SNORES TO SCORES; SHORT ON SLEEP, LAKERS FEND OFF CELTICS : LAKERS 118, BOSTON 103.Byline: Howard Beck Daily News Staff Writer They suffered their first loss of the season, then suffered the scheduling indignity in·dig·ni·ty n. pl. in·dig·ni·ties 1. Humiliating, degrading, or abusive treatment. 2. A source of offense, as to a person's pride or sense of dignity; an affront. 3. of immediately flying four hours to their next destination, their heads finally hitting the pillows at 4 o'clock in the morning, only to play again that night. Against a hyper young team that loves to run. A yawn here or there along the Lakers bench Wednesday night would have been excusable. And, for one half of play against the Celtics, the Lakers certainly played like a sleep-deprived bunch, or at least one that was still dreaming of the 11-game winning streak Noun 1. winning streak - a streak of wins streak, run - an unbroken series of events; "had a streak of bad luck"; "Nicklaus had a run of birdies" in which they could do no wrong. But the Lakers cleared their heads by the third quarter, found their game again and turned back the upstart Celtics 118-103 before a raucous sellout crowd of 18,624 at the FleetCenter. A night after having their perfect season blemished blem·ish tr.v. blem·ished, blem·ish·ing, blem·ish·es To mar or impair by a flaw. n. An imperfection that mars or impairs; a flaw or defect. in Miami, the Lakers looked and sounded like their old selves again. ``I feel a lot better, coming out of here with a `W,' '' said 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. . ``You take a loss, it hurts.'' Lakers, heal thyselves. They did it with a dominant third quarter, after trailing by as much as 11 points in the second quarter. Down 53-52 at halftime, the Lakers took command with a 10-2 run to start the third, sparked by a pair of Nick Van Exel Nickey (Nick) Maxwell Van Exel (born November 27 1971 in Kenosha, Wisconsin) is a retired American professional basketball player in the NBA. Van Exel, a 6'1" left-handed point guard, was most well known for his flashy style of play and his ability to hit critical shots during layups on the fast break, both on passes from Eddie Jones. They never trailed again. Van Exel scored 10 of his 15 points and Jones scored nine of his 20 in the third, and the Lakers shot 75 percent and outscored the Celtics 39-24 in the quarter. Boston, running coach Rick Pitino's scrapping, scrambling, full-court game, failed to disrupt the Lakers after halftime. ``I really felt good about the way our guys played, because it's literally a culture shock . . . to come in and play this style of game. Nobody else is playing this way,'' said Lakers coach Del Harris. ``It's not a style teams look forward to playing.'' And it had the Lakers a bit frantic and out of their game early on. They hit their low point midway through the second quarter. On successive Lakers possessions, Antoine Walker Antoine Devon Walker (born August 12 1976, in Chicago, Illinois, United States) is an American professional basketball player with the Miami Heat in the National Basketball Association. He has played for four different teams during his NBA career. picked a Jon Barry Jon Alan Barry (born July 25 1969, in Oakland, California) is a retired American professional basketball player and current television analyst for cable network ESPN.[1] Biography pass, then snatched one away from Elden Campbell Elden Jerome Campbell (born July 23, 1968 in Los Angeles, California) is an American former professional basketball player who played center in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Campbell played college basketball at Clemson University. , leading to a Ron Mercer Ronald (Ron) Eugene Mercer (born May 18 1976 in Nashville, Tennessee) is an American former basketball player at the University of Kentucky who also had a career in the National Basketball Association, most recently for the New Jersey Nets. fastbreak layup and a Dee Brown Dee Brown may refer to: Basketball:
They chopped it down to 53-52 by halftime, Campbell scoring six in the run and Van Exel scoring the last five. That seemed to put the Lakers back in their flow for the final two quarters. ``We ran our offense in the second half. We started getting the ball inside to Elden and we were being patient, instead of in the first half, (when) we were just coming down and jacking it up. That's the way (the Celtics) wanted us to play,'' Van Exel said. Harris worried that other forces would be at work - the rigorous travel schedule, for instance, which had the Lakers playing back-to-back nights with a four-hour plane ride in between. ``I don't think the league should require a team to play back-to-back Miami up to Boston. Our guys got to bed about 4 o'clock this morning. I don't think that's a fair ride,'' he said. The NBA's highest-scoring team was held to a season-low 86 points and 39 percent shooting by the Heat on Tuesday, but the Lakers bounced back nicely, with 118 points and a season-high 59.7 percent shooting. Six players scored in double figures, led by Campbell's 22. Robert Horry Robert Horry (born August 25, 1970 in Harford County, Maryland) is an American National Basketball Association basketball player. Currently playing for the San Antonio Spurs, Horry is is known for his ability to make clutch shots in big games. paired a season-high 21 points with nine rebounds, and Rick Fox, playing for the first time against his former team, scored 18. Boston was paced by Walker's 28 points and 12 rebounds. Mercer and former Lakers center Travis Knight Travis Knight (born September 13 1974 in Salt Lake City, Utah) is an American former professional basketball player who was selected by the Chicago Bulls in the 1st round (29th overall) of the 1996 NBA Draft. scored 18 each. ``I am very disappointed in our basketball team tonight,'' Pitino said. ``The Lakers are a very explosive team, but we did not defend them very well. I haven't been disappointed in this team yet. They've played poorly on given nights, but I'm very disappointed.'' CAPTION(S): 2 Photos PHOTO (1--color) Former Lakers center Travis Knight, now with Boston, grapples for control of the ball with Los Angeles guard Derek Fisher. (2) Kobe Bryant of the Lakers passes the ball by Boston's Walter McCarty during a road victory Wednesday. Associated Press |
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