Lakers vs. Hornets Game 6: Lakers 98, Hornets 80
Destination, Dallas.
Or Portland.
Either way, the Lakers will be the well-rested host for Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinal series against the Mavericks or Trail Blazers. They got the weekend off by defeating the Hornets, 98-80, in Game 6 on Thursday night at New Orleans Arena, winning the series, 4-2.
"It was huge," center Andrew Bynum said in his on-court TV interview of finishing the series in six games.
Game 1 of the next round will be Monday night at Staples Center.
To get there, it took three and a half quarters of hard work and tight defense -- the latter part of the fourth was mostly garbage time. The Lakers heroes were many: Bynum was a force early at both ends, finishing with a double-double of 18 points and 12 rebounds.
To get an idea of how dominant Bynum was in that department: Pau Gasol and Ron Artest combined for 12 rebounds.
Kobe Bryant and his sore left ankle managed a game-high 24 points, going six for 16 from the field. He hit all 10 of his free throws. Gasol had 16 points and Lamar Odom added 14 off the bench.
Hornets point guard Chris Paul, who vowed to come out guns blazing in Game 6, did just the opposite, starting quietly and he didn’t get the supporting help needed and looked dejected on the bench in the final seconds.
Paul got into double-digits late, finishing with 10 points and 11 assists, while power forward Carl Landry led the Hornets with 19 points.
RELATED:
Good thing Kobe Bryant won't have to be a 40-minute man.
Coach Phil Jackson didn't rule that out before Game 6, saying the Lakers would have to do what was necessary in this elimination game.
In the fourth quarter, Bryant was chilling on the bench, supporting the effort of the second unit. He has 22 points in nearly 28 minute of action.
But Bryant came back into the game with the other starters with 5:23 left despite the big lead.
Lakers 69, Hornets 57 (end of third quarter)
The Lakers are within one quarter of a second-round playoff series against Dallas or Portland, taking their biggest lead of the game at New Orleans Arena.
Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant combined for 23 of the Lakers' 29 points in the quarter. Meanwhile, Chris Paul continued to have a quiet game for the Hornets, committing four turnovers and scoring a mere four points.
Jason Smith picked up a flagrant foul one when he fouled Bryant with 2.6 seconds left in the quarter.
Lakers 54, Hornets 46 (3:44 left in third quarter)
Tranquility was interrupted when Lakers Coach Phil Jackson, displeased with a couple of quick baskets by the Hornets, immediately called a timeout. Jackson had a few choice words for Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol.
Wonder if that will be addressed in the next episode of Lamar's reality show?
Lakers 52, Hornets 42 (5:44 left in third quarter)
The Lakers missed their first two shots of the third quarter and then everything started going right for them.
Emeka Okafor got into foul trouble, picking up his fourth with 7:20 left in the third. Pau Gasol started finding his range, and the Hornets kept on turning the ball over. They have 11 turnovers to compared to only three by the Lakers.
Lakers 40, Hornets 34 (halftime)
The Lakers went on a 14-8 spurt in the final six minutes of the second quarter to take a six-point lead at halftime.
It was a defensive battle, with the two teams combining for the fewest points in the first half of the series.
Lamar Odom had his best half of the series with four points, five assists and five rebounds. Andrew Bynum led the Lakers with 12 points.
Kobe Bryant shot poorly, missing six of 10 shots, but his shot clock-beating three-pointer gave the Lakers a 37-32 lead with less than three minutes to go in the half. Bryant has nine points.
Hornets point guard Chris Paul picked up two personal fouls early and didn't score until the final minute of the half.
The Lakers held the Hornets to 41% shooting. Carl Landry leads the Hornets with eight points.
Lakers 26, Hornets 26 (5:48 left in second quarter)
Lamar Odom is playing like a point guard and has four assists and four boards off the bench as he was running the offense while Kobe Bryant rested.
Bryant returned just before the latest timeout.
Andrew Bynum picked up his second personal foul while Chris Paul was driving into the lane; Bynum went to the bench and Pau Gasol replaced him.
The Hornets closed the gap thanks to six points in this quarter by reserve guard Jarrett Jack.
Lakers 24, Hornets 22 (8:26 left in second quarter)
The subs have come in but Andrew Bynum's size and offense is dominating the paint for the Lakers. Bynum scored 12 points in his first 12 minutes on the court; he also has seven rebounds.
Chris Paul was scoreless in the first quarter and has two fouls. His backup, Jarrett Jack, came in and scored on a floater and drew a foul on Bynum.
Lakers 18, Hornets 16 (end of first quarter)
In the lowest-scoring opening quarter of the series, the Lakers led by Andrew Bynum's six points, have a two-point lead after one quarter.
Kobe Bryant's sore ankle seemed to loosen up as the quarter progressed; he hit his last two shots and has four points.
The Lakers have done a good job pressing the Hornets and New Orleans had five turnovers in the first quarter.
Trevor Ariza, Carl Landry and Emeka Okafor all have four points for New Orleans.
Hornets 8, Lakers 6 (6:28 left in first quarter)
Kobe Bryant has missed his first two jump shots and is hobbling some on his sprained left ankle. Bryant is guarding Marco Belinelli instead of the quicker Trevor Ariza.
Hornets center Emeka Okafor is off to a good start, with four points and one blocked shot so far.
Andrew Bynum leads the Lakers with four points.
Both teams are shooting poorly: the Lakers are shooting 20% from the field, the Hornets 33%.
Pregame
After losing Game 5, Hornets Coach Monty Williams complained about the Lakers manhandling his team. It was spin control, trying to tilt the refereeing in his favor for Thursday’s Game 6 and to aid his struggling center Emeka Okafor.
So far, Andrew Bynum has totally outplayed Okafor. Bynum is averaging 14.6 points and 10 rebounds a game to Okafor’s paltry 7.4 points and 5.2 rebounds.
Meanwhile, Chris Paul has been dazzling. But in the Hornets' two wins he’s shouldered even more of the burden than usual. In Game 1, Paul’s shooting and playmaking accounted for 25 of his team’s 41 field goals; in their Game 4 victory he helped produce 22 of their 33 field goals.
Obviously, the Lakers want to contain Paul -- at least a little -- and get Okafor in early foul trouble.
The gambling site Betus.com favors the Lakers by 5 1/2 points.
--Barry Stavro
Photo: Hornets forward Trevor Ariza goes for a steal on an inbounds pass to Lakers guard Kobe Bryant in the first half of Game 6 on Thursday night at New Orleans Arena. Credit: Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times
Hi Lew,
Why am I left off the roll call? I know I havent been here that often but still :(
It's game day, time to close this out in 6 games. I will be at working so I am sad to be missing the game. Can't wait for round 2 to start. Here is to praying the blazers win
Posted by: Diandra | April 28, 2011 at 01:22 PM
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My sincerest apologies Diandra...but I remember including you...I think I lost an updated copy for I constantly edit it daily adding new members...I think I might have not saved those changes that day I added you...I wonder who else got lost...
Anywho...you are on there...I just got to find one of your old post to include your quote...
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Diandra - Derek Fisher was playing like he was 30, Kobe like he was 25 and Pau Gasol was playing like it was last season. Has the "switch" finally been switched?
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Here it your entry...It will be on next post of Roll Call...and I made sure to save it...
I love what you bring...and you are part of this Blog Family....
Posted by: LEWSTRS | April 28, 2011 at 04:45 PM
Lew - get Jesterguru on the Roll Call man!!
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Done justa!
Posted by: LEWSTRS | April 28, 2011 at 05:04 PM
What was up with that bynum charging call? That NO player was pretty obviously moving into him. And Van Gundy faults the bigs for not sprinting down the court- they sprint, someone is gonna step in. Game should be called better for offensive bigs vs defensive smalls- bigs have a right to position too, just because someone falls down doesn't mean it was an offensive foul. Homer call. Or perhaps the Darth Stern/league team theory. Who knows, but some bad calls. Also, somehow Steve Blake got called for a foul after the screening player moved through him. Don't know how that worked. Good defense, poor shooting by the Lakers in first half. It'll even out- energy's reasonably good (though not spectacular on the defensive boards). and most importantly, this first half was Chris Paul who?
Oh, and Lewsters...I'm incredibly new here and am a very sporadic poster. Internet access isn't always available down here in Costa Rica (I know, I know, woe is me)....but I would love to be added to the roll call.
Elimination game- lets bring it for the second half.
13 to 3peat
Posted by: LakersFanInExile | April 28, 2011 at 06:21 PM
who cares?
Posted by: sports are a waste of time | April 28, 2011 at 07:52 PM
now that the lakers have taken care of business, go blazers! i don't care who the lakers play, i just want that series to go 7 and lakers get a beat up and tired opponent.
Posted by: jerseylakersfan | April 28, 2011 at 07:55 PM
I was hoping the Lakers would lose. Last year when they won the NBA championship, a mini-riot took place outside Staples Center and my next door neighbors (Lakers fans) held a noisy party with a lot of yelling and screaming during the game and the yelling and screaming went into the late night. I had to call the police on him. Anytime the Lakers advance, it's bad for Los Angeles and bad for me.
Posted by: Lakers fans are idiots | April 28, 2011 at 07:58 PM
MEMO TO CHICKEN LITTLE:
Please mention to all the fair-weather p-----s that the sky is, in fact, no longer falling.
That is all .
Posted by: LALfansince1961 | April 28, 2011 at 08:01 PM
Laker's overrated
Posted by: 2015-AFC-ASIAN-CUP-FIFA- | April 28, 2011 at 08:33 PM
NBA is so fixed
this is the same formula as the 80s
Posted by: Jack | April 28, 2011 at 08:45 PM
Nba is fake. The games are fixed. Just like WWE.
Posted by: 2014-FIFA-WORLD-CUP | April 28, 2011 at 08:51 PM
i have a question for you lakers haters, if you believe the nba is "fixed", does that mean the six titles jordan won were also fixed? keep on hating, haters, 4 down, 12 to go. lakers babyyy!
Posted by: jerseylakersfan | April 28, 2011 at 08:57 PM
Go LAKERS - Win this for Phil, yourselves, and the LA fans!
Posted by: Rosario | April 28, 2011 at 09:46 PM
For all those Fish haters, you gotta give it up for him now! He was all over CP3 like a cheap suit! He fought through screens and didn't take any crap. CP3 can be "dirty" at times and D. Fish met it and kept his cool. D. Fish is an unsung hero and should get a whole lotta love!
Posted by: Steve Gordon | April 28, 2011 at 10:01 PM
Let us hear the refrain...
of a well-known song...
It's "Purple Reign"
LAKERS!!!!
Posted by: Lakerlady | April 28, 2011 at 10:09 PM
Go FishyRim!
Posted by: Extensor | April 29, 2011 at 12:44 AM
For all those Fish haters, you gotta give it up for him now! He was all over CP3 like a cheap suit! He fought through screens and didn't take any crap. CP3 can be "dirty" at times and D. Fish met it and kept his cool. D. Fish is an unsung hero and should get a whole lotta love!
Posted by: Steve Gordon | April 28, 2011 at 10:01 PM
Agree 100%, Steve. Fish was being physical with Paul the whole series. Chris is a great player, but Fish's toughness took its toll after a while. Derek's strength enables him to do a decent job on the pick and roll. He's not pick shy, and he's capable of dishing some punishment himself.
Posted by: bronxlakerfan | April 29, 2011 at 06:10 AM