CLIPPERS GET EVEN BRYANT SCORES 50 FOR LAKERS, BUT CITY SERIES ENDS IN 2-2 TIE.Byline: ROSS SILER Staff Writer Their playoff hopes flicking in the second half, with Kobe Bryant Kobe Bean Bryant (born July 23 1978) is an American All-Star shooting guard in the National Basketball Association (NBA) who plays for the Los Angeles Lakers. on his way to yet another supreme scoring night, the Clippers somehow turned the tables on the staggering Lakers on Thursday night at Staples Center This article has multiple issues: * Its neutrality is disputed. * It may contain original research or unverifiable claims. * It does not cite any references or sources. . The Clippers trailed by 17 points in the third quarter and came from 10 points down in the fourth quarter to take a 118-110 victory in the closest thing to a playoff game Noun 1. playoff game - one game in the series of games constituting a playoff game - a single play of a sport or other contest; "the game lasted two hours" playoff - any final competition to determine a championship between the city's two NBA NBA abbr. 1. National Basketball Association 2. National Boxing Association NBA (US) n abbr (= National Basketball Association) → Basketball-Dachverband (= teams. Bryant finished with 50 points but the Clippers found two stars to the Lakers' one in Corey Maggette Corey Antoine Maggette (born November 12 1979, in Melrose Park, Illinois) is an American professional basketball player, positioned at small forward for the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers. (career-high 39 points) and Elton Brand Elton Tyron Brand (born March 11, 1979 in Peekskill, New York) is an American All-Star professional basketball player for the National Basketball Association's Los Angeles Clippers and the USA National Team. (32 points), as well as a typical fourth-quarter performance out of Sam Cassell Samuel (Sam) James Cassell (born November 18, 1969 in Baltimore, Maryland) is an American professional basketball player who currently plays point guard for the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers. despite his creaky creak·y adj. creak·i·er, creak·i·est 1. Tending to creak. 2. Shaky or infirm, as with age; decrepit: creaky knee joints; a creaky regime. back. The Lakers (40-39) lost for the seventh time in nine games and lead eighth-place Golden State by 1 1/2 games while the Clippers pulled even with the Warriors with identical 37-41 records. After trailing by as many as 17 points in the second half, the Clippers rallied to tie the game 102-102 with 6:34 left. Bryant had the ball poked free by Brand and Corey Maggette ran out for layup while being fouled by Sasha Vujacic. They took their first lead of the second half less than a minute later as Tim Thomas Tim Thomas may refer to:
Even with a bad back that left him reclining on the sidelines On the sidelines An investor who decides not to invest due to market uncertainty. on the sidelines Of or relating to investors who, having assessed the market, have decided to avoid committing their funds. when he wasn't in the game, Cassell still was a fourth-quarter difference maker. He breezed past Parker for a layup as the Clippers went ahead 109-103 with 3:50 to play. If the fourth quarter, where nearly every playoff game is decided, the Lakers once again came up empty. Jackson described his team's "fourth-quarter enigmas" last week and the Lakers were outscored 32-17 in the last 12 minutes Thursday. The Lakers missed four straight shots down the stretch: two 3-pointers by Lamar Odom; and a turnaround jumper and runner by Bryant. Odom is just 5 of 32 on 3-pointers since returning from a shoulder injury. Bryant played all 48 minutes and totaled 50 points on 17-of-33 shooting. Parker added 19 points, but the Lakers once again faltered late. Maggette's 39 points came on 10-of-15 shooting and 17 of 24 from the foul line. Brand had 12 rebounds. Bryant's 50-point game was his ninth of the season, the most since Wilt Chamberlain also had nine in the 1964-65 season. It was the closest thing to a playoff game in the history of Los Angeles' two teams, with the Lakers searching for any end to a slide in which they had lost six of eight games. The Clippers, meanwhile, had fallen out of playoff position with a week left. After beating the Lakers 90-82 last week, the Clippers had lost three games in a row to fall a half-game behind Golden State for the Western Conference's eighth and final playoff spot. They led 10th place New Orleans by just a half-game. The only way the Clippers could feel confident about reaching the playoffs was to sweep their final five games of the season. Now their hopes of qualifying for the playoffs in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1992-93 are still alive. The Lakers split the series against the Clippers for the third straight season but are still in line to finish with a better record than the Clippers for the first time since the Shaquille O'Neal trade. The Lakers can clinch a playoff berth with two more victories and one loss by the Warriors. The Lakers play at Phoenix tonight while Golden State is at Sacramento. Lakers coach Phil Jackson took advantage of the extra-long timeouts in the TNT TNT: see trinitrotoluene. TNT in full trinitrotoluene Pale yellow, solid organic compound made by adding nitrate (−NO2) groups to toluene. game to forgo resting Bryant. He played all of the first three quarters, then came back to start the fourth quarter by connecting on two long jumpers. To think, Jackson talked before the game about the Lakers finding a way to better use Bryant. He talked about Bryant have to exert too much effort in the second and third quarters with the Lakers falling behind early. ross.siler@dailynews.com (818) 713-3610 CAPTION(S): 2 photos, box Photo: (1 -- color) The Lakers' Kobe Bryant, who scored 50, has the ball knocked away by the Clippers' Cuttino Mobley. (2) Lakers center Andrew Bynum goes up to block a shot by Clippers forward Elton Brand on Thursday at Staples Center. Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer Box: HOME STRETCH |
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