was heading in for a dunk.  The game was sealed when Andrew Bynum tipped in a missed Derek Fisher free throw with under 20 seconds left.

Tempers flared again for the two teams, as Fisher and Clipper center got into a yelling match when Fisher threw out his elbow after a hard screen set on him by Kaman, in the final seconds.  Kaman appeared to tell Fisher he’d meet him in the parking lot after the game, as he was being ejected with two technical fouls.  Fisher was also assessed a technical.

Both teams shot the ball well from the floor.  The Lakers hit 50.0% (39-78) and the Clippers also hit half of their shots (42-84).  Neither team shot the three ball well, the Lakers went 6-18 (33.3%) and the Clips 5-17 (29.4%)  One of the big differences in the game was the Lakers going to the line 39 times, hitting 28, while the Clippers went 15-18 from the charity stripe.  The Lakers won the rebound battle, 41-34, and committed two less turnovers at 16-14.

For the Clippers, Mo Williams had a season-high 30 points and six assists, hitting 11-16 from the floor and 4-7 from the three-point line.  Griffin had a fairly quiet 22 points and only six rebounds, but did have a few highlight dunks, which as become the norm for him nightly.  Randy Foye had 12 off the bench, and Al-Farouq Aminu scored 11 points off the bench as well.

The Lakers moved their record to 52-20 as they won their sixth straight, and now lead the Dallas Mavericks by 1.5 games for second place in the Western Conference standings.  They also only trail the San Antonio Spurs by 5.0 games with 10 left to play.  They won their eighth straight game at Staples, and took the season series against the Clippers 3-1.

Los Angeles tries to continue their undefeated homestand against the New Orleans Hornets on Sunday.  The Hornets lost their leading-scorer David West to a torn ACL this week, so they will rely much more on All-Star point guard Chris Paul to pick up the scoring slack, as they battle for playoff position in the West.  The Hornets are currently in seventh place in the conference.

Link: Lakers vs. Clippers Box Score

Kobe Bryant drives to basket against Suns.

In one of the more-exciting games of the NBA season, the Lakers continued their post-All-Star game roll as they outlasted the Phoenix Suns in a three-overtime marathon, 139-137 at Staples Center on Tuesday night.

Kobe Bryant scored a season-high 42 points, including five in the closing minutes of the third overtime to get the Lakers their 13th win in 14 games since the break.  He just missed a triple-double, as he tallied 12 rebounds and nine assists in 48 minutes.

Ron Artest made two of the biggest plays of the game, as he stole the ball from Steve Nash and slammed home a dunk with 1:11 left to put the Lakers ahead 135-132. He then drilled an off-balance 15-footer with the shot clock winding down to put the Lakers up 137-132. 

After Channing Frye hit one of his five three-pointers to bring the Suns back to 137-135, Bryant hit a runner in the lane with 14 seconds left to put the Lakers up 139-135. The Suns scored two points in the final seconds, but had wasted too much time to give themselves a chance to win the game.

By the middle of the third quarter the game looked liked it would an easy victory, as the Lakers had pushed the lead to 89-68 on a Bryant shot from beyond the arc.  The Suns had gone cold from the three-point line, and it looked their erratic shooting would finally catch up to them.  But Steve Nash then hit back-to-back three-pointers to get the Suns within 15, and the run was on.

After a wild rally in the final quarter where the Suns were down nine with three minutes left, Grant Hill tied the game with 31 seconds left on a three from the corner.  After a Bryant miss, Phoenix then missed a chance to win the game in regulation on an errant shot  by Vince Carter.  They also had a chance to win the game in the second overtime, but Grant Hill was unable to get off a desperation heave at the buzzer.

Lots of players put up huge numbers for both teams in this offensive marathon.   Five players scored at least 20 points, six players had at least 10 rebounds, and 12 players scored in double figures.

Lamar Odom, starting for the suspended Andrew Bynum, put in a season-high 29 points and 16 rebounds on 13-22 from the field.  Pau Gasol had 24 points and 13 rebounds, and Ron Artest scored 18 points.

For the Suns, Frye scored a career-high 32 points and 14 rebounds, hitting 5-13 shots from deep.  Marcin Gortat had 24 points and 16 rebounds off the bench, and Nash had 19 points and 20 assists, playing over 49 minutes.  He was clearly gassed at the end of the game, as he turned the ball over several times in the third overtime, and most of his shots fell short.  Vince Carter scored 17 points but hit just 7-23 from the field.

The Lakers took 120 shots from the floor, making 53 for 44.2%.  They hit 11-27 (40.7%) from the three-point line and 22-25 (88.0%) from the foul line.  They only turned the ball over nine times.  A very low number for a game that was so up-and-down the court.  They also had 30 assists on their 53 baskets.  Los Angeles outrebounded Phoenix 56-52, and had 18 offensive rebounds against the smaller visitors, even without Bynum.

The Suns shot 51-106 (48.1%) from the floor and took an unbelievable 41 shots from beyond the arc, making 17 for 41.5%  That means the last two times they have played against the Lakers at Staples Center, they have made an incredible 37-81 (45.7.%) from distance.  They also had 34 assists on their 51 baskets.

In the end though, it’s another win for the champs, as they proved they are one of the most versatile teams in the league, being able to play a slowdown game like the 84-80 win against Portland on Sunday, or a shootout against a very up tempo Phoenix Suns.

This was the Lakers first three-overtime game at home since February 2, 1969 when they played the San Francisco Warriors.  The Lakers actually lost that game 122-117.

The champs next face the Clippers on Friday night at Staples of course.  The Lakers are the designated home team for the game, as they look to improve on their current 4-0 homestand.  They are 2-1 against their hallway neighbors this season, and beat them last on February 25th easily 108-95.

Link: Lakers vs. Suns Box Score

Kobe Bryant goes up for shot against Bulls.

Shannon Brown says he always wants to play well against the city he grew up in, Chicago.  On Tuesday night, he did just that, scoring 21 points off the bench, leading the Lakers to a tough 98-91 win over the Chicago Bulls at Staples Center.

In a game that was close throughout, Brown provided the spark off the bench, scoring 15 of his team-high 21 points in the second quarter, leaving the Lakers clinging to a 51-49 lead at the break. 

Lamar Odom had a strong game, scoring 21 points and grabbing eight rebounds, and Kobe Bryant added 20 and a team-high five assists as the Lakers won their fifth straight. Pau Gasol had a tough time, but did have a double-double with 12 points, 11 rebounds, and five blocked shots.

The Bulls were led by All-Star guard Derrick Rose, who tormented Laker guards all night, getting to the rim seemingly at well en route to a game-high 30 points, to go along with eight assists, and five rebounds.  Joakim Noah made life difficult under the rim for Pau Gasol all game long, scoring 19 points and grabbing 16 rebounds.  Former USC star Taj Gibson added 16 points and 12 rebounds.

With the Lakers falling behind 75-74 early in the fourth quarter, it was the bench that took over the game, not the starters.  Shannon Brown, Matt Barnes, and Steve Blake all hit three pointers (Blake hit two) during a stretch where the Lakers turned a one-point deficit into a 12-point lead at 95-83.   The Bulls got as close as six with two minutes left, but Pau Gasol’s tip-in off a Bryant miss with a little over a minute to go sealed the game for the Lakers, and pushed their record to 13-2.

For the game, the Lakers’ bench outscored the Bulls’ bench 39-10, highlighted by Brown’s 21 points.  Matt Barnes added 10 points, five rebounds, three assists, and a blocked shot.

The Lakers’ defense continues to get back to form, holding the Bulls to 39.5% from the field and 4-20 (20%) from the 3-point line.  The Lakers have held their last four opponents under 100 points, and have been dominate on the defensive end since the second half of the game in Milwaukee last Tuesday.  It was also only the second time in 15 games they did not score 100 points.

The Lakers’ next game is Friday night in Utah, as they face the new-look Jazz for the first time this season.  The Jazz recently came off a very impressive road trip that included several huge come-from-behind wins, highlighted by back-to-back victories in Miami and Orlando.

Link: Lakers vs. Bulls Box Score

Kobe Bryant scores two of his 20 points against Warriors.

It’s not even November yet, so it’s hard to make much of a 3-0 record, but the Lakers have started the season playing solid basketball, as they pounded the Golden St. Warriors 107-83 at Staples Center on Sunday night.

The game, played on Halloween night, must have felt like a nightmare for the Warriors who continue to struggle against the Lakers, losing 10 straight regular season contests.  The world champs dominated inside all night as they outrebounded the Warriors 55-42, and held the boys from the Bay Area to under 41% shooting from the field.  The Lakers led 34-14 after one quarter, and the Warriors never recovered, trailing by as much as 32 in the fourth.

Pau Gasol continued his strong start to the season with another double-double, leading everyone with 26 and 12 rebounds in under 35 minutes.  Kobe Bryant, who told reporters after the game that his knee was 100%, scored 20 points and grabbed seven boards, and got most of the night off in the blowout.  He played just 27 minutes.   Lamar Odom had another big game with 16 points and 14 rebounds, and Derek Fisher had a season-high 14 points.

Golden St.’s big offseason acquisition David Lee, was held scoreless in 19 minutes and grabbed just three rebounds, as the Lakers made it a point to keep him off the glass.  Monta Ellis led the visitors with 20 points, but struggled to find his rhythm as he was swarmed on defense all night.  Dorell Wright had a solid game with 18 points and five rebounds.  The Warriors played without guard Stephen Curry who is nursing a sore ankle.

The only real negative to the evening were the 20 turnovers the Lakers committed, which Phil Jackson saw as an area of concern that will need to be addressed.

The Lakers even found minutes for their two rookies, with both Devin Ebanks and Derrick Caracter scoring the first four points of their NBA careers during “garbage time” in the fourth quarter.

The Lakers’ next game will be Tuesday night at home against the Memphis Grizzlies, who have been without forward Zach Randolph since he took a hard fall and injured his back on opening night.

Link: Lakers vs. Warriors Box Score

The title marked a whirlwind year for Lakers, who rebounded from last year’s crushing defeat in Boston in Game 6 of the Finals, to a convincing 4-1 series win over Orlando this year. Kobe Bryant was named the Finals MVP, averaging 32.4 points and 7.4 assists for the five games. It also marked the first time Kobe has won the award, and he now has four NBA titles, his first since 2002.

Phil Jackson also set a milestone with the win, giving him 10 titles as a coach, finally passing the Celtics’ legendary Red Auerbach. It was Jackson’s first championship in seven years, ending the longest title-less stretch of his career. He was won 10 titles in his 19 years as a head coach, six with the Bulls and now four with the Lakers.

The win also gives the Laker franchise it’s 15th world title, second all-time in league history, and once again only two behind the Boston Celtics. They’ve now won 10 titles in Los Angeles, and Jerry Buss has nine as owner.

Besides Kobe’s heroics, the Lakers can also thank Derek Fisher for hitting two clutch 3-pointers in Game 4 that helped propel the team to a 3-1 series lead, and ultimately the title in Game 5. For the popular Fisher, he now joins Kobe with four titles, bringing his career full circle after returning to the Lakers in 2007.

Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom both rebounded from a sub-par Finals against the Celtics last year to help the Lakers dominate inside and control the Magic’s All-Star center Dwight Howard, who had trouble get untracked offensively for most of the series. It was the ultimate victory for the two players, who took their share of off-season criticism they were “too soft” to lead the Lakers up front to a title. How untrue that statement turned out to be.

Congrats to Laker fans everywhere! A parade celebrating the Lakers win will be on Wednesday, June 17 starting at 11 AM near Staples Center.

Details of the deal are sketchy, but it appears the Lakers are offering Lamar Odom for Artest, and forward Kenny Thomas. The Kings would love to get rid of Thomas’ $18 million salary over the next two years, but it’s questionable whether the Lakers would take that on considering they are already over the salary cap.

It is also very questionable whether the Kings would agree to make a trade with the Lakers considering the teams’ intense dislike for each other, and the fact they reside in the same division. Odom’s $14-million salary does come of the books after next season, which does make him an attractive trade piece.

It’s no secret that Artest likes the Lakers and is good friends with Kobe Bryant. The Lakers could definitely use his perimeter defense and tenacity on that end of the court. He’s also a dependable scorer and can hit from beyond the 3-point line.

Stay tuned for further developments if something should break.