TRIPLE DOUBLE TRIFECTA TOO HOT HORNETS TO HANDLE
New Orleans Hornets 94 @ Los Angeles Lakers 106
Nov 23, Los Angeles - Not since 1999 did any player achieve three straight triple doubles after Forward Grant Hill did it. Several have come close like Kobe Bryant in 2002 and Bob Sura late last season but they didn't complete the feat.
Last night, shooting guard Kobe Bryant had 33 points, 12 rebounds, 14 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks to become the latest player to have completed this task. And unlike the past two games, the Lakers won this one behind Kobe's fourth quarter 19 point effort to pull away from the Hornets in the final two minutes of the game.
Baron Davis scored 27 points for the visitors and received little contributioon from the rest of his squad.
"The two games we lost were hard but tonight we were able to support Kobe and battle for the win," Captain Vlade Divac said, "We can't wait to go up against Mimai in two days!" Divac had 12 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 blocks to help lead the Laker roleplayers which saw Brian Grant with 10 and 10 and Chuck Atkins reinserted into the Starting Five to score 14 points.
The Lakers and the Hornets played hard at the start with New Orleans' Baron Davis scoring 12 first quarter points. Trouble struck when Kobe Bryant blocked Davis' three pointer near the end of the First period. Bryant did a Mutombo finger wave before retreating downcourt. A clearly upset Davis went after Bryant and Los Angeles' coach Rudy Tomjanovic called a timeout. Hornets' Geroge Lynch pulled Baron Davis aside to calm him down as Rudy T told Bryant to let the game do the talking.
"I could see in Davis' body movement he clearly took it seriously and so I called a timeout just in case," Tomjanovic explained his actions.
Bryant determined to beat Davis limited the Point Guard to 1 of 5 in the second quarter and then 1 of 7 in the final period and also included another block in the fourth quarter's dying moments. The Second quarter witnessed the Lakers falling behind by 2 but in an inspiring series of defensive stops, LA was able to hold a 6 point advantage at the half. Caron Butler recorded three of his five steals on three consecutive plays.
Darrel Armstrong who turned the ball over twice to Butler commented, "We were just not careful protecting the ball and losing the ball those three times broke our own run."
New Orleans trailed the most of the third quarter by 2 points until the last 4 minutes. They used a 9-0 run capped off by a Baron Davis three pointer to pull ahead for the final break.
The Fourth Quarter saw several lead changes and ties and after 9 minutes of scores going up, the final stage was set for Bryant to take over the game single handedly. When Rodney Rogers scored two threes, Chucky Atkins answered with a shot from downtown of his own to tie the game 89-89. Jamall Maglorie dunked the ball at ther other end and was fouled.
Unluckily, he suffered a twisted ankle and left the game with 2:03 left. After Chris Anderson completed the three-point play and the Hornets up 92-89, it seemed their fortunes changed staright away.
Kobe Bryant went down the other end and passed to a wide open Salva Medvedenko who sunk the 5 foot jumper. Bryant then stole the ball and was fouled, sending him to the line for two. He missed his first shot but made no mistake for the last 11 attempts he had from the charity stripe. After a minute and a half, the Lakers had a 13-0 run and a 102-92 lead.
"It feels great to win this one in front of the home crowd," Braynt said, "We always aim to win and tonight was special because it was a good win!"
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NOTES: Jack Nicholson was seen holding a sign which read, "Kobe Rocks!" and when asked about it he wrote a reply, "Can't speak- saving my voice for Miami!"... Rudy T was asked whtether he had any plans for Nicholson and replied, "I don't but maybe GM does because why else would they give that nut a seat behind the visiting bench?"... ESPN will be aring a special segment on Christmas Eve about Kobe and Shaq at 8:00 pm EST... Bob Sura missed out on doing what Bryant did tonight after his 10th rebound was disallowed by the League...
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