Stay up to day with the latest news, updates, and press conferences from your Los Angeles Lakers.
Lakers forward Luke Walton, who did not play in last night’s game against the Rockets, was today was diagnosed
with a pinched nerve and is expected to miss a minimum of six weeks.
Here’s the release from the Lakers PR staff:
Lakers forward Luke Walton was examined today by back specialist Dr. Robert Watkins and has been diagnosed with a pinched nerve. Walton is expected to be out a minimum of six weeks.
Pau Gasol successfully made it through a full practice on Monday.
But how will he do on television?
You can watch for yourself when L.A.’s seven-foot All-Star follows up last season’s “Numb3rs” appearance by guest starring on “CSI: Miami.” The show begins at 10 p.m. on CBS, with the following plot line (via CBS):
The CSIs investigate a horrible car crash to discover who or what caused it. The probe reveals the darkest secrets of the drivers involved. The NBA’s Pau Gasol guest stars as a person of interest in the case.
While the Lakers were struggling in Denver last Thursday night, Rockets forward Shane Battier was with his team in Sacramento watching on television, apparently lamenting the score.
He figured the Lakers, annoyed with the big loss, would bring a little bit extra when the 2008-09 Western Conference Semi’s opponents locked horns. As if to specifically prove Battier’s point, the Lakers stormed out to a 16-2 lead on Sunday’s contest at STAPLES Center.
Yet L.A. also knew something about Houston.
The Rockets are an especially gritty team, as they showed last season in the Western Conference Semis and 11 days ago in a one-point, OT Lakers victory in Houston. As if to prove that point, the Rockets stormed right back into the game, climbing to within three points (24-21) before L.A. ended the quarter up 29-23.
Whatever burst the Lakers had out of the tunnel simply never came back, the Rockets outscoring the home team 49-37 in the second half to hand the Lakers their second home loss of the young season.
“It was a great game for us,” said Houston head coach Rick Adelman. “They jumped all over us (to) start the game and then we got our composure and got back in it. The whole second half was terrific.”
In the third quarter, the Rockets had ridden the (red) hot hand of Aaron Brooks to a 28-19 spread that featured a 12-0 run, including three triples from the diminutive third-year guard. That gave Houston an 80-73 edge heading into the fourth, and new Rockets acquisition David Andersen promptly gave the visitors their biggest lead of the game to that point with back-to-back buckets to open the final period.
The Lakers never really got back into it from then on, watching their shooting percentage dip to just 38.1 percent for the game on 32-of-84 from the field. Kobe Bryant managed to hit just 5-of-20 and Derek Fisher 3-of-13, and while Andrew Bynum was again solid with 21 points and 11 rebounds, he only took 12 shots (making eight). Perhaps the stat of the game, however, was Houston’s 60-38 dominance of the backboard.
“(The Rockets) pursued the ball really well,” said Phil Jackson. “They just chased it. I was upset at halftime, I thought (we) forced shots. In the second half, (we) had wide open shots, much better shot selection, but (we) didn’t make shots.”
Some light was shed upon Bryant’s uncharacteristic effort when it was learned that he was dealing with a strained groin originally suffered on Sunday, Nov. 8 against New Orleans, which he tweaked in the first quarter*. Yet Bryant said he didn’t plan on missing any games, and looked forward to practice (and treatment) on Monday.
*CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL BRYANT INJURY UPDATE.
Ron Artest added 22 points on 8-of-16 shooting with three triples, plus six boards and three steals, while former Laker Trevor Ariza (who received his ring from Bryant and Fisher in a pregame ceremony) struggled to a 2-of-12 from the field offensive night, but was terrific on defense behind four steals, two blocks, eight rebounds and the stalking of Bryant.
L.A. has a chance to get back in the win column on Tuesday against Detroit, aiming to avoid losing for three consecutive times for the first time since the team acquired still-missing Pau Gasol (hamstring) in February of 2007.
In other news, Luke Walton missed the game with a sore back, and will be re-evaluated on Monday morning.
Until then, your numbers:
POSTGAME NUMBERS
60 Rebounds for Houston to L.A.’s 38, giving the Rockets a commanding 22-board edge including a 13-6 win on the offensive glass.
45 Bench points for Houston, including 19 for Australian center David Andersen, 15 for Carl Landry and 11 for rookie Chase Budinger.
33.3 L.A.’s shooting percentage in the second half on 11-of-33. They made only 32-of-84 (38.1 percent) shots for the game.
25 “Is that Chris Rock” jokes that came into my Twitter account (@LakersReporter) referring to Rockets point guard Aaron Brooks, who torched the Lakers with a regular season career-high 33 points.
9 Combined blocks for both teams in the first 7:11 of the game.
5 Lakers turnovers in the first half, helping them overcome 41.2 percent shooting and the concession of six offensive boards.
Kobe Bryant left L.A.’s 101-91 Sunday evening loss to Houston with 2:12 to play in the fourth quarter due to a strained groin originally suffered in a win over New Orleans on Sunday, Nov. 8. Bryant said he tweaked the groin in the first quarter against the Rockets.
“I’ve felt better,” he said after the game. “It’ll be all right though. You just treat it, try to work through it, practice tomorrow and play through it a little bit, see how it goes.”
Phil Jackson said in his postgame press conference that Bryant had skipped L.A.’s three days of practice leading into Thursday’s loss at Denver, when he made 7-of-17 shots for 19 points in three quarters. Against Houston on Sunday, Bryant again struggled to get his usual lift, making 5-of-20 shots towards 18 points.
While Bryant failed to use his groin to explain his poor shooting (”You know I don’t make excuses”) he did admit that a strained groin can affect “running, changing direction, pretty much everything,” adding that one simply had to find a way to fight through it.
Bryant said he did not plan on missing any action, and will go through treatment on Monday morning.
Walton Sits Out with Back Injury
Lakers forward Luke Walton joined Bryant on the injury report, missing the game against Houston. We’ll have more on Walton after practice tomorrow.
(Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE/Getty Images)
Prior to Sunday’s game against Houston, Phil Jackson said that he was “hopeful” Pau Gasol would resume practicing with the team during L.A.’s coming homestand.
Jackson said that Gasol has gone “five days with no soreness,” including days spent running on the treadmill and the Spaniard’s Sunday morning participation in a small amount of on-court work with the team.
“A little shootaround basketball,” said the Head Coach. “Just a limited amount before he did more with his strength and his rehab stuff. But he did get out on the court.”
After shootaround, Gasol told us that he was feeling well, but could not yet put a date on his possible return.
Cleamons explained how Houston runs its offense in the absence of Yao Ming, Tracy McGrady and Ron Artest, explained why L.A. was able to keep point guards Aaron Brooks and Kyle Lowry out of the paint in Texas and detailed what the Lakers expect from Andrew Bynum, who is averaging nearly 21 points and 12 rebounds per game.
PHIL PREGAME
In his pregame press conference, Phil Jackson said that the Lakers will again look to hold down Aaron Brooks, keep the Rockets off the offensive glass and find ways to get the ball inside to Andrew Bynum, Kobe Bryant and Ron Artest. He added that the Rockets are a very good “hustle” team that can win games by outworking teams.
Finally, Jackson repeated some of the same Trevor Ariza answers he offered in Houston (essentially, that Ariza demonstrated scoring ability last season but the explanation for his 19.4 points per game was more about opportunity to take more shots) and that he expected the STAPLES Center crowd to react “very favorably” when Ariza was presented with his championship ring.
CLICK HERE FOR THE LAKERS GAMEDAY PAGE
We took a look at the Lakers - Nuggets showdown while it was happening, entering a thought or three each quarter. Here’s your running diary:
Inactives
Lakers: Pau Gasol
Nuggets: Johan Petro
Starters
Lakers: Fisher, Bryant, Artest, Odom and Bynum
Nuggets: Billups, Arron Afflalo, Carmelo Anthony, Martin and Nene
Phil Jackson Pregame
L.A.’s head coach covered topics ranging from Michael Jordan’s jersey being retired, guarding Carmelo Anthony, Andrew Bynum’s outstanding game against Phoenix and more.
First Quarter
9:00 All Lakers to start. Bryant nailed two free throws before Artest and Odom sunk back-to-back threes to put the Lakers up 8-0. Denver responded with five quick points, before consecutive Bynum and Artest hoops put L.A. up 12-5. The Lakers didn’t seem distracted by a pregame South Park themed video that saw Cartman throw a basketball in the face of cartoon Jack Nicholson. This is Denver, after all, home of South Park co-creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker, but it’s never smart to mess with Jack, is it?
5:00 The next offensive salvo went to Denver, who got consecutive buckets from Nene and jumpers from Martin and Billups to cap a 12-4 run that put them up a point. Some of the vitriol that L.A. earned by beating Denver in this building last season to advance to the NBA Finals (and the year before in a first-round sweep) came out in the form of a few aggressive “boooo!’s” when I walked around downtown wearing a Lakers warm up earlier. Fortunately I’m non-descript in a suit at press row right now.
1:00 After a 1-for-4 start, Bryant nailed consecutive jumpers to get to 10 points and give L.A. a two-point cushion heading into the second quarter. In related news, he’s good, and leads the NBA in scoring (33 per night). He’s taken his usual 2009-10 spot on the block, spending more time there than Bynum does looking at potential new cars online.
Second Quarter
10:09 Did you know that Bynum is averaging the fourth-most minutes per game in the NBA at 40 per night? It’s true. Looks like we’ll see that again tonight, as his first breather came just now when D.J. Mbenga checked in. ‘Drew had eight points and seven boards in another good effort, though he seemed a bit winded (remember the altitude doesn’t help). Think about sprinting with your mouth closed, only using your nostrils to breath. Does that work? Never tried it. The Lakers held a four-point lead when he went out.
5:40 Perhaps the best way to tell that L.A. was tired (other than remembering that the team arrived at their Denver hotel at 4 a.m. the previous night) was watching them take long jumpers. The Nuggets weren’t able to take too much of an advantage, leading by only three (44-41) into a TV timeout, but the style of play was bound to catch up with the Lakers in the second half.
0:37.2 Did I mention the Lakers looked tired? The final minutes of the half revolved around more perimeter jumpers from Bryant and Artest, though both managed to nail late-shot-clock threes to keep L.A. in the game. Another Artest three just rimmed out heading into the half, the purple and gold somehow trailing by just two after a weary half.
Third Quarter
9:04 Halftime didn’t seem to help L.A. much in terms of energy, as they missed four shots and turned the ball over twice while allowing five Denver field goals (including three straight layups from Anthony) as the lead grew to 12, the home team’s biggest to that point. Last altitude comment, I swear … At the break I climbed to the top of the upper deck to visit some old high school friends, and was legitimately a bit winded from the lack of oxygen. But perhaps more than the altitude, L.A. was having trouble matching Denver’s energy in general, as they seemingly couldn’t help but try to avenge the playoff loss (not that it can be done in the regular season, but think of L.A.’s effort vs. Boston last Christmas).
5:33 With a few inches on Nene, Bynum didn’t have much of a problem getting shots off over him, and connected on his fifth in seven attempts. The Lakers, however, were having trouble getting him the ball, continuing to take jumpers as if they were Phoenix from the previous evening. On a brighter note, the Denver media room had Mountain Dew among its fountain choices.
0:55.2 Odom’s two missed free throws with just under a minute remaining underscored a horrid third quarter for L.A., during which they managed to score only eight points as their basket may as well have had small pieces of the Rocky Mountain covering its entry point. Denver had no such problem scoring, going for 29 points to take a commanding 87-64 lead into the fourth.
Fourth Quarter
6:20 Bynum stayed on for the first half of the fourth, building his double-double to 19 and 15 on 8-of-13 shooting … But things didn’t get any better from the Lakers, who trailed 100-71 at that point. Denver finally took out its starters as well, Anthony sitting with 25 points to lead al scorers.
4:45 Jordan Farmar hit back-to-back threes to make the score look a bit better … yet it was still a 23-point game.
1:34 Adding a bit of mental pain to L.A.’s loss, rookie point guard Ty Lawson came out of nowhere to dunk in traffic, plus the harm, as the Lakers were wondering how quickly the bus could get to the airport.
Bottom line: L.A. didn’t have energy, and Denver had a lot of it.
They’ll get a chance to get things going the right way again on Sunday at STAPLES Center against the Rockets.
Until then, some numbers:
POSTGAME NUMBERS
66.8 Combined scoring average of Kobe Bryant and Carmelo Anthony, the league’s two top guns, heading into the game.
44 Combined points for Bryant (19 in three quarters) and Anthony (25, 18 in the second half) in this one.
28 Lakers points in the paint, emblematic of the team’s reliance on perimeter jumpers, and 50 less points down low than they managed against Phoenix the night before.
25 Denver’s rank on the defensive glass heading into the contest, which the Lakers did take advantage of in the form of 15 offensive boards as they actually won the rebounding battle 48-47.
22.7 L.A.’s second half shooting percentage (10-of-44).
8 Points scored by the Lakers in a tough third quarter, enabling Denver to stretch a two-point halftime lead to a 23-point edge heading into the fourth.
3 Fouls in five minutes whistled on Ron Artest to open the third quarter, giving him five for the game and earning him a seat on the bench.
Phil Jackson’s thoughts on the possibility that the NBA would retire Michael Jordan’s jersey:
I think it’s a great thing that hockey did for (Wayne) Gretzky. Here’s a guy that went through the game and really changed a lot of the way the game was played, broke a lot of records and won championships up in Edmonton that nobody every expected would happen and they honored him with that.
We haven’t seen this happen in basketball so it’s kind of unique … It’d be maybe a little step on the toes for guys like Magic (Johnson) and (Larry) Bird who made this era a bigger era that Michael could come in and have the dominance that he had and also the commercial appeal that went with it, but he certainly is a standard that we all admire. But that’s up to other people, not to me to make that decision.
FROM LAKERS.com
