2008-09 LAKERS NEWS AND NOTES
 Lakers at Golden State Warriors / W 114-106 / Streak: won 1 / Record 28-6
Jan 7: Playing without regular contributors Lamar Odom, Jordan Farmar and Luke Walton the Lakers fought until the final minute to defeat the Warriors 114-106.
After a bad game the night before Pau Gasol bounced back with a great performance that included 33 points and a career-high 18 rebounds. He scored 14 of his points and took 8 rebounds in the fourth quarter. Kobe Bryant added 21 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists for the Lakers who lost a 17-point second-quarter lead and started the fourth trailing 80-77. A 3-pointer by Sasha Vujacic (12 points) gave L.A. the lead for good 90-87 with 7:18 to go and although everything looked under control the Warriors got within 3 points, 104-101, with 1:14 left.
Trevor Ariza scored a season-high 17 points and Bynum who had struggled in recent weeks changed his image with 18 points and 11 rebounds. - Highlights -
 Lakers vs. New Orleans Hornets / L 105-116 / Streak: lost 1 / Record 27-6
Jan 6: Kobe Bryant scored 39 points but it wasn't enough and the Lakers lost 116-105 at the hands of the New Orleans Hornets, ending this way their winning streaks of 6 consecutive games and 15 home games.
The Lakers led 92-89 entering the fourth quarter but shoot just 5-of-21 in the period, including 3-of-11 from 3-point range and were outscored 27-13. In fact David West by himself outscored them netting 15 of his 40 points in the quarter. Superstar point guard Chris Paul added 32 points, 15 assists, 3 steals and no turnovers in 44 minutes.
And the worst news of the day was provided by Lamar Odom with an hyper-extended right knee in the second quarter, joining Luke Walton and Jordan Farmar on the injured list.
Farmar will be out at least another six weeks after undergoing knee surgery and Walton is out at least 2 weeks because of a sore right foot.
 Lakers vs. Portland Trail Blazers / W 100-86 / Streak: won 6 / Record 27-5
Jan 4: With a home victory 100-86 over the Trailblazers on the same day Cleveland and Boston lost their games, the Lakers became the team with the best record in the NBA.
Kobe Bryant scored 26 points and Pau Gasol added 19 for L.A. while LaMarcus Aldridge led Portland with 22 points and 11 rebounds, but his team despite having all the starters scoring in double figures, was held to 39 percent from the field and shot an awful 59 percent from the free-throw line.
The Lakers made the difference with a 15-3 run that ended with 2:12 left in the third quarter leaving them up by 16 (75-59). Portland, playing without injured Brandon Roy, never got closer than 14 in a fourth quarter where Vladimir Radmanovic scored 12 of his 16 points.
The Bynum-Oden match-up didn't offer much (again). Bynum had 4 points and 10 rebounds while Oden ended with 10 points and 4 rebounds both playing almost 35 minutes each.
 Lakers vs Utah Jazz / W 113-100 / Streak: won 5 / Record 26-5
Jan 2: By defeating the Utah Jazz 113-100 at Staples Center the Lakers won their fifth consecutive game. Kobe Bryant led the way with 40 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists while Pau Gasol added 21 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists.
Gasol not only became just the 4th player to reach 10,000th career points after going directly from Europe to the NBA (Dirk Nowitzki, Peja Stojakovic and Vlade Divac are the others), he also provided the highlight: of the night after grabbing a defensive rebound he led the fast break with a series of movements the included a between-the-legs dribbling and then a Magic Johnson tribute with a no-look pass to Trevor Ariza for a dunk with 34 seconds left in the game.
The Lakers took a 55-35 lead with 2:29 left in the second quarter but the Jazz opened the third with an 18-9 run that reduced the margin to 3 points 65-62. The Lakers retook control and were up 81-66 by the end of the period but Utah got into another run 11-2 to start the fourth and got within 7. Kirilenko's dunk with 2:28 remaining put the score 97-93 but it was all for the Lakers after that including 7 points and 2 steals from Ariza.
Lakers vs Golden State Warriors / W 130-113 / Streak: won 4 / Record 25-5
Dec 28: The Lakers didn't let their big win against the Celtics confuse them and returned to their usual duties by winning at home against the Warriors 130-113.
L.A. took advantage of the team that gives up the most points in the NBA by leading 54-39 in the second quarter and by as many as 26 in the second half despite the Warriors efforts to close the gap.
Among seven Lakers that scored in double digits Kobe Bryant had 31 points, Derek Fisher added 19 and Sasha Vujacic -- playing as backup point guard in the absence of Jordan Farmar who had surgery on his left knee for a torn cartilage and will be out for 8 weeks.-- scored 17 points.
 Lakers vs Boston Celtics / W 92-83 / Streak: won 3 / Record 24-5
Dec 25: The Lakers victory 92-83 over their archrival Celtics didn't bring a championship to L.A., but it wasn't just another win. The Celtics arrived to Los Angeles hotter than ever in their history, with a franchise-record 19-game winning streak. It was also the 4th best streak in NBA history and the best 29-game start the league had ever seen. But the Lakers put an end to all of that led by Kobe Bryant who scored 27 points and at the end assisted Pau Gasol in three consecutive possessions that put the game in the Lakers hands for good. Gasol scored 9 of his 20 points in the final 5 minutes and his team closed the game with a 13-2 run that started with the Celtics ahead 81-79 and 3:36 left.
Andrew Bynum, the big absence in the 2008 Finals had 9 points and 7 rebounds. He also added 2 blocks, both in the fourth quarter as part of the team's excellent defensive effort in the period.
For the Celtics Kevin Garnett scored 22 points, Paul Pierce had 20 points and 10 rebounds but was scoreless in the fourth quarter, Ray Allen scored 14 and Rajon Rondo dished 12 assists but was held to 6 points.
The victory was the 1,000th for Los Angeles’ Phil Jackson, enabling him to become the sixth NBA coach to reach that milestone. He became the fastest to win 1,000, doing it in 1,423 games and surpassing Pat Riley, who did it in 1,434 games.
Lakers at New Orleans Hornets / W 100-87 / Streak: won 2 / Record 23-5 Dec 23: Just two days before facing the Celtics and their 19-game winning streak the Lakers played one of their best games of the season against the the Hornets and defeated them 100-87.
Kobe Bryant scored 26 points, Pau Gasol added 20 and the team ended a 4-game trip that started with two losses in a good note against one of the Western Conference best teams. Playing strong defense on Chris Paul for much of the game, the Lakers had a 19-point halftime lead and led by as many as 20 early in the fourth quarter.
Paul finished with 17 points and 10 assists for New Orleans, who had won 11 of its previous 13 games.
 Lakers at Memphis Grizzlies / W 105-96 / Streak: won 1 / Record 22-5
Dec 22: The Lakers snapped their only 2-game losing streak of the season with a victory 105-96 at Memphis. But it wasn't easy, the Grizzlies led 57-49 at the half and were still 91-85 up with 4 minutes left in the fourth. The score was tied at 96 with 34 seconds to go when Kobe Bryant was assisted by Pau Gasol for a 3-pointer the gave L.A. the lead for good.
Kobe made 12 of his 36 points in the fourth quarter. Gasol, playing at Memphis for the first time since being traded had 15 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists. It was also his first NBA game against his brother Marc who had 8 points and 7 rebounds. Rudy Gay led Memphis with 23 points, while rookie O.J. Mayo had 22 and 6 assists.
 Lakers at Orlando Magic / L 103-106 / Streak: lost 2 / Record 21-5
Dec 20: Kobe Bryant had a season-high 41 points but with Andrew Bynum in foul trouble and contributing just 3 points in 11 minutes, the Lakers lost at Orlando 103-106, just their 5th loss of the season but the second in two nights.
Kobe had 25 points in the first half as the Lakers took a 58-49 halftime lead, but the Lakers had problems in the match-up with center Dwight Howard (18 points, 12 rebounds). It was another awful night for Bynum but it wasn't much better for Pau Gasol who ended with 11 points in 42 minutes. In the third quarter Jameer Nelson scored 15 of his 27 points helping the Magic outscore L.A. 36-26
To complete the unbalanced Lakers offense Derek Fisher had 27 points, two shy of his career best while Sasha Vujacic ended with 1 point, he had missed all his 5 previous attempts when Bryant found him alone in the corner with just seconds to go and the Lakers down by 1. Vujacic missed his 3-point attempt to end 0-6 from the field. After Howard made 2 free throws, Kobe had a final chance to send it to overtime but his missed a long and desperate 3-point attempt.
 Lakers at Miami Heat / L 87-89 / Streak: lost 1 / Record 21-4
Dec 19: Holding the Lakers to a season low in points and surviving Kobe Bryant's final shot, the Heat won 89-87 led by 35 point from Dwyane Wade.
The game was tied after each of the first two quarters but it slowly slipped away from the Lakers hands at the end of a third quarter which finished with Wade's buzzer-beater 3-pointer and a 12-point lead for the Heat. The Lakers committed 21 turnovers - second highest for them this season.
Kobe had 28 points and a chance to send the game to overtime but his 14-foot jumper rimmed around the cylinder and went out as time expired.
 Lakers vs. New York Knicks / W 116-114 / Streak: won 4 / Record 21-3
Dec 16: The Lakers rallied from a 15-point halftime deficit to defeat the Knicks 116-114 and improve their record to 21-3 the best in the Western Conference.
Playing in the Staples Center for the last time before a 4-game road trip the Lakers were without a sick Pau Gasol and allowed 65 points to the new Mike D'Antoni-style Knicks who made eleven 3-pointers in the half.
Kobe Bryant had 28 points (9 in the final 7 1/2 minutes), 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals but the play of the game came at the end when Ariza almost gave the ball away in a bad pass trying to inbound it to Lamar Odom who grabbed it anyway and gave it back to Ariza whose layup put the Lakers ahead 113-112 with 1:03 to play. The two teams traded free throws after that and Chris Duhon missed a very long 3-point attempt as time expired.
Odom despite suffering from an upper respiratory infection started for the first time this season and finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Nate Robinson led the Knicks with 33 points from the bench.
 Lakers vs. Minnesota Timberwolves / W 98-86 / Streak: won 3 / Record 20-3
Dec 14: The Lakers improved their record to an impressive 20-3 with a victory 98-86 over the Timberwolves. But the best start in Phil Jackson's career as Laker coach does no hide the fact that lately they are not playing well especially against poor teams. And the T-Wolves weren't the exception giving battle until the fourth quarter when the Lakers finally who got rid of them. It was 76-70 for L.A. with 7:43 remaining when a basket by Ariza and 4 straight points for Bryant made it a 12-point lead that was too much for Minnesota.
Kobe Bryant had 26 points and 5 assist, Pau Gasol added 18 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 blocks while Bynum ended with 14 points, 9 rebounds and also 3 blocks. Despite the good numbers for the Lakers big men, the Timberwolves dominated the boards 53-46 including 16-9 on the offensive side.. At least the Lakers managed to keep their rival under 100 points for the second time in the last 8 games. Al Jefferson had 20 points and 13 rebounds for Minnesota.
 Lakers vs. Sacramento Kings / W 112-103 / Streak: won 2 / Record 19-3
Dec 12: Three days after their worst loss of the season at Sacramento, the Lakers took revenge with a 112-103 win at home.
After a 52-52 tie at halftime, led by Kobe Bryant (who ended the game with 32 points) the Lakers built a lead that was as big as 92-77 early in the fourth, then was reduced to 4, 101-98 with 3:02 remaining but Fisher sank a 14-footer, Bryant made a jumper, a driving dunk and one throw, and the Lakers were leading by 10 again.
Pau Gasol added 18 points and 11 rebounds while Andrew Bynum, who publicly asked to on the floor at the end of the games had 8 points and 10 rebounds when he fouled out with 4:24 remaining. John Salmons scored 26 points for Sacramento.
 Lakers vs. Phoenix Suns / W 115-110 / Streak: won 1 / Record 18-3
Dec 10: The 18-3 record doesn't show how the Lakers are playing. The defense has allowed 100 points to 7 of their last 10 rivals and that includes the short-handed Suns that lost 115-110 but gave battle with just 8 players.
They played without Raja Bell, Boris Diaw and rookie Sean Singletary, traded to Charlotte earlier the day for Jason Richardson, Jared Dudley and a 2010 second-round pick. Shaquille O'Neal was in New Jersey in the funeral of his great-grandmother.
The Suns got an 86-85 lead early in the fourth but a basket by Gasol (28 points) and two by Odom put the Lakers ahead 91-86, the Suns got to 91-90 but Bryant (18 points) made a 3-pointer and the Suns weren't closer than 4 points after that.
Matt Barnes led Phoenix with season-high totals of 25 points and 10 rebounds, Grant Hill added 23 points and Stoudemire 21. Andrew Bynum had 17 points and 11 rebounds while Vujacic added a season-high 15 points. In a surprising move by Phil Jackson started Luke Walton (8 points and 6 assists) for the first time this season while Radmanovic didn't play at all after starting the previous 20 games.
Lakers at Sacramento Kings / L 101-113 / Streak: lost 1 / Record 17-3
Dec 9: Sacramento hosted the Lakers bringing an 8-game losing streak and an awful 5-16 record but the Kings managed to win 113-101.
Kobe Bryant scored 28 points but shot 9-for-25, Gasol had 25 points and 12 rebounds and Bynum had a bad game with 8 points and 4 rebounds in 20 minutes in the first defeat of the season against a Western Conference rival (11-1)
Francisco Garcia and John Salmons scored 21 points apiece for the Kings who despite playing without their injured leading scorer Kevin Martin, took a 7-point lead into the fourth quarter and led by as many as 18 in that period.
The Lakers defense is not working as Phil Jackson expects lately and has surrendered more than 100 points for the fourth time in the last five games.
 Lakers vs. Milwaukee Bucks / W 105-92 / Streak: won 3 / Record 17-2
Dec 7: The defense reappeared after 3 subpar games on the road. The Lakers not only defeated the Bucks 105-92, they held them to 31 points in the first half, 54 after three quarters and a 38% overall shooting. The defense was so good through that Michael Redd ended with 2 points and Richard Jefferson with 3.
The Lakers led by as many as 27 points, but Phil Jackson is not very happy with how the second unit has been unable to sustain big leads lately, so he started fourth quarter with Kobe Bryant (20 points and 8 assists) and Andrew Bynum (14 points and 14 rebounds) on the floor. Kobe left with 7:41 remaining and Bynum seconds later with L.A. ahead 85-63. Although the game was never at risk after that the Bucks scored 29 points with the Lakers reserves on the floor reducing the margin to 11.
Rookie Chinese star Sun Yue had his first 5 minutes of NBA action in the fourth. He scored 4 points and committed 4 fouls.
 Lakers at Washington Wizards / W 106-104 / Streak: won 2 / Record 16-2
Dec 5: The Lakers almost repeated the story of the Indiana game a couple of day ago when they blew a big lead and lost in the final second. but this time they were lucky because Caron Butler missed his 3-point attempt as time expired and L.A. defeated the Wizards 106-104.
The Lakers led by 16 in the first quarter, but just by to two a few minutes before halftime. The lead was as big as 20 points in the third quarter, and still 19 with 7:27 left to play, but in what is becoming a pattern lately they saw it slip away in the fourth with Kobe Bryant a Pau Gasol on the bench.
Kobe had 23 points on 5-for-17 from the field, 7 rebounds, 7 assists and as usual a couple of incredible plays including the one when he found his path blocked on a drive into the lane and “shot” the ball off the glass right back to himself to then throw a perfect pass to Pau Gasol for a wide-open jumper. Andrew Bynum had a season-high 19 points, along with 10 rebounds, and Gasol 17 points and 10 rebounds while 3 other Lakers scored in double figures.
 Lakers at Philadelphia 76ers / W 114-102 / Streak: won 1 / Record 15-2
Dec 3: Led by Kobe Bryant's 32 points the Lakers rebounded from a last-second loss the night before with a 114-102 victory at Philadelphia.
The Lakers started slow, trailing 17-7 four and half minutes into the game but the offensive worked great from then on, they outscored their rival 26-8 the rest of the first quarter and ended with a season high 58.14% from the floor.
In the fourth, sparked by Louis Williams' 15 points, the 76ers reduced an 18-point deficit to 104-97 with 2:53 to play but this time Kobe stayed aggressive attacking the rim and scoring L.A.'s 8 next points. He was 12-for-20 from the floor.
Andre Miller had 26 points, eight rebounds and five assists for the 76ers and Iguodala had 19. While former Clipper Elton Brand Brand had 3 points on 1-for-7 shooting in 25 minutes apparently limited by a strained right hamstring, the paint was dominated by Pau Gasol with 22 points and 13 rebounds and Andrew Bynum added 18 points.
 Lakers at Indiana Pacers / L 117-118 / Streak: lost 1 / Record 14-2
Dec 2: The Lakers closed the third quarter with a 17-0 run to take a 101-86 lead into the fourth but they just watched as the Pacers slowly build an improbable comeback. The lack of defense and second opportunities allowed gave Indiana the chance for the win, Marquis Daniels airballed a wild reverse layup attempt with 1.9 seconds left, but Troy Murphy tapped the ball, it bounce around the rim before falling into the hoop as time ran out and the Pacers won the game 118-117.
Kobe Bryant led his team with 28 points and put L.A. ahead 117-116 with a long jumper with 58 seconds left but he also was short on an 18-footer in the next possession with 14.9 remaining. Danny Granger kept his team alive with 32 points.
This way, the Lakers failed to keep pace with the franchise best start of 16-1 in 2001-02. Kobe with his 28 points, became the second-fastest player in league history to reach 22,000 career points. Wilt Chamberlain was one day younger when he did it.
 Lakers vs. Toronto Raptors / W 112-99 / Streak: won 7 / Record 14-1
Nov 30: Pau Gasol had 24 points, Kobe Bryant 23 and both spent the fourth quarter in the bench watching as the second unit finished the game for a 112-99 win over the Raptors.
Kobe Bryant needed 38 points to become the youngest player to reach 22,000 points. He has been the fastest to get 12,000 and every level from there to 20,000. By scoring 38 he would have done it a day younger than Wilt Chamberlain. Instead, after getting 21 in a 61-51 first half for L.A. he showed that his goals are higher these days, took just 3 shots in a third quarter where he was the "facilitator" of Phil Jackson's offense and rested the whole fourth quarter. Once again Andrew Bynum dominated the paint, with 18 points and 10 rebounds despite playing with some pain and still adjusting to a bone spur in his right foot, which he’s had since landing on Vince Carter’s foot during last Tuesday. Anthony Parker led the Raptors with 19 points and center Jermaine O'Neal missed the third straight because of a sprained left ankle.
 Lakers vs. Dallas Mavericks / W 114-107 / Streak: won 6 / Record 13-1
Nov 28: After a 12-point game on Tuesday Kobe Bryant rebounded for a season-high 35 points and the Lakers defeated the Mavericks 117-107. It's the second victory over Dallas this season.
Dallas led by 78-67 midway with 3:47 to play in the third but the Lakers went into a 17-0 run the take command of the game 84-78 two minutes into the fourth. Despite playing with a sore right foot, center Andrew Bynum had 18 points and 10 rebounds for L.A. while Jason Terry scored 29 for Dallas.
 Lakers vs. New Jersey Nets / W 120-93 / Streak: won 5 / Record 12-1
Nov 25: A really bad shooting night from Kobe Bryant (12 points, 5-for-17 from the field) didn't stop the Lakers to extend the best NBA record to 12-1 with a 120-93 win against the Nets. Pau Gasol carried the team on his shoulders with 24 points and the second unit provided a much needed energy and outscored the Nets bench 56-19 led by 18 points from Jordan Farmar.
With Kobe going 1-for-9 mostly contained by Vince Carter's defense, the Lakers barely won the first half 56-54. It was 72-68 with 4:15 to go in the third but the Nets disappeared as L.A. went on a 33-10 run that made it 105-78 with 8:18 left in the fourth and ended with a 27 point margin that is the largest in 32 years of playing the Nets.
Lakers vs. Sacramento Kings / W 118-108 / Streak: won 4 / Record 11-1
Nov 23: The defense, which is one of the Lakers strong points this season wasn't there against Sacramento but the offense saved the day for L.A. who ended with a 118-108 victory over the Kings.
The Lakers had 8 players scoring in double figures, including Kobe Bryant with 24 points and 6 assists, Pau Gasol with 16 points and Andrew Bynum with 15 points and 10 rebounds but also committed 17 turnovers that the Kings, playing without their top scorer Kevin Martin, transformed in 30 points. Just seconds into the fourth quarter the Lakers took a 19-point lead but the Kings used a 21-6 run to narrowed the gap to 105-101 with 6:17 left. The Lakers scored the next 9 points to regain control of the game.
 Lakers vs. Denver Nuggets / W 104-90 / Streak: won 3 / Record 10-1
Nov 21: So one-sided was the win over Denver that none of the Lakers starters spent 30 minutes on the court. Kobe had 29 points, Bynum 13 points and 13 rebounds as L.A. cruised over Denver 104-90.
The Lakers started the game making 14 of 21 shots in the first quarter and never trailed. For the post-Allen Iverson Nuggets, Carmelo Anthony had a bad night with just 10 points on 5-for-19 shooting while Chauncy Billups added 15 points and 9 assists.
Lakers at Phoenix Suns / W 105-92 / Streak: won 2 / Record 9-1
Nov 20: What was supposed to be a new chapter in the Bryant/O'Neal confrontation was just another game where Kobe stayed on the bench most of the fourth quarter watching his teammates finishing the rival of the day. The Lakers easily defeated the Suns 105-92 to improve their record to 9-1, the best in the NBA.
The Lakers led Lakers 50-44 at halftime, the distance grew to 80-67 by the end of the third quarter and and Odom's 3 pointer put L.A.: 18 points ahead 3 and s half minutes later.
Kobe had 24 points shooting 8-for-23, Radmanovic recovered his lost long-distance touch making his 5 three-points attempts for 15 points.and 4 other Lakers scored in double figures against a Phoenix team that without coach Mike D'Antoni is not the run-and-gun team of the past. Shaq had 15 points and 9 rebounds and Bynum got in early foul trouble and finished with 10 points and 7 rebounds in 21 minutes in just their second game against each other since Bynum was drafted in 2005. In their first encounter they played only 2 minutes, but they were memorable..
 Lakers vs. Chicago Bulls / W 116-109 / Streak: won 1 / Record 8-1
Nov 18: Pau Gasol scored 34 points to lead the Lakers back to the winning path with a 116-109 victory over the Chicago Bulls. L.A. took advantage of the size difference in the post from the beginning as Gasol had 18 of his points in the first quarter. He shot 14-for-21 from the field while Andrew Bynum added 18 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocks.
Kobe Bryant had 7 of his 21 points in a 12-2 run in the third that put the game in the Lakers hands for good (73-58). Later Chicago drew within 8 but Bynum scored 6 in a row and Kobe added a 3-pointer to make it 82-65. He was in the floor only for 1:21 minutes in the fourth. Rookie sensation Derrick Rose led Chicago with 25 points and 9 assists
Bynum became the 8th youngest player in NBA history to grab 1,000 rebounds (21 years and 22 days old).
 Lakers vs. Detroit Pistons / W 95-106 / Streak: lost 1 / Record 7-1
Nov 14: Kwame Brown had a double-double, that's how weird the night was for the Lakers who lost their first game of the season, a 95-106 loss at the hands of Allen Iverson and his new team, the Pistons.
Kobe Bryant had 29 points for the Lakers, but went 12-of-30 from the field, Iverson and Rasheed Wallace had 25 points each while Detroit dominated both ends of the court and made shot after shot. - read more -
Lakers at New Orleans Hornets / W 93-86 / Streak: won 7 / Record 7-0 Nov 12: After a 93-86 win at New Orleans the Lakers are the lone undefeated team in the NBA with a 7-0 record, their best since 2001-02. With just over a minute left Kobe Bryant made a tough 3-pointer over former Celtic James Posey to stop and adverse 17-4 run and kill the Hornets hopes of a comeback.
In the same night that Shaquille O'Neal entered the top ten in the NBA all-time scoring list, Kobe, who had 20 points, moved to just 3 points from Larry Bird who is 23rd in that list. Derek Fisher hit four of his six 3-point attempts to also finish with 20 while Bynum and Gasol added 14 each. Chris Paul had 30 points, 7 rebounds and 13 assists for the Hornets extending his NBA-record to seven consecutive 20-point/10-assist games to start a season.
Lakers at Dallas Mavericks / W 106-99 / Streak: won 6 / Record 6-0 Nov 11: Trailing most of the way, the Lakers didn't panic and escaped from Dallas with a victory 106-99 to grow their perfect record to 6-0. the best start since 2001-02 (7-0).
Jason Kidd got the 101st triple-double of his career with 16 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists and Jerry Stackhouse added 21 points for the Mavericks but they felt the absence of Josh Howard and Dirk Nowitzki's disappearing act in the final period.
Kobe Bryant led the way with 27 points but had a lot of help: Pau Gasol had 22 points and 11 rebounds, Andrew Bynum 11 points, 10 rebounds (7 offensive) and 3 blocks and coming from the bench, Odom provided 12 points and Trevor Ariza who played all 12 minutes of the fourth quarter, had 13 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals and the play of the game, blocking a late three-point attempt by Jerry Stackhouse with the Lakers ahead 99-97 and 45 seconds to go.
The block was with one second left in the Mavericks possession, they committed a shot clock violation and 20 seconds later Gasol grabbed and offensive rebound from Fisher's missed shot, made a layup and got a foul to put the game out of reach for Dallas.
 Lakers vs. Houston Rockets / W 111-82 / Streak: won 5 / Record 5-0
Nov 9: In the first quarter it looked like just another bad shooting night for the Lakers, but after falling 16 points behind one minute into the second, they finally found their rhythm to defeat the Rockets 111-82.
Awakened by the aggressiveness brought from the bench by Jordan Farmar and Co., L.A. outscored Houston the rest of the way, 95-50. Defense was the key, and the Rockets numbers prove it: Tracy McGrady 3 points on 1-for-11 shooting, Ron Artest 8 on 2-for-11, Yao Ming 12 points. Kobe scored 23 points for the Lakers, Pau Gasol added 20 points, 15 rebounds and 3 blocked shots and Farmar had 16 points and 6 assists.
The Lakers, who shot 43.5 % in their first 4 games (the third worst in the league), shot 65.8 % in the second half and ended up with a 53.2 % against Houston, the first title contender they faced this season.
 Lakers vs. L.A. Clippers / W 106-88 / Streak: won 4 / Record 4-0
Nov 5: It was another poor shooting night for the Lakers but they used a 22-0 run in the fourth quarter to get another win over the Clippers 106-88. This time playing with Marcus Camby, the Clippers didn't suffer another 38-point embarrassment and stayed in the game until the fourth quarter, but couldn't avoid their 5th loss of the season. They had the lead 81-79 with 8:15 to play but didn't score again in the next 7 minutes.
Kobe Bryant had 27 points but shot 13-for-21, Odom had 15 points and 9 rebounds coming from the bench and was in the floor with the starters in the key moments of the final period, and Andrew Bynum presence in the paint provided 9 points, 17 rebounds (tying career-high) and 4 blocks.
Lakers at Denver Nuggets / W 104-97 / Streak: won 3 / Record 3-0
Nov 1: Despite all the talented players the Lakers have in their roster, the fourth quarter still belongs to Kobe Bryant who scored 14 of his 33 points in the final 7 minutes of the game to help his team improve to 3-0 with a win 107-97 over the Denver Nuggets.
The Nuggets were tired after an OT win the night before, the Lakers were shooting pretty bad, Andrew Bynum was battling with foul trouble (he ended with 4 points and 8 rebounds) and the ugly game was tied at 86 with less than 7 minutes to go until Kobe Bryant who had missed 10 of 17 shots saved the night for the fans. His attack mode started with a 3-pointer that put L.A. ahead for good. Pau Gasol had 16 points and 16 rebounds while the Lakers did a good job controlling Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony, the NBA's highest scoring duo last season who had just 13 points each.
Lakers at L.A. Clippers / W 117-79 / Streak: won 2 / Record 2-0
Oct 29: One night after ruining Greg Oden's NBA debut, the Lakers spoiled Baron Davis first day at work in L.A. It was a 117-79 win over the Clippers, 38 points of distance that make it the second biggest point differential between the two teams in their history. The Lakers continued with their good defensive effort and had a very balanced offense with 7 players scoring in double digits, including Kobe Bryant with 16 (and 8 rebounds), and Fisher and Farmar 15 each. Bynum bounced back from a quiet game with 12 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocks and started to establish himself as a defensive presence in the post.
The Clippers led 32-30 early in the second quarter but a 24-6 run basically ended the game. For the Clippers It was also the first game without Elton Brand (gone to Philadelphia) and Corey Maggette. Davis had 7 assists and 11 points but needed 13 shots to get them while Marcus Camby couldn't make his debut because of a bruised heel.
Lakers vs. Portland Trail Blazers / W 96-76 / Streak: won 1 / Record 1-0
Oct 28: The Lakers regular season started as everybody expected, or even better with an easy victory 96-76 over the Trail Blazers. The defense was excellent, the Lakers led by 15 at halftime and Pau Gasol was more than effective making 7 of 10 shots in his new role of power forward. All his 15 points were in the first half while Kobe Bryant scored 17 of his 23 points in the third quarter. Kobe also added 11 rebounds and 5 assists.
The much anticipated match-up between Greg Oden and Andrew Bynum will have to wait for another opportunity because Oden, playing his first NBA game ever, blocked a shot attempt by the Lakers center but left late in the first half with a sprained right foot, no points, 4 missed shots, 2 missed free throws and 5 rebounds in 13 minutes and Bynum had a quiet night with 8 points, 3 rebounds and 3 blocked shots in 28 minutes.
In his first game coming from the bench Lamar Odom received and ovation and collected 9 points and 7 rebounds. Radmanovic, who got the starting role at small forward, had 8 points, 5 rebounds and 4 steals and made 2 three-pointers for a Lakers team that shot 7 7-for-10 from beyond the arc, including 2 made by Ariza who is showing his new shooting range...
10/28: The Lakers start their season against the Portland Trail Blazers, one of the teams expected to make the already strong Western Conference even stronger. And all the eyes will be put in the match-up between Greg Oden and Andrew Bynum. Oden, the number 1 pick in the 2007 Draft, will make his official NBA debut after missing last season with an injury. Bynum, considered the Lakers future, will return from a knee injury that didn't allow him to play in the 2008 playoffs...
Lakers Preseason Games:
Oct 7: Lakers vs. Jazz - Loss 90-99
Oct 9: Lakers vs. Clippers - Loss 80-107
Oct 12: Lakers vs. Kings - Win 94-89
Oct 18: Lakers vs. Barcelona - Win 108-104
Oct 21: Lakers vs. Bobcats - Win 102-98
Oct 23: Lakers vs. Bobcats - Win 88-77
Oct 24: Lakers vs. Thunder - Win 105-94
With Andrew Bynum finally healthy this is the possible starting line up of the 2008-09 Lakers:
Derek Fisher - point guard
Kobe Bryant - shooting guard
Lamar Odom-
small forward (also it could be Ariza or Radmanovic)
Pau Gasol -
power forward
Andrew Bynum - center
Odom could also play point and Fisher shooting guard with Kobe as the small forward, or he could also be moved to the second unit with Ariza or Radmanovic as the starters.
The reserves that will see more action will probably be Jordan Farmar, Sasha Vujacic, Vlade Radmanovic, Luke Walton and Trevor Ariza.
9/15: When the Lakers 2008-2009 Regular Season starts on late October (Tuesday 28) you will find in this page all the news, stats, team leaders, standings, highlights and schedule related to Los Angeles Lakers, Phil Jackson, Kobe Bryant, Andrew Bynum, Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, Derek Fisher and all the Lakers players...
In the meantime you can review the changes in the 2008-09 roster and the Lakers performance in the 2006-2007 season and playoffs
8/5: The NBA released the Lakers 2008-2009 regular season schedule. |
2008-2009 Season
