The AP reports: Kobe Bryant had 26 points and five assists, Pau Gasol added 18 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and three blocked shots, and the Lakers pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat the struggling Minnesota Timberwolves 98-86 on Sunday night. Andrew Bynum added 14 points and nine rebounds, and Trevor Ariza scored 14 points for the Lakers, who have played seven of their last eight games against teams with losing records and lost to two of them—Indiana and Sacramento. And they haven’t been all that impressive in several recent victories… Al Jefferson had 20 points and 13 rebounds to lead Minnesota, but he shot 8-of-24, missing 15 of his last 19 shots. Craig Smith added 18 points and eight rebounds, and Ryan Gomes scored 13 for the Timberwolves (4-19), who lost their ninth straight game and fourth in a row since Kevin McHale took over as coach last Monday.
Category: Los Angeles Lakers Blog
Lakers blog – Los Angeles Lakers blog
Dec 12: Lakers 112, Kings 103
The AP reports: The Lakers didn’t look like world beaters, but were good enough to beat the Kings this time. Avenging their loss at Sacramento three days earlier, Los Angeles survived a late charge to hold off the Kings 112-103 on Friday night. “We did better playing against them tonight,” said Kobe Bryant, who led the Lakers with 32 points… Pau Gasol had 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Lakers, who built sizable leads several times only to have defensive lapses that let Sacramento back into the game… John Salmons, who led Sacramento with 26 points, expected Bryant to be determined in the rematch.
New Lakers radio deal
The Los Angeles Lakers today announced a new, multi-year radio broadcasting agreement with 710 ESPN beginning in the 2009-10 season.
As the flagship station for the Lakers’ radio coverage, 710 ESPN will carry all 82 regular season and any playoff games, as well as pre- and post-game coverage and preseason games.
“This is an exciting but somewhat bittersweet announcement for the Lakers organization,” said Jeanie Buss, Executive Vice President of Business Operations. “KLAC has been a wonderful partner for more than three decades and we greatly respect and appreciate everything they have done. At the same time, we feel strongly that the time is right for this move to 710 ESPN.”
Buss said the decision was influenced by strength of the ESPN brand and the substantial investment the company has made in the L.A. market. 710 ESPN, for example, plans to broadcast pre- and post-game coverage from the new state-of-the-art ESPN studios at L.A. Live across the street from STAPLES Center.
“It’s hard to imagine two groups better suited to working together than the Lakers and ESPN,” said Jim Pastor, SVP, ESPN Radio Station Group. “The move to L.A. Live and the vast resources of both organizations provide an incredible opportunity to serve Lakers fans for years to come. We couldn’t be prouder to call 710 ESPN their new home.”
The Lakers radio broadcasting team of play-by-play announcer Spero Dedes and color commentator Mychal Thompson will move with the team to the new station.
In addition to game coverage, 710 ESPN will broadcast additional Lakers-themed programming, including hourly team news reports, regular remote broadcasts from Lakers community events and a new weekly Lakers “insider” program. Details of these and other initiatives will be released prior to the commencement of 710 ESPN’s broadcasts next season.
The Lakers’ commitment with the current rights holder, AM 570 KLAC, expires at the end of the 2008-09 season.
Dec 11: Lakers 115, Suns 110
The AP reports: Pau Gasol scored 28 points, Bryant had seven of his 18 in the last 6 1/2 minutes, and the Western Conference-leading Lakers struggled to a 115-110 victory Wednesday night. Andrew Bynum added 17 points and 11 rebounds, Sasha Vujacic scored a season-high 15 points and Derek Fisher had 13 for the Lakers (18-3), who were coming off a lethargic 113-101 loss at Sacramento on Tuesday night and didn’t clinch this victory until the final minute. The Suns (13-10) played without Raja Bell, Boris Diaw and rookie Sean Singletary, traded to Charlotte earlier Wednesday for Jason Richardson, Jared Dudley and a 2010 second-round pick. Phoenix also was without former Lakers star Shaquille O’Neal, whose 92-year-old great-grandmother died this week… Matt Barnes had season-high totals of 25 points and 10 rebounds to lead Phoenix. Grant Hill scored 23 points, Amare Stoudemire had 21 points and 11 rebounds, and Leandro Barbosa added 18 points for the Suns. Steve Nash shot 2-of-12 and was held to seven points and nine assists.
Dec 9: Kings 113, Lakers 101
The AP reports: Francisco Garcia and John Salmons scored 21 points apiece, and the Sacramento Kings snapped an eight-game losing streak with a surprising 113-101 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night. Bobby Jackson added 15 points for the Kings, whose first victory in nine home games was one of the NBA’s most improbable results of the young season. Sacramento (6-16), which had lost 11 of its last 12 games overall, steadily increased a fourth-quarter lead against the Lakers, who couldn’t rally while Kobe Bryant struggled with 9-of-25 shooting. Bryant scored 28 points and Pau Gasol had 25 points and 12 rebounds for the Lakers, who had won three straight while opening the season 17-2, matching the best start in franchise history.
Dec 7: Lakers 105, Bucks 92
The AP reports: Kobe Bryant had 20 points and a season-high eight assists, Derek Fisher added 19 points and the Los Angeles Lakers beat Milwaukee 105-92 on Sunday, improving their record to 17-2 and equaling the best 19-game start in the franchise’s 61-year history… Andrew Bynum, who had a career-high 17 rebounds against the Bucks last Jan. 11, grabbed 14 boards and scored 14 points. Pau Gasol had 12 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Joe Alexander had a team-high 15 points for the Bucks, who have lost 15 of their last 17 against the Lakers in Los Angeles. Beleaguered coach Scott Skiles got only 18 points from his staring lineup, and the team shot a collective 38 percent from the field… Richard Jefferson, who averaged 22.2 points over his previous six games, scored three during a foul-plagued 9 minutes.
Sun Yue makes debut
Los Angeles Lakers rookie Sun Yue, also known as “the Chinese Magic Johnson” because he happens to be a tall point guard (and Chinese), got his first NBA regular season minutes late Sunday night in garbage-time as the Lakers were blowing out the Milwaukee Bucks.
He’s committing foul after foul. But then, daylight.
With around 90 seconds left in the game, Sun Yue passed the basketball to Chris Mihm at the right corner, just inside the three-point line. Mihm caught the pass, handed the ball back to a cutting Yue and set a pick. Yue then pulled up for a contested, high-arc jumper over Bucks center Francisco Elson. The shot hit nothing but net, exciting the fans still remaining in the stands.
A play later, Sasha Vujacic fired a nice long bounce-pass to a cutting Yue for an open layup.
Next play, Yue got a bit carried away, and drove into a pair of defenders, getting called for an offensive foul.
Mihm, meanwhile, got to get some aggression out with a hard slam dunk.
That’ll due it. The Lakers win 105-92. Yue played over 5 minutes, finishing 2-for-3 for 4 points, 4 fouls and 2 turnovers.
P-Jax wants fewer Kobe defensive gambles
The Los Angeles Times (Broderick Turner) reports: Kobe Bryant is an eight-time member of the all-defensive team, but Coach Phil Jackson wants him to take fewer risks on defense. Bryant has been trying to get extra steals, doing a little too much freelancing for Jackson’s taste. “We’re trying to work with Kobe in staying inside the team framework of how we play defense,” Jackson said. “Because he’s such a good defensive player with great anticipation, sometimes he might take a foray into the steal market and come away empty-handed, which compromises our defense.” Jackson didn’t seem enthused that Bryant, Lamar Odom, Trevor Ariza and Jordan Farmar have a season-long bet on which one of them will have the most steals.
Lakers defense lacking lately
The Los Angeles Daily News (Elliot Teaford) reports: There are multiple reasons why the Lakers’ defense hasn’t been as effective as it was to start the season. No matter which you choose, the bottom line is that the Lakers aren’t dominating teams because they aren’t playing the same caliber of defense. The Lakers started their three-game trip by giving up a season-high 118 points in a one-point loss to the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday. They continued by giving up 102 during a 12-point victory Wednesday over the Philadelphia 76ers. They played the first seven games of the season without giving up 100 points in a game. But they have surrendered 100 or more points in four of their past six games and are giving up an average of 95.9 points going into tonight’s against the Washington Wizards. “We’ve talked about the kind of intensity we want to play with defensively,” Bryant said. “We have a tendency to turn it up in spurts as of late as opposed to coming out and doing it from the top, and that’s something we’ve needed to address.”
Dec 3: Lakers 114, Sixers 102
The AP reports: Kobe Bryant tormented his hometown team again, scoring 32 points to help the Los Angeles Lakers rebound from a last-second loss with a 114-102 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night… Pau Gasol had 22 points and 13 rebounds, and Andrew Bynum scored 18 points for the Lakers. Los Angeles never let the middling Sixers get too close in this one. Philadelphia was within six in the third quarter when Derek Fisher and Bryant nailed 3-pointers that ballooned the lead to double digits… Andre Miller scored 26 points and Iguodala had 19 for the Sixers, who played the entire fourth quarter and the last 4:50 of the third without Elton Brand.