Lakers lose again; Clippers overcome a huge Kobe Bryant night to win 105-95: NBA Recap
Three games, three losses and it’s time to hit the panic button.
After assembling a stellar cast this off season, the Los Angeles Lakers were expected to muscle their way to a fantastic start this season. However three games on, they are still without a win and what’s worse is that the most
recent loss has come against their arch rivals and neighbours the Los Angeles Clippers.
On the night, the depth of the Clippers was a bit too much for the Lakers, who were playing without Steve Nash.
Jamal Crawford was once again the highest scorer for the Clips. He came off the bench to score 21 points while Chris Paul spearheaded the side with 18 points and 15 assists. Blake Griffin scored 15 points and 8 rebounds, including
nine points, four rebounds and two steals in the game changing third quarter. Caron Butler had 14 while Eric Bledsoe added 10 in a 105-95 win
For the Lakers, Kobe Bryant was supreme. The guard hammered 40 points on a 14-of-23 shooting from the floor. Dwight Howard added 13 points, 8 rebounds and 5 blocks, but was rather subdued due to early foul troubles. Pau Gasol had
a decent outing with 10 points and 14 boards.
Under pressure Lakers coach Mike Brown when asked about the losing streak sounded worried;
"We need a win, obviously," Lakers coach Mike Brown said. "I'm not trying to fool anyone here. That's part of the reason Kobe played the minutes he played, which is too many."
Vinny Del Negro however didn’t dig much into the win;
"I think it's the second game of the year, and you've got two teams here that just got together," Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro said. "It's too early to tell anything yet, other than we have to keep getting better."
After a relatively even game early on, the situation changed drastically deep into the third quarter. Leading by just 4 points with a little more than 4 minutes remaining in the frame, a DeAndre Jordan dunk gave way to a 15-3 run
which pushed the Clippers advantage to 82-66.
Kobe tried to bring down the deficit in the fourth quarter, but he was just about the only Laker who was finding the back of the net. The Lakers did make it an 8 point game, but that was when only 42.5 seconds were left to play
- the game pretty much done and dusted.
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