Road To Redemption: Los Angeles Lakers MyLeague

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[Game Links: Pelicans Boxscore | Lakers Boxscore | Team Comparison]
Lakers Hand Pelicans Their 11th Straight Loss
By: ESPN.com
Posted December 7, 2014

Sun, Nov 7, 2014 | Recap

	80	STAT LEADERS
		2 w/ 17	PTS	Bryant 24
	85	Davis 13	REB	Hill 12
		Holiday 8	AST	2 w/ 3

Top Performers

Pelicans (5-14)	Lakers (12-9)
A. Davis Pts: 17 Reb: 13 Ast: 0 Stl: 1 Blk: 1	K. Bryant Pts: 24 Reb: 4 Ast: 3 Stl: 0 Blk: 0
SEASON SERIES 1-1 TIED

Hot: Kobe Bryant. Bryant didn't have the greatest night shooting the ball (10-of-26), but he knocked down back to back jumpers with 1:30 left to keep the Lakers ahead for good over the Pelicans. The Black Mamba also finished with 4 rebounds and 3 assist in 34 minutes. The bad besides his shooting was his 5 turnovers, but the Lakers were able to overcome it.

Not: Tyreke Evans. Evans got off to a hot start in the opening quarter with 12 points on 6-of-6 shooting from the floor. But he went the next 3 quarters without making a single field goal. Evans finished the game 6-of-16 from the field meaning he went 0-of-12 after his 6-of-6 start. His lone point in the rest of the way came off a free throw. A halfway decnt 2nd half from him probably would've ended the Pelicans losing streak.

Quotable: "I think they change in the lineup was needed. Ed and Jordan played some great defense by stopping their guards when they drove to the paint" Lakers coach Byron Scott

X-Factor: Jeremy Lin. Lin finished with 15 points and 3 assist on 4-of-8 shooting. He played a great game outside of his team high 7 turnovers. Lin was aggressive from the start hence his game high 7 free throw attempts. Maybe Lin is starting to find his way next to Bryant in the Lakers back-court.

Rookie Watch: Jordan Clarkson. Clarkson was a spark plug off the bench for the Lakers has he put up 9 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field in 11 minutes. The 2nd round pick also had an assist, a steal, and a block in his time off the bench.

By The Numbers: 35. In a low scoring game, the Lakers got 35 points from their reserves while the Pelicans were only able to get 17 from theirs.

On Tap: The Lakers will host the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday night in a Pacific division match-up.

[Jumpman14]

Earl Clark heading to China
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By Marc Stien | ESPN.com
Updated: December 9, 2014, 5:56 PM ET



Former Los Angeles Lakers forward Earl Clark, after recent talks to return to the Lakers, is signing a lucrative deal in China instead, according to league sources.

Sources told ESPN.com on Tuesday that Clark is in the process of finalizing his release from the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA D-League to make the move to China to join the Shandong Lions.

Clark started 36 games with the Lakers in 2012-13 and was the D-League's player of the month in November. He entered into contract talks with the Lakers after L.A. lost swingman Xavier Henry to its third season-ending injury of the young season, but team officials decided against making an immediate roster move, convincing Clark to jump on the offer with Shandong since the Chinese season ends in time to return to the NBA in the spring.

In addition to L.A. losing Henry to a torn Achilles, Steve Nash (back) and Julius Randle (leg) are also out for the season. Forward Ryan Kelly (hamstring) likewise remains sidelined with a hamstring tear.

The Lakers, besides Clark, have auditioned a number of players in recent weeks but haven't signed any of them. They've looked at forwards Tyrus Thomas, Jordan Hamilton and Quincy Miller and guards Dwight Buycks and Gal Mekel, but Mekel has since been signed by the New Orleans Pelicans while the Lakers have been deliberating over their next move.

Among the issues for the Lakers is that they're already carrying the maximum 15 players, meaning they'd have to let someone under contract go if they opt to make a move. But they have been granted two injury exceptions from the league -- valued at $4.8 million (half of Nash's salary) and $1.5 million (half of Randle's) -- that they can use to sign a player or absorb one via trade. The exceptions both expire March 10 and can't be combined.

[Matt_1979]

Tough loss against the Celtics. Those injury stricken teams can sometimes bite you on the ***.

[Jumpman14]

[Game Links: Kings Boxscore | Lakers Boxscore | Team Comparison]
Lakers Defense Steps Uo In Win Over Kings
By: ESPN.com
Posted December 9, 2014

Tue, Nov 9, 2014 | Recap

	88	STAT LEADERS
		Cousins 25	PTS	Bryant 30
	95	Cousins 14	REB	Davis 18
		Collison 7	AST	Lin 10

Top Performers

Sacramento (9-13)	Los Angeles (13-9)
D. Cosuins Pts: 25 Reb: 14 Ast: 2 Stl: 1 Blk: 0	K. Bryant Pts: 30 Reb: 1 Ast: 2 Stl: 0 Blk: 1
SEASON SERIES 1-0 LAL

Hot: Kobe Bryant. It was just another day in the office for the Black Mamba as he led the Lakers with a game high 30 points while shooting a very efficient 11-of-19 from the field including 3-of-4 from down town. Bryant did all this in just 31 minutes of action after coach Scott said he will start monitoring the 36 year old minutes better.

Not: Darren Collison. Collison finished with 10 points and 7 assist but he couldn't find his shot at all going 3-of-12 from the field with Jeremy Lin playing some good tough defense on him. Collison couldn;t use his spped to get past Lin and the times he did he was met by Ed Davis at the rim and either had his shot blocked or altered.

Quotable: "Ed Davis play was probably the main reason why they won. He just out hustled everybody else out there. All those rebounds were impressive." Kings coach Mike Malone

X-Factor: Ed Davis. Making his 2nd start of the season, Davis showed why Byron Scott made the right move by making him the starting center. The former Tar Hill scored 15 points and pulled down a career high 18 rebounds and 2 blocked shots in the process. Davis completely shut down Cousins holding him to just 4 points in the final quarter.

Rookie Watch: Jordan Clarkson and Nick Staukas. Clarkson and Staukas both scored 7 points apiece for their teams with Clarkson going 3-of-5 from the field and Staukas going 3-of-8 from the floor.

By The Numbers: 41. The Lakers held to Kings to a season low 41% shooting in the win.

On Tap: The Lakers will head to the lone start state for a match up with the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night.

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Green and Joseph shine as Spurs rout Lakers, 112-96

By ESPN.com
Posted Dec 12 2014 11:43PM

HOT: Danny Green. Green's mid-range game was money against the Lakers has he scored a season high 31 points in the win over the Lakers. Green was 11-of-23 from the field and scored 22 first half points as the Spurs never trailed during the entire game. Although his three point shot was off (2-of-10), the former Tar Heel still had a career night.

NOT: Kobe Bryant. The Mamba struggled with the stifling defense of the Spurs needing 23 shots to score 24 points. Bryant tried to contribute in other ways (5 rebounds and 6 assist), but the Lakers needed his scoring to try to go toe to toe with the potent Spurs offense.

Quotable: "The basket looked like a ocean out there tonight. Johnson kept giving me space so I had to him pay" Spurs SG Danny Green

X-Factor: Cory Joseph. Jospeh has been starting in place of the injured Tony Parker and he had a coming out party against the Lakers. The 4th year guard finished with a career high 22 points while dishing out 7 assist in the victory. Joseph had is way with Jeremy Lin using his craft quickness to get to the basket all night long.

The Stat: 13. The Spurs forced 13 Lakers turnovers and turned them into 19 points.

On Tap: The Lakers will continue their three game road trip Sunday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

[Jumpman14]

Lakers and Swaggy P too much for Timberwolves, win 101-95

By ESPN.com
Posted Dec 14 2014 11:43PM

HOT: Nick Young. At a Lakers practice recently, Young said nobody in the world could guard him. Well that much was true tonight against the Timberwolves. The man called Swaggy P finished with a team high and season high 31 points in 27 minutes. Young went 12-of-24 from the field while pulling down a season high 7 rebounds in the win. This was a rare night when Kobe Bryant could take a back seat and let his team-mates do all the heavy lifting.

NOT: Ricky Rubio. For a guy with no jumper, Rubio sure likes to take a lot of them. Rubio went 4-of-20 from the field in the loss to score 13 points. Every Laker that defended the 4th year point guard played off him and dared him to take the open jumper, and Rubio did just that even though the results weren't to his liking. This was a game where Rubio ignored everybody else and tried to get his all night long.

Quotable: "Man my swag just touched everybody out there tonight. I told Kobe nobody on this planet can guard me baby." Lakers SF Nick Young

X-Factor: Kobe Bryant. Even though the Mamba didn't lead the team in scoring, he finished with 23 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assist on a very efficient 8-of-13 shooting from the floor. Bryant didn't force anything or try to play hero ball in the crunch either. He deferred to the hot man in Young and played a decoy role down the stretch. And it worked out perfectly.

The Stat: 14. The slow paced Lakers and not the fast breaking Timberwolves finished with 14 fast break points in the victory.

On Tap: The Lakers will fly out tonight to take on the Indiana Pacers tomorrow night.

[Jumpman14]

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