It's almost becoming routine.The Lakers are all stressed out, allegedly, and discombobulated beyond belief, reportedly, but they continue to take on probable playoff teams and win with ease.
If Exhibit A was a scintillating 21-point stunner over Phoenix on Friday, Exhibit B was a caffeinated 119-109 victory over the Utah Jazz on Sunday at Staples Center.
Kobe Bryant was efficient (33 points on 13-for-19 shooting), the young ones had fun (Andrew Bynum and Jordan Farmar combined for 18 fourth-quarter points), and the fans left early again, just as they did in the season opener, but this time it wasn't because of shoddy play. It was back to the usual beat-the-traffic excuse.
And to think the Lakers might be sitting at 3-0 right now if they had started their late rally against Houston a few minutes earlier.
Still, 2-1 is 2-1."It gives us some daylight that we're looking for, some good vibrations for the team," Coach Phil Jackson said.Groovy.
Maybe the Lakers are lucky -- both Phoenix and Utah played the previous day before losing to the Lakers.
Or maybe they're actually pretty good.
If they wanted to make a stand with defense, they did, Bryant's highlight-reel rejection of Andrei Kirilenko's attempted dunk being the epitome of their bend-but-block defense.
If they wanted to show they could share the ball, they did. Luke Walton had six assists, Derek Fisher had five, Farmar had four and even Kwame Brown had three. Bryant had three as well.Lamar Odom is still on the comeback trail (he might return to practice this week), Bynum and Farmar are still only 20 years old, and even the Staples Center crowd demonstrated a forgive-and-forget concept, letting up on Bryant after booing him during introductions before the opener.
The fans didn't boo Bryant during introductions Sunday and instead stuck it to the referees when Bryant was called for palming the ball midway through the first quarter.
They cheered appreciatively when Bryant blocked Kirilenko's shot as the 6-foot-9 forward moved in for a fastbreak dunk midway through the fourth quarter.
"I saw him coming down on the wing and I just tried to time it up, get up there and see if I can't catch him," Bryant said.Kirilenko has three inches on Bryant. "But I've got a little hops," Bryant said, smiling.
Fisher had 19 points against his old team and set a career high by making 13 free throws, but the fourth quarter belonged to the kids.Bynum had 11 points in the quarter, Farmar had seven, and the play-by-play chart looked as if they were playing two-on-none: Bynum fastbreak dunk, Farmar running layup, Farmar three-point play on a driving layup and free throw, Bynum layup, Farmar 11-foot fadeaway, Bynum two free throws, Bynum three-point play on an alley-oop layup and free throw, Bynum reverse layup.Bynum finished with 15 points and nine rebounds before fouling out in the final minute. Farmar had 12 points and four assists.It was enough to catch Bryant's attention.
"Jordan's always had kind of that chip on his shoulder. I've liked him from day one because of that," he said. "Andrew's always been a little bit more reserved, a little bit more shy when he plays. It looks like he's starting to kind of come out of his shell a little bit.
"I think having games like this, particularly against a team like Utah, which is very physical, I think it helps out his confidence a lot. He understands that he can do this against one of the elite teams."It seems pretty simple: Bynum turned 20 last week and is now apparently a monster, averaging 14.5 points and 11 rebounds in two games against two of the Western Conference's better teams.
"I wouldn't consider myself a monster yet," he said. "I've still got a ways to go."Just the same, he was given a standing ovation. Then he was asked afterward if he had ever received one."I think that was the first one," he said, "for fouling out of the game.
"Farmar also earned applause when he left with 4:49 to play, part of a job well done for a second-year player, and a two-victory team.
by Mike Bresnahan
LATimes.com
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