Kobe, Nash star as Los Angeles Lakers down New York Knicks 100-94: NBA Recap
On their Christmas day matchup, Kobe Bryant and Carmelo Anthony, the two leading league scorers matched each other point for point throughout the game. By the time, the night ended, Kobe Bryant and Los Angeles Lakers came out on
top as they dropped the New York Knicks 100-94 here at the Staples Center for their season-high fifth straight win.
Both Kobe and Carmelo gathered 34 points while two of the NBA’s best defenders in Tyson Chandler and Metta World Peace put up a strong performance until they both ran out of fouls late in the game. Importantly, the most criticized
player in the Lakers camp, Pau Gasol, made the biggest basket of his season to seal the deal for the Lakers as he ran into traffic and made a two handed dunk with 12 seconds on regulation.
Later in the fourth quarter, Gasol missed the second of his free throw to give Knicks a chance to make a three pointer attempt. Jason Kidd, who had knocked one down from downtown in his previous trip, missed this time around and
the ball landed in the safe hands of Jodie Meeks.
Nash also played a crucial part in the closing stages of the game. He made a jumper to put Lakers up 96-91 and then fed Gasol who did the rest.
Lakers scored 46 points in the paint compared to only 26 by the Knicks. Kobe Bryant topped the 30 points mark in his 9 straight game and became the league's all-time leading scorer on Christmas.
Raymond Felton had a disappointing night; he went 5 of 19 from the floor. His counterpart Nash added 16 points and dished out 11 assists in his first double-double of the season. The Knicks were up by 8 points early in the third
quarter when Felton left the court with an injured finger. He returned minutes later with his finger wrapped but missed his final four field basket attempts in the third period and missed 3 out of 4 in the fourth quarter to give Lakers a chance of a comeback.
"I thought that at the end of the third quarter, when we had things kind of under control, we didn't finish the quarter. They were able to cut it to one, and then the fourth quarter was pretty much in their favor." Knicks Coach
Mike Woodson on throwing away the lead late in the game.
The Lakers entered the final quarter with a 77-78 deficit but turned the screws on the defensive end of the court and kept the Knicks at bay.
"Some things that stand out are the 16 points they scored in the fourth quarter. I thought the guys turned up the defense and it worked out". Mike D’ Antoni said on the defensive intensity in the fourth quarter.
It was still close late in the quarter; however Nash took control for the Lakers, scoring or assisting on 12 of the last 15 Laker points, and sealing the deal for their best win of the season.
Tags: