2009-10 LAKERS NEWS AND NOTES
 Lakers vs. Chicago Bulls / W 108-93 / Streak: won 2 / Record 9-3
Nov 19: Pau Gasol played his first game of the season in the Lakers 108-93 victory over the Bulls.
After missing the first 11 games Gasol remembered everybody what he means to this team contributing 24 points and 13 rebounds (7 on the offensive side), giving balance to the offense and taking pressure off from Kobe Bryant who ended with 21 points, 9 rebounds and a season-high 8 assists. Kobe also passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for second place on the Lakers' all-time scoring list after a free throw with 6:07 left in the third quarter. He has now 24,182 points trails only Jerry West who has 25,192. This means that Kobe will surely become the Lakers all-time scoring leader this season. If he stays healthy and plays all 70 remaining games he will need to average just 14.2 points per game, well below his current NBA-best 30.2 ppg.
For the first time this season 6 players scored in double digits. Aside from Pau and Kobe, Artest had 15 points, Fisher 12, Bynum 11 in 24 minutes and Odom also 11 in his first game as the sixth man... Highlights...
 Lakers vs. Detroit Pistons / W 106-93 / Streak: won 1 / Record 8-3
Nov 17: In a 106-93 victory over the Pistons, Kobe Bryant had his 100th game with al least 40 points, becoming only the third player to do it. This exclusive list also includes Michael Jordan with 173 40+ games and Wilt Chamberlain with an incredible total of 271.
Despite playing with a strained right groin Kobe had 40 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists and made all his five 3-point attempts, Andrew Bynum continues being consistent and added 17 points and 12 rebounds while the Lakers who led by as many as 28 points, avoided their first 3-game losing-streak since February 2008, a week before they acquired Pau Gasol. Detroit had 24 points from Will Bynum and cut the margin to 7 with 1:54 left.
Gasol is expected to play his first game of the season on Thursday against the Bulls.
 Lakers vs. Houston Rockets / L 91-101 / Streak: lost 2 / Record 7-3
Nov 15: After Trevor Ariza received his ring and an ovation, the Rockets got the win 101-91 and the Lakers got booed at home.
The emotion was too much for Ariza who went 2-for-12 from the floor, including 1-for-7 from 3-point range but Houston point guard Aaron Brooks had a career-high 33 points to compensate and Rockets proved that they still present a problem for L.A. as they did in the 2009 Playoffs when playing without Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady took the Conference Semifinals to a Game 7.
It was another bad night for Kobe Bryant, who suffering from a strained right groin which the Lakers revealed actually happened Nov. 8 against the Hornets, scored 18 points on 5-for-20 shooting and had to leave the court for the locker room with 2:12 left. Artest added 22 points and Bynum had 21 points and 11 rebounds, but defensively the Lakers were a disaster, were outrebounded 60-38 and while they started the season with the goal of reaching 70 wins, currently they are only hoping for Pau Gasol to be healthy as soon as possible.
 Lakers at Denver Nuggets / L 79-105 / Streak: lost 1 / Record 7-2
Nov 13: The Lakers didn't have compassion for the tired Suns the night before and they received the same treatment at Denver. The Lakers, still playing without Pau Gasol, were defeated 105-79 by the Nuggets after having the worst haft game of their history.
After an acceptable 56-58 score after two quarters the Lakers were destroyed 29-8 in the third and scored 15 in the fourth to total 23 points in the second half, the fewest in a half in franchise history. The previous low was 24 in December 2004 against Memphis. Kobe Bryant arrived to the game as the NBA scoring leader (he's still at the top with 31.4 ppg) and scored 19 in the first two quarters but then went scoreless in the second half.
The Lakers thought they could finally defend Carmelo Anthony 1-on-1 with Ron Artest but with Artest in foul trouble, Melo made 18 of his 25 points in the final two quarters. It was a special win for the Nuggets who still have fresh memories of L.A. defeating them in the 2009 Western Conference Finals and hope to compete harder this season.
 Lakers vs. Phoenix Suns / W 121-102 / Streak: won 6 / Record 7-1
Nov 12: The Lakers had their best win of the season so far with a 121-102 victory over the tired Phoenix Suns. By winning its sixth in a row LA also ended the Suns 4-game winning streak.
The Suns arrived to L.A. with a 7-1 record that included wins against Boston and Miami, and the promise to compete in the West with their fast-paced high-scoring system. But despite still playing without Pau Gasol, the Lakers never gave them a chance. Kobe Bryant scored 29 points, 19 of them in the first half where the Lakers built a 14-point margin, 59-45, and Andrew Bynum in his return from injury after a two-game absence added 26 points, 15 rebounds and 3 blocked shots.
The Suns had their worst shooting night of the season (38-for-104, .365) with Amare Stoudemire going 2-for-15. Steve Nash had 13 points and five assists but also sat out the final 15 minutes of the game, maybe tired after having played the night before.
 Lakers vs. New Orleans Hornets / W 104-88 / Streak: won 5 / Record 6-1
Nov 8: Another day without Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum went unnoticed with an easy 104-88 victory over the Hornets. The Lakers have won the last 5 games and are now 6-1, despite their injuries.
New Orleans presented less opposition than expected and Kobe had 26 of his 28 points in the first half. Center DJ Mbenga had his first career double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds starting at center for the second time as a Laker and the bench added 46 points, including 15 by Brown and 11 by Walton. Chris Paul had 15 points and 9 assists for the Hornets.
 Lakers vs. Memphis Grizzlies / W 114-98/ Streak: won 4 / Record 5-1
Nov 6: Playing without injured Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum was no problem for the Lakers that got a 114-98 victory over the Grizzlies.
And the main reason was that Kobe Bryant had another inspired game, scoring 41 points shooting 19-for-30. He became the youngest player to reach 24,000 points at 31 years, 75 days old, 38 days before Wilt Chamberlain and in the same night he surpassed Allen Iverson for 16th in the NBA all-time scoring list. Coincidentally, Iverson is currently a guard for the Grizzlies. He came from the bench and had 8 points and 3 assists in 21 minutes.
While it was a bad night for Odom (3 points and fouled out), Ron Artest seems more comfortable with the system every day and ended with 19 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists. The Grizzlies led at halftime, 51-49 but then in third quarter Kobe and Artest combined for 26 points as L.A. outscored Memphis 38-24, while shooting 66.7%.
DJ. Mbenga was the starting center for the first time in his 3 years with the team, had a good defensive contribution and got 13 rebounds and 4 blocks. .
Lakers at Houston Rockets / W 103-102 OT/ Streak: won 3 / Record 4-1
Nov 4: The Lakers defeated the Houston Rockets 103-102 in their second consecutive overtime win in two nights.
In their first meeting since they swapped teams in July, Ron Artest and Trevor Ariza both scored 15 points and last-minute 3-pointers in regulation but at the end the game once again belonged to Kobe Bryant who scored 41 points, including 10 consecutive points in the fourth quarter and 6 in overtime. Andrew Bynum had 17 points and 17 rebounds and sealed the score by making 3 of 4 free throws in the final seconds. Ariza, who make himself famous with a couple of key steals while playing for L.A. in the 2009 Playoffs, received some of his own medicine when Derek Fisher stole the ball from his hands while time expired.
 Lakers at OKC Thunder / W 101-98 OT / Streak: won 2 / Record: 3-1
Nov 3: Kobe Bryant's fever went down before the game allowing him to lead his team to their first road victory of the season, 101-98 at Oklahoma City.
Kobe had 31 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists and despite having 7 turnovers he made, as usual, the key plays of the game in the fourth quarter and overtime. He scored the Lakers final 6 points in regulation and then made the go-ahead turnaround jumper from the left side with 2:29 to play in overtime to give the defending champions a 99-97 lead. Later he made two free throws with 18 seconds remaining to push the lead to three 101-98. After that Thabo Sefolosha missed a 3-pointer, Lamar Odom two free throws and Russell Westbrook another 3-pointer.
Andrew Bynum added 22 points and 10 rebounds and Ron Artest contributed 20 points, 6 assists and 5 steals. Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 28 points but missed a 3 pointer with 3 seconds left in the fourth and also all his 4 shots in overtime.
 Lakers vs. Atlanta Hawks / W 118-110 / Streak: won 1 / Record: 2-1
Nov 1: The Lakers bounced back from an embarrassing home loss to Dallas by defeating the Hawks 118-110. It was a good win against a good team and the Lakers could take a first look at what their new star Ron Artest can do for them.
Kobe Bryant had 41 points, 19 in a third quarter L.A. won 34-18. In that period the Lakers had 7 steals and put away the Hawks with a 18-0 run.
Andrew Bynum added 21 points and Odom, starting in the place of Gasol had 11 points, 14 rebounds and 8 assists. But the really good news for the Lakers was the way Ron Artest used his defensive skills to stop Joe Johnson who was unstoppable in the first quarter with 18 points against the defense of Kobe. Artest defended him after that allowing him just 9 points in the next 3 quarters for a total of 27.
 Lakers vs. Dallas Mavericks / L 80-94 / Streak: lost 1 / Record: 1-1
Oct 30: The Mavs became the first team to defeat the defending champion with a 94-80 victory at Los Angeles. It was also their first victory at L.A. since March 11, 2007.
Kobe scored 20 points but it was a bad shooting night for him. He missed 13 of 19 shots. Bynum added 14 points and 10 rebounds but Pau Gasol missed his second game with a strained right hamstring and the Lakers shot just 39 percent from the floor. The Mavericks, who go 21 points from Nowitzki and 11 assists from Jason Kidd, led 52-45 at halftime, and extended its lead to 78-58 in the third.
 Lakers vs. L.A. Clippers / W 99-92 / Streak: won 1 / Record: 1-0
Oct 27: Just minutes after receiving the rings for the 2008-09 NBA Championship and unveiling the franchise's 15th banner, the Lakers started their chase for another title with a 99-92 victory over the Clippers.
Kobe led them with 33 points and 8 rebounds, Bynum on his 22nd birthday added 26 and 13 for the Lakers that were up by 12 early in the third, before the Clippers closed the gap to 1 point at the end of the period. But Phil Jackson's team opened the fourth with a 10-2 run to take control for good. Lamar Odom, replacing injured Pau Gasol on the starting line-up, had 8 of his 16 points in that final quarter and on his official debut as a Laker Ron Artest scored 10 points.
Chris Kaman had 18 points and 16 rebounds for the Clippers, who arrived to the game one day after receiving the bad news that their new star, number 1 overall draft pick Blake Griffin will be out for 6 weeks.
Lakers Preseason Games:
Oct 7 vs Warriors W 118-101 Bynum 24 pts, Bryant 9 reb, Artest 7 ast
Oct 9 vs Warriors L 91-110 Bynum 19 pts 6 reb, Odom 5 ast
Oct 15 vs Kings W 98-92 Bynum 24 pts, Odom 8 pts, Bryant 4 ast
Oct 17 vs Bobcats W 91-87 Powell 15 pts, 8 reb, Bryant 7 ast
Oct 18 vs. Clippers W 114-108 Bynum 20 pts, 13 reb, Farmar 7 ast
Oct 20 vs Warriors W 113-107 Bryant 21 pts, Bynum 9 reb, Artest 8 ast
Oct 22 vs Nuggets W 106-89 Bryant 23 pts, Odom 9 reb, Artest 5 ast
Oct 23 vs Nuggets L 105-119 Vujacic 18 pts, Odom 9 reb, Artest 5 ast
With everybody healthy this will be the starting line-up for the 2009-10 Lakers:
Derek Fisher - point guard
Kobe Bryant - shooting guard
Ron Artest -
small forward
Pau Gasol -
power forward
Andrew Bynum - center
The bench: the arrival of Artest means Lamar Odom will start on the bench but he will also be the first player to see action when Artest, Gasol or Bynum rest. With Artest and Gasol usually playing tons of minutes, Odom's playing time (and happiness) will depend a lot on Bynum's performance. Despite not being a starter during the 2009 Playoffs It was usual to see him playing power forward with Gasol at center for most of each game.
Shannon Brown and Jordan Farmar will compete for the many minutes of rest that the 35-year-old Fisher will need. Sasha Vujacic playing time will depend on whether he recovers his shooting touch and in a similar situation is Adam Morrison who will have the chance to earn some minutes this year. Nobody else is expected to play many minutes and that includes Luke Walton, who is great but also plays in Artest and Odom's position.
Sep 15: When the Lakers 2009-2010 Regular Season starts on late October (Tuesday 27) 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, Ron Artest, Derek Fisher and all the other Lakers players...
In the meantime you can review the changes made to the 2009-10 roster and the Lakers performance in the 2008-2009 season and playoffs
The NBA released the Lakers 2009-2010 regular season schedule. |
2009-10 Season
