Home » Sports » Basketball
Lakers pack off Hornets to win seventh straight
Source: Agencies |
December 3, 2009, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THE Los Angeles Lakers breezed to a 110-99 victory over the New Orleans Hornets on Tuesday, the defending National Basketball Association champions easing clear in the first half for a seventh straight win.
Andrew Bynum had 21 points and nine rebounds and Kobe Bryant added 18 before sitting out the fourth quarter as the Lakers improved to a league-best 14-3.
"We made it look kind of easy out there tonight," Bynum told reporters after his team dominated the Hornets for a second time this season.
"It's because we played great defense in the second quarter and that's what separated us. We've been getting to the weak side and really closing the gap."
The Los Angeles defense has improved in the last month, holding opponents under 100 points in each of the seven wins.
Elsewhere in the NBA, it was: Knicks 126, Suns 99; Celtics 108, Bobcats 90; Wizards 106, Raptors 102; Nuggets 135, Warriors 107; and Heat 107, Trail Blazers 100;
In Los Angeles, the depleted Hornets were unable to break down the Lakers and their cause was not helped by the absence of All-Star point guard Chris Paul, who is out indefinitely, and forward Peja Stojakovic, missing a second straight game for personal reasons.
Rookie guard Darren Collison scored 20 points and Emeka Okafor had 17 and 12 rebounds for the Hornets (7-11), who made the final score look respectable with a 30-20 fourth quarter after trailing by 20 at halftime.
The game spun out of control for New Orleans in the second quarter, where the Lakers went on a 21-4 run en route to a 62-42 halftime lead.
"I thought we played three quarters of pretty good basketball," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "It was a good win but it could be better. I can't think of too many things I liked from (the second unit in the fourth quarter)."
Los Angeles used a balanced attack and got 16 points from Ron Artest and 14 from Pau Gasol, who has taken the team to another level in the last six games since he made his delayed season debut because of a hamstring injury.
Thanks to a generous early schedule, the Lakers have played just four road games this season and are two games into a five-game homestand.
New Orleans, which lost its fifth straight away, has the NBA's second-worst road record at 1-9, only ahead of the 0-11 New Jersey Nets, and is winless on the road since November 9.
Andrew Bynum had 21 points and nine rebounds and Kobe Bryant added 18 before sitting out the fourth quarter as the Lakers improved to a league-best 14-3.
"We made it look kind of easy out there tonight," Bynum told reporters after his team dominated the Hornets for a second time this season.
"It's because we played great defense in the second quarter and that's what separated us. We've been getting to the weak side and really closing the gap."
The Los Angeles defense has improved in the last month, holding opponents under 100 points in each of the seven wins.
Elsewhere in the NBA, it was: Knicks 126, Suns 99; Celtics 108, Bobcats 90; Wizards 106, Raptors 102; Nuggets 135, Warriors 107; and Heat 107, Trail Blazers 100;
In Los Angeles, the depleted Hornets were unable to break down the Lakers and their cause was not helped by the absence of All-Star point guard Chris Paul, who is out indefinitely, and forward Peja Stojakovic, missing a second straight game for personal reasons.
Rookie guard Darren Collison scored 20 points and Emeka Okafor had 17 and 12 rebounds for the Hornets (7-11), who made the final score look respectable with a 30-20 fourth quarter after trailing by 20 at halftime.
The game spun out of control for New Orleans in the second quarter, where the Lakers went on a 21-4 run en route to a 62-42 halftime lead.
"I thought we played three quarters of pretty good basketball," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "It was a good win but it could be better. I can't think of too many things I liked from (the second unit in the fourth quarter)."
Los Angeles used a balanced attack and got 16 points from Ron Artest and 14 from Pau Gasol, who has taken the team to another level in the last six games since he made his delayed season debut because of a hamstring injury.
Thanks to a generous early schedule, the Lakers have played just four road games this season and are two games into a five-game homestand.
New Orleans, which lost its fifth straight away, has the NBA's second-worst road record at 1-9, only ahead of the 0-11 New Jersey Nets, and is winless on the road since November 9.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
