March 20th: Lakers lose another close one. LA Lakers 105, Boston 97

 
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Phil
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 6:17 am    Post subject: March 20th: Lakers lose another close one. LA Lakers 105, Boston 97

Bryant can't erase Lakers' mistakes

Cavaliers 96, Lakers 95: His buzzer-beater misses for a 2nd straight game. LA blows a lead of 18.

12:54 AM PST on Monday, March 20, 2006

By BRODERICK TURNER / The Press-Enterprise

CLEVELAND - The same evidence keeps popping up, showing the Lakers unable to handle pressure situations, suggesting they haven't learned from their mistakes and that they fail in the clutch.

The Lakers' defense disappeared again in Sunday's 96-95 loss to Cleveland: Two big leads slipped away, and they committed a foul in the final seconds of a tie game to give the Cavaliers the winning free throw.
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A final timeout that could have set up a better play wasn't called. And after Kobe Bryant couldn't save the Lakers again, missing a long three-pointer at the buzzer for the second straight game, they were again left to ponder what kind of team they are.

"The game was really in our own hands and (we) led for 45 minutes of that ballgame," said Lakers coach Phil Jackson, whose team has lost four of five. "There was really a basic collapse defensively by our team in the fourth quarter."


Last edited by Phil on Mon Mar 20, 2006 7:11 pm; edited 4 times in total
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Phil
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 6:18 am    Post subject:

Another Lost, Weak End for the Lakers
They crumble down the stretch again as Cavaliers go on a 15-0 fourth-quarter run and beat them, 96-95.
By Mike Bresnahan, Times Staff Writer
March 20, 2006

CLEVELAND — Billed as LeBron versus Kobe, it turned into Lakers versus themselves, as it has so often this season.

The team that never runs out of ways to lose managed to top itself Sunday, falling to the Cleveland Cavaliers, 96-95, after allowing a late 15-0 run at Quicken Loans Arena.

The game belonged to the Lakers, and then it didn't, as their defense crumbled, Ronald "Flip" Murray became a home-team hero, and the losers were yanked back to .500 for the 10th time this season.

Kobe Bryant showed his frustration on the court and Lamar Odom called the loss "weak basketball." He got little argument after a cozy 91-80 Laker lead was flipped into a numbing 95-91 deficit with 2:32 to play.

Total time elapsed, from start to end of the Cavalier run: A quick, stunning 3:06.

"We blew another one," forward Luke Walton said. "Same as after the New Jersey game — we've got to find a way to win these games or we're going to be done April 19."
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Phil
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 6:19 am    Post subject:

Lakers run into another dead end
By Ross Siler, Staff Writer

CLEVELAND - There was nothing left for anyone to say, not after the most staggering collapse of the Lakers' season, but the first thing that made sense came out of forward Luke Walton's mouth.

"That's a 48-minute game," Walton said. "We didn't lose because I didn't call a timeout. There's a lot of things we did bad."

In fact, the Lakers lost Sunday to the Cleveland Cavaliers simply because they always seem to be in these games. Not that the afternoon's final image of Kobe Bryant motioning to Walton that he should have called a timeout was any easier to shake.

The final score was 96-95 and what happened in the fourth quarter was stunning. The Lakers led by 11 points with six minutes remaining, only to give up a 15-0 run to the Cavaliers, who had trailed the entire afternoon.

Even after that, the Lakers had a chance to win in the final minute but couldn't get a call at either end of the court to go their way. They still weren't finished until they botched an end-game play for the second time on this road trip.
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Phil
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 6:21 am    Post subject:

Bryant looks for an assist
The weary star and his teammates let a big lead slip away against Cleveland.

By KEVIN DING
The Orange County Register

CLEVELAND – The plan, agreed upon by coach and superstar before the season, was that the superstar would carry much of the team's load, giving younger teammates time and space to learn and grow under the coach's tutelage.

Both coach and superstar now agree that it's time for teammates to do more, in part because the superstar's knee hurts and he seems so mentally worn down he's forgetting how much time is on the clock.

Yet what Phil Jackson, Kobe Bryant and the Lakers are finding is that it's not easy to create a new team identity late in the season just because they'd like to. The Lakers remained an inconsistent, indistinct entity Sunday, blowing a 15-point fourth-quarter lead and losing to the Cleveland Cavaliers, 96-95.

"He (Jackson) said he's disappointed in us," Lakers forward Luke Walton said. "And we're disappointed in ourselves. It's another game we let slip away."
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Phil
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 6:22 am    Post subject:

Cavs flip storyline on L.A.
By Brian Windhorst
Beacon Journal sportswriter

CLEVELAND - Sunday was kids day at Quicken Loans Arena, a promotion in conjunction with the release of a new children's card game by the Cavaliers ownership group.

Forget the marketing, the tots were treated to a life lesson on the basketball court: Turnabout is fair play.

A few months after a biting one-point loss to the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center on national television and a week after blowing a huge second-half lead on national television, the Cavs tried to right a couple of their wrongs Sunday... on national television. Overcoming a massive second-half deficit, the Cavs edged the Lakers, 96-95.

The first half belonged to the Lakers (34-34), the second to the Cavs (38-29), and it led to an intense final minute. At times this season, the Cavs have failed to come through in these situations, the loss to the Lakers being the first of three tight losses on a West Coast trip in January.

Lately they've found a way and Sunday was no different.
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 6:24 am    Post subject:

Odom doesn't get the call
By Ross Siler, Staff Writer

CLEVELAND - If he could have just gotten a call against Zydrunas Ilgauskas on that play with 8.9 seconds left Sunday, Lamar Odom might have been celebrated for having a breakthrough game.

Odom carried the Lakers in the second half with Kobe Bryant struggling, driving for three-point plays and finishing on the fastbreak. Odom totaled 25 points, nine assists and eight rebounds and played a marathon 47:12 in all.

The past five games, Odom is averaging 21.6 points, 8.4 rebounds and 7.2 assists while shooting 40 of 62 (64.6 percent) and making 10 of 17 3-pointers.

"I know the skills that I possess and what I can do on the court when I'm playing my game," Odom said. "Just keep going, keep at it. I want to play in the playoffs, you know what I'm saying?"

Odom had a chance to make the winning basket, but couldn't even get a foul call against Ilgauskas as he spun past LeBron James and went up around the rim.

"I thought it was a tough move," Odom said. "I thought it was strong. It wasn't weak. But they didn't call it."
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 6:25 am    Post subject:

Odom peaking

Broderick Turner

12:49 AM PST on Monday, March 20, 2006

CLEVELAND - For just over two weeks, Lamar Odom has played his best basketball of the season.
AP photo
Kobe Bryant is double-teamed by Cleveland's Eric Snow and Flip Murray during the fourth quarter of Sunday's 96-95 loss. The Cavs harassed Bryant into missing 13 of 18 shots in the second half.

It could even be argued that Odom has been the Lakers' best player over a nine-game span.

His focus and concentration have been unwavering because Odom doesn't want to sit out another postseason.

Odom continued his great play Sunday, scoring 25 points with nine assists and eight rebounds while playing all but 48 seconds against Cleveland.

"I want to play in the playoffs," Odom said. "I don't want to be sitting at home and they're saying, 'Well, Lamar didn't do enough.' When we lose, especially when I don't feel like I played the game I should have played and my man is getting 36 points ... I don't rest easy."

"When we lose, in general, I don't rest easy," he added.
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 6:29 am    Post subject:

Lakers display own gag reflex
Monday, March 20, 2006
Burt Graeff
Plain Dealer Reporter

The Cavaliers are not the only NBA team capable of spitting up big leads.

Surrendering a 15-point edge with less than 10 minutes to go in the fourth quarter of Sunday's 96-95 loss at The Q was nothing new for the Los Angeles Lakers.

It was the ninth time -- which leads the NBA -- that the Lakers have squandered a double-digit margin to lose.

"This game was in our hands," said Lakers coach Phil Jackson. "It was a basic collapse in the fourth quarter and we never recovered."
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 6:48 am    Post subject:

LA Lakers (34-34) at Boston (28-39)
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Game Info: 7:30 pm EST Mon Mar 20, 2006
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Paul Pierce and Kobe Bryant are both having career years offensively, but both the Celtics and Lakers could miss the playoffs.

Boston looks to sweep Los Angeles for the first time in five seasons and gain ground in the playoff race when the clubs meet at TD Banknorth Garden.

Pierce is sixth in the league in scoring, averaging 27.2 points, but Boston is in 10th place in the Eastern Conference, 3 1/2 games behind eighth-place Philadelphia.

Bryant's 34.6 points per game lead the league, while Los Angeles is tied with Sacramento for eighth place in the West with New Orleans just one game behind.
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 7:10 pm    Post subject:


LA Lakers 105, Boston 97
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 20, 2006 7:44 pm    Post subject:

Bryant Scores 43 As Lakers Top Celtics

© 2006 The Associated Press

BOSTON — Kobe Bryant had 43 points, five rebounds and five steals and the Los Angeles Lakers salvaged the finale of a three-game road trip with a 105-97 win over the Boston Celtics on Monday night.

Bryant shot 18-of-39 and Lamar Odom added 17 points and nine rebounds for the Lakers, who never trailed and pulled a half-game ahead of Sacramento for seventh place in the Western Conference. The Lakers avoided falling below .500 for the first time since a loss to Utah on Jan. 3 dropped them to 15-16.
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