Gameday: Sixers 95, Lakers 90

POSTGAME QUOTESJohn Kuester: John, things looked they were going well until that 14 to two run in the fourth quarter. What changed?

I will tell you this. Lou Williams is awfully good, and you have to give him credit. I thought for 45 minutes we played outstanding basketball. We had a couple of untimely turnovers and fouls. You have to give the 76ers a lot of credit. They have been playing some outstanding basketball, and the thing that we have to do is just work hard for the full 48.

You talked about Lou Williams – and that is the “14” in the 14 to 2 run – but what about the 2? Why did the offense break down?

I will tell you. We had some looks early on, and all of a sudden, we got into a mode where we took some rushed shots and they all of a sudden got some contested shots. We had been doing a great job on the offensive boards and getting the ball inside, and unfortunately, we didn’t get that at the end.

Kobe [Bryant] had 24 in the first half and four in the second half. They obviously adjusted. What were they doing?

They just came after him immediately, and to Kobe’s credit, what he did was to try to get everyone involved. We had some great hits. Matt Barnes hit a wide open three that was right there because of ball movement. When you are coming down to the end of the game, your margin of error is very small, and you have to take advantage of that. Things just didn’t go our way.

Metta World PeaceOn bench play tonight:

It is pretty basic. I don’t think we need to change much. We have the guys to finish the games. Right now there is not a lot of consistency, so once we start playing with a little more consistency, the play in the last quarter, we will win more consistently. We just have to stick with it.

Kobe had that great first half and scored 24 points. When they decided in the second half they were just going to double- and triple-team him, what was your plan?

He did great. He passed the ball out of double teams. We knocked in a three Troy [Murphy] hit a three. We just couldn’t get stops.

Andrew Bynum:You guys looked like you had a good chance to win that game, and then they went on a 14 to two run. What changed?

Lou Williams’ great shot changed the course of the game. When he hit that three on the screen and roll, I thought I had good contest, but I guess he got it over.

In the first half, Kobe was unbelievable, and in the second half, they doubled and tripled him. He did a great job of getting the ball to you. Down the stretch, you guys had trouble scoring. Why do you think?

It was tough. I was trying to get offensive rebounds and extra possessions. They were doubling me and tripling me, and we were swinging the ball, and things just didn’t happen.

Doug Collins:Opening statements:

That was an amazing win for us. I didn’t know how we were going to battle through their size. We were trying to get our bodies on these guys, but they’re just so big. I don’t know if I’ve ever won a game where I got outrebounded by 25. I don’t think we’ve ever done that, but I told our guys…they just keep coming. They just keep coming. They just keep playing.

Lou [Williams] got hot at the right time for us. One thing I just kept preaching to our guys over and over in the first half is, I mean, Kobe [Bryant] was incredible in that first half. They had five threes, he had four of them. Three of them were off-the-charts tough, and I said, “We’re not going to overreact to that.” The more we can keep them out shooting jump shots, we can keep that paint somewhat even, which we did in the first half.

Defensively against Kobe in the second half, I know you tried to throw out some tries, but it just seemed like he had nothing to go through. Was he looking to do something else?

I told our guys at halftime, I said, “I’ve been around Kobe a long time, and I thought he put a real stamp on the first half offensively.

You looked at halftime at the scoring with their bigs. I told our guys, “What’s going to happen is Kobe now is going to get those big guys involved, and he’s going to get them down that paint, and then he’ll go to work the last eight minutes if need be.

Spencer Hawes: Kobe got it going early, but it seemed like in the second half he scored four points, and you guys shut him down a little bit. Is there anything in particular that the team did defensively on him?

He got it going early, but we were never out of the game. He would hit a three, and we’d be down three, he’d hit another three and we’d be down six, but coach told us to stay the course. We knew eventually, as hard as he works and as good a player he is, it’s hard for anyone to keep up that type of scoring pace.

What was it like going up against [Andrew] Bynum and [Pau] Gasol?

It’s always a tough match up, especially when they make that concerted effort to go to them pretty much every time down the court. That’s what makes them a special team having that much size and skill down low.

Lakers-Sixers Preview

By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTO

It may be somewhat surprising the Los Angeles Lakers aren't in first place. It's much more stunning the Philadelphia 76ers are.

Kobe Bryant would like to change the Lakers' status soon, but improvement on the road is needed.

Bryant gets a chance to climb the NBA's all-time scoring list while trying to help the Lakers bounce back from another road defeat as they face the 76ers on Monday night.

Los Angeles (14-10) has won the Pacific Division four consecutive seasons, winning two NBA titles and making a third finals appearance in that span. Things aren't going as smoothly in 2011-12, as the Lakers are second in the division, 1 1/2 games back of the Los Angeles Clippers.

Their 3-8 road record is one of the reasons for that gap, and those struggles continued with a 96-87 loss at Utah on Saturday. Los Angeles has split the first two of this season-high six-game road trip.

"We just have to be patient, just be calm. We've been in this situation before," Bryant said after scoring 26 points against the Jazz.

Bryant leads the NBA with 29.4 points per game, an increase of 4.1 points from last season. The All-Star guard is also 24 points shy of passing former Lakers teammate Shaquille O'Neal (28,596) for fifth on the league's all-time scoring list, and he's averaged 25.0 points in helping the Lakers win nine of the last 11 versus the 76ers (17-7).

Bryant, though, scored just nine in his last visit to Philadelphia on Dec. 17, 2010, but Los Angeles overcame that to win 93-81. He was much better at home Dec. 31, 2010, scoring 33 points to power a 102-98 win and sweep of the season series.

The Sixers, however, might be the most improved team in the NBA this season. They're the surprising leaders in the Atlantic Division after finishing .500 last season and being eliminated in five games by Miami in the opening round of the playoffs.

Philadelphia also leads the Eastern Conference with a 12-3 home record despite a 99-79 defeat there to the Heat on Friday. The 76ers regrouped a day later by winning 98-87 at Atlanta, getting their fifth victory in six overall games.

They're also proving to be very balanced offensively, and that was clear against the Hawks. Six players - five reserves - reached double-digit points with rookie backup forward-center Nikola Vucevic leading the way with a season-high 15. He averages 5.5 points.

"That's what you've got to have," center Spencer Hawes said. "That's the measure of teams that are able to thrive in this kind of setup."

Philadelphia may need Vucevic and the rest of the bench to continue contributing, as Elton Brand's status is unknown after he sat out Saturday's win with a sprained right thumb. The forward is averaging 10.1 points and 6.7 rebounds.

Hawes believes the compressed schedule due to the lockout is one reason the Sixers are getting balanced scoring. Six players are averaging at least 10.0 points, with Louis Williams leading the way at 15.1 points per game.

"This season is going to be weird like that." said Hawes, who is averaging 10.7 points and 8.5 boards. "There's going to be different guys every night."