Washington Wizards (5-8) @ Los Angeles Lakers (11-3) Wednesday Nov. 26, 10:30 EST Staples Center, Los Angeles TV: FOX West Previous 3 Games Lakers 121 - 89 vs. Memphis - W Lakers 101 - 94 vs. Chicago - W Lakers 104 - 83 vs. New York - W Season Series Have Not Played Yet Last 5 Meetings @ Lakers Lakers 108 - 94 - W Lakers 103 - 94 - W Lakers 104 - 91 - W Lakers 91 - 80 - W Lakers 116 - 89 - W Probable Starters Brendan Haywood/Shaquille O'Neal Kwame Brown/Karl Malone Jarvis Hayes/Devean George Larry Hughes/Kobe Bryant Gilbert Arenas/Gary Payton Injury Lists Los Angeles Lakers <font color="DarkRed">Shaquille O'Neal - Probable</font> Jamal Sampson - IR Rick Fox - IR Brian Cook - Out Washington Wizards <font color="DarkRed">Gilbert Arenas - Day 2 Day</font> Jerry Stackhouse - Out Mitchell Butler - Out Notes Both teams could be without their star players with Shaq and Arenas ailing with injuries. Washington Wizards point guard Gilbert Arenas has a lower abdominal strain and is day-to-day. Arenas was injured in the fourth quarter of Sunday's 88-85 loss to the Seattle SuperSonics. X-rays Monday were negative. MRI results are expected Tuesday. Shaquille O'Neal sat out the Los Angeles Lakers' game against the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday night because of a strained right calf muscle. O'Neal, injured in the third quarter of Friday night's 101-94 victory over the Chicago Bulls, is listed as day-to-day. Eddie Jordan returns with a new team to try and defeat the Lakers. The victory over Memphis extended the Lakers' regular-season home winning streak to 22, including 7 this season. Keys To The Game Lakers - The key for the Lakers is to stay focused and not play down to the level of their opponent. The Lakers have the superior size and the homecourt advantage. They are playing beautiful basketball and currently enjoying a 3 game win streak. The Lakers need to pound the ball inside to Shaq early and often. I'd like to see the Lakers play 3 strong quarters and put the game out of reach so Shaq can take a seat on the bench and get in some rest. Kobe had his break out game against the Grizzlies and the Lakers shot 59.2% as a team. The Lakers should have no trouble man-handling the Wizards and executing their game plan. Washington - The Wizards need to hit their outside shots and use their athleticism to pressure the Lakers and limit the amount of time the Lakers have to set their offense. The Wizards have a huge size disadvantage, so they will need to put pressure on Payton and Kobe when they bring up the ball to eat pressure seconds off the 24 second shot clock. The key matchup will be Hughes on Kobe. Hughes has had a nice season, but he needs to play consistent and agressive on both sides of the ball against Kobe. Hughes can defend when he puts his mind to it, and has the offensive skills to keep Kobe honest on defense. The Lakers are vulnerable to speed and guards who can penetrate and kick. Arenas is one of the best in the league at creating with his speed and dribbling. If he can play and find the open players to knock down outside shots, the Wizards will have a chance to upset the mighty Lakers. Shapecity Re-Cap [imgr]http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20031127/capt.las10411270620.wizards_lakers_las104.jpg[/imgr]<font color="SlateGray">Sorry for the late write-up, but Thanksgiving day was more important, I hope everyone had a great dinner. On to the re-cap. This was a one-sided contest from the tip-off. The Laker starters scored at will in this game and took a commanding 61-36 lead at the half without Shaq. Eight Laker players scored in double digits, the first time since 1998 and the team shot a remarkable 59.2% from the field. Horace Grant was the only starter to not hit double figures, replacing Shaq at center. The only bright spots for the Wizards were season highs by Juan Dixon and rookie Jarvis Hayes. Laker Leaders -------------- Points - Kobe Bryant (22) Rebounds - Horace Grant (6) Assists - Karl Malone & Gary Payton (5) Player of the Game - Kobe Bryant with 22 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists. Kobe scored 5 of the Lakers 10 straight points leading the team to an early 14-6 advantage and setting the pace for a blowout. The Lakers led the rest of the way.</font> Prediction Lakers extend their home streak to 23!
I'm a new member here, a loyal Laker fan, and I like the way the gamepage thread is made. Looks very professional to look at. This should be an easy one for the Lakers as they try to extend their winning streak to 23 at Staples Center. Just like what the prediction stated, the Lakers need to take out the Wizards early so that Shaq can rest his injury and be ready for the huge showdown between the Spurs and Lakers friday night.
i am a huge laker fan and a wiz fan(moving to VA will do that) but i have to go with the lakers here...i think a massacre is at our hands here...103-84
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting VAs Finest:</div><div class="quote_post">i am a huge laker fan and a wiz fan(moving to VA will do that) but i have to go with the lakers here...i think a massacre is at our hands here...103-84</div> This game will probably be like the Memphis massacre last night.
Thanks for the feedback, make sure to read the post game comments after the Lakers take this win. I'll try to post Laker Previews for every game.
I think that we're all overlooking the possibility of Kwame having a breakout game and carrying his team to victory... just kidding! At the risk of sounding redundant I?m going to put my money? or at least my vote? on the Lakers
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting King James:</div><div class="quote_post">Arenas will miss the next 4 games at least shape with a strained abdomen.</div> last night on the wiz game they said he expects to miss 2 and he will be back after the laker game...he can play though if he is desperatly needed...he dressed up last nite in portland(we won 81-90) because that was the first game he has ever missed
