Thur. 12/16 @ Kings - Results Inside - Postgame comments

Lakers @ Kings
Thursday, Dec. 16
7:30pm
TV: TNT
Radio: KLAC-AM 570/KWKW-AM 1330
Recap | Box Score | Photos

Lakers - 115
Kings - 99

Lakers Contain Kings
Los Angeles led by 21 points after three quarters and cruised to a 115-99 win at Sacramento on Thursday. Kobe Bryant posted a game-high 31 points and 12 dimes and Lamar Odom added 22 points. The Lakers play host to the Wizards on Friday night.



Post all your comments here...

Preview:

SACRAMENTO, California (Ticker) -- Two long-time Western Conference rivals square off for the second time this season when the Sacramento Kings host the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Kings won the first meeting, 109-106 on November 26. Peja Stojakovic scored 26 points and Chris Webber added 22 for the Kings, while Kobe Bryant had 40 for the Lakers.

Webber buried a 3-pointer at the buzzer Tuesday to finish with 23 points and help the Kings beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 89-86. Mike Bibby scored 27 points as Sacramento won for the 14th time in 16 outings.

The Kings lead the league in assists (25.2), turnovers (13.6) and free throw shooting (81.9 percent), while the Lakers rank 22nd, 16th and 14th, respectively, in those categories.

The Lakers fell to the Seattle SuperSonics, 108-93, on Tuesday, despite 35 points by Bryant and 16 by Caron Butler. Los Angeles fell behind in the second quarter by missing 13-of-14 shots during a 17-5 SuperSonics run.

Center Vlade Divac, who returned to the Lakers this season after several years with the Kings, has spent some time on the injured list with a disk problem in his back and has not played in two of the last four games.

Sacramento has won four of the last five meetings, but trails in the regular season series, 63-23.

With the lackluster perimeter defense they have shown in the last few games, it's going to be tough for the Lakers to win at Arco.

I predict Kings with a double digit victory.

Yay! You're back. I was forced over to the espn boards...where 99% of the conversation dealt with what a "rat" Kobe is. That said, this is going to be a tough game. Lakers need Odom and Butler to step up. I'd love to see solid play from both Mihm and Vlade. And I guess we're still hoping Atkins can put together a string of consistent games.

Los Angeles Lakers (12-9) @ Sacramento Kings (15-6)

Date: Thursday, December 16th
Time: 7:30 PM
TV: TNT

Previous Games:
Lakers @ Sonics 108 - 93 (LOSS)
Kings @ Bucks 89 - 86 (WIN)

Projected Starting Lineups




(Rudy Tomjanovich)

C - Chris Mihm (11.6 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 0.4 APG)
PF - Lamar Odom (14.1 PPG, 10.6 RPG, 2.7 APG)
SF - Caron Butler (13.2 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 1.4 APG)
SG - Kobe Bryant (27.1 PPG, 7.6 RPG, 6.8 APG)
PG - Chucky Atkins (10.3 PPG, 2.7 RPG, 3.6 APG)

VS




(Rick Adelman)

C - Brad Miller (15.4 PPG, 8.7 RPG, 3.5 APG)
PF - Chris Webber (20.5 PPG, 9.9 RPG, 5.3 APG)
SF - Peja Stojakovic (20.0 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 1.9 APG)
SG - Doug Christie (7.4 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 4.7 APG)
PG - Mike Bibby (16.0 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 6.1 APG)

Factors off the Bench

(Brian Cook, Bobby Jackson)

Game MVPs

LAKERS - Kobe Bryant
Predicted Stats: 28 points, 10 rebounds, 9 assists

KINGS - Mike Bibby
Predicted Stats: 24 points, 4 rebounds, 11 assists

Brandon's Analysis
The Lakers remember November 26th. That’s right…check your calendar…where us true Laker fans wrote down the following: Kings visit STAPLES and get destroyed. However, it wasn’t pretty…and as much as we wanted the Lakers to come in and pick apart the Kings’ weaknesses, it didn’t happen.

Since then, it’s been the same story…with Kobe posting great stats (aside from shooting percentage) and the rest of the team resembles an expansion team. Tonight, the Lakers are going to have to pull it together and not only play team basketball, but also have good individual performances as well. Against the Sonics, the Lakers (without Kobe) shot under 35% (20 of 58, to be exact), while Kobe hit over 50% of his attempts. Let’s not forget to mention Rashard Lewis, who took over the game and dominated Caron Butler for 37 points. Nothing more than a poor performance by the Lakers, even if it is against one of the best teams in the Western Conference.

In Sacramento, the Lakers are going to have to break free of the ball and chain they’ve been carrying around on defense, because the Kings can (and more than likely will) put up 100+ points against Los Angeles. The matchup advantages lean more towards the Kings…with Bibby, Miller, and possibly Peja clearly able to outplay their Laker opponents (especially if Peja gets hot from beyond the arc). Kobe will take advantage of Christie’s injury (ironically, the same foot problems that Kobe is suffering from), and Odom should play well against Webber offensively.

On the boards, Mihm needs to get tough immediately. Lamar won’t be able to make up for Miller’s boards, so Chris needs to gain position and use his size to pull down more than 8 boards in this game. Otherwise, the Kings will capitalize on second chance points, which could lead to more than just a Miller putback (in other words, watch for a wandering Peja for three). This goes for the offensive glass as well, for the Lakers. Mihm should focus on throwing it down hard when he pulls down an offensive board (or anytime he goes up for an attempt) instead of making a soft shot off the glass…he’s got the strength, but it seems like he’s scared to use it.

One last factor in this game will be the Lakers’ mindset going into Sacramento. Hopefully, the Lakers come out firing and wanting this game. Kobe and Divac should be focusing on getting the others amped in the locker room…ready to come out and shut up the Kings fans. Whether this lasts for four quarters…we’ll see.

Brandon's Prediction
It’s always nice to predict a Laker win and, at the same time, believe it’ll happen…but I don’t know about this game. The Kings are tough…and are definitely looking at demolishing our very own Lakers in Sac-town…but more than that, the Kings want the Pacific title. In Sacramento, the fans will burn Kobe all game, and the entire team could be affected by this…but I see the Kings being aggressive from the start, and running up and down the court all game. If Kobe gets a triple double, the Lakers win by two…but I’m going to lean towards Kobe dropping less than 10 assists due to poor shooting by Butler and Atkins, and the Lakers lose this game to the Kings in Sacramento, 103 - 99.

I Dont see us wining this one but.....what hell with this lakers you never know ..........I prerdict a 10 point loss I hope Im wrong ....I hope kOBE goes for 50 pts and we win this one ............LETS GO LAKERSSS

I personally want the Lakers to win, but realistically they will lose

How about we start Vlade? I mean every other player who played against their former team have monster games. Besides, Lakers need some help on the boards with Sac's multiple big men down low. I say we give Vlade more minutes tonight. And we need Chucky to find his shot or there's nothing you can do. Sacto is going to get their points, with our "defense", we desperately need some good offensive to counter.

I read that Vlade is in terrible shape...I don't know if that's part of the reason that he hasn't played so much. I've heard about the matchup stuff but who knows? He's big and old...it's tough to stay in shape.

game started

does any1 else get the feeling this has all the makings of a close classic game...

Odom is aggressive as hell...which is nice on defense but not so great on offense. He's grabbing boards but making some poor decisions on O.

lamars really making an effort

cjtheman wrote:lamars really making an effort

Yeah, no doubt. (I hate Christie)

ooh... nice dunk by lamar

soon to be down by 6

k0pr0phage wrote:Odom is aggressive as hell...which is nice on defense but not so great on offense. He's grabbing boards but making some poor decisions on O.

Yeah its good to see they want to get odom involved. The only thing that bugs me is that Kobe is a being too passive and should try and get into the flow.

21-21 tie game.

Vlade will come in after the commercial break

This should be good.

Kobe's already got 5 assists.

i love it when lamar plays well! yer i think vlades coming in as well.. o snap he is

someone by the name of Webber is getting owned. This just shows you what his injuries has done to him, he can't cover Odom.

But, Atkins is getting owned too.

OH MY GOD! WHAT A SICK DUNK!!!!!!!!!!!!!


KOBE!

KOBE!