Lakers survive late meltdown to win second of miniseries against Warriors Lamar Odom made the go-ahead layup with 9 seconds left in overtime, and the Los Angeles Lakers shook off the Golden State Warriors' frantic regulation rally to hang on for a 123-119 victory Monday night, concluding an immensely entertaining miniseries. Kobe Bryant scored 23 of his 30 points after halftime, while Odom finished with 23 points and 21 rebounds as the Lakers reclaimed the Western Conference's top spot and avenged Sunday night's 115-111 loss to the Warriors. Los Angeles couldn't have done it without Sasha Vujacic, who scored 19 points and hit a 3-pointer with 43 seconds left in overtime. The Lakers also got a big break from referee Bob Delaney, who called Monta Ellis for a curious offensive foul before the Warriors could even inbound the ball with 4 seconds left in OT. Baron Davis had 30 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for the Warriors, who have lost four of seven in a critical stretch for their playoff hopes. Stephen Jackson added 29 points, but Golden State's lead over Denver for the conference's final playoff berth dwindled to a half-game. Derek Fisher scored 18 points and drew that decisive offensive foul for the Lakers, whose fourth win in five games put them a half-game ahead of New Orleans for the top seed in next month's playoffs. Los Angeles also avoided losing its season series to the Warriors for the first time since the 1994-95 season. One day after the Warriors blew a 26-point lead before holding on to win, the Lakers followed part of that script. Los Angeles led 110-101 with three minutes left in regulation, but Ellis led the Warriors' 10-1 closing rally with two layups and a steal to set up another score by Kelenna Azubuike, who scored 18 points. Davis eventually tied it with two free throws with 3.6 seconds left, and Fisher missed a leaning jumper at the regulation buzzer. After Golden State took a four-point lead midway through overtime, Vujacic's 3-pointer with 43 seconds left put the Lakers ahead by two. Azubuike tied it with a tipped basket, but Odom easily drove the lane for the go-ahead score. When the Warriors attempted to inbound the ball at midcourt, Delaney called an offensive foul on Ellis while he was tangled up with Fisher. Both players appeared to have their arms around each other, but the call infuriated the Warriors and all but handed the game to the Lakers, who got two clinching free throws from Bryant with 3.3 seconds to play. Ellis finished with 18 points, nine rebounds and nine assists. From the screaming, bipartisan sellout crowd to the coaches' no-tomorrow strategies, the game felt an awful lot like a playoff preview for the first-place Lakers and the eighth-place Warriors. Golden State coach Don Nelson kept Davis and Jackson on the floor the entire night, while Phil Jackson never took Odom out and gave Bryant just 65 seconds on the bench. Game notes LAKERS-WARRIORS PREVIEW The opening game of this home-and-home set between the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors certainly had a playoff-type atmosphere. The Lakers look to bounce back from the Warriors' thrilling victory in Los Angeles when they meet Monday at Oracle Arena in this possible playoff preview. On Sunday night, Golden State (43-26) appeared to be well on its way to an easy victory at Los Angeles (48-22), but Kobe Bryant and the Lakers didn't go down without a fight. The Warriors took a 72-49 halftime lead, and went up by as much as 26 early in the third quarter before Los Angeles stormed back to take a 99-97 lead with 5:08 left in regulation. Bryant scored 27 of his 36 points in the second half, and added a season-high 14 rebounds and eight assists. Golden State, though, managed to halt the Lakers' rally, as Stephen Jackson scored six of his 31 points on two 3-pointers in the final 38 1/2 seconds in the Warriors' 115-111 victory. Bryant made two 3-pointers in the last 56.4 seconds, drawing the Lakers within one point each time. But Jackson responded on both occasions. "I hated that it came down to that," Jackson said. "I think we got a little too complacent with that lead. We should have known Kobe was going to come back and take over and bring his team back. "The biggest thing was in the third quarter we walked the ball up and they ran. And we got the lead by running. But we found a way to win. That shows the growth of this team from last year. It was ugly, but it was still a win." The loss ended the Lakers' three-game winning streak and dropped them percentage points behind Western Conference-leading New Orleans. Golden State, meanwhile, won for the 10th time in 14 games, to remain 1 1/2 games ahead of Denver in the race for the West's eighth and final playoff spot. Los Angeles' loss on Sunday snapped a nine-game home winning streak over the Warriors, while its 108-106 defeat at Golden State on Dec. 14 ended a nine-game overall winning streak against them. The Warriors have not won a season series from the Lakers since taking three of five in 1994-95, and have not swept a home-and-home series over Los Angeles since the 1975-76 season. "It's really hard in the NBA to beat a team twice in a row, especially the Lakers, so we have to be on our A-game, we can't have letdowns like we did (Sunday)," Jackson said. Golden State's Monta Ellis scored 31 points on Sunday, and is averaging 27.7 points on 63.6 percent shooting in his last three games. Lakers forward Lamar Odom finished with 19 points, a career-high 22 rebounds, four blocked shots and two steals on Sunday. Odom is averaging 18.8 points and 16.5 rebounds in his last four games against the Warriors. Center Pau Gasol missed his fifth straight game with a sprained left ankle, and won't play in this contest either. Lakers coach Phil Jackson said he expects Gasol to return sometime this week, perhaps as soon as Wednesday night against Charlotte. Copyright 2007 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited |
GAME NOTES NOTES & CONNECTIONS The season’s series is currently tied 1-1 between the Lakers and the Warriors after Los Angeles swept each of the last two season series with Golden State 4- 0. This will be the 284th regular season meeting between the two teams with the Lakers leading the all-time series 177-106. The Lakers have not lost a season series to the Warriors since they were defeated 2-3 over five games during the 1994-95 season. The Lakers are 14-2 in their last 16 overall games against Golden State after having a 9-game winning streak against Golden State snapped 12/14 at ORACLE Arena. At STAPLES Center, the Lakers are 16-1 alltime against the Warriors and have won nine straight at home. On the road, the Lakers have gone 7-3 against the Warriors in their last 10 and have won four of their last five at ORACLE Arena. Under head coach Phil Jackson, the Lakers are 24-6 against the Warriors. In 42 career games including 33 starts against the Warriors, Kobe Bryant is averaging 26.4 points. Lamar Odom posted his first triple-double as a Laker with 15 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists against the Warriors on April 11, 2006. In the Lakers first meeting with Golden State this season on December 9, Andrew Bynum recorded his 10th double-double of the season with a 20 points, 11 rebounds and five blocked shots in just 28 minutes as Los Angeles defeated Golden State 123-113. Lakers guard Derek Fisher played two seasons for Golden State, where he averaged a career-best 13.3 points during the 2005-06 season. Golden State’s Matt Barnes and Baron Davis along with the Lakers Jordan Farmar and Trevor Ariza all played collegiately at UCLA.
WIRE TO WIRE Through games played on March 21, the Lakers are now second in the league in wire-to-wire victories, behind Dallas (16) and just ahead of Boston (12). The Lakers have also played TWO games in which the opposite is true, having never held a lead in their November 23rd loss at Boston (94-107) and their January 17th loss versus Phoenix. Last season, the Lakers lost FIVE games in which they trailed wire-to-wire while dropping SIX such games in 2005-06. Click here to read the full Game Notes |
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