Lakers.com BasketBlog

The Lakers looked little like the defending champs that began this season with the league’s best record in a 102-87 blowout loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday at STAPLES Center, putting a bit of a damper on L.A.’s Christmas.

The home team seemed somewhat surprised Cleveland’s effort in the early goings, falling behind by as many as 20 in the first half as the toll of playing some of the league’s weaker teams during the past two weeks took its toll.

A late second quarter run chopped the Cavs’ lead down to nine heading into halftime, but it was to no avail as the Lakers strangely failed to develop any kind of rhythm at either end of the floor.

“They played harder than we did,” summarized Kobe Bryant. “It’s as simple as that.”

Of course, that didn’t mean it was boring … you had Kobe, LeBron, Shaq, Santa, a bevy of technical fouls and more. As such, we called upon the alphabet to help us break down the matchup:

A - Attack: It was Cleveland who took the action to L.A. throughout the afternoon, attacking the basket on offense and swarming any Lakers player attempting to reach the rim on defense (see above Kobe quote).

B - Buckets Getting buckets has never been a problem for Bryant or LeBron James, who came into the league second (29.3) and third (28.8) in scoring, respectively. Today, Kobe led all scorers with 35*, but needed 32 attempts (making 11) to get there. LeBron settled for 26 points on 9-of-19 shooting.
In the process, he snuck up on Oscar Robertson’s 377 Christmas points with 304 all-time, good for 2nd.

C - Christmas Effect: You’re just as likely to see the Lakers on Christmas as Santa, Rudolph and candy canes, with this the 11th straight appearance for L.A. While several Lakers said it was great to be able to spend the holiday with their families, that also provides an (if positive) off-court distraction that a visiting team likely doesn’t have at the team hotel. After the game, however, assistant coach Brian Shaw rejected that excuse.

D - Dunks: The jams came early and often in this one, with Shaquille O’Neal starting the trend by hammering home three thunder dunks in the first quarter (how does the basket stay up, by the way?). Slams continued throughout the evening, including skywalks from Kobe, LeBron, Pau Gasol and Jamario Moon, who hammered home two particularly nasty alley-oops.

E - Entertainers: L.A. often runs a segment called “Hollywood Night’s” on the jumbotron, when Hollywood celebs are shown during the Bob Segar song. Checklist tonight: Adam Levine, Alex Trebek, George Lopez, Sly Stallone. No Jack, however, which may have been the problem*.
That was definitely the problem.

F - Free Throws: Two of the NBA’s best free throwers coming into the game were Pau Gasol (5th in NBA at .889) and Mo Williams (6th at .884). While Gasol missed 1-of-2 early, Ron Artest and Andrew Bynum combined to miss five at inopportune times while Williams made 9-of-10. LeBron missed five free throws himself in Cleveland’s 19-for-30 (63.3 percent), while L.A. went 20-for-27 (74.1).

G - Grandchildren: What’s Phil Jackson’s favorite part about Christmas? Watching his grandkids enjoy the day, as he revealed in his pregame presser. Jackson, always looking for teaching points, allowed his team to play through their first half struggles without a time out.

H - Halftime Deficits: Last year in Cleveland, the Cavs opened a 10-point halftime lead after a hot-shooting first half before L.A. rallied to win 101-91 thanks to a terrific second half. Today, the HT deficit was nine, but no such second half rally occurred.

I - Ice The one Laker without ice on his hand, Ron Artest, was the first to awake from the team’s collective first half slumber, leading the late second quarter charge that got L.A. back into the game. He finished the game with 13 points and six rebounds, and did a fine job holding James to 26 points on 19 shots, plus seven turnovers.

J - Jumpers: Unfortunately for L.A., “jumpers” was a good way to describe most of the team’s field goal attempts. They managed just 38 points in the paint.

K - Kobe: Though his numbers were as impressive as always - 35 points, nine rebounds, eight assists - they masked Bryant’s struggles. He made just 11-of-32 shots, often growing frustrated after not getting calls through traffic in the paint, and played nearly the whole game (45 minutes).

L - LOST: ABC’s hit show is set to return for its final season in February, but on this day, the word applied to L.A.’s bench. The pine unit combined for just two points on 1-of-9 shooting in limited action through three quarters. Shannon Brown and Lamar Odom scored the first five points of the fourth and Sasha Vujacic hit two jumpers in the final seconds, but L.A.’s second unit was still outscored 31-17.

M - Momentum: NBA games are always marked by big runs, of which there were several on this (holi)day. It was all Cleveland early, with three separate runs, though L.A. closed the half in strong fashion. The Lakers opened the third with a 6-0 run to cut the Cavs’ lead to six, though Cleveland answered with a 9-0 run of its own to regain control of the game.

N - No call? Repeated forays into the paint proved unproductive for Bryant in particular in this one. “We attacked the rim, just didn’t get the benefit of the doubt today … it goes that way sometimes.” L.A. was whistled for only three fouls in the first half, but seemed to get frustrated in receiving 18 personal fouls in the second half.

O - Ornate: Jordan Farmar’s Adidas shoes, all red and greened out for the holiday.

P - Personal Foul: A phrase Kobe was hoping to hear after repeated forays into the lane, but it just wasn’t happening. L.A.’s frustration boiled over to the point of three technical fouls (one on Fisher, two on Odom), and 18 personal fouls in the second half.

Q - Quotes: Look for a pattern here.
Kobe: “It’s a good wake-up call for us.”
Pau: “We didn’t come out right and weren’t ready to play.”
Odom: “We just didn’t compete as hard as they did … We are a lot tougher than that, mentally and physically.”

R - Rest Or lack there of, in L.A.’s case. The team has 22 sets of back-to-back action this season (its most since 1999-2000), including this one (L.A. flies to Sacramento for a Saturday game. With the loss, the Lakers are now 6-1 on the front end, and 4-2 in the second.

S - Situation: MTV’s new hit show “Jersey Shore,” the king of unintentional comedy, boasts “The Situation”, which refers to a cast member named Mike’s abdominal region (and him in general). Admittedly, there’s no reason to mention him in this context.

T - Three-pointers: Cleveland came into the contest with the two best three-point shooters in the league, including Anthony Parker (.505) and Daniel Gibson (.494), not to mention 13th ranked Mo Williams (.439), while the Lakers have not a player in the top 40. It was Williams who made 3-of-3 to pace Cleveland’s 7-of-18 (38.9 percent), while five different Lakers made one three in a 5-of-18 (27.8 percent) effort.

U - Unusual: The performance of Pau Gasol, who managed only 11 points on 4-of-11 shooting, six rebounds and a lone assist in nearly 39 minutes. Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum didn’t contribute much either, combining for 10 points and 11 rebounds.

V - Votes: What Kobe and LeBron get for the All-Star game. Bryant leads all players thus far with 1,380,383, and LeBron’s next with 1,351,292.

W - WWF: Ron Artest and LeBron may as well have been Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior (Artest’s favorite grappler) for the way they were wrestling particularly when James was trying to get open.

X: Can we just go with the Roman numeral for 10 with the X? Please? There’s just no good X word for basketball. Is there? At least X was on the hat given to Phil Jackson by his kids after his 10th coaching championship.

Y - Yikes That’s one way to describe L.A.’s shooting woes. Whether in the paint or on the perimeter, the Lakers couldn’t buy a bucket, as Christmas Elves (or reindeer) appeared to be lying across L.A.’s rim throughout the afternoon. The Lakers opened the game shooting 10-of-30 (33.3 percent), and finished with only 31 makes in 85 attempts (36.5 percent). Cleveland had no such problem, making 54.3 percent for the game.

Z - Zydrunas: Cleveland’s seven-foot center, Ilgauskas, had been forced to the Cavs’ bench with the addition of Shaq, finding different ways to contribute (like three overtime threes vs. Sacramento on Wednesday). In this one, Z was key for the Cavs, earning the starting nod in the second half after he better matched up with Gasol than starter J.J. Hickson. He finished with nine rebounds, two assists but just two points on 1-of-6 shooting, and helped limit to Gasol.

Utah should have known better.

Surely they’re aware how the Lakers feel about the color green, particularly the kelly shade, right?

Nonetheless, the Jazz showed up at STAPLES Center on Wednesday evening wearing throwbacks from the 1979-80 season that may as well have been picked out of an Irish meadow.

And despite playing the typically tough brand of basketball promoted by 21-year head coach Jerry Sloan to take a four-point lead into the half and an eight-point lead into a mid-third-quarter time out, the Jazz were absolutely muted by an attacking purple and gold defense that ceded just six fourth quarter points to Utah in a 101-77 victory.

Repeat: six fourth quarter points.

“They came out and just destroyed us,” said Sloan. “We were hanging in the ball game but that just shows you what a great team they have.”

Those six points came on 2-of-18 shooting plus two free throws, good for the lowest total L.A.’s allowed since Dec. 14, 1999, when the Clippers scored three points in the second quarter. Meanwhile, L.A. put up a hefty 28, which combined with an 18-8 close to the third quarter turned that eight-point deficit into a 24-point win.

“That was an amazing quarter,” said Phil Jackson. “We were able to apply some pressure … subsequently got tougher shots, 24-second violations, turnovers and things happened for us. I think once that happened, it just became like an avalanche.”

Indeed, there was no jazz played by the Lakers in the second half. It sounded more like Metallica’s “Enter Sandman,” or perhaps “Welcome to the Jungle” by Guns and Roses.

“They are a great team to start with but they are also one of the great defensive teams,” Sloan continued. “That is what has made them so good.”

In the process of another double-digit victory, L.A.’s ninth in 10 games, the leprechaun-clad Jazz became the 10th straight victim of the Lakers, sporting traditional purple and gold.

Things were starting to look a bit sketchy for the Lakers in that third quarter, but one got the sense that they were waiting to step on the gas pedal, which Kobe Bryant certainly did with 13 points in the period. Bryant then set up Jordan Farmar’s quarter-ending three to give the Lakers a lead they’d not relinquish.

But while the score remained close, the tide had completely turned in L.A.’s favor, and the group of Farmar/Sasha Vujacic/Ron Artest/Lamar Odom/Andrew Bynum locked down the paint and flew around the perimeter defensively. Meanwhile, Farmar scored eight points, Vujacic nailed his only three-point attempt, Artest put back two misses after clearing rebounds, Odom grabbed four boards and Bynum had three boards plus three free throws. Then Bryant and Pau Gasol checked back in to bury the Jazz even further before Shannon Brown and Josh Powell joined the fray to close out the contest.

In short, L.A. got a little something from everybody.

When the final whistle blew, the Lakers had caused nine fourth quarter turnovers - including two 24-second violations - while committing not a single turnover themselves.

“Defensive energy,” said Bynum in summation. “Defensive intensity. Everybody was on the rope out there. They weren’t getting those bounce passes through and they were kind of searching for a way to score.”

“We really locked it in defensively and everybody was playing together on both ends of the floor,” Farmar agreed.

The play of the quarter came with 4:52 remaining: Farmar picked off a C.J. Miles pass and quickly outletted the ball on the left side of the court near the baseline to Odom, who promptly bounced the ball through his legs to a trailing Artest. Ron Ron, in one motion, swung the ball to the opposite side of the rim to Farmar, who had caught up before rising to lay the ball through the hoop with two hands.

Pretty, pretty stuff, and certainly indicative of L.A.’s masterful final period.

In short, the Jazz may as well have changed their name to “Celtics” on this night, because to the Lakers, seeing green was seeing red.

L.A. has a chance to make it 11 straight wins when Kurt Rambis and the Minnesota Timberwolves come to town on Friday night. Until then, your numbers:

POSTGAME NUMBERS
2 Field goals made by the Jazz in the fourth quarter, as they finished a putrid 2-of-18 (11.1 percent) with the Lakers swarming.

4 Games Ron Artest had gone without missing a free throw until finally missing his final attempt in this one. Though starting the season poorly from the charity stripe, Artest has now made 12-of-his-last-13.

6 Fourth quarter points by the Jazz, the fewest L.A. has allowed since the Clippers managed just three points in the second quarter of a Dec. 14, 1999 contest.

9 Final quarter Jazz turnovers forced by the Lakers, who committed zero themselves.

11 Offensive rebounds conceded by the Lakers in the first half, helping the Jazz hold a 52-48 lead at the half. While the Lakers lead the league in rebounding, they’re nearly at the bottom in offensive rebounds allowed.

13 Third quarter points for Kobe Bryant, en route to a game-high 27 on the night.
- Also the number of consecutive Jazz losses in STAPLES Center.

52 Points in the paint for L.A., to 36 for Utah.

Kobe Bryant banked in a running 27-foot three-pointer at the buzzer to beat Miami 108-107.

Let’s keep the lead short and sweet for this one.

After all, Friday night at STAPLES Center produced quite a game (and we’ll get to all that), but the image that will surely last far longer than this night will be Bryant’s body - hounded by Dwyane Wade - twisting to his left, right hand extended high in the air, the ball on its way to the basket with under a second on the clock.

“No way,” said Bryant from his locker, shaking his head in reflection. “It felt good … (but) I didn’t think I would make that shot.”

Of course, everybody else did, despite its extreme level of difficulty.

“That’s Black Mamba,” said Artest. “I knew he was gonna make it.”

L.A. had been down two with just 3.2 seconds left in the fourth quarter thanks to an almost-as-clutch three-pointer from Derek Fisher (anyone surprised?), who dropped a right-wing triple from nearly the same spot as his dagger over Jameer Nelson in the Finals to trim a four-point Miami lead with 4.3 seconds remaining to just one. Then Dwyane Wade missed the front end of two free throws (his sixth miss in 18 attempts), opening the door for Bryant.

“He was supposed to get the ball, I know that,” said Phil Jackson. “What do you want me to say about it? It’s Kobe.”

Fair point. Bryant admitted that he was actually planning on attacking the rim and going for the tie, but he stumbled upon receiving the pass, limiting his time and forcing him to rush the shot, one that wouldn’t have been available without Fisher.

“Had I hit a couple more (shots) earlier in the game (we) wouldn’t have been in that situation,” said Fisher, who was 4-for-10 on the game and 0-for-3 from three until his final shot. “But it’s L.A., and why not have it as dramatic as it was? It was just a great regular season game.”

In the process, the Lakers not only improved their league-best record to 15-3, but won their eighth straight games to get there, a number they didn’t hit once throughout their 65-win 2008-09 campaign. They’d put together three separate seven-game streaks, but never eight.

In this one, the Heat were piqued to play from the opening whistle after a tough loss in Denver last night, while L.A. seemed a bit sluggish after two game-less days. Still, the Lakers managed a 51-48 halftime edge, before turning up the tempo in the third to lead by as many as eight before a late 9-0 Miami run led to a 76-all tie at quarter’s close. It was largely uncharted territory of late for L.A., who’d won their previous seven games by an average of 17 points and never been close going into the final quarter.

But before he nailed the game winner, Bryant was nailing from everywhere else in the fourth, making 6-of-12 shots and 3-of-4 free throws for 17 of his 33 points, including a a tough and-1 jumper courtesy of a nasty ball fake, a deep triple and even a running left-handed hook shot that put L.A. up 91-82 for its biggest lead of the night.

Yet Miami scored 7-of-the-next-8 points to get within three just as Lamar Odom took exception to Jermaine O’Neal’s extra hanging on the rim after a dunk*, resulting in a quick shoving match that produced Odom’s second technical and sent him to the showers early. To make it just a bit more complicated, Odom had a minute earlier caught Gasol under the eye on a rebound attempt to send the Spaniard to the bench, but Gasol was able to return upon Odom’s ejection with 5:07 remaining.
*Phil Jackson defended Odom for both technicals after the game, suggesting he may not have deserved either.

Fast forward to the 2:06 mark, when Bryant went hard into the rim and banked in a leaner despite heavy contact from O’Neal, resulting in an and-1 free throw that put L.A. up 98-96. Assorted free throws and consecutive Wade hoops near the rim then put the Heat up four as the seesaw tilted, leading to Fisher, and then Bryant’s heroics.

“We did what we were supposed to do,” said Wade. “Fisher hit an unbelievable three. Kobe hit that shot … It’s the game of basketball.”

L.A. has a chance to run its winning streak to nine when Phoenix comes to town on Sunday. Until then, your numbers:

POSTGAME NUMBERS
1 First half turnovers for the Lakers, which helped make up for Miami’s 10 offensive rebounds. L.A. finished the game with eight TO’s, to 13 for the Heat in a well-played game.

4 Offensive boards grabbed by Andrew Bynum, Pau Gasol and Ron Artest, as L.A. notched 18 as a team.

8 Game winning streak for the Lakers, surpassing their high of seven last season (three times).

10.8 Average Lakers lead entering the fourth quarter this season heading into Friday’s game. Last season, the Lakers entered the fourth quarter with a 6.4-point lead on average.

14 L.A.’s edge in paint points, helping make up for a 47-43 rebound advantage boasted by the Heat.

17 Fourth quarter points for Kobe Bryant, composed of two three-pointers, three free throws and four field goals. He finished with a game-high 33.

39 Combined points from Bynum (19) and Gasol (22), who gave Miami trouble in the paint throughout the game. The two seven-footers also respectively grabbed eight rebounds and blocked a shot.

Poor New Jersey.

Losing their first 16 game wasn’t fun, and seeing their head coach get fired on Sunday morning must not have inspired a lot of smiles either.

But facing a Lakers’ team that had beaten five straight opponents by double digits was just kicking the ol’ dead horse, as L.A.’s dominant 106-87 performance sent the Nets to their NBA-record-tying* 17th-straight loss to open the season.
* The 1988-89 Heat and 1998-99 Clippers both began 0-17.

“They’re the defending champs for a reason,” said Nets guard Chris Douglas-Roberts. “They have an All-Star cast … a lot of guys who are superstars. It’s a challenge.”

To their credit, the purple and gold didn’t take victory as a foregone conclusion, instead bursting through the first quarter gates like a lion into a field of lambs behind Kobe Bryant’s aggressive play. After N.J. managed an 8-5 opening, L.A. reeled off a 22-7 run featuring 13 points from Bryant and some tough team defense to put the game out of reach before it really got started.

“The defense is getting better and better,” said Bryant. “We’re working really, really hard at it. Energy has been consistent.”

It was, and things wouldn’t get closer; in fact, the second half could be summed up in these words, by 710 ESPN’s Andrew Siciliano on Twitter: “Nets hit back to back 3’s…still down 30.”

Bryant led the way with 30 points, eight boards and seven assists in three quarters, while Pau Gasol pitched in 20 points, nine rebounds and seven helpers for good measure. Eleven Lakers scored, including 15 off the bench from Jordan Farmar, while the team shot an impressive 13-for-25 from three (52 percent).

While New Jersey’s record speaks to its lack of talent, it’s not like they’re the only team L.A. has blown out of late. Take a look at the last six Lakers games:

Nov. 17 vs Detroit: Lakers 106, Pistons 93
Nov. 19 vs Chicago: Lakers 108, Bulls 93
Nov. 22 vs OKC: Lakers 101, Thunder 85
Nov. 24 vs NYK: Lakers 100, Knicks 90
Nov. 28 @ G.S.: Lakers 130, Warriors 97
Nov. 29 vs. NJN: Lakers 106, Nets 87

That’s a total of 651-454, an average score of 108.5-90.8.

Different Lakers had different theories regarding their recent dominance.

“We’re starting to play the right way,” said Jordan Farmar. “We have so much depth.”

“Our defense is playing well,” offered Lamar Odom. “We’re not giving up too many offensive rebounds.”

Talent, length, coaching, confidence, depth … take your pick.

Meanwhile, the Nets will try to avoid the distinction of owning the league’s worst start by themselves against Dallas at home on Dec. 2, while the Lakers look to continue their impressive run when New Orleans (minus Chris Paul) comes to L.A. on Tuesday.

Until then, your numbers:

POSTGAME NUMBERS
5 Three-pointers made by Kobe Bryant in eight attempts, for 15 of his 30 total points.

7 Three-pointers Bryant had made heading into the game. In the process, Bryant improved his three-point percentage from 20 percent to nearly 28 percent.

11 Lakers players who scored at least one basket.

34 L.A.’s biggest lead of the night. New Jersey led 8-5, then trailed for the rest of the game.

39.1 Ron Artest’s three-point percentage after he connected on 2-of-3 attempts. He’s now made at least two threes in five straight games.

52 All-time wins for the Lakers against the Nets, to just 19 losses.

Control the boards, control the game.

Basketball can sometimes be that simple, and it proved to be the case in L.A.’s 100-90 drubbing of the New York Knickerbockers that saw the Lakers dominate the glass 60-36.

L.A. was Mt. Everest to New York’s Santa Monica “Mountains;” L.A. was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar* to New York’s Danny Devito; L.A. was Shannon Brown’s hops to those of New York’s Spike Lee.
*In “Airplane!”, obviously.

“They took a lot of threes, and we rebounded the ball,” said Ron Artest (New York made 11-of-33 triples).

Not that it was a major surprise … after all, the Lakers came into the game ranked second in the league in rebounding, the Knicks just 25th, in part due to their style of play.

“The up-tempo that they play with helps with more shot attempts,” added Pau Gasol. “They didn’t shoot a high percentage tonight so there were more rebounding opportunities” (N.Y. shot 39.8 percent).

L.A.’s control of the glass at both ends and what Kobe Bryant called “exceptional defense” allowed the Lakers to take a 21-point lead into the fourth quarter, and while New York would take advantage of 16 second half turnovers to cut L.A.’s lead in half late in the final period, the contest was never in question.

“They’re really aggressive on defense, made it hard for us to catch the ball easy,” said Knicks forward Wilson Chandler. “They pushed our offense back a little farther than we usually do so it was harder to get a decent shot.”

When Bryant hit two free throws to close the game while boosting his game-high total to 34, L.A. had sealed its fourth-straight double-digit win.

“We’re playing really well,” said Bryant. “We know what we can do, we know where we’re at, we’ve done it many many times before.”

Back to the glass: likely the league’s longest team (OK, definitely), the Lakers got 16 boards from seven-footer Pau Gasol in 28 minutes, 12 rebounds from 6-10 Lamar Odom in 32 minutes, eight glass cleans from seven-footer Andrew Bynum in 32 minutes and seven window swipes in 37 minutes from 6-7 Ron Artest.

“They had a lot of length on us and the only way we are going to beat them is if we made some jump shots,” said Knicks Head Coach Mike D’Antoni. “Probably the biggest thing is, they are good.”

Arguably D’Antoni’s best player, David Lee, was certainly impressed.

“I think, and it’s only my opinion, (that) they’re the best team in the league,” he said. “I think until somebody proves otherwise, at this point they’re the best team in the league because of their depth and the weapons that they have.”

The Lakers, now 11-3, have three days until their next game on Saturday in Golden State, when they’ll resume their attempt at proving Lee right.

Until then, your numbers:

POSTGAME NUMBERS
5 Lakers starters in double figures, led by Kobe Bryant’s 34, 17 each from Andrew Bynum and Ron Artest, 12 from Derek Fisher and 11 from Pau Gasol.

9 Bench points for the Lakers, compared with 41 for New York’s pine unit, which in fairness received considerably more playing time.

9 Fourth quarter turnovers by the Lakers, helping New York outscore the home team 28-17 in the period.

24 L.A.’s edge on the glass (60-36), not surprising as the Lakers are the 2nd-best rebounding team in the NBA and New York ranks 25th.

25 Times Kobe Bryant has been named Western Conference Player of the Week after he earned the honor for his 29.8-point, 6.7-assist, 6.7-rebound performance in a 3-0 week … sort of. The NBA used to honor only one player for POW honors until the 2001-02 season, when they split it up between conferences. Bryant earned two such honors prior to that season, and now has 23 in the West.

25Times Michael Jordan won Player of the Week honors in his career, which was the all-time high before Bryant matched him last week. Bryant further surpassed Magic Johnson’s 18 NBA POW awards as the franchise’s all-time leader.