Austin Reaves Powers Lakers to Win Over Celtics 114-105

In a showdown that lived up to the hype, the Los Angeles Lakers emerged victorious against the formidable Boston Celtics with a final score of 114-105. Despite being on the road and missing key players LeBron James and Anthony Davis, the Lakers displayed resilience and tenacity to secure a significant win against the Eastern Conference leaders.

Austin Reaves, stepping into a more prominent role, led the charge for the Lakers with a dazzling 32-point performance, showcasing his scoring versatility. Jaxson Hayes contributed significantly in the paint with a double-double, recording 16 points and 10 rebounds. D'Angelo Russell managed to orchestrate plays, finishing the game with 16 points and 14 assists.

The Celtics struggled to contain the Lakers' offensive onslaught. Jayson Tatum fought valiantly, contributing 23 points, but it wasn't enough to stave off the Lakers' determined effort. Kristaps Porzingis and Sam Hauser which chip in with 17 points each.

The Lakers got assistance from other players, with Jarred Vanderbilt notching 10 points and 7 rebounds and providing a defensive spark. Rui Hachimura's 15 points off the bench added an extra scoring dimension for the Lakers.

Despite being shorthanded, the Lakers showcased their depth and ability to adapt to challenging circumstances. The victory, marking their 25th win of the season, is a testament to the team's grit and determination.

As the Lakers celebrate this hard-fought win, it serves as a reminder to the league that even in the absence of their superstars, they remain a formidable force. The Celtics, on the other hand, will look to regroup and bounce back as the NBA season continues to unfold, promising more thrilling matchups and unpredictable outcomes.

 

D'Angelo Russell Will Return Tonight Against The Raptors

Los Angeles Lakers point guard D'Angelo Russell is set to return to the lineup on Friday after a six-game absence due to a right ankle sprain. Lakers coach Darvin Ham said that Russell would not face any playing time restrictions and would be "pretty much a full go".

The guard, who has been practicing with coaches, but not playing in full team scrimmages, said he was not concerned about returning to the game. He will rejoin the starting backcourt, with Dennis Schroder heading to the bench unit. Russell has averaged 13.5 points and 5.0 assists in four games since joining the Lakers at the trade deadline, and Schroder has been impressive in his absence, averaging 14.3 points and 8.5 assists.

The Lakers have been dealing with several injuries, with backup center Mo Bamba expected to be out for at least four weeks due to a high left ankle sprain. Despite the injuries, the Lakers have registered the best defensive rating in the NBA since the All-Star break. The Lakers are currently the No. 9 seed in the Western Conference, and they are just two games behind the Golden State Warriors for the No. 5 spot. 

Russell compared the remaining games to a team starting the playoffs, needing to secure 16 wins to earn the title. He said that it would be one game at a time and that the intensity would increase as the playoffs approached.

Mo Bamba Out For Four Weeks

In Sunday's game against the Golden State Warriors, Mo Bamba sustained a high ankle sprain, and the Lakers have announced that Mo Bamba he will be out for at least four weeks. Bamba's absence will undoubtedly be felt, as he is a key player on the team's bench. His ability to block shots, secure rebounds, and hit 3-pointers will be sorely missed.

The Lakers will now have to go small whenever Davis isn't on the floor, unless they end up picking up another true center. The Lakers' bench is already thin, and losing Bamba for an extended period will make things even more challenging.

The Lakers' injury issues have been a topic of discussion throughout the league. While injuries are a part of the game, it's been difficult for the Lakers to maintain their consistency and perform at the level that they are capable of with so many players out.

The team is hopeful that they can overcome these injuries and make a strong push to make the playoffs. With so many talented players on their roster, the Lakers have the potential to make a deep run in the postseason. However, they will need to stay healthy if they want to achieve their goals.

Lakers News Roundup For March 4, 2023

Here are the latest news stories about the Los Angeles Lakers for March 4, 2023:

Without LeBron James, the Lakers need Anthony Davis more than ever

The Lakers could bring in Kemba Walker for a workout

Former Lakers Dwight Howard takes part in a three-point shooting contest

Head coach Darvin Ham challenges the effort and urgency of the Lakers

11 years ago, the Masked Mamba Kobe Bryant gets his revenge against Dwyane Wade

LeBron James Likely Out For Three Weeks

The Los Angeles Lakers announced that LeBron James will likely miss most of March due to a tendon injury in his right foot. This could potentially leave the Lakers without the league's all-time scoring leader during the final 19 games of the season, as James is expected to be out for at least 10 of those games.

However, the Lakers are still in contention for a playoff spot, currently sitting at 11th in the Western Conference standings, just one game away from the 10th seed for the play-in, and 2 1/2 games from the 6th seed, which would guarantee a playoff spot.

While the team will miss James' scoring contributions, who leads the Lakers in scoring at 29.5 points per game, they do have a relatively easy schedule for the remainder of the season. Seven of the 19 remaining games are against teams with a record of .500, and they are also about to start a five game homestand. Still, the Lakers will need multiple people to step up in his absence.

Spero Dedes Q&A

First off, sorry for the lack of updates. I've been extremely busy lately with multiple things going on at the same time, and I am way behind. Anyway, check out the good chat with Lakers radio play-by-play commentator Spero Dedes at this link. I will try to get updated on here when I get a chance.

Radio DJs Say Magic Johnson Is Faking AIDS

Radio DJs Chris Baker and Langdon Perry of Minneapolis, Minnesota radio station KTLK said during their radio show that they thought that former Los Angeles Lakers great Magic Johnson is faking AIDS. When on the discussion of diseases, the conversation went like this:

Perry: “Like Magic with his faked AIDS. Magic faked AIDS.”
Baker: “You think Magic faked AIDS for sympathy?”
Perry: “I’m convinced that Magic faked AIDS.”
Baker: “Me too.”

Just a horrible accusation if you ask me. While Magic says that he doesn't want them fired, I believe that they need to be fired for what they said.

In other news, Dwyane Mitchell has been waived from the team.

Also, for those that didn't see the second preseason game Thursday night, here's the recap and box score.

Luke Walton Stalker Arrested

A female stalker, Stacy Beshear, was arrested for stalking Luke Walton of the Los Angeles Lakers. She had been stalking Walton for a year, going so far as to park outside of his house and following him when he would leave. She also showed up at his basketball camp, sitting there watching for 4 days in a row. Walton had enough when Beshear stuck out her hand, making a gun gesture with her hand, and firing fake bullets. There is a November 6 court date.

In other Luke Walton news, he has posted his second NBA.com blog. He discusses topics including the restaurant that he owns, celebrities such as Larry Bird and the Grateful Dead coming to his house when he was a kid, an update on his ankle, and more. Check out Walton's second NBA.com blog here.

Also, for those that didn't see the first preseason game last night, here's the recap and box score.

Expectations High With Bynum Back

At the beginning of last season for the Los Angeles Lakers, fans never would have thought that the team would make it all the way to the NBA Finals. It looked like another early playoff exit for the Lakers. But Andrew Bynum exceeded everyone's expectations and was a major part of the great start of the season. Then Bynum went down with a knee injury in January to end his season.

The Lakers needed help at the center position with Bynum out, and general manager Mitch Kupchak pulled off one of the biggest steals in NBA history by trading Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, Aaron McKie, Marc Gasol, and draft picks for Pau Gasol on the first day of February. Gasol would help the Lakers win 22 of 27 games with him in the lineup. The Lakers made it to the NBA Finals, but would fall short 4-2.

So with Bynum returning this season to pair up with Gasol to form a frontcourt that will be scary most teams to go against, the Lakers are the odds on favorites to win the 2009 championship. Bynum is excited to be back, even saying that he wants to make the All Star team. If Bynum is determined enough to make the All Star team, you know he will be a force to be reckoned with this season. And barring major injury to any Laker rotation players, the Lakers will be the 2009 NBA champions.

Los Angeles Lakers Training Camp News Roundup

Lots of news from the Los Angeles Lakers has happened in a span of a week, most of it having to do with training camp beginning. And you know what training camp means: the NBA season is right around the corner! Here's a news roundup of highlights from the Lakers.

A rundown of the Lakers' events and expectations for the 2008-09 season

Hoopsworld has 5 analysts preview this upcoming season's Lakers

What the options are for the Lakers regarding Lamar Odom

Phil Jackson Q&A part 1

Phil Jackson Q&A part 2

Phil Jackson Q&A part 3

Luke Walton debuts with his NBA.com blog

Sights from training camp

ESPN's forecast for the Lakers

Lakers Resign DJ Mbenga

The Lakers have resigned center DJ Mbenga today. Press release below:

"The Los Angeles Lakers have re-signed free agent center Didier “DJ” Ilunga-Mbenga, it was announced today by General Manager Mitch Kupchak.

Mbenga, a 7-foot, 255 pound native of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, signed a pair of 10-day contracts with the Lakers last season on January 21 and February 1 before signing for the remainder of the year on February 11.

In 26 games with the Lakers, Mbenga averaged 2.0 points, 1.7 rebounds and 0.62 blocked shots in 7.8 minutes while totaling four points and five rebounds in 10 minutes over seven postseason games.

Earlier in the season, Mbenga signed with the Golden State Warriors on November 17 after spending three seasons with the Dallas Mavericks prior to their request for waivers on him October 30. In 16 games with the Warriors prior to his release January 6, Mbenga averaged 1.2 points, 1.9 rebounds and 0.63 blocked shots in 8.1 minutes.

After signing with Dallas as a rookie free agent in 2004, Mbenga, 27, played 79 games over three seasons with the Mavericks, totaling 106 points, 75 rebounds and 35 blocked shots in 374 minutes. In his rookie year of 2004-05, he averaged 4.10 blocks per 48 minutes played while improving to 5.00 blocks per 48 minutes in 2005-06. In 2006-07 he was limited to just 21 games after missing the first 16 games of the year with a left foot tendon strain and suffering a torn right ACL 2/7/07 vs. Memphis.

In 121 career games including two starts, Mbenga is averaging 1.6 points, 1.2 rebounds and 0.50 blocked shots in 5.8 minutes.

The Lakers preseason roster now stands at 19."

Sun Yue Almost Sent To Memphis

In an interview with Los Angeles Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak, he revealed that recently signed Chinese guard Sun Yue was almost part of the Memphis trade that brought Pau Gasol to the Lakers. Kupchak said, "Memphis also wanted Sun in the trade, but we wanted to keep at least one of those 2 guys so Memphis wanted Marc [Gasol] and we are happy that we were able to keep Sun Yue, because we liked him when we drafted him."

Other topics of the interview include how well Sun speaks English, his humor, another nickname, and the process that the Lakers had to go through to sign a player from China. It's an interesting read if you've ever wondered what NBA teams have had to go through to sign players like Yao Ming, Yi Jianlian, and now Sun from China.

Read more about the interview here.

Lakers Sign C.J. Giles

The Lakers have signed forward C.J. Giles today. Press release below:

"The Los Angeles Lakers have signed free agent forward CJ Giles, it was announced today. Per team policy, terms of the agreement were not released.

Giles, a 6-11 forward who finished his collegiate career at Oregon State after playing two seasons at Kansas, averaged 6.3 points and 5.6 rebounds in ten games last season for the Beavers."

Lakers Sign Brandon Heath

The Lakers have signed guard Brandon Heath today. Press release below:

"The Los Angeles Lakers signed free agent guard Brandon Heath on Wednesday.

Per team policy, terms of the agreement were not released.

A 6-3 guard who played collegiately at San Diego State, Heath spent last season playing in France for Entente Orleans 45, where he averaged 12.0 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 25 games.

Heath had an impressive career with the Aztecs, graduating as the school and Mountain West Conference’s all-time leader in scoring with 2,189 points."

No Surgery For Kobe Bryant

Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant announced today that he is not getting surgery on his right pinkie. Bryant originally injured his finger on February 5 while trying to steal the ball from Jason Kidd.

Bryant said he visited many hand specialists, and decided not to have surgery after hearing that he could be out for 12 weeks to recover. He had originally planned to have surgery after the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but has decided against it.

Read more about it here.

Andrew Bynum Is Ready To Play

Los Angeles Lakers center Andrew Bynum is ready to play after his breakout season was shortened by a knee injury which caused the need for arthroscopic surgery after averaging a double double with 13.1 points and 10.1 rebounds. The Lakers training camp begins September 30, and Bynum says he'll be better than ever.

"The knee's good. Everything's ready to go, 100 percent. I've been training, getting stronger. I can't wait, man," Bynum said. "I think I'm the only guy who wants the season to start, like, tomorrow, you know what I mean? But I just can't wait to play with the fellows."

Bynum, as well as all Lakers fans, are anxiously waiting his teaming with Pau Gasol. Gasol will shift to power forward, making a scary combo up front for other teams to deal with.

Lakers Sign Joe Crawford

The Los Angeles Lakers have signed Joe Crawford. Crawford is the Lakers 2008 second round draft pick who went 58th overall. The official press release is below, from Lakers.com:

"The Los Angeles Lakers have signed guard Joe Crawford, it was announced today. Per team policy, terms of the agreement were not released.

Selected by the Lakers with the 58th pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, Crawford, a 22 year-old native of Detroit, Michigan, played four seasons at the University of Kentucky, averaging 11.3 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 127 games (76 starts).

As a senior, Crawford ranked fourth in the SEC in scoring with a team-high 17.9 points per game, scoring 20-plus points 13 times while topping 30 points on three occasions.

Earning Second Team All-SEC honors from league coaches as a senior, Crawford finished his collegiate career as Kentucky’s 19th all-time leading scorer with 1,438 points while ranking seventh all-time in three-point field goals made (186).

Additionally, the 6’5” Crawford started all six games for the Lakers Summer League entry in Las Vegas this past July, averaging 11.3 points including .455 (5-of-11) shooting from behind the arc, 2.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 32.7 minutes."

2008-09 Laker Games To Look Forward To

With Olympic basketball done (Team USA won the gold today!), we can get back to focusing on the NBA's offseason, and of course, the ongoing events with our Los Angeles Lakers. We're slightly over 2 months away from the start of the NBA season, and with the schedule released, here are the Laker games to look forward to in the 2008-09 season:

• Oct. 28, Lakers vs. Portland - This of course is opening night in the NBA, and with it, we get a great matchup of Andrew Bynum against Greg Oden. Both players are coming off of injuries, but will be ready for the matchup of the 2 young centers.
• Nov. 9, Lakers vs. Houston - The Lakers get their first look at the trio of Tracy McGrady, Yao Ming, and the newly acquired Ron Artest. Artest was rumored to be heading to the Lakers, and he even thought that the team he was heading to when he heard about the trade was the Lakers. Expect a great game on this night.
• Nov. 30, Lakers. vs. Toronto - This offseason, the Raptors made a nice (and underrated, in my opinion) trade to acquire Jermaine O'Neal. O'Neal will pair up with Chris Bosh to make one of the best front lines in the NBA. Expect many blocked or altered shots when players try to drive into the paint.
• Dec. 3, Lakers @ Philadelphia - We'll see a lot of entertaining matchups for this game, as we'll see Kobe Bryant against Andre Iguodala, Pau Gasol against newly acquired Elton Brand, and Andrew Bynum against Samuel Dalembert.
• Dec. 25, Lakers vs. Boston - As we all expected, Lakers vs. Celtics is scheduled for Christmas. This is a rematch from the 2008 NBA finals, but with one big difference: Andrew Bynum will be playing. Bynum will need to show us what was missing from the finals matchup against the Celtics.
• Jan. 14, Lakers @ San Antonio - The Lakers meet the Spurs, who they knocked out of the playoffs in a surprisingly easy fashion in 5 games in the Western Conference finals. Though the Spurs are an old team, they are still one of the top teams in the NBA, and you can't underestimate them. The Lakers will need to play hard to win this game.
• Jan. 19, Lakers vs. Cleveland - As usual, this game will be heavily hyped. "Kobe Bryant vs. LeBron James" is something that you will hear the announcers say plenty of times during this game, and you know that all eyes will be on them.
• Apr. 14, Lakers vs. Utah - This is a rematch of the Western Conference semifinals, which went to 6 games. Utah is a tough team to beat with the combination of Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer, but the Lakers have shown they can beat them. This is the last game of the season for the Lakers, which if this season is anything like last season, it could decide a higher (or lower) seeding in the playoffs.

This season will be an interesting one with the ultra-competitive Western Conference teams all fighting for the 8 playoff spots. The return of Andrew Bynum will make the Lakers an even better team than last season. We've been waiting to see the extremely tall frontcourt of Bynum, Pau Gasol, and Lamar Odom, and we will get our first look at them October 28 when the regular season starts.

I've listed games that I look forward to above, but do you have any others that you look forward to seeing this season? Sound off in the comments if there's a game that you are excited to see.

Lakers Sign Josh Powell

The Los Angeles Lakers have signed forward Josh Powell today. He won't even have to get used to a new arena or buy a new house since last season he played for the Los Angeles Clippers. Powell averaged 5.5 points and 5.2 rebounds last season with the Clippers. In three seasons, he has a career average of 4.2 points and 3.6 rebounds.

More on the signing here.

The Lakers 2008-09 Schedule Breakdown

As I had posted on this post, the full 2008-09 schedule for the Los Angeles Lakers is available, and I wanted to take a look in detail about it, so here's a breakdown of the schedule:

• Oct./Nov. : 10 home, 5 away. A home-heavy schedule for the beginning of the season, including one away game against the Clippers. Only 3 back-to-backs. A moderate difficulty level in terms of the competition played.
• Dec. : 7 home, 8 away. Just about even between home and away games. 4 back-to-backs. An easy month against the competition.
• Jan. : 10 home, 6 away. Another home-heavy month, including an away game against the Clippers. 4 back-to-backs. Fairly tough month against the competition.
• Feb. : 4 home, 9 away. Here's the first road-heavy month for the Lakers. 4 back-to-backs. Another fairly tough month in difficulty.
• Mar. : 5 home, 10 away. The second straight road-heavy month for Los Angeles. Only 2 back-to-backs (plus first half of one leading into April). Very tough competition this month.
• Apr. : 5 home, 3 away. Slightly more home games at the end of the regular season. Only 1 back-to-back (plus the second half of the back-to-back starting at the end of March). Fairly easy month against the competition.

The Lakers have a total of 19 back-to-back games this season. We don't have that many big breaks, which is good since teams are usually cold after not playing for a while. We have 3 times where we have 3 straight games off, all in November, 4 straight games off between December and January, and 5 straight games off for the All Star break in February.

As Laker fans know, Tuesdays are always a common day for Laker games, and this season is no exception. Tuesday leads the Laker season with 20 games. Sunday and Friday each have 16 games. Wednesday is next with 13 games this season. 9 Thursdays have Laker games. Mondays and Saturdays have the least amount of Laker games with only 4 each.