Los Angeles Lakers Blog – Page 140 – NBA Blog

Dwight Howard frustrated by Celtics in Game 1 loss

The AP reports:

Dwight Howard knew what the Boston Celtics had planned. Whenever he got the ball in the post, someone was going to hit him, bump him, push him, do whatever it took to keep him from getting into rhythm.

It wasn’t a new approach.

The Celtics simply do it better than just about everyone else.

Howard made only 3 of his 10 shots from the floor Sunday, continuing what’s been a yearlong offensive struggle against the Celtics, and his Orlando Magic lost Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals to Boston 92-88.

”I played like a robot,” Howard said.

He doesn’t have long for reprogramming. Game 2 is Tuesday night.

Bryant, Bynum knee issues continue

Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times reports:

Kobe Bryant recently had a significant amount of fluid drained from his swollen right knee, The Times has learned, and hasn’t practiced since the last round.

Andrew Bynum practiced only once and said the torn cartilage in his right knee was “getting a little worse” after making it through Saturday’s scrimmage.

“We need some different company out on the court,” Phil Jackson said with a smile Sunday after yet another day of practice.

Jackson was a little more somber when discussing Bryant and Bynum, the former averaging a solid 32 points a game in the conference semifinals, the latter totaling only six points the last two games against the Jazz.

Jackson, on Bryant: “He came out [Sunday] and shot a little bit and tried to get in rhythm. We hope that he’s on board and his game is right at that point where it needs to be.”

Jackson, on Bynum: “I thought he played well [Saturday] and we’re hopeful that he’s going to be at that level.”

Cavs-Celtics Game 6 had huge TV rating

The AP reports:

The Boston Celtics’ series-clinching victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals is the second-most watched basketball game ever aired on ESPN.

The broadcast Thursday night drew a 6.6 rating on the cable network and averaged 6,552,000 households and 8,983,000 viewers. Only Game 4 of last year’s Western Conference finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets did better on ESPN, earning a 6.9 rating.

InsideHoops.com Says: It was the biggest game of the entire year, in both the regular season and playoffs.

Cavaliers GM says LeBron elbow needed rest

The AP reports:

Cleveland Cavaliers general manager Danny Ferry says the elbow injury that bothered LeBron James during the NBA playoffs was bad enough that the team would have rested him during the regular season.

Ferry revealed for the first time that the league’s MVP complained about his elbow before an April 8 game in Chicago. He was a late scratch from the starting lineup that night and sat out Cleveland’s final four regular-season games.

InsideHoops.com Says: It was obvious that LeBron’s right elbow was bothering him more than he let on in the second round series vs the Boston Celtics. He used his left hand way more than it made sense to. He was barely even dribbling with his right for huge stretches. It was strange that even after the series was over, he still seemed very reluctant to admit the extent of his injury.

Shaq will consider joining Nets

Marc Berman of the New York Post reports:

Cavaliers free agent center Shaquille O’Neal, a Newark native, told The Post he would consider the Nets as a destination this summer — intrigued because they now reside in his hometown.

O’Neal, the Cavs “other” free agent, praised the new Prudential Center as being an NBA hotspot and said he would rather them not move to Brooklyn in 2013.

“I think it’s better than most arenas, I think it’s one of the best arenas in the country,” O’Neal told The Post following the Cavaliers’ stunning second-round elimination against Boston on Thursday night. “Hopefully they can stay there forever. I don’t know what’s going on with the Brooklyn situation, but it says a lot for the city of Newark.”

InsideHoops.com Says: Shaq has limited impact at this point in his basketball career, and the Nets have Brook Lopez at center already. So while it’s fun to think about O’Neal heading over to Newark, in reality he’ll probably wind up continuing to play elsewhere, for contenders who need him a bit more.

Kobe says little about early LeBron elimination

The AP reports:

If Kobe Bryant was even slightly disappointed to learn that LeBron James won’t be showing up for a possible career-defining showdown, the Los Angeles Lakers star isn’t letting on.

Bryant had almost nothing to say Friday about the Cleveland Cavaliers’ playoff elimination, which ruined the best chance yet for a finals meeting with James.

“I don’t know,” Bryant said when asked what he thought of Boston’s Game 6 victory, before an awkward silence with the phalanx of television cameras and digital recorders pointed at him in a back corner of the Lakers’ training complex.

Surely Bryant realizes the anticipation was extra-high this spring, after the superstars’ teams finished atop their respective conferences with two of the NBA’s top three records. Nike certainly spent many months hoping for the showcase of two top clients, building that unusual advertising campaign around their puppet replicas.

But while James begins his offseason, Bryant is still standing — albeit on a gimpy ankle — after persevering through an injury-riddled year. The veteran star won’t slow down for the Western Conference finals just because King James isn’t waiting on the other side.

InsideHoops.com Says: I hope reporters ask Bryant about this until he gives a real response. I assume he’ll eventually say that he thought the Cavs would go further, but the Celtics are a very good team. That’s the boring, politically correct response, at least. But hopefully he gives something more interesting than that.

Robin Lopez expected to play Monday

Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic reports:

Robin Lopez has two milestones coming in his expected return to the starting lineup Monday.

He will play a game for the first time since March 26 and will be making his career playoff debut.

“I don’t think it’s hit me yet,” Lopez said. “I think it’ll hit me on the floor. I feel like I’ve been out there with the guys when I’ve been watching them the previous series.”

Lopez said his conditioning and right-leg strength, an issue because of his bulging disk pinching a nerve, have improved and he feels his instincts returning. The 7-footer is a welcome addition against the Lakers’ frontline size.

“I’m going to have to crash the boards and deter easy layups,” Lopez said.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar thinks NBA age minimum should be 21

The AP reports:

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar says the NBA should raise its minimum age for entry into the league to 21.

The NBA’s career scoring leader and centre on the Los Angeles Lakers’ 1980s “Showtime” teams said Wednesday there’s a disturbing sense of entitlement among many of today’s young pros.

“They get precocious kids from high school who think they’re rock stars — ‘Where’s my $30 million?’ “ said Abdul-Jabbar, who was in Omaha to speak at the B’nai B’rith sports banquet. “The attitudes have changed, and the game has suffered because of that, and it has certainly hurt the college game.” …

“When I played, the players had to go to college and earn their way onto the court, meaning that there were upperclassmen ahead of them,” he said. “Players who had to go through that and had to go to class, when they got to be professional athletes, they were a lot better qualified.”

Abdul-Jabbar said if college weren’t the right place for a player, the player should, as an alternative, be required to play in a minor league or developmental league.

Read fan discussion and share your own opinion in this forum topic.

Has Carlos Boozer played last game for Jazz?

Jody Genessy of the Deseret News reports:

Nobody knows where Carlos Boozer will end up after he becomes an unrestricted free agent this offseason.

That’s not the only unsettled — and unsettling — question regarding the Utah Jazz power forward.

Many had to wonder where he was Monday for most of Game 4, too.

Miami? Chicago? New Jersey? Detroit?

Boozer — especially his offensive game the Jazz rely on — was missing in action for much of the night during Utah’s season-ending 111-96 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers at EnergySolutions Arena.

“I thought I was terrible,” Boozer admitted.

Struggling again to cope with the Los Angeles Lakers’ length, Boozer didn’t seem to save his best for what could have been his last performance in a Jazz uniform. Though he grabbed 14 rebounds, Boozer’s shot was way off again… He missed seven of 11 field goals and finished with only 10 points.

Game 4: Lakers eliminate Jazz

The AP reports:

The Lakers stormed out to a 22-point lead in the first half, then withstood a brief surge by Utah in the third quarter before regaining control in the fourth and winning 111-96 on Monday night, sweeping the second-round series and advancing to the Western Conference finals for the third straight year.

“With close-out games, you have a tendency to lose focus,” said Kobe Bryant, who scored 32 for the Lakers. “We kept our concentration and paid attention to detail.”

Pau Gasol added 33 points and 14 rebounds for the Lakers, who are off until hosting the Phoenix Suns next Monday in Game 1 of the West finals…

“We’re a playoff team and they’re a championship team. They’re just better than we are,” said Deron Williams, who had 21 points and nine assists for the Jazz…

Carlos Boozer had 10 points and 14 rebounds, and Kyrylo Fesenko added 12 rebounds for Utah, which was swept for the first time in 21 years.