Los Angeles Lakers beat the New Orleans Hornets to tie the series at 1-1: NBA Playoffs
An electrifying performance from the newly crowned sixth man of the year, Lamar Odom and a comeback game from Steve Blake (chicken pox) got it going for the Los Angeles
Lakers, who overthrew the seventh seeded New Orleans Hornets, 87-78, to even the best-of-seven series at 1-1, April 20th, at the Staples Center.
Having already lost the playoff opener and with the prospect of facing the Hornets on the road in the next two games, the Lakers were treading on a thin line. However
on the night, the two times defending champions buried their demons and overcame the spirited Hornets.
Overcoming a shaded performance by Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol, the two times NBA defending champions showed an all-round display. Bryant struggled miserably from the
field and could only score 11 points. He and Gasol combined for a meagre 5 for 20 shooting from the field. Bryant suffered his lowest playoff score and as for Gasol, the shock was an echo of his first game. The Lakers’ power forward played for 36 minutes but
could score only eight points. However when the ace players failed, Andrew Bynum, Odom and Ron Artest rose up to pick the slack and saved the night for Lakers.
Bynum finished the game with team high 17 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks. Odom added 16 off the bench and grabbed seven rebounds while playing for 27 plus minutes
whereas Artest had 15 points and six boards in the victory.
While commenting on his team’s performance after the game, Coach Phil Jackson said, "Andrew plays well against this team because of his size. This was one of his
top games. We had trouble scoring against their defense, [but] our defense was better tonight."
Chris Paul had trouble outclassing the Lakers who were intent on holding the Hornets off. The player who gave the Lakers a run for their money in the first game of
the series, ended up scoring 20 points on a 5 for 11 shooting from the field. He succeeded in dishing out nine assists and was 8-for-12 from the free throw line. Bryant spent most of the time guarding Paul, making sure that the tenacious player does not leave
them shocked, like he did in the first one.
The 32-year-old shooting guard barely made any effort from the offensive end but his efforts in hounding Paul were impressive. Trevor Ariza clinched game high 22
points to go along with seven rebounds. Besides that, he was the only player who did not give a single turnover in the game. Rest of the Hornets combined to give away as many as 16 turnovers, 13 more than their first game.
After vowing to be more aggressive and to overcome his sloppy performance from game-1, Gasol was not up to the expectations. The Lakers meet the Hornets on Friday
at New Orleans Arena.
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