December 1, 2009
NBA- Lakers Crashes Nets and Obtains their Six Consecutive Victory
By Ally White
Los Angeles Lakers didn’t relax despite the fact that they play against the worst team of this season, the New Jersey Nets. L.A easily imposed with a score of 106-87 at the Staples Center with great performances by Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant, who didn’t took pity on a rival that summed its seventeenth consecutive loss. The Nets haven’t found a way to win this season and following the departure of its top players, the Nets have offered only poor performances in the league, equaling with this loss the worst record (0-17) in NBA’s History attained by the Miami Heat in 1988-89, and Los Angeles Clippers in 1999-2000.
Starting the first quarter, the Nets were trying to show some good basketball while the Lakers were determined to obtain its sixth consecutive victory. Josh Bonne and Trenton Hassell were the ones providing for New Jersey with their shots and rebounds, giving a positive contribution to the Nets. But just minutes later, the super star Kobe Bryant and the Lakers had a big run of 21-6 to put the score at the end of the initial quarter 27-12.
In the second quarter, the NBA champions were consistent with their shots while the Nets couldn’t stop the good performance of the Lakers and with only 5:01 to play in that period, the Lakers were winning 44-24. New Jersey’s center, Brook Lopez tried to contribute to his team by scoring 12 points in the quarter, but still the team’s effort applied by L.A was superior, and just at half time the score ended 59-34 for the Lakers.
Entering the third quarter, L.A played consistently and even managed to extend their lead to 30 points, 80-50. The Nets tried to respond with a run of 10-6 in the last 4 minutes of the quarter and cut the score 87-60.
During the fourth quarter, New Jersey started strong scoring 6 points in a row and demonstrating their intentions of not quitting even when the score wasn’t on their side. Nevertheless, the Lakers reacted quickly with two shots of Farmar, but then again, the Nets kept fighting, cutting the lead of 30 points to just 19 points with 5:49 left in the game. Despite the Nets’ effort to decrease the Lakers’ lead, they couldn’t since Pau Gasol and the rest of the Lakers responded really calmly and with control on the offense and maintained the lead of 19 points until the end. The fourth quarter ended with the victory of the NBA Champions 106-87.
At the end of the game, Kobe Bryant stated that he was really pleased with the way his team is performing in all the aspects of the game, especially in defense, where they are improving after each game.
"Our defense is getting better and better. We're working really, really hard at it. Our energy has been consistent. This is something we feel we can maintain,” expressed Bryant.
On the other hand, the Nets’ guard, Devin Harris, said that it’s frustrating to see what is happening with the team. He hopes that some changes will be made to correct their path and find the way to victory.
“It's not a good feeling. It's not a good feeling all around. Guys are mentally frustrated right now. For some reason (what's going on in practice) is not transforming over to the court. I can't remember the last time I've lost five games in a row. But it doesn't matter who the coach is, if we don't change some of the habits, not much is going to change throughout the team. But I'm glad to be going through it with this group of guys because they're a good bunch of guys and they want to win. We just have to find a way to do it," said Harris.
The best scorers for the Lakers were Kobe Bryant with 30 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists; Pau Gasol with 20 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists; and finally Jordan Farmar with 15 points. For the Nets the best scorers were Brook Lopez with 26 points and 12 rebounds; Devin Harris with 16 points and 6 assists; and ultimately Courtney Lee with 15 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists.
About the Author
Ally White is a top senior copy writer on NBA games and sports action for the online sports betting site: http://www.instantactionsports.com
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