Kobe Bryant scored 37 points, Andrew Bynum had 21 points and 22
rebounds in the first 20-20 game of his career, and the Los Angeles
Lakers beat the Houston Rockets 108-99 Tuesday night for their
fourth victory in five games.
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Tag Archives: Pau Gasol
Bryant’s 37 lead Lakers past Rockets
Clippers welcome Chris Paul to LA
Chris Paul is already getting to work with the Los Angeles
Clippers.
Lakers Defense Holds Off Thunder
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.
Video: Backstage Look at Players Before NBA’s All-Star Practice
Filed under: Celtics, Heat, Knicks, NBA All-Star Game, NBA Videos
LOS ANGELES — The NBA holds a public practice for its All-Stars on Saturday morning every year as part of the All-Star weekend festivities. Not much happens of course, other than players going through a few shooting drills for show, and the coaches reviewing the most basic of plays with their newly assembled squad. It’s mainly a chance for fans to see the game’s biggest stars up close and in person, assembled in one place at as intimate a venue as you’ll find in NBA circles.
Before the players took the floor, they were all hanging around in this sort of backstage area which was also open to the media, even though there were no interviews being conducted. Mostly it was the players interacting with each other as if no one else was around.
In the video clip below, you’ll see the majority of the All-Stars doing exactly that.
Cavs Stun Lakers, Avenge 55-Point Loss
Filed under: Cavaliers, Lakers
CLEVELAND (AP) — The Lakers hit the All-Star break broken.
Looking nothing like two-time defending NBA champions, they dropped their third straight game, a stunning 104-99 loss Wednesday night to the Cleveland Cavaliers — the league’s worst team, which avenged a 55-point embarrassment against Los Angeles last month.
Ramon Sessions came off the bench and scored a season-high 32 points for the Cavs, who were beaten 112-57 by the Lakers on Jan. 11. That loss was No. 11 in a league-record streak that eventually reached 26 before Cleveland ended it last week with an overtime win against L.A.’s less-heralded squad, the Clippers.
Pau Gasol had 30 points and 20 rebounds for the Lakers.
Playing the finale of a seven-game road trip, the Lakers spent much of the night looking as if they were already on vacation. They threw errant passes, forced outside shots and couldn’t catch the Cavs down the stretch despite a frantic comeback.
Lakers Topple Knicks in Gradual Return to Champion Form
NEW YORK — Going up the elevator for perhaps the last time ever as an opposing coach at Madison Square Garden, Phil Jackson said he was thinking that it didn’t smell like elephants.
Jackson, who said this will be his last season, was referring to the Barnum and Bailey Circus that takes place at MSG each spring.
Although he was joking, it was coincidental that Jackson mentioned elephants, since that is exactly the way, up until the last four games, that his team has played like at times this season: slow, fat, lethargic, lazy and any other adjectives used to describe an elephant.
That is until the last four games, where the Lakers have all of a sudden begun to jell, playing with more passion, focus, energy, and any other adjectives used to describe a champion. And most importantly, the Lakers have slowly addressed the issues that have plagued them all season. They continued their hot streak, routing the Knicks 113-96 Friday night.
“For four games we have been consistent and we have to make it continue,” Pau Gasol said. ” We are turning it up. We got more confidence in what we are doing. We’re more active out there and the attitude is better. Still got a long way to go but we’re getting there.”
Blake Griffin, Four Celtics Headline 2011 NBA All-Star Reserves
Filed under: Bulls, Celtics, Clippers, Hawks, Heat, Jazz, Lakers, Mavericks, Spurs, Timberwolves, Eastern, Western, NBA All-Star Game, Thunder
NEW YORK (AP) — Blake Griffin is going to his first All-Star game, and Kevin Garnett matched an NBA record with his 14th straight selection as one of a record-tying four Boston Celtics headed for the midseason event.
Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen will accompany Garnett, who equaled Jerry West, Shaquille O’Neal and Karl Malone for the most consecutive selections. The Celtics joined the 2006 Detroit Pistons as the only teams to have four players picked as reserves by the coaches.
Griffin, the Rookie of the Year favorite of the Clippers, will be playing on his home floor in the Feb. 20 game at Staples Center. Joining him on the Western Conference team were Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili of the NBA-leading Spurs; forwards Dirk Nowitzki of Dallas and Pau Gasol of the Lakers; and guards Deron Williams of Utah and Russell Westbrook of Oklahoma City, who joins Griffin as the lone first-time selections.
Chris Bosh will go to Los Angeles with Miami teammates LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, who were elected as starters. The other East reserves picked Thursday were Atlanta’s Joe Johnson and Al Horford.
Blake Griffin, Four Celtics Headline 2011 NBA All-Star Reserves
Filed under: Bulls, Celtics, Clippers, Hawks, Heat, Jazz, Lakers, Mavericks, Spurs, Timberwolves, Eastern, Western, NBA All-Star Game, Thunder
NEW YORK (AP) — Blake Griffin is going to his first All-Star game, and Kevin Garnett matched an NBA record with his 14th straight selection as one of a record-tying four Boston Celtics headed for the midseason event.
Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen will accompany Garnett, who equaled Jerry West, Shaquille O’Neal and Karl Malone for the most consecutive selections. The Celtics joined the 2006 Detroit Pistons as the only teams to have four players picked as reserves by the coaches.
Griffin, the Rookie of the Year favorite of the Clippers, will be playing on his home floor in the Feb. 20 game at Staples Center. Joining him on the Western Conference team were Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili of the NBA-leading Spurs; forwards Dirk Nowitzki of Dallas and Pau Gasol of the Lakers; and guards Deron Williams of Utah and Russell Westbrook of Oklahoma City, who joins Griffin as the lone first-time selections.
Chris Bosh will go to Los Angeles with Miami teammates LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, who were elected as starters. The other East reserves picked Thursday were Atlanta’s Joe Johnson and Al Horford.
Ron Artest Reflects on Phil Jackson, Mental Health and More
Filed under: Kings, Lakers, NBA Rumors, FanHouse Exclusive
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.
2011 NBA All-Star Starters Revealed, What About the Reserves?
Filed under: Bulls, Celtics, Clippers, Hawks, Heat, Hornets, Jazz, Knicks, Lakers, Magic, Mavericks, Nuggets, Rockets, Spurs, Suns, Timberwolves, Trail Blazers, Warriors, Eastern, Western, NBA All-Star Game, Thunder
Denver coach George Karl likes to say each All-Star squad should have 15 players, rather than 12.
It’s a great idea for the West this season, with there about to be some serious snubs. As for the East, 10 seems a better number this season in a conference that after the top teams has as much depth as the local park’s kiddie pool.
Perhaps the East should concede two spots to the West. Throw in that Houston’s Yao Ming, named the West starting center, will miss the Feb. 20 Game in Los Angeles, and that would give the West 15 players with All-Star recognition.
The starters were announced Thursday night, and there wasn’t anything to complain about other than how ridiculous it was that fans (hello, China) continued to vote for Yao in bunches even after it was announced Dec. 17 he was out for the season with a foot injury. Even before then, he was averaging 10.2 points in a meager five games.
The East starters will be Orlando’s Dwight Howard at center, Miami’s LeBron James and New York’s Amar’e Stoudemire at forward and Miami’s Dwyane Wade and Chicago’s Derrick Rose at guard. Other than Yao, West starters named were Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant and Denver’s Carmelo Anthony at forward and the Lakers‘ Kobe Bryant and New Orleans’ Chris Paul at guard.
Now, on to the reserves. After the coaches cast their ballots, here’s who should be announced next Thursday as well as which players might be ticked off:
