Los Angeles Lakers stay perfect in seven games
The Los Angeles Lakers are showing their deadly form early in the season as the defending champions cruised to their seventh-straight victory with a dominating victory over the Portland Trail
Blazers on Sunday 7 November at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Pau Gasol led the Lakers’ show by recording a triple-double as the Spanish forward-centre finished the game with 20 points, 14 rebounds, and 10 assists, leading Los Angeles to their fifth
7-0 start in franchise history.
The 30-year-old centre completed his fourth career triple-double, and first since 17 February 2009, with a nice dish to defensive-minded forward Ron Artest with still 3:10 left in the third
period, but the man from Barcelona, Spain refused to take credit of their early success and said that the win was a total team effort.
“We've been through so many battles, and we're still growing as a team,” Gasol said after the game. “Everybody is growing up together.”
Lamar Odom had another terrific night as he racked 21 points and 12 rebounds, already earning all-star consideration even if the season is within its first month, and high-flying guard Shannon
Brown added 15 markers on 3-for-6 clip from beyond-the-arc.
Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant and veteran point guard Derek Fisher added 12 points apiece for Los Angeles, while Artest chipped in 11 points and was all over Trail Blazers star Brandon Roy
for the entire game.
“We're a pretty good team,” said Bryant, who struggled to find his touch and was 3-for-11 from the floor. “We're just playing extremely well together. We're a deep team, we're an unselfish
team, and this is what you get.”
Prior to the game, Lakers head coach expected that Portland will give them a tough night, but the Lakers cruised to 27-14 lead at the end of the first quarter. They continued to dominate
in the second quarter to take a huge 58-36 halftime lead, behind Gasol’s 14 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists, earning huge praise from Jackson.
“I liked his passing,” said Jackson, who was forced to play Gasol as a centre while waiting for the return of Andrew Bynum. “I always admire that you can get the ball in the post, and he
can create shots for his teammates from there.”
Andre Miller led the Trail Blazers in scoring with his 20 points to go with five assists; while French star, Nicolas Batum added 17 points. Their usual leading scorers, Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge,
finished with only eight points each.
“I wouldn't say it's discouraging, but they're good,” said Roy, who went just 1-for-6 from the floor in 31 minutes. “You can just look at them on paper and see they've got a lot of players,
they've got a lot of depth. They're a team that you can't go out there and play with low energy, or they're going to kill you.”
The Blazers, whose record dropped to 5-3, will try to bounce back against Detroit, while the Lakers will gun for their eight win when they go up against the struggling Minnesota Timberwolves
on Tuesday 8 November.
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