The AP reports: On a night that Kobe Bryant tossed up an air ball with his first shot, sprained his right ankle and finished 5-of-19 from the field, the Los Angeles Lakers still showed why they are the top playoff seed in the Western Conference. Bottom line—there’s more to the Lakers than Kobe. Pau Gasol had a season-high 36 points and 11 rebounds, and the Lakers (58-14) guaranteed the road to the Western Conference championship will run through downtown Los Angeles with a 103-95 victory over the New Jersey Nets on Friday night. “It’s just one more step toward our goal,” said Gasol, who was 14 of 19 from the field and three assists shy of a triple-double. “Now we’re just looking to the next game. We still have three games left on the road trip.”
Category: Los Angeles Lakers Blog
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Bryant scores 30, Lakers beat Pistons 92-77
The AP reports: Kobe Bryant scored 30 points and helped the Los Angeles Lakers beat Detroit 92-77 Thursday night, snapping a nine-game losing streak on the Pistons’ home court… At this point, the once-mighty Pistons simply are hoping to make the playoffs. They were without Allen Iverson (back), Richard Hamilton (groin) and Rasheed Wallace (calf) against the Lakers… Detroit reserve Will Bynum had career highs with 25 points and 11 assists and helped his banged-up team outscore the Lakers 30-14 in the second quarter to lead 42-39… Detroit’s Antonio McDyess had 14 points—making him its only double-digit scorer other than Bynum—and 12 rebounds.
NBA rule change on too many players on court
The NBA Board of Governors voted to approve a playing rules change in regards to “too many players on the court”, which will take effect beginning Friday, March 27.
Under the playing rules change, when a “too many players on the court” violation is called, a technical foul will be assessed against the offending team and the non-offending team will have the option of either accepting or nullifying the game action that occurred during the violation.
Option 1 — Accept Game Action
The non-offending team can opt to ACCEPT all play that occurred during the violation, including any points scored, with no adjustment of the game clock.
Option 2 — Nullify Game Action
The non-offending team can opt to NULLIFY all play that occurred during the violation, other than any acts of unsportsmanlike conduct or flagrant fouls or any points scored from free throws as a result of such actions.
Under this option, following the technical foul, the game clock would be reset to the time when the ball was put into play with too many players on the court and, depending on how the ball was originally put into play, play would resume in accordance with the following:
1) If the original play commenced with a throw-in, then the ball would be returned to the original throw-in spot and play commenced with a throw-in.
2) If the original play commenced with a missed free-throw attempt where the ball remained in play, then play would be commenced with a jump ball held at center court between any two players who were on the floor at the time play was suspended due to the violation.
3) If the original play commenced with a jump ball, then play would be commenced with a jump ball held at the original jump-ball spot between the same two players who participated in the original jump ball.
Lakers rest starters in 107-89 blowout of Thunder
The AP reports: To Kobe Bryant, a little bit of rest is way overrated. Getting ready for the playoffs is what the last stretch of the season is all about. Bryant scored 19 points before taking the fourth quarter off, and the Los Angeles Lakers cruised to a 107-89 win against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night… Lamar Odom scored 18 points before fouling out and Pau Gasol had 14 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists for Los Angeles. Kevin Durant scored 24 points to lead Oklahoma City, which had all five starters reach double figures but never cut the Lakers’ lead to less than 17 points in the second half… Jeff Green scored 12 points, Nenad Krstic added 11 and Thabo Sefolosha, Russell Westbrook and Nick Collison each had 10 for Oklahoma City.
Phil Jackson to coach Lakers next season
Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson will keep coaching the team at least through 2009-2010. The Orange County Register (Kevin Ding) reports (via blog):
Jackson has usually backpedaled away from all questions about his future, citing a year-by-year policy and even dismissing his contract status as largely irrelevant. This time, he added: “I still have a year left on my contract.”
Nothing crazy here. Jackson is already signed to coach next season. He just seems OK with mentioning it, now.
Bryant leads Lakers over Bulls, 117-109
The AP reports: Kobe Bryant scored 28 points, Pau Gasol added 23 and the Lakers rallied for a 117-109 victory Saturday over the Chicago Bulls in the first of a season-high, seven-game trip. The Lakers trailed by 16 in the second quarter and 14 at the half, but came roaring back in the third, pulling within one… Despite the high point total, he shot just 10-for-25. Even so, the man who once said he wouldn’t mind playing in Chicago got serenaded with “MVP! MVP!” chants… Gasol grabbed 10 rebounds. Trevor Ariza scored 18 points, Lamar Odom added 16 and Jordan Farmar had eight of his 13 in the decisive run for the Lakers, who have won five of six… John Salmons scored 30 and Derrick Rose 25 for the Bulls, who had tied a season high with three straight wins, but their luck ended against the Western Conference leaders. So did their seven-game home win streak.
Kobe, Gasol help Lakers hold off Warriors, 114-106
The AP reports: After giving up leads of 15 points and 14 points in their previous two games, the Los Angeles Lakers came within a 3-point miss by Kelenna Azubuike of squandering an 18-point advantage to the Golden State Warriors. The Lakers held on for a 114-106 victory Thursday night as Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol each scored 21 points to help complete Los Angeles’ third four-game season sweep of the Warriors in four years… Thursday’s victory was the Lakers’ 31st at home, eclipsing last season’s total, and kept them a full game behind Cleveland for the NBA’s best record and homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs with 14 games remaining. Monta Ellis scored 27 points and Azubuike added 25 for the Warriors, who have lost 19 of their last 22 meetings with the Lakers and are 2-18 at Staples Center since the arena opened in 1999.
Lakers re-assign Sun Yue to D-League
The Los Angeles Lakers have assigned guard Sun Yue to the Los Angeles D-Fenders of the NBA Development League for the second time this season, it was announced today by General Manager Mitch Kupchak.
Sun, who became the 25th NBA player assigned to a D-League affiliate this season on March 6, played 4 games (4 starts), averaging 10.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.25 blocks in 36.0 minutes in his first stint with the D-Fenders.
Originally selected by the Lakers in the second round (40th overall) of the 2007 NBA Draft, Sun signed with the Lakers the following summer (August 25, 2008) shortly after representing China as a member of the Men’s Olympic Basketball Team in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
Making his NBA debut on December 7 versus Milwaukee with four points on 2-of-3 shooting in five minutes, Sun has appeared in 10 games with the Lakers this season, totaling six points, two assists, a steal and a blocked shot in 28 minutes.
Iguodala’s 3 at buzzer gives Sixers win over Lakers
The AP reports: Andre Iguodala beat the final buzzer with a 3-pointer to finish with 25, and the 76ers overcame a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit to stun the Los Angeles Lakers 94-93 on Tuesday night for their fourth straight victory. Fifteen of Philadelphia’s 34 wins have been decided by six points or fewer… Pau Gasol had 25 points for the defending Western Conference champion Lakers (53-14), who slipped a full game behind Cleveland for the NBA’s best record with 15 games remaining. Bryant failed to go to the free throw line for the fourth time this season, and this was the first time the Lakers lost when that happened.
Shaq says he has years of good ball left in him
The Arizona Republic (Paul Coro) reports: “I’m going to be putting up big numbers until I’m 40,” Shaquille O’Neal, 37, said. “I can play at any pace. It’s just that no one my age has done what I’ve done. Because of what went on last year (in Miami), they thought I was done. But I’m the type of player I don’t really harp on my injuries. I say it once, ‘I was injured,’ and that’s it. But people want to be the unauthorized author of my book. Last year, I was messed up. Then Nellie (Suns head athletic trainer Aaron Nelson) and them fixed me up. Now, I’m loose again and ready.” O’Neal continues to say he can deliver big games nightly if he gets enough shots. With the Suns’ increased pace, there are shots for everyone.