Lakers Gameday | 1/12/11 | Warriors

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Bryant, Odom rally Lakers past Warriors 115-110

By JANIE McCAULEY

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP)—Kobe Bryant had all of about six minutes left when he decided to finally take over. For him, it was plenty of time.

Bryant scored 17 of his 39 points in the final 5:49 and the sluggish Los Angeles Lakers rallied late to beat theGolden State Warriors 115-110 on Wednesday night for their sixth straight victory.

“It don’t matter who’s on me. When it’s go time, it’s go time,” Bryant said. “You have the responsibility to come through for your team and make the right play. Tonight, I did that.”

Bryant also assisted on Ron Artest’s crucial 3-pointer with 1:55 to play.Lamar Odom did his part to fuel the comeback, too, scoring 10 straight points during a key fourth-quarter stretch on the way to 20 points and nine rebounds.

Pau Gasol added 24 points and 11 rebounds for the Lakers, who looked uncharacteristically out of sync for much of the game before turning it on when it mattered for their 12th consecutive win over the Warriors and sixth straight in Oakland.

Golden State’s Monta Ellis scored 38 for his 10th 30-point game of the season after missing the two previous days of practice with the flu. But the Warriors couldn’t hold an early 14-point lead against the defending NBA champions.

Andrew Bynum had 11 points and 14 rebounds for the Lakers, who played through loud chants of “Beat L.A.! Beat L.A.!” in the waning moments from the sellout crowd of 19,596 at Oracle Arena. Los Angeles pulled out some defensive stops late after trading baskets with the Warriors for much of the final quarter.

Still, the Lakers received quite a push a night after a 112-57 rout of Cleveland in the franchise’s best defensive performance of the shot clock era— a game in which the Los Angeles starters had to play just more than a half.

“We controlled the game better in the second half,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. “We stopped turning the ball over quite as often and we had a better choice of shots and exploited Pau. Kobe finished up the game for us.”

Bryant shot 13 for 21, made all 11 of his free-throw tries, had six rebounds, four assists and three steals as the Lakers improved to 7-1 in the second game of back-to-backs this season—with only seven more on their schedule, five fewer than they played last season in winning it all.

Dorell Wright added 27 points, seven rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocked shots for the Warriors. They nearly pulled off the upset while kicking off a stretch with 13 of 14 games at Oracle Arena.

“I had to dig deep and gut it out,” said Ellis, already exhausted by halftime. “If I wake up in the morning and God gives me the strength to come out and play, I’m going to do that. This is a big stretch for us at home, a chance to turn it around.”

Ellis clanked in a shot under pressure as the third quarter expired, giving Golden State a 75-69 edge. Bryant, who came in with a 26.6 career scoring average against the Warriors in 53 total games and 44 starts, took charge. His outburst started on a go-ahead 3-pointer with 5:49 left to put the Lakers up 90-89.

“He always has that look. Nine times out of 10 he’s successful,” Artest said. “Actually, it’s like 9.5 times out of 10 he’s successful.”

Ellis often had an answer. He showed no effects of the bug that kept him out of practice the previous two days and required an IV on Monday for dehydration. He has started all 38 games for Golden State and went 15 for 26 with four 3s.

“Just two players trying to get a win. I’ve known for the last three years I’m going to guard him,” Ellis said of the matchup with Bryant. “It was a great test for us. We gave it our all.”

Ellis made six of his first eight field-goal tries to reach 18 points early in the second quarter. He posted his 11th 20-point half of the season, tied with Bryant for most in the league this year.

Artest hit a tying 3-pointer 5:10 before halftime, but the Warriors outscored the Lakers 8-0 the rest of the way for a 53-45 halftime lead. Artest dished out seven assists on the night and had 10 points.

Andris Biedrins, Golden State’s 7-foot center, was held to two points and fouled out in 25 minutes in his fourth game back after missing nine contests with a sprained left ankle. He had taken only four shots in his first three games back, then attempted two Wednesday. Biedrins is eager to get on track after he was limited to only 33 games last season because of injuries.

Golden State hasn’t beaten the Lakers since March 23, 2008.

Notes: New Warriors owner Joe Lacob celebrated his birthday courtside, presented with a cake by one of the Warrior Girls. … The Lakers play the fewest back-to-backs of any NBA team this season and it’s their lowest number of consecutive nights since also having 15 in their first NBA season of 1948-49. … Los Angeles and Golden State meet one more time in the regular season on April 6, with the Lakers looking to sweep the season series for the fifth time in six years. They haven’t dropped the season series with the Warriors since 1994-95 (2-3). … The Lakers are 6-1 this month. … The Warriors are 9-15 vs. the Western Conference. … Golden State sold out for the fourth time this season.

Copyright 2010 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

Phil Jackson:

On the Lakers’ Improved Performance in the Second Half:
“We controlled the game better in the second half. We stopped turning the ball over quite as often and we had a better choice of shots on the inside and exploited Pau (Gasol)…and Kobe (Bryant) finished the game up for us.”

On the Warriors’ Performance in the First Half:
“I don’t like to see us have those kind of runs or give up those kind of runs like we gave up in the first half, but there is something to be learned from that.”

On Monta Ellis:
“I see (Monta Ellis) a lot. I watch this team, I watch him play. Tonight was a special night for him, I think he really stepped his challenge up and he played Kobe pretty well until the end. Did he play 48 minutes or get a rest out there?  It was a long night for him out there on the floor.”

Kobe Bryant:

On the stepping up in the second half:
“You have a responsibility to your team to try and come through in those situations and make the right play. And tonight I did that.”

On Monta Ellis potentially being an All-Star:
“Absolutely, he is a fantastic player. Offensively, he’s complete. He can shoot the ball well, which is something he’s really improved on. He can get to the rim, obviously, and he has a mid-range game as well, so he’s really a complete offensive player.”

Pau Gasol:

On Lamar Odom’s fourth quarter:
“He didn’t get any chances to get going until that point. Finally, he got it going, he was very active on the glass and he was making his free throws. He got himself into a very good rhythm and into the game.”

On the team’s recent form:
“We’re on a six-game winning streak. I think we are still a work in progress of getting better as a team, and especially defensively, which is always a key factor. If you have a solid defense, no matter what goes on at the other end (of the court), you’re giving yourself a chance to win.”

LAKERS VS. WARRIORS GAME PREVIEW

By JEFF MEZYDLO

Even with Monta Ellis in the lineup, Golden State has been unable to beat the Los Angeles Lakers in almost three years. Without its star, pulling off that elusive victory becomes an even bigger challenge against the two-time defending NBA champions.

The Warriors could be without one of the league's top scorers Wednesday night as they try to avoid a 12th straight loss to the visiting Lakers, who are coming off one of the most dominating performances in franchise history.

Averaging a team-leading 25.2 points, Ellis is a game-time decision for this contest as he recovers from flulike symptoms. The Golden State star has not missed a game in 2010-11 after sitting out 73 of 162 games over the previous two seasons.

"I think once the game starts with the preparation mentally, he'll be ready to play," Warriors coach Keith Smart said. "It's still going to come down with how much strength he has. We need him to be ready to play at a high level every night for us, but especially these kinds of games like this, he needs to be up and ready."

Though Ellis was held to a season-low five points on 2-of-10 shooting in a 117-89 loss at Los Angeles on Nov. 21, and 13 while going 4-of-19 from the field in Sunday's 105-91 loss to the Clippers, the Warriors (15-22) need to be at full strength while trying to beat the Lakers for the first time since March 23, 2008.

Golden State begins a stretch of 13 of 14 home games by trying for a fourth consecutive victory at Oracle Arena.

The Lakers (28-11), however, have averaged 124.0 points on 49.8 percent shooting while winning five straight at Golden State dating to a 108-106 loss on Dec. 14, 2007.

Golden State averages 101.7 points, but has been held to 86.0 per contest on 37.8 percent shooting in two games against the Lakers this season - both in Los Angeles.

The Lakers flexed their defensive muscle in Tuesday's 112-57 rout of Cleveland for their best defensive performance during the shot clock era. The Cavaliers' point total was a record low by a Lakers' opponent.

"We had a defensive goal," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "We wanted to try and limit them to as few points as possible."

The Lakers held the lowly Cavaliers to 29.9 percent shooting, including 1-for-14 from 3-point range, while posting the third-largest margin of victory since moving to Los Angeles.

"You don't ever imagine something like that," Kobe Bryant said. "You just go out there and do your job and we did it for 48 minutes."

Opponents have shot 40.3 percent and averaged 83.8 points during Los Angeles' current five-game winning streak.

Bryant scored 13 points in 24 minutes and Pau Gasol added 13 with 14 rebounds for the Lakers on Tuesday.

Bryant has averaged 30.2 points in his last 20 games against the Warriors. Gasol, meanwhile, averaged 27.0 points and 11.0 boards in the previous two meetings with Golden State.

Golden State's Dorell Wright scored 27 points against the Clippers, and is averaging 23.0 on 52.3 percent shooting his last eight games.

Copyright 2010 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