Below
is a running diary of L.A.’s Friday night home contest against
New Orleans as the Lakers looked for their fifth win in six games since
Andrew Bynum returned to the starting line up, with some comments drawn
from our @LakersReporter Twitter account, and a few more details in case you missed any of the action:
Starters
Lakers: Fisher, Bryant, Artest, Gasol and Bynum
Hornets: C. Paul, M. Belinelli, T. Ariza, D. West, E. Okafor
FIRST QUARTER
7:26 The Lakers’ coaching staff always enjoys an
aggressive Pau Gasol early in games, which we saw as the Spaniard
opened with a jumper, two foul shots and a put-back layup to reach six
points with three boards in putting L.A. up 14-11. His scoring has
dipped considerably in the past month due primarily to a lack of field
goal attempts, but the Lakers weren’t concerned. Moments later,
he’d add two more field goals to reach 10 points with four
rebounds.
0:31.9 Phil Jackson replaced Andrew Bynum with Lamar Odom
with about four minutes left, leaving the too-effective-to-rest Gasol
out there, which would pay off again late as he found Shannon Brown on
a back cut for the final bucket of the period, giving the Lakers a
27-24 lead. Yet it was the second quarter in New Orleans last week in
which the Lakers blew the game open…
SECOND QUARTER
8:14… And they looked intent on doing the same early in
the period, getting Bynum’s second bucket of the period after a
pretty layup from Odom to open a 35-28 lead. Gasol, Bynum and Odom were
a combined 9-for-11 at that point, taking advantage of the
Hornets’ lack of size.
5:33 Despite shooting just 26 percent from three in the
season, former Laker Trevor Ariza made his second triple of the game,
and fourth field goal in five tries, to bring the Hornets within three.
The Lakers had eased off a bit defensively, perhaps because shots were
coming so easily at the other end, to allow New Orleans to stay in the
mix.
0:49.4 Bryant’s long two gave him a game-high 12 points
on 5-of-7 shooting, continuing a terrific performance from the field
for the whole Purple and Gold team that had ‘em at 62 percent,
and up 49-41. The Hornets managed to pull a few points back with a
triple and two Chris Paul free throws (just his third and fourth points
of the half), the Lakers taking a 51-46 lead into the half.
THIRD QUARTER
10:15 To open the game, we talked about how much L.A.’s
coaches like when Gasol gets off early. They also like when fellow
7-footer Bynum establishes good low-post position, and then takes his
time with his moves and shots. En route to his 15 points on 6-of-8
shooting, Bynum did just that, taking his defender deep, waiting to get
‘em off balance, and simply rising and dropping home shot after
shot, his latest keeping L.A. up five.
5:49 The Hornets, however, responded with an 8-0 run capped
by Marco Belinelli’s triple to take a 62-61 lead. The Lakers
suddenly went cold from the field despite creating good shots, with
Bryant missing all three of his attempts to that point in the quarter.
2:02 Leading the charge out of that poor offensive stretch
was, naturally, Bryant, who set up Gasol and then Artest for
back-to-back buckets, then made 1-of-2 two free throws to tie Oscar
Robertson as the 9th all-time leading scorer in NBA history. Moments
later, Bryant would bank in a hanging, running jumper to surpass the
Big 0 and push his way further into the record books. Pretty amazing,
and hard to put into perspective while he’s still playing at such
a high level.
FOURTH QUARTER
6:11 Having already lost Matt Barnes to a sprained right knee
late in the first half, the Lakers were happy to see Steve Blake come
back out of the locker room after getting the left ankle he’d jut
sprained. Blake, one of the tougher players in the league, was
available for return if Phil Jackson deemed it necessary. The Lakers,
meanwhile, continued to hold off a Hornets’ team playing with
quite a bit of grit, looking for revenge after L.A.’s blowout win
a week earlier in the Big Easy.
5:04 In that road win, Odom went off for 24 points, his
career high off the bench. Tonight, he was even better despite a few
less points, nailing three straight shots in the fourth to reach 17
points with 12 rebounds, two assists and two blocks, putting L.A. up
89-83.
1:23 Perhaps the most impressive of Bryant’s motley
crew of tough shots on this evening was a left-handed floater over
N.O.’s defense as he cut diagonally left through the paint,
putting L.A. up 97-92 and essentially sealing the team’s fifth
victory in six games since Bynum returned to the starting line up.
Gasol would add three late foul shots to cap a terrific game in which
he scored 20 points with 13 rebounds and seven assists. The final:
Lakers 101, Hornets 97, L.A. winning for the fifth time in six games
since Bynum returned to the starting line up.