Curry has 47, but Warriors fall 119-117 to Blazers
LaMarcus
Aldridge said an overtime thriller over Golden State was good
preparation for the looming postseason. ''It definitely shows what
we're going to see in the playoffs,'' Portland's All-Star forward said,
''where every possession counts and every basket counts.'' Aldridge had
26 points, including the go-ahead basket in the waning moments of
overtime, and the Trail Blazers emerged with a 119-117 victory over the
Warriors on Sunday night. The win, which featured 16 lead changes and
nine ties, assured the Blazers of no less than the fifth seed in the
playoffs. Portland's win came despite the best efforts of Golden
State's Stephen Curry, who had a season-high 47 points.Read more here.
Pacers hold on to top spot in East by beating OKC
The
Pacers were back to being themselves Sunday. They made shots. They
defended hard for 48 minutes. Lance Stephenson regained his swagger
and, yes, the reeling Pacers even looked like a playoff-ready team.
David West made three free throws in the final 15 seconds and
Stephenson produced his league-leading fifth triple-double to give
Indiana a 102-97 win over Oklahoma City 102-97, putting the Pacers on
the cusp of clinching the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. ''We're
going to treat it (the season finale) like a playoff game. We have to
get that No. 1 spot,'' Stephenson said. ''That's what we wanted from
the beginning of the season so we have to take it, not get it, we have
to take it.'' Read more here.
Source:
sports.yahoo.com
April 7, 2014
Durant scores 38 but Suns beat Thunder 122-115
For
the 41st game in a row, Kevin Durant scored at least 25 points. Not
even Michael Jordan ever did that. Even so, Durant would probably trade
his 38 points for a win. P.J. Tucker, who had to guard Durant most of
Sunday night, scored 11 of his career-high 22 points in the fourth
quarter and Phoenix beat the Thunder 122-115, giving the Suns a
critical victory in their drive to make the playoffs and dealing a blow
to Oklahoma City's tenuous hold on the No. 2 spot in the West. Goran
Dragic scored 26 points, Gerald Green 24 and Eric Bledsoe 18 for the
Suns, who shot a season-best 58.4 percent. With Memphis' loss to San
Antonio, the Suns are a game ahead of the Grizzlies for the No. 8 spot
in the West and a half-game behind No. 7 Dallas. Read more here.
LeBron scores 38, Heat top Knicks 102-91
LeBron
James couldn't wake up Sunday. He was sluggish when his alarm went off
at 8 a.m. and still in a funk when the Miami Heat and New York Knicks
tipped off five hours later. He eventually got into form, just in time
to perhaps doom the Knicks' playoff chances. James scored 38 points and
the Heat survived an NBA-record 22 3-point attempts from New York's
J.R. Smith in a 102-91 victory that kept Miami atop the Eastern
Conference standings. ''You do your job and you live with the
results,'' James said. ''We lived with the result of J.R. making some
of those bombs.'' Chris Bosh added 14 points and Ray Allen had 12 for
the Heat (53-23), who are a full game ahead of Indiana (53-25) and two
up in the loss column in the East race. The Pacers lost at home to
Atlanta later Sunday night. Read more here.
Source:
sports.yahoo.com
March 31, 2014
Pacers stumble again, lose 90-76 to Cavs
Sitting
in the last chair on Indiana's bench, David West stared straight ahead,
unable to look at the court. As the final seconds ticked off the clock
on another disheartening loss, West seemed dazed. The Pacers' promising
season is unraveling. Dion Waiters scored 19 points, Luol Deng added 15
and the Cleveland Cavaliers kept their playoff push going with a 90-76
win Sunday over the skidding Pacers, who are losing their grip on the
No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. Tristan Thompson had 16 rebounds
as the Cavs snapped a nine-game losing streak against Indiana.
Cleveland came in three games behind slumping, idle Atlanta for the
conference's final playoff spot. Read more here.
Durant leads Thunder past Jazz 116-96
The
drama was sapped early from Oklahoma City's blowout win over Utah,
except for one detail. Thunder forward Kevin Durant is nearing Michael
Jordan's mark for consecutive games with at least 25 points. With the
crowd buzzing late in the third quarter, Durant reached the mark for
the 38th consecutive time, leaving him two games short of Jordan's
accomplishment, which is the most in the past 50 years. He finished
with 31 points and nine assists to help Oklahoma City defeat the Jazz
116-96 on Sunday afternoon. Jordan did it for 40 straight games for the
Chicago Bulls during the 1986-87 season. Durant is aware of the mark,
but the NBA's leading scorer left worrying about it to the crowd at
Chesapeake Energy Arena. Read more here.
Source:
sports.yahoo.com
March 24, 2014
Jack, Cavs snap Knicks' 8-game win streak
A
chance to gain ground in the playoff race was there, until Jarrett Jack
took it away. Now the New York Knicks have 3,000 miles to think about
how this game - and maybe any realistic postseason hopes they had - was
lost. Jack scored a season-high 31 points Sunday night in the Cleveland
Cavaliers' 106-100 victory over the Knicks, who had their eight-game
winning streak snapped. The Knicks wasted a chance to pull within two
games of a playoff spot before leaving for a five-game Western
Conference trip that starts Tuesday against the Lakers. ''This was a
huge opportunity lost, one we can't afford,'' Knicks guard J.R. Smith
said. ''But we can't get it back. We've just got to go on the road, win
some games and try to come back home and win.'' Read more here.
Nets top Mavs 107-104 in OT in Kidd's Dallas visit
The
Brooklyn Nets waited until they got to the locker room to dump ice
water on coach Jason Kidd after his victorious return to Dallas. They
presumably didn't want to make a mess of the court where he was
essentially a coach between the lines for the Mavericks when they won
the franchise's only title in 2011. Joe Johnson scored 22 points,
including the tying layup in regulation and the go-ahead 3-pointer in
overtime, to lead the Nets past the Mavericks 107-104 Sunday night in
Kidd's first game as a coach in the city where his career started in
1994 and reached its peak in his second stint 17 years later. The Nets
swept the two-game season series with Dallas in their first year under
Kidd, who was also celebrating his 41st birthday. Read more here.
Source:
sports.yahoo.com
March 17, 2014
Griffin leads Clips past Cavs to 11th straight win
Blake
Griffin entered the back half of his 20s with a birthday serenade from
the crowd and another dynamic demonstration of why he's only getting
better with age. The Los Angeles Clippers' winning streak also gets a
whole lot more impressive with every passing week. Griffin had 21
points, 11 rebounds and eight assists on his 25th birthday, and the
Clippers beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 102-80 Sunday night for their
11th consecutive victory. The Clippers' high-flying forward threw
himself a nice little party: Griffin has scored at least 20 points in
26 consecutive games, a mark exceeded only by Kevin Durant this season.
Read more here.
Davis powers Pelicans past Celtics in overtime
Anthony
Davis is getting even better while the New Orleans Pelicans close out
another difficult season. Davis set career highs with 40 points and 21
rebounds, and Eric Gordon made two crucial free throws in overtime to
lead the Pelicans to a 121-120 overtime victory over the Boston Celtics
on Sunday night. ''My teammates tell me that they feed off my energy
and they want me to be great so I can't be timid and do what it takes
to help my team win,'' said Davis, who also blocked three shots, making
him the eight player in NBA history with at least 40 points, 20
rebounds and three blocks in a game. ''We're trying to do a better job
of making me comfortable down the stretch.'' Read more here.
Source:
sports.yahoo.com
March 10, 2014
Noah, Augustin lead Bulls over Heat 95-88 in OT
The
real victory for the Chicago Bulls will come when they're knocking the
Miami Heat out of the playoffs, not during the regular season - no
matter how charged the atmosphere is. Even so, they'll take this. Noah
had 20 points and 12 rebounds, D.J. Augustin scored 22 and the Chicago
Bulls beat the Miami Heat 95-88 in overtime Sunday after Butler blocked
LeBron James at the end of regulation. ''I want what they have - a
championship,'' Noah said. ''One day, we're going to have to get
through those guys.'' The Heat have owned them when it counts in recent
seasons. Read more here.
Meeks powers Lakers past Durant, Thunder 114-110
From
Jodie Meeks' big day to the final result, this was definitely a
surprise. Meeks scored 24 of his career-high 42 points in the second
half, and the Los Angeles Lakers beat Oklahoma City 114-110 on Sunday
despite a triple-double by Thunder star Kevin Durant. Pau Gasol added
20 points and 11 rebounds for the injury-ravaged Lakers, who had lost
29 of their previous 37 games. Meeks was 11 of 18 from the field and 14
for 14 at the line while becoming the third player to reach the
30-point mark this season for last-place Los Angeles (22-42). ''The
most important thing is that we keep going out there and fighting and
not giving up,'' Meeks said. ''The season isn't going the way that we
planned, but we still have 18 games left. So we'll play them hard and
see what happens.'' Read more here.
Source:
sports.yahoo.com
March 3, 2014
Suns scorch Hawks in 1st half of 129-120 win
The
Phoenix Suns might be excused for their defensive lapses. They were
putting most of their energy into a record-setting offensive display.
The Suns achieved season highs in total points, points in a half and
assists, and tied their single-game best for made 3-pointers in a
129-120 win over the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday night. Their first-half
point total of 79 was the most in the NBA before halftime this season
and two shy of a US Airways Center record for points in a half. The
only cloudy spot for the Suns was that they allowed more than 100
points for the fifth straight game. This after they sank 15 3-pointers
and dished out 29 assists in a blink-and-you-missed it kind of game
where neither team paid any mind to the shot clock. Read more here.
Noah leads Bulls to easy 109-90 win against Knicks
The
Chicago Bulls were open all over the floor, so Joakim Noah kept
collecting assists. Jumpers for Jimmy Butler and Kirk Hinrich. A dunk
for Taj Gibson, another jumper for Butler, and on and on it went. The
All-Star center put on quite a show. Noah had 14 assists in his fifth
career triple-double, leading the streaking Bulls to a 109-90 victory
over the New York Knicks on Sunday. ''It's really all my teammates,''
he said. ''I think we're getting better every game.'' Noah also had 13
points and 12 rebounds in his second triple-double of the season, but
it was his deft passing that really stood out. It was the most assists
by an NBA center since at least the 1985-86 season and a franchise
record for his position. Read more here.
Source:
sports.yahoo.com
February 17, 2014
NBA All-Star Game: East 163, West 155
Defense
in an NBA All-Star Game is such a missing commodity it probably belongs
on a milk carton, but this was video-game scoring gone wild. Behind 31
points and 14 assists by Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving and 30
points by New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony, the East All-Stars
obliterated a flurry of scoring records on their way to a 163-155
victory over the West in the 63rd All-Star Game on Sunday night at the
Smoothie King Center. "I was just going out there trying to compete,"
Irving said after hoisting the All-Star MVP trophy. "It's been an
honor. I'm just happy to be the most valuable player." The 163 points
broke the all-time scoring record for points in a game -- 155 by the
West in a double-overtime victory in 2003. The previous high score in a
regulation game was 153 points, accomplished in 1961, 1992 and 2007.
Read more here.
Source:
sports.yahoo.com
February 10, 2014
Irving scores 28, Cavs beat Memphis 91-83 in OT
Interim
general manager David Griffin said before the Cavaliers' game Sunday
night that he'd like to see a few more smiles from his team. Following
Cleveland's 91-83 overtime win over Memphis, there were happy faces all
around the locker room. ''The game is fun,'' said Kyrie Irving, who
scored 28 points as Cavaliers won back-to-back games for the first time
in a month. ''Being out there, just competing at the highest level. At
the end of the day, it's just a game.'' The Cavaliers, who broke a
six-game losing streak Friday night against Washington, have won both
games since general manager Chris Grant was fired last week. Irving
scored the final four points in regulation to tie it. Luol Deng's
3-pointer on the first possession of overtime put Cleveland ahead for
good, 81-78. Read more here.
Durant scores 41 as Thunder defeat Knicks 112-100
The
showdown between the NBA's top two scorers turned out to be a mismatch.
Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant outscored New York's Carmelo Anthony
41-15, and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the New York Knicks 112-100
on Sunday. Durant, the league's leading scorer, also had 10 rebounds
and nine assists. Anthony, the league's No. 2 scorer, had 15 points on
5-for-19 shooting for the Knicks. Thunder coach Scott Brooks took
Durant out of the game with 1:24 remaining, leaving Durant short of a
rare 40-point triple-double by a single assist. Reggie Jackson had 19
points and six assists and Ibaka had 16 points and nine rebounds for
the Thunder, who were coming off a 103-102 loss to struggling Orlando
on Friday night. Read more here.
Source:
sports.yahoo.com
January 24, 2014
Aldridge scores 44, Blazers beat Nuggets 110-105
LaMarcus
Aldridge's 44-point outburst against the Denver Nuggets came the same
day the All-Star starters were announced. Aldridge wasn't on the list.
So naturally there were questions whether his new career-high was
perhaps an answer to a perceived snub. ''It was nothing about that,''
the Trail Blazers' forward said. ''We lost two games and we needed this
win.'' Aldridge also had 13 rebounds in Portland's 110-105
come-from-behind victory over the Nuggets on Thursday night. Wesley
Matthews added 24 points for the Blazers, who snapped a two-game losing
streak coming off a 2-2 road trip. The Blazers have not lost three
straight this season. Read more here.
4 first-timers voted to start NBA All-Star game
Kobe
Bryant called for younger players in the All-Star game, and the fans
listened. They still want Bryant, too. Stephen Curry, Kevin Love, Paul
George and Kyrie Irving were voted NBA All-Stars Thursday, putting four
first-time starters in the Feb. 16 game in New Orleans. Bryant was
elected by fans to his 16th All-Star game, second-most in NBA history,
but this one is shaping up as a kids' game. Curry, perhaps the biggest
snub last season, will join him in the Western Conference backcourt.
Love passed Dwight Howard in the final days of voting and will start in
the frontcourt along with Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant and the
Clippers' Blake Griffin. ''Hey, I'm popular now,'' Love joked. Read
more here.
Source:
sports.yahoo.com
January 19, 2014
Noah, Bulls rout 76ers 103-78
After
another dominating performance, nothing could wipe the smile from
Joakim Noah's face. Noah had 21 points and 16 rebounds, Carlos Boozer
added 15 points and 13 boards, and the Chicago Bulls beat the
Philadelphia 76ers 103-78 on Saturday night. ''I haven't felt healthy
like this in a long time. My feet don't hurt, my body's feeling good,''
Noah said. ''I put in a lot of work in the summertime. The third day of
camp I got hurt (strained groin). It was an unfortunate setback, but
now I'm feeling like it's all coming together.'' Noah extended his
streak of double-digit rebound games to 12, the longest stretch of his
career. The duo's powerful performance was awfully similar to the
teams' last meeting at the United Center, when Noah posted a
triple-double and combined with Boozer for 44 points and 33 rebounds on
Feb. 28, 2013. Read more here.
Aldridge, Blazers run past Mavs, win streak at 5
The
Portland Trail Blazers no longer are chasing the San Antonio Spurs in
the NBA's Western Conference. LaMarcus Aldridge had 30 points and 12
rebounds, and the Trail Blazers beat the Dallas Mavericks 127-111 on
Saturday night to pull even with the Spurs at 31-9. The Trail Blazers
have won five consecutive games, including a 109-100 victory at San
Antonio on Friday. ''I was really proud of the way our team played,
especially on the heels of an emotional win in San Antonio,'' coach
Terry Stotts said. ''Our resolve, defensively, I thought was very good
and got us into a position to have a large lead.'' The lead reached 38
points at 111-73 with 9:43 to play. Read more here.
Source:
sports.yahoo.com
January 13, 2014
Mike Conley gets double-double, Grizzlies defeat Hawks
Mike
Conley put up 21 points and recorded 13 assists, his fourth
double-double of the season, to lead the Memphis Grizzlies to a victory
over the Atlanta Hawks, 108-101. The Grizzlies took quality shots in
this game, finishing 43-83 (51.8%). Memphis (17-19) has now won
back-to-back games after defeating Phoenix Suns on Friday. Conley went
7-15 and converted 7-7 from the free throw line. Other key performers
for Memphis were Zach Randolph with 18 points and 12 rebounds, and
Kosta Koufos with 11 points and 8 rebounds. Despite the loss, Paul
Millsap scored 21 points for Atlanta on 7-14 shooting (1-3 on 3-point
attempts), in addition to going 6-8 from the free throw line. Read more
here.
Durant scores 33 to lead Thunder past Bucks 101-85
Kevin
Durant did the expected. And for a change, Oklahoma City's defense came
along for the ride. Durant scored 33 points, Serge Ibaka had 17 points
and 17 rebounds and the Thunder snapped a two-game skid by defeating
the Milwaukee Bucks 101-85 Saturday night. Oklahoma City was coming off
two poor defensive efforts. On Tuesday, the Thunder let the Jazz shoot
59 percent from the field on their way to a 112-101 win. Two nights
later, Denver led 89-66 after three quarters before holding on for a
101-88 win over the Thunder. This time, the Thunder held the Bucks to
40 percent shooting and sent them to their fifth consecutive loss.
''All we wanted to focus on was defense,'' Durant said. Read more here.
Source:
sports.yahoo.com
January 4, 2014
Iguodala's buzzer-beating 3 beats Hawks
Andre
Iguodala hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer, David Lee scored 23 points and
the Golden State Warriors won their eighth straight game with a 101-100
victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night. Stephen Curry added 22
points with nine assists and Klay Thompson 21 for Golden State, which
recovered from a 15-point deficit in the fourth quarter to get back in
the game and extend its road winning streak to five straight. Pero
Antic finished with a career-high 16 points and Shelvin Mack had 15 for
the Hawks. Atlanta had won three of four and six of eight. Iguodala was
inbounding the ball with 2.8 seconds remaining near the Hawks' bench
and had 6-foot-11 center Antic defending him when he passed the ball to
Curry near the halfcourt line. Read more here.
Source:
sports.yahoo.com
December 8, 2013
Cousins leads Kings past Jazz 112-102 in OT
Sacramento
blew a big lead in the fourth quarter and the Kings' began to show that
look of defeat. ''You saw it on everybody's face. It was like 'Here we
go again,''' Isaiah Thomas said. ''But I just told guys, 'Let's just
stick together. Win or lose, let's stick together this time.''' Thomas
noticed his teammates started keeping their heads up. He saw something
different in their eyes. ''We stayed together and fought hard. We
fought until the end,'' said Thomas, who scored 23 of his 26 points
after halftime to help the Kings snap a six-game skid with a 112-102
overtime victory against the Utah Jazz on Saturday night. ''I just
wanted to be aggressive and make some plays. Read more here.
Ellis hits winner and Mavs beat Blazers 108-106
On
Saturday morning, the Trail Blazers added a play designed for Monta
Ellis. It worked to perfection Saturday night. Ellis drained 21-foot
jumper with no time left on the clock and Dallas snapped the Portland's
four-game winning streak with a 108-106 victory. The game-winner came
on an inbounds pass from Jose Calderon. ''Calderon, we were walking
out, we made eye contact and I told him, 'Give me the ball, I'm ready
for it,''' Ellis said. ''He gave it to me and I came off and hit the
shot.'' Ellis finished with 22 points and Dirk Nowitzki had 28, along
with a season-high seven assists, for the Mavericks' third straight
win. Damian Lillard had a season-high 32 points for the Blazers,
including a 3-pointer with 1.9 seconds left that tied it at 106. Read
more here.
Source:
sports.yahoo.com
November 25, 2013
Henry, Gasol lead Lakers past Kings 100-86
Xavier
Henry had another one of those solid games that Los Angeles Lakers
coach Mike D'Antoni wishes he could get from his guard on a consistent
basis. Henry scored 12 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter, Pau
Gasol had 20 points and 10 rebounds, and the Lakers beat the Sacramento
Kings 100-86 Sunday night. ''I haven't played as well these last few
games, but I know I can still bring defensive intensity,'' Henry said.
''So I just came out and played the same game, but I just was just a
little more aggressive.'' Steve Blake finished with 12 assists, nine
points and five rebounds. The 11-year veteran, has recorded double
digits in assists in each of the last five. Read more here.
Durant, Ibaka pace Thunder to 95-73 win over Jazz
Oklahoma
City is having no problem adjusting to the occasional game without
All-Start Russell Westbrook. The Thunder cruised to a 95-73 win over
struggling Utah on Sunday night while their star point guard took the
night off to rest his surgically repaired right knee. They did so
behind 19 points from Kevin Durant, as well as a 17-point, 11-rebound
effort from Serge Ibaka - stretching their lead to as many as 37 points
in the third quarter before finishing the game out with reserves. ''We
just wanted to play our game,'' Durant said. ''No matter who's on the
floor, we want to execute a game plan on both ends. ''... Of course, we
would love to have Russell out, but everybody stepped up.'' Read more here.
Source:
sports.yahoo.com
November 17, 2013
Warriors hold off Jazz 102-88 after O'Neal injury
Just
about everything had gone as planned for the Golden State Warriors at
home this season until 11:26 remained in the fourth quarter against the
Utah Jazz on Saturday night. Backup center Jermaine O'Neal slipped
along the baseline, spraining his right knee and straining his right
groin. The announced sellout crowd of 19,596 hushed, and players and
coaches huddled over O'Neal before he was helped off the court. It was
far more drama than the Warriors wanted against the NBA's worst team.
Just as they have in the four previous games at home, though, they
responded. Klay Thompson led the way with 25 points, and five others
scored in double digits in an all-around effort that helped the
Warriors hold off the Jazz 102-88 for their third straight victory -
though perhaps its costliest one. Read more here.
Clippers work for win over injury-weakened Nets
Despite
playing without four of their big guns, the Brooklyn Nets almost dealt
the Los Angeles Clippers an embarrassing loss. In the end, though, the
Clippers hit some critical shots to slip past the injury-depleted Nets.
"I'll call it a win at the end of the day," Clippers coach Doc Rivers
said. "We obviously didn't play great, but I was happy our guys hung in
there." Forward Blake Griffin had 30 points and 12 rebounds and J.J.
Redick added 26 points as the Clippers pulled out a 110-103 victory on
Saturday night before a sellout crowd of 19,349 at Staples Center.
Center DeAndre Jordan had 16 rebounds, five blocks and nine points for
the Clippers (7-3), who used a late third-quarter spurt and turned back
several runs by the Nets (3-6) in the fourth quarter to win their
fourth in a row and stay unbeaten at home at 5-0. Read more here.
Source:
sports.yahoo.com
November 4, 2013
Lakers blow big lead, beat Hawks 105-103
A
little bit of tweaking to the starting lineup by coach Mike D'Antoni
worked wonders for the Los Angeles Lakers, resulting in a dominant
first half against the Atlanta Hawks. Then came the second half, and
they ended up fighting for their lives to escape with a victory. Xavier
Henry scored 18 points, Pau Gasol hit two tiebreaking free throws with
6 seconds remaining, and the Lakers beat the Hawks 105-103 on Sunday
night after blowing a 21-point lead. ''There was a little bit of an
energy drop in the second half and a lot of missed assignments, but we
picked it up and a lot of guys made some good plays,'' Henry said. ''I
don't want to say it was because we wanted it more, but you could
tell.''' Read more here.
Wolves beat Knicks 109-100 for a 3-0 start
For
the Minnesota Timberwolves, a 3-0 start is as much cause for caution as
celebration. The Wolves have had too much bad luck lately to think
things will stay this smooth. Kevin Love had 34 points, 15 rebounds and
five assists, Kevin Martin scored 30 points and Minnesota improved to
3-0 for the first time in 12 years with a 109-100 victory over the New
York Knicks on Sunday night. The Timberwolves, averaging a whopping
37.3 points in the first quarter, are healthy again after an
injury-wrecked 2012-13 and showing the early promise of a team that can
contend for its first playoff berth since 2004. But after being limited
to 18 games last season, Love knows nothing is guaranteed. Read more here.
Source:
sports.yahoo.com
October 30, 2013
Heat beat Bulls, spoil Rose return
The
Miami Heat collected their 2012 championship rings, then showed Derrick
Rose and Chicago just how hard it will be to knock them from the top of
the NBA. LeBron James and the Heat used a dominant second quarter to
seize control of their season-opening contest en route to a 107-95
triumph. They spoiled the return of Chicago star Derrick Rose, whose
comeback after missing all of last season recovering from a torn knee
ligament has the Bulls tipped as contenders to topple two-time
defending champions Miami in the Eastern Conference. Read more here.
Lakers'
reserves stun Clippers 116-103 in opener
Pau Gasol and Steve Nash watched
the entire fourth
quarter from the bench. Kobe Bryant sat one row behind them in a black
shirt and suit. The Lakers' three veteran stars were spectators for one
remarkable show put on by five Lakers reserves who weren't ready to
cede Los Angeles supremacy to their Staples Center rivals. Xavier Henry
scored a career-high 22 points, Jordan Farmar added 16, and the Lakers
surged past the Los Angeles Clippers in the final minutes for a 116-103
victory in both clubs' season opener Tuesday night. By the time the
Lakers' reserves were done with Blake Griffin and Chris Paul, coach Doc
Rivers' Clippers debut was wrecked - and so were many preconceptions
about the Lakers' prospects this season. Read more here.