Kobe Bryant is definately having another MVP season. He's just killing teams with his offensive prowless. It's as if he's getting better with each year. If the Lakers manage to keep themselves healthy throughout the year and the playoffs, they will win it again.
We definitely have a good shot. We just need our bench to produce more points. I think that will come with them playing more minutes. Hopefully we stay healthy throughout the rest of the season. Thus far, we've already had a few bumps in the road but nothing too major.
Bobcats rip Lakers while James hits 40 in Cavaliers win Lakers' Kobe Bryant managed 26 points on 9-of-21 shooting. March 6, 2010 Charlotte continued an uncanny mastery over the NBA's top clubs on Friday by downing the Los Angeles Lakers while LeBron James scored 40 points to guide Cleveland past Detroit. Charlotte defeated the reigning NBA champions 98-83 behind 21 points from Stephen Jackson plus 17 points and 10 rebounds from Gerald Wallace as the Bobcats won over the Lakers for the seventh time in their past nine meetings. "We just looked flat," Lakers star Kobe Bryant said. Bryant managed 26 points on 9-of-21 shooting but the Lakers hit only 36 percent from the field and made 20 turnovers in losing for the 12th time on the road this season, matching their total for all of last season. The Lakers, who face an NBA Finals rematch at Orlando on Sunday, were unhappy after the loss. The Bobcats, one game out of the final Eastern Conference playoff spot, are also 3-1 against the NBA-leading Cavaliers this season but have been on the losing end twice to the NBA-worst New Jersey Nets, who own only six wins. At Cleveland, James sparked the round with his scoring but also added 13 rebounds and six assists as the Cavaliers recovered from a 21-point deficit in the first half for the victory. Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iIrkbNNPxJ7T542KbmaivMl0UKYQ
Kevin Durant had 32 points, Thunder beat Clippers 104-87 Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant (35) drives by Los Angeles Clippers guard Rasual Butler (45) for a basket in the first half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, March 5, 2010, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Gus Ruelas) March 6, 2010 Kevin Durant had 32 points and nine rebounds, and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Los Angeles Clippers 104-87 on Friday night for their 13th victory in 16 games. It was Durant's 35th game this season with 30 or more points, tying the franchise record Spencer Haywood set with the 1972-73 Seattle SuperSonics. The first-time All-Star, who has been playing leapfrog with LeBron James in their race for the NBA scoring title, came in trailing the Cleveland Cavaliers' star by one-tenth of a point per game. James had 40 against Detroit on Friday night. Durant, trying to become the first player in the 43-year history of the Seattle/Oklahoma City franchise to win a league scoring crown, has had at least 25 points in 33 of his last 35 games. Russell Westbrook had 15 points and nine assists, helping the Thunder record their 18th road victory - three more than their combined total the previous two seasons. NOTES: Durant is averaging 28.7 points in 10 career games against the Clippers, compared with 24.5 in 205 games against the rest of the league. He had 40 points in a 101-93 home loss to the Clippers on Nov. 15, and 46 in a 107-104 road loss on Jan. 23, 2009 - a game in which Eric Gordon scored a career-high 41 for Los Angeles...The last time the Thunder played the Clippers at Staples Center, on Nov. 11, Durant made a go-ahead 14-footer with 38 seconds left to help pull out an 83-79 win. Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hf-mfTvOsKA-uqqLja-Ie-_tVC3AD9E8V74G0
NBA Roundup: Red-hot Dallas wins 11th in a row Nowitzki scores 27 points, leads way against Bulls March 07, 2010 Dirk Nowitzki scored 27 points and Caron Butler and Rodrigue Beaubois added 24 apiece Saturday night as the visiting Dallas Mavericks won their 11th consecutive game, turning back the Chicago Bulls, 122-116. The Mavericks' win streak has thrust them into the No. 2 spot in the Western Conference standings, right behind the No. 1 Los Angeles Lakers. Dallas center Brendan Haywood was a late scratch for the game because of tightness in his lower back. Haywood, averaging 9.7 points and 10.1 rebounds, left the home win against Sacramento after playing just over seven minutes. The Mavericks also were without guard and sixth man Jason Terry, who will be out for at least another 10 days after undergoing surgery this week for facial injuries. Jason Kidd scored only six points for the Mavericks, but he contributed 11 rebounds and 15 assists. Derrick Rose led Chicago with 34 points. Other games • Nets 113, Knicks 93: Devin Harris scored 31 points and New Jersey erased an early 16-point deficit to beat New York, improving the NBA's worst record to 7-55. Courtney Lee added 25 points in his return to the starting lineup for the visiting Nets, who are trying to avoid finishing with the worst record in NBA history. • Heat 100, Hawks 94: Dwyane Wade scored 38 points, and Michael Beasley capped a big fourth quarter with seven consecutive points in the final two minutes, helping short-handed Miami beat visiting Atlanta. Beasley scored 14 of his 22 points in the final period, and Atlanta failed to score on five consecutive possessions in the last three minutes, committing three consecutive turnovers during the stretch. Wade made four 3-pointers, hit 14 of 18 free throws and added 10 assists. Quentin Richardson sank five 3-pointers and scored 22 points for Miami. • Rockets 112, Timberwolves 98: Luis Scola had 25 points and a career-high 21 rebounds as struggling Houston beat host Minnesota. Kevin Martin had 30 points and Aaron Brooks added 25 points and nine assists for the Rockets. The game against Minnesota could not have come at a better time for Houston, which had lost five of its past seven games to fall to 10th place in the West since acquiring Martin in a trade with the Sacramento Kings. • Bobcats 101, Warriors 90: D.J. Augustin scored 19 points off the bench, Gerald Wallace added 18 before getting ejected, and Charlotte pulled away late to beat visiting Golden State and spoil Stephen Curry's return home. Note • LeBron James got a night off for the first time this season. Cleveland Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said he sat his superstar Saturday night in Milwaukee, calling it "just a coach's decision" to keep him out the game. "He's played a lot of minutes for us," Brown said. "I just felt it would be good for him and for the team to hold him out." James had 40 points and 13 rebounds in a 99-92 victory against Detroit Friday night, but also turned his right ankle slightly. Brown said his decision had "nothing" to do with the injury and James could play if needed. Source: The Associated Press
NBA roundup: Memphis cruises by Celtics Boston fans get loud as home team falls, 111-91 March 11, 2010 Rudy Gay scored 28 points to lead visiting Memphis to a 111-91 victory Wednesday night against the Boston Celtics and give the Grizzlies a franchise-record seventh consecutive road win. It was the Grizzlies' first victory against Boston in seven tries since 2006. O.J. Mayo scored 17 points and Zach Randolph had 13 points and 10 rebounds for Memphis. It tied Boston's worst loss of the season -- a 20-point loss to Cleveland last month that was the worst loss for the Celtics with Kevin Garnett in the lineup. The Celtics lost Tuesday night in Milwaukee to snap a four-game winning streak. Memphis led by 15 after the first quarter, by 22 at the half and by 19 after three. The Grizzlies led by as many as 29 in the fourth quarter, when Garnett never got off the bench. The 20-point defeat matched the worst with Garnett. Allen scored a team-high six points in the first quarter against Memphis -- the only Celtic to make more than one basket in the period. Memphis scored the last eight points of the quarter to take a 27-12 lead -- a season low in points for Boston in the first quarter. The Grizzlies scored nine of the last 11 in the second quarter to make it 55-33; the 33 points also were a season low for a first half for Boston. Fans booed lustily as the Celtics left the court at halftime. And many of them just filed out quietly during a timeout with 5:41 to play, with the Celtics behinde, 102-77, and both teams emptying their benches. Other games • Bobcats 102, 76ers 87: Gerald Wallace scored 28 points on 9-for-10 shooting from the field, Stephen Jackson added 24 points and 10 rebounds, as visiting Charlotte won its fourth game in a row with a victory against reeling Philadelphia. Fans began leaving the Wachovia Center and booing before the third quarter even ended as the 76ers fell behind by as many as 29. • Heat 108, Clippers 97: Dwyane Wade had 27 points and 8 assists, and Jermaine O'Neal finished with 19 points and 9 rebounds, as Miami extended its longest home winning streak of the season to four by beating Los Angeles. Michael Beasley scored 15 points before leaving with a thigh bruise in the third. • Nuggets 110, Timberwolves 102: Chauncey Billups scored 25 points and got a huge lift from role players Chris Andersen, Nene and J.R. Smith in visiting Denver's victory against Minnesota. Andersen had 14 points and 10 rebounds, Nene had 17 points and 9 boards and Smith scored 15 to shake the Nuggets out a first-half funk and deliver their fourth win in a row. • Mavericks 96, Nets 87: Jason Kidd had 20 points and 9 assists and Caron Butler added 16 points as host Dallas recovered from a lethargic start to match the NBA's longest winning streak this season with its 13th consecutive victory, a win against New Jersey. Rookie Roddy Beaubois' 16 points helped the Mavericks equal Cleveland's winning streak from Jan. 10-Feb. 11. • Jazz 115, Pistons 104: Deron Williams had 18 points and 12 assists as visiting Utah beat Detroit. The Jazz had seven players in double figures as it posted its 10th victory in a row against Detroit. Former Pistons center Mehmet Okur finished with 18 points. Detroit also had seven players score at least 10 points but couldn't avoid its seventh loss in eight games. • Thunder 98, Hornets 84: Kevin Durant scored 29 points, Russell Westbrook added 17 points and came up just shy of a triple-double as host Oklahoma City beat injury-depleted New Orleans. The Hornets got off to a hot start in their latest return to the building they called home after Hurricane Katrina, but it was short-lived with Peja Stojakovic joining point guard Chris Paul on the team's injured list. Stojakovic is expected to miss at least two weeks with a lower abdominal strain. • Spurs 97, Knicks 87: Manu Ginobili scored 28 points in host San Antonio's victory against New York, which clinched a franchise-record ninth consecutive losing season. Ginobili kept carrying the Spurs after scoring 38 in a loss Monday at Cleveland, thriving again in his second start since Tony Parker's broken right hand thrusted Ginobili off the bench. • Kings 113, Raptors 90: Tyreke Evans recorded his first career triple-double with 19 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, leading host Sacramento past Toronto. Source: The Associated Press
I completely agree with everything Legler says in this video. http://espn.go.com/nba/clubhouse?team=lal Hopefully we can do something about it.
I'm a big Laker fan. I really am, but if I were to think of a team ready to win a ring this year, it would definitely be the Cavs. I wish the Lakers the best.
I've been slackin' on ball these past couple months, but yeah, aiside from Cleveland's 3 game losing streak, they are the team to beat, this year.
i gotta disagree on this one. cavs have been having a great regular season but they still have a lot of weak spots. point guard, back up shooting guard... they got jamison to have a forward that can shoot, but then he can't play defense worth crap. they'll blow out whoever they see in the first round but 2nd round in the playoffs might be tough if they see atlanta. and as of right now, i think the magic are poised to go back to the finals out of the east. when the game gets more physical in the playoffs, dwight howard won't be getting called for cheap fouls the way they've been doing him during the regular season. all in all, i think the lakeshow will repeat this year.
The Magic are the Cavs biggest problem right now. Orlando definitely has what it takes to get back to the Finals. Lakers just aren't playing good ball right now. Their rhythm is out of sync at the moment.
yea, lakers are just kinda riding down the hill on a mongoose with no hands. doesn't seem like they care much except to stay in 1st going into the playoffs so they have home court throughout the west conference games. odom is gonna need to step up, his game has been too quiet for too long. i'm really impressed with the energy and intensity that shannon brown brings off the bench.
True, the playoffs pose a different threat. It's a new ball game, and defense does become more important. Also, Orlando beat LA both times during the regular season last year, right? And LA took it all the way. So regular season victories don't really mean too much. It's all about matchups, anyway. Not sure if LA still has that problem of blowing leads as much as they did last year, but that is one thing to look for. I'm hoping LA will be more consistent with their playing this post-season.
Like Artest's dribbling. Anyboyd notice Artest has that weird run when he's dribbling? Like he kinda has a stick up his ass, at times? Or is it just me.
I notice it too. I hate when he's on a fast break. Honestly, the trade is what is messing up a lot of the Lakers overall rhythm this year. We should've kept the team the way it was.
it's not just when he dribbles, he runs very stiff all the time. he's sure footed. that dude is definitely of a different breed. LA is right, the trade wasn't good for the team overall. i just think that was upper management not wanting to pay ariza thinking he would flop (like odom?) after getting an extended contract. hindsight is 20/20, it definitely was not a smart move. i also don't think they believed in ariza's skills (neither did i), like his play last season was a fluke.
