Pau Gasol shines with 30 points, 20 rebounds at Cleveland
Pau Gasol and the Los Angeles Lakers, two-time NBA defending champions, had one of the biggest games of the season. The Lakers Spanish forward centre hit the court with 30 points and grabbed a season-high 20 rebounds at the Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland.
Although, the Lakers could not secure a win against one of the league’s worst teams of the season, Cleveland Cavaliers, and faltered to a 104-99, Gasol was awesome!
While the Cavaliers avenged their 55-point loss, the player finished on an 8-for-15 shooting from the field. The 30-year old went perfectly locking all the free throws that came his way 14-14.
His defence was fully charged, and he confronted the Cavaliers with a smashing performance throughout the night. The player entered the 2010-11 season with a renewed surge after Lakers coach Phil Jackson challenged him to play more confidently.
Kobe Bryant had just recovered from an offseason knee surgery, so the Lakers were looking for a strong shoulder that could take the team ahead. The player took on Zen Master’s challenge and lunged forward into the season.
The 7 footer was so deeply into the challenge that he averaged 25.3 points, 10.3 rebounds and five assists in the very first week of the NBA’s season 2010-11. For that performance, the player was awarded Western Conference Player of the Week.
However, things did not work out that well for the Lakers Wednesday night and despite boarding 10 offensive rebounds, Gasol could not help the Lakers from falling to such a loss at the end of their road trip. He was deeply moved at the loss and was quoted
as saying, "It's a painful, painful loss. It's very disappointing. I don't understand it."
Ramon Sessions kept adding fuel to the game and headed into Gasol whenever he saw a chance. He closed in on the player in a series of back-to-back hoops.
Gasol’s game started with a perfect tip after he rebound the ball in the very beginning of the first quarter. He finished the game with a put-back layup that closed the gap between the two teams.
At that moment Derek Fisher got fouled and Anthony Parker clinched two free throws followed by Sessions two more to head past the Lakers, 103-99.
A game dominated by Gasol skidded to a 104-99 loss, that was Lakers’ third in a row but the forward showed his best performance and did the best he could to keep the Lakers from stumbling.
The four times NBA All-Star dominated the floor for 41 minutes and contested the Cavaliers throughout.
The player had already grabbed his 10th rebound at the start of the second quarter. He had notched up 12 points in the very first quarter and with 6 minutes and 20 seconds left in the second half, the player seized 20 points, by making a tenacious
alley-oop layup assisted by Bryant.
Bryant had a double-double in the loss as well. The player pulled out 17 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for the Lakers. Los Angeles had a perfect free throw night. They went 20-23 from the foul line, scooping out 87 per cent from the free throw area.
After resting The Lakers meet the Atlanta Hawks at Staples Center on 22 February.
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