A LOSING STREAK? BRYANT FAILS TO DELIVER; LAKERS STUMBLE IN MEMPHIS MEMPHIS 105, LAKERS 95.Byline: Howard Beck Staff Writer MEMPHIS Memphis, city, ancient Egypt Memphis (mĕm`fĭs), ancient city of Egypt, capital of the Old Kingdom (c.3100–c.2258 B.C.), at the apex of the Nile delta and 12 mi (18 km) from Cairo. - They knew the losses would come eventually, perhaps even in succession and probably when they were road-weary and longing for home. But the reconfigured Lakers never figured to look, play and feel like this, not with four presumptive pre·sump·tive adj. 1. Providing a reasonable basis for belief or acceptance. 2. Founded on probability or presumption. pre·sump Hall of Famers on the court and a fifth coaching on the bench. They left here late Monday night as losers of two in a row, both by double digits Double Digits was a pricing game on the American television game show, The Price Is Right. Played from April 20, 1973 through May 18, 1973's show, it was played for a car and used small prizes. , the latter a 105-95 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies This is an article about the National Basketball Association team; for the defunct World Football League team, see Memphis Southmen. The Memphis Grizzlies are a professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. , a team that's never known a winning season. And they left wearing the sort of bewildered expressions that were common in the darkest days of last season, but did not figure to be now, not with Gary Payton
Payton sat unhappily through 13 1/2 consecutive minutes of the third and fourth quarters. Malone committed six turnovers and struggled to contain Pau Gasol Pau Gasol Sáez (born July 6 1980, in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain) is a 2.13 m (7'0") Catalan[1] Spanish[2] basketball player. Gasol played in the Spanish ACB League for FC Barcelona, where he had an average of 11.3 points per game. (22 points, 11 rebounds). O'Neal couldn't get the ball often enough down the stretch, and while Bryant got it plenty, he couldn't convert. The rough spots looked and sounded all too familiar. ``I've been around long enough to know that when things get a little tough, it's easy to say it's someone else's fault,'' Malone said. ``But as professional athletes, being a man about it, we look at ourself our·self pron. 1. Myself. Used as a reflexive when we is used instead of I by a singular speaker or author, as in an editorial or a royal proclamation. See Usage Note at myself. 2. Nonstandard Ourselves. in the face and say, `We can do this, we can do that.' '' There was plenty of fault to be found in 23 turnovers - six each by Malone and Bryant, and eight in a row by the Lakers in one stretch of the third quarter - and in a defense that allowed the Grizzlies The name Grizzlies may refer to:
But amid the search for answers was the stark fact that Bryant - criticized by O'Neal two weeks ago for not being ``a team player'' - tried to take over in the fourth quarter, and failed, while teammates stood idly by and watched. Bryant scored eight consecutive points in a 13-2 run in the fourth, as the Lakers tried desperately to chip away at a deficit that was once as wide as 19 points. But they only got as close as seven points, then faded as Bryant misfired on five of his last six shots. Bryant went 3 for 8 in the final period, accounting for nearly half of the Lakers' 17 shots. ``Just trying to get some energy back in the game,'' Bryant said. O'Neal attempted only three shots, made all of them and offered an analysis that was reminiscent of past frustrations with his co-star. ``We just have to move the ball around, use the guys we've got, look for mismatches and keep taking the high-percentage shots,'' said O'Neal, who led the Lakers with 20 points. ``It's a very simple game. We just have to make it simple.'' Since missing opening night to rest his surgically repaired right knee, Bryant has ranged from fabulous to ordinary. Jackson seemed puzzled by his decision to dominate the offense Monday. ``It was not by design, and I think he just felt he had to punch it up there,'' Jackson said. ``He just doesn't have the legs now for the 3-point shots that he was trying to take.'' Indeed, Jackson changed parts of his game plan to conserve Bryant's legs. Payton was assigned to defend the Grizzlies' point guards. Bryant said his legs were fine. ``I just missed (shots). Sometimes you miss them, sometimes you make them,'' he said. ``But you never know if you'll make them if you don't shoot.'' Malone, new to the Lakers but not to Bryant's heroics, said he was not surprised by his offensive zeal. ``He's a competitor and he likes to win, so were we surprised that he tried to take over, do more? Not really,'' Malone said. ``But I think we all going to realize as this season go on, we can make it easier and easier for each other. We all going to realize that. And we do that, we're going to be a very good basketball team.'' The Lakers returned to Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. early this morning, having stumbled on the latter half of their road trip, but with eight of the next 10 games at home. ``I don't really want to overstate these two losses,'' Bryant said. ``It's not like a dramatic point in the season.'' Howard Beck, (818)713-3613 howard.beck(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo, 2 boxes Photo: (color) Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal wrestles with Memphis center Lorenzen Wright for the ball during the second half Monday. Edna T. Simpson/Daily News Box: (1) STORY LINES (2) GAME RECAP |
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