please let this be the game that teaches bynum to dominate alongside pau... we'll need it against orlando and cleveland
For a brief moment in early January, the other Los Angeles team was turning heads with a stretch of quality wins, including one over the defending champions. But recently a pair of tough losses, the news of Blake Griffin's season-ending surgery, and then Chris Kaman's recent sore back sidelining him have left the Clippers reeling. And against the Lakers on Friday, it also didn't help the Clippers' cause that Pau Gasol was returning from injury. Using a huge second half, the Lakers took it to the Clippers, trouncing their in-house rivals for a season-high margin of victory, 126-86, at Staples Center. Asked what winning by 40 points does, Kobe Bryant shrugged it off, "nothing," he said. Fighting a balky back and fragile finger, Bryant had a game-high 30 points on 10-for-20 shooting. Andrew Bynum added 20 points and seven rebounds. After missing six games with a strained left hamstring, Gasol finished with 20 points, six rebounds and three assists in 31 minutes. He was also a perfect 12-for-12 from the line. "I felt pretty good," said Gasol, whose team is now 20-3 with him and 11-6 without. "I was a little bit tired and it got a little tight, but I expected that." The Lakers (31-9) take back the season series lead 2-1 from the Clippers (17-21), who have now dropped three straight. In the loss, Eric Gordon and Craig Smith both recorded 17 points. Baron Davis, who said his back tightened up in the second half, had 14 points and seven assists. Sebastian Telfair added five points and a season-high 11 assists. The Clippers controlled the tempo for most of the first half. They lead 41-32 with 7:19 left in the second quarter. The second half was a different story. Up by a slim 53-50 margin, the Lakers clamped down on defense and opened up on a 12-0 run and ended up outscoring the Clippers 36-17 in the third quarter and then 37-19 in the fourth. Their largest lead in the game was 45. "I thought in the second half, they were real scrappy," Davis said. "They were playing with a little bit more aggressiveness. "That's what they do, they slap, grab and they try to bully you. That's what they were able to do -- they were able to bully us tonight." At the 3:06 mark in the third quarter and down by 80-60, Davis couldn't take the bullying any longer. Pinned in the corner with Gasol and Derek Fisher draped all over him, Davis swung his elbows and hit Gasol in the right arm. He then got in Fisher's face before teammates pulled him away. "I just felt like there were too many slaps," Davis said. "I got slapped in my face a couple times. They just kept slapping me in the corner. What else was I supposed to do?" Gasol said: "I was a little surprised he acted that way." After the dust settled, Davis and Fisher where whistled for a technical. A flagrant one was also given to Davis. For the game, the Lakers shot 50 percent to the Clippers' 40.3 percent. The Lakers also recorded a season-low seven turnovers to the Clippers' 19. Kaman missed his third straight game with a sore back and is questionable for Saturday's game against the Cavaliers, Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy said after the game. "We're missing him," said Clippers center Marcus Camby, who had four points and 11 rebounds. Lakers coach Phil Jackson said the Clippers wanted it more in their second meeting of the season, a Clippers' 102-91 victory on Jan 6. The Clippers showed that same demeanor again early, dominating the glass and controlling the tempo. The Clippers opened up the second quarter on an 11-0 run to go up 36-28 with 9:34 left. Gordon was a big part of the early lead scoring 12 in the first half. Jackson called a timeout and Shannon Brown promptly sank back-to-back jumpers. The Clippers were sloppy with the ball and the Lakers used a 7-0 run and a late 8-0 surge to go up, 47-45, a lead the Lakers would not relinquish. Even with the Clippers misfortunes of late, Dunleavy seems to be optimistic. "We have some really good wins on the year," Dunleavy said. "If you look at our players, our top six guys, we can compete, statistically, against anybody else in the league. "I think our psyche is good. I think where we stand going forward, we're in a very positive mode."
