Category: Los Angeles Lakers Blog

Lakers blog – Los Angeles Lakers blog

Rockets outmuscle Lakers 100-92 in series opener

The AP reports: Although the Rockets absorbed some hits and shed the most blood, they outmuscled the Los Angeles Lakers 100-92 in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals on Monday night. Yao had 28 points and 10 rebounds, Ron Artest added 21 points and Aaron Brooks had 19 for the Rockets, who are in the second round for the first time since 1997… Bryant, who finished a distant second to LeBron James in NBA MVP voting announced earlier Monday, scored 32 points, doing his best to keep the Lakers in the game despite missing practice on Sunday with a sore throat. He scored 22 of the Lakers’ final 42 points.

Live fan discussion of this game took place in this forum topic.

LeBron James wins MVP

lebron james wins mvp

LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers is the winner of the Maurice Podoloff Trophy as the 2008-09 NBA Most Valuable Player, the NBA announced today.

James totaled 1,172 points including 109 first place votes, from a panel of 121 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Players were awarded 10 points for each first-place vote, seven points for each second-place vote, five for third, three for fourth and one for each fifth-place vote received.

Rounding out the top five in voting for this season’s award are the Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant (698 points), Miami’s Dwyane Wade (680), Orlando’s Dwight Howard (328) and New Orleans’ Chris Paul (192).

James, the first Cavalier to win the award, led Cleveland in scoring (28.4 ppg, second in the NBA), rebounds (7.6 rpg), assists (7.2 apg, fourth), and steals (1.7 spg, eighth). Since the 1973-74 season when steals became an official stat, James is the fourth player to lead his team in scoring, rebounding, assists and steals, while also leading his team to 50-plus wins (Larry Bird 1985-86; Grant Hill, 1996-97; Kevin Garnett, 2002-03). The 6-8 forward helped Cleveland to an NBA- and franchise-best 66-16 season, a 21-game improvement over last season (45-37), marking the 12th time an NBA team has reached 66 wins in a season.

More info and the voting results on our NBA MVP page.

Kobe Bryant was sick Sunday

The Los Angeles Daily News (Elliott Teaford) reports: Kobe Bryant called in sick Sunday morning. He skipped the Lakers’ final practice before they begin their second-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets because he has a sore throat. The Lakers couldn’t say for certain whether he would play tonight in Game 1 at Staples Center. “If it is at all possible, I would expect him to be here,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. “You certainly don’t want it to happen (Bryant coming down with an illness). You’re certainly unhappy about it happening. We’ll deal with what it is. “That’s what goes on in life. You just have to accept it.”

Bryant, Lakers close out Jazz with 107-96 win

The AP reports: With Kobe Bryant making everything from 3-pointers to a fadeaway jumper while falling on his backside, the Lakers ran away from the Utah Jazz on Monday night, winning 107-96 to finish the opening-round series in five games. Bryant scored 31 points and Lamar Odom had 26 points and 15 rebounds for the Lakers, who earned several days of rest before meeting the winner of the Portland-Houston series… Paul Millsap led Utah with 16 points while Andrei Kirilenko and Williams had 14 apiece. Gasol had 17 points and 11 rebounds, and Ariza 12 points for the Lakers.

Bryant huge, Lakers beat Jazz 108-94

The AP reports: It took Kobe Bryant only a few minutes to end his shooting slump. Bryant scored Los Angeles’ first 11 points and once his teammates joined in, the Lakers overwhelmed the Jazz 108-94 on Saturday night and moved within one game of advancing to the second round. “It was important for me to come out and be a little more assertive,” said Bryant, who scored 38 two nights after one of his worst shooting games in years. Bryant went 16-for-24, erasing any memories of his 5-for-24 night Thursday in the Lakers’ only loss of the series. “We never could get close enough to guard him,” Utah coach Jerry Sloan said. “I think he put everyone on his back and got them off to the way they wanted to play.” He scored in double figures in each of the first three quarters and more than doubled his scoring from Game 4.

Adam Morrison and Sasha vujacic get testy

The Los Angeles Times (Bill Plaschke) reports: Sasha Vujacic grabbed. Adam Morrison screamed. Vujacic grabbed harder, playing defense with handfuls of jersey. Morrison screamed louder, warning Vujacic to keep his hands to himself.  Vujacic shrugged. Morrison surged. The team converged. The men were separated. During this final scrimmage of a Friday afternoon practice at EnergySolutions Arena, some Lakers were wincing. Sitting on the baseline, Kobe Bryant was smiling. “I wasn’t even going to move,” he said later. “A lot of meowing going on out there. The claws coming out. A good thing.”

The Orange County Register (Kevin Ding) reports (via blog): Vujacic and Morrison were guarding each other in the Lakers’ 4-on-4 halfcourt practice, and Morrison loudly and angrily told Vujacic that he was sick of Vujacic’s grabs and elbows. Vujacic argued that Morrison was the one who initiated the problem by wrongly using his knee. The two argued for several minutes despite teammates and coaches trying to intervene, and when play resumed the two continued to go at each other with Morrison grabbing Vujacic’s jersey and the arguments sparking anew several times later.

Boozer leads Jazz to 88-86 Game 3 win over Lakers

The AP reports: After struggling with his shot all night, Deron Williams found his touch just in time. Williams’ fadeaway jumper with 2.2 seconds left lifted Utah to an 88-86 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night, getting the Jazz back in the first-round playoff series they opened with two losses. Williams took the shot instead of passing to Carlos Boozer on the Jazz’s staple pick-and-roll, hitting just his third field goal of the night and reviving Utah’s postseason hopes. “I just wanted to make up for it a little bit on that last shot,” said Williams, who finished with 13 points and nine assists. Boozer led the Jazz with 23 points and tied a franchise playoff record with 22 rebounds as Utah dominated the boards 55-40… The Jazz played again without Mehmet Okur, who has been out with a strained right hamstring, but survived without their second-leading scorer and outlasted the Lakers in a wild one.

InsideHoops.com notes: The Jazz shot 44.0%, the Lakers just 36.8%. Both teams were unimpressive from three-point range and awful from the free throw line… Utah had 55 rebounds, Los Angeles 40… For the Jazz, Carlos Boozer shot 9-of-17 for 23 points and 22 rebounds. Deron Williams was just 3-of-7 for 13 points, 5 rebounds and 9 assists. Ronnie Brewer scored 12 but on 12 shots, plus 7 rebounds. Off the bench, Kyle Korver scored 11 (but on 13 shots) and Matt Harpring had 10… For the Lakers, Lamar Odom (10-of-17) had 21 points, 14 rebounds off the bench. Pau Gasol had 20 with 9 rebounds. Kobe Bryant shot a miserable 5-of-24 for 18 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists.

Playoffs: Jazz and Hornets in trouble

Detroit, New Orleans and Utah are in the unenviable position of trailing their best-of-seven series 2-0.

Not including this postseason, there have been 217 best-of-seven series in which a team has gone up 2-0. Only 14 times has the team trailing 2-0 came back to win the series. The last time this occurred was last year in the Western Conference semifinals when the San Antonio Spurs dropped the first two games against the New Orleans Hornets but recovered to win the series in seven games.

The Jazz’s attempt at joining that select comeback club begins tonight in Los Angeles (10:30 p.m. ET, TNT). Making the Jazz’s task that much more difficult is its opponent, the Lakers. When winning the first two games of a best-of-seven series, the Lakers are 37-1 all time; in franchise history, they are 56-37 in Game 3 of a best-of-seven series. And since moving to STAPLES Center in 1999, the Lakers have won 83 percent of their postseason games at home (55-11).

– NBA News

Game 3 is often must-win

Memo to San Antonio and Dallas, Portland and Houston, Boston and Chicago, Orlando and Philadelphia, and Atlanta and Miami: If you plan on advancing to the semifinals, winning Game 3 of your tied series is No. 1 on your to-do list.

All time in NBA postseason play, a best-of-seven series has been tied after the first two games 161 times. The winner of Game 3 has gone on to win the series 76 percent of the time (122-39). The home team’s record in Game 3 with series tied 1-1 is 89-72 (.553).

There are two Game 3s tonight that fall into this category. The Bulls host the Celtics (8 p.m. ET, TNT) and the Spurs visit the Mavericks (8:30 p.m. ET, TNT). At home, the Bulls hold an all-time postseason record of 105-34 (.755) – first among existing NBA franchises. Dallas is 41-26 (.612) at home in the playoffs. San Antonio (59-81, .421) and Boston (100-144, .410) have the second and third, respectively, best road winning percentages in the playoffs.

– NBA News