Los Angeles Lakers Blog – Page 142 – NBA Blog

LeBron James may play at MVP level for years

Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe reports:

It is conceivable LeBron James could continue to produce at an MVP level for another seven years. He has avoided major injuries. His granite, sculpted body is unmatched in the NBA. There might be better scorers or rebounders or distributors or even penetrators, but no one amasses those skills into one punishing body of work as James does.

His 6-foot-9-inch, 250-pound frame delivers as many hits as it withstands and James has made it a priority to be known as more than just a high flyer. Comparisons with Michael Jordan are natural, especially since both put downtrodden franchises on their shoulders and lifted them to elite status.

And what Jordan brought to the game in flare, athleticism, and dominance, James equals with strength, all-around skill, and speed. There is only one Jordan, but James is making a loud enough impression on today’s NBA to create his own mystique for a new generation of children to emulate.

Ron Artest defended Kevin Durant nicely

Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register reports:

Ron Artest just played his Western Conference championship series and won it. He won’t have to work this hard to earn his keep again until the Lakers face the other elite scorer in the league: Cleveland’s LeBron James.

The Lakers might not play any team that tough the rest of the way through the West, either. With that in mind, what Artest just did for them is even more meaningful.

To understand just how great a series Artest had on defense, look at Kevin Durant’s stats: 35 percent field-goal shooting after 47.6 percent in the regular season. Durant’s assist-to-turnover ratio was 14-to-22.

This is a guy who went more than two months of the regular season (29 consecutive games) never scoring fewer than 25 points, something no one has done since Michael Jordan in 1986-87. It’s no coincidence that in the two games in this series the Lakers won comfortably, Durant couldn’t reach 25.

Game 6: Gasol tip-in helps Lakers eliminate Thunder

The AP reports:

Pau Gasol tipped in a missed jumper by Kobe Bryant with a half-second left and the Los Angeles Lakers survived a late comeback effort by Oklahoma City and eliminated the Thunder 95-94 in Game 6 of the first-round playoff series on Friday night…

Gasol pumped both fists after the basket, and the Lakers moved on when Russell Westbrook missed a desperation 3-pointer at the final buzzer.

Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 26 points on a dreadful 5-for-23 shooting night. Westbrook had 21 points and nine assists.

Bryant scored 32 points and Gasol had nine points and 18 rebounds, scoring his only basket of the second half at the end…

Bryant almost single-handedly kept Los Angeles out front with 16 points in a dazzling third quarter—until it came to an early end for him when he picked up his fourth foul while guarding Westbrook.

LeBron James would love to own NBA team

The AP reports:

LeBron James, whose path to superstardom has followed a similar trajectory as Jordan’s, said Tuesday night before the Cavaliers faced the Chicago Bulls in Game 5 of the playoffs that he would “love” to own an NBA team someday. Jordan assumed ownership of the Charlotte Bobcats in March, buying the club for $275 million from Bob Johnson.

“I would love to be in that position,” James said. “It’s a great position to be able to own a team and be able to put pieces together and make decisions.”

InsideHoops.com says:

Well, if any current player should have the money to own most or all of an NBA team by the time his playing days are over, it’s LeBron.

Game 5: Lakers rout Thunder

The AP reports:

Pau Gasol had 25 points and 11 rebounds, Andrew Bynum added 21 points and the Los Angeles Lakers vigorously rebounded from back-to-back losses with a 111-87 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night, taking a 3-2 lead in their first-round playoff series.

Kobe Bryant had 13 points and seven assists in three quarters of work as the defending NBA champions coolly shook off the eighth-seeded Thunder’s series-tying blowout win in Game 4 with a comprehensive thrashing of the postseason newcomers.

With their offense purring and their defense throttling Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, the Lakers led by 21 points at halftime and went ahead by 32 late in the third quarter of their third home victory in the series…

Durant scored 17 points and Westbrook had 15 on combined 9-for-27 shooting for Oklahoma City, which never recovered after missing its first 13 shots…

Fans included Leonardo DiCaprio and Bar Rafaeli, Will Ferrell, Joel McHale, Sylvester Stallone, Eddie Murphy, Dustin Hoffman, Barry Bonds, singer Seal, David Arquette and UCLA coach Ben Howland, while Hugh Hefner watched from a luxury box.

Ron Artest still learning triangle offense

Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times reports:

Ron Artest is still trying to pick up an offense that took Scottie Pippen a year and a half to learn in Chicago. How intricate is the triangle? Tex Winter once wrote a 320-page book about it.

Artest has been a problem spot in the Lakers’ offense, making only three of 19 from three-point range heading into Game 4.

On Saturday, he had five points and made two of nine shots in the Lakers’ 110-89 loss. He was 0 for 4 from three-point range.

Phil Jackson told Artest beforehand to pass more often, but the Lakers’ coach isn’t frustrated with himyet.

“He’s a naïve, innocent lamb,” Jackson said. “I think he’s mistaken in a lot of ways, put in the same category as Dennis Rodman. There couldn’t be a bigger disparity between people.”

Lakers not in panic despite surge by Thunder

Battling the Thunder in the first round of the Playoffs, Kobe Bryant and the Lakers were fine early on, but the Thunder are looking more convincing by the game, and pounded Los Angeles in Game 4 to tie the series at 2-2.

The AP reports:

Bryant, Lakers not in panic despite surge by Thunder

Kobe Bryant and his veteran teammates see no reason to panic after a surprising surge by the youngest team in the NBA, with most of Oklahoma City’s players making their first postseason appearance. ”It’s not rocket science,” said Bryant, limited to 12 points in the 110-89 loss in Game 4. ”We had a tough battle, we’ve got adjustments to make and we have a team that’s playing extremely well right now that we have to deal with. ”It’s not something where we lose swagger. They defended their home court. Now, it’s our turn. Simple as that.” …

”We didn’t envision ourselves in this situation but it’s where we are, and that doesn’t change anything about the way that you should approach the next game,” Derek Fisher said. ”If we were up 3-1, we would still want to go back and win Tuesday night’s game. ”That’s what our focus is right now, is making the necessary adjustments to put ourselves in position to win Tuesday night’s game and kind of get the series back in our favor.” …

”It happens. The playoffs, it’s tough,” Bryant said. ”You go through games where you play extremely well and then you get busted up pretty well, and then you’re on to the next one. It’s such an up and down thing, especially when you’re playing against great competition. It’s just part of the playoffs.”

Game 4: Thunder pound Lakers 110-89

This was a beating! The Thunder whooped the defending champions in convincing fashion. Could the Lakers actually be in trouble? Maybe this one goes seven games.

The AP reports:

Kevin Durant scored 22 points, Russell Westbrook added 18 points and eight rebounds, and the Thunder evened the first-round series against the Los Angeles Lakers with a 110-89 victory in Game 4 on Saturday night…

For the second straight game, the Thunder capitalized on a significant edge at the foul line and on the boards despite the presence of the Lakers’ 7-foot tandem of Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum…

Bynum had 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Gasol also had 13 points to lead Los Angeles. Kobe Bryant had 12 points after spending the entire first quarter deferring to his teammates and the whole fourth quarter on the bench with three other L.A. starters…

Oklahoma City held a 50-43 rebounding edge and shot 20 more free throws—finishing 42 of 48—while leading by as many as 29.

Lakers must keep feeding Gasol

Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times reports:

It probably could be argued that Pau Gasol has been the best Laker in the postseason.

He had been averaging a double-double in the first two games, 22 points and 12.5 rebounds. He had been making 53.6% of his shots.

And yet, the Lakers went away from Gasol in the fourth quarter of their 101-96 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder Thursday night in Game 3 of the Western Conference first-round opener at the Ford Center.

“We tend to settle sometimes a little too much,” Gasol said. “We have to create penetration. We have to take advantage of our size.

David Stern urges NBA coaches to stop criticizing referees

The AP reports:

David Stern is fed up with NBA coaches criticizing referees and said he would not back down from penalizing them. In fact, in his perfect world, he could impose steeper penalties.

“I wish I had it to do all over again, starting 20 years ago; I’d be suspending Phil and Pat Riley for the games they play in the media,” Stern said Thursday before the Lakers and Oklahoma City played Game 3 in their first-round series.

“As you guys know, our referees go out there and knock themselves out and do the best job they can. But we’ve got coaches who will do whatever it takes to try to work them publicly. What that does is erode fan confidence.

“So our coaches should be quiet because this is a good business that makes them good livings and supports a lot of families, and if they don’t like it they should go get a job someplace else.”