Los Angeles Lakers Blog – Page 179 – NBA Blog

May 4: Lakers 109, Jazz 98

The AP reports: Kobe Bryant, celebrating what’s expected to be his first NBA MVP award, converted six of his franchise playoff-record 21 foul shots in the fourth quarter, and the Los Angeles Lakers held off the Utah Jazz 109-98 Sunday to begin the second round of the playoffs. Bryant finished with 38 points, six rebounds and seven assists, and the Lakers made it five straight victories to begin the postseason after winning eight of their last nine regular-season games to earn the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference… The Lakers shot 38-of-46 from the foul line, while the Jazz went 22-of-30. The teams spent most of the final period going from one foul line to the other, with Los Angeles going 14-of-19 from the line and Utah 10-of-12. Twenty-four of the 60 personal fouls were called in the last 12 minutes… There were some other unexpected numbers. For one, the Jazz outrebounded the Lakers 58-41, with 25 of their rebounds at the offensive end. For another, Utah attempted 95 shots to match its regular-season high, but converted only 36 (37.9 percent).

InsideHoops.com Stat Notes: The Lakers hit 5-of-10 threes, the Jazz just 4-of-19. Utah did dominate the glass, getting 58 rebounds to LA’s 41. Assists, turnovers and blocks were close.

For the Lakers, aside from Bryant, Pau Gasol (8-of-13) had 18 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 blocks. Lamar Odom (5-of-12) had 16 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks. Sasha Vujacic on just 6 shots had 15 points and 4 rebounds off the bench. Vladimir Radmanovic scored 10.

For the Jazz, Mehmet Okur on 19 shots and 0-of-5 threes had 21 points, 19 rebounds and 3 assists. Carlos Boozer on 14 shots had 15 points, 14 rebounds and 4 assists but 7 turnovers. Deron Williams shot just 5-of-18 for 14 points but he did rack up 9 rebounds and 9 assists. Ronnie Brewer, Andrei Kirilenko and Kyle Korver each scored 11.

Report: Kobe Bryant will win MVP

The AP reports: Kobe Bryant has won the NBA’s MVP award for the first time, the Los Angeles Times reported on its Web site Friday night, citing anonymous sources familiar with the outcome of voting by media members. The newspaper reported that commissioner David Stern will be in Los Angeles next week to present the trophy to Bryant.

The coaching life of Pat Riley

In addition to ranking as Miami’s all-time victory leader, Pat Riley ranks third on the NBA’s all-time regular season list, compiling a 1,210-694 (.636) career mark in 24 seasons as an NBA head coach with the Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks and Miami Heat. He also ranks second on the all-time postseason victory list, amassing a 171-111 (.606) mark. Riley, who was elected into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame earlier this month, led his teams to five NBA championships as a head coach, nine conference championships and a league-record 18 division championships. He is the only coach in league history to capture the NBA Coach of the Year Award with three different teams and his string of 19 consecutive playoff appearances as a head coach from 1982-2001 is a league record for consecutive postseason appearances.

– NBA News

Lakers triangle offense is beautiful

The Los Angeles Times (Jonathan Abrams) reports: It’s the triangle offense, now available in version 3.0. These days, Kobe Bryant offers an alley-oop Pau Gasol’s way and the two can exchange roles the very next play. Luke Walton posts up, then drifts out for a three-point shot, or Lamar Odom ducks and dives his way to the rim for enough double-doubles to fill his heart’s content. The part-mystical, part head-scratching triangle offense is functioning quite smoothly with Gasol completing the Lakers’ trifecta. Possibly more so than . . . Michael Jordan’s championship days under Phil Jackson? “Since we’ve had Gasol, it’s a very good comparison,” said Tex Winter, a Lakers consultant and a pretty smart person to ask on the subject because, well, he is the offense’s innovator. “It’s not necessarily a guy like Kobe or Michael Jordan that oftentimes makes the difference in this. Sometimes, it is the post man or someone else.”

Apr. 28: Lakers 107, Nuggets 101

The AP reports: The Denver Nuggets finally gave the Los Angeles Lakers a good fight. No surrender on this night. No frustration fouls filling up the fourth quarter of another blowout. No matter. The Lakers dispatched the tempestuous Nuggets anyway. Kobe Bryant scored 14 of his 31 points over the final 5 1/2 minutes Monday night, leading the Lakers to a 107-101 victory and a sweep of their first-round series… Pau Gasol led the way early, scoring 18 first-half points, and Bryant took over in the waning minutes, scoring nine straight points in every way—a turnaround jumper, a 3-pointer, a driving layup and a 15-foot floater—to give the Lakers a 97-96 lead… Marcus Camby’s first points since the series shifted to Denver came on a 3-pointer from the left corner with 33 seconds left, cutting the Lakers’ lead to 103-101, but Gasol maneuvered underneath for a dunk, and Bryant added two free throws with 18 seconds left… The Nuggets couldn’t keep Los Angeles out of the lane for easy layups and dunks and they made the silly mistakes that the Lakers avoided, like the missed dunks by Nene and Anthony, who blew an alley-oop rim-rattler that bounced out of bounds at halfcourt in the third quarter.

InsideHoops.com Stat Notes: The Lakers shot slightly better than the Nuggets from two-point range, and hit 8-of-22 threes while the Nuggets only made 4-of-21. The Lakers only hit 19-of-30 free throws; the Nuggets 19-of-24. The Nuggets had a slight rebounding edge. Assists were tied. For the Lakers, Bryant (12-of-24, 3-of-8 threes) had 31 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists (6 turnovers), 3 steals and 2 blocks. Gasol (7-of-15) had 21 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 blocks. Lamar Odom (5-of-11) had 14 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. Vladimir Radmanovic took 13 shots for 12 points. For the Nuggets, J.R. Smith (7-of-12, 3-of-7 threes, 9-of-9 free throws) had 26 points, 3 assists and 2 steals off the bench. Allen Iverson took 22 shots for 22 points and little else. Carmelo Anthony (just 8-of-20) had 21 points and 11 rebounds. Marcus Camby only scored 3 but grabbed 17 rebounds and blocked 4 shots. Anthony Carter shot 1-of-6 for 2 points and 6 assists.

Nene absolutely awful in key final minute

Nene was absolutely awful in the final minute for the Nuggets in Game 4 against the Lakers. After a wide open Marcus Camby shot and made an unexpected three-pointer from the left corner, Nene was guarding Pau Gasol, and as Gasol was near the basket Nene, for no reason at all, started running away from him, leaving Gasol open to catch a pass and throw in an open dunk. A play later, Nene had the ball, up in three-point range, tried to hand the ball to J.R. Smith, but instead had it stolen right out of his hands by Kobe Bryant. During the turnover, Nene fouled Bryant, who made both free throws, putting the Lakers up 107-101 with 18 seconds left, essentially guaranteeing a Nuggets loss.

The final score was 107-101, and the Lakers win the first round series 4 games to 0.

Apr. 26: Lakers 108, Nuggets 84

The AP reports: Kobe Bryant led a balanced offense with 22 points and the Los Angeles Lakers took a 3-0 lead in their first-round series, routing the flustered Nuggets 102-84 on Saturday… Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson shot a combined 10-for-38 and finished with 16 and 15 points, respectively… Iverson sat out all but 1:11 of the fourth quarter, when Nuggets coach George Karl emptied his bench, prompting Anthony to accuse the team of quitting… Luke Walton added 15 points off the bench for Los Angeles, and Pau Gasol and Fisher each scored 14. … Lakers F Ronny Turiaf, who lost 11 pounds and missed Game 2 with tonsillitis, was scoreless in three minutes. … Nuggets C Marcus Camby was held scoreless in a playoff game for the first time since 2000.

Apr. 23: Lakers 122, Nuggets 107

The AP reports: Kobe Bryant had 49 points and 10 assists, and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Denver Nuggets 122-107 to take a 2-0 lead in their first-round playoff series… Bryant, who was 18-for-27 from the field and finished one point off his career playoff high, scored 20 points in the first quarter to get the Lakers off to a fast start, and 19 over the last seven minutes to keep them safely ahead… Pau Gasol added 18 points and 10 rebounds and Luke Walton scored 18 points for the Lakers. Lamar Odom, hampered by foul trouble throughout the second half, was held to four points, four rebounds and six assists, but in the end it didn’t matter. Allen Iverson had 31 points and six assists to lead the Nuggets. Carmelo Anthony added 23 points, J.R. Smith had a career playoff high 21 and Marcus Camby had 17 rebounds for Denver. Kenyon Martin, who fouled out with 5:47 remaining, scored 10 points… Linas Kleiza made just his 14th start of the season in place of Anthony Carter, giving Denver more firepower and additional size.

Danny Granger wants to be like Kobe Bryant

The Indianapolis Star (Mike Wells) reports: Danny Granger has set the bar as high as possible. “My goal is to be like Kobe (Bryant) because he scores and he locks people down on defense,” Granger said. “That’s my ultimate goal. I’ve never really created with my dribble. I need to become the isolation player where coach can come to me and I get a bucket for the team.” Granger carries himself like an emerging force who is ready to take the reins that Reggie Miller and Jermaine O’Neal have held for many years. It doesn’t hurt that he scored 30 or more points in three of the final four games. Basketball is more than offense, of course, and that’s what coach Jim O’Brien reminded him. “I think Danny will be an All-Star if he becomes a complete player,” O’Brien said. “A complete player being a guy that will be our best defensive player, that people know he’s our best defensive player. A guy that can absolutely shut the best player down.”

Apr. 20: Lakers 128, Nuggets 114

The AP reports: Pau Gasol established career playoff highs with 36 points and eight assists, and he also had 16 rebounds and three blocked shots Sunday as the Los Angeles Lakers took command in the third quarter and beat the Denver Nuggets 128-114… Kobe Bryant, who said he made himself a decoy through most of the game, scored 18 of his 32 points in the final 8 minutes to keep Los Angeles safely ahead. Lamar Odom had 17 points, 14 rebounds and six assists and Luke Walton added 16 points for the Lakers, who entered having won eight of their last nine regular-season games to earn the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference… Carmelo Anthony had 30 points and 12 rebounds for the eighth-seeded Nuggets. Allen Iverson also had 30 points before picking up two technical fouls with 2:10 remaining, calling for immediate ejection. Linas Kleiza scored a career playoff high 23 points and J.R. Smith added 15 before fouling out with 3:14 left.