Los Angeles Lakers earn eighth-straight victory with a win over the Minnesota Timberwolves
The Los Angeles Lakers (8-0) remained unbeaten on the season after defeating the Minnesota Timberwolves (1-7) 99-94 on Tuesday 9 November at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
The hot start for the Lakers, who are vying for a three-peat this year, is their best since winning their first 11 games to open up the 1997-98 season. Los Angeles and the New Orleans
Hornets (7-0) are the only two undefeated teams left in the league.
Kobe Bryant, chasing his sixth NBA championship this season, led his team with 33 points and six rebounds. Pau Gasol had 18 points and 10 rebounds on the night while Lamar Odom chipped
in with 15 points and eight rebounds. Ron Artest added 13 points and three steals.
For Minnesota, Kevin Love, second in the league in rebounding, had a monster double-double with 23 points and 24 rebounds, including 11 offensive boards. Michael Beasley, playing his
first year in Minnesota, had 17 points while Sebastian Telfair had 13 points and nine assists. Darko Milicic added 10 points while Corey Brewer scored 12 off the bench.
The Timberwolves outscored the Lakers 28-26 in the first quarter but the two-time defending champions made a run in the second frame, going into halftime up six points. But the Timberwolves
seemed destined to make this a close game, when a 48-foot prayer from Maurice Ager in the dying moments of the third quarter banked in, giving the Lakers a precarious 82-74 lead heading into the final frame.
A dunk by Brewer midway through the fourth quarter cut the Lakers lead down to two at 89-87. But Odom, who was in foul trouble all night, sunk a three-pointer on the next possession followed
by a layup to give the Lakers some breathing room. A three-point play by Beasley brought the Timberwolves to within four points with 36 seconds remaining but they failed to score again in the game.
What they said
Artest was happy the Lakers got the win despite not playing their best basketball.
"We won but we didn't play well, and that bothers me a little bit," he said. "If we have a loss and play well, that's a different story. I guess it still feels better to get a win, even
if it's something like this. We're still a good team, even on a night like this."
Meanwhile, the Timberwolves played one of their best games of the year even though they lost.
"I think this was the best game we've played so far, despite the L at the end of the night," Love said. "We got up to play the world champs and we went down with a fight. We played a lot
better than we have played in the last four or five games."
Bryant wasn’t too concerned about his team's play as he knows the regular season is all about positioning yourself for the play-offs.
"We don't take much out of it," he said. "The regular season is just about [gathering] enough wins, just trying to get better, and tonight we did that."
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