Kobe Bryant helps Los Angeles Lakers beat Los Angeles Clippers 112-104
The Los Angeles Lakers thrashed the Los Angeles Clippers 112-104 at Staples Centre on Friday night to record their seventh consecutive victory.
The Lakers are flying high as they have won 14 of their last 15 games. In addition to that, they are in second place in the Western Conference standings with a breath-taking 52 victories for the season. The red-hot San Antonio Spurs are ahead of them by five victories.
Kobe Bryant was absolutely brilliant on the night as he scored a game-high 37 points, six assists and four rebounds in the victory. Pau Gasol scored 26 points and eight rebounds while Ron Artest posted 15 points, five rebounds and three blocks for the Lakers.
Centre Andrew Bynum, who rejoined the squad after a two-game suspension, finished with 11 points and 12 rebounds for the victors.
The 28-year-old Clippers guard Mo Williams played one of the best games of his career as he scored a season-high 30 points. Blake Griffin added 22 points, four assists and six rebounds for the Clippers, who have lost five of their last 10 games.
Guard Randy Foye and forward Al-Farouq Aminu came off the bench with 12 and 13 points, respectively. Meanwhile Eric Gordon added just seven points for the Clippers on his return from a wrist injury, which forced him to miss 24 games this season.
Match Analysis
The Lakers started well as they went on an 11-6 run to take an early lead. The Clippers played some sloppy basketball and allowed their rivals to take a 33-23 lead after the first quarter, courtesy a 13-point effort from Gasol.
The Lakers continued to play offensively in the second quarter and maintained a 57-48 lead at half time. The Clippers made a marginal comeback in the third quarter. They went on a 7-1 run in the last two minutes of the quarter, cutting the deficit to 85-80 before the final stanza.
Both teams played the fourth quarter at a crisp pace. The Lakers were leading the contest by four points with just 39 seconds remaining, when Griffin came around the court for a drive shot in order to cut the deficit to two. However, Artest snatched the ball out of Griffin's hands with a perfect steal to seal the win.
The Lakers Head Coach Phil Jackson appreciated the way Artest stole the ball from Griffin. He said, "He (Artest) made some rather spectacular stops. But the one where he took the ball away from Blake in a breakaway and he narrowed the game down to a standstill was a big play for us. You know, that's his forte, he's maybe the best at that."
The Clippers’ bench tried to spark a comeback in the closing minutes but the Lakers’ lead was too much to overcome.
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