honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, January 20, 2009

SPORTS
Lakers gang up on Cavs in 105-88 rout

By John Nadel
Associated Press

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Los Angeles' Kobe Bryant (24) drives on Cleveland's guard Sasha Pavlovic. Bryant scored 20 points in the contest.

GUS RUELAS | Associated Press

spacer spacer

LOS ANGELES — Dislocated right ring finger and all, Kobe Bryant did just what the Los Angeles Lakers needed against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

So did his teammates.

Bryant and LeBron James tussled to a virtual standoff last night, but Bryant's supporting cast was far more effective, and that was the difference as the Lakers beat Cleveland 105-88 to snap a five-game losing streak to the Cavaliers.

Bryant had 20 points, six rebounds and 12 assists in 41 minutes despite dislocating the ring finger on his shooting hand less than two minutes into the game.

"I just dove for the ball, and the finger just popped out," Bryant recalled afterward while wearing a splint on the injured finger. "I was scared, I thought I was done. It felt like I had two fingers on one, it was just disgusting. (Trainer) Gary (Vitti) just popped it back into place. Not fun.

"A lot," Bryant added when asked how much his finger bothered him during the game. "I played with some pain, obviously. I just tried to adjust as I went along, I just tried to play through it. It's just throbbing right now."

Bryant, who shot 9 of 22, spoke to reporters just minutes after X-rays showed no fracture. He said he hadn't sustained this kind of injury before, and didn't believe he would miss any playing time.

"For a while, we thought he was just going to be a playmaker tonight, but the second half, he started feeling like he could shoot it," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said, noting Bryant scored 15 of his 20 points after halftime.

Pau Gasol shot 11 of 13 and led Los Angeles with 22 points and 12 rebounds. Andrew Bynum and Sasha Vujacic scored 14 points each and Derek Fisher added 11 for the Lakers, whose 32-8 record is tops in the Western Conference.

James had 23 points and nine rebounds, but shot just 9 of 25. Mo Williams added 16 points, six rebounds and five assists and Sasha Pavlovic scored 12 for the Cavaliers (31-8), who absorbed their most one-sided loss of the season.

"You've got to give the Lakers credit, they played a very good basketball game," Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said. "I thought they were the aggressors tonight."

Bryant scored nine points during a 16-7 run to start the fourth quarter, giving the Lakers a 91-73 lead with 6:35 remaining. But just when the game seemed out of reach, the Cavs scored 11 straight points in three minutes to make it 91-84.

But a jumper by Fisher ended the drought, and Trevor Ariza made two 3-pointers after that, sparking the Lakers to a 14-4 game-closing spurt.

"We got back to what we were trying to accomplish and finished the game," Jackson said.

The Lakers avoided their first three-game losing streak since last January.

"It was a huge deal," Gasol said. "We didn't want to come out of this game with another loss on our homecourt.