HALFWAY HOME, STILL GASPING LAKERS FADE LATE AGAINST WARRIORS TO DROP TO 19-22 GOLDEN STATE 114, LAKERS 110.Byline: Howard Beck Staff Writer The Lakers reached the season's mathematical midpoint mid·point n. 1. Mathematics The point of a line segment or curvilinear arc that divides it into two parts of the same length. 2. A position midway between two extremes. Wednesday night, grasping at every recent positive sign, looking optimistically ahead but still being dragged down from behind by the very things that haunted them in November and December. For more than two months, they have shared the bottom of the Pacific Division with the likes of the Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are a professional basketball team based in Oakland, California. The team plays in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Franchise history Philadelphia Warriors , uncomfortable but certain the arrangement was temporary. Yet the Warriors, young, rebuilding and hungry for respect, just ensured the Lakers will keep them company in the low-rent district for a while longer. Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal (pronounced "shak-KEEL") (born March 6, 1972 in Newark, New Jersey), frequently referred to simply as Shaq, is an American professional basketball player, generally regarded as one of the most dominant in the National Basketball Association (NBA). fouled out, Derek Fisher Derek Lamar Fisher (born August 9 1974 in Little Rock, Arkansas) is an American professional basketball player with the Los Angeles Lakers. He was with the Utah Jazz but asked to be released from his contract to care for his 10-month-old daughter, who has cancer. fouled up and the Lakers fell 114-110 to the Warriors before a surly 18,997 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 loss dropped the Lakers to 19-22 at the midway point, putting them on pace for 38 wins. It was the Warriors' first victory over the Lakers in their last eight trips to L.A. and first ever at Staples Center. Golden State's last win here came in April 1999, at the Great Western Forum. Everything began to fall apart in the final six minutes. Earl Boykins Earl Antoine Boykins (born June 2 1976 in Cleveland, Ohio) is an American professional basketball player currently with the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association. College career He played collegiately at Eastern Michigan University from 1995 to 1998. hit a 3-pointer to break a 96-96 tie. O'Neal missed a pair of free throws. Jason Richardson
Jason Anthoney "J-Rich" Richardson (born January 20 1981, in Saginaw, Michigan) is an American professional basketball player, currently playing shooting guard for the knocked down a 10-footer, and the Warriors had cleared the 100-point mark with 4:45 to play. Richardson followed with a 3-pointer to give the Warriors a 104-98 lead, and O'Neal fouled out seconds later. O'Neal, posting up on the left block, put a left elbow into Troy Murphy's chin. He dismissively flipped the ball after Gary Zielinski called the foul. Zielinski had whistled O'Neal for his fifth foul, also at the offensive end, four minutes earlier. The Warriors extended their lead to 107-100 on a a Bob Sura Robert Sura Jr. (born March 25 1973, in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania) is an American professional basketball player in the NBA currently for the Houston Rockets. Sura played high school at G.A.R. Memorial in Wilkes-Barre. He had a high game of 68 while leading G.A.R. scoop shot Noun 1. scoop shot - a basketball shot made with an underhand scooping motion basketball shot - throwing the basketball toward the hoop; "his shot hit the rim and bounced out" . Fisher, fouled by Boykins at the top of the arc, went to the line with a chance to cut the deficit to two points, with 1:10 to play. But he missed the first free throw, then the second, and the boos began to rain down. Fisher walked away from the line, clearly frustrated, returned and sunk the final foul shot. A reverse by 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. and a driving dunk by Devean George Devean Jamar George (born August 29 1977 in Minneapolis, Minnesota) is an American professional basketball player for the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA. He typically plays small forward but because of his athleticism and defensive activity, can defend many shooting guards as well. cut the deficit to 109-107 with 30 seconds left, but Boykins - who beat the Lakers last month in Oakland - sunk them again. He hit a runner while fouled by Fisher and converted the 3-point play for a 112-107 lead with 9.7 seconds left. O'Neal scored 28 points. Bryant, playing on a tendinitis-stricken knee that kept him off the court for most of two days, scored 23 points. Fisher finished with a season-high 24 points. Coach Phil Jackson
Philip Douglas "Phil" Jackson (born September 17, 1945 in Deer Lodge, Montana) is the current coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, an American professional basketball team. , searching as ever for a sign that his team's resurgence is real, had labeled this three-game homestand as an indicator of the Lakers' health. Yet they barely survived the Clippers on Monday and have a tough Finals rematch with the New Jersey Nets on Friday. ``Our record really speaks to where we're at emotionally as a team and mentally as a team,'' Jackson said. ``I'm just talking to Noun 1. talking to - a lengthy rebuke; "a good lecture was my father's idea of discipline"; "the teacher gave him a talking to" lecture, speech rebuke, reprehension, reprimand, reproof, reproval - an act or expression of criticism and censure; "he had to the guys about instinctively moving to each other's rhythm now, and knowing where each other's going to be on the floor, because of our knowledge and our premonition of how to play together. That's starting to return to us, and defensively covering each other's backs. Those are things that teams do that are instinctively playing together and playing as teams and really sacrificing for each other.'' The Warriors scored 10 unanswered points in the third quarter to take a 77-72 lead, and the Lakers were locked in a game much like Monday's narrow win over the Clippers. For all the Lakers' offensive prowess, they still have trouble containing teams stocked with youth and athleticism, and the Warriors have plenty of both. Golden State is sending all three of its sophomores - Gilbert Arenas, Jason Richardson and Troy Murphy - to the All-Star rookie game Feb. 8. ``I think they've got a balance to their players right now,'' Jackson said of the Warriors. ``They kind of know who's going to play and how they're going to play their players. They're really competitive now. And it's just learning how to win those last four or five minutes of a ballgame before they really steady this team out and win some games.'' O'Neal, Bryant and Fisher all scored in double figures as the Lakers took a 62-58 lead into halftime. Neither team had played much defense, the Lakers shooting 56.3 percent in the first half and the Warriors shooting 62.5 percent. Bryant had 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting. O'Neal added 16 points on 8-of-11 shooting. CAPTION(S): 2 photos, box Photo: (1 -- color) The Lakers' Derek Fisher steals ball from Golden State's Troy Murphy on Wednesday during 114-110 loss to the Warriors, who surged at the finish of their first-ever game at Staples Center. (2) Gilbert Arenas knocks the ball away from Lakers' Kobe Bryant during Warriors' 114-110 victory. Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer Box: GAME RECAP |
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