Lakers Gameday | 03/19/09 | Lakers 114, Warriors 106
 Los Angeles Lakers
Western Conference Standing : 1 Streak: Won 2 |
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 Golden State Warriors
Western Conference Standing : 10 Streak: Lost 1 |
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---Francisco Gomez, Lakers.com
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Kobe, Gasol help Lakers hold off Warriors, 114-106
LOS ANGELES(AP) Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol each scored 21 points, and the Los Angeles Lakers held off the Golden State Warriors 114-106 on Thursday night before heading on the road for two weeks. The victory, was the Lakers' 31st at home, eclipsing last season's total, and kept them a full game behind Cleveland for the NBA's best record and homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs with 14 games remaining. The Cavaliers beat Portland 97-92 in overtime. Monta Ellis scored 27 points and Kelenna Azubuike added 25 for the Warriors, who have lost 19 of their last 22 meetings with the Lakers and are 2-18 at Staples Center since the arena opened in 1999. The Lakers begin their longest trip of the season - seven games - on Saturday night at Chicago, and don't play again at Staples Center until April 3 against Houston. They left town with a little momentum after completing their third four-game season sweep of the Warriors in four years. The defending Western Conference champions, who haven't lost consecutive home games since a three-game stretch last March, bounced back from a 94-93 defeat to Philadelphia on Tuesday night in which they blew a 14-point fourth-quarter lead and lost on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Andre Iguodala. In a game that pitted the league's top rebounding team against the worst, the Lakers held a 50-42 advantage. Gasol had 14 boards and Lamar Odom had 12. Warriors leading scorer Stephen Jackson returned to the lineup, scoring 10 points and shooting 5-for-17. He sat out Tuesday's victory over the Clippers because of an automatic one-game suspension he received for getting 16th technical foul of the season in Sunday's loss to Phoenix. Center Andris Biedrins remained sidelined with a sprained left ankle, and reserve forward Anthony Randolph left the game with 8:44 left in the second quarter because of a groin strain. The Lakers, who squandered a 15-point lead to Dallas in Sunday's home win prior to Tuesday's collapse down the stretch, took a 77-59 lead on Derek Fisher's 3-pointer with 3:34 left in the third quarter. The Warriors scored the next 12 points to make it a six-point differential. But Sasha Vujacic scored nine of his 12 points in the fourth quarter and Odom converted a pair of 3-point plays 66 seconds apart to give Los Angeles a 101-86 lead with 5:59 to play. Golden State then went on a 16-4 run capped by Jackson's fastbreak layup with 2:40 remaining, after off one of six Lakers turnovers in the final quarter. But Azubuike missed a 3 that would have tied the game, and that was the Warriors' last gasp. Bryant who did not get to the free throw line in the game against Philadelphia, didn't attempt a foul shot against the Warriors until he completed a three-point play that gave the Lakers a 105-95 lead with 3:49 to play. The last time Bryant went back-to-back games without attempting a foul shot was a three-game stretch March 17-21, 1997, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The Warriors, who trailed 52-51 at halftime, are 0-25 when they are behind heading into the third quarter. Reserve forward Corey Maggette went to the bench with 8:08 left in the second quarter after picking up his third foul in a 1:20 span. He tied a season low with six points in 22 minutes. Notes: Former Lakers coach Pat Riley, currently president of the Miami Heat, turns 64 years old on Friday. "Pat turning 64 isn't a scary thing, it's a beautiful thing. And it's even better now that he's not coaching anymore - even though I know he misses it,'' said Magic Johnson, Riley's point guard on four NBA championship teams in Los Angeles. "It probably would have been scary if he was still in there coaching because, from my point of view, it was taking its toll on him. So this is the best for him - to just be the team president and make the basketball decisions. He and I will always be linked together. One of the highlights of my life was when he went into the Hall of Fame in September and we reflected back on all the memories and the good times we all shared together. I'm happy that he's turning 64, looking good and feeling good.'' ... Phil Jackson, who has coached the Lakers to three championships, is four games away from passing Riley's franchise record for games coached (727). The record-breaker will come on March 27 at New Jersey, where Jackson got his first NBA coaching experience as an assistant coach. ... Warriors coach Don Nelson, whose 1,304 regular-season wins are second all-time behind Lenny Wilkens, is two losses away from 1,000. Nelson has 274 more wins than Jackson. 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 - WARRIORS PREVIEW
The Los Angeles Lakers have their longest road trip of the season looming later this week, so the Western Conference's best team would like to build a little momentum at home. They'd especially like to forget about their most recent finish. The Lakers will try to bounce back from a last-second loss when they host the Golden State Warriors on Thursday night in their last game at Staples Center for more than two weeks. Los Angeles (53-14) has looked like the favorite to earn home-court advantage throughout the playoffs ever since it came home from a 6-0 road trip last month that concluded with wins over fellow contenders Boston and Cleveland. The Lakers had been 7-0 at Staples Center since returning, and appeared to have an eighth straight home win well in hand Tuesday night, leading Philadelphia by 14 in the fourth quarter. The 76ers came back, though, and Andre Iguodala answered Kobe Bryant's late jumper with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to give Philadelphia a 94-93 win. Los Angeles had a similar scenario unfold Sunday at home against Dallas, as it blew a 15-point lead late in the third before rallying to win 107-100. "It's two games in a row and it's uncharacteristic," Lamar Odom said after recording his third straight double-double. "It's not like it's been a problem for us all year. We're going to watch the film of the last two games and get ready for Golden State." The loss combined with a Cavaliers win dropped the Lakers a full game behind Cleveland in the race for home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. The Lakers haven't lost consecutive home games since a three-game skid from March 23-28 last season, and a visit from the Warriors (24-43) would seem to be a good opportunity to make sure that doesn't happen. Los Angeles has averaged 124.3 points in winning all three meetings with Golden State this season, and it's won 13 of 15 overall in the series and 10 of 11 at Staples Center. Finding a way to stop Pau Gasol, who's scored at least 20 in his last four games, has been the Warriors' biggest problem. Gasol has averaged 23.3 points and 13.3 rebounds against Golden State, including a 33-point, 18-rebound effort in a 114-106 comeback win in Oakland on Jan. 7. The Warriors, who allow a league-worst 112.3 points per game, haven't had much success stopping anybody this season, particularly Sunday when they gave up an NBA season-high 154 points to Phoenix in a 24-point loss. They weren't much better Tuesday, allowing the Los Angeles Clippers to scored 69 points in the second half, but Monta Ellis matched his season high with 29 points in a 127-120 win. "He took another nice step," coach Don Nelson said. "There's nothing wrong with being a scoring point guard. He tried to make plays, ran what coach wanted and showed good vision." Ellis, who's played only 17 games during a tumultuous season in which he's been suspended by the team and bothered by an ankle injury, has averaged 28.0 points in his last three games. The Warriors beat the Clippers without two of their top scorers. Stephen Jackson was suspended for one game for accruing 16 technical fouls over the course of the season, and he should return Thursday. Jamal Crawford, however, won't. Crawford, who's topped 20 points in all three games against Los Angeles this season, will sit for a second straight game as Nelson gives more minutes to second-year guard Marco Belinelli. The Lakers begin their seven-game trip Saturday night against Chicago. 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 lead their season series with Golden State 3-0 after splitting last season’s series with the Warriors 2-2 and sweeping each of the previous two season series 4-0. This will be the 290th regular season meeting between the two teams in the Los Angeles Era with the Lakers leading the all-time series 181-107. Including their time in Minneapolis, the Lakers and Warriors have met a total of 379 times with the Lakers holding a 232-147 all-time series advantage. The Lakers have not lost a season series to the Warriors since they were defeated 2-3 over five games during the 1994-95 season. The Lakers are 18-3 in their last 21 overall games against Golden State but had two win streaks against the Warriors snapped last season: a 9-game overall win streak against Golden State snapped 12/14/07 at ORACLE Arena and a 9-game home win streak vs. Golden State snapped 3/23/08 at STAPLES Center. At STAPLES Center, the Lakers are 17-2 all-time against the Warriors. On the road, the Lakers have gone 8-2 against the Warriors in their last 10, winning 7-of-their-last 8 at ORACLE Arena. Under head coach Phil Jackson, the Lakers are 28-7 against the Warriors. In 47 career games including 38 starts against the Warriors, Kobe Bryant is averaging 26.8 points. Additionally, Lamar Odom posted his first triple-double as a Laker with 15 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists against the Warriors on 4/11/06. Last season, Odom pulled down a career-high 22 rebounds on 3/23/08 vs. Golden State and just one day later, posted 23 points, 21 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 rebounds at Golden State, becoming the first Laker in 13 years to record consecutive 20-rebound games and just the fifth player in the NBA since 2000 to post at least 20 points, 20 rebounds, five assists and five blocked shots in a single game. Lakers guard Derek Fisher played two seasons for Golden State, where he averaged a career-best 13.3 points during the 2005-06 season. Warriors forward Ronny Turiaf played 3 seasons with the Lakers, averaging a career-best 6.6 points and 3.9 rebounds with the Lakers last season.
LAKERS SCOUTING REPORT
The last time we saw the Warriors (February 18th), we gave up 68 points in the first half. Needless to say, that is not acceptable. We found ourselves with a double digit deficit in the second half. We finally put together a series of defensive stops and came away with the 129-121 victory. Golden State had six players in double figure scoring and 3 of those players scored in the 20’s. Simply put our defensive job was not done sufficiently that night. The surprise player that game was Anthony Randolph, the rookie from LSU. This long, athletic player has been compared to Lamar Odom because he has a similar set of skills. He scored 14 points and grabbed 12 rebounds and his impact was felt that night. We must do a better job of containing their top scorers while not unleashing a role player. The first step in improving our defensive performance is keeping the tempo of the game in our favor. We cannot get caught up in the frenetic style that coach Don Nelson would prefer his team play. By keeping our turnovers low and taking good shots with the proper floor balance we can put ourselves in the position to minimize the easy buckets of the Warriors. The next step is to make the commitment to sprint back every time. Sprinting back on defense is key but we must also improve our communication so we can find their 3 point shooters. Any part of this process that is not successfully executed leads to easy buckets and a frustrating night. Once we have taken away the quick and easy transition baskets then we can focus on their offensive sets and the one they go to most frequently is their “1 Series”. This is the action that is similar to our “pinch post”. The goal is to isolate the two players on one side of the floor – one at the elbow and one feeding from the top with the other three running some action on the weakside of the floor. There are a plethora of options from this alignment. They can isolate either of the players, they can run screen and rolls or they can use it as a diversion and go to the weakside with the ball. The crucial aspect is that the defender guarding the ball must take away the direct line attack of the offensive player. Then the rest of the defenders must be communicating and have their bodies in the right position so they can help if needed. We leave tomorrow on the longest road trip of the season – seven games in 13 days – so we must get back on track. We must make sure to stay focused for the full 48 minutes and we must be the aggressors.
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