Lakers Gameday | 12/03/08 | Lakers 114, Sixers 102

Bryant scores 32 in Lakers' win over 76ers

PHILADELPHIA(AP) Kobe Bryant tormented his hometown team again, scoring 32 points to help the Los Angeles Lakers rebound from a last-second loss with a 114-102 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night.

Lakers coach Phil Jackson said before the game that the thrill of playing in his home city has worn off for Bryant. But the reigning MVP appeared to enjoy every big 3-pointer that pushed back the Sixers and gave Los Angeles a boost.

The Lakers improved to 15-2 one night after they lost in Indiana on a late tip.

Los Angeles never let the middling Sixers get too close in this one. Philadelphia was within six in the third quarter when Derek Fisher and Bryant nailed 3-pointers that ballooned the lead to double digits.

Andre Miller scored 26 points and Andre Iguodala had 19 for the Sixers, who played the entire fourth quarter and the last 4 minutes of the third without Elton Brand.

It was unclear whether Brand was injured or simply benched on an off night. He was limited to three points on 1-for-7 shooting in 25 ineffective minutes.

The wildly inconsistent Sixers hoped to get their groove back after a 103-95 overtime win at Chicago on Tuesday. Again, they couldn't get Iguodala, Miller and Brand going offensively at the same time. They lost for the fourth time in five games and haven't won consecutive games since Nov. 21-23.

Team president Ed Stefanski said before the game he wasn't shocked the Sixers are having trouble adjusting to new roles that came with Brand's free-agent arrival.

Brand, though, was signed to deliver big games against teams like the Lakers. No injury report was given, so perhaps he just had an off night. But the Sixers can't afford many games like this from Brand if they want to make a move in the East.

With Brand on the bench, guard Lou Williams tried to rally the Sixers in the fourth. He scored all 15 of his points in the quarter and made three 3s, including two straight that pulled Philadelphia to 101-91.

Hearing some faint chants of "MVP!'' mixed in with the usual Philly boos, Bryant sank a pair of free throws at the 2-minute mark that gave the Lakers a 108-97 lead, then followed with a spinning, right-handed layup that put the game away. Just for fun, he drilled a 3 the next time down and appeared to stare at Philly's bench.

With less than a minute left, Iguodala decided to guard Bryant as though Game 7 of a playoff series was tied. Bryant was called for a push-off foul, and what was left of the crowd howled at the late-game theatrics.

Notes: Phillies SS Jimmy Rollins was at the game. ... The 76ers lost their third straight at home. They didn't lose more than two in a row at home all of last season. ... The 76ers are 2-4 in the second game of back-to-backs.

Copyright 2008 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.

Lakers - 76ers Preview

A last-second loss kept the Los Angeles Lakers from extending their season-high winning streak and tarnished their perfect road record.

The Lakers hope to avoid faltering again on Wednesday night, when they continue their three-game road trip against the Philadelphia 76ers.

Los Angeles (14-2) won its first seven games of 2008-09 before falling to Detroit on Nov. 14. The Lakers then built another seven-game run prior to an improbable 118-117 defeat at Indiana on Tuesday.

The Lakers closed out the third quarter on a 17-0 run to take a 101-86 lead into the final 12 minutes. Kobe Bryant gave Los Angeles a 117-116 advantage with 58.4 seconds left, but his errant shot late allowed Indiana one more possession. Troy Murphy tipped in the final shot, which was confirmed after a review.

"There was some luck involved, but that's the way basketball is if you don't take care of business," said Lakers coach Phil Jackson, whose team dropped to 5-1 on the road this season. "They got some energy going to the hoop and the right thing happened for them."

Los Angeles fell short of matching its franchise-best 16-1 start in 2001-02 despite another outstanding effort from Bryant. The league's reigning MVP finished with 28 points to become the second-fastest player in league history to reach 22,000 for his career.

Wilt Chamberlain was one day younger than Bryant when he reached that milestone.

Bryant has averaged 28.7 points over his last three games, and 23.0 in 22 career games versus Philadelphia (8-10). He totaled 34 points on 37.9 percent (11-for-29) shooting as the Lakers swept last season's series.

Pau Gasol had 20 points and Andrew Bynum had 17 on Tuesday for the Lakers, who are 10-2 as visitors since losing back-to-back road contests March 14-16.

The Lakers have won four of their last five versus the 76ers, but playing in Philadelphia has been a problem recently. They had dropped seven straight there before a 106-101 victory on Dec. 21 as Bynum scored 24 and Lamar Odom and Bryant each added 21.

Los Angeles has allowed just 95.6 points per contest, but gave up at least 100 for the fifth time in 2008-09 against the Pacers.

Philadelphia surpassed 100 points for the first time in eight contests on Tuesday, beating the Bulls 103-95 in Chicago. Andre Miller was just 9-of-26 from the field, but scored a season-high 28 to help the 76ers split the home-and-home set.

Andre Iguodala added a season-best 25 points and Elton Brand had 22 and 14 rebounds for the 76ers, who ended a season-high four-game slide.

After opponents shot 51.3 percent and converted 44.9 percent of their attempts from 3-point range during the losing streak, the 76ers held Chicago to 40.2 percent shooting and 1-for-8 from beyond the arc.

"I thought our defensive game was really good," coach Maurice Cheeks told the 76ers' official Web site. "And we continued to push the ball throughout the game. That's our game."

Philadelphia plays three of its next four at home, where it is 5-4 after losing the last two there. Brand has scored 18.1 points per contest at the Wachovia Center, and is averaging 21.2 in 27 career matchups against the Lakers.

Copyright 2008 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.

GAME NOTES
NOTES & CONNECTIONS

The Lakers swept last season’s series with Philadelphia 2-0 for the first time since the 1999-00 season and in the process, snapped a 7-game losing streak in Philadelphia with a 106-101 victory December 21, 2007 at Wachovia Center. This will be the 261st meeting between the two franchises dating back to 1950 (179th in the Los Angeles era) and the 153rd since the Sixers moved to Philadelphia prior to the 1963-64 season. Prior to their win on December 21st, the Lakers had not won in Philadelphia since February of 2000 and are now 2-8 in their last 10 road games against the 76ers. The Lakers are 8-1 all-time against the 76ers at STAPLES Center and are undefeated at home in the regular season against Philadelphia under head coach Phil Jackson (8-0). Under Jackson, the Lakers are 10-6 versus Philadelphia (8-0 at home, 2-6 on the road). Kobe Bryant has played 22 games (18 starts) against his hometown Sixers, averaging 23.0 points per game. In January of 2006 against Philadelphia, Bryant established a new franchise record for three-point field goals without a miss, connecting on all seven of his attempts (10th time in NBA history with a minimum of seven attempts). He finished the game with 48 points, one shy of Jerry West’s Lakers series record of 49 points established in February of 1968. Additionally, Bryant earned the first of his two MVP honors at the 2002 All-Star Game held in Philadelphia. Pau Gasol is the only other Laker averaging 20-plus points against the Sixers for his career, posting a 22.0-point average over 12 games with a high of 34 points. Also, Sixers guard Andre Iguodala played two seasons at the University of Arizona and was a freshman during Luke Walton’s final season as a Wildcat in 2002-03, Lamar Odom and Elton Brand (as well as Ron Artest) played together as teenagers in the famed AAU program at Riverside Church in New York and Philadelphia guard Kareem Rush (2002-04) played just over two seasons with the Lakers, averaging 4.3 points in 162 games.

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LAKERS UPDATES

BRYANT BECOMES 22nd EVER TO 22,000 POINTS (2nd YOUNGEST, 12th FASTEST IN TERMS OF GAMES)
With 28 points December 2 at Indiana, Kobe Bryant became the 22nd player in NBA history to score 22,000 points and in doing so, became the second youngest player ever to 22,000 points (30 years, 101 days), one day older than Wilt Chamberlain (30 years, 100 days) who scored his 22,000th point on 11/26/66. The next youngest to 22,000 points were Oscar Robertson (31 years, 117 days) on 3/21/70 and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (31 years, 350 days) on 4/1/79. The youngest player in league history to accumulate 12,000 - 20,000 career points, Bryant became the 12th fastest to 22,000 points in terms of games, reaching the mark in 881 career games. Through his career, Bryant has been the 29th fastest to 15,000, the 22nd fastest to 16,000, the 20th fastest to 17,000, the 16th fastest to 18,000, the 15th fastest to 19,000, the 15th fastest to 20,000 and the 12th fastest to 21,000 points in terms of games. Earlier this season, with 29 points November 14 against Detroit, Kobe Bryant moved past both Larry Bird and Gary Payton on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. Bryant (22,013) now trails Clyde Drexler (22,195) for 21st on the all-time list. Bryant, now in his 13th NBA season, passed Bird in his 874th career game. Bird reached 21,791 points in 897 career games over 13 seasons while Payton reached 21,813 points in 1,335 games over 17 NBA seasons. Last season, Bryant became the 25th player in NBA history to score 21,000 points and in doing so, became the second youngest player ever to 21,000 points (29 years, 194 days) and second ever under the age of 30 behind Wilt Chamberlain (29 years, 184 days). Michael Jordan was the third youngest to 21,000 (30 years, 40 days). Earlier in the season, Bryant, at 29 years, 122 days, became the youngest player in NBA history to reach 20,000 career points and the third player ever to reach 20,000 points under the age of 30, ranking ahead of Wilt Chamberlain (29 years, 134 days) and Michael Jordan (29 years, 326 days).

STRONG STARTS
At 14-2, the Lakers are off to their best start to a season through 16 games since 2001-02 when Los Angeles began the year with a 16-1 record, the most wins ever accrued by the Lakers before their second loss. The Lakers best undefeated start to a season came in 1997-98 when they opened the year a franchise record 11-0 and ran their record to 12-1 before losing their second game. In all, the Lakers have been 14-1 through 15 games TWICE in franchise history including this season - 2008-09: 14-1 and 2001-02: 16-1. Phil Jackson led teams have now won at least 14 games before their second loss on three occasions, once with the Chicago Bulls and now twice with the Lakers - 2008-09: 14-1, 2001-02: 16-1, 1996-97: 17-1. With their 95-106 loss to Detroit November 14, the Lakers suffered their first defeat of the 2008-09 season. The loss snapped a seven-game win streak that was the team’s longest to start a season since opening the 2001-02 season 7-0. Only twice in franchise history had the Lakers started the season with a better mark, going a franchisebest 11-0 to open the 1997-98 campaign and 8-0 to start the 1987-88 season. This was the second time under head coach Phil Jackson that the Lakers have opened the season 7-0 (2008-09, 2001-02). Only once has a Jackson-led team opened the season with a better record, with the 1996-97 Bulls going 12-0 to begin the season.

JACKSON NAMED WESTERN CONFERENCE COACH OF THE MONTH
On December 1, Phil Jackson was named Western Conference Coach of the Month for October/November 2008. The award is Jackson’s fourth Western Conference Coach of the Month honor and second consecutive Western Conference Coach of the Month award as he won for games played in April 2008 as well. Jackson also won back-to-back awards for October/November 2003 and April 2003. Jackson led the Lakers to an NBA-best 14-1 (.933) mark during October and November. The Lakers are the lone one-loss team remaining in the league and boast an 11-0 record in Western Conference play. Prior to these honors, Jackson was last named Coach of the Month in November of 2001 before the award was divided by conference.