Lakers Gameday | 04/10/09 | Blazers 106, Lakers 98
 Los Angeles Lakers
Western Conference Standing : 1 Streak: Lost 1 |
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 Portland Trail Blazers
Western Conference Standing : 5 Streak: Won 3 |
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---Francisco Gomez, Lakers.com
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Roy has 24 and Blazers beat Lakers 106-98
PORTLAND, Ore.(AP) Brandon Roy had 24 points and eight assists, and the Portland Trail Blazers held off the Los Angeles Lakers 106-98 on Friday night. Kobe Bryant scored 32 points for the Lakers, but missed a key 3-pointer, had a crucial turnover and was off on a jumper in the final minute. It was Portland's eighth straight victory over the Lakers at the Rose Garden. The Lakers played without coach Phil Jackson, who didn't travel with the team because of pain in his lower right leg, and fell 1 1/2 games behind Cleveland for the best record in the NBA and home-court advantage throughout the postseason. Assistant Kurt Rambis replaced the 63-year-old Jackson. The Hall of Famer will rejoin the team for practice on Saturday and isn't expected to miss any more games. The pain and swelling in his leg is caused by plantar fasciitis. Portland remained tied with San Antonio as it tries for home court in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs. The Blazers held a narrow lead throughout most of the fourth quarter. Bryant pulled the Lakers into a 91-all tie with 5:15 to go, but Steve Blake answered with his own jumper for the Blazers. Roy's pull-up jumper with 3:18 left put Portland ahead 99-96. After Bryant made a pair of free throws to narrow it again, Blake hit another long jumper to give the Blazers a 101-98 lead with 1:57 left. Blake made one of two free throw attempts with 42 seconds left to make it 102-98 before Bryant missed a 3-pointer on the other end. Rudy Fernandez also managed just one of two free throws but Travis Outlaw pulled down a key rebound off Bryant's miss and made a pair of foul shots to make it 105-98. He made one more in the final seconds for the final margin. Portland was coming off a 95-83 victory over the Spurs on Wednesday during which the Blazers erased a 19-point deficit. Because the Blazers won the series with San Antonio, they'll hold the tiebreaker should both finish with identical records. The Lakers beat the Blazers twice this season at Staples Center, but Portland took the first game at the Rose Garden, 111-94. The victory was memorable because of a scary injury to Fernandez. Ariza was booed by the sellout crowd at the Rose Garden, but he still didn't have quite the negative reaction reserved for Bryant. Fernandez and Roy hit consecutive 3-pointers, and Outlaw added a reverse layup to give the Blazers a 32-25 lead early in the second quarter. Bryant sparked a turnaround with a 3-pointer that gave the Lakers a 42-38 lead. His two free throws extended the lead to 50-40 late in the half. But Portland went on a 9-0 run late that closed the Blazers to 50-49. Sasha Vujacic hit a 3-pointer to make it 53-49 for the Lakers at the half. Copyright 2009 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 - BLAZERS PREVIEW
Getting to 50 wins was an important first step for the young Portland Trail Blazers ahead of the postseason. They can take another one with consecutive victories against elite opponents Friday night when they host the Western Conference-leading Los Angeles Lakers. The Trail Blazers (50-28) are tied with San Antonio for fourth in the West, and are one-half game behind Houston as the teams vie for home-court advantage for at least the first round. Portland wrapped up a four-game road trip with three victories after a 95-83 win over the Spurs on Wednesday, erasing an early 19-point deficit for its first win in San Antonio since 2002. "We won at one of the toughest teams in the league, in April, and they needed a win,'' said Blazers guard Brandon Roy, who scored 26 points. "So we got to use it if we want it to be something special.'' Roy is the linchpin of coach Nate McMillan's nine-man rotation as Portland prepares for its first playoff appearance since 2003. No one in that rotation is older than Joel Przybilla and Steve Blake - both 29 - and 24-year-old forward LaMarcus Aldridge has emerged as a go-to player in the low post, averaging 23.6 points on 57.8 percent shooting in his last seven games, helping the Blazers win six. "It was a grind and that's what the playoffs are going to be about," McMillan told the Blazers' official Web site. "You have to play hard, smart and together and we got that from our guys." Roy has totaled 22.7 points and 5.6 assists per game in Portland's recent surge, making 50.4 percent of his shots. He also has played well at home versus the Lakers, averaging 23.3 points while helping the Blazers win all three games he's played against them at the Rose Garden. The Lakers (63-16) won't be lacking any confidence either after dispatching the West's No. 2 team - a Denver squad that entered Staples Center on an eight-game winning streak - with ease Thursday in a 116-102 romp for their fifth straight victory. Los Angeles moved within one-half game of Cleveland, and the Lakers hold the tiebreaker over the Cavaliers for the NBA's best overall record and home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. Kobe Bryant scored 33 points, but the bigger news was the return of center Andrew Bynum, who had 16 on 7-of-11 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds in 21 minutes in his first action since tearing an MCL in his knee on Jan. 31 after a collision with Bryant. "It feels great to be back and be playing man, seriously. My teammates have been waiting," said Bynum, who rated himself a B to B-plus for his first game back. "They fed me the ball a little bit and got me really comfortable out there.'' The biggest beneficiary of Bynum's return may be fellow 7-footer Pau Gasol, who had 27 points and a career-high 19 rebounds, including 11 on the offensive end - also a career-best. As Bynum found his rhythm offensively, scoring 13 second-half points, the pair created matchup problems as the Lakers outscored the Nuggets 60-46. "We have two 7-footers out there that can rebound," Gasol said. "I was able to take advantage that he was a little off on his rhythm and I was able to go after the ball because he attracted two defenders. It was positive for me because it opened up my lane and allowed me to go after rebounds.'' Gasol has averaged 21.0 points and 11.2 rebounds during the Lakers' five-game win streak. The home team has won all three games this season, with Roy scoring 27 in Portland's 111-94 rout on March 9 in the most recent contest. Bryant, who has 23,756 points and is one shy of passing Charles Barkley for 17th on the all-time list, scored 26 in that loss but shot 11 of 29. Copyright 2009 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 Portland 2-1 which includes holding the Blazers to their lowest scoring total in series history in a 96-76 opening night victory in their first meeting this year. Los Angeles split last season’s series with Portland 2-2 and have taken just two season series from the Trail Blazers in the 1990’s and 2000’s combined (2004-05: 2-1 and 1992-93: 3-2) combined. This will be the 192nd meeting between the Trail Blazers and Lakers with Los Angeles leading the all-time series 108-83. The Lakers are 5-5 against the Trail Blazers in their last 10 overall games. At STAPLES Center, the Lakers are 15-4 against the Trail Blazers all-time and have won 14 of their last 16 including five straight. In Portland, the Lakers have dropped seven straight to the Trail Blazers and are 2-13 in their last 15 games at the Rose Garden. Under head coach Phil Jackson, the Lakers are 17-17 against the Trail Blazers during the regular season. In 2006-07, Kobe Bryant scored 65 points March 16 at STAPLES Center, surpassing his own series record of 50 points established at home back on April 14, 2006 (on the same day Bryant surpassed Elgin Baylor’s single-season franchise scoring record of 2,719 points). In 45 career games against Portland including 39 starts, Kobe Bryant is averaging 27.6 points against the Trail Blazers. In his last 14 regular season games against the Blazers, Bryant is averaging 34.5 points (483). Lakers forward Luke Walton and Blazers center Channing Frye were teammates at Arizona for two seasons (2001-02, 2002-03). Portland guards Sergio Rodriguez and Rudy Fernandez have both played for Spain internationally along with Pau Gasol. Fernandez was on the 2008 Olympic silver medal team with Gasol while all three played together on the gold medal winning Spanish 2006 FIBA World Championships team.
LAKERS SCOUTING REPORT
On March 9th, the Blazers beat us 111-94 in a game that wasn’t that close. They held a nine point lead at the end of the first quarter and stretched it out to 23 at the half. We had a couple mild runs in the second half but never made a real threat. It was an absolute beat down as we did not come into the game with a full appreciation of how good and hungry the TrailBlazers are this season. Needless to say we should be well aware of what type of game we are entering tonight. To the Blazer-Mania fans who have returned to support this club the arena will be rocking like game 7 of the finals. We must do the things necessary to keep the crowd out of the game. We cannot allow turnovers to lead to easy fastbreak points/dunks. When Fernandez comes into the game we cannot allow him to be the spark off the bench like he was in the March game. The Blazers have three players – Roy, Aldridge, Outlaw – who are capable of having big nights. In the March 9th game Roy had 27 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists. Aldridge had 16 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks. Outlaw had 22 points and shot 3-5 from 3 point range. So clearly we did not do the job on any of the three. We must take at least one of them out of their game tonight. The wild card that really hurt us in the March game was Joel Przybilla. Joel had 12 points and 18 rebounds (7 on the offensive end). This helped the Blazers to a 46-38 lead on the boards. We must simply do a better defensive job and a better job on the boards. It will be interesting to see how Andrew responds after playing very well last night in his return. The Blazers have their big man – Greg Oden – back also so it could make for an interesting night as the two premier young big men get the chance to battle. Portland was clearly the aggressors last time we played and regardless of the “X’s and O’s” that we talk about, if we do not play with a sense of urgency then it will be the same result. We must take the fight to the Blazers.
LAKERS UPDATES
BRYANT 35 POINTS SHY OF PASSING CHARLES BARKLEY FOR 17th ON ALL-TIME SCORING LIST LAKERS CLINCH #1 SEED IN THE WEST 60 WIN SEASONS POINTS ABOUT POINTS |
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