Bynum's triple-double leads Lakers past Nuggets

By GREG BEACHAM | The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) A day before Andrew Bynum produced one of the most eye-popping defensive performances in NBA playoff history, he spoke up to his Lakers teammates about the importance of getting off to a good start in their championship quest.

With an NBA record-tying 10 blocked shots, the 7-foot All-Star center put the Lakers on the good foot - and the Denver Nuggets on their heels.

Kobe Bryant scored 31 points, Bynum posted the Lakers' first playoff triple-double in 21 years, and Los Angeles thoroughly controlled the tempo in a playoff-opening 103-88 victory Sunday.

Despite a few well-chronicled fluctuations in his motivation and discipline this year, the seventh-year pro had perfect focus in Game 1, capping his utter dominance in the paint with his record-tying block of Timofey Mozgov with 3:02 to play. Bynum also had 10 points and 13 rebounds before checking out to an ovation.

''It's the only way really possible for me to get a triple-double - through blocked shots,'' Bynum said of his first career triple-double. ''If I play good D, we'll win games. I think I'm just going to be as aggressively as I can defensively to contest their shots. ... You've got to win Game 1. Statistics are against the teams that lose Game 1, especially on the home court.''

Game 2 is Tuesday night.

Just how dominant were Bynum and his tall teammates against the NBA's highest-scoring team? Bynum blocked 11 percent of the Nuggets' 90 shots, and with 15 total blocks,

Lakers swatted one of every six Denver shots, separating the Nuggets from any hope of a late rally.

''His timing was impeccable today,'' Bryant said of Bynum. ''He really understood the rhythm of their offensive players. He was just there at the exact moment, either to change or block the shot.''

While Bynum had the Lakers' first playoff triple-double since Magic Johnson in the 1991 NBA finals, fellow 7-footer Pau Gasol added 13 points, eight rebounds and eight assists for the playoff-tested Lakers, who never trailed while forcing Denver to play Los Angeles' preferred half-court style.

Finish reading this article @ YAHOO!

Fisher Reflects on Season’s First Half

Published by Mike Trudell on February 24, 2012 1:34 pm

The Lakers closed out the first half of the season with five victories in seven games to improve to 20-14 despite Thursday’s loss at Oklahoma City, when L.A., playing its fourth game in five nights, appeared to run out of gas in the second half.

Afterwards, Derek Fisher reflected upon the first half of the season, discussed what the Lakers need to improve upon into the second half, explained the reasons he is optimistic about L.A.’s prospects and more:

On what the Lakers need to improve upon in the second half:
Fisher: How we can continue to make everyone better on our team. I think we’ve done a decent job at times, but right now, essentially Kobe (Bryant), Andrew (Bynum) and Pau (Gasol) are having to score (60)-plus points and everyone is pitching in here or there. I think if we can improve in our execution, ball movement and player movement where we can actually utilize the full capabilities of all the guys on our team, and put teams in a position where they have to defend everybody, I think we can put ourselves in a better (position). We’re asking those three guys to do too much when we just run a play to get them the ball so they can go 1-on-1 and hope that the other team comes and helps, and then you kick it out to somebody. We have to put them in better positions to be effective offensively by getting them the ball after we’ve moved the defense a certain way.
To finish reading this article click here!

URL Submitter - Free Website Submission