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 takes shot against Hornets.

Kobe Bryant moved up to 9th place on the NBA’s scoring list, passing Oscar Robertson, as the Lakers made enough plays down the stretch to hold off the New Orleans Hornets 101-97 on Friday at Staples Center.

Bryant scored a game-high 25 points, putting him at 26,720 for his career.  He surpassed the Big O’s mark of 27,210 with a short jumper inside the paint with just over one minute left in third quarter.  He already passed Dominique Wilkins to put himself inside the top 10 earlier in the week against the Detroit Pistons.

The game was close all night, as the Lakers had a 10-point lead momentarily in the fourth quarter, but never had a double-digit otherwise.  They led at halftime 51-46, but the Hornets came out strong defensively early in the third quarter, and took a brief 62-61 lead with about four minutes left in the period.

The Lakers responded and got the lead back up to seven at 80-73 to start the fourth quarter.  After Lamar Odom hit a three-pointer to make it 87-77 with just under eight minutes left, the Hornets responded with six straight points, but could never get closer than three.  Bryant then hit two baskets in the final two minutes, and the Lakers were able to make enough free throws down the stretch for the win.

Pau Gasol rebounded from a sub-par game in Phoenix on Wednesday, to score 21 points, grab 13 rebounds, and dish out seven assists, hitting 6-8 from the floor.  Lamar Odom, playing with a sore left shoulder, didn’t appear to be bothered by the injury, scoring 17 points, to go along with 13 rebounds.  Andrew Bynum chipped in with 17 points, five rebounds, and three blocked shots, as the Lakers dominated the scoring in the paint.

The Lakers, who shot over 60% in the first half from the field, finished the game at 50.6% (39-77), and 5-12 from beyond the arc.  They also limited their turnovers, which has plagued them recently.  On Friday, they had just 11 to the Hornets’ 12.  The Lakers held New Orleans to 43.4% (33-76) shooting from the floor, although the Hornets did hit 8-19 from the three point line.

Everything wasn’t all rosy though for the world champs, as Matt Barnes sprained his knee early in the first half.  And while he did score a basket and continue to play a little longer, he did eventually leave the game, and an MRI is scheduled tomorrow to assess the severity of the injury.

Also, early in the fourth quarter, Steve Blake turned an ankle when he landed on Andrew Bynum’s foot.  Blake left the court, had his ankle wrapped, and did return to the bench in uniform.

The Hornets were led by David West’s 23 points and 12 rebounds.  Trevor Ariza and Marco Belinelli both scored 17 points, and Emeka Okafor had 13 points and 13 rebounds.  Chris Paul took just six shots, scoring 12 points, but he did have a game-high 10 assists.

The Lakers’ next game is against Amar’e Stoudemire and the much-improved New York Knicks at Staples Center on Sunday.  This will be the first meeting between the new-look Knicks and the Lakers this season.  The Knicks knocked off Stoudemire’s old team, the Phoenix Suns, on Friday easily 121-96.

Link: Lakers vs. Hornets Box Score

Pau Gasol dunks over Hasheem Thabeet of Memphis.

It was another short night for the starters, as the Lakers dominated from start to finish, and dispatched the Memphis Grizzlies 124-105 at Staples Center on Tuesday night.

For the second straight game, the Lakers bench saw extensive action as the contest was blowout by early in the second quarter.   Kobe Bryant scored all of his team-high 23 points in the first half, and played just 25 minutes.

In the battle of the Gasol brothers, Pau, coming off his Western Conference Player-of-the-Week award, easily won this match-up scoring 21 points, grabbing 13 rebounds, and dishing out five assists.  Marc managed 11 points and eight rebounds, but was a non-factor most of the night as the game got out of hand early.

The Lakers led 34-23 after one, and turned up the offense in the second quarter, led by Bryant’s 14 points in the period, to take a 73-46 lead into halftime.  The Grizzlies never got closer than 14 points in the second half,  and the Laker reserves maintained the cushion throughout, even briefly pushing the lead up to  32.  Matt Barnes led three Lakers in double-figures off the bench with 16 points and 14 rebounds.  Shannon Brown scored 13, including 3-3 from the 3-point line, and Steve Blake added 10.  The Lakers’ bench outscored the Grizzlies’ 50-30.

Lamar Odom scored 17 on 6-7 shooting, including eight rebounds, six assists, and a steal.  Odom is averaging over 16 points and 12 rebounds to start the season.

Memphis was led by Rudy Gay’s 30 points, 12-18 from the field, and 3-3 from behind the arc.  Mike Conley had 16 points and eight assists after signing a 5-year/$45 million extension earlier in the day.   O.J. Mayo struggled from the floor scoring only eight points, on 3-11 shooting.  He also had his troubles with Bryant on the offensive end, which has been a familiar story for the third-year pro when he has played against the Lakers.

All-Star forward Zach Randolph again sat out for the Grizzlies with a sore back injured on opening night.  Memphis definitely missed his presence offensively and on the glass, as they were outrebounded 59-36.

The Lakers shot 51.2% from the field, and 14-23 (60.9%) from the 3-point line for the game, but again turned the ball over far too many times with 19.  They had 20 turnovers two nights earlier in a blowout win against Golden St.

The Lakers play their first back-to-back games of the season as they take on the Sacramento Kings in Sacramento tomorrow night.  The Kings are playing well at 3-1, and are coming off a win over Toronto, where they rallied from a 17-point first quarter deficit on Monday at home.

Link: Lakers vs. Memphis Box Score

Here is a good article on Blake http://www.ocregister.com/articles/steve-257796-blake-deceived.html