Los Angeles Lakers Blog – Page 74 – NBA Blog

Dwight Howard leaves business manager after 9 years

Dwight Howard is growing all on his own, single-mindedly focused on who he wants to be, and he has taken another major step forward in his career by leaving the business manager who has been Howard’s primary advisor his entire career, Kevin Samples.

“We had nine great years together,” Howard told me late Monday night. “Just time to go separate ways.”

For all the intangible growth Howard has discovered recently, breaking away from Samples is a concrete gesture that the past is the past – and Howard is confident in calling his own shots in the future.

“I know what I want to accomplish,” Howard said. “I’ve always written down my goals and everything I want, and I want to make sure I get ’em. Everything I’ve lost, everything that’s gone away, I’m going to get it back.”

Samples came to Los Angeles with Howard after the trade to the Lakers, and it was hard to envision him not being around considering they’re actually first cousins – and Howard’s parents dispatched Samples to live with Howard in Orlando right after the 2004 NBA draft as a big brother/guidance counselor/business manager.

— Reported by Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register

Suns beat banged-up Lakers 99-76

A worn-out Los Angeles Lakers team without Kobe Bryant fell apart in the fourth quarter in Phoenix.

Luis Scola scored all 14 of his points, including his second 3-pointer of the season, and grabbed eight of his nine rebounds in the fourth quarter Monday night and the Suns pulled away for a 99-76 rout of the Lakers, without Bryant for the second night in a row.

”I thought the game was kind of on the line,” Scola said, ”and I was just trying to be aggressive.”

Steve Nash scored 19 against his former team, but was just 6 of 17 from the field as the Lakers shot 33 percent for the game.

”We just hit the wall,” Nash said, ”our ninth game in 14 days in seven cities and you could just kind of see the wheels fall off. Especially lately, with some guys being injured, we’ve been playing a seven-man rotation and I think it caught up with us a little bit. Our legs just came undone.”

The Suns, blown out at Washington 127-105 two nights earlier, outscored the Lakers 28-10 in the fourth quarter to snap a four-game losing streak…

Dwight Howard had 16 points and 11 rebounds, but was just 6 of 18 from the field for the Lakers, still without injured Pau Gasol.

Wesley Johnson added 14 points for the Suns, who beat the Lakers in Phoenix for the fourth time in a row…

Goran Dragic had 12 points and 10 assists for the Suns, who had six players in double figures. Jared Dudley scored 13, Kendall Marshall 11 and Michael Beasley 10 for Phoenix.

— Reported by Bob Baum of the Associated Press

Andrew Bynum will have surgery on both knees, and not play this season

Philadelphia 76ers center Andrew Bynum will undergo arthroscopic surgery on both knees tomorrow, which will cause him to miss the remainder of the season.

“After many months of rehabilitation and consulting with numerous doctors, Andrew and the doctors treating him determined that this is the best course of action at this point,” Sixers General Manager Tony DiLeo said. “We will continue to monitor and evaluate his status moving forward.”

The arthroscopic surgery will be performed by Dr. David Altchek of the Hospital of Special Surgery in New York. The primary focus of the procedure is to clean out loose bodies from within the knees in an attempt to alleviate pain and swelling.

Bynum has not yet played a single minute for the 76ers, who are having a rough season. With a 25-40 record, the team is 10th in the East, but nowhere near catching up to the 8th seed.

George Hill annoyed by lack of Indiana fan support in Lakers at Pacers game

Pacers guard George Hill was bothered by how many Lakers fans took over an Indiana home game Friday night.

“They always say your fans are your sixth man and you feed off that energy,” Hill told Mike Wells of IndyStar.com. “Energy is down and we turn the ball over and we’re hearing cheers. We’re missing shots and we’re hearing cheers.”

The Lakers pulled out a 99-93 victory at Indianapolis despite Kobe Bryant going scoreless in only 12 minutes with a sprained ankle.

“It was like 70/30 out there,” said Hill of the Lakers-to-Pacers fans ratio. “These are the same people that want autographs after the game. We’re out there in the community. We’re doing our job, doing what we’re supposed to do on and off the court. Something has to change.”

— Reported by Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times (Blog)

George Hill: “It sucks. It was 70 (Lakers fans) – 30 (Pacers fans) out there. These are the same people that wants autographs after the game. We’re out there in the community. We’re doing our job, doing what we’re supposed to do on and off the court. Something has to change. I tip my hat to this team. We’ve been trouble free. Been out in the community shaking hands, we’re winning. It shouldn’t feel like an away game, especially with an important like this. Tonight, that’s what it felt like.”

George Hill: “They always say your fans are your sixth man and you feed off that energy. Energy is down and we turn the ball over and we’re hearing cheers. We’re missing shots and we’re hearing cheers. That kind of brings your head down cause you know you’re at home. It shouldn’t be like that. Now we see how it is. We have to move forward, don’t worry about. Stay focus on what’s in this locker room and don’t worry about the rest.”

— Reported by Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star (Blog)

Bryant leaves early, but Lakers beat Pacers

When Kobe Bryant couldn’t be the tough guy on the court Friday night, he resorted to being an MVP coach.

After hobbling around on a severely sprained left ankle for 12 minutes, Bryant retreated to the bench, where he spent the rest of the night contesting calls, waving teammates into the right spots and even drawing something up on a clipboard for Dwight Howard to see.

He wasn’t going to let up – or let his teammates down.

So on a night Bryant was held scoreless for only the 15th time in his 17-year NBA career, Howard finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds, and delivered a tiebreaking three-point play with 90 seconds left that sent the Los Angeles Lakers past Indiana, 99-93.

”It really just continued to swell and I couldn’t put any weight on it, so I called it a night,” Bryant said after getting more treatment on the sore ankle in the training room. ”I told them before the game, ‘I don’t know how much I have, but whatever I have, I’ll give you.”’ …

Metta World Peace finished with 19 points and seven rebounds, Steve Blake made five 3-pointers and finished with 18 points, and Antawn Jamison added 17 points with four 3s…

George Hill scored 27 points, Paul George had 20 points and Lance Stephenson finished with 12 points, 11 rebounds and five assists. But Indiana shot only 37.4 percent from the field and couldn’t make a serious run at Los Angeles after Howard’s big play, primarily because the defense couldn’t stop the Lakers from outside.

— Reported by Michael Marot of the Associated Press

Bryant starts but has short night for Lakers

Kobe Bryant played 12 minutes Friday at Indiana, missed all four shots and then went to the bench for good.

It was all his severely sprained left ankle could take.

Bryant spent two days trying to fight his way back after landing on the foot of Atlanta’s Dahntay Jones in the waning seconds of Wednesday’s loss at Atlanta.

— Reported by Michael Marot of the Associated Press

Pau Gasol should return soon for Lakers

[Lakers head coach Mike] D’Antoni said Pau Gasol could return as soon as Monday at Phoenix, and Gasol could be in the starting lineup against the Suns, too. The forward from Spain has been recovering from a torn plantar fascia in his right foot since early February. Gasol spent the last part of the shootaround working one-one-one against center Dwight Howard.

But the focus Friday was on one swollen ankle that D’Antoni hasn’t even taken a peek at yet.

”I think if you look at his tweets, you’ll see it,” he said, drawing laughter.

The Lakers need Bryant to continue their surge toward the playoffs.

He is the NBA’s third-leading scorer at 27.5 points and has helped stabilize his team during a tumultuous season that has included the early firing of coach Mike Brown, a prolonged skid, All-Star center Dwight Howard’s struggles to fit in with his new team, and the death of owner Jerry Buss.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Kobe Bryant out indefinitely after spraining left ankle

Kobe Bryant has been playing some of his best basketball since the All-Star break, almost single-handedly pushing the Los Angeles Lakers into the playoff race.

Now he’s facing what may be his toughest opponent of the season.

Bryant is out indefinitely with what he calls the worst sprained ankle of his 16-year career, crumpling to the court with 3 seconds remaining after missing a game-tying shot in a 96-92 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night.

While X-rays were negative, the Lakers sounded pessimistic about Bryant’s chances of playing anytime soon, an especially tough blow with just 16 games left in the regular season and Los Angeles clinging to a half-game lead over Utah for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Bryant tweeted Thursday morning that he was undergoing treatment on his ailing left ankle while watching movie after movie.

”Compression. Ice. Django. Zero Dark Thirty. This is Forty and 1 hour of sleep,” he wrote. ”On to the next.”

— Reported by Paul Newberry of the Associated Press

Craig Brackins joins LA D-Fenders in D-League

The Los Angeles D-Fenders, of the NBA Development League, have acquired former 2010 first round NBA Draft pick Craig Brackins, it was announced today.

Brackins, a 6-10, 230 pound forward, most recently played for Angelico Biella (Italy) where he was voted to the Italian SerieA All-Star Game. The 21st overall selection in the 2010 NBA Draft, Brackins joined the Oklahoma City Thunder and was subsequently moved on draft day to the New Orleans Hornets before ultimately landing with the Philadelphia 76ers. In 17 career NBA games with the 76ers, Brackins averaged 1.8 points (30 total points), 1.1 rebounds (19 total rebounds) and 0.5 assists (9 total assists) in 7.1 minutes per game. Brackins also brings NBA Development League experience to the D-Fenders, averaging 19.7 points, 8.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 25 career games with the Springfield Armor and Maine Red Claws.

A standout at Iowa State University, Brackins was named to the All-Big 12 First Team (2009) and All-Big 12 Second Team (2010) and received an Associated Press NCAA All-America Honorable Mention nod (2009). In three seasons at Iowa State, Brackins averaged 16.0 points and 7.7 rebounds over 96 games, finishing his career ranked 12th all-time in points scored (1,539) and eighth in rebounds (736).

Lakers center Dwight Howard scores 39 in Orlando

Dwight Howard scored a season-high 39 points, had 16 rebounds and was sent to the free throw line 39 times by his former team as the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Orlando Magic, 106-97 on Tuesday night.

The victory came in Howard’s first return to Orlando since his drama-filled offseason trade to the Lakers. He endured a chorus of boos throughout, and tied his own NBA record for free throw attempts.

The majority of them came as the Magic tried to employ an intentional foul strategy. It backfired, though, as the All-Star center hit on 16 of 20 attempts in the second half.

The victory was the Lakers’ fourth straight.

Jameer Nelson led Orlando with 21 points. The Magic have lost three of their last four and haven’t won back-to-back games since December.

After a week of back-and-forth in the media following some perceived negative comments made about his former team during a television interview, Howard and Nelson spoke briefly just after the final buzzer and shook hands.

It was a light moment in what was mostly a hostile atmosphere.

Homemade signs jeering Howard with sentiments that said everything from ”Coward” to ”Kobe’s Kid” were sprinkled throughout the Amway Center stands.

Boos rained down on the All-Star center almost every time he touched the basketball. They were followed by louder cheers when he missed a free throw.

— Reported by Kyle Hightower of the Associated Press