Lakers Winning Streak Extended to 9 Games

The Lakers beat the Suns Sunday night to extend their winning streak to 9 games. Ron Artest stole the ball five times and kicked off the Lakers’ decisive rally by harassing Amare Stoudemire to the limits of legality until Phoenix’s big man coughed up the ball in the backcourt. Kobe Bryant then drove the lane, and Stoudemire moved over an instant too late to draw a charge Although the Los Angeles Lakers always seemed to be a bit quicker and slicker in a 108-88 victory over the Suns on Sunday night, the defending NBA champions realize their nine-game winning streak almost carries an asterisk, what with the unfair advantages of their home-heavy early-season schedule.

Bryant scored 26 points and Artest added 15 points and five steals as the Lakers raced away from Phoenix in the second half. Eight of their nine wins in a row have been at Staples Center, where the Lakers play 17 of their first 21 overall. More than 40 percent of the Lakers’ home games for the season will be finished by Friday. That’s why nobody in purple and gold is getting too excited about the first quarter of the season, even after a second impressive win over the Lakers’ closest competitors in the Pacific Division. “No partying at all,” said Pau Gasol, who scored 14 points. “We understand we have so many home games together. I want to see us do this on the road in tougher situations against teams that are ready to play. Right now we’re in good shape, but we’ve still got a long way to go.” Two nights after Bryant banked in a 3-pointer at the buzzer in a one-point win over Miami, the Lakers didn’t need another lucky shot. They made a 15-1 run late in the third quarter keyed by Artest’s defense, holding Phoenix without a field goal for 3 1/2 minutes while jumping to a 23-point lead.

The well-rested Lakers improved to an NBA-best 16-3 with their second home win in 24 days over road-weary Phoenix, which got 18 points and eight rebounds from Stoudemire in its lowest-scoring game of the season. The result was almost predictable for a club playing its sixth game in six cities over the past 10 days, but Phoenix refused excuses after its third straight road loss by an average of more than 21 points. “They’re a little bit better than us right now,” said Steve Nash, who had 12 points and 10 assists while playing just 29 minutes and sitting out the fourth quarter along with Stoudemire and Grant Hill. “They’ve been playing together a little longer, and they’re bigger,” Nash added. “We’ve got some ground to make up. We’ve done well, but we’ve got a lot of work to do before we’re in they’re class, so it’s OK.” Los Angeles hasn’t played outside of California since Nov. 13, and two more dates still remain in a six-game homestand.
Bryant had nine points in the third quarter, including a 3-pointer that put the Lakers up by 21. The Suns trimmed the lead to 14 points in the fourth before Shannon Brown hit back-to-back 3-pointers, finishing with 12 points. “We kind of pushed ourselves into the win,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. “It was a good game for us defensively. Any time you hold Phoenix under 100 points, you know that you did good.” Los Angeles has met under fortunate circumstances twice this season. On Nov. 12, the rested Lakers beat Phoenix at home 121-102, one night after the Suns played a tough home game and just as they did Saturday night against Sacramento.

Lakers Dismantle Hawks

Kobe Bryant is quite familiar with the exquisite pain of playing against Ron Artest’s defense. He’s grateful that frustration now belongs to his opponents including Joe Johnson, the first top scorer to get locked down by the Lakers’ new defensive stopper. Bryant had 41 points and eight rebounds, Andrew Bynum added 21 points and Artest extinguished Johnson’s outstanding start in the Lakers’ 118-110 victory over the Hawks on Sunday night. Although Bryant took charge offensively while Los Angeles ran away with 18 consecutive points in the third quarter, Kobe directed the credit to Artest, who jumped into his defensive assignment after Johnson scored 18 points in the first quarter. “We picked up our intensity, and it all started with No. 37,” Bryant said of Artest. “He picked up the energy level defensively, and I told him the game was on him. I felt like the energy really changed the whole complexity of the game, and we all kind of rallied behind him.” Lamar Odom had 11 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists for the defending NBA champions, who bounced back from a loss to Dallas with an overwhelming second half in Atlanta’s first defeat. Bryant capped the 97th 40-point game of his career with eight points in the final minutes to hold off the Hawks’ last rally. “Joe started early, but Kobe is able to keep it going,” Bynum said. “He just made Kobe mad, which is not very smart.” Everybody just started playing kind of one-on-one, and that’s typical of a young team on the road. Everybody thinks they’ve got what it takes to get us back in the game.” The Lakers’ home loss to the Mavericks on Friday night left coach Phil Jackson concerned about everything from their pick-and-roll defense to their overall intensity. Jackson postulated that Los Angeles’ ring ceremony earlier in the week distracted from his team’s focus, and he wasn’t pleased by either of the Lakers’ last two practices. “We can’t complete a full game yet,” Jackson said. “Our focus isn’t there yet for a full game, obviously.”

Los Angeles also played its third straight game without forward Pau Gasol, who’s growing frustrated with the slow pace of his recovery after straining his right hamstring three weeks ago. But starting with a dunk by Bryant midway through the third quarter, the Lakers got into their ideal offensive flow for the first time this season while holding Atlanta scoreless for more than five minutes. The run was highlighted by a four-basket sequence that had the crowd on its feet. After Bryant made a graceful behind-the-back pass to Artest for a fast-break dunk, Odom threw an alley-oop pass to Bynum for another slam. Artest then got loose for a breakaway dunk, and Odom capped it with a midcourt steal and a pass to Bynum for an uncontested jam that put Los Angeles up 90-70. “That all goes back to Ron and what he was able to do with turnovers and deflections,” Odom said. “That’s going to be a big part of any success we have.” Bryant, Odom and Bynum all returned to the game after Atlanta trimmed a 24-point deficit to 14 midway through the fourth with help from rookie point guard Jeff Teague, who made another strong impression with 12 points in the final quarter of the Hawks’ fourth straight loss to the Lakers in Los Angeles.

Los Angeles Lakers Win 15th NBA Title

The Los Angeles Lakers have become the 2009 NBA Champions and in the process they won the 15th NBA chanmpionship for the Lakers brass. NBA Kobe Bryant jumped and punched the air. He did it again, seven years of pent up frustration freed in a fit of joy.  This was the one he wanted more than all the others.The one to top them all. One year after failing miserably in the finals against Boston, Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers found redemption. They finished a season they felt was theirs with a 99-86 win over the Orlando Magic on Sunday night in Game 5 to win the 15th NBA title in franchise history. For Bryant, this was the missing piece from his resume, his fourth championship and first without former teammate Shaquille O’Neal.“I don’t have to hear that criticism, that idiotic criticism anymore,” said Bryant, the finals MVP. “It was annoying.”

Lakers Bury Magic -- Watch Game 5 Highlights as Lakers Win 2009 NBA Finals

For Lakers coach Phil Jackson, this was title No. 10, moving him past legendary Celtics coach Red Auerbach for the most by a coach in league history.  “I’ll smoke a cigar in honor of Red,” Jackson said. “He was a great guy.”  For Pau Gasol. For Derek Fisher.   For Lamar Odom. For Trevor Ariza and for Andrew Bynum and the rest of the Lakers, this was a title to savor. “It’s a dream come true,” Gasol said. “The completion of a goal.”  Odom scored 17 points, Ariza had 15, Gasol 14 and 15 rebounds, and Fisher, whose two big 3s in Game 4 saved L.A., had 13 points. 

It took longer than Kobe expected, but he has stepped from Shaquille O’Neal’s enormous shadow—at last.  Bryant averaged 32.4 points, 7.4 assists, 5.6 rebounds and more than a dozen cold-blooded glares per game. He wasn’t out to make friends in these finals, he was out for redemption. Throughout the playoffs, he didn’t smile. He just snarled and bared his teeth.  “I was just completely locked in,” he said. “I was grumpy for a while and now I’m just ecstatic, like a kid in a candy store.”  O’Neal, who won three titles with Bryant before the pair had a major falling out, was glad to see his former teammate win another. “Congratulations Kobe, you deserve it,” O’Neal said on his Twitter page. “You played great. Enjoy it my man enjoy it.”  Bryant and Jackson, whose relationship strained and briefly snapped under the weight of success, are again at the top of their games.  Following the game, the pair shared a long embrace. Jackson, who once called Bryant “a selfish player” now sees the 30-year-old in a far different light. “He’s learned how to become a leader in a way in which people want to follow him,” Jackson said. “That’s really important for him to have learned that because he knew that he had to give to get back in return, and so he’s become a giver rather than just a guy that’s a demanding leader. That’s been great for him and great to watch.”

After the final horn, Bryant and his teammates bounced around the floor of Amway Arena. Moments later, Bryant swept his two daughters, both wearing gold Lakers dresses, into his arms.  It was just as he dreamed.  “It finally felt like a big old monkey was off my back,” he said. “It felt so good to be able to have this moment. For this moment to be here and to reflect back on the season and everything that you’ve been through, it’s top of the list, man.”  Bryant had come up short twice in the finals before, in 2004 with O’Neal against Detroit, and again last season against the Celtics in the renewal of the league’s best rivalry. The Lakers were beaten in six games, losing the finale in Boston by 39 points, a humiliating beat-down that Bryant and his teammates had trouble shaking. They went to training camp with one goal in mind. This was going to be their season, and except for a few minor missteps, it was. In the locker room afterward, Bryant made sure Jackson got a champagne shower. “He took his glasses off, threw his head back and soaked it all in because this is a special time,” Bryant said. “For us to be the team that got him that historic 10th championship is special for us.”

The Magic went just 8 of 27 from long range. When the game ended, Howard didn’t move. As his teammates headed to the locker room, Howard stayed on Orlando’s bench and watched as the Lakers celebrated on the Magic’s floor. Jameer Nelson Orlando’s point guard who came back for the finals after missing four months with a shoulder injury, finally joined him The two sat stunned. “What I just told Jameer is look at it, just see how they’re celebrating,” Howard said. “It should motivate us to want to get in the gym, want to get better.”  Orlando was trying to become the first team to overcome a 3-1 deficit in the finals. They had rallied to knock off Philadelphia and Boston, and then upset LeBron James and Cleveland in the conference finals. The Magic always felt they had a shot at history. Bryant, though, wouldn’t be denied his place. “They had an answer,” Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy said, “for everything.”  Look for the LA Lakers to come back next year and repeat!

Fisher Hits Big 3s to Give Lakers 3-1 Edge Over Magic in NBA Finals

In Game 4 of the NBA finals, Fisher may have topped it. Fisher hit two key 3-pointers—one with 4.6 seconds left in regulation, the other with 31.3 seconds to go in overtime—as the Los Angeles Lakers moved within one win of their 15th championship by beating the Orlando Magic 99-91 on Thursday night to open a 3-1 series lead.  To this day, it is referred to simply as 0.4, the last-second shot that first made Derek Fisher famous.   The 34-year-old Fisher, in his second stint with the Lakers after stops in Golden State and Utah, was best known for his turnaround fling with 0.4 seconds left in the 2004 playoffs against San Antonio. He’s got two more shots that rank right with it. “Maybe 100, 101, something like that,” the 13-year-veteran joked. “No, I mean, obviously, it’s at the top. You know, even greater than 0.4 because I feel like we’re as close as possible to what our end goal is.”

The Lakers can wrap up their first title since 2002 on Sunday in Game 5. If necessary, Games 6 and 7 would be back in Los Angeles at Staples Center.The only way the Lakers, who overcame a 12-point halftime deficit in Game 4 and improved to 7-0 after a playoff loss, can be denied a crown is if they lose three straight.  That hasn’t happened all season.  The Magic, commandos of the comeback in the postseason, need a rally for the ages. No team has ever come back from a 3-1 deficit to win the finals.  “There’s no reason for us to hold our heads down,” Orlando center Dwight Howard said. “We will believe until there’s no more games to be played.”

Watch Lakers vs Magic Game 4 Highlights -- 2009 NBA Finals -- Lakers win 99-91 in OT -- Jalen Rose on ESPN

Howard was magnificent everywhere but at the free-throw line. He scored 16 points with 21 rebounds and a finals-record nine blocks. But he made just 6 of 14 foul shots, and it was his two crucial misses with 11.1 seconds to go in regulation that doomed the Magic. Orlando missed 15 free throws. “I just missed them,” Howard said. “I’ve been working on my free throws. They just weren’t falling tonight.” After Howard’s late misses, Fisher pulled up and without hesitating dropped a 3-pointer over Orlando’s Jameer Nelson with 4.6 seconds left to tie it at 87— and silenced the home crowd.“I just sensed that was the dagger,” Fisher said. “That was the one that would put us in a position to close out the game—even though the game wasn’t over.”  Before the first of his two big 3s, Fisher had missed his first five. “He’s been there before,” said Kobe Bryant, who had 32 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. “He has been there and done that. That’s Derek. He just has supreme confidence and I think those shots at the end of the game are actually easier for him than the other ones.”

At the end of regulation, Orlando had one final try. The Magic inbounded the ball to Mickael Pietrus, but his long and contested jumper was off.  Bryant scored two quick baskets in the overtime, and Howard tied it when he split two free throws with 1:27 remaining.  On L.A.’s next trip, Trevor Ariza grabbed his own miss to get another 24 seconds and Fisher lined up and drilled his 3-pointer from the top of the key to make it 94-91.  As he retreated down court and Orlando called a timeout, the Lakers bench stormed onto the court and surrounded the popular Fisher, who felt obliged to come through.“  I have a responsibility to my team that if I’m going to be on the floor, then I have to make a difference,” he said. “None of us can continue to expect that Kobe is going to save us.”

In NBA finals history, only two players have made more 3s than Fisher’s 40: “It’s character,” said Lakers coach Phil Jackson, a victory away from a record 10th NBA championship ring. “We’ve always said the character has got to be in players if they are going to be great players. You just can’t draft it.”  Ariza and Pau Gasol each had 16 for Los Angeles. Ariza, traded by Orlando to L.A. in 2007, had 13 of the Lakers’ 30 points in the third quarter.  With his team up by three at the end of regulation, Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy felt it was too early to foul the Lakers. With his team missing free throws, he didn’t want to get into a foul-shooting contest.  Later, he regretted the decision. “That one will haunt me forever,” he said. The Lakers spent the first half in foul trouble, and left the floor at halftime down 49-37. They came back a different team. “On a championship run, you’re going to have moments where you make big plays,” Bryant said. “And tonight was one of them.”

Lakers Blow Out Magic to Take Game One in NBA Finals

Kobe Bryant goes for 40 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists as Lakers blow out the Magic Game 1 of the NBA Finals.  The Los Angeles Lakers and Kobe Bryant has waited a year, a long year, for another chance at NBA title. He’s not about to let this one slip away.  The Olympic gold medal was nice. Not nearly enough.

After losing the NBA finals last year, anything short of a 15th title will do for the Lakers.  And with the sensational Bryant out front, they may be on their way.  The last time the Lakers were seen in the Finals, they were heading toward their locker room in Boston last June and summer break after being drubbed by 39 points in a series-ending Game 6 by the Celtics. The renewed rivalry between the league’s superpowers never panned out

Bryant and his teammates have used that humiliation to motivate them all season and throughout these playoffs. They are on a mission. The Magic, who went 2-0 against the Lakers in the regular season, appeared a touch overwhelmed in their first Finals appearance since 1995.  Orlando center Dwight Howard was engulfed by two and three Lakers every time he touched the ball and scored 12 points — 10 on free throws — on just 1-of-6 shooting.  And the Magic’s outside shooters, so deadly while eliminating MVP LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the conference finals, and were off the mark.  The Magic went just 8-of-23 on 3s and shot only 30 percent overall.”We’ve never had a shooting night this bad,” Howard said. “We’ve just got to come out and play a lot harder than we did tonight.”Orlando is facing some daunting odds, too.

Lakers coach Phil Jackson, seeking a record 10th title, is 43-0 in series in which his team wins Game 1.Bryant, who added eight rebounds and eight assists, knows the Magic are still dangerous.

Lakers Bury Denver and Head Back to NBA Finals

One-half of the Kobe-LeBron dream matchup is set. Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers are in the NBA Finals for the second straight year and record 30th time overall.  Bryant and the Lakers dispatched Carmelo Anthony and the pesky Denver Nuggets with a 119-92 victory in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals on Friday night.

“We saved our best game for last here, or maybe we caught our opponent a little bit off stride,” said Lakers coach Phil Jackson, who gets a shot at his record 10th title.  Bryant had 35 points and 10 assists and got plenty of scoring help from Trevor Ariza, Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom as the Lakers shot 57.3 percent from the field to avoid having to play a Game 7 back at the Staples Center.

They will finally get some much-needed rest after playing every other day for a grueling two weeks.  These Los Angeles Lakers, who are seeking their 15th title, are a more grizzled group — but also more bruised and battered — than the one that fell to Boston in the finals last year.  “Now we’re in a place where we didn’t get the job accomplished last year,” Bryant said. “Hopefully we will this time.”

Instead of cruising through the West this time, the Lakers survived an arduous seven-game semifinal series against Houston and another test against Denver. “It’s been a physical march all the way back to the finals, every series has been tough,” Bryant said.  The Magic lead 3-2 and can clinch the Eastern Conference finals on Saturday night at home in Game 6 and prevent that Kobe-LeBron matchup that has basketball fans and corporate sponsors atwitter.

The finals begin Thursday, at Los Angeles if Orlando wins, and at Cleveland if the Cavaliers prevail.

Anthony led the Nuggets with 25 points and J.R. Smith added 24, but Denver trailed for all but a few seconds and never mounted a serious charge after halftime, although they kept hitting 3-pointers, finishing 8-of-19 from beyond the arc.This was the Nuggets’ eighth consecutive loss in a playoff elimination game.

Odom and Gasol both scored 20 points and Ariza had 17, and the Lakers made all 24 of their free throws and were 9-of-16 on 3s.  “We are really tough to beat because we’re using all our weapons, not focusing on Kobe or myself,” said Gasol, who had 12 rebounds and six assists. “We have a really good team and need to use everybody. That is how we are going to win it. The Lakers might very well have been swept by the energetic Nuggets if veterans Anthony Carter and Kenyon Martin hadn’t botched inbounds passes in the final seconds of Games 1 and 3, respectively.

Bryant didn’t wait for the fourth quarter Friday night to give the Nuggets, who had posted eight postseason blowouts, a taste of their own medicine.  He scored 11 points in a decisive 21-7 run that gave the Lakers a 53-40 halftime lead, took the buzz out of the Pepsi Center and the air out of the Nuggets.”We had the effort and the execution to match,” Bryant said. “It took us a while to really get a feel for the team, just how to take advantage of the defense. We saw something how they were playing us and we executed extremely well.”  Bryant started his run with two free throws, then hit a jumper over Smith. After Ariza’s 3-pointer, Bryant made baskets over Anthony from the left and right corners on the next two possessions, then capped the run with a dagger — a 3-pointer with 4.1 seconds left following Gasol’s offensive rebound.

The Nuggets trimmed their deficit to 79-67 but the Lakers replied with a 9-0 run to restore their stranglehold. Bryant scored seven straight points, including a 3-pointer that made it 101-82.  “He had a great five minutes at the end of the game that no one in basketball could have covered him,” Nuggets coach George Karl lamented.  Karl likes the Lakers in the finals no matter if it’s Kobe-LeBron or Kobe-Superman.

“I saw little cracks in the Lakers and somehow we’ve cemented those cracks back up, and I think they’re the best team right now in the NBA,” he said. The Nuggets thought they had the Lakers right where they wanted them after stealing Game 2 in Los Angeles, but they quickly gave the homecourt edge back on Martin’s botched inbounds in Game 3 that cost them their first loss at the Pepsi Center since March 9.

After winning 16 straight games at home, the Nuggets lost two of three there in their first trip to the conference finals in 24 years.

Chauncey Billups, whose acquisition from Detroit for Allen Iverson in early November, transformed the Nuggets from afterthoughts to contenders, said, “I’ll never forget this year. But this is not as far as I want to go.”

Jackson thinks these Nuggets, with their top five scorers returning next season, have arrived as an elite team.”They thrashed a lot of opponents in the Western Conference playoffs,” Jackson said. “And their physicality and athleticism and their scoring ability is remarkable.”

Bryant concurred, suggesting the Nuggets helped the Lakers play to their potential. “Denver is a great team, very skilled at all positions,” he said. “Strong inside. Strong on the perimeter. Huge problem for us. And because of that, we had to elevate our level as a unit. And if we didn’t do that, we’d be going home early.”

Odom & Kobe Step Up to Beat Denver in Game 5

Kobe Bryant came through once again in the fourth quarter to beat Denver and take a 3-2 series lead.  As Kobe passed the ball, Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol dominated the paint.

With Bryant luring double coverage then passing to his teammates, the Lakers owned the fourth quarter in a 103-94 victory Wednesday night that gave them a 3-2 lead in the Western Conference finals.

Watch Lakers Highlights Game 5>

Bryant scored 22 points — on just 13 shots — Odom had 19 points and 14 rebounds despite an aching lower back and Gasol added 14 points and 10 rebounds.  “It was a big gamble for me coming in, but I wanted to change my approach this game and be more of a decoy,” Bryant said after adding eight assists, several out of double-teams in the fourth quarter. “The past couple games they really were loading to my side and I figured I could be a decoy and try to give chances to my teammates.”

Game 6 is Friday in Denver, where the Lakers lost Game 4 by 19 points  “That place is going to be rocking and rolling,” Bryant said. “We have to stay focused and poised and try to cut them up. Be cold-blooded, go out there and execute.”  So it all came down to the final 12 minutes.

Bryant, Odom and Gasol teamed for all but seven of the Lakers’ 27 points in the fourth. They opened on an 11-0 run for their first lead of the second half and it was capped by Shannon Brown’s jumper that beat the shot clock. “He came in, gave us a huge spark and that’s what you need,” Bryant said of Brown. “It’s about who controls momentum.”

“This Lakers group is really connected,” Jackson said. “They’re driven and they’re motivated to get to where we were last year to give us a chance to win.”

Denver twice led by seven points in the third quarter only to see the Lakers tie it at 76 on a 3-pointer by Bryant to end the period.  In a first half featuring 13 ties, the teams ended up even after both the first and second quarters.

Bryant Has Big 4th and Lakers Beat Nuggets in Game 1

Kobe Bryant scored 40 points, including six free throws in the final 30 seconds, to elevate the Los Angeles Lakers to a 105-103 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night after the LA Lakers were behind most of the game.  Pau Gasol chipped in for 13 points and 14 rebounds and Derek Fisher had 13 points for the Lakers, who faced a seven-point deficit in the fourth quarter.

Gasol’s two free throws tied the game for the last time at 99 before Bryant went to the line, offsetting a 3-pointer by Chauncey Billups and a free throw by J.R. Smith.  Carmelo Anthony scored 39 points, Billups added 18 and Kenyon Martin had 15 for the Nuggets, who hadn’t played since taking care of Dallas in five games last Wednesday.

Kobe Bryant for a One-Handed Dunk!

                  1.  2   3   4    T

DEN (8-3)  31 23 22 27 103

LAL  (9-4)  23 32 19 31 105

Los Angeles Lakers Win Game 7 Beating Rockets

With Pau Gasol dominating on both ends of the court, the Los Angeles Lakers emphatically silenced the doubters and the Houston Rockets, winning the decisive final game of the Western Conference semifinals 89-70 on Sunday.  Playing with emotion, Gasol scored 21 points and grabbed 18 rebounds. The Lakers looked like the conference’s top-seeded team, not the maddeningly inconsistent one that was pushed to the limit by the undermanned, smaller Rockets.

Trying to reach the NBA finals for the second straight year, the Lakers host the opener of the conference finals against the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night. The Lakers have been so up and down in this series that coach Phil Jackson said before Game 5 that they had a little bit of Jekyll and Hyde in them. That was the night the Lakers raced to a 40-point win at home, only to follow it up two nights later with a 15-point loss, the second straight game they were blind-sided in Houston.

There are any number of theories as to why the Lakers have had a split personality. Asked what the Lakers learned from this series, Kobe Bryant cracked: “That we’re bipolar.” Added Lamar Odom: “To make it interesting. It’s Hollywood, you know.”  It turns out that home-court advantage and a smothering defense were all it took to jump-start the Lakers, who made sure they didn’t choke this one away against the No. 5 seed.

The Lakers dominated the paint on both ends, forcing the Rockets into turnovers and bad shots. They owned the backboards, taking a 55-33 advantage, and blocked 10 shots. They had an 8-0 lead a few minutes in and widened it to 25 points on Gasol’s jump hook shortly before halftime.  After the game, Bryant patted Gasol on the shoulder and offered words of congratulations.  “I was just proud of the way he played,” Bryant said. “He answered the challenge and he played like one of the best players in the world. I was just excited for him.”  Gasol kept Rockets point guard Aaron Brooks from penetrating, as he did often in this series. The Spaniard had 12 defensive rebounds and swatted away three shots. “We all know what he can do offensively. I just felt like defensively, he had a superb game,” Bryant said.

                   1   2   3  4   T

HOU (7-6)   12 19 19 20 70

LAL  (8-4)   22 29 18 20 89

Kobe and Lakers Rattle Jazz and Go Up 3 to 1 in Series

Kobe Bryant led the Lakers to an easy win over the Utah Jazz and go up 3 to 1 in Series.  Mr. Bryant scored Los Angeles’ first 11 points and once his teammates joined in, the Lakers overwhelmed the Jazz 108-94 on Saturday night and moved within one game of advancing to the second round “It was important for me to come out and be a little more assertive,” said Bryant, who scored 38 two nights after one of his worst shooting games in years.  Bryant went 16-for-24, erasing any memories of his 5-for-24 night Thursday in the Lakers’ only loss of the series.  “We never could get close enough to guard him,” Utah coach Jerry Sloan said. “I think he put everyone on his back and got them off to the way they wanted to play.”  He scored in double figures in each of the first three quarters and more than doubled his scoring from Game 4.  “Coming off that semi-bad performance — that horrible performance I had in that last game,” Bryant said with a grin, “it feels good to respond with a game like this.”  Lamar Odom had 10 points and 15 rebounds and Pau Gasol added 13 points for the Lakers, who host Game 5 on Monday night.

The Lakers staggered the Jazz with 40 points in the second quarter, and then completed the knockout in the third with defense, holding Utah to just 16 points. The Utah Jazz hurt themselves by going 2-for-6 from the foul line and were outrebounded 15-8 and the Lakers stretched the lead to 19.  “We put two quarters together tonight in the middle of the game that gave us some advantage and we were able to walk this one home,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson said.  Utah got within five twice early in the third, then Bryant and the Lakers smothered the comeback. Bryant scored six during an 8-2 run, hitting two jumpers and adding two free throws to put the Lakers up 72-61 with 7:54 left in the period.  “He came out extremely aggressive,” Gasol said. “You could tell he was ready to leave that Game 3 behind.”  Gasol and Odom shut down the lane, keeping the Jazz from establish much inside. When the Jazz did get down low, they missed and didn’t get the foul calls they wanted. “We thought we’d put a better effort forward tonight,” Williams said. “I was kind of disappointed in the way we came out and disappointed our fans a little bit.”  Utah’s usually-rowdy fans were leaving throughout the fourth quarter of what may well have been the final home game of the season. The Lakers first silenced the crowd in the second period, making 12 of their first 18 shots and finished the period 14-for-20, outscoring the Jazz 40-28 while taking a 60-53 halftime lead.

Luke Walton, Sasha Vujacic and Shannon Brown made consecutive 3-pointers for the Lakers during a 9-2 spurt that put Los Angeles ahead 36-34 while Bryant rested on the bench. Bryant returned with 7:02 left in the second and led the Lakers on a 7-2 run, slipping in a reverse layup after a turnover to put the Lakers ahead 43-36 and prompting a timeout by Utah with 5:10 left.  “He was hot right off the bat and continued his onslaught basically during the course of the half,” Jackson said. Utah managed to cut it to 60-53 at halftime. Williams made two foul shots with 3.9 seconds left, then Boozer tipped Walton’s long inbounds pass back to Williams, who drove for a layup and drew a foul on Walton with 0.2 seconds left. Williams made the free throw and the Lakers’ lead was down to seven points after standing at 12 just four seconds earlier.

Center Mehmet Okur returned for Utah in his first game since straining his right hamstring April 13 and was obviously rusty after the layoff, finishing with two rebounds and no points.

Utah lost the first two games of the series in Los Angeles and went 0-3 there last year in the second round when the Lakers knocked out the Jazz in six games. “The series is not over. We’ve still got a little hope,” Williams said. “We know it’s going to be tough to win 3 in a row against these guys, but we should be playing free and loose.”