I suppose a 22-0 run in the fourth quarter pretty much explains the Lakers’ fourth win in as many games by itself, right?
Right. But the Lakers also happened to go to the free-throw line 22 times in the fourth quarter alone, which shouldn’t be considered a coincidence, because getting to the foul line that many times in one quarter is almost unheard of. As a point of fact, L.A. had gotten to the line an average of 22.33 times per game in its first three wins. Point being, it’s not so much the 17 makes, but the principle that if you’re on the line that much, you’re flying up and down in transition and getting to the rim at will.
There are other nuggets - like a terrific team-boosting performance from Lamar Odom off the bench or a career-high tying 17 boards from Andrew Bynum - that help tell Wednesday evening’s story, but a super-frenetic defensive stretch* kept the Clippers from scoring from the 8:15 mark to the 1:04 mark of the fourth. Ouch!
*Plus, to be fair, some inexcusable misses by the red jerseys…
Here are a few highlights from that run:
Farmar notched a steal, two free throws and a layup in under a minute before being subbed out by Derek Fisher, who promptly canned a 25-foot three-pointer to put the Lakers up 10 after they’d trailed by one less than two minutes earlier.
After doing some damage in the first minute of the run, Odom was subbed out by Gasol, but returned at the 4:37 mark for Bynum. LO immediately stole a pass, tipped in Bryant’s missed layup, and canned a triple to make it 98-81 Lakers.
The Clippers scored zero points for more than seven minutes.
The Los Angeles team not named the Lakers that plays in the NBA could not score for Lamar Odom’s jersey number in minutes plus nine seconds.
OK, I think you’re on point with that sequence. But for the quarter as a whole, the Lakers scored 14 more points, grabbed seven more rebounds, went to the free-throw line 22 times to three for the Clippers, stole the ball five times and blocked two shots. That just about did it.
Finally, a few whole-game stats:
L.A. again dominated the glass, 54-44.
The Lakers scored 32 second-chance points to just 13 for the Clippers. While the Clips did have 12 offensive boards to 15 for the Lakers, that scoring discrepancy can be credited in part to Andrew Bynum (four blocks) and Pau Gasol.
Vladimir Radmanovic dropped three triples in 24 minutes, while Derek Fisher again hit three threes of his own in 30 minutes.
Five of Bynum’s 17 boards came on the offensive glass.
Lamar Odom finished with 15 points, nine boards, three steals and two swats in 29 minutes, serving as the definition of “all over the court.”
Al Thornton led the Clips with 22 points, while Chris Kaman notched 11 boards and made at least three Lakers furious with his physical play.
The Clippers didn’t score for over seven minutes in the fourth quarter - in case you missed that point before.
Make sure to check our video player for Trevor Ariza/Lamar Odom/Andrew Bynum/Kobe Bryant.
