While Wednesday evening’s road victory in Philadelphia wasn’t characterized by the tough defense that had largely carried the Lakers to a 14-1 record prior to Tuesday’s loss in Indiana, most important was that the Lakers didn’t allow Philly back into the game in a fourth quarter they entered with a 16-point lead.
That was particularly important, of course, because the Lakers blew a 15-point lead in the fourth quarter the night before to the Pacers.
“We stopped their runs, which was important,” said Phil Jackson. “I’m still not happy with our defense and our turnovers were quite obvious in the fourth quarter … but we shot the ball well. We are what we are tonight - a good offensive team.”
Right. Leading the scoring charge was Kobe Bryant, whose 32 points came of an efficient 12-of-20 from the field (60 percent) and 7-of-7 from the foul stripe (you do the math). Thanks primarily to Pau Gasol, who grabbed 10 of his 13 boards in the second half, L.A. edged Philly 41-37 on the glass. Gasol added 22 points, Andrew Bynum 18 and Vladi Radmanovic’s 11 were important to keep a sluggish Lakers’ squad in the game early.
Among Jackson’s postgame comments was a questioning of Bynum’s rebounding on the evening, as ‘Drew cleaned the glass only three times in 29:54 of action. When told that Jackson wasn’t happy with his board work (or lack there of), the 21-year-old explained that he could have grabbed more boards had he played in the final six minutes of the game, when he was on the bench in favor of Odom and Gasol. While we’ll surely see his “I might have gotten some in the last six minutes” quote in the papers tomorrow … Clearly there are a few people eager to get Jackson and Bynum going back-and-forth, so look forward to that storyline tomorrow. I think it’s funny.
AND your numbers:
114
The most points scored against Philadelphia this season.
81.5
Free throw percentage for the Lakers, up from the 73.3 percent Tuesday in Indiana.
58.1
Final shooting percentage, a season-high, for the Lakers (43-of-74). L.A. made 6-of-13 threes, three of which came in the first quarter from Vladi.
17
Second-chance points from Philly, to only eight from the Lakers. L.A. didn’t collect many offensive boards (nine) in part because it didn’t miss many shots.
15
Fourth quarter points from young 76er Louis Williams, including three triples.
13
Game-high boards by Gasol, 10 of which came in the fourth quarter. I realize I already mentioned this in the body, but don’t worry about it.
3
Points scored by Philly’s big acquisition Elton Brand on 1-of-7 shooting. Brand, who didn’t play in the fourth quarter, managed five rebounds and three assists in 25:29 of playing time. After the game, Sixers coach Maurice Cheeks said Brand was having problems with his hamstring.
