Bynum, Gasol lead Lakers' 99-87 rout of Warriors

By ANTONIO GONZALEZ

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) Andrew Bynum had 31 points and nine rebounds, Pau Gasol recorded a triple-double and the Los Angeles Lakers rebounded from their worst loss of the season by beating the undermanned Golden State Warriors 99-87 Wednesday night.

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 an easy win - even with Kobe Bryant missing his seventh straight game with a bruised left shin - a night after a 112-91 home loss to San Antonio.

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. Golden State has lost 18 of its past 22 games.

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 sweep the season series 4-0 against its neighbors to the north.

That time is coming soon against tougher competition.

Los Angeles has won five of its last six and remains a half-game ahead of the Clippers in the Pacific Division. 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. Lakers coach Mike Brown said his star's status is still day to day heading into Friday's rematch at San Antonio and not to overanalyze the pregame workout.

"He's not completely right," Brown said. "Just because a guy can run and jump a little bit, and shoot, that doesn't mean that there's a comfort level from everybody to put him out there."

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

Just about all the top talent - including Bryant - dressed in sharp suits on the bench. By the end of the fourth quarter, so many home fans had filtered out, chunks of Lakers fans could easily be heard shouting "Kobe! Kobe!"

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 coach Mark 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.

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. ... Warriors Hall of Famer Chris Mullin, also a one-time teammate with Jackson at St. John's, was part of the ESPN broadcast crew courtside.

Lakers take on the Dallas Mavericks Sunday, April 15th at Staples Center at 12:30PM. Catch all the action on Fox Sports West, ABC, and 710ESPN.

POSTGAME QUOTES



Mike Brown:

ON THE SECOND HALF:
“We did a better job, a large part at being more efficient offensively the second half, our floor balance was better, I thought with our turnovers we did a better job at reacting to our turnovers in the first half. We had seven turnovers to thirteen points in the first half, and the second half we had seven turnovers and four points, so those two areas we really cleaned up at half time and did a better job the second half, and contributed to us keeping in the lead.”

ON ANDREW BYNUM:
“Andrew was extremely efficient, doing 12 to 14 through the field and seven for seven for the free throw line, he and his size has helped out the team a lot.”

ON PAU GASOL:
“I can’t say enough about Pau [Gasol]. We talked about it earlier in the year that this is the type of guy we can play in a lot of different areas. We could play him on the post, off the elbow, we could play him out at the wing sometimes, and he could help in a lot of different ways. Sometimes it’s scoring, sometimes rebounding, and sometimes finding the teammates to make the basket. For him to come up with a triple-double at 7 foot 1 this way is remarkable. I would be surprised to see how many seven footers would have a triple-double this way choosing points, blocks, assists, and rebounds.”

ON LOSSES AGAINST SAN ANTONIO:
“In terms of us meeting in the playoffs…because if we go back in the past, we got swept by Detroit one year and another year we got beat 3-1 by Washington and then beat them both in the playoffs.”

ON KOBE BRYANT COMING BACK TO THE LINEUP:
“It’s always going to be a little different, but it’s not just with him [Kobe Bryant]. If Andrew [Bynum] was hurt, or was out, when he came back we’d play a little differently. Personnel make you play a little differently because of the quality of the player. It will be good to have him back because we need to get used to playing the way we play with him and we play at our best with him in the lineup.”

ON HOW THE TEAM PLAYED WITHOUT KOBE BRYANT:
“Most of the games were on the road and the ones at home were pretty difficult. They were against some top opponents. I’m proud of my teammates for stepping up and getting the job done when our best player wasn’t able to suit up.”

ON GETTING KOBE BRYANT BACK:
“I can’t wait to have Kobe [Bryant] back, I just can’t wait. I’ll be so happy to have him back and 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 and that’s why I came to Los Angeles. I can’t wait until he’s back.”

ON PLAYING WELL WITHOUT KOBE BRYANT:
“We’ve been playing well. We’ve just been finding out a lot of things about ourselves. I had to do this when I was in Sacramento with Kevin Martin and John Salmons. I had to sit out some games sometimes. I was scoring a lot but I didn’t see what other guys could do and I wasn’t giving other guys the opportunity. Then I realized that these guys could really play and then that grew confidence in guys. It’s the same situation. He’s [Kobe Bryant] seeing something.”

ON HIS MINDSET THE FINAL FEW GAMES:
“I’m a man with tremendous faith. I don’t look at where I am; I look at where I’m going and where I’m going to be. As long as you don’t get caught up in where you are, it’s very easy to stay excited about the promise. I know where I’m headed and I’m excited about it. It’s very easy to jump up and down when you are the Western Conference champs and you are going to the NBA Finals. What my guys will remember most will be these days. Some would perceive these to be dark days, I believe these are times to build character and hold on to the rope even tighter.”

ON KLAY THOMPSON BEING GUARDED BY METTA WORLD PEACE:
“I think it’s a valuable experience to go against different ways that teams are going to try and defend him. It’s great experience, being doubled, grabbed and getting beaten up. The great ones…it’s a complement. I think its valuable experience for him.”

ON LOOKING AHEAD TO THE FUTURE:
“I’m not going to sit here and tell you that it’s easy to go out there without four of your best players. Four rookies against the Los Angeles Lakers or the San Antonio Spurs is not exciting. I think it’s important because real leadership – people are looking at you closely during trials and tribulations. People are looking at you closely when you have an excuse to come in and rant and rave. I’m not here just to build champions. I’m here to build men, fathers, brothers and sons. It’s important for me to show them how to act during adversity.”

ON FACING THE LAKERS AT HOME FOR THE SECOND TIME:
“We just didn’t play well, both offensively and defensively. We knew that we were undersized coming in. We just gave up a lot of offensive boards and had too many defensive lapses.”

ON HIS MORALE DECREASING DURING THE END OF THE SEASON:
“No, not really because I used to wish for the opportunity of [getting] playing time, I’m now getting some, so I’m just trying to make the most of it.”

ON GOING UP AGAINST SOME TOP LEVEL DEFENDERS ON THE LAKERS TEAM:
“That was really good. We just missed a lot of wide open shots and we have to go and work on that. Just get in the gym and try to correct it tomorrow.”

ON GOING UP AGAINST THE LAKERS’ PAU GASOL AND ANDREW BYNUM:
“We had clear match ups on who we were guarding. We were playing against two of, arguably, the best big men in the game right now. I just went in with the mindset to play my hardest, do the best I can and follow our game plan while putting in a lot of effort.”

ON LEARNING NEW LESSONS AS A ROOKIE GOING UP AGAINST VETERANS:
“What I take out of every game: just learning and getting better and focusing on little things. All of the great players have habits, techniques and trying to be a sponge and soak up everything that I can.”

ON FOCUSING HIS EFFORTS ON THE NEXT GAME AGAINST THE DALLAS MAVERICKS: “Just going into the game playing my hardest. Going in knowing that I’ve played this team twice already and looking back at the things that I did wrong, attacking their weaknesses and just being the best player I can be.”

Lakers-Warriors Preview

By ALAN FERGUSON

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.

4/17/12 L SAS 112, LAL 91	4/15/12 W LAL 112, DAL 108	4/13/12 W LAL 103, DEN 97	4/11/12 W LAL 98, SAS 84	4/09/12 W LAL 93, NOH 91

SEASON & SERIES NOTES; CONNECTIONS
The Lakers lead the season series with Golden State 3-0 after taking last season’s series from the Warriors 3-1. The Lakers have swept four of the last six season series with the Warriors and have not lost a season series to Golden State since they were defeated 2-3 over five games during the 1994-95 season. The Lakers and Warriors have met 300 times in the regular season during the Los Angeles Era with the Lakers leading the alltime series 192-108. Including their time in Minneapolis, the Lakers and Warriors have met a total of 391 times with the Lakers holding a 243-148 all-time series advantage. The Lakers are 29-4 in their last 33 games against Golden State but had their 12-game win streak against the Warriors snapped in their last meeting of the 2010-11 season 4/6/11 at ORACLE Arena (87-95). At STAPLES Center, the Lakers are 24-2 all-time against the Warriors. On the road, the Lakers have gone 8-2 against the Warriors in their last 10 games at ORACLE Arena. In 58 career games including 49 starts against the Warriors, Bryant is averaging 27.3 points per game with a high game of 51 points, his 3rd highest average among all teams behind Charlotte (29.2) and Toronto (27.9). The 1,585 points Bryant has scored against Golden State is the highest total among all opponents he has faced. Lakers forward Troy Murphy was drafted by Golden State with the 14th overall pick in the 2001 NBA Draft. Murphy played his first five and a half NBA seasons with the Warriors, averaging a double-double for the year three times in the Bay Area (2002-03, 2004-05, 2005-06). Warriors rookie guard Klay Thompson, who played his prep basketball locally at Santa Margarita HS in Orange County and was selected by Golden State with the 11th overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft, is the son of former Lakers forward/center and current radio color analyst Mychal Thompson.

PLAYOFF PICTURE
With a 5-game lead over Denver in the loss column and five games to play, the Lakers can finish no worse than the #5 seed in the West as they control the tie-breaker with the Nuggets. A victory over the Spurs tonight AND a Memphis loss in Minnesota would clinch no worse than a #4 seed in the West and homecourt advantage in the first round for the Lakers as they control the tie-breaker with the Grizzlies. Winning the Pacific Division would also mean no worse than a #4 seed in the West. Teams 1 to 4 in each conference are the three division winners and the team with the next best regular-season record, with the seeding of these four teams determined by regular-season record. The playoff-seedings of teams 5 to 8 are based upon regular-season record. With a victory over the Denver Nuggets on April 13, the Lakers clinched a playoff spot, becoming the third team in the West to do so (Oklahoma City, San Antonio). The playoff berth marks the Lakers 59th postseason appearance in 64 NBA seasons as well as their 31st playoff berth in 33 seasons since Dr. Jerry Buss purchased the team prior to the 1979-80 season.

POOR SHOOTING IN THE FRONT COURT? NO PROBLEM…
Playing without Kobe Bryant for the fifth straight game, the Lakers defeated the Dallas Mavericks on April 15 in overtime despite subpar shooting performances from starting forwards Metta World Peace (7-for-20) and Pau Gasol (6-for-14) and starting center Andrew Bynum (9-for-24). While having all three members of the starting frontcourt struggle from the field would seem to amount to a guaranteed loss, the Lakers have actually won their last six games in which their starting forwards and center each take 12+ shots and miss more than half. The last Lakers’ loss in such a game occurred back on October 19, 1979 against the Portland Trail Blazers (82-99). The frontcourt trio in that game was Jamaal Wilkes, Spencer Haywood and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.*

ANDREW BYNUM EARNS THIRD CAREER WESTERN CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONOR; SECOND THIS SEASON
On April 16, the NBA named Andrew Bynum WC Player of the Week for games played Monday, April 9 through Sunday, April 15; his THIRD career WC Player of the Week award and second this season. Bynum led the Lakers to a 4-0 week behind averages of 21.8 points, a league-best 16.3 rebounds and 1.50 blocks (three double-doubles). Only the 5th Laker in franchise history to grab 30 rebounds in a game (4/11 at San Antonio), Bynum followed up that effort with 30 points 4/13 vs. Denver, becoming the first player league-wide to follow a 30-rebound game with a 30-point game since Moses Malone in Feb. of 1982. Bynum’s first career WC Player of the Week award was earned back on January 26, 2009, when Bynum averaged 23.5 points, 11.5 rebounds and 2.25 blocks in helping lead the Lakers to a 4-0 week from 1/19/09 to 1/25/09. Earlier this season, Bynum earned the honor after leading the Lakers to a 3-1 week from 3/12/12 to 3/18/12 while averaging 27.5 points (.665 FG%) and 14.8 rebounds.

LAKERS FORCE FRANCHISE-LOW THREE TURNOVERS
By forcing just three turnovers in a 125-105 loss at Phoenix on April 7, the Lakers saw the Suns set an opponent franchise record for fewest turnovers in a game. The previous franchise-low of four opponent turnovers was originally established in a 108-114 loss 12/21/01 at Memphis, but was matched three times this season, with the Lakers forcing four turnovers January 5 at Portland (96-107, loss), January 29 at Minnesota (106-101, win) and February 6 at Philadelphia (90-95, loss). Leaguwide, the last time a team committed 3 turnovers or less came on back on 4/3/10, when the Pistons committed three turnovers at Atlanta.

DYNAMIC DUO
In the Lakers 113-108 victory over the Clippers on April 4, Andrew Bynum scored 36 points on 13-of-20 shooting (.650) and Kobe Bryant scored 31 points on 13-of-19 shooting (.684). Since 1990, the only other pair of Lakers teammates to each score 30-plus points while shooting at least 65% from the field were Bryant (35 points on 11- of-16 shooting ((.688)) and Shaquille O’Neal (31 points on 15-of-23 shooting (.652)) back on February 18, 2004 in a 100-99 Lakers victory at Golden State. *

40-POINT GAMES
With 40 points April 1 vs. Golden State, Kobe Bryant scored 40+ points for the fifth time this season and 112th time (regular season) in his NBA career. With 42 points January 14 in an away game against the Clippers, Kobe Bryant scored 40+ points for the fourth consecutive game. Bryant’s 40+ point games this season came 1/10 vs. Phoenix (48),1/11 at Utah (40), 1/13 vs. Cleveland (42), 1/14 @ LA Clippers (42) and 4/1 vs. Golden State (40). In the history of the NBA, only two players have more career 40-point games: Wilt Chamberlain (271) and Michael Jordan (173). The Lakers are now 77-35 all-time in games that Bryant scores 40+ points. Bryant holds the Lakers franchise record for 40-point games in a season, recording 27 during the 2005-06 campaign. Bryant also holds the franchise record for most consecutive 40-point games (9), established during the 2002-03 season. Only Wilt Chamberlain (14 twice, 10 once) has had longer consecutive 40-point game streaks in NBA history than Bryant.