Lakers-Warriors Preview

By ALAN FERGUSON
Posted Apr 18 2012 2:49AM

The Los Angeles Lakers could have used Kobe Bryant in their most recent game. Their next opponent needs even more help.

With Bryant likely out again, the visiting Lakers will try to remain atop the Pacific Division by beating the extremely short-handed Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night.

Los Angeles had won four in a row while the NBA's leading scorer nursed a bruised shin, but suffered its most lopsided defeat of the season Tuesday at Staples Center, falling 112-91 to San Antonio.

"The tempo was in their favor," coach Mike Brown said. "They sped us up, and we did not look like we had - nor did we try - to get control of the game. We got out of character a bit of the way we've been playing lately. You have to give the Spurs credit."

Andrew Bynum had a team-best 21 points in the loss and has averaged 23.3 since sitting out a win over New Jersey on April 3 with a sprained left ankle. He's also pulled down 15.0 rebounds per contest over the past six.

Bynum will next try to help the Lakers (39-23) maintain their half-game lead over the Los Angeles Clippers. They earned the tiebreaker over the Clippers by winning two of the three matchups.

"We're not worried about the Clippers. If they win, they win," Bynum said. "We need to do what we need to do, which is win games."

The Lakers have a prime chance to earn one during their visit to Golden State (22-38). The Warriors, losers in 17 of 21, are dealing with a bevy of injuries. Stephen Curry, Andrew Bogut, David Lee, Andris Biedrins and Richard Jefferson are among the players who were out during the team's fifth consecutive defeat, 120-99 to San Antonio on Monday.

Golden State became the first team in more than nine years to start four rookies in the loss. One of those, Klay Thompson, had 29 points, while Nate Robinson surpassed his season high for the second straight contest with 30.

Another of the rookies, center Mickell Gladness, was originally signed to a 10-day contract last month.

"It was unique," Thompson said. "We were trying to make the most of it."

Even when healthy, the Warriors have had plenty of trouble against the Lakers, dropping 15 of the last 16 meetings - including all three this season as Los Angeles has outrebounded Golden State by an average of 17.0.

Bryant scored 40 points in a 120-112 home victory April 1 and made a pair of key shots in the final 64 seconds while scoring 30 during a 104-101 win in Oakland five days earlier.

The Lakers star, who is listed as day to day, said he would be healthy enough to play if the postseason had begun. Coach Mike Brown, though, is focused on letting him heal.

Bryant played through a torn ligament in his right wrist at the beginning of this season and has dealt with several other nagging injuries.

Lakers rout Warriors 99-87, await Kobe's return

By ANTONIO GONZALEZ
Posted Apr 19 2012 2:12AM

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) Kobe Bryant walked out of the visitor's locker room to a few dozen fans waiting with hugs and handshakes for the Los Angeles Lakers' star and a circle of reporters ready to stick a microphone near his face.

Golden State Warriors co-owner Peter Guber also took his turn to smile for a photo with No. 24.

Even when he doesn't play, everything in Lakerland still revolves around Bryant.

Soon, it really will again.

Andrew Bynum had 31 points and nine rebounds, Pau Gasol recorded a triple-double and Los Angeles beat the undermanned Warriors 99-87 Wednesday night in what should be its last game without the injured Bryant.

The Lakers' franchise player pronounced himself pain-free and ready to return Friday night at surging San Antonio - which handed the Lakers their worst loss of the season a night earlier -and his team better for his seven-game absence because of a bruised left shin.

"It's been good to see how much the guys have progressed in doing things they ordinarily would not try to do," Bryant said. "Now when I'm not out there, you have to do other things. You have to experiment with your game, and they had a great deal of success with that and their confidence is at a high level, which is great."

Los Angeles aced its last test - albeit an easy one - without its star.

Gasol finished with 22 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists to help the Lakers build a 17-point lead by the second quarter and cruise to the win - and much-needed after Tuesday's 112-91 home loss to San Antonio. The victory kept the Lakers a half-game ahead of the Clippers in the Pacific Division.

"I'm so happy to have Kobe back - if he comes back," said teammate Metta World Peace, who had 18 points and nine assists. "Get him back in shape. I came here to play with Kobe. I know what type of player Kobe is, and I want to win some rings."

Los Angeles still had several lapses and often looked lethargic playing the second night in a row.

But Bynum and Gasol dominated whenever the twin 7-footers wanted against Golden State's fraud of a frontline, tipping balls around the rim - it seemed they were playing volleyball against each other at times. Bynum scored 17 points in the first quarter, including a one-handed dunk off an uncontested lob from Steve Blake.

Bynum and Gasol combined to go 15 for 15 on free throws.

Blake's reverse layup highlighted a 15-4 run to start the second quarter, giving the Lakers a 47-30 lead that allowed them to coast the rest of the way. Golden State had brief bursts, slicing the lead to only eight at the half, but Los Angeles never had to be at its best - or full strength - to complete a sweep of the teams' four-game season series.

The Lakers finished with a season-high 34 assists.

"That's always a point of emphasis," Lakers coach Mike Brown said. "For us, we don't always have guys who can create off the dribble, so we try to go through our bigs and get some guys some looks if the ball goes inside-out. Our guys did a great job of sharing the ball all night."

Just the kind of performance Los Angeles has been striving for all season.

With no chance of catching Oklahoma City or San Antonio for the Western Conference's second seed, holding off its Staples Center co-tenants and getting Bryant ready for the playoffs is paramount. Bryant did some shooting and running drills about three hours before tipoff, saying he's "full-weight bearing. I'm good."

The Lakers landed in just the right place for a turnaround game.

Golden State scored the final seven points against the Lakers' third-string to make the final score seem close.

Klay Thompson scored 17 points and Dorell Wright had 12 points and seven rebounds for a Warriors team wrapping up the end of another sorry season. Despite rookie coach Mark Jackson's playoff promise, Golden State has lost 18 of its past 22 games.

The Warriors played without starters David Lee (strained groin) and Andris Biedrins (mild concussion) and backup point guard Nate Robinson (right hamstring). Andrew Bogut (fractured left ankle) and Stephen Curry (sprained right ankle) have long been out for the season.

That forced Jackson - who started all three of the team's draft picks this season along with reserve center Mickell Gladness, who was originally signed to a 10-day contract in late March - to refute questions again about the franchise intentionally losing to protect its first-round draft pick.

Utah holds the pick this year as part of a previous trade, and the only way the Warriors keep it is if they finish in the bottom seven of the league after the draft lottery. Golden State entered the night in eighth.

"I'm a man with tremendous faith. I don't look at where I'm at I look at where I'm going and where I'm going to be," Jackson said. "As long as you don't get caught up in where you are then it's very easy to stay excited about the promise (of the future). I know where I'm headed."

NOTES: Curry said he likely won't test his ankle fully for at least another month. ... Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis sat courtside wearing white pants and a white long-sleeve shirt with the team's logo.

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Follow Antonio Gonzalez at: www.twitter.com/agonzalezAP

Notebook: Lakers 99, Warriors 87

Posted Thursday April 19, 2012 1:47AM

By Geoff Lepper, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: Pau Gasol notched his fifth career triple-double and Andrew Bynum poured home a game-high 31 points Wednesday as the Los Angeles Lakers dominated the undersized and outmanned Golden State Warriors 99-87.

Gasol had 22 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists as Los Angeles (40-23) won for the fifth time in the last seven games without Kobe Bryant, who told ESPN during its broadcast that he plans to return from his left shin injury Friday against San Antonio.

Bynum shot 12-for-14 from the floor and hit all seven of his free throws to help the Lakers stay a half-game ahead of the Clippers (39-23) in their race for the Pacific Division crown and No. 3 seed in the Western Conference playoffs.

Klay Thompson had 17 points on 7-for-22 shooting to lead the Warriors (22-39), who lost their sixth straight and for the 18th time in their last 22 games.

QUOTABLE: "I can't say enough about Pau. He may impact the game in a lot of different ways. Sometimes it's scoring, sometimes it's rebounding and sometimes it's finding his teammates for easy baskets. For him to come up with a triple-double at 7-foot-1 this way (with assists instead of blocks), that's remarkable."
-- Lakers coach Mike Brown

THE STAT: Los Angeles outshot the Warriors 28-10 from the free-throw line, accelerating a spiraling trend for Golden State. The Warriors were already the worst team in the league in terms of free-throw differential, coming into Wednesday averaging 7.33 fewer foul shots per game than their opponents. But things have gotten significantly worse since David Lee, the Warriors' leader in free-throw attempts at 280, was shut down for the year with a groin injury. In those three Lee-less games, Golden State has been outshot at the line by a combined 101-48 count.

TURNING POINT: Warriors coach Mark Jackson used two of his three available big men in the starting lineup, sending rookies Jeremy Tyler and Mickell Gladness out to do battle with Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol. The result? Bynum had 17 points in the first quarter, Gasol added another six and Golden State never found an answer for either.

HOT: On his last trip to Oracle Arena three weeks ago, Andrew Bynum drew the ire of coach Mike Brown for firing up a 3-pointer with nearly a full 24 seconds remaining on the shot clock. Wednesday, he stayed firmly planted in the paint, spurring the Lakers to a 62-42 advantage in terms of points in the paint.

HOTTER: When Bynum wasn't busy shredding the Warriors in the lane, Gasol was lurking at the high post. Los Angeles handed him the keys in the third quarter, and he responded with eight points, four assists and three boards as the Lakers lead ballooned to as many as 21 points in the period.

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: Metta World Peace continued his April surge, dropping 18 points for his fifth consecutive game in double figures and dishing out a season-high nine assists for the Lakers, who had help on all but three of their 37 baskets.

NOTABLE: The Lakers have won 25 of their last 28 games against Golden State and swept the Warriors for the third time in four seasons. . . . This was Gasol's first triple-double since Nov. 7, 2010, when he had 20 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists against Portland. . . . Charles Jenkins had 11 assists for the Warriors. . . . Golden State started four rookies for the second consecutive game, the first team to do so since Denver in March 2003. . . . Warriors guard Nate Robinson missed the game after aggravating a previous right hamstring injury. . . . Despite the Warriors' skid, Jackson said he "laughed" at the sight of pundits on ESPN's "Around the Horn" discussing the idea Golden State is tanking in order to preserve their first-round pick in this year's draft, which must be conveyed to Utah if it is No. 8 or worse. The Warriors have shut down their three best players -- David Lee, Stephen Curry and Andrew Bogut -- for the year. "We have legitimate guys out, for legitimate reasons that can't be questioned," Jackson said. "We're pretty much stuck with where we are."

UP NEXT: For the Warriors, Friday @ Dallas, Saturday @ Houston, Sunday @ Minnesota. For the Lakers, Friday @ San Antonio, Sunday vs. Oklahoma City, Thursday @ Sacramento.

• Lakers: Eyenga
• Warriors: Bogut, Curry

• Lakers: Barnes
• Warriors: --

• Lead Changes: 0
• Times Tied: 6

• Arena: ORACLE Arena, Oakland, CA
• Officials: #40 Leon Wood, #8 Marc Davis, #72 J.T. Orr
• Attendance: 18547
• Duration: 2:13