Game 16

Lakers 117
Pacers 118

from dailynews.com:

The Lakers hit the road, and promptly got lost like a bumbling pack of tourists. They simply couldn't find their way out of the Conseco Fieldhouse with a victory over the lackluster Indiana Pacers.

The record will show they lost when Troy Murphy's tip-in danced around the rim and fell through the basket as the final buzzer sounded, giving the opportunistic Pacers a 118-117 victory Tuesday night.

In fact, the Lakers lost this one much, much earlier. They could not put the Pacers away when they had the chance, and they paid a steep price for allowing their hosts to hang around long enough to pull out a victory. They also lost because they gave up a staggering 19 offensive rebounds.

Murphy's tip, which was actually more like a desperate stab at Marquis Daniels' missed reverse layup, was the last and most painful of the Pacers' offensive rebounds for the Lakers to stomach. Murphy slipped inside of Trevor Ariza to get a hand on the ball.

As a crowd of 16,412 fans, plus players and coaches on both teams, held their collective breath, the ball bounced off the rim once, twice, three times and maybe more if you count the side-to-side action before it tumbled through the hoop.

The Pacers and their fans celebrated in raucous fashion. The Lakers stood with their hands on their hips and stared at the replay on the overhanging scoreboard after losing for only the second time in 16games to start the season.

"I knew it was going in by the way it was bouncing," Kobe Bryant would later say. "I was just hoping the ball would drop through the basket, so we'd have one second to go at least. It just stayed up there forever and the clock ran out."

Bryant led the Lakers with 28 points, passing the 22,000-point mark for his career with an acrobatic layup and a free throw after he was fouled late in the first half. He is the second youngest to top the milestone, having reached it at 30 years, 101 days. The immortal Wilt Chamberlain reached the mark when he was 30 years, 100 days. Bryant's career total is 22,013 points.

Reaching the milestone was a mere consolation prize, however. In fact, Bryant wasn't on the court when the Lakers played their best, when they went on a 17-0 run to end the third quarter and seized a 101-86 lead entering the fourth. Actually, it was his two free throws with 2:28 left in the third that started the run.

But instead of building on their momentum in the fourth quarter, instead of taking control of the game as they have so many times this season, the Lakers lost their rhythm and energy, and soon enough, the game.

"We didn't deserve it," said Pau Gasol, who had 20 points and nine rebounds. "We didn't go get it. ... We thought we could have done better out there in the fourth quarter. Little things, little plays make a big difference. You learn, you focus for the next game and you make sure it doesn't happen again."

The Lakers won't have to wait long to try again. They face the 76ers tonight in Philadelphia, the second game on their three-game trip.

Surprisingly, this game didn't surprise me at all. I kind of expect the Lakers to do this all season long. By that I mean, eventually, they will let down their guard and allow a more aggressive team to come along and beat them. I do expect them to come back in tonight's game with guns blazing, though.

Lakers record: 14-2

(still a very respectable record, IMHO)

Game 18

Lakers 106
Wizards 104

from yahoo.com:

On a poor shooting night, Kobe Bryant came through when the Los Angeles Lakers needed him the most. And then he nearly blew it about 10 seconds later.

Bryant banked in a running 12-foot jumper over Caron Butler with 25 seconds left Friday night, then went 1-for-2 on foul shots 10 seconds later, but the best-in-the-West Lakers eked out a 106-104 victory over the worst-in-the-East Washington Wizards.

After Bryant's miss at the line-he made all 13 other free throws he took- Butler had a chance to win it for Washington, but missed a 3-point attempt shortly before the buzzer.

Bryant was 5-for-17 from the field and finished with 23 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Butler led the Wizards with 26 points.

This kind of play from the Lakers is not going to work against the stronger teams in the league. Boston must be watching and licking their lips in anticipation of a nice Christmas win.

Lakers record: 16-2

Game 20

Lakers 101
Kings 113

from yahoo.com:

The Lakers will be fired up Friday night for what is advertised on the radio in Sacramento as the Kings' exciting "young core" of Beno Udrih, Spencer Hawes and Jason Thompson. Seriously.

The Kings handed the Lakers their first loss to a Western Conference team this season, and the rematch is on tap for Staples Center on Friday night. Sacramento guard Bobby Jackson was already saying in the aftermath of the Kings' 113-101 victory Tuesday night that they'll have to prepare for a furious rush from the Lakers on Friday night.

The game recap is already history, so I just posted this comment, instead.

Lakers record: 17-3

Game 22

Lakers 112
Kings 103

from yahoo.com:

The Lakers didn't look like world beaters, but were good enough to beat the Kings this time.

Avenging their loss at Sacramento three days earlier, Los Angeles survived a late charge to hold off the Kings 112-103 on Friday night.

"We did better playing against them tonight," said Kobe Bryant, who led the Lakers with 32 points. "In Sacramento we weren't able to contain them in any stretch.

"They made a couple of big 3s down the stretch on a couple of blown assignments. But still in all, we did OK."

Pau Gasol had 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Lakers, who built sizable leads several times only to have defensive lapses that let Sacramento back into the game.

The Kings stormed back from a 92-77 deficit early in the fourth quarter to close to 101-98 on Spencer Hawes' 3-pointer with 3:02 remaining. But Derek Fisher sank a 14-footer, Bryant made a short jumper, then a driving dunk and free throw, and the Lakers suddenly had stretched the lead back to 10.

That first half was pretty unimpressive, but things finally got going in the second half. These Lakers sure aren't playing with the level of confidence that they had at the beginning of the season, though. I could understand that if they had lost more games, but good grief, they only have 3 losses! You'd think they'd be playing like pros right about now. Boston sure as heck has been!

Lakers record: 19-3

from yahoo.com:

The six-month wait is over. The Los Angeles Lakers can put the anguish of losing the NBA finals to the Boston Celtics and the embarrassment over the way the series ended behind them.

Kobe Bryant had 27 points, nine rebounds and five assists, Pau Gasol scored seven of his 20 points in the final three minutes, and the Lakers used a strong finish to beat Boston 92-83 Thursday, snapping the Celtics' franchise-record 19-game winning streak.

The game was the first between the teams since the Celtics romped to a 131-92 victory in Game 6 of the finals last June to win their first championship in 22 years and league-high 17th title. The Lakers blew a 24-point second-quarter lead in Game 4 at Staples Center to fall behind 3-1-a deficit that's never been overcome in the finals.

The teams have been archrivals since the 1960s, having met 11 times in the finals, with the Celtics going 9-2.

"We've been waiting for that opportunity for a long time, and we won," said Lakers guard Sasha Vujacic, who scored 10 points. "I don't like them at all. A lot of people called us softies or whatever. It doesn't matter at all. We know what we can do.

The Christmas Day game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics was the highest rated regular-season NBA game in four years.

The rematch of last season's NBA finals earned a 5.3 fast national rating on ABC, the network said.

The rating for the Lakers' 92-83 victory, which snapped Boston's 19-game winning streak, was 51 percent higher than the 3.5 mark for last year's late Christmas game between the Lakers and the Phoenix Suns.

The early game on Thursday between the San Antonio Spurs and Phoenix Suns received a 3.2 household rating, up 3 percent from last year's early Christmas game pitting Miami and Cleveland. Roger Mason hit a 3-point shot at the buzzer to give the Spurs a 91-90 win.

I'm not going to bother posting the individual game results anymore, since we're not getting any comments. But I did want to post this info, just because the win against the Celtics was VERY satisfying! The Lakers finally found their A game.

The other satisfying moment was in that first game between the Spurs and the Suns, when Roger Mason hit that 3 point shot to give the Spurs the win. That look on Shaq's face was the perfect Christmas gift.

Lakers demonstrated another impressive win tonight...

Lakers beat Blazers for 15th straight home win

Kobe Bryant scored 26 points, Pau Gasol added 19 and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Portland Trail Blazers 100-86 Sunday night for their sixth consecutive victory and 15th straight at home.

LaMarcus Aldridge led Portland with 22 points and 11 rebounds, as all five starters scored in double figures. But the Blazers shot only 39 percent overall.

Facing the Trail Blazers for the first time since their season-opening, 96-76 win-Portland's lowest point total ever against the Lakers-the defending Western Conference champions pulled away with a 15-3 run that increased their four-point lead to 75-59 with 2:12 left in the third quarter.

Bryant and Gasol got the Lakers going with 16-foot jumpers, Derek Fisher added a 3-pointer and Sasha Vujacic capped the rally with a four-point play- converting the free throw after Rudy Fernandez fouled him on a 3-pointer. Vujacic, playing despite a case of tonsillitis, had 11 points in 26 minutes.

This win - and today's losses by Boston and Cleveland - put the Lakers back up on top of the NBA world. And this is even without Farmar and an injured Luke Walton.

I'm sure liking Odom's play these days. He just demonstrates some very impressive bursts every now and then that seems to be just what the Lakers need to get them going. And Ariza has turned into a real favorite, as well. I'm happy that PJ is showing such confidence in him.

I was also shocked to see that Phil kept in Kobe, Gasol and Vlade in the final few minutes of the game. They pretty much had a 15 point lead all the way through the fourth.

Nice to see the Lakers on top with a 27-5 record.

Game 40

Lakers 105
Cavs 88

from yahoo.com:

Dislocated right ring finger and all, Kobe Bryant did just what the Los Angeles Lakers needed against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

So did his teammates.

Bryant and LeBron James tussled to a virtual standoff Monday night, but Bryant's supporting cast was far more effective, and that was the difference as the Lakers beat Cleveland 105-88 to snap a five-game losing streak to the Cavaliers.

Bryant had 20 points, six rebounds and 12 assists in 41 minutes despite dislocating the ring finger on his shooting hand less than two minutes into the game.

"I just dove for the ball, and the finger just popped out," Bryant recalled afterward while wearing a splint on the injured finger. "I was scared, I thought I was done. It felt like I had two fingers on one, it was just disgusting. (Trainer) Gary (Vitti) just popped it back into place. Not fun.

"A lot," Bryant added when asked how much his finger bothered him during the game. "I played with some pain, obviously. I just tried to adjust as I went along, I just tried to play through it. It's just throbbing right now."

Bryant, who shot 9-of-22, spoke to reporters just minutes after X-rays showed no fracture. He said he hadn't sustained this kind of injury before, and didn't believe he would miss any playing time.

"For a while, we thought he was just going to be a playmaker tonight, but the second half, he started feeling like he could shoot it," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said, noting Bryant scored 15 of his 20 points after halftime.

Pau Gasol shot 11-of-13 and led Los Angeles with 22 points and 12 rebounds. Andrew Bynum and Sasha Vujacic scored 14 points each and Derek Fisher added 11 for the Lakers, whose 32-8 record is tops in the Western Conference.

Now, THAT was a game!

Too bad nobody's around to talk about it, though.

Lakers record: 32-8

A very nice week for the Lakers. They beat a very good team - Cleveland, then beat up on two more lowly teams - Clips and Wizards. Andrew Bynum had a 42 point night. Good stuff!

I was watching tonight's game against Washington on TNT - I guess that was the only choice - and REggie Miller said something kind of interesting during that fourth quarter when Vlade was pretty much the only Laker that could make a basket. Evidently, Vlade showed up late for a practice, claiming that his alarm clock didn't go off. Reggie practically ripped him a new one for at least not coming up with a better lie for being late. I've wondered why Jackson seems so indifferent towards him, and why he got demoted this season. That made more sense, after hearing Miller spill those beans.

I had never heard Sun YaHe - or whatever his name is - compared to Magic Johnson before! (something else that the TNT guys said)

Game 43

Lakers 99
Spurs 85

from yahoo.com:

After a month of playing short-handed, the Los Angeles Lakers are back to full strength. If Sunday is an accurate indication, that means trouble for every other NBA team.

Kobe Bryant scored 22 points before sitting out the fourth quarter, Pau Gasol added 16 points, five rebounds and four assists, and the Lakers beat the San Antonio Spurs 99-85 in a matchup of the Western Conference's best teams that turned out to be a mismatch.

The win was the fourth straight and 14th in 17 games for the Lakers (35-8), whose .814 winning percentage is the best in the NBA although the defending champion Boston Celtics (37-9) lead them by a half-game in the overall standings by virtue of their 124-100 victory over Dallas earlier Sunday.

Backup point guard Jordan Farmar returned after missing 18 games because of an injured left knee, and scored 14 points. Luke Walton played in his third game after missing nine with an injured foot, and Lamar Odom (knee) and Sasha Vujacic (back spasms) were also sidelined for brief periods.

A very nice win...almost seemed too easy, since we're talking about the Spurs. They're starting to show their age, though.

It was great seeing Farmar playing again. He really made a big impact, too!