Lakers Defeat Mavs 114-107

The Lakers ended the Dallas Maverick's five game winning streak to bring their record to 13-1, which is the second best Lakers start in history behind the champion 2001-2002 team that won 16 of their first 17 games(although they went 17-12 in the next 19 games).

My time is limited at the moment so heres the post game wrap up

POST-GAME NUMBERS From Lakers.com
36% - is the Lakers field goal percentage to end the first half of the game. Their offense got off to a slow start shooting 19 out of 52 to end the half. They created easier scoring opportunities in the second half and finished the night shooting 49 %.
25 - points from the Bench Mob, who struggled early in the game and scored their lowest points of the season. Even thought it might not have been their best game of the season, they were a big part of a comeback rally in the fourth quarter and kept the momentum going for the win. They had been averaging 48 points per game going into tonight's contest.
15 - points from Trevor Ariza, who was huge in the win tonight. All of his points came from the second half of the game while also managing to grab 5 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal and 1 block.
13 - fourth quarter points for Kobe Bryant who had been struggling from the field. He made critical shots in the game and secured the win for the Lakers.
+9 - Lakers out rebounded the Dallas Mavericks 45-36. Their offensive rebounds gave the Lakers second chance opportunities to help a rally in the second half of the game and come out with a W.

Lakers Roll Over Nets To Improve 12-1

By Elliott Teaford, Staff Writer-Daily News

The Lakers were imperfect winners again Tuesday night.

Say what you will about their recent method of operation, their consistently inconsistent play and their obvious lack of rhythm, the bottom line was that they routed the New Jersey Nets, 120-93, at Staples Center for their 12th victory in 13 games.

What's more, the Lakers have won five consecutive since suffering their lone defeat of the season, a 106-95 loss to Detroit on Nov. 14, a game that in hindsight was as close to flawless as the Pistons have played this season.

Lately, the Lakers' victories have lacked the sort of resounding nature that some of their early-season wins did, but the results have been winning, nevertheless.

They are four wins away from matching the club record for the best start in Lakers history, a 16-1 mark in 2001-02, when they won their last NBA title.

They certainly reverted to their earlier form Tuesday, taking their biggest win from the Nets since New Jersey joined the NBA as one of four ABA refugees in 1976.

Pau Gasol led the Lakers with 26 points on 9-for-12 shooting. He also had eight rebounds and three assists. Jordan Farmar added 18 points in a reserve role, Andrew Bynum had 15 points and six rebounds and Lamar Odom had 13 points.

Oh yeah, and Kobe Bryant scored a season-low 12 points on 5-for-17 shooting.

Of the Lakers' starters, only Bynum played in the fourth quarter.

"It's a good sign, a healthy sign," Lakers coach
Phil Jackson said of winning big without getting much offense from Bryant, who averages a team-leading 23.7 points. "But we want Kobe to shoot the ball well and have good games, obviously. That's the focal point of our offense. We want him to be the threat that everyone has to overplay and be concerned with because that makes everyone else have an easier game."

In the end, holding Bryant well below his average only got the Nets so far. The Lakers toyed with them during the third quarter, turning a tight game into a runaway.

The Lakers broke open the game by outscoring the Nets, 34-22, in the pivotal third quarter. They did it by shooting 59.1 percent (13 for 22) and limiting New Jersey to 26.1 percent shooting (6 for 23) in the quarter.

"It just shows you their balance," New Jersey coach Lawrence Frank said of the Lakers. "I think that's the greatness of the Lakers. You know, Kobe is one of the elite players in this league, but they have so much around him."

The Lakers went inside to Gasol and Bynum early and often, hoping to take advantage of the inexperience of Brook Lopez and Li Jianlian. Gasol and Bynum more than made up for Bryant's shooting struggles - he would miss eight of his first nine.

Still, despite 16 points from Gasol and 11 from Bynum, the Lakers led by just two, 56-54, at halftime. The Nets, like the Sacramento Kings, Denver Nuggets, Phoenix Suns and Chicago Bulls, weren't rolling over and playing dead in the first half.

The Lakers made their break in the third quarter, however.

Unlike some recent games, the Lakers would not let down in the fourth quarter. Their lead grew to 29 points late in the game. Moreover, they outscored the Nets by a whopping 64-39 in the second half.

Farmar sparked the Lakers' second unit with 12 points after halftime, leading the reserves to a 56-19 edge over the Nets' backups.

"I thought we came out and played a stellar second half," Jackson said. "The first half was like feeling each other out. We had trouble stopping their penetration and they shot the ball well. The second half, we got our defense in order.

"Our emphasis tonight was an inside game. They have a lot of young players. I thought both (Gasol) and Andrew would be players we could feature as far as getting the ball inside. (Gasol) hit outside shots as well. He had a fine game."

Devin Harris led the Nets with 24 points. As expected, the Lakers had heaps of trouble guarding Harris, who had 16 points and five assists in the first half.

http://elliot.teaford@dailybreeze.com

Funny video - The Machine Break Down

A funny video from TheLakersNation.com of Sasha called Machine Break Down. Dont worry Sasha this season the refs wont be enough to save Boston.

Sacramento Kings Still Ruled By The Lakers

It's no surprise that the Lakers have added yet another victory to the list after tonights 118-108 win over the Queens of Sac-town.

The Lakers won but it wasn't pretty and King's managed to score 108 points on 53% shooting even without their best scorer K-Mart(Kevin Martin). The Lakers lacked some of that defensive enthusiasm that they have shown to start the season while holding teams to under 100 points.

In addition to their lacking defense they had too many turnovers at 17. On the bright side there were 8 of 9 players in double figures(all five starters plus Odom, Farmar, and Ariza).

In the end all that really matters is winning, but hopefully this lethargic defense doesn't rear its head more often since not all teams are bad like the Kings.

Kobe scored his usual 24 points in nearly 34 minutes, and Gasol scored 16 in the same amount of minutes.

Vlad, sporting the protective shades after getting his eye poked in the previous game was 4-5 from the three point line with 12 points.

Bynum shot well and had 15 points but had 6 turnovers as well. In his defense though he does seem to get mauled quite frequently while in the paint.

Ariza had a nice game with 11 points and 5 assists, also 3 steals but that shouldn't surprise anyone.

Lamar looked good with 14 points and three assists shooting 7-9 in 34 minutes.

For the Queens, Salmons had 24 and brown had 21. Brad Miller was held to 6 points despite being on the floor longer than anyone with 36 minutes.

On another subject the Detroit pissed ons got spanked by the Timberwolves 80- 106 and no thats not a typo.

Next game is on Tuesday vs. the Nets, who shouldn't put up too much of a fight. Just looking at the shedule and noticing the Lakers dont face any tough teams for a while. If they don't choke a 25-1 start to the season is quite feasible.

HOT LAKERS ECLIPSE THE suns

The Los Angeles Lakers got the job done against the Phoenix Suns on Thursday night, hopefully continuing a new winning streak with their second victory since the loss to Detroit a few games back. The Lakers did many thing well in the victory over the Suns but I was most impressed with the lack of turnovers. The Lakers only gave up the ball 3 times in the first half and finished the game with a mere 7 turnovers. The defense held up well and kept the Suns to 92 by making Phoenix settle for tough shots away from the paint.
Kobe didn't have a particularly great game but managed to rack up his season average of 24 points in 32 minutes on 8-23 shooting. Gasol had a low scoring night with only 4 points but had 9 assists and nine rebounds with the Lakers being +21 while he was in the game. Radmanovic was dangerous from downtown shooting 5 for 5 from the 3 and finishing with 15 points.
The bench mob did its job and brought 43 points to the party led by Lamar Odom and my fellow Taft High alumni Jordan Farmar (in case your wondering of course im jealous, but who wouldn't be).
As for team stats the Lakers finished with 42-90(46.7%) field goals made, 10-21 from the 3(47.6%),11-14 (78.6%) free throws made, 6 steals, 41 rebounds and 5 blocked shots.
Amare had a lackluster performance despite a 21 point night in 38 minutes. Shaq was more efficient going 6-12 for 15 points. Steve Nash had 10 assists but only 8 points in a game where i felt he should have been more proactive in the shooting department. The Lakers held the Suns to shooting 44.2% and 33.3% from behind the 3 point line,as well as forcing 15 turnovers and showing Phoenix fans what a real team looks like.
Lamar Odom said it best during a huddle when he said "home cookings always good but there's nothing like roadkill."