Mar

29

Kobe’s 53 Not Enough, Grizzlies Edge Lakers 114-111

Posted by Stephen Rhodes under Main 

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The Los Angeles Lakers are a team that can, at times, be confusing to figure out. Friday’s game was a case of their star player, Kobe Bryant,?having an offensive explosion – 53 points, to be exact – yet their defense let them down, especially late in the fourth quarter.? The Memphis Grizzlies took advantage of the Lakers’ defensive lapses, escaping Staples Center with a 114-111 win.

Both teams shot relatively well in the first quarter; Bryant was the only Lakers player in double-digits in the first half, scoring 34.? He scored?9 points in a 13-2 Lakers spurt that gave them a 51-43 lead, but the Grizzlies?manufactured a 10-2 run to tie the game at 53 going into halftime.? Bryant scored the Lakers’ first 7 points – including two 3-pointers – for a 61-56 lead; but Memphis tied the game at?63-63? before a basket by Los Angeles’ Derek Fisher, a dunk by Bryant and yet another trey by Bryant gave the Lakers their largest lead, 70-63.

The Grizzlies would close the third period by outscoring the Lakers 26-10 – including 7 points by Mike Miller and 5 apiece by Rudy Gay and Darko Milicic – putting Memphis ahead 89-80.The Lakers’ Sasha Vujacic drained a 3 to cut their deficit to 109-106 with 3:03 remaining in the game; Memphis’ Kyle Lowry scored a basket, then Vujacic hit another trey for Los Angeles to draw them to within 111-109 with 50 seconds left.? Los Angeles’ Ronnie Turiaf fouled Lowry, who made a pair of free throws, giving Memphis a 113-109 lead, icing the game.

Memphis’ high scorer was Gay with 28 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, a steal and 3 blocks while Milicic scored 20 with 12 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 blocks; Hakim Warrick added 16 with 5 rebounds and an assist. Los Angeles was led by the aforementioned Bryant with 53 points, including nine 3-pointers, 10 rebounds, an assist and 3 steals while Vujacic, from off the bench, scored 14 with 4 treys, 3 rebounds and an assist. Memphis (18-53) remains in Los Angeles to face the Clippers on Saturday while Los Angeles (49-24) remains home to host the Washington Wizards on Sunday.


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Comments

One Response to “Kobe’s 53 Not Enough, Grizzlies Edge Lakers 114-111”

  1. quintin on March 29th, 2008 4:23 pm

    I do not understand L.A. either. They play well against good teams and stink against sub .500 teams. Thank goodness they will not meet either the Bobcats or Grizzlies in the first round or we could be looking at a Mavericks repeat of last year.

    P.S. They do not want the Warriors either.

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