The Lakers have not won consecutive games under Mike D’Antoni who falls to 4-6 since taking over the team.
They are 1-8 this season when Bryant scores at least 30 points and have lost six straight games.
It was the Thunder’s 11th straight game scoring at least 100 points, the longest streak by the franchise since Jan.
Kevin Durant had 36 points, Russell Westbrook scored 27 of his 33 in the first half to stake Oklahoma City to a commanding lead and the Thunder beat the short-handed Los Angeles Lakers 114-108 Friday night.
Dec 7 (Reuters – Oklahoma City guard Russell Westbrook gorged himself with 27 points in the first half as the Thunder extended their recent dominant run with a 114-108 win over the short-handed Los Angeles Lakers on Friday. The victory was the Thunder’s seventh in a row, and their 16th win of the season, while the Lakers are struggling at 9-11. After trailing by a point after the first quarter, the Thunder (16-4) exploded in the second with 41 to open up a 14-point lead at the half, a gap the Lakers could not reel in. …
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Kevin Durant had 36 points, Russell Westbrook scored 27 of his 33 in the first half to stake Oklahoma City to a commanding lead and the Thunder beat the short-handed Los Angeles Lakers 114-108 Friday night.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Kevin Durant had 36 points, Russell Westbrook scored 27 of his 33 in the first half to stake Oklahoma City to a commanding lead and the Thunder beat the short-handed Los Angeles Lakers 114-108 Friday night.
Minnesota Timberwolves president David Kahn is pouring cold water on the seemingly endless speculation surrounding the team’s interest in Los Angeles Lakers big man Pau Gasol.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota Timberwolves president David Kahn is pouring cold water on the seemingly endless speculation surrounding the team’s interest in Los Angeles Lakers big man Pau Gasol.
Back when Shaquille O’Neal was the most dominant force in the NBA, several teams utilized the “Hack-a-Shaq” strategy that essentially turned every Los Angeles Lakers possession into an opportunity to see a gigantic man attempt to shoot a ball through a small hoop even though he was really, really bad at it. It was slow, lacked flow, and generally had very little to do with the reasons fans like watching NBA basketball. So David Stern and the NBA’s competition committee created a new rule: fouling off the ball in the last two minutes of the game would give the fouled team two shots and the ball.
The tactic disappeared for a while, in part because Shaq became less effective and also because no truly dominant players proved to be sub-50 percent free-throw shooters. However, this season has seen a massive uptick in “Hack-a-Shaq” incidents, primarily because Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard is shooting below 50 percent from the line for the second consecutive season. But other players have become targets, as well, including Detroit Pistons rookie Andre Drummond (Slay-a-Dre) and Clippers big man DeAndre Jordan (Hack-a-DJ, which is not an off-brand remake of “PaRappa the Rapper” ).
Coaches employ it because it works. But it’s also pretty terrible to watch, which Stern seems to have noticed once again. While guesting on the New Orleans Hornets broadcast Wednesday night, he commented on his desire to stamp out the tactic with another rule change. From Henry Abbott for TrueHoop :
Stern was quick to point out that the league has instituted a rule that successfully stopped the tactic in the last two minutes of games: Foul a player away from the ball, and after the the free throw, the fouled team gets the ball back. The penalty is so steep that the tactical advantage of fouling is gone.
Stern said he wanted to make that rule last all game.
Back when Shaquille O’Neal was the most dominant force in the NBA, several teams utilized the “Hack-a-Shaq” strategy that essentially turned every Los Angeles Lakers possession into an opportunity to see a gigantic man attempt to shoot a ball through a small hoop even though he was really, really bad at it. It was slow, lacked flow, and generally had very little to do with the reasons fans like watching NBA basketball. So David Stern and the NBA’s competition committee created a new rule: fouling off the ball in the last two minutes of the game would give the fouled team two shots and the ball.
The tactic disappeared for a while, in part because Shaq became less effective and also because no truly dominant players proved to be sub-50 percent free-throw shooters. However, this season has seen a massive uptick in “Hack-a-Shaq” incidents, primarily because Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard is shooting below 50 percent from the line for the second consecutive season. But other players have become targets, as well, including Detroit Pistons rookie Andre Drummond (Slay-a-Dre) and Clippers big man DeAndre Jordan (Hack-a-DJ, which is not an off-brand remake of “PaRappa the Rapper” ).
Coaches employ it because it works. But it’s also pretty terrible to watch, which Stern seems to have noticed once again. While guesting on the New Orleans Hornets broadcast Wednesday night, he commented on his desire to stamp out the tactic with another rule change. From Henry Abbott for TrueHoop :
Stern was quick to point out that the league has instituted a rule that successfully stopped the tactic in the last two minutes of games: Foul a player away from the ball, and after the the free throw, the fouled team gets the ball back. The penalty is so steep that the tactical advantage of fouling is gone.
Stern said he wanted to make that rule last all game.
Kobe Bryant scored 29 points, making him the fifth player in NBA history to score 30,000, and the Los Angeles Lakers snapped a two-game skid with a 103-87 victory over the New Orleans Hornets on Wednesday night.