Los Angeles Lakers survive a late surge by Detroit Pistons to win 98-97 on the road: NBA Recap
Los Angeles Lakers survived a late surge by the Detroit Pistons to win by a point here at the Palace of Auburn Hills on Sunday night. Lakers were holding a comfortable 18 point lead at one stage before the Pistons came back and
made things interesting in the fourth period. The Lakers only sealed the deal at the buzzer.
Pau Gasol posted a double-double with 23 points and 10 rebounds, Kobe Bryant had 18 points while Steve Nash collected the second double-double for the Lakers.
Greg Monroe led the Pistons with 20 points and 12 rebounds while Will Bynum came off the bench to post a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
Lakers got off to a great start to the game and found their rhythm early. They kept the pressure throughout the first period to take a 5 point advantage into the second quarter.
Second period was about Lakers as well. Pistons missed quite few buckets as Los Angeles outscored the Pistons 30-24 to head into the locker room holding a 62-51 lead.
Rookie Kyle Singler started off the second half for the Pistons with a shot from behind the arc to narrow down the deficit to 8 points. But Lakers were in no mood to let go of their advantage that easy, they went for a 10 nil burst
to extend their advantage to 72-54. However, the later part of the third quarter was all about Pistons, as they started cutting the deficit at break neck pace to reduce the lead down to 72-78 by the end of the period.
Pistons kept up the pressure in the fourth period and made tied the score on 91 all with 4:36 on the regulation. Score was tied on 95 again when Bryant made the move of the game; he made a 3 point play to put the Lakers 3 points
clear of the Pistons.
Nash missed a couple of free throws down the stretch but the Lakers survived in the end for a narrow one point win.
“I feel bad that it could've cost us the game and that I choked two up there," Nash said. "A win is a win, but I take a lot of pride in being a fourth-quarter player and making shots, particularly free throws."
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