Laker News

Anthony's jumper with 3.8 seconds left in overtime gave the Denver Nuggets a 110-108 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night. It was the eighth time this season he's made a big shot in the waning seconds.

"I told the guys that the team is going to double- and triple-team Kobe at the end. So he's not going to get the ball," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "Somebody else is going to have to step and make shots."

Bryant, whose four-point play sent the game into overtime at 99, walked off the Pepsi Center court dejected, shrugging his shoulders in frustration at not getting the ball and the chance to match or upstage Anthony.

"That's a good, astute observation. I wanted the shot," Bryant said. "I always want the ball in my hands. They had me covered. I wish I could have gotten a better screen on the play. But Luke had a good look in the corner."

Walton agreed.

"I had a good look," he said. "The ball felt real good on the release. It just caught the back of the rim and went over."

Read the entire story.

Winners of two in a row, and 6 out of their last 7 games, the Lakers are now 5 games over 500 for the first time this season. They are almost assured of a playoff spot, probably the 7 seed. But to advance in the playoffs they need to be playing their best basketball.

With a record of 40 - 35, they now have 7 games to go. Only 2 of those games are on the road, but 5 of the seven are against teams with winning records and 2 games are against the Phoenix Suns.

45 wins would be a nice accomplishment, but they are going to have to continue to play over thier heads, or up to their potential depending on how you want to look at it, to reach that goal. A win on the road tonight against the Denver Nuggets would be a good start.

How many wins do you think the Lakers will finsih with? Go vote in our latest poll!

JamFan

"I never in my wildest dreams dreamed of being in such great company like Elgin and the other greats that have been here," Bryant said. "I've learned from a lot of greats, too, so I can't take credit for it."

His Lakers' teammates nevertheless give him credit for his 40-point sprees.

"That is crazy to think about, especially when you know every night that the other team's defense is focused on him," said the Lakers' Luke Walton, who had 10 points and six rebounds against the Rockets.

The Lakers' Lamar Odom said, "Today he could easily have gone for 50."

Read the entire article.

It wasn't easy — it rarely is — but the Lakers tucked away the Seattle SuperSonics, 106-93, Friday at KeyArena, sprung by a portion of the game that usually sinks them.

The 12 minutes after halftime have been the end of many Laker games, but the Lakers outscored the Sonics this time, 29-17, turning a four-point deficit into an 81-73 lead.

With it, the Lakers remained 1 1/2 games ahead of eighth-place Sacramento with eight games left in their regular season, six at Staples Center.

Kobe Bryant had 43 points, Kwame Brown had 12 points and 13 rebounds, and the Lakers avoided losing to the team with the second-worst record in the Western Conference.

Bryant edged closer to a one-game suspension by picking up his 14th technical foul of the season on a charging call with 5:26 left in the second quarter. Bryant, who put the ball into the chest of referee Greg Willard a little too hard for Willard's liking, will be automatically suspended by the league if he picks up a 16th technical foul. A warning letter was already sent to the team after Bryant's 12th technical foul and he has accrued $20,500 in automatic fines for his technical fouls this season.

Bryant was suspended for two games earlier in the season after elbowing Memphis guard Mike Miller in the chin. He is hoping the league will rescind Friday's technical.

"They have to," he said. "That's ridiculous."

Coach Phil Jackson was less optimistic.

"I don't think they're in a rescinding mood," he said.

Read the entire story.

"I was a little nervous when I started running a little bit at the beginning of warmups and before we started playing," Brown said. "But Alex is the man. We did a lot of work before the game, I got up a real good sweat and it felt pretty good. It was just one of those nights where I got it close to the paint and just went up strong."

Brown was a season-best 7-for-7 from the field, Kobe Bryant scored 30 points and Lamar Odom added 23 points as Los Angeles equaled its longest winning streak of the season. The Lakers are seventh in the Western Conference playoff race, two games ahead of Sacramento and four ahead of the ninth-place Hornets, whose 11th defeat in 12 games clinched a playoff berth for the Pacific Division-leading Phoenix Suns.

Read the entire story.

"It feels good to be able to get back to the free throw line and have confidence that when I attack the basket, the other team isn't just going to have liberty to hit me and get away with it," Bryant said. "I'll be able to get to the free throw line and get some easy points for our team.

"It makes our lives a lot easier when you get to the free throw line and not have to go through our sets and execute our offense all the time."

Five of Bryant's first six baskets were 3-pointers, helping the Lakers open up 13-point lead after one quarter. The NBA's leading scorer was only 5-for-23 from behind the arc over the previous five games, and 12-for-49 during an eight-game stretch.

Read the entire story.

He heard only cheers Wednesday night.

"Yeah, best all-around game, defense, rebounding and scoring," Brown said when asked to assess his performance. "I've just got to keep being solid. I know I'm going to be in there. I can make a mistake and recover from it -- just play good, sound basketball."

Kobe Bryant scored six of his 28 points in the last three minutes, Brown had a season-high 21 points and 12 rebounds, and the Lakers beat the Sacramento Kings 87-80 to move into seventh place in the Western Conference.

"He's been doing the defensive part all year long," Bryant said. "Sometimes, the people want more. Tonight he gave them more."

Lamar Odom had 13 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, and Smush Parker scored 10 points for the Lakers (36-34), who never trailed.

Read the entire story.

"The guy told me, 'Paul's going to lock you up,' " Bryant said.

"Paul" would be Celtic forward Paul Pierce, and there was little locking up of Bryant on Monday. He scored 43 points on 18-for-39 shooting in the Lakers' 105-97 victory over the Celtics at TD Banknorth Garden.

The moral of the story is to not irk Bryant, particularly when he's on his way to see "V for Vendetta."

After a slow start, he was good enough to pull the Lakers a half-game ahead of Sacramento for seventh in the Western Conference, although the Bryant shot-count debate was partially re-ignited, and even though "V" also stood for victory.

He took more shots in only two other games this season — 46 in his 81-point effort against Toronto and 41 in early January against the Clippers.

"Kobe fought his way through it," Laker Coach Phil Jackson said. "It was one of those games where I think the numbers of shots he took was too high, but he thought he was going to get fouled and he took the shots because he felt the pressure on him."

Read the entire story.

"If we don't start winning these games, we're going to find ourselves out of the playoffs again," he said.

The Lakers haven't done that in consecutive seasons since 1975 and 1976, but there they were Friday, faltering in another late-game situation, not long after being outscored in another third quarter, 26-16.

It's a fly-by-night outfit right now, with Chris Mihm and Devean George out because of injuries, a patchwork team best symbolized by the belt Walton slipped through his jeans after the game.

It was actually the power cord from a DVD player. He forgot to bring his belt.

Read the entire story.

Bryant scored 25 points, including a pair of layups in heavy traffic during the final 35 seconds, leading the Lakers to a 92-89 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night. Odom had 20 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists.

"It's great to have a 1-2 punch," said Bryant, who has been unable to return the Lakers to championship form since Shaquille O'Neal left. "When Lamar's clicking like that, it makes my life a lot easier on nights like tonight. I needed guys to pick me up, and Lamar stepped up and did that and carried the load. Then at the end of the game I was able to come through."

Read the entire story.