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Lakers Defense Holds Off Thunder

February 27, 2011   FanHouse Newswire   No comments

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OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Pau Gasol had 18 points and 11 rebounds, Kobe Bryant scored 17 points and the Los Angeles Lakers extended their cushion over Oklahoma City in the Western Conference standings by beating the Thunder 90-87 on Sunday.

Andrew Bynum added 16 points and 10 rebounds, but the Lakers weren’t able to simply overpower a Thunder team that added Kendrick Perkins for interior toughness but won’t get him in the lineup for a couple weeks.Lamar Odom missed a pair of free throws with 10.9 seconds left to leave the door open for Oklahoma City, but Kevin Durant and James Harden each missed 3-pointers from the top of the key in the closing moments.

Russell Westbrook led Oklahoma City with 22 points and Durant scored 21. The Thunder were held to a season-low 31 second-half points in suffering their first three-game losing streak of the season.

 

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Lakers, Nuggets Reportedly Talking Possible Carmelo Anthony Trade

February 08, 2011   FanHouse Staff   No comments

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Carmelo AnthonyNever count the champs out, especially when it comes to blockbuster trades.

The Los Angeles Lakers have reportedly jumped into the Carmelo Anthony-Nuggets trade mix, according to an ESPN report Tuesday.

ESPN cites two league sources who say that the Lakers and the Nuggets are in “preliminary” talks. Lakers center Andrew Bynum is the likely top candidate to be involved in the trade.

“There have been discussions between the two teams,” said an ESPN source. “The Lakers are definitely an option.”

Other reports said that the Lakers already turned down an offer for Anthony this offseason. Apparently, Jim Buss, Lakers owner Jerry Buss’ son, who holds the title of Lakers vice president of player personnel, has an affinity towards Bynum.

Meanwhile Tuesday, a Los Angeles Times story debunked the ESPN one regarding Melo and the Lakers.

“What’s out there is inaccurate,” a Lakers representative familiar with the negotiations told the Times.

When healthy, Bynum is viewed as one of the top centers in the Western Conference. However, a series of knee injuries over the years have sidelined him for a surmountable amount of time. Bynum missed the first 24 games of this season. He is averaging a little over 11 points and seven rebounds per game this year.

 

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Ron Artest Reflects on Phil Jackson, Mental Health and More

February 02, 2011   Sam Amick   No comments

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LOS ANGELES — There’s no fear or loathing on this campaign trail.

There’s Ron Artest in a child-like state, sprinting to and fro on the beach on a sunny Saturday afternoon in January. And rest assured, no one is enjoying this mental health initiative more than the lead spokesman himself.

This isn’t a public relations gimmick, though. This is the starting small forward of the NBA‘s defending champions hanging out with nearly 20 of his favorite Twitter followers, a blissful man of the Tweeple playing barefoot quarterback in a game of two-hand touch football that kicked off an hour late because, well, the basketball job still takes precedence and the Zen Master kept the Lake Show late at this day’s practice.

 

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Andrew Bynum Sets Sights on Being NBA’s Best Center

January 22, 2011   Chris Tomasson   No comments

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DENVER — The Lakers‘ Andrew Bynum has a good shot to be the second-best center of this decade following Orlando’s Dwight Howard. But he’s setting his sights even higher.

Bynum believes he can be the best center of the decade.

“Of course. Of course,” Bynum said in an interview with FanHouse following the Lakers’ 107-97 win at Denver on Friday. “I just need to get the opportunity to do something like that. I believe that (he can be the best).”

It would be a tall order to overcome the NBA’s premier tall guy. Howard, 25, has career averages of 17.8 points and 12.7 rebounds, including 22.1 and 13.3 this season. Bynum, 23, has career numbers of 10.3 points and 6.7 rebounds, including 11.0 and 7.3 this season.

The first thing Bynum needs to do is to stay healthy. He’s had knee injuries that have hampered him for four straight seasons.

So what’s the second thing the six-year man must do to reach his lofty goal? To borrow from another guy who has played in Los Angeles, former USC Trojan Keyshawn Johnson: “Just Give Me the Damn Ball.”

 

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Lakers Embarrass Cavs, 112-57, in Remarkable Defensive Performance

January 11, 2011   FanHouse Newswire   No comments

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Los Angeles LakersLOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Lakers humiliated the Cleveland Cavaliers while sending them to their 11th straight loss, rolling to a 112-57 victory on Tuesday night in their best defensive performance in the shot clock era.

Ron Artest and Andrew Bynum each scored 15 points, while Pau Gasol had 13 points and 14 rebounds. Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom and Shannon Brown also scored 13 points for the defending NBA champion Lakers, who led the league’s worst team by 32 points at halftime on their way to winning their fifth in a row.

Reserves Alonzo Gee scored 12 points and Ramon Sessions 10. Cleveland’s point total was a record low by a Lakers opponent. The Cavs shot 30 percent, were outscored 52-28 in the paint and committed 19 turnovers in losing for the 21st time in their last 22 games. They fell to 8-30 overall, 3-18 on the road and 1-5 against the Western Conference.

 

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NBA Power Rankings: Heat Still Hot

January 11, 2011   Brett Pollakoff   No comments

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Surprise! The red-hot Miami Heat are still streaking, putting some distance between themselves and the rest of the top-heavy Eastern Conference while challenging the San Antonio Spurs for the best record in the NBA. In fact, Miami is the only constant atop our rankings, which otherwise feature a completely shuffled top 10.

Can the Heat — who have posted a 22-1 record since Nov. 27 — keep it up? Or will injuries slow LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and company like they have the Boston Celtics, Dallas Mavericks and Spurs? Only time will tell. But for now, there’s no team better.

 

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Kobe Bryant Leads NBA All-Star Voting

December 30, 2010   FanHouse Staff   No comments

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Kobe Bryant remains the leading vote-getter for the 2011 NBA All-Star Game with 1,153,694 votes, the league announced Thursday. Dwight Howard (988,572) leads all players in the Eastern Conference, while Miami’s LeBron James (969,459) and Dwyane Wade (938,402) place third and fourth in the league.

Bryant, a three-time All-Star MVP (2002, 2007 and 2009), has been voted a starter in each of the last 12 All-Star games, although he missed last season’s contest in Dallas due to injury. This season’s game will be played Feb. 20 in Los Angeles on Bryant’s home court at STAPLES Center. Paper balloting for the All-Star game will continue through Jan. 17, while electronic ballots can be cast through Jan. 23. The starters will be announced on Jan. 27, and the reserves will be announced on Feb. 3.

The latest returns also suggest a passing of the torch in Boston, as Rajon Rondo (777,310) so far has been named on more ballots than any of the Celtics‘ Big Three of Kevin Garnett (712,555), Paul Pierce (381,348) or Ray Allen (392,441). Rondo and Garnett are second among the East’s guards and forwards, respectively, putting them on pace to earn a stating job — provided they’re healthy. Rondo, who’s recently missed time with a sprained ankle, is expected to return Friday, but Garnett, who left Wednesday’s game with a leg injury, is sidelined indefinitely.

In the West, Kevin Durant (735,521) and Carmelo Anthony (602,516) are the current leaders among forwards, although Pau Gasol (597,201) doesn’t have much ground to make up to earn a starting job. Chris Paul (585,690) is second among the West’s guards, possessing a healthy lead over Manu Ginobili (403,632).

Yao Ming (376,283), who’s already been ruled out for the remainder of the season, is the runaway leader among the West’s centers, with Andrew Bynum (376,283) a distant second. If Yao finishes as the top vote-getter at center, NBA commissioner David Stern will name a replacement for his spot on the roster, and the West’s coach, currently slated to be Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, will choose a starter.

 

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Charley Rosen’s Close Look: What’s Wrong With Lakers?

December 28, 2010   Charley Rosen   No comments

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OK, the Lakers claimed that the piece of coal that the Heat presented them with on Christmas Day was due to their lack of focus and their failure to approach the game with an appropriate sense of urgency. And after being publicly berated by both Phil Jackson and Kobe Bryant, as well as a feisty practice session, the Lakers collectively swore that their championship chops were fully restored.

How then to explain another lopsided loss, this one in San Antonio?

 

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Andrew Bynum, Brimming With Potential, Slowly Works Into Shape

December 27, 2010   Chris Tomasson   No comments

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Andrew Bynum

LOS ANGELES — Other than with Shaquille O’Neal, Phil Jackson hasn’t had greatness in the pivot during his coaching career. He did still win three titles with former star Bill Cartwright at center and three with never-was star Luc Longley manning the middle.

So Andrew Bynum could be regarded as the second-best center Jackson has coached ever. The only problem is the Lakers‘ coach can’t get him on the floor much.

So pardon Jackson’s frustration regarding Bynum, who has been slow to return to form this season while coming off yet another knee injury. Jackson knows what kind of potential he has in Bynum, who is just 23 but has shown some impressive flashes in his six-year career.

“Just reactions right now,” Jackson said about Bynum still not being close to 100 percent after he has played in six games after missing the first 24 of the season due to a right knee surgery. “Conditioning is part of that. I think his reactive ability and just reacting to the ball and the game is still an issue.

“Andrew’s heavy. He’s a muscular kid, but I don’t think he’s overweight per se. But he could probably stand to lose 10 pounds and be lighter and have less of a load to carry.”

 

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Lakers Need Pau Gasol to Find Old Groove

December 26, 2010   Brett Pollakoff   No comments

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Pau GasolLOS ANGELES — Pau Gasol finished his team’s disastrous Christmas Day loss to the Miami Heat with a statistical performance that, had you not watched the game, would appear to have been just fine.

Yes, 17 points (on 8-of-17 shooting) to go along with eight rebounds and three assists is an adequate line for an NBA big in any game, much less one the magnitude of the nationally televised showdown between the two-time defending champs and the team that many anointed in the offseason as the next in line to steal their crown.

The only problem is, we were watching.

While Gasol’s numbers were more than serviceable for many, his performance was well below average for what we’ve come to expect the last couple of seasons, and even what we began to get used to at the beginning of this one.

Something’s not quite right with Pau Gasol. And until he can fix whatever the issue is, the Lakers are going to continue to struggle.

Phil Jackson afterward claimed to know what’s going on, but decided at this time to keep it to himself.

 

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