The OFFICIAL 2008-2009 L.A. Lakers thread!

[Swillbury]

From Wikipedia: "The Celtics currently lead in total championships with 17 to the Lakers' 14; together, the two teams' 31 championships account for half of the 62 championships in NBA history."

Yeah, I'd say Celtics/Lakers finals ARE the NBA...

That said, both have tough roads back. The Pistons are poised to make a run, as are the Cavs. The West is loaded with San Antonio SI's pick...

Are the NBA? Mj didn't mean anything to you?

 

[Bozgriz]

What does MJ have to do with the Lakers or Celtics?

 

[Swillbury]

What does MJ have to do with the Lakers or Celtics?

You just said "Lakers and the Celtics ARE the NBA" So I rebuttled by bringing up MJ. Im done arguing with you

 

[Bozgriz]

What does MJ have to do with the Lakers or Celtics?

You just said "Lakers and the Celtics ARE the NBA" So I rebuttled by bringing up MJ. Im done arguing with you

Read it again genius..."Yeah, I'd say Celtics/Lakers finals ARE the NBA..."

 

[Swillbury]

What does MJ have to do with the Lakers or Celtics?

You just said "Lakers and the Celtics ARE the NBA" So I rebuttled by bringing up MJ. Im done arguing with you

Read it again genius..."Yeah, I'd say Celtics/Lakers finals ARE the NBA..."

Im done arguing with you

 

[Bozgriz]

 

[Swillbury]

LAKERS VS BLAZERS

TV: TNT

RADIO: KLAC 570 AM ESPN 1330 AM

TIME: 7:30PM

STARTERS

VS

COACHES

JACKSON

McMILLAN
KEY MATCH UP

BRYANT

ROY
CLASH OF THE TITANS

BYNUM

ODEN
ON THE MISSION FOR THIS

Time to go get what's ours !

 

[Swillbury]

LOS ANGELES(AP) Kobe Bryant had 23 points, 11 rebounds and five assists Tuesday night, leading the Los Angeles Lakers to a 96-76 season-opening victory over the Portland Trail Blazers and spoiling rookie Greg Oden's debut, which was cut short by another injury.
Bryant orchestrated a well-balanced offense for the Lakers, who also played tenacious defense.
Pau Gasol had all of his 15 points in the first half as Los Angeles moved in front to stay. Trevor Ariz added 11 points and Andrew Bynum, back after sitting out the last part of last season with a knee injury, had eight points and three rebounds.
Oden's first NBA game didn't last long; the 20-year-old center left the game late in the first half with an injured right foot after taking four shots and going scoreless. He had five rebounds, one turnover, blocked one shot and picked up two fouls while playing 12:51.
X-rays were negative and the injury was diagnosed as a sprain. Oden will undergo an MRI on Wednesday.
Oden, taken by Portland with the first pick in the 2007 draft, missed all last season after undergoing microfracture surgery on his right knee.
Travis Outlaw led Portland with 18 points and Rudy Fernandez had 16.
The Lakers were in control of the game virtually from the start, but the Trail Blazers briefly made it interesting when they cut the deficit to 49-41 early in the third quarter. Bryant, however, hit a 3, made a reverse layup, then sank four consecutive free throws to build the lead back to 17 points, and Los Angeles led 72-53 heading into the final 12 minutes.
The Lakers were Western Conference champions last season and lost to Boston in the NBA finals.
Los Angeles opened a 46-24 lead when Bryant pulled up and hit an 11-footer with 3:06 left in the second quarter and was up 49-34 at halftime.
Gasol had 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting by the break, the only Laker in double figures. Bryant, who had six points, did have five assists.
Outlaw and Fernandez were high scorers for Portland with nine points each in the first half, when the Trail Blazers shot just 31 percent from the field. They finished at 34.5, to the Lakers' 47.
Gasol had nine points in the first quarter to help Los Angeles pull out to a 24-14 lead by the end of the period. The Blazers went 7-of-24, including Brandon Roy missing all six of his shots, in the first 12 minutes and no Portland player had more than four points.
He missed his first nine but finished 5-of-15 for 14 points.
Notes: Along with the usual cast of celebritiess that included actors Jack Nicholson and Denzel Washington, soccer's David Beckham was sitting courtside. ... Bynum averaged 13.1 points, 10.2 rebounds and 2.1 blocks and shot a league-best 63.6 percent from the floor in 35 games before injuring his knee. ... Portland, coming off a .500 season, hasn't made the playoffs since 2002-03, the league's longest current streak. ... Late in the first quarter, the Lakers' Lamar Odom drove the lane, glanced to his right and whipped a perfect pass to Sasha Vujacic in the corner. Only Vujacic was in his warmup jacket beyond the sideline and had stood up from the bench to watch Odom go to the hoop. Vujacic caught the ball and smiled, and Odom could only grin sheepishly.

It was a great win last night. Defense looked like it is ready to win a title

 

[Swillbury]

vs.

Date: Wednesday October 29th
Time: 7:30 pm pacific
Location: Staples Center, CA
TV: ESPN, KCAL, KTLA
Radio: KLAC am570



Los Angeles Lakers 1-0


Starting Five

derek fisher / kobe bryant / vlad radmanovic / pau gasol / andrew bynum

Key Reserves

lamar odom / jordan farmar / trevor ariza / sasha vujacic



@



Los Angeles Clippers 0-0


Starting Five

baron davis / cuttino mobley / al thornton / brian skinner / chris kaman

Key Reserves

eric gordon / tim thomas / ricky davis

doubtful:

marcus camby


Key Matchup

vs.

andrew bynum vs. chris kaman

Mismatch watch

pau gasol vs. brian skinner

baron davis vs. derek fisher

 

[Swillbury]

LOS ANGELES -- Kobe Bryant didn't shoot much, didn't score much and didn't need to.
Bryant led seven Los Angeles Lakers in double figures with 16 points on 5-of-12 shooting and had eight rebounds Wednesday night in a 117-79 blowout that spoiled the Los Angeles Clippers' season opener.
Andrew Bynum added 12 points and nine rebounds, Derek Fisher and Jordan Farmar scored 15 each, Pau Gasol had 13, Trevor Ariza 11 and Chris Mihm 10.
"It feels good to be out there working together, being aggressive and playing hard," said Gasol, who had nine rebounds and is a force at forward since he no longer has to fill in at center.
The new-look Clippers seemed essentially like their usual sub .500 selves, no match for the talent and versatility of the defending Western Conference champion Lakers.
Baron Davis had 11 points on 4-of-13 shooting in his Clippers' debut, with seven assists. Al Thornton scored 16 points, and Cuttino Mobley and Tim Thomas each had 11.
"It was a rude awakening for us, to let us see that mountain we've got to climb," Davis said. "Did I expect to lose like that? No. Do I expect us to go 0-7? No.
"We're going to just have to figure it out on the fly."
The Lakers began their season with a similar rout a night earlier, breezing to a 96-76 win at home against Portland on Tuesday.
Even coach Phil Jackson didn't expect the Lakers' opening two games to be so one-sided.
"We have to say it's a surprise, (but) our team is playing at a high level," he said. "Our next game is on the road (at Denver on Saturday), so it's a team that has a lot of animosity I'm sure from last year's playoffs. We'll see how we do when we go to their place."
The Lakers swept Denver in the first round.
As they did against the Trail Blazers, the Lakers played suffocating defense, holding the Clippers to 38 percent shooting while shooting 51 percent themselves and going 10-of-19 from 3-point range.
Bynum, back after a knee injury last January that sidelined him for the rest of the season, went 4-of-7 from the floor and helped jam up the middle on defense, blocking three shots.
"We went out there and played great defense tonight again, and as long as we hold teams to under 80 points, I think we're doing a pretty good job," Bynum said. "I think the record for that is six straight (under 80) and we're going to try and go after it."
The Lakers' depth, he said, helps on both ends of the court.
"Everybody came in from the starting five to the second unit and moved the ball around and got a bunch of fast break points," he said.
The Clippers, who lost longtime mainstay Elton Brand and Corey Maggette among others during the offseason, have nine newcomers who played for other teams last season.
Davis played just one preseason game because of a finger injury, and another new addition, Marcus Camby, is out with a bruised right heel.
Down 33-32, the Lakers got some spark from the reserves and reeled off a 24-6 string beginning with Farmar's running jumper with 8:18 remaining in the second quarter. Ariza scored eight points during the run and Farmar had five points, three assists and a rebound.
That helped the Lakers open a 56-39 lead with 1:06 remaining and they were up 59-44 at halftime.
They outscored the Clippers 26-13 in the third quarter and were ahead 85-57 heading into the final quarter.
Game notes
Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy said before the game he thinks the Lakers may be the best club in the NBA. "Defensively they should be one of the top three teams and then they've got Kobe Bryant at the end of the game to cancel all bets," Dunleavy said. "If I'm picking, that's who I'm picking to win it all if they're healthy." ... The Clippers finished 23-59 last season while the Lakers kept going until they lost Game 6 to Boston in the NBA finals. ... The Lakers went 4-0 against the Clippers last season, winning by an average of 26 points.

Haven't heard a lot out of you Laker haters recently. What's up with that??

 

[Swillbury]

The Los Angeles Lakers have reached an agreement on a four-year contract extension with center Andrew Bynum worth about $58 million, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing sources familiar with the negotiations.
The deal would keep Bynum under contract with the Lakers through the 2012-13 season, according to the report. The first three years of the deal are reportedly worth nearly $42 million, with a team option fourth year for about $16 million.
Bynum, who will earn $2.8 million this season, showed significant improvement for the Lakers in 2007-08 before being lost for about half of the season and the playoffs to an injury. His healthy return is one reason many observers are touting the Lakers as a favorite to return to the NBA Finals and win the championship.

That was the only distraction that this team was going to have to face during the year, and now that that is over with it's time to look towards a title.

Maybe alittle high for a guy that has only played 32 games up this point but good for both sides and its only a 3-4 year deal so as a Laker fan, I can't complain

 

[Swillbury]

GAME 3: LOS ANGELES LAKERS @ DENVER NUGGETS

VS.

STARTING LINEUPS:

LOS ANGELES LAKERS

PG-

SG-

SF-

PF-

C-

VS.

PG-

SG-

SF-

PF-

C-

KEY MATCHUP:

KEY PLAYERS:

 

[BDizzle]

Are you gonna do this for every game?

 

[Swillbury]

Are you gonna do this for every game?

Maybe

 

[Swillbury]

DENVER -- This was not exactly the new look Carmelo Anthony was talking about.
Kobe Bryant scored 33 points and the Los Angeles Lakers nearly became the first team in three years to hold Anthony to single digits in a 104-97 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Saturday night.Anthony, who declared last month, "You will see a different me," this season thanks to a focus on defense, finally found his rhythm in the fourth quarter, but that's when Bryant scored 14 points to fend off the fatigued Nuggets.
"We were stuck in the mud, and it's my responsibility to get it going," Bryant said.
It was the Nuggets who looked like they were stuck in quicksand by game's end. They had gotten in late following an overtime win over the Clippers at the Staples Center -- a game the well-rested Lakers watched from their Denver hotel rooms Friday night.
"I guess they were a little bit tired," Pau Gasol said.
And 'Melo was more than a little bit rusty.
Coming off a two-game suspension, Anthony scored 11 of his 13 points in the fourth quarter. He made two 3-pointers with under a minute left to extend his NBA-best streak of consecutive games in double figures to 208.
"I was a little rusty out there," Anthony said. "Good to get that one game under my belt."
Anthony, who ditched his trademark cornrows for a close-cropped cut, was held to a single bucket until sinking consecutive baskets to help the Nuggets slice it to 93-91 with 4 minutes left. He fired up an airball from beyond the arc on Denver's next possession, and Bryant responded with a basket at the other end to make it 95-91.
Denver (1-2) never got closer as the Lakers, who trailed most of the game before taking control in the fourth quarter, improved to 3-0.
"I'm not going to worry about the offensive game for myself. I can do that with my eyes closed," Anthony said. "I'm not really worrying about that; that will come around."
Anthony Carter scored 20 points to lead the Nuggets, who also got 18 points from Kenyon Martin before he departed in the second half with a pulled left hamstring.
Anthony hasn't been held below 10 points since Nov. 28, 2005, when he played just 1½ minutes against New Jersey before leaving with a sprained ankle after scoring just two points.
His franchise-record streak makes him the most consistent offensive player in the NBA since 2005, and it's 90 games longer than second-place LeBron James' 118-game streak.
The Nuggets have been focusing on defense since camp started, and they limited the Lakers to 38 percent shooting, but now it's the offense, of all things, that the Nuggets are struggling with. That, and offensive boards. They had just three of them against Los Angeles, only one by a starter.
"There are some things we need to work on. I think we forgot that we're a scoring basketball team, a running basketball team," Anthony said. "We spent so much time on defense in training camp, which is not a bad thing. It's going to take time on the offensive end to get clicking."
Anthony, who sat out the first two games of the season as punishment for his April 14 arrest on a drunken driving charge, was scoreless in the first half. He did, however, have a nifty assist on Carter's 3-pointer that ignited a 14-7 run that gave Denver a 52-46 halftime lead.
Anthony's first shot to fall was a 17-foot jumper with 9:39 left in the third quarter.
"There was one point in time in the third quarter I was like, 'OK, nothing's going to go in for me today.' I tried to get my teammates involved, trying to get guys open shots, play defense because I knew on the offensive end it wasn't clicking," Anthony said.
"I haven't had that feeling for a long time. I tell you what, I won't have it again. I'll tell you that."
Game notes
Martin is day to day with the first hamstring injury of his career. ... The Lakers have beaten Denver eight straight times.

 

[Swillbury]

LAKERS VS CLIPPERS

ARENA

TIME 7:30 PM TV FSN RADIO KLAC 570 AM

STARTERS

VS

KEY MATCH UP

OUR FOCUS

 

[Swillbury]

LOS ANGELES -- Kobe Bryant scored 27 points, and the unbeaten Los Angeles Lakers used a 22-0 run in the fourth quarter to beat the Los Angeles Clippers 106-88 Wednesday night, giving them six straight wins over their crosstown rivals.Cuttino Mobley scored five straight points to give the Clippers an 81-79 lead with 8:16 remaining when the Lakers suddenly took command.
Bryant and Lamar Odom each scored six points and Jordan Farmar added four during the decisive run. Al Thornton ended the spurt by making a 3-pointer with 1:04 remaining -- the Clippers' first points in more than 7 minutes.
Odom had 15 points and nine rebounds for the Lakers (4-0); Derek Fisher scored 13 points, Vladimir Radmanovic added 11, Trevor Ariza had 10, and Andrew Bynum had nine points, 17 rebounds to match a career high and four blocked shots.
Thornton led the Clippers (0-5) with 22 points. Tim Thomas added 18 points and 11 rebounds and Baron Davis had 17 points and seven assists.
The game was the second in eight days between the teams -- the Lakers won a 117-79 decision Oct. 29. The Clippers have lost their five games by an average of 20.8 points per game. The Lakers have won their four games by an average of 20.7 points.
Clippers rookie Mike Taylor scored five points in a span of 15 seconds early in the fourth quarter to trim the Lakers' lead to two at 75-73, and Mobley put the Clippers ahead shortly thereafter before the Lakers took over.
Neither team led by more than four points in the third quarter, which ended with the Lakers on top 72-68.
Marcus Camby, held to two points and seven rebounds, in 16 minutes because of foul trouble, picked up two in the first 2½ minutes to put him on the bench until the second quarter, but Davis had 10 points and six assists in the opening period to help the Clippers take a 29-27 lead.
Both teams cooled off in the second quarter. With Bynum and four reserves on the floor, the Lakers outscored the Clippers 10-1 to begin the period for a 37-30 lead. The Clippers missed their first eight field goal attempts before Thomas hit a jumper with 3:34 left before halftime.
It was 44-38 before Thornton scored nine points during a 13-3 run to finish the second quarter, giving the Clippers a 51-47 halftime lead.
Game notes
The Lakers are off to their best start since winning five straight games to start the 2003-04 season, and the Clippers are off to their worst since losing their first 17 of the 1998-99 campaign. ... The Clippers won their first four games last season, but went 19-59 after that. ... The crosstown rivals split their season series for three straight years before the Lakers won all four games between the teams last season. ... Both teams began the game by making 3-of-4 from 3-point range before combining to miss the next 10 shots from beyond the arc. ... The Lakers have an 88-25 record against the Clippers since they moved to Los Angeles from San Diego in 1984. ... The game was the Lakers' first since Saturday night, and they don't play again until the Houston Rockets visit Sunday night. That will be the first of four games in six nights. ... The Clippers play their next five games at home before traveling to Oklahoma City on Nov. 19.

What do you know! Another blow-out!

 

[Swillbury]

STARTERS MIN FGM-A 3PM-A FTM-A OREB DREB REB AST STL BLK TO PF PTS
Al Thornton, SF 40 8-19 2-3 4-5 2 3 5 2 0 0 1 3 22
Marcus Camby, C 16 1-4 0-0 0-0 0 7 7 0 1 4 0 4 2
Chris Kaman, C 30 3-4 0-0 0-0 3 8 11 2 0 1 3 6 6
Cuttino Mobley, SG 39 4-11 2-5 1-1 0 1 1 2 1 0 1 4 11
Baron Davis, PG 36 7-21 3-11 0-2 1 3 4 7 3 0 1 5 17
BENCH MIN FGM-A 3PM-A FTM-A OREB DREB REB AST STL BLK TO PF PTS
Tim Thomas, PF 33 8-18 1-4 1-2 3 8 11 1 0 0 3 2 18
Ricky Davis, SF 19 1-3 0-0 2-2 1 0 1 1 2 0 2 3 4
Paul Davis, C 5 0-1 0-0 1-2 1 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 1
Mike Taylor, PG 12 3-6 0-0 1-1 0 1 1 4 1 0 1 4 7
Eric Gordon, SG 4 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0
Brian Skinner, PF 7 0-2 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 0
Jason Hart, PG 0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
TOTALS FGM-A 3PM-A FTM-A OREB DREB REB AST STL BLK TO PF PTS
35-90 8-23 10-15 12 32 44 20 8 6 16 32 88
38.9% 34.8% 66.7% Team TO (pts off): 19 (21)

LOS ANGELES LAKERS
STARTERS MIN FGM-A 3PM-A FTM-A OREB DREB REB AST STL BLK TO PF PTS
Vladimir Radmanovic, SF 24 4-9 3-6 0-0 0 3 3 1 1 0 0 1 11
Pau Gasol, PF 33 2-7 0-0 5-6 2 9 11 3 1 1 3 1 9
Andrew Bynum, C 34 4-9 0-0 1-3 5 12 17 2 0 4 1 3 9
Kobe Bryant, SG 36 8-21 0-2 11-14 1 1 2 3 2 2 2 3 27
Derek Fisher, PG 30 4-12 3-6 2-2 1 0 1 3 1 0 1 2 13
BENCH MIN FGM-A 3PM-A FTM-A OREB DREB REB AST STL BLK TO PF PTS
Lamar Odom, PF 29 4-8 1-1 6-8 3 6 9 0 3 2 3 4 15
Jordan Farmar, PG 18 2-5 0-2 5-6 1 2 3 1 2 0 2 1 9
Trevor Ariza, SF 21 4-8 0-1 2-6 2 4 6 1 2 0 0 1 10
Sasha Vujacic, SG 12 1-5 1-4 0-0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 1 3
Luke Walton, SF 3 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Chris Mihm, C DNP COACH'S DECISION
Josh Powell, PF DNP COACH'S DECISION
TOTALS FGM-A 3PM-A FTM-A OREB DREB REB AST STL BLK TO PF PTS
33-85 8-22 32-45 15 39 54 14 12 9 12 17 106
38.8% 36.4% 71.1% Team TO (pts off): 12 (14)

Box score for wednesday.

Next game: Sunday against the Rockets

 

[Swillbury]

@

Date: Sunday November 9th, 2008
Time: 6:30 pm pacific
Location: Staples Center, CA
TV: FSW
Radio: KLAC am570



Houston Rockets (4-2)


Starting Five

Rafer Alston / Tracy McGrady / Ron Artest / Luis Scola / Yao Ming

Key Reserves

Aaron Brooks / Carl Landry / Chuck Hayes / Brent Barry

@


Los Angeles Lakers 4-0


Starting Five

Derek Fisher / Kobe Bryant / Vlad Radmanovic /Pau Gasol / Andrew Bynum

Key Reserves

Lamar Odom / Jordan Farmar / Trevor Ariza / Sasha Vujacic



Key Matchup

vs.

This is going to be the biggest challenge to date. Should be a good game

GO LAKERS!!!

 

[Swillbury]

As much as everyone in L.A. would like to see it, the Lakers aren't going to go 82-0. So now the question is, when will the Lakers pick up their first loss of the season?

The Lakers are 4-0 with wins against sub-par teams: the young and Oden-less Trail Blazers, the chemistry-less Clippers (twice), and the in-flux Nuggets.

Looking at the schedule, if the Lakers are going to lose a game this season, it's going to be one of the next three:

11/9 vs. Houston - True, the Rockets haven't been playing the way that most people expected, but you can never take Yao, McGrady, and Artest lightly, even at home. After a heart-breaking loss in Portland last night (three tremendous shots at the end of OT), the Rockets will likely have fun exacting revenge on the Clippers tonight. By Sunday they could be confident and firing on all cylinders, ready to steal a win from the Lakers at Staples. Also, the fact that this will only be the Lakers' second game in eight days may work against them.

11/11 at Dallas - The Lakers have only played one real road game this season (the hallway series doesn't count) and Dallas is a much tougher place to play than Denver. The Mavs are looking to prove that they're still a contender and knocking off the Lakers is a great way to do that.

11/12 at New Orleans - Let's be honest, if the Lakers get through this one undefeated, they very well may not lose all season. Everything is stacked against the Lakers here. It will be their third game in four days and the second of a back-to-back. Not to mention they're playing the Hornets, who have only gotten stronger since competing with the Lakers for the best record in the West last season. This matchup has LOSS written all over it for the Lakers. But that's why they play the games, right?

The good news is that if the Lakers get through the next three games, they only have two really tough road games (Phoenix and those pesky Hornets again) until mid-January.

Is it realistic to assume the Lakers will take care of business at home and against weak opponents on the road? No.

Is it plausible that the Lakers can get into January with one or two losses? Absolutely.

Of course, now that I've gone through this elaborate scenario, the Lakers will probably get through the next three games and then lose to the Bulls at home. That's just the way these things work