Tonight, the Lakers trailed most of the first half and were down by 4 after two periods. But unlike last night, they came out and owned the 3rd quarter with a 23-9 run that gave them a lead they wouldn't let go of. Tonight it was they who shot 57% in the period, while the opponent shot just 19%.
After scoring 19 points by halftime, Kobe added 14 more in the 3rd on 6-9 shoting. The starters played most of the frame, with Lamar Odom adding 5 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and Kwame Brown 4 points, 5 rebounds, and a block.
In the 4th, the Sonics closed to within 6 points. But the Lakers put up another big run to put the game away. Another 10 for Kobe, and he had good help off the bench from Luke Walton and Ronny Turiaf. In the end it was defense that changed the game in the Lakers favor. After shooting 46% for 56 points after two periods, Seattle hit just 30% for 37 in the second half.
Kobe finished with 43 points, hitting 17-38 shots, grabbing 5 boards, dishing 4 assists, a block, a steal, but 6 turnovers. Kwame Brown totalled 12 points and 13 rebounds. Lamar Odom had 12 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, and a turnover. Smush Parker had 10 on just 3-13 shooting, with 7 assists, 3 steals, ablock, and a turnover. Luke Walton played 29 minutes with 8 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, as steal, and 2 turnovers. And Ronny Turiaf made the most of his 16 minutes with 6 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, a block, and a turnover.
Mar. 30, 2006
Disaster In The 3rd
San Antonio 96 LA Lakers 85
Down by only 1 point at the half, the Lakers started the 3rd quarter of tonight's game with a 9-2 run. Things were looking up. Unfortunately, that's when the offense dried up and the defense completely fell apart resulting in a huge 30-8 run by the Spurs. They had stayed close despite defensive problems in the first two periods, but their luck didn't hold. They shot just 35% in the 3rd while San Antonio shot 62%.
For the game, they were fairly even in most categories. Except for shooting (47% to 40%), and consequently assists (25 to 14). It just took one bad quarter to ruin the game. They did make a run early in the 4th, behind Luke Walton and Lamar Odom, to get within 7 of the lead. But a 11-5 run by the Spurs ended all hope.
Kobe Bryant scored what is for him a very low 23 points on 9-26 shots, to go with 7 rebounds and 6 turnovers. Lamar Odom had 13 points and 6 rebounds. Kwame Brown scored 9 and grabbed 10 rebounds. Off the bench, Luke 10 and 5, while Sasha Vujacic scored 11.
Mar. 26, 2006
Second Half Defense
New Orleans OKC 94 LA Lakers 105
At halftime tonight, the Lakers had scored 62 points on 58% shooting. Problem was, the Hornets scored 60 points on 56% shooting. Very little defense was being played by either team, and the one that picked it up in the second half would get the win. Fortunately that was the Lakers. They shot a respectable 41% to score 43 points, while they held New Orleans to only 33% and just 34 points.
The first two quarters was a swap of runs and lots of scoring. Brian Cook lead the way in the 1st quarter with 9 points, while in the 2nd Kobe Bryant scored 14 and Kwame Brown returned from a bloody nose to score 10.
A 15-6 run in the 3rd quarter was point of separation. Lamar Odom scored 12 in the period, and Kwame grabbed 5 rebounds and blocked 2 shots. The Hornets had the final run in the 4th, but the Lakers held them off with the help of Luke Walton and Devean George off the bench.
The Lakers were out rebounded 45 to 38, and had only 4 offensive the whole game. I guess when you shoot better than 50% you don't need that many. And it didn't hurt that the Lakers went to the line 49 times! Even though they only made 69% of them, the result was 34 points. Not coincidentally, the Hornets had 31 fouls, 19 in the second half. They clearly had trouble on defense in the later stages of the game and just started grabbing.
Once again, Kobe was the high scorer with 30 points to go with 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, and 4 turnovers. Once again Lamar was close behind with 23 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 block, and 4 turnovers. Once again Kwame had a very nice game with 17 points (on 7-7 shooting) and 6 rebounds, an assist, 2 blocks, 0 turnovers. Brian scored 12 with 5 rebounds, and Smush Parker had 5 rebounds and 8 assists to go with his 5 points.
Mar. 24, 2006
Gutting One Out
Milwaukee 96 LA Lakers 101
A very strong start to this one. In the 1st quarter, Kobe Bryant scored 17, Kwame Brown 9 with 4 rebounds, and everyone played defense as the Bucks shot just 38% to the Lakers 54%. The Lakers lead by 13.
But maybe it was too easy of a start. The Lakers seemed to let their guard down after that and it became a dog fight. A 26-10 Milwaukee run in the 2nd quarter gave them a 4-point halftime lead. And they extended that lead to 8 by the mid-3rd quarter.
Then came the key point in the game as the Lakers went a 15-0 run to regain the lead for good. Kobe added another 8 points, and Lamar scored 9 with 3 rebounds. The 4th quarter saw just two small runs by Milwaukee, and they got with 2 points midway through. The Lakers made just enough stops and key hoops to keep the lead to the end. Another 12 points for Kobe and steals by Devean George and Smush Parker were big factors.
In a close game with playoff implications (as they all are now), it was nice to see the Lakers hit 23-28 of their free throws for 82.1%. Since the Bucks hit 18-26 for 69.2%, that was a difference maker tonight.
Kobe finished with 43 points, 5 rebounds, 2 asssists, and 4 turnovers. Lamar Odom had 16, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 turnovers. Kwame Brown stepped up again and scored 16 points and grabbed 9 rebounds, along with his good post defense. And Smush have a very good game with 12 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals, and 4 turnovers.
Mar. 22, 2006
Kwamenation
Sacramento 80 LA Lakers 87
While having not played at a high level most of the season, Kwame Brown exceed expectations tonight. In 41 minutes of play he totalled 21 points on 8-12 shots, 12 rebounds, 3 assits, a block, a steal, a turnover, and just 2 fouls. And he was also important to the Lakers defense that stymied the Kings.
They got off to a huge start with a 27-11 run that dominated the 1st quarter with some of that defense. Sacramento hit just 6-17 in the period, and the Lakers had 5 steals that lead to easy points. Kobe Bryant hit all 5 of his shots for 10 points and had 3 each of rebounds, assists, and steals.
The Kings kept in reach by putting together a 16-6 run in the latter 2nd quarter, and trailed by 13 at the half. In the 3rd, the Lakers increased their lead by 1 after swapping a few small runs. It was in the 4th that Sacramento gradually gained on the lead until they were down by only 5 with 1 minute to play. A hoop by Kobe at the 0:40 mark put the lead back to 7 where it stayed.
Scoring only 87 is fine if you only allow the opponent 80. You must be playing some good defense. All the team stats were fairly even, except for 3-point shots were the Lakers hit 6-14 (42.9%) to the Kings 5-18 (27.8%).
In addition to Kwame, the Lakers did get some others to contribute. Kobe finished with 28 points on 11-20 shots, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, and 4 turnovers. Lamar Odom scored 13 with 8 rebounds and 8 assits, a block, 4 steals, and 1 turnover. And Smush Parker added 10 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 2 turnovers.
Mar. 20, 2006
Avoiding Another Letdown
LA Lakers 105 Boston 97
Like last game, the Lakers looked strong in the first half tonight in Boston and lead by 16 points after two periods. And although the Celtics made a few runs at them, the Lakers hit enough shots and got enough stops so that they never relinquished the lead.
A 14-2 run near the end of the 2nd quarter gave the Lakers their biggest lead at 19. They shot 50% for the half while Boston shot just 33%. Things changed after halftime, but not so bad as some other recent games. The Celtics warmed up to 53% while the Lakers still shot 45%.
After maintaining a good lead most of the 3rd quarter, the Lakers changed their normal pattern, and gave Kobe Bryant a rest before the 4th. That's when Boston went on a 8-0 run to narrow the lead to just 6. But Kobe returned in the final period to score 16 points and prevent any serious push by the Celtics.
Kobe finished with 43 points on 18 of 39 shots, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 5 steals, and 2 turnovers. Lamar Odom contributed 17 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, but did have 7 turnovers. Smush Parker finished with 14 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, a steal, and a turnover. Kwame Brown had a decent game with 11 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists. Off the bench, the Lakers got good support form Luke Walton and Devean George.
Mar. 19, 2006
Second Half Slump
LA Lakers 95 Cleveland 96
Everything looked good in the first half. The Lakers dominated the 1st quarter with a 24-11 run and lead by 14 points at the half. Kobe Bryant went to the locker room with 24 points, Smush Parker had 13, and Lamar Odom had 13 and 7 assists. As a team they were shooting 63.4% while Cleveland hit 46.3%.
But it slowly started slipping away from them after halftime. After only two minor runs in the 2nd quarter, the Cavaliers started the 3rd quarter 16-5 and were only 3 back of the lead. The Lakers managed to build it back up to 15 points early in the 4th, only to see the Cavs go on an exetended 25-6 run to take their first lead of the game. They outscored the 4-1 the rest of the way, comming up 1 point short.
The Lakers couldn't buy a hoop in the second half as they hit only 37.1%. Add to that only 1 offensive rebound by the entire team for the whole game. And they had problems on defense as well, with Clevelend heating up to 53.1% shooting.
Kobe finished with 38 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, a block, and 3 turnovers. Yet another strong game from Lamar with 25 points, 8 assists, 9 rebounds, 3 steals, and no turnovers. And Smush totalled 14 points, 3 rebounds, and 5 assists. Not a whole lot of help from the bench this game.
Mar. 17, 2006
Turnovers
LA Lakers 89 New Jersey 92
In the second close game in a row, the Lakers did almost everything right except keep track of the ball. Althought they shot 48.6% and outrebounded the Nets 42 to 31, their 21 turnovers killed them.
The game started with an early 12-2 run by the Lakers, but New Jersey resonded 10-0. That's pertty much how the first half went. The Lakers went into the half up by 5, with 9 turnovers to the Net's 8.
But they made 9 more turnovers in 3rd quarter alone, with a 9-0 New Jersey spurt at the start the only run of the period. It wasn't until late in th 4th that the Lakers made a charge that came up a little short. They made 12 turnovers in the second half to only 5 by the Nets.
Kobe Bryant scored 24 points with 11 assists, but only hit 9 of 24 shots and made 7 turnovers. Lamar Odom socred 18 with 13 rebounds and 6 assists, but also had 4 turnovers. Smush Parker had 13 points and 9 rebounds, but another 4 turnovers. Brian Cook scored 11 on 4 of 6 shots with 4 rebounds. And the bench was lead by Luke Walton's 11 points and 6 rebounds.
Mar. 15, 2006
Seesaw
Minnesota 89 LA Lakers 92
With the lead no bigger than 9 points by either team, the Lakers and TWolves had a real back and forth struggle tonight. In the end, the Lakers got the win by playing just enough defense (more than they had in the last two games) and grabbing enough rebounds to make up for all their turnovers.
The first quarter was marred by 9 Laker turnovers. Ronny Turiaf got his first career start and he played very nervously, losing the ball 3 times himself in 10 minutes. After giving up a 18-11 run in the 1st quarter, Lamar Odom and the 2nd unit responded with an 11-2 spurt in the 2nd to gain a tie. Lamar lead their scoring in the first half with 16 points
The two teams exechanged runs and the lead serveral times, until the Lakers 5-0 run late in the 4th gave them the lead for good. Kobe Bryant stepped up his production in the second half with 19 points. The keys for the Lakers tonight were a little defense mixed with some very good rebounding. They grabbed 12 to Minnesota's 4 in the final period alone, 45 to 32 for the game, and 15 to 8 offensive.
Lamar finished with 20 points, 12 rebounds, and 8 assists. Kobe had 25 points and 3 assists. A nice game for Kwame Brown with 13 points and 9 rebounds. And Smush Parker scored 12, mainly driving to the hoop.
Off the bench, Luke Walton scored 9 points and grabbed 7 rebounds, 5 of those offensive. Brian Cook played just the 12 minutes of the 3rd quarter and scored 6 with 7 rebounds. Sasha Vujacic scored 5 and Andrew Bynum had 2 blocks in 10 minutes of play.
Mar. 14, 2006
Can't Guard A Cow
LA Lakers 98 Sacramento 114
Despite his 30 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists, there are some who will blame this loss on Kobe Bryant because he only hit 12 of 28 shots. Well, no matter how well Kobe and the rest of the team shoots, they aren't going to win many games in which they can't defend the hoop. In fact the Lakers as a team shot 46.3%, which is better than their season average of 44.9%. So I think it's pretty apparent defense is the problem.
Things started out well as Lamar Odom scored 14 in the 1st quarter and the Lakers put together 17-4 run and lead by 7 going into the 2nd. But that period started off 17-2 Kings, and the Lakers never saw the lead again. They got within 2 early in the 4th, only to see Sacramento put the game away with a 23-9 run. The Lakers allowed 114 points on 54.2% shooting, as the Kings, like the Sonics before them, went on layup drills. And only one block by the Lakers the whole game.
Another good game by Lamar, who finished with 24 points, 6 rebounds, and 7 assists. Smush Parker added 15 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists. But those two combined for 10 turnovers. Kwame Brown, starting for Chris Mihm, had a decent 10 points and 8 rebounds.
Mar. 12, 2006
Inconsistent Defense
Seattle 120 LA Lakers 113
When you score 113 points, with 3 players scoring over 20 and 2 more over 10, you should win the game. It has been noted that the problem with this season's Lakers is inconsistency. And this game showed that this problem is mostly on defense.
One game after holding the Spurs to 92 points on 46% shooting, the Lakers came home to allow 120 points on 59% shooting to the Supersonics. Trailing by 9 at the half, the Lakers started the 3rd quarter strongly, going on a 19-7 run to tie the game. But after that point, Seatle was continually able to score easily inside and kept the lead the rest of the way. The Lakers stayed close, getting within 4-points in the mid-4th quarter. But they never got enough stops.
Kobe Bryant had an off game, as he hit only 8 of 29 shots for 22 points, with 5 rebounds, 7 assists, and 5 turnovers. Yet another strong game from Lamar Odom with 21 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steals. Until he twisted his ankle, Chris Mihm had one of his best games with 20 points, 12 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Smush Parker added 15 points and 5 assists.
Off the bench, the Lakers were lead in the 4th quarter by Luke Walton. He scored 10 points and grabbed 5 rebounds in the period, and finished with 17 points on 7-7 shooting.
So even with Kobe's sub-par game, the Lakers produced enough offense to win if they had only been able to play defense like they did Friday night.
Mar. 10, 2006
One Good Run
LA Lakers 100 San Antonio 92
A complete reversal of the outcome a week ago between these two teams. This time the Lakers came up with the the big run and held on for the win.
They stated the game off right with a 9-2 run, but still trailed by 2 after one period. It was in the 2nd quarter that the Lakers put together a long 26-7 run, and never trailed again. Kobe Bryant scored 13 points in the period, along with good contributions from Kwame Brown, Luke Walton, Smush Parker, and Lamar Odome. The Lakers had no runs in the second half, but more importantly prevented any big ones by the Spurs. No letdown tonight, as they did a good job of protecting the lead.
It was a good team effort, with 5 players scoring in double figures. Kobe finished with 29 points, 4 rebouds, 4 assists, 2 steals. Another one of Lamar's near triple-doubles (13 points, 8 rebounds, 9 assists). Smush scored 18 with 3 steals. Off the bench, they got big games from Luke Walton (13 points and 10 rebounds), and Kwame Brown (10 points, 8 rebounds).
Key team stats include 75% free throw shooting, 43 to 35 rebounds, 11 to 5 offensive rebounds, only 8 turnovers, and a nice low 13 3-point attempts.
Mar. 8, 2006
Big Win In The Big Easy
LA Lakers 113 New Orleans OKC 107
The Lakers took part in the first Hornets home game in the City of New Orleans since hurricane Katrina and came out of it tied for seventh in the Western Conference. It wasn't easy though, and required a big run late in the 4th quarter.
Kobe Bryant was 5 of 22 from the field for the first three periods, then hit 7 of 11 for 18 points in the 4th. Behind him the Lakers went on a 22-8 run in the second half of the final period and won by 6. Smush Parker had a key steal late in that run, resulting in a Lamar Odom dunk and a 5-point lead.
Those were the big three for the Lakers tonight. Kobe finished with 40 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 steal. Lamar had a huge game with 18 points, 18 rebounds, and 6 asssists. And Smush scored 16 with 7 assists and 5 big steals. Chris Mihm contributed 9 points and 8 rebounds. Off the bench, they got good minutes from Sasha Vujacic and Luke Walton.
The Lakers did have a 6-point lead at the half, but had their all too familiar slow start to the 3rd quarter and watched the Hornets go on a 24-11 run. This was part of a not very good defensive performance as they did allow 107 points on 48.8% shooting for the game. They must improve their as they can't rely on shooting 51.3% from the field nor 43.8% from beyond the arc.
Mar. 6, 2006
One Bad Run
San Antonio 103 LA Lakers 96
Playing the team with the second best record in the league, after beating the team with the best record two nights ago, the Lakers once again displayed the effort and intensity that has sometimes been missing this season. That is, except for one stretch early in the second half.
Lead by Kobe Bryant's 16 first half points, the Lakers lead by 6 after one period and by 2 going into the half. The defense tightened up in the 2nd quarter and things were looking good. But the wheels came off early in the 3rd quarter with a 19-2 Spurs run. Both their offense and defense were absent for 4.5 minutes, and they never recovered from it.
After scoring 10 more in the 3rd, Kobe added 17 more in the 4th quarter to help trim an 18-point defecit by 11. But he couldn't do it all by himself. Kobe finished with 43 points, 17 of 32 shooting, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists. Lamar Odom was the only other Laker in double figuers with 13 points to go with his 7 rebounds and 4 assists.
In the end, it was the defensve lapse that hurt the Lakers more than anything. San Antonio shot 52.4% from the field, and 52.2% from 3-point range. If they had been able to get a few stops in during that 3rd quarter run, things might have been different.
Mar. 4, 2006
EFFORT
Detroit 94 LA Lakers 105
After a surviving an early run in the first quarter and comming out of it with a lead, I said I didn't care if the Lakers won this game as long as they continued to give that effort. Well they gave the effort, and got the win.
Kobe Bryant scored 15 in period 1, and Lamar Odom also started the game off hot with 9 and 5 assists. The Lakers lead 32-29 going into the 2nd. That's when the Pistons stated a slow separation with three quick runs, and lead by 7 at the half. Chris Mihm scored 8 with 3 rebounds and 2 blocks to keep the Lakers in it.
The 3rd quarter saw Detroit extend their lead to 13, and the game looked like it was slipping away. It was time for the Lakers to summon up some extra effort. At 3:06 of the 3rd, the Lakers started a 18-0 run that lasted until 9:26 of the 4th. They turned the tables on the best defensive team in the league and shut them down, while using turnovers and fast breaks to score. And they did this mostly with Kobe on the bench.
But they can't win very often without Kobe, and certainly not agains the Pistons. He returned with the lead at 8, and scored 12 more to protect the lead. He finished with a game-high 40 points with 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Lamar Odom, active on offense and defense throughout the game, had 24 points, 5 rebounds, and 10 assists. And Chris Mihm totalled 12 and 6, while once again dealing with foul trouble.
Off the bench, Devean George made some key plays during the big run and finished with 8 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals; most of that comming in the 4th quarter. And Kwame Brown filled in very nicely during Mihm's foul trouble, concentrating on the glass and defense, and had 12 big rebounds.
For any team, it is impressive to score 105 points on 50.6% shooting against Detroit. It is also very impressive to out-rebound them 44 to 30.
Mar. 3, 2006
Hot With A Cold
LA Lakers 106 Golden State 94
Although he was coughing his head off after the game, Kobe Bryant played the same as he usually does. At a level above most other players in the NBA. After scoring 9 straight points in the final period, he finished the game with 42 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals.
Needing a win badly, a high scoring first period indicated the Lakers defense might be absent again. But After shooting 50% in the 1st quarter, the Warriors did not reach 40% in the next three. They took an incredible 96 shots, but only made 32 of them (33.3%).
As usually happens, good defense produces good offense. And the Lakers started the 2nd quarter with a 10-0 run. And this continued in the 3rd with a 12-3 run. Of course they had to have a lapse sometime, and the Warriors went on a long 4th quarter run. But a few clutch shots by Kobe went a long way to preserving the lead.
As for the rest of the team, Chris Mihm scored 16 with 5 rebounds. He made 8 of 12 free throws, showing he was very active on offense. And Brian Cook hit 4 of 5 shots from the field, and 4 of 5 from the line for a total of 12 points to go with his 5 rebounds.
Mar. 1, 2006
Wasted Energy
LA Lakers 93 Portland 99
Down by 14 going into the 4th quarter, the Lakers went on runs of 11-2 and 13-6 and trailed by only 3 with 1:39 to play. They got it down to 3 a couple more times, but no closer. That's problem when playing catchup. You often run out of energy, or luck, or both. A 26-11 run in the 2nd quarter by the Blazers gave them the lead for good. Even with Kobe Bryant's 19 point 3rd, the Laker deficit grew by 7 more.
In the 4th, Luke Walton was the spark off the bench scoring 5 points with 3 assists, a rebound, and a steal. Brian Cook scored 8, Smush Parker 7, and Lamar Odom had 6, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal. But these late game heroics came up a little short.
When you allow team averaging 88.8 ppg to score 99, then you are doing something wrong on defense. Getting outrebounded by 8 didn't help either. And it is ironic that this night they chose to shoot 23 of 26 (88.5%) from the free throw line.
Kobe finished with 35 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists. Lamar had 16 and 8 rebounds. Smush 14 and 6. And Brian Cook scored 10. Not much from the bench tonight, except for Luke late in the game.