|
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
|
GAME FLOW
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Shaquille O'Neal wouldn't talk any more about his simmering feud with Kobe Bryant. His play on the court spoke
volumes.
|  | | Shaquille O'Neal powered through the Cavs for 34 points and 23 rebounds. |
In one of his most dominant performances of the season, O'Neal had 34 points and a season-high 23 rebounds to lead the Lakers to a 101-98 victory over Cleveland in their first game since the squabble between Los Angeles' two superstars surfaced earlier this week.
"He was very much a power inside," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said of O'Neal. "He took care of business, and he made some free throws, too."
Bryant was no slouch, either. He scored 32 points, 12 in the fourth quarter as the Lakers barely held off the Cavaliers.
"Kobe and Shaq are two very good players. We played them as
well as we could," Cleveland coach Randy Wittman said. "When was
the last time Shaq was 50 percent at the free throw line? And Kobe
got them going in the second half."
Jackson agreed.
"It was a good performance by both those guys," the Lakers'
coach said, noting that O'Neal dominated early before Bryant took
over the in fourth quarter when O'Neal's poor free throw shooting
often becomes an issue.
"It's a pattern with this team. When they start fouling Shaq, it dictates that Kobe steps up," Jackson said.
There were no obvious signs of the squabble between O'Neal and Bryant during the game, with the two trading the usual handslaps after baskets and free throws.
O'Neal ducked out of the locker room and avoided reporters after
the game, but Bryant said: "I wanted to get him some touches, get
him the ball, get him going in the offense. We can't have the big
fella being unhappy. I want to win; he wants to win."
The win was the ninth victory in the past 11 games for the defending champions, who hadn't played since a 118-95 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers last Sunday.
The Cavaliers, led by Lamond Murray's 25 points, took the Lakers down to the wire, but O'Neal made five of 10 free throws in the final 3:40 to help Los Angeles maintain the lead, and Bryant made
four free throws in the last 21 seconds.
O'Neal hit eight of 16 free throws and was 13-of-19 from the
floor. Bryant was just 10-of-25 from the floor, but connected on 10 of his 11 tries from
the foul line.
The Cavaliers have lost 10 of their past 12 on the heels of a seven-game winning streak that put them at 15-7.
Andre Miller added 23 points for Cleveland and Chris Gatling had
17.
Rick Fox added 13 points for Los Angeles and Isaiah Rider had 12.
O'Neal did most of the scoring for the Lakers in the first half,
with 18 points on 9-of-14 shooting as Los Angeles took a 49-44
lead. The Lakers' center also had 15 rebounds by halftime.
Bryant took just six shots in the first half. He made two of
them and finished with seven points.
The Lakers opened a seven-point lead on Bryant's 3-pointer on a
feed from O'Neal that made it 44-36 with 4:29 left in the second
quarter, but Los Angeles could not pull away
Murray kept Cleveland close with 19 first-half points.
Los Angeles was up 27-23 at the end of the opening quarter,
moving in front for the first time on O'Neal's jumper for a 19-17
edge with 3:10 left in the period.
Game notes
Jackson doesn't intend to place a gag order on O'Neal and
Bryant, saying, "No, this is America. The commissioner says you
must talk to people or else you get fined. The interesting thing is
that the players had a meeting on their own Monday before any of
this even happened, and they pretty much tried to close the circle
a little bit and tighten it up." ... Twelve of the Cavaliers' 17
losses have come in the road, where they've won just six times.
|
|
ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Cleveland Clubhouse
LA Lakers Clubhouse
Lakers try to make best of difficult Shaq-Kobe situation
Magic to feuding stars: It's all about the winning
Aldridge: Shaq, Kobe are right and wrong
RECAPS
Philadelphia 86
Washington 82
Toronto 93
Boston 72
San Antonio 111
Detroit 90
Minnesota 95
LA Clippers 89
Charlotte 86
Chicago 85
Denver 106
Sacramento 93
Seattle 115
Vancouver 102
LA Lakers 101
Cleveland 98
FROM
ATHLETESDIRECT
Kobe Bryant Official Site
Rick Fox Official Site
Mark Madsen Official Site
|
