6 posts tagged “los angeles lakers”
Los Angeles -7 1/2 vs. Miami
Winning has become so regular in Los Angeles that the Lakers even manage to win when some of their top players are sick. Tuesday night Lamar Odom was suffering from an upper respiratory infection but still managed to eclipse his season high of 17 points and 12 boards to help his team edge the New York Knicks 116-114 at the Staples Center. Odom was pressed into service after Pau Gasol was at home watching the game on television due to strep throat.
Odom is feeling better and will play when the Lakers (21-3) set out on a four-game eastern road trip starting Friday night in Miami. Gasol did not practice on the off days and his return against the Heat is questionable. With or without their star center, Los Angeles will look for their fifth straight victory and 15th in their last 17 games.
Injuries have not hampered the Heat's best players this season, but that has not stopped Miami (12-12) from struggling, especially lately. Miami looks to snap a three-game losing streak against L.A. after they lost to the Bucks 98-83 at home. Dwayne Wade struggled mightily Monday night, making only five of his 16 shots from the field, finished with a pedestrian 15 points.
Wade was not the only Heat star to sputter against Milwaukee. Udonis Haslem only netted two points and is averaging a miniscule 5.3 points and 31.6 percent shooting over the last three games.
The Lakers swept the two-game season series a year ago and have won four out of the last five over the Heat. Los Angeles has also won three straight in Miami, the Heat's last win came in 2004.
Los Angeles -4 1/2 vs. Phoenix
It seems it is always a big deal whenever Shaquille O'Neal goes up against the Lakers. O'Neal usually has a lot to say about Kobe Bryant, Phil Jackson and the rest of his former, and perhaps, future team. During the buildup to the game O'Neal mentioned that he may like to end his career Laker. Pardon Los Angeles if they did not get very excited since at 8-1, they are doing just fine without him. He went further to say that the trouble that he and Bryant had were fueled by Jackson.
With the Shaq-Kobe-Phil drama the sideshow, the real story should be that the top teams in the Pacific Division are meeting up in Phoenix as O'Neal's Suns (8-4) welcome in the Lakers.
Los Angeles has moved on in the big man world when they acquired 7-footer Pau Gasol last season. Gasol helped power the Lakers through the tough Western Conference into the NBA Finals and is averaging 17.6 points and 10 rebounds per game. Andrew Bynum who was injured through the Lakers playoff run has returned this season as well, contributing 10.8 points and 8.9 boards per contest.
The Lakers suffered their first loss of the season on Friday to Detroit at the Staples Center but was able to bounce back nicely with a 116-109 win against the Bulls. In that contest Gasol eclipsed his season-high of 34 points and Bynum has 18 points, nine boards and three blocked shots.
O'Neal perhaps has done more talking that playing well this season. He has been fined twice this season, totaling $60,000 for hard fouls and altercations. On the court he has struggled at times, including the Suns 109-97 loss at Utah Monday night in which O'Neal had only one rebound for the first time since 1999.
The last time the teams met was the first time that O'Neal met the Lakers in the rival Suns' uniform. Shaq and the Suns lost 130-124. Overall Los Angeles has won three of the last four meetings. Phoenix was winless in both home games against the Lakers last season. This season Los Angeles is the lone perfect road team in the NBA at 4-0, while the Suns are a pedestrian 3-2 at US Airways Center.
Los Angeles Lakers -13 vs. Chicago Bulls
The 5-5 Bulls have had an unsteady opening month and now face perhaps the toughest portion of their season as they set out on a grueling seven game road trip. Their first stop is at the NBA's best Los Angeles Lakers.
The Bulls have won two in a row after beating Indiana 104-91. Even though Chicago has had an average and uninspiring start to their season, their prized rookie Derrick Rose has been phenomenal. Rose led the Bulls with 23 points against the Pacers and became the first Chicago rookie since, none other than, Michael Jordan to score double digits in each of his first 10 career games. The rookie is averaging an All-Star like 18.9 points, 5 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game. If he continues on this pace, he will match LeBron James mark of 20.9, 5.5 and 5.9 in his rookie year, the only rookie to average above 18 points, five assists and five boards.
Rose has been helped by Ben Gordon, who has played well since replacing an injured Kirk Hinrich. Gordon is averaging 25.5 points per contest, which bodes well for the Bulls since Hinrich is out three months with a thumb injury.
Chicago will look for its first win on the road (0-3) this season as they play in Los Angeles who suffered their first loss of the season Friday night against Detroit. The Lakers (7-1) stellar defense, which largely lead to their perfect start betrayed them against the Pistons. Detroit won 106-95 and the 106 points was by far the most the Lakers have allowed this season, besting the previous high of 99 given up to Dallas earlier this month. The Pistons shot 50.7 percent after the Lakers had been holding teams to 40.2 percent shooting in their previous seven contests.
Kobe Bryant had 29 points, but none of the other starters really got going against Detroit. Pau Gasol had 15 points, but no other starter reached double digits.
Phil Jackson will go up against his original team for the 15th time. The Jackson-led Lakers have beaten the Bulls nine out of 14 times, including five out of seven in L.A. The Lakers have won two straight and four out of five against the Bulls. Chicago's last win in the series came in 2006 at the Staples Center.
Los Angeles Lakers -9 1/2 vs. Detroit Pistons
Two of the top teams in the league meet up in Los Angeles as the undefeated Lakers welcome in the Pistons for tonight's game at the Staples Center.
The Pistons (6-2) started slow with their new superstar, going 0-2 in Allen Iverson's first two games. But the road trip has been good thus far for Iverson and his new teammates as they won their second straight contest last night when they defeated Golden State 107-102. This came after the first victory with A.I. Tuesday night in Sacramento.
Despite Detroit's 2-2 record with him, Iverson has been the pacesetter for the Pistons since his arrival last week from Denver. Iverson's 23 points and nine assists led the team, but the best news for the Pistons on this night was Richard Hamilton breaking out of his slump. Hamilton had not been his self since the Pistons brought in Iverson, but last night against the Warriors, he netted 24 points, seven assists and nine rebounds. Rasheed Wallace also had a strong game by netting 19, boarding 11 and blocking three balls.
The Lakers (7-0) have had a couple of nail biters as they have stayed perfect for the longest time since 2001-2002. Tuesday they completed a two game road trip by winning the second game at New Orleans 93-86. If the Lakers can get by the Pistons Friday night, they could be undefeated for some time. Seven of their next eight games are at the Staples Center and of those games, only three are against teams with winning records, including Detroit.
In their victory in New Orleans, the Lakers got 20 point efforts out of both Kobe Bryant and Derrick Fisher. Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum added another 14 each.
On the injury front, Pistons' guard Rodney Stuckey is day-to-day due to dizziness. Stuckey has missed the last two games for Detroit.
Last season the teams split their two games played against each other, with both teams winning on each other's home courts. Detroit has won six of the last eight in the regular season and are 11-4 against Los Angeles since the start of the 2003-2004 season, including that year's NBA Finals.
New Orleans -1 1/2 vs. Los Angeles
Chris Paul set a new NBA record when he recorded his sixth straight double-double to start a season as his Hornets beat Miami in New Orleans 100-89 Sunday. Paul recorded 21 points and 13 assists, but for he may have his biggest road block in extended that streak: the Los Angeles Lakers defense.
When the Lakers (6-0) travel to New Orleans to take on the Hornets (4-2) tonight a couple of streaks will be in jeopardy: Paul's double-double streak and L.A.'s perfect mark. Paul will take his chances of making it seven straight double-doubles against the NBA's top defense. The Lakers were surrendered only 84.4 points per game heading into Tuesday's game, a road victory over Dallas 106-99. Los Angeles did struggle through the first half of Tuesday's game and trailed in the fourth quarter, but was able to hold Dallas to 39 second half points and allowed the Lakers to get the come from behind victory. L.A. was able to recover in time to hold their opponent under 100 for the sixth straight time.
Kobe Bryant scored 27, with more than half of those points coming in the second half and seven straight to help the Lakers pull away in the fourth. Paul Gasol contributed to the victory with 22 points and 11 boards while Andrew Bynum netted 11 and rebounded 10.
The Lakers have played three road games this season, obviously winning them all while the Hornets are 2-1 in New Orleans Arena. Last season the teams split four games, with each team winning one home game and one road game.
Los Angeles is off to their best start since 2001-02, which was in the middle of their recent championship run, is the Western Conference's lone perfect team and one of only two in the NBA. While the Lakers start is not much of a surprise, the other undefeated team is a huge surprise. The perfect Atlanta Hawks are off to their best start since 1997-98 when the began the season 11-0.
Los Angeles -6 1/2 vs. Dallas
The Lakers and Mavericks have taken turns being high profile teams in the Western Conference in recent years, but neither has seemingly been good at the same time. This trend seems to be continuing as Los Angeles takes its undefeated record into Dallas to take on a struggling Mavericks team.
The Lakers (5-0) dispatched the previously undefeated, now swooning Houston Rockets Sunday night at the Staples Center, where Los Angeles is now 3-0. The Lakers weathered an early storm which saw the Rockets shoot out to a double digit lead to crush Houston 111-82. As usual Kobe Bryant lead all scorers with 23 points, followed closely behind by Pau Gasol with his 20 points and 15 rebounds.
With the win, Los Angeles Lakers ran its record to 5-0 for the first time since 2003-2004 and a win over Dallas Tuesday will put the team at 6-0 for the first time since 2001-2002. In that season the Lakers claimed their second of three straight championships. At 2-0 on the road, it will get a little tougher for the Lakers as after their meeting with the Mavericks, they will move on to New Orleans and come home to face Detroit.
Dallas (2-4) comes home after a tough road trip which saw the team go 1-2. The positive emotion of a victory against the rival Spurs in the first game of the trip was quickly erased with two straight losses to Denver and most recently Sunday to the lowly and previously unbeaten Los Angeles Clippers 103-92. The game saw the Mavericks fall far behind and rally from an 11-point deficit to tie the score with a little over eight minutes remaining, but that is where it all fell apart and lead to another disappointing Dallas loss.
Dallas is 0-2 at home and was 1-3 against Los Angeles a year ago. The Dallas Mavericks only victory came on the road in the first game of the series, they then dropped the next three, including both at home.
