Lakers handed Cleveland its first home loss

CLEVELAND (AP) - No second All-Star. No triple-double for LeBron James. And now, no more home winning streak.

It's been a rough few days for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Lamar Odom scored a season-high 28 points, Kobe Bryant added 19 and the streak-breaking Los Angeles Lakers handed Cleveland its first loss at home this season, 101-91 on Sunday.

The Cavaliers came in 23-0 at Quicken Loans Arena, but were stopped by the Lakers, who ended Boston's 19-game winning streak on Christmas Day and halted a 12-game run by the Celtics earlier this week.

James finished with 16 points on just 5-of-20 shooting for Cleveland, which hadn't lost at home since Game 5 against Washington in the first round of last season's playoffs.

The Lakers weren't intimidated in the NBA's rowdiest arena and went 6-0 on a road trip that also included stops in Minnesota, Memphis, New York, Toronto and Boston.

Pau Gasol added 18 points with 12 rebounds for Los Angeles, which played a solid all-around game and made just six turnovers - none over the final 19:28. The Lakers' trip started rocky with center Andruw Bynum injuring his knee against the Grizzlies, but it couldn't have ended any better.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored 22 to lead Cleveland. Mo Williams, whose All-Star snub had infuriated the Cavs, scored 19 and James finished with 12 assists and eight rebounds. It was James' first game since his apparent historic triple-double at Madison Square Garden was downgraded when the league took away one of his 10 rebounds.

Odom, who added a season-best 17 rebounds, scored 15 in the third quarter, when the Lakers outscored the Cavaliers 31-16 to turn a 10-point deficit into a 82-77 lead entering the fourth.

Odom scored 13 of Los Angeles' last 16 points to close the quarter, capping his one-man scorefest with a two-handed dunk off a miss in the final second as the Lakers became just the fourth team this season to lead Cleveland at home after three.

The Lakers pushed their lead to 10 before the Cavaliers rallied and closed to 93-89 on two free throws by Ilgauskas with 3:06 left. But Bryant, who was battling flulike symptoms, hit a high-arching fadeaway, and Gasol dropped one of two free throws to make it 96-89 when the jumbo scoreboard above midcourt inside Quicken Loans Arena went dark, a symbolic moment for Cleveland's players and fans.

James was stripped on the Cavs' next possession, and Gasol made two more free throws and scored on a putback as the Lakers put an exclamation point on one of their biggest wins this season.

Cleveland's crowd was at a playoff pitch from the outset for one of the most anticipated games of the season, a matchup of the league's top stars, both leading MVP candidates, and two of the NBA's best teams.

But the game never materialized into a Bryant vs. James affair as Odom stole the spotlight.

Earlier this week, Lakers coach Phil Jackson attributed some of Cleveland's dominance at home to a raucous crowd that may influence the officials.

"They all wear No. 23 and help him throw that (expletive) up in the air when he's at the scorer's desk," Jackson said. "He gets away with murder, on top of it, on his home court."

Jackson slightly backed off from those remarks before the game.

"I'm just saying, it's home court," he said. "There are going to be more fans who will be involved in every bump and grind and whatever happens individually to him. Those things will affect the decisions of referees."

James hadn't heard Jackson's remarks.

"Me get calls?" he said in a disbelieving tone. "You guys know Phil. He always makes a comment before a big game or rivalry game. He always says something to throw people's focus off. But you guys know that I don't get as many calls as I should get. We're not going to go there."

James was careful not to complain about losing his triple-double in New York, but he was clearly miffed by the league's decision.

"Um. Should I say something?" he wondered before opting to keep his opinion a secret. "We won the basketball game and that's all that matters."

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Kobe Got Injured But Still Beat James And Cavaliers

Kobe Bryant, dedicated to pressuring LeBron James on defense, dislocated his right ring finger early in the game, trying to knock the ball out of LeBron's hands. Despite of that, Bryant had 20 points, six rebounds and 12 assists in 41 minutes and the Los Angeles Lakers defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers 105-88 in their game at the Staples Center.

Pau Gasol led Los Angeles with 22 points on 11-of-13 shooting and 12 rebounds. Andrew Bynum and Sasha Vujacic scored 14 points each, Derek Fisher added 11 fot the Lakers and Trevor Ariza contributed 10 points and 11 steals to help snap a five-game losing streak to the Cavaliers.

"I just dove for the ball, and the finger just popped out," Bryant recalled afterward . "I was scared, I thought I was done. It felt like I had two fingers on one, it was just disgusting." Bryant, who was obviously bothered by the injury in his shooting hand, shot 9-of-22. He spoke to reporters just minutes after X-rays showed no fracture.

Lakers coach Phil Jackson said, "for a while, we thought he was just going to be a playmaker tonight, but the second half, he started feeling like he could shoot it." Bryant scored 15 of his 20 points after halftime.

"It was a huge deal," Gasol said. "We didn't want to come out of this game with another loss on our home court. It was important for us to bounce back tonight. This is a significant victory for us. The defensive effort was outstanding."

James had 23 points and nine rebounds, but shot just 9-of-25. Mo Williams added 16 points, six rebounds and five assists and Sasha Pavlovic scored 12 for the Cavaliers (31-8), who absorbed their most one-sided loss of the season.

"You've got to give the Lakers credit, they played a very good basketball game," Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said. "I thought they were the aggressors tonight. I thought they got up in us and made us play quick. You have to give Kobe Bryant credit, I thought he played a whale of a game."

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It's Official - Lakers Are Now The Best

With their win against the Portland Trail Blazers after the Celtics lost at New York and Cavaliers lost at Washington Sunday night, the Los Angeles Lakers claim the top spot with a league-best 27-5 record. Boston (29-6) and Cleveland (27-6) are now looking up to the Lakers' best record in the league.

Kobe Bryant played for 33 minutes and scored 26 points, Pau Gasol added 19 points in 28 minutes and Los Angeles beat the Portland Trail Blazers 100-86 Sunday night for its sixth consecutive victory and 15th straight at home.

Earlier, Paul Pierce played 42 minutes and scored 31 points, Ray Allen contributed 16 points in 37 minutes but Boston suffered another loss to a sub-.500 team, the New York Knicks (13-19) 88-100.

On the same night, the Cleveland Cavaliers, for the first time this season, lost to a team with a losing record. Lebron James played for 41 minutes and scored 30 points in a 77-80 loss to the Washington Wizards (7-25).

Cleveland and Boston are really trying hard to win regular-season games by playing their MVPs playoff-level minutes. In spite of James playing 41 minutes and Pierce 42 minutes, they both lost their game against their respective opponents last Sunday.

And the Lakers? Kobe only played 33 minutes and they won by 12 points!

So which team is the best now? The Lakers best record of 27 wins with only 5 losses says it all.

The Lakers might have won more games had Phil Jackson allowed Kobe Bryant to play the kind of minutes that Lebron and Pierce are playing. Remember their 1-point loss in Indiana? It was a won game that was lost when Kobe was resting on the bench.

Even Jackson admitted it was a coaching mistake, he should've put Bryant back at least two minutes earlier in the fourth quarter. He vowed he'd play Kobe more in the fourth quarters of their succeeding games.

Phil Jackson is more concerned about preparing his team as a potent group for the playoffs than boosting his best player's statistics. He's probably the only coach in the league who gets a bit frustrated when his best player scored 40 points in just 31 minutes saying that Bryant “tried to do too much” in the fourth quarter in their “win” against the Utah Jazz on their first game this year.

Wow! Can you imagine Mike Brown or Doc Rivers saying things like that about their best players? Only the highest paid NBA coach can do that!

James averages 36.8 minutes per game this season compared to 36.4 for Pierce, 35.7 for Allen and 35.3 for Kobe. Not much, you'd say. But the disparity in their playing times is more prominent in their crucial games.

Lebron had 10 games where he played 40 minutes or more including a 46-minute game in a loss in Atlanta and 43 minutes each in back-to-back games against Miami. He even played for 43 minutes in Oklahoma!

Yes, that's right! Forty-three big minutes against 4-and-30 Thunder! What was it with the Thunder that made Mike Brown so nervous that he wouldn't take Lebron out of the game even when his team was leading by 14 points in the last 2 minutes?

The Celtics are even worse. Or better if you feel that grinding it out in the regular season is more important than preparing your team for the playoffs and risk losing some games by giving playing time to your supporting casts.

Paul Pierce had played a staggering 15 games in which he played 40 minutes or more including a four-game stretch against Toronto, Atlanta, Denver (a loss) at home and in Milwaukee. And another three-game stretch in home games vs. New Orleans and Utah and a road win in Atlanta.

Oh, I thought Boston didn't have one MVP--they've got three!

Well, the other MVP, Ray Allen, played nine 40+ minute games including a three-game stretch in a loss to Denver (yes, the same game where Pierce played 41 minutes), a road game against the Bucks, and home game against the Knicks.

Boston even had a game where all of their “big three” played more than 40 minutes--a narrow 122-117 win in Indiana. Pierce played for 44 minutes, Garnett for 42, and Allen for 41 in avenging their 16-point road loss early in the season.

No wonder they won that game!

In stark contrast, Kobe Bryant only played four 40+ minute games. One of those games, of course, was their Christmas day match up against the Celtics where he played 43 minutes.

Of course, everybody knows who won that game.

He also played 41 minutes in a close game vs. the Knicks and 40 minutes in a 7-point win against the Mavericks.

The Lakers only loss when Kobe played 40 minutes or more was their game in Orlando. Bryant scored 41 points in 43 minutes in that game but they still lost by three points!

Could they have won that game if Kobe played a few more minutes? Maybe!

But you know, Phil Jackson wouldn't want that. He'd do everything to keep Bryant from “trying to do too much...”

So what do you think is more impressive?

The Lakers achieving their best record without burning out the reigning MVP...

Or the playoff-level minutes being played by Boston's big three...

Or maybe the unstoppable force in Cleveland who stays on the floor even on blowout games to dominate video highlight plays on TV and YouTube...

You pick! I already made mine...

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The Lakers Are Now The Best in NBA

With another impressive win against a quality opponent, the Utah Jazz (19-15), the Los Angeles Lakers have now secured their status as the NBA's best team.

The Lakers beat the Jazz 113-100 Friday night for their fifth straight win and 17th in 18 home games, while the other top two teams in the league also won their home games on the same day.

The Celtics won in Boston over the 6-25 Wizards, 108-83, while the Cavaliers defeated the 14-19 Chicago Bulls, 117-92 in Cleveland.

Of the top three teams in the current NBA's standings, the Lakers (26-5) have the better record against the Boston Celtics (29-5) and Cleveland Cavaliers (27-5) in terms of quality of wins.

Of the Cavaliers' 27 wins, only seven are against winning teams. Of the seven, only two were road wins (Dallas and Denver).

All five Cleveland losses are against winning teams (Boston, New Orleans, Detroit, Atlanta, and Miami).

Their perfect record at home is mainly due to the fact that they've only played five quality opponents at home. We'll see on Jan. 9 when they host the Celtics in Cleveland if they can still keep their home-record clean.

The following is the list of their wins against teams with winning records:

1. Nov. 3 @ Dallas 100-81
   
2. Nov. 13 vs. Denver 110-99
3. Nov. 15 vs. Utah 105-93
   
4. Dec. 19 @ Denver 105-88
5. Nov. 22 vs. Atlanta 110-96
6. Dec. 23 vs. Houston 99-90
7. Dec. 28 vs. Miami 93-86

The Celtics have seven home wins and three on the road (Houston, Detroit, and Atlanta) against quality opponents.

They've lost to two opponents with losing records (Indiana and Golden State) and three against teams with winning records (Denver at home, LA Lakers, and Portland).

The list of Celtics wins against quality opponents is as follows:

1. Oct. 28 vs. Cleveland 90-85
2. Nov. 4 @ Houston 103-99
3. Nov. 9 @ Detroit 88-76
4. Nov. 12 vs. Atlanta 103-102
5. Nov. 20 vs. Detroit 98-80
6. Dec. 1 vs. Orlando 107-88
7. Dec. 5 vs. Portland 93-78
8. Dec. 12 vs. New Orleans 94-82
9. Dec. 17 @ Atlanta 88-85
10. Dec. 15 vs. Utah 100-91

The Lakers, on the other hand, have already won 12 games against winning teams, five on the road (Denver, Dallas, Phoenix, and New Orleans twice). Two of their losses are against losing teams (Indiana and Sacramento).

Three are against teams with winning records (Detroit at home, Miami, and Orlando). The following is the list of their wins against teams with winning records:

1. Oct. 28 vs. Portland 96-76
2. Nov. 1 @ Denver 104-97
   
3. Nov. 9 vs. Houston 111-82
4. Nov. 11 @ Dallas 106-99
5. Nov. 12 @ New Orleans 93-86
6. Nov. 21 vs. Denver 104-90
7. Nov. 20 @ Phoenix 105-92
8. Nov. 28 vs. Dallas 114-107
9. Dec. 10 vs. Phoenix 115-110
10. Dec. 23 @ New Orleans 100-87
11. Dec. 25 vs. Boston 92-83
12. Jan. 2, 2009, vs. Utah 113-100
    

ESPN's Hollinger Power Ranking currently ranks the Lakers at No. 4, even below the 26-7 Orlando Magic, and I can't understand why.

Maybe it's about time that John Hollinger modifies his computer program to make its forecast more accurate. It failed in its prediction about the Utah Jazz last season, right?

Anyway, as John pointed out, it's an entirely automated ranking, so certain "human" factors are missing. So Marc Stein's Power Ranking should be more accurate, as he now ranks the Lakers as the best team in the NBA.

No doubt about that!

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