February 24th: Kobe, Lakers thrilled after crushing Kings. No trade moves for the Lakers.

 
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Phil
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 24, 2006 12:53 am    Post subject: February 24th: Kobe, Lakers thrilled after crushing Kings. No trade moves for the Lakers.

Kobe, Lakers thrilled after crushing Kings

Artest can't slow Bryant, who scores 36 points in 106-85 victory
KINGS LAKERS BASKETBALL
Mark J. Terrill / AP


Updated: 3:16 a.m. ET Feb. 24, 2006

LOS ANGELES - For a while there, it was just like old times for the Los Angeles Lakers.

And veterans Kobe Bryant and Devean George were right in the middle of things.

Bryant and George, key members of the Lakers’ three championship teams from 2000-02, scored nine points each during an 18-3 fourth-quarter run that propelled the Lakers to a 106-85 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Thursday night.

With Bryant watching from the bench with four fouls, the Kings scored the last seven points of the third quarter to cut the Lakers’ lead to 77-72. That’s when the game-turning spurt began.

“It felt great tonight,” said Bryant, who led the way with 36 points. “The energy was just tremendous. After we would get a steal, get a stop, we would come down, score, and be hungry for another stop, another steal. It just kept snowballing, and we continued to step up our aggression level.”


Last edited by Phil on Mon Feb 27, 2006 7:10 pm; edited 2 times in total
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Phil
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 24, 2006 12:58 am    Post subject:

Lakers Pull Away in Home Stretch
Bryant, Odom spark a big fourth quarter in a 106-85 victory over the Kings that increases L.A.'s cushion for the final playoff spot.
By Mike Bresnahan, Times Staff Writer
February 24 2006

The Lakers could get used to this, winning another home game, leaning on another strong effort from Lamar Odom and brushing back the latest self-ordained Kobe Stopper, all in the name of creating more space between them and the field for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Now onto something with consecutive home victories for the first time in almost a month, the Lakers stuck it to an old rival, the Sacramento Kings, and Bryant got the best of a newer one, Ron Artest, in a 106-85 Laker victory Thursday at Staples Center.

A 15-point Laker lead was knocked down to five before the start of the fourth quarter, but Bryant, Odom and Devean George put the Lakers back in control of the game, and the standings, where they moved two games ahead of Utah and 3 1/2 up on Sacramento with 28 left in a Laker regular season showing signs of life.

Bryant had 36 points on 14-for-27 shooting, to go with six rebounds and a season-high 10 assists. Odom had another worthy game — 19 points, nine assists, six rebounds — and George had 15 points, nine in the fourth quarter.

Suddenly, home is where the smart is, with the Laker offense looking fluid and flawless and the defense standing up straight while holding the Kings to 13 fourth-quarter points.

"We want to build a momentum," Laker Coach Phil Jackson said. "Now's the time to do it."
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Phil
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 24, 2006 6:47 am    Post subject:

Deadline Passes With No Activity
By Mike Bresnahan, Times Staff Writer
February 24 2006

Lamar Odom walked to his locker, which still had his name on it, and threw on a jersey belonging to the Lakers, who were still his employers after the trade deadline came and went Thursday afternoon without any Laker activity.

Mentioned in some legitimate trade discussions, and also in a fair share of off-the-wall rumors, Odom ended up staying put, resuming his job description as the facilitator of Phil Jackson's triangle offense.

"I don't worry about it," Odom said of the trade winds. "It can happen to anybody. There's only a couple players that are never going to get traded. I'm secure with my position, my ability. You can't wake up every day thinking about that."

Just the same, Laker General Manager Mitch Kupchak felt the need to call Odom to dispel a rumor last week that he would be traded to Orlando for Steve Francis.


Last edited by Phil on Sat Feb 25, 2006 9:18 am; edited 1 time in total
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 24, 2006 6:49 am    Post subject:

Lakers get final word this time
Outscore Sacramento 29-13 in fourth quarter in rout of Pacific rival
By Ross Siler, Staff Writer


Kobe Bryant dunks over Brad Miller of the Sacramento Kings during the game at Staples Center in Los Angeles Thursday evening. (Tom Mendoza / Staff photographer)
Photo Gallery: Lakers vs. Kings
On his first day with the Sacramento Kings, Ron Artest explained to reporters that he chose to wear the No. 93 because if you stared at the numbers long enough, it somehow looked like "infinite intensity."

If you stared at the court long enough in the fourth quarter Thursday night, at the tidal wave that swept away Artest and the Kings, you might have come to the same conclusion about the Lakers.

The Lakers wiped out the Kings 29-13 in the fourth quarter, turning what had been a five-point game into a 106-85 rout at Staples Center, as Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom and Devean George proved a combination to be reckoned with.

"It felt great," Bryant said. "The energy was just tremendous. After we'd get a steal, get a stop, come down and score, we were hungry for another stop or another steal. It just kept snowballing. We continued to step up our aggression level."

None of the three - Bryant, Odom or George - is older than 28. On the NBA's seventh youngest team, though, they will be counted on to lead the Lakers (28-26) these final two months of the season.
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Phil
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 24, 2006 6:53 am    Post subject:

Lakers notes: Kupchak stands pat
By Ross Siler, Staff Writer

Whatever moves, if any, that are in store for the Lakers will have to wait until July.

The NBA's trade deadline came and went Thursday without the Lakers acquiring a player, a decision that preserves the team's future salary-cap and roster flexibility but does nothing to improve this season's playoff fortunes.

"All I can say is compared to years past, we were more aggressive, and that's a two-way street," general manager Mitch Kupchak said. "You can be aggressive, but if you don't have something other teams want, it doesn't really matter.

"What was unusual from the past was we got as many calls as we made, which indicates to us that we have a lot of young players that are attractive to teams at certain levels."

Both Kupchak and coach Phil Jackson downplayed the likelihood of a trade leading up to the deadline. Jackson said he thought an acquisition could have helped, but he didn't want to part with any of the Lakers' young players.

The Lakers long-term project to be far enough under the salary cap to offer a maximum free-agent contract as early as summer 2007, after the contract of former player Brian Grant expires.

"People are getting rid of salaries and assuming salaries and dumping salaries to get under the cap," Jackson said. "In the process of trying to strengthen your team, and to assume players that are going to limit what you can do this summer, is just not good advice and not good opportunity."
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Phil
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 24, 2006 6:56 am    Post subject:

Kobe gets plenty of help

Lakers 106, Kings 85: Odom and George step up in a rout of Sacramento.

12:44 AM PST on Friday, February 24, 2006

By BRODERICK TURNER / The Press-Enterprise

LOS ANGELES - The Lakers took stock of themselves at the All-Star break and concluded that they must sustain a solid effort and play with energy in their final 30 games.
Carrie Rosema / The Press-Enterprise
The Lakers' Devean George and the Kings' Ron Artest struggle for the ball during Thursday's game at Staples Center.

The Lakers played with a single purpose Thursday, following the lead of veterans Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom and key reserve Devean George.

In the Lakers' 106-85 victory over the Sacramento Kings before 18,997 fans at Staples Center, those players showed their teammates the drive that will be needed in the push for the playoffs.

"Devean had a good game off the bench," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "Lamar, Kobe played well."

Bryant had 36 points, a season-high 10 assists and six rebounds.

Odom had 19 points, nine assists and six rebounds.

George had 19 points and nine rebounds. His highlight came in the fourth quarter when he leaped in the air and grabbed a rebound with his left hand, quickly bounded back up in the air and threw down a right-handed dunk.

George, who hung and twisted on the rim, was called for a technical foul.

"Those guys (Bryant and Odom) are out there and are going to run the starting unit," said George, who was 6 for 10 from the field, 2 for 2 from three-point range. "He (Jackson) wants me to kind of come off the bench and help the guys and bring something to our second unit so that we kind of have a little bit of a balance, and we've been doing that well the last few games."
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 24, 2006 6:58 am    Post subject:

Notebook: No deals for Lakers

12:40 AM PST on Friday, February 24, 2006

Broderick Turner

LOS ANGELES - The trading deadline came and went Thursday, and the Lakers stood still.
Carrie Rosema / The Press-Enterprise
The Lakers' Lamar Odom goes up for a shot as the Kings' Ron Artest (left) tries to make the block during Thursday's game.

Lakers coach Phil Jackson said the team had some deals that were close, but nothing happened.

Lamar Odom heard his name come up in rumors that had him going to New York and Orlando.

The Lakers denied those deals were ever going to take place.

Odom admitted that the subject came up in his house, but that he didn't let it affect him.

"It's something that crosses your mind," Odom said. "But it's only about two or three players in that NBA that are not tradable. ... You can play your best basketball and get traded."

Jackson said Odom never had anything to worry about.

"We assured him that he wasn't going to be traded," Jackson said. "Were those New York people talking to him? Maybe they said he was coming home. ... The grapevine is very deep."
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 24, 2006 7:00 am    Post subject:

Artest makes a difference

12:38 AM PST on Friday, February 24, 2006

GREGG PATTON

LOS ANGELES - The Sacramento Kings got him and the Lakers didn't.

No matter what you may think of Ron Artest, that basketball bad boy of a distraction of a problem waiting to happen was a much sought after basketball player when his welcome expired in Indianapolis one month into the season.

He is making the Kings better today, just as he would have made the Lakers better.

The question, of course, will always be: For how long?

The first 13 games into his new life in Sacramento, the Kings are 7-6 and feeling as if the really good stuff hadn't been tapped yet.

"I'm still trying to figure out the best way to use him," said Kings coach Rick Adelman before his team was beaten 106-85 by Lakers at Staples Center Thursday night. "He gives us a lot more options than we had before."

For all of the baggage he brings with him, including the five-month suspension for his notorious crowd-crashing episode in Detroit last season, Artest has a game to die for. That is, the Kings will never stop wondering if it's a fatal attraction.
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 24, 2006 7:05 am    Post subject:

Different fans

By ART THOMPSON III
The Orange County Register


Darrell Bailey of Los Angeles considers himself the Clippers’ No. 1 fan. ‘Laker fans are bourgeoisie,’ Bailey says of the difference in crowds.

MARK AVERY, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

LOS ANGELES – It is the middle of the first quarter. The bowl of Staples Center is half-filled, but the mezzanine level is thick with traffic. The club scene is abuzz as the meet-and-greet crowd is here, exchanging hugs, punching new numbers into their cell phones, plotting the after-hours plans.

It is a Lakers game, where the most pressing question is likely not who is Kobe Bryant's next hapless opponent but rather how long the mingling should continue until fans make their way to the seats.

"Laker games are great, although the people like to get here real late," Lakers guard-forward Luke Walton said. "But that's the whole thing with the Lakers. The energy is great, although they're a little slow to start the game. Every time I've had friends come from out of town for the games, they're more excited about the celebrities that they saw than the actual game. L.A. is one of the biggest cities in the world and the Lakers are definitely L.A's team."
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