LAKERS GET A BREATHER BRYANT SCORES 42 IN ROUT OF SUPERSONICS LAKERS 117, SEATTLE 94.Byline: Ross Siler Staff Writer SEATTLE - The only thing that could temper the good feelings overflowing Friday night at KeyArena was the knowledge that the Lakers' season wouldn't be ending April 20 if things went a little more like they did in a 117-94 victory over the Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (or simply Sonics) are an American professional basketball team based in Seattle, Washington. They play in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Their mascot's name is Squatch. . As it was, 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. bounced back from a bad shooting night and bruised shin, Vlade Divac Vlade Divac (Serbian Cyrillic: Владе Дивац, pronounced [ˈvlaːdɛ ˈdiːvaʦ] gave everyone a glimpse of what they had been missing and the Lakers denied the Sonics the victory they needed to clinch the Northwest Division Two of North America's major professional sports leagues contain a Northwest Division.
It was enough for the Lakers to avoid matching a franchise record with their 10th consecutive road loss and brought a five-game losing streak to an end. The 23-point margin of victory also was the largest of the season. Bryant scored 30 of his game-high 42 points in the second half, Caron Butler James Caron Butler, known as Caron Butler (pronounced Kuh-RONN) (born March 13 1980, in Racine, Wisconsin), is an American professional basketball player, currently starting at small forward for the NBA's Washington Wizards. added 31 and Divac made his contributions in playing a season-high 21 minutes and delivering his first great flop since arriving from Sacramento. The Lakers already were leading by 20 points less than a minute into the fourth quarter when Divac fell to the floor in dramatic fashion after Danny Fortson Daniel Anthony Fortson (born on March 27 1976 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is a professional basketball player at power forward/center formerly of the Seattle SuperSonics of the NBA. made contact with him. The Lakers' bench busted up, the crowd groaned and even Divac couldn't suppress a laugh. There was some karmic payback as well for Bryant at the halftime buzzer. He pump-faked Seattle's Ray Allen Not to be confused with Ray Alan or Allan Ray. Walter Ray Allen (born July 20, 1975) is an American professional basketball player for the NBA's Boston Celtics, for whom he plays shooting guard. He has also played for the Milwaukee Bucks and Seattle SuperSonics. in the air, then banked in a 3-pointer that sent the Lakers into the locker room leading 56-42. It was Allen who predicted in training camp that Bryant would be ``very selfish'' in playing his first season without 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). . Butler also connected on several jumpers over Allen, his good friend and fellow Connecticut alum. The Lakers got a scare midway through the third quarter when Damien Wilkins banged into Brian Grant's right knee on a drive, sending the Lakers forward to the floor in pain. Grant, who has battled tendinitis in both knees, left for the locker room but returned in the fourth quarter. The story of these final games might be Divac and the decision the Lakers have to make about bringing him back next season for $5.4 million at age 37. With him on the floor Friday, the Lakers went on a 15-0 run in the second quarter. Two plays showed just how much the Lakers could have used Divac this season. Bryant checked back in with 5:47 left in the second quarter and Divac found him immediately for an alley-oop dunk. The next trip down court, Bryant and Butler both passed on 3-pointers and Divac wound up with the ball and threaded a back-door pass to Butler for a layup and 41-35 lead. Divac was at his animated best, even accusing Seattle's Reggie Evans of flopping on one play in the first quarter. In the second quarter, Divac became so agitated ag·i·tate v. ag·i·tat·ed, ag·i·tat·ing, ag·i·tates v.tr. 1. To cause to move with violence or sudden force. 2. when Danny Fortson shoved him, he stopped playing and started yelling at referee Leroy Richardson. As obituaries of the Lakers season were being written last week, Divac said he thought the team would have won 10 more games and qualified for the playoffs had he not suffered a herniated disc in his back during September workouts. It was hard to argue with him after Friday. Divac finished with four assists and will head to Sacramento on an upbeat note for Sunday's nationally televised game against his former team. The Sonics fell to 2-4 without injured All-Star forward Rashard Lewis and also were absent Vladimir Radmanovic and Antonio Daniels. The Lakers were playing the second of back-to-back games, however, and had lost 13 of 14 entering Friday. One night after shooting 4 for 19 in a loss to Houston, Bryant was brilliant all game against the Sonics. He had five assists in the first quarter alone and could only shrug his shoulders in the fourth quarter after hitting 3-pointers one after the other. During one early stretch, Bryant found Jumaine Jones posting up for one basket, drove and dished dished adj. 1. Concave. 2. Slanting toward one another at the bottom. Used of a pair of wheels. Adj. 1. dished - shaped like a dish or pan dish-shaped, patelliform concave - curving inward to Grant for another, then kicked out to Chucky Atkins for a 3-pointer. Bryant capped things by knocking down a fadeaway fade·a·way n. 1. The act or an instance of gradually diminishing in brightness, loudness, or strength until actual disappearance occurs. 2. Baseball a. A screwball. b. from the post. Ross Siler, (818) 713-3610 ross.siler(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): box Box: GAME RECAP |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion