The Lakers were caught again in a close game, but they were able to close out the fourth despite being down by 3 points at the beginning of the quarter. There were numerous lead changes and game ties, and flashbacks of the game the prior night gave them the motivation to push through the deficit and win the game in Oakland. And even with some injuries to some significant players on both teams, it was still a high scoring game.Kobe again effortlessly scored an easy 21pts, 5rebs, and 5asts. But it was Purple Spain who redeemed himself from last night's poor performance. Pau put up a monstrous 33pts, and a career high 18 rebounds, and 8 of them were offensive. I think he even dislocated Brandan Wright's shoulder as Pau dunked through his arm. Bynum also had some anger to release with another double-double of 18pts, and 11rebs.
Ariza was 6-10 from the field and chipped in 17pts and 9rebs. Ariza a knockdown shooter? Sasha had 12pts but was only 3 for 13 from the field and only hit two 3-pointers from 8 attempts. VladRad was a bagel.
There was a Sun Yue sighting, but after 3mins with a turnover and a block, he never set foot on the floor again. I will say that Josh Powel impressed me last night. Despite having only 4pts and 4rebs, they weren't easy rebounds to begin with.Though only scoring 12pts, Andris Biedrins also had 17rebs, 8asts, 3stls, and 3blks. So much for limiting his rebounds. Jamal Crawford added 25pts and 9asts but had to throw up 26 shots to get those points. Corey Maggette who seemed to never miss had 19pts and 6rebs, but fouled out in the fourth quarter.
The Difference in this game was the Lakers' 51 rebounds, and 27 made free throws. And even though the refs let the guys play through some physical play(especially the no-calls on Kobe), the Lakers were able to get to the line. Up next is some revenge as the Lakers host the Indiana Pacers.
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