Lakers Universe - Los Angeles Lakers 2009-2010 Regular Season, standings, team leaders, schedule and news
2009-10 Los Angeles Lakers regular season, NBA Pacific Division standings, team leaders, complete schedule. Kobe Bryant statistics.
| Los Angeles Lakers 2009-10 Regular Season Record: 57-25 Pacific Division Standing: 1st / Streak: lost 1 Western Conference Standing (for Playoffs): 1st |
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2009-10 LAKERS NEWS AND NOTES
Apr 14: The season couldn't have ended worst for the Lakers who lost 91-107 against the Clippers and added Sasha Vujacic to their long list of injured players. Already playing without Kobe Bryant, Andrew Bynum and Jordan Farmar, the Lakers roster suffered another hit when Vujacic sprained his right ankle in the second quarter. He could miss the first round of the 2010 Playoffs against the Thunder. Lamar Odom had 21 points, Shannon Brown added 18 and Pau Gasol also 18 and 17 rebounds for the Lakers, who finished the season with 57-25 record, the No. 1 seed in the West, the No. 3 overall only below Cleveland and Orlando, and a lot of doubts about their near future. Kobe missed 4 of his team's last 5 but is expected to be back for the first game of the playoffs. Highlights...
Apr 13: The Lakers can't wait for the season to be over to rest for a couple of days and avoid any further injuries. Meanwhile they defeated the Kings 106-100 but lost Jordan Farmar in the process. Farmar strained his left hamstring in the first half and joined Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum in the list of players who won't be available in their final season game. Kobe Bryant will be back for the first game against the Thunder, the Lakers' first round rival in the 2010 Playoffs. Bynum and Farmar are expected to be healthy by then, but with Bynum you never know. Gasol had 28 points and 8 rebounds while Shannon Brown, despite his own finger injury, added 24 points and the Lakers swept the season series with Sacramento.
Apr 11: Kobe Bryant returned to the line-up but he didn't have a good game and the Lakers had a weird night and lost 91-88 at home against the Portland Trail Blazers. Portland, who could end up being L.A.'s first round opponent in the 2010 Playoffs, played most of the game without Brandon Roy after he banged knees with Ron Artest. Kobe had 20 points but shot poorly and unusually for him missed to key free throws at the end. Fisher missed another one seconds later and the Lakers missed a final three-point attempt shot by... Pau Gasol... on a play that was designed for him...
Apr 9: With a 97-88 win over the Timberwolves, the Lakers locked up the fist seed in the West and home-court advantage throughout the Western Conference playoffs. In a game in which the team couldn't count with Kobe Bryant, still resting some of his injuries, and Andrew Bynum, who is out until who knows when, Pau Gasol took charge in the paint against Darko Milicic and Kevin Love and ended with 29 points and 15 rebounds. Kobe' status against Portland is still unclear. Jackson may want to give him more rest to be in the best shape possible for the 2010 Playoffs. With no chance to catch Lebron James and his Cavaliers for the best record in the NBA, the only thing to be decided for the Lakers is whether they have a better record that the Magic for an eventual rematch of last year's Finals. Currently they have the same record at 56-23.
Apr 8: Despite playing without Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum the Lakers fought until the end before losing 96-98 at Denver. They even had a chance to tie or win in the last ball, but Derek Fisher's 3-point attempt was blocked by Carmelo Anthony who also led the Nuggets with 31 points. With the win Denver moved one game ahead of Utah for second in the Western Conference. The Lakers, despite losing 4 of their last 5 need just one victory in their remaining 4 games to secure the top seed in the West. Sasha Vujacic started in place of Bryant who took the night off to rest a swollen right knee and an aching right index finger.
Apr 4: The Spurs defeated the Lakers 100-81 to clinch their playoff spot. After looking really bad and losing at L.A. 10 days before, the Spurs have defeated the best teams in the league including Cleveland, Boston, Orlando and now the Lakers, who could end up being their playoff rivals. And the main reason for the Spurs current mood is clearly Manu Ginobili who is currently unstoppable playing point guard and scored 17 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter. Tim Duncan added 24 and 11 rebounds while Tony Parker is still out with a broken finger. Pau Gasol had a season-high 32 points and Kobe Bryant added 22 for the Lakers that still try without luck to gain some consistency before the 2010 Playoffs start. Also, with the loss the Lakers allowed the Cavaliers to secure the best record in the league and home court advantage through the NBA Finals, despite their loss at Boston.
Apr 2: The Lakers did a good job to start and end the game and got a much needed win 106-92 against Utah. Odom had a season-high 26 points and 10 rebounds. Kobe Bryant, in the same day his three-year contract extension was announced, added 25, going 15 of 18 from the free throw line. The Lakers led by as many as 19 in the second quarter but the Jazz closed the gap and with 4 points to open the fourth quarter they got within 75-71 before a 3-pointer from Odom launched a 18-3 run that put the Lakers ahead by 19. Pau Gasol was 1 assist short of a triple-double with 14 points and 16 rebounds. Deron Williams had 20 points and 10 assists while Carlos Boozer had 20 points and 18 rebounds for the Jazz, who are already classified for the playoffs.
Mar 31: With a 92-109 loss at Atlanta, the Lakers ended their road trip 2-3. Led by Joe Johnson's 25 points (including 5 three-pointers, the Hawks moved one game ahead of the Celtics in the race for the 3rd seed in the Eastern Conference. Kobe Bryant had 28 points and Pau Gasol added 16 and 11 rebounds but Atlanta went ahead for good at the end of the first quarter and led by as many as 18 points in the second half. With a great performance by the Hawks reserves the Lakers bench was outscored 48-22.
Mar 29: The Lakers had surprising loss at New Orleans 100-108, against a team that is already out of the 2010 Playoffs. The 35-40 Hornets had the first double-double from Chris Paul since returning from a knee injury with 15 points and 13 assists. Kobe Bryant had 31 points and Pau Gasol added 26 points and 22 rebounds, but they didn't have enough help. The Lakers bench scored just 12 points against the 42 from the Hornets reserves. David West scored 20 points for New Orleans. The Lakers are 2-2 in a five-game road trip that ends at Atlanta on Wednesday.
Mar 27: The Lakers bounced back from an awful game the night before with a relatively easy 109-101 win at Houston. With a 20-0 run in the last 6 minutes of the second quarter they took control of the game. Playing without Shane Battier and Kevin Martin, the Rockets tried to recover and in fact outscored the Lakers 32-20 in the fourth quarter, but it wasn't enough. Pau Gasol had a season-high 30 points, Kobe Bryant was one assist shy of a triple double with 17 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists while the team shot 57.1% from the field. Argentinean forward Luis Scola led the Rockets with 28 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists and point guard Aaron Brooks added 26 points and 7 assists. This way the Lakers closed the season series 3-1 against the only team that took them to a game 7 in the 2009 Playoffs. With 10 games left on their season only a miracle would allow the Rockets to advance to the 2010 Playoffs.
Mar 26: The Thunder are on the rise and the Lakers were witnesses of it while losing badly 75-91 at Oklahoma City. Kevin Durant scored 26 points, Russell Westbrook added 23 as the Thunder ended the Lakers' 7-game winning streak. Kobe Bryant almost had as many turnovers (9) as points (11) and the overall team effort was a disaster, looking as if they wanted the season to end right night. In the same night Phil Jackson said he will be back next season if L.A. wins the title, his team started the game 7-19 and was down by 19 by halftime. Kobe had 8 turnovers in those first two periods. And things didn't get better in the third. The Thunder ended the quarter with a 16-2 to build a 33-point margin. The Lakers scored the first 10 in the fourth and outscored their rivals 28-11 to end the game with some dignity. With the win the Thunder remain alone in the 6th place in their playoff race and while the loss means almost nothing for the Lakers who are 5 1/2 games ahead of the Nuggets in the West, it reduces their chances to catch the Cavaliers who have lead the NBA with a 57.16 record. If the season ended today L.A. would be playing against the Trail Blazers.
Mar 24: Playing suffocating defense in the second half, the Lakers defeated the Spurs 92-83 in their 7th consecutive win. After a trailing 48-41 at halftime the Lakers turned on their defense with Ron Artest as their flag. He chased almost everybody near him, getting 5 steals in the half and contributed 16 points and 8 rebounds. Kobe had 24 points on 11-for-16 shooting and 6 assists. Odom added 19 points and 13 rebounds and Pau Gasol ended with 10 and 12 and did and excellent defensive job on Tim Duncan who had 6 points on 2-for-11 shooting. In the absence of injured Tony Parker, George Hill had 20 of his 21 points in the first half but it was Manu Ginobili who led the team. He had 24 points and was keeping the Spurs alive in the fourth but when they were down by 3, 77-74, with 6:52 left, coach Popovich decided to give him a rest. The Lakers went into a 10-2 run that included 2 three-pointers by Kobe, and when Manu returned 3 minutes later it was too late. Andrew Bynum didn't play and Kobe passed Alex English and his 25,613 points for 12th place on the NBA's all-time scoring list.
Mar 21: In their first game without Andrew Bynum, five and a half minutes from Kobe Bryant were enough for the Lakers to make the difference that at the end was enough to defeat the rebuilding Wizards 99-92. They also showed once again the lack of inspiration they usually have when they play against bad teams. Kobe had 20 of his 24 points in the second quarter, all of them from at least 12 feet away, including three consecutive 3-pointers that gave the L.A. a 57-33 lead with 1:09 minutes left in the period. He made 4 of 7 three-pointers and now he needs just one point to pass Alex English and his 25,613 points for 12th place on the NBA's all-time scoring list. Pau Gasol, playing center in the absence of Bynum who will be out for at least two weeks with a strained Achilles' tendon, had a strong game with 28 points and 12 rebounds.
Mar 19: With a 104-96 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Lakers clinched a playoff berth for the 29th time in Jerry Buss' 31 years as the team's owner. But there was nothing to celebrate after a game in which they lost Andrew Bynum early in the third quarter after he strained his left Achilles' tendon. He left with 11 points and 5 rebounds in 20 minutes. The T-Wolves took the lead 68-66 with 4:30 left in the third but L.A. scored the next 12 points to enter the fourth up 78-68. Lamar Odom scored 11 of his 18 points in the final quarter. Kobe Bryant had 22 points and a season-high 13 assists. Even if the future looks promising with the young talent on the roster, Timberwolves coach and former Laker Kurt Rambis is having a hard time in the present. His team has lost the last 12 games for a 14-56 record so far in the regular season.
Mar 16: Kobe, Pau and Andrew combined for 79 points while the Lakers won 106-99 at Sacramento to get their fourth consecutive win, the last three on the road. Bryant had 30 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists, Gasol added 28 points and 12 rebounds and Bynum 21 points and 12 rebounds for L.A. while Tyreke Evans, Sacramento's rookie star almost got a triple-double with 25 points, 11 rebounds and 9 assists. With 14 games left in the regular season, the Lakers lead the Western Conference, 4 games ahead of Denver and are second overall in the league, 3 game behind Lebron James and his Cleveland Cavaliers.
Mar 15: The Warriors missed two tree-pointers in the final seconds allowing the Lakers to get a 124-121 victory at Golden State. Kobe Bryant, who tied Magic Johnson for the second-most wins by a Laker player, had 29 points and also committed a season-high 9 turnovers to contribute to the team's 24. But despite losing the ball so many times the Lakers completely outrebounded the Warriors with a 56-25 edge. They also allowed them 100 shots, two of them in the final seconds of play. Stephen Curry (29 points, 9 assists) missed a wide open 3-point attempt with 3 seconds left, then Monta Ellis (13 points) grabbed the offensive rebound, went outside the 3-point line an took a shot as time expired. The ball bounced 3 times before falling out. Gasol added 26 points and 9 rebounds while Bynum had 19 and 14.
Mar 12: All five Lakers starters scored in double digits as L.A. ended a 4-game road losing streak with a 102-96 win at Phoenix. Things didn't look very well at the beginning when nobody seemed able to contain Amare Stoudemire who went for 17 points and 8 rebounds in a first quarter the Suns won 31-24. He ended the game with 29 and 16. But the Lakers used their defense to take control in the second, went to halftime leading 53-46 and led by as many as 15 in the third. The Suns recovered the lead 82-81 almost 3 minutes into the fourth but the Lakers went into a 12-1 run. Kobe, who in the third period banged his previously injured finger, had 21 points on 7-of-16 shooting, 10 rebounds, 8 assists, Bynum contributed 18 points and 9 rebounds while Artest, Gasol and Fisher added 15 points each. This way the Lakers won the season series with the Suns 3-1.
Mar 9: Thanks to another winning-shot by Kobe Bryant, the Lakers snapped their first 3-game losing streak in almost 3 years with a 109-107 win over the Raptors. Chris Bosh's 3-pointer with 9.5 seconds left tied it at 107. But Kobe, who made 14 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter, received the ball on the wing, took it to the baseline and shot another of those high-difficult shots he usually takes to give the Lakers the lead with 1.9 seconds left. The Raptors didn't have any more timeouts and barely attempted a bad long distance shot. Despite making his sixth game-winning shot of the season, at the end Kobe wasn't happy at all with the team's defensive effort. Andrew Bynum added 22 points and Pau Gasol 17 points and 9 rebounds while Bosh had 22 points for Toronto. The Lakers will finish the regular season with 11 of 17 games on the road.
Mar 7: It eventually had to happen. The Lakers were defeated 94-96 at Orlando, losing 3 games in a row for the first time since the arrival of Pau Gasol. Vince Carter had 25 points and Dwight Howard added 15 and 16 rebounds for the Magic while Kobe Bryant playing through a minor stomach illness had 34 points 7 rebounds and 7 assists and Gasol added 20 points and 11 assists. Orlando got 6 points ahead with 1:10 left, then Kobe tied the game with a 3-pointer with just 12 seconds remaining but the officials reviewed it and ruled it was a 2-point shot. Vince Carter made a free throw and Kobe missed a 20-foot jumper at the end.
Mar 5: If the Lakers want to match their win total from last year they will have to win the 20 games remaining in the season. They look tired and uninspired and lost to Michael Jordan's new team (as the owner, of course) the Bobcats 98-83. Kobe had 26 points on 9-for-21 from the field but had little help from his teammates. As a team the Lakers shot 36.3 % and committed 20 turnovers. Stephen Jackson had 21 points and Gerald Wallace 17 and 10 rebounds for a Bobcats team that has won 7 of their last 9 meetings with L.A.
Mar 4: Kobe Bryant scored 39 points shooting 15-of-28, and made the jumper that tied the game and sent it to overtime but the Lakers couldn't contain the Heat in the extra time and lost 111-114 at MIami. Dwyane Wade had 27 points and 14 assists and Quentin Richardson scored a season-high 25 points that included 7 three-pointers in a game that featured 19 ties and a record this season 31 lead changes. The Lakers were about to win it with Kobe on fire at the end of regulation. But a obvious foul on him while he was attempting a 3-pointer with half-minute left and the Lakers up by one wasn't called and Richardson answered with one of his threes to put the Heat ahead 99-97. Then Kobe tied it with a second left and kept scoring in overtime before his teammates forgot about him for a couple of minutes. With 18 seconds left and down by two Kobe committed an offensive foul on Jermaine O'Neal and the game soon got out of reach.
Mar 2: Kobe Bryant still can't find his shooting touch after returning from injury but he managed to score 24 points while the Lakers dominated the third quarter and got a 122-99 win over the Pacers. Kobe was 5-for-14 from the field but he also made 14 of 15 free throws and 10 of his points came in the third when L.A. outscored Indiana 38-17 to basically end the game. The Lakers improved to 14-0 against the Pacers at the Staples Center. Andrew Bynum added 16 points and Pau Gasol had 14 points and 16 rebounds.
Feb 28: In the matchup of the Western Conference's top two teams the Lakers got a big win 95-89 over the Nuggets. Kobe had an awful shooting night going 3 for 17 from the field, 1 for 9 during the first half. But he also had 8 of his 14 points and 5 of his 12 assists in the fourth quarter. Lamar Odom had 20 points and 12 rebounds while Pau Gasol added 15 and 14. Ron Artest (17 points) was maybe the key of the game with his defense on Carmelo Anthony who was limited to 21 points before fouling out for the second time this season with 2:13 to play. Denver arrived very confident after having defeated L.A. twice this season. But the Lakers, who have beaten Denver in the last two playoff editions played strong defense to slow the Nuggets offense. This was the first meeting this season in which both teams had their regular starting players available.
Feb 26: The Lakers big men did most of the job and the Lakers got a win 99-90 over the 76ers. Taken advantage of the favorable matchups, Pau Gasol had 23 points and 11 assists while Andrew Bynum added 20 points and 13 rebounds. Kobe Bryant contributed 19 points and 8 assists. Playing without Allen Iverson who is out indefinitely because of his daughter's illness, the 76ers stayed on the game in the first 3 quarters were there were 23 lead changes and 7 ties. But the Lakers took some distance midway through the fourth.
Feb 24: Everybody looked tired in the second night of back-to-back games and the nobody couldn't handle Dirk Nowitzki in a Mavericks win 101-96. Nowitzki had 31 points, Jason Terry added 30 and between then scored 22 of their team's final 23 points. Jason Kidd had 14 points, 13 assists and 7 rebounds while Lamar Odom led the Lakers with 21 points. In his second game back from injury Kobe Bryant couldn't repeat his good performance from the night before, shot 9 of 23 and missed 4 of 6 attempts in the fourth quarter, including a 3-point attempt who could have tied the score with 25 seconds left. He had 20 points and moved into 13th place on the NBA's all-time career scoring list with 25,298 points, passing Reggie Miller.
Feb 23: Kobe Bryant returned to the Lakers lineup after staying out 18 days with an injured ankle, and just in case somebody had forgot about him, he made the winning three-pointer with 4.3 seconds left to give L.A. a 99-98 victory at Memphis. In his 1,000 regular season game, Kobe had 32 points on 13-for-19 shooting, seven rebounds and six assists. The Lakers went 4-1 without him but his absence was more noted than ever when they almost couldn't score in the final 7 minutes again the Celtics. But against the Grizzlies Kobe scored 9 points in the final 2:21, taking the team from a 90-95 deficit to the victory. O.J. Mayo led Memphis with 25 points but he also missed a 19-foot jumper with time expiring. Pau Gasol won the brothers matchup with 22 points, 13 rebounds and 5 assists while Marc had 8 points and 11 rebounds.
Feb 18: The Lakers 4-game winning streak without Kobe Bryant came to an end at L.A. against the Celtics, 86-87. And at the end of the game was when they really missed Kobe, the NBA's fourth-leading scorer. But despite they could only score 2 points in the final 7:13 minutes the Lakers still had a chance to win when Derek Fisher took a very forced shot with time expiring and missed it. Ray Allen led the Celtics with 24 points and Rajon Rondo added 14 and 11 assists. Pau Gasol scored 22 points, and Lamar Odom had 13 points and 14 rebounds for the Lakers.
Feb 16: With a 104-94 win over the Warriors, the Lakers improved to 4-0 playing without Kobe Bryant. The Lakers are showing what else they have in these games in which 4 different players have led them in scoring. This time is was Shannon Brown's turn. He started in Kobe's place and had career highs of 27 points and 10 rebounds while Andrew Bynum returned after missing two games and added 21 points and 7 rebounds. The game was close until the end. The Warriors tied it at 89 with 4:37 to go but the Los Angeles ended it with a 15-5 run that included 6 points by Gasol and 8 points by Brown in the final 1:13.
Feb 10: Andrew Bynum sat out again because of a bruised hip, Kobe Bryant did the same with a sprained left ankle. But the Lakers had no problems controlling the Jazz and got a 96-86 win. This way L.A. ended Utah's 9-game winning streak and is 2-1 in the season series. Pau Gasol played center and had another big game and finished with 22 points, 19 rebounds and 5 blocks. Lamar Odom started and had 25 points and 11 rebounds and Jordan Farmar added 18 points making all his 3-point attempts. Shannon Brown who will be participating in the dunk contest started in place of Kobe and contributed 11 points. It was the Lakers final game before the All-Star weekend. Kobe has missed the last 3 games (3 Lakers victories) and his status for the All-Star Game is still uncertain.
Feb 8: Playing without Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum meant no problem for the Lakers who defeated the declining Spurs 101-89. Gasol led the way with a terrific game and 21 points, 19 rebounds, 8 assists and 5 blocked shots while Artest added 18 points, Odom 16 points and 10 rebounds and Fisher and Farmar scored 13 each. Odom and Shannon Brown were the starters in the absence of Kobe and Bynum. After a 14-4 run in the third L.A. took a 68-57 lead. The Spurs closed the gap to 73-65 going into the fourth but the Lakers controlled the final minutes of game tying the season series 1-1. The Spurs had their three big stars on the floor: Manu Ginobili scored 21 points, Tony Parker 20, Tim Duncan had 16 points and 15 rebounds, but currently they are not in their best moment.
Feb 6: L.A. played without Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum could stay on the game just 10 minutes, but the Blazers didn't have Brandon Roy and the Lakers snapped a 9-game losing streak in Portland with a 99-82 win. Kobe finally took some time off to nurse a sore left ankle. He had played 235 straight games. The Lakers had not won at the Rose Garden since Feb. 23, 2005. Lamar Odom started and had 10 points while tying a career-high 22 rebounds. Ron Artest added 21 points and a halftime buzzer-beating three-pointer and Shannon Brown 19 points while Bynum injured his hip when he fell in the 1st quarter. He limped through the rest of the first half and didn't play in the second.
Feb 5: Chauncey Billups had a night to remember, scored a career-high 39 points, including nine 3-pointers, and the Nuggets won 126-113. Kobe had a productive game himself with 33 points that included four 3-pointers and 9 rebounds while Pau Gasol added 17 points and 17 rebounds, but the Nuggets, playing without injured Carmelo Anthony, were too good from long distance making 15 of 22 three point attempts for and amazing 68.2%. This way the Nuggets, one of the few teams who are thought to be able to give the Lakers problems in the postseason have defeated them in their two encounters so far this season but there are still 2 more games between them previous to the playoffs.
Feb 3: With a 99-97 win against the Bobcats, Phil Jackson became the winningest coach in Los Angeles Lakers history. With his 534th win coaching L.A., Jackson passed Pat Riley. He was already the leader in wins for the Chicago Bulls where he won 545 games and got 6 championships. But it wasn't an easy win and the Bobcats were close until the final seconds. Before the game and in a brief ceremony at midcourt Kobe Bryant was honored for passing Jerry West two days earlier for the Lakers' all-time franchise scoring record. West himself handed Kobe the ball from that game. After that the Lakers star aggravated his already sore left foot when Odom stepped on it and had to leave the game. He returned but had his season-low 5 points on 2-for-12 shooting. Other Lakers contributed including Bynum with 17 points and 14 rebounds, Odom with 19 points, and Gasol and Artest 14 each. Gasol had a key steal in the final seconds when the Bobcats were going for the tie.
Feb 1: The final score of the day says that the Grizzlies defeated the Lakers 95-93 but the really relevant fact is that Kobe Bryant became the Lakers all-time scoring leader. With his 44 points Kobe reached the 25,208 mark, surpassing Jerry West's 25,192. To see the dimension of this milestone you just have to check the top 5 scorers in Lakers history: Kobe, West, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Elgin Baylor and Magic Johnson. Kobe passed West with a dunk after being assisted by Jordan Farmar on a fastbreak in the third quarter. He made 16 of 28 shots (57.1%), including 4 of 7 three-pointers. He also had the last ball of the game on his hands but instead of trying to win it by himself as he has done many times lately he passed it to Ron Artest (18 points) for an open 3-pointer that didn't go in.
Jan 31: The Celtics led by as many as 11 points in the fourth quarter but the Lakers turned on their defense and Kobe made the clutch shot, once again, to give L.A. a 90-89 victory at Boston. Despite being bothered by a sore ankle and having missed 12 of his previous 19 shots Kobe sank the go-ahead basket, a 16-footer over Ray Allen with 7.3 seconds to play. Allen had his chance to win the game but missed a 3-pointer with the time expiring. Kobe had 19 points and needs just 28 points to become the Lakers all-time scoring leader. Andrew Bynum was aggressive from the start and had 12 of his 19 points in the first quarter where the Lakers led by as many as 13 points. He also finished with 11 rebounds, 5 of them offensive. Ron Artest, who made the layup that put the Lakers within one point 88-89, was a solid defensive presence on Paul Pierce, holding the Celtics star to 15 points on 4-for-11 shooting. Phil Jackson now has 533 victories with the Lakers, tying Pat Riley for the most in franchise history.
Jan 29: Kobe Bryant and Allen Iverson had 2 points each by halftime, then they got hot and ended with 24 and 23 respectively while the Lakers got their third consecutive road win with a 99-91 final score at Philadelphia. After a 51-42 first half for L.A. Iverson scored 15 points on 6-for-7 shooting in the third while Kobe got 14 points on 5-for-7. But at the end the Lakers improved to 4-2 on their eight-game trip. Pau Gasol who was selected as a reserve for the All-Star Game had 19 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists.
Jan 27: The Pacers decided to go small against the Lakers and it didn't work. Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol combined for 48 points and 25 rebounds and the Lakers won easily 118-96 at Indiana. Bynum scored 22 of his season-high 27 points in the first half and grabbed 12 rebounds. Gasol had 21 and 13. Bynum was particularly effective making 12 of his 14 shots. So was Kobe Bryant who made 10 of his 15 shots for 29 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists. Odom also added 12 points and 14 rebounds for the Lakers who outrebounded Indiana 62-42 Both teams shot pretty bad from behind the 3-point line (Lakers 22.7%, Pacers 25.0%) and the Pacers made it a close game in the first half until a buzzer-beater by Odom gave the L.A. a 59-56 halftime lead and then Kobe had 13 points and 3 assists in the third quarter as the Lakers outscored the Pacers 33-22.
Jan 26: The current champions visited President Barack Obama on Monday and on Tuesday they improved to 2-2 on their 8-game road trip with a win 115-103 against the Wizards. The Lakers were outrebounded 41-32 but shot 59 percent with Kobe and Pau getting 26 points each against a team with a lot of issues going on after Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton had a locker room confrontation last month, guns included.
Jan 25: Bryant missed a long and difficult fadeaway three-point attempt at the horn and the Lakers lost at Toronto 105-106. They are 1-2 on their eight-game trip. A known face from the 2009 NBA Finals, Hedo Turkoglu (then playing for Orlando), made two free throws with 1.2 seconds left to give the Raptors the win. He ended with just 9 points but Andrea Bargnani scored 22 points and Chris Bosh had 18 points and 13 rebounds. Kobe, who made three buzzer-beaters this season could not save the Lakers this time after collecting 27 points, a career-high 16 rebounds and 9 assists, only 1 assist shy of his first triple-double of the season. Gasol added 22 points and rebounds and Bynum had 21 and 9...
Jan 22: Kobe Bryant scored 13 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter to help the Lakers defeat the Knicks 115-105 at New York and recover from fast from a loss at Cleveland. Pau Gasol finished with 20 point, 10 of them in also in the fourth and Andrew bynum added 19. Knicks center David Lee scored a season-high 31 points and grabbed 17 rebounds.
Jan 21: The Cavaliers defeated the Lakers 93-87 at Cleveland, sweeping the season series between the two teams. Kobe Bryant finished with 31 points and became the youngest player to reach 25,000 points but Lebron James was the star of the night, ending with 37 points, 5 rebounds and 9 assists and making shot after shot in the fourth. The Lakers led until midway through the third quarter but they slowly let Cleveland recover and then it was the time of the reigning season MVP. After some minutes of rest Lebron entered the game in the fourth quarter with his team up 78-77 and scored the Cavs next 12 points. With a 3-pointer by Artest an Kobe's 4 points in the period the Lakers were able to tie it at 87 but then being down by 2, 89-87, and 24 seconds left Pau Gasol missed his 2 free-throws and the game went out of rich. Shaquille O'Neal had 13 points and 6 rebounds while Cleveland's big men pushed the Lakers around and dominated the paint. Despite the importance of the game featuring the NBA's top stars and the relevance it could have if the teams are tied when the season ends, Phil Jackson treated it just as the first of back-to-back games, sending Kobe to the floor in the fourth quarter with 5:22 left.
Jan 18: Kobe Bryant had one of his worst nights of the season, Andrew Bynum had flu and couldn't stop Dwight Howard, but the Lakers showed how deep they are and defeated the Orlando Magic 98-92 in their first meeting after the 2009 NBA Finals. Kobe needed 30 points to became the youngest player to score 25,000 in NBA history but he got hit on his injured index finger in the second quarter and ended with 11 points after missing 15 of 19 shots. He also had 5 rebounds and 7 assists.. Bynum (8 points and 8 rebounds in 22 minutes) was outplayed by Howard (24 points, 12 rebounds, 3 blocks) and the Lakers trailed 68-64 after a third quarter in which the Magic had a 20-2 run. But Odom scored the first 4 points of the first, then Farmar the next 9 points and Pau Gasol (17 points) made the next 2 to complete a 15-0 run that allowed L.A. to go for the win. In the same day in which he was invited to the slam dunk contest, Shannon Brown led the team by scoring a career-high 22 points, 9 of them in the fourth. The Lakers reached the midway point of their season and will be playing the next 8 games on the road.
Jan 15: Pau Gasol returned after 6 games, Kobe looked like Kobe again and the Lakers took revenge with a 40-point win, 126-86 against the Clippers. Gasol and Bynum had 20 points each and Kobe 30 shooting 10-for-20 while the Lakers transformed a 3-point halftime lead into their biggest margin of victory of the season, just 9 days after unexpectedly losing to the same rival. Phil Jackson's team won the second half 73-36.
Jan 13: Led by 22 points and 11 rebounds from Andrew Bynum the Lakers won 100-95 at Dallas and become the first NBA franchise to reach 3,000 wins. With a stiff back injured in the previous game Kobe Bryant played only 11 minutes in the first half and took only one shot but then got loose, played the entire second half and made the go-ahead basket with 28 seconds left, allowing his team to defeat the second-best team in the West. Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavericks with 30 points and a season-high 16 rebounds and became the 33th player to get 20,000 points in the NBA.
Jan 12: Pau Gasol missed his fifth game, Kobe Bryant couldn't play in the fourth quarter and it was too much for the Lakers who lost at San Antonio 85-105. Still recovering from a broken index finger Kobe injured his back in his first half and left for good in the third quarter with 16 points after taking a season-low 10 field goal attempts. While Andrew Bynum scored 23 points, Tim Duncan led the Spurs with 25 points, 13 rebounds and 4 blocks. Luke Walton played again after being out for almost 8 weeks.
Jan 10: Kobe Bryant had a season-low 12 points shooting 4-for-21 but five other Lakers scored on double digits and they defeated the Bucks 95-77. While Andrew Bynum dominated with 17 points and a career-high 18 rebounds, Shannon Brown added 19 points and Jordan Farmar 17 from the bench. Playing without the splint that protects his broken finger, Kobe was 1 of 14 for 4 points in the first half.
Jan 8: Both Kobe Bryant and Brandon Roy had 32 points but Kobe needed 37 shots to do it and the Lakers lost 107-98 at Portland, where the Blazers have won their last 9 games against L.A. Kobe missed 23 shots and the Lakers who were without Pau Gasol for the third straight game because of a sore left hamstring seem unable to figure it out how to win at Portland. The Blazers led by as many as 20 points in the fourth quarter before L.A. cut it to single digits in the final minutes.
Jan 6: Kobe Bryant scored 33 points, Andrew Bynum added 15 points and 14 rebounds, Shannon Brown 15 points and Odom 16 rebounds but the Lakers couldn't avoid to see their 4-game winning streak come to an end with a 91-102 loss against the Clippers. Baron Davis scored 25 points to lead the Clippers to their first win in 10 attempts against their neighbors. They led by 15 points twice in the third quarter. The Lakers tied it twice in the fourth.
Jan 5: Andrew Bynum scored 11 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter and the Lakers outsized the Rockets for an 88-79 win. In the return of Ron Artest (7 points and 7 rebounds), the Lakers played without injured Pau Gasol and with Bryant (22 points) suffering pain after being hit on his broken finger early in the game. But the Rockets can't fill the hole left by Yao Ming on the paint where they were outrebounded 50-36 and outscored 48-36. Lamar Odom had a big game with 17 points, 19 rebounds and 9 assists. Reserve Carl Landry led the Rockets with 19 points (he's scored in double figures off the bench in 7 of his last 8 games) while Aaron Brooks added 18, Luis Scola 15 and former Laker Trevor Ariza 12.
Jan 3: Despite missing Pau Gasol with an strained left hamstring after 7 minutes of play, the Lakers did everything right and routed the Mavericks 131-96. Jordan Farmar tied a career-high 24 points to lead 7 Lakers in double figures against the Western Conference's second-best team. Bynum had 19 points on 8-for-8 shooting and Odom added 15 points and 15 rebounds while Dirk Nowitzki led Dallas with 22 points but no one on his team scored more than 12, including Jason Kidd who went scoreless with 5 assists in 26 minutes. Kobe Bryant's 15 points tied him with Patrick Ewing for 15th on the NBA all-time scoring list with 24,815 points and now his is just 377 points below Jerry West for 14th with the relevant detail that West is the Lakers all-time top scorer.
Jan 1: With the Lakers down by 2 and time expiring, Kobe Bryant did it again. He nailed another buzzer beater to give his team the win, this time 109-108 over Sacramento. Kobe had 39 points and his buzzer-beating 3-pointer helped the Lakers improve to an NBA-best 26-6 record in a game where they trailed by as much as 20 points in the second quarter. Lamar Odom had a season-high 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds while Gasol added 17 and 16. Spencer Hawes also had a career-high with his 30 points.
Dec 29: In their 4th game in 5 days the Lakers managed to get a win 124-118 against the run-an-gun Warriors. Golden State shot for an excellent 55.4 % but had nobody who stop Kobe Bryant who had season highs 44 points and 11 assists climbing again to the top of the NBA scorers list this season with a 30.4 average. Despite playing with a broken finger he made all 16 of his free-throw attempts, kept his team alive with 17 points in the fourth quarter and now has 7 40-plus point games in 2009-2010 and 103 of those games in his career, the third-most in NBA history. Pau Gasol also scored a season high 27 points and added 12 points while Ron Artest wasn't cleared to play. Corey Maggette scored 25 points and Monta Ellis added 22 for the Warriors.
Dec 28: The Lakers had already beaten the Suns easily twice this season, but playing without Artest for the second consecutive game, they were routed by Phoenix 118-103. Kobe had 34 points but sat out the final 8 minutes with the game already decided. Steve Nash had 16 points and 13 assists for the Suns, who led by as many as 19 in the third quarter and 22 in the fourth. The Lakers hadn't allowed so many points before this season.
Dec 26: The Lakers don't lose many games this days and just one day after losing against Cleveland they recovered and won 112-103 in a double overtime game at Sacramento. After the Kings scored the first 7 points in the first overtime the Lakers scored the next 7 to force a second extra time where Sacramento forgot to defend Kobe Bryant and the best clutch player in the NBA made back-to-back 3-pointers to make it 109-103 with 2:37 left. Kobe ended with 38 points and 7 rebounds and Pau Gasol with 24 and 11 while Andrew Bynum continues to struggle and had 3 points and 9 rebounds in 37 minutes. Bryant sustained a strained right elbow when he was hit near the end of the third quarter and played most of the fourth with his left hand. Odom started in the place of Ron Artest who didn't travel with the team after having a concussion and hurting his elbow on Christmas night. He told the team he fell down a flight of stairs while carrying a box an hour after the Cavaliers game. The Lakers are in the middle of 4 games in 5 nights and without Artest some players are accumulating too many minutes: at Sacramento Gasol played 51 minutes, Kobe and Odom 50 and Fisher 40.
Dec 25: It wasn't a happy Christmas for the Lakers who looked lost and confused and were defeated by the Cavaliers 102-87 to end their streak of 11 wins at home. The Lakers shot really bad and as a team they made just 31 of 85 attempts (36.5%), including 11-for-32 from Kobe and 4-for-11 from Pau Gasol. Kobe ended with 35 points, 9 rebounds an 8 assists and Pau with 11 points and 6 rebounds. Other than that Artest had 13 points before fouling out trying to contain Lebron James who ended with 26 points and 9 assists while his teammate Mo Williams led Cleveland with 28 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists. The lowest point of the night came when L.A. players lost their composure and Lamar Odom was ejected after receiving a second technical with 4:04 left in the fourth and the game already out of reach. The fans, in an unusual and absurd behavior started to throw some promotional foam hands to the floor. Phil Jackson also got a T for delaying the game and then Kobe got his own with 3:45 left and more hands flew, along with a water bottle. Shaquille O'Neal had a good contribution for Cleveland with 11 points and 7 rebounds in 22 minutes.
Dec 22: The tired Lakers returned to L.A. and had to fight until the final second to get a 111-108 win over the Thunder. They had a bad first half were the Thunder outscored them 61-54 but then recovered with a 34-21 third quarter. Kobe Bryant ended with 40 points, his sixth 40+ game of the season. But Kobe who is still playing with a splint on his broken finger, also gave Lakers fans a big scare by staying seated on the court, holding his left knee after an awkward landing with 5:08 to play. Kevin Durant scored 30 points before fouling out with 1:31 to play, and Russell Westbrook had 21 points and 13 assists for the Thunder who had a couple of opportunities to tie. Westbrook's missed a 3-point attempt with 2.9 seconds left and then Pau Gasol (15 points and 11 rebounds in his 8th straight double-double) trying to grab the rebound almost sent the ball through the rim. On Christmas Day the Lakers will stay at L.A. to face Lebron James, Shaquille O'Neal and the Cavaliers.
Dec 20: The easy part of their schedule has ended but the Lakers keep on winning. They won at Detroit 93-81 to end their first long trip of the season 4-1 and improved their NBA-best record to 22-4. Against a very limited Pistons that were without Richard Hamilton, Ben Gordon and Tayshaun Prince, the Lakers had an 18-point lead at halftime and led by 21 points after 3 quarters but Phil Jackson had to put Kobe Bryant (28 points, 5 steals), Ron Artest (14 points, 9 assists, 6 steals) and Pau Gasol (13 points, 11 rebounds) back on the floor when Detroit got to 15 points with 5 minutes left. Bynum added 16 points and 7 rebounds.
Dec 19: After opening their trip with a loss, L.A. has won 3 in a row, this time 103-84 at New Jersey in the matchup between the best and the worst NBA records. Three Lakers finished with double figures including Kobe with 29 points and 10 rebounds, Lamar Odom 14 and 12 and Pau Gasol with 14 points, 14 rebounds and 6 assists while Andrew Bynum continues struggling and committed had 4 points and 6 fouls in just 11 minutes. Devin Harris had 21 points for the Nets who dropped their 7th straight to fell to 2-26, the worst in the league contrasting with the Lakers 21-4 record. L.A. has won 14 of the 15 games played since the return of Gasol.
Dec 16: Kobe Bryant hit another buzzer-beater to give the Lakers a 107-106 overtime win at Milwaukee. Kobe had 39 points, 27 of them in the second half and overtime, including the last 7 points of the game after the Lakers fell to 100-106 with 1:24 left in the extra time. He had already missed a potential game-winner shot in regulation and the Bucks decided not to double him in the last play of the game leaving him alone with the defense of Raja Bell, who did a good job but couldn't stop Kobe from taking a 15-foot turnaround as time expired. In a polemic call in L.A.'s previous possession, the referees gave Kobe the basket and a free throw for a blocking foul called on Andrew Bogut in a play that could also have been called for an offensive foul. And the Lakers biggest star wasn't alone Paul Gasol contributed 26 points, a new career-high 22 rebounds, 4 blocks and had Andrew Bogut under control (16 points on 6-for-16 shooting). For the Bucks Michael Redd, playing just for the second time this month scored 25 points off the bench.
Dec 15: A couple of days of rest were enough for Kobe Bryant to recover and despite playing with a fractured finger he scored 42 points to lead the Lakers to a 96-87 victory over the Chicago Bulls, in L.A.'s 12th win in the last 13 games. Kobe made it clear he was OK by scoring 20 points in the first quarter and despite committing 8 turnovers he made 15 of 26 shots (57.7%), including a left-handed up-and-under move to open the Lakers lead to 92-84 with 39.2 seconds left. Pau Gasol who has publicly been asking for more shots had only 8 for 10 points but he continued grabbing a lot of rebounds taking 16 after taking 20 in the previous two games. Ron Artest had 9 points missing 11 of 14 shots and Andrew Bynum had 11 points and 3 rebounds and still doesn't seem to be able to find his place when Gasol is on the floor and has averaged just 12.6 points and 5 rebounds in the last 5 games. Luol Deng and Derrick Rose each had 21 points for the Bulls while Joakim Noah had 11 points and 20 rebounds, 14 on the offensive end and 6 blocks.
Dec 12: Kobe Bryant played with a broken finger and stomach illness. Maybe it wasn't a good idea. After playing 17 of 21 games at home the Lakers began their 5-game road trip 0-1, losing at Utah 94-102. Kobe is decided not to abandon his teammates, but it didn't turn out right this time, he needed to take intravenous fluids before the game and again at halftime, and shot very poorly. Maybe it was he was tired or maybe it's the adjustment he need to do to play with a broken bone on the index finger of his shooting hand, but he made just 7 of 24 field goal attempts (29.2%) including 1 for 9 from 3-point range to end with 16 points. He also had 6 rebounds and 5 assists in 37 minutes. Pau Gasol added 16 points and had a career-high 20 rebounds for a second consecutive game. Ron Artest also got 16 points and showed aggressiveness taking his defenders to the post but it wasn't enough and the Jazz, led by Deron Williams (21 points, 11 assists), went to the halftime leading 59-53 and kept things under control the rest of the way to end the Lakers 11-game winning streak.
Dec 11: Kobe Bryant broke a finger, but kept on playing to help his team improve it's NBA best record to 18-3 with a 104-92 win over the Timberwolves. It was L.A.'s 11 consecutive win and the last game at home before a 5-game road trip. Bryant injured the index finger of his right hand at the end of the first quarter while trying to catch a pass from Jordan Farmar. He played through the first 6 minutes of the second quarter where he scored 4 points and even threw an alley oop pass to Shannon Brown... with his left hand, before leaving the court to get X-rays. It turned out to be an avulsion fracture (a small piece of bone tears away near a ligament or tendon) but he returned for the second half with a splint on his finger and helped his team transform a 2-point halftime margin into a 86-68 lead at the end of the third where the Lakers scored the final 12 points. Showing that he has no problem in using his left hand a lot Kobe ended with 20 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists while Pau Gasol added 17 points, a career-high 20 rebounds and 7 assists. Playing with an injured finger is almost becoming a routine for Kobe, who is determined not to abandon his team in any situation. He played most of the last two season with and injured and painful pinky, although this time it is different because the injury is on a finger that is key in the shooting mechanics. Kurt Rambis, who was Phil Jackson's assistant last year and is currently the Wolves head coach, received his championship ring before the game.
Dec 09: Using a 20-0 run in the fourth quarter the Lakers defeated the Utah Jazz 101-77 to get their 10th consecutive win, their 9th since Gasol returned from a hamstring injury. It was a close game until the end of the third quarter but the Lakers who entered the fourth leading by 2 points outscored the Jazz 28-6 in the period. Utah got 2 free throws from Milsap with 10:41 left and then went scoreless for the next 6 minutes. Kobe Bryant had 27 points and 8 assists, Gasol contributed 19 points and 12 rebounds and Ron Artest added 17 points for the Lakers who currently have the best record in the NBA a 17-3. Deron Williams ended with 17 points and 8 assists and made one of the only 2 field goals Utah had in the final period.
Dec 06: In the matchup of the top 2 teams of the West the Lakers got their 9th win in a row by defeating the Suns 108-88. Kobe Bryant scored 26 points and Ron Artest added 15 points and 5 steals and there was no need of buzzer-beater shots since the Lakers turned a 54-44 halftime lead into a 87-66 rout by the end of the third quarter basically exploiting the size provided by Bynum and Gasol. This was the second big win of the season against the Suns as L.A. continues to take advantage of its early-season schedule that has allowed it to play 14 of 19 games at home. But this will end soon when after two more games at the Staples Center Phil Jackson and his players hit the road for the next 5 games.
Dec 04: The Lakers were just about to lose but Derek Fisher hit a 3-pointer with less than 4 seconds left to set the stage for another miracle shot from Kobe Bryant, who banked a buzzer-beater three-pointer to beat the Miami Heat 108-107. After a string of 7 consecutive victories by 10 or more points all indicated that, as it happened 3 times last season, 7 in a row was the best the Lakers could get, but Fisher hit the three from the same spot from where he made his heroic shot in the 2009 Finals against the Magic and Dwyane Wade who had 12 of his 26 points in fourth quarter missed one of two free throws to make it 107-105 and giving L.A. a chance to win with 3.2 seconds left. Kobe had already made 14 points in the quarter when he took an inbounds pass too far away from the basket and with two defenders over him, went quickly from the right side to the middle and delivered an off-balance three-pointer that (with a little bit of luck) banked into the basket and added another highlight to his L.A. legend. Kobe ended with 33 points, Gasol added 22 and Bynum 19. Odom and Jermaine O'Neal both received technicals after pushing each other when Miami center dunked the ball and hanged on the rim. It was the second technical for Odom who had to leave with 4 points, 4 rebounds and 5:07 to play.
Dec 01: The Lakers keep playing at home and they keep enjoying it. So far they have played 13 of their 17 games at the Staples Center, the last one a 110-99 victory over the Hornets. The Lakers took advantage of the absence of injured Chris Paul and Peja Stojakovic and with a 27-11 run to end the first half they left the Hornets without a chance despite losing the final period 20-30, and this way won their 7th in a row. Andrew Bynum led all scorers with 21 points and Kobe had a quiet night with 18 and once again spent most of the final quarter on the bench resting and watching how the reserves allowed the opposite team to reduce a big lead, something usual this season.
Nov 29: This was a really bad loss for the Nets who fell 106-87 at L.A., matching the record for most consecutive losses to start an NBA season. The Nets are 0-17, an awful record shared only with the 1999 Clippers and the 1988 Heat. And the distance between the two teams was absolutely clear midway through the third quarter when the Lakers led by as many as 34 points, 73-39. Kobe Bryant had 30 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists and left the game for good with 4:13 left in the third Gasol added 20 points and 9 rebounds and Jordan Farmar 15 points as the Lakers made 13 of their 25 3-point attempts, including 5 by Kobe and 3 by Farmar.
Nov 28: The Lakers won their fifth straight game with a 130-97 victory over the Golden State Warriors.
Nov 24: Taking advantage of the size and talent difference the Lakers won their fourth game straight, 100-90 over the Knicks. Now with Pau Gasol on their lineup the Lakers showing how much potential they have when they are healthy, and New York was the latest victim, falling 24 points below in the third quarter before making it a respectable loss with a late rally against L.A. bench. Kobe scored 34 and Gasol added 11 points and 16 rebounds while Bynum and Artest contributed 17 points each.
Nov 22: The first time they faced the Thunder this season the Lakers needed an overtime to defeat them but this time, playing good defense, things were much easier. The Lakers not only got a 101-85 victory over Oklahoma City, they also mounted a show of fantastic plays. Among them Kobe Bryant made an unbelievable circus shot from behind the backboard and later barely touched the ball to bank it for a buzzer-beater to end the first quarter and in the fourth quarter came an unusual alley-up built by the Lakers two reserve point guards set by Jordan Farmar and ended by Shannon Brown. L.A.'s lead was as big as 28 points, 91-63 with 7:39 left in the fourth, and its defense forced 19 turnovers and contained Kevin Durant, who arrived as the NBA's 5th scoring leader with 27.7 ppg, to 19 points. Kobe had 26 points, Bynum 25 and Gasol 15, 7 rebounds and 6 assists in his second game of the season.
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 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...
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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. .
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.
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.
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.
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.
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: With everybody healthy this will be the starting line-up for the 2009-10 Lakers: 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. |
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Lakers at Los Angeles Clippers / L 91-107 / Streak: lost 2 / Record 57-25
Lakers vs. Sacramento Kings / W 106-100 / Streak: won 1 / Record 57-24
Lakers vs. Portland Trail Blazers / L 88-91 / Streak: lost 1 / Record 56-24
Lakers at Minnesota Timberwolves / W 97-88 / Streak: won 1 / Record 56-23
Lakers at Denver Nuggets / L 96-98 / Streak: lost 2 / Record 55-23
Lakers vs. San Antonio Spurs / L 81-100/ Streak: lost 1 / Record 55-22
Lakers vs. Utah Jazz / W 106-92 / Streak: won 1 / Record 55-21
Lakers at Atlanta Hawks / L 92-109/ Streak: lost 2 / Record 54-21
Lakers at New Orleans Hornets / L 100-108 / Streak: lost 1 / Record 54-20
Lakers at Houston Rockets / W 109-101 / Streak: won 1 / Record 54-19
Lakers at Oklahoma City Thunder / L 75-91 / Streak: lost 1 / Record 53-19
Lakers vs. Washington Wizards / W 99-92 / Streak: won 6 / Record 52-18
Lakers at Golden State Warriors / W 124-121 / Streak: won 3 / Record 49-18
Lakers at Phoenix Suns / W 102-96 / Streak: won 2 / Record 48-18
Lakers vs. Toronto Raptors / W 109-107 / Streak: won 1 / Record 47-18
Lakers at Orlando Magic / W 94-96 / Streak: lost 3 / Record 46-18
Lakers at Charlotte Bobcats / L 98-83 / Streak: lost 2 / Record 46-17
Lakers at Miami Heat / L 111-114 OT / Streak: lost 1 / Record 46-16
Lakers vs. Indiana Pacers / W 122-99 / Streak: won 3 / Record 46-15
Lakers vs. Philadelphia 76ers / W 99-90 / Streak: won 1 / Record 44-15
Lakers at Dallas Mavericks / L 101-96 / Streak: lost 1 / Record 43-15
Lakers at Memphis Grizzlies / W 99-98 / Streak: won 1 / Record 43-14
Lakers vs. Boston Celtics / L 86-87 / Streak: lost 1 / Record 42-14
Lakers at New York Knicks / W 115-105 / Streak: won 1 / Record 33-10
Lakers at Cleveland Cavaliers / L 87-93 / Streak: lost 1 / Record 32-10
Lakers vs. Milwaukee Bucks / W 95-77 / Streak: won 1 / Record 29-8
Lakers at Detroit Pistons / W 93-81 / Streak: won 4 / Record 22-4
Lakers at New Jersey Nets / W 103-84 / Streak: won 3 / Record 21-4
Lakers at Chicago Bulls / W 96-87 / Streak: won 1 / Record 19-4| More related sections: | ||||
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