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Laker run destroys Clippers

Nov 6, 2008 - 7:36 AM By John Reger PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- Call it a tale of two teams in one city.

The Los Angeles Lakers remained perfect on the season by downing the winless Los Angeles Clippers, 106-88, on Wednesday.

The Lakers trailed 81-79 but went on a 22-0 run to douse the Clippers' dreams. The score was 101-81 before Al Thornton dropped in a 3-pointer to break the streak.

Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 27 points. Andrew Bynum had nine points and 17 rebounds.

"I just think we need to have better focus during the first period and come out with a little more energy," Bynum said. "We haven't been doing that the last couple of games."

The Lakers have won four consecutive games and downed the Clippers despite shooting 33-of-85 (39 percent) from the field. They were 8-of-22 (36 percent) from the 3-point line and 32-of-45 (71 percent) from the free-throw line.

"We seemed to be playing without team purpose, but trying too much individual stuff," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "It cost us the momentum."

The Lakers shot 30 more free throws than the Clippers, who were 35-of-90 from the field (39 percent) and 8-of-23 (35 percent) from behind the arc.

"When you are playing teams the caliber of the ones we are playing you can't go through those kind of stretches," Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy said. "We played some really good basketball tonight, and our inability to not carry it through is disappointing."

The Clippers, who have lost their first five games, had the lead at halftime, 51-47. They made 5-of-10 3-pointers in the first half.

The Lakers came out in the second half and went on a 7-2 run to start the third quarter and took the lead 54-53 on a three-point play when Bryant was fouled making a layup.

"We settled in defensively," Bryant said. "We tried to make them take tough shots and sometimes they hit them and it kept them in the game. During that stretch those tough shots weren't falling in."

The Clippers never let the deficit grow beyond four points in the third quarter and went into the final period trailing, 72-68.

"They were out-hustling us," Clippers forward Al Thornton said. "They got 30 points off second-chance points. They're a team with experience, they know how to play with each other."

When the teams met a week ago, the Lakers blew out the Clippers, winning by 38 points, with the game over by halftime. In that contest, the Lakers had a run of 17-0. Unfortunately for the Clippers, the Lakers bettered that in this meeting.

"In the second half, they just turned up the pressure on us," Clippers forward Tim Thomas said. "We started shooting more jump shots and stopped being aggressive like we were in the first half. That was the difference. You can't get down like that."

In the fourth quarter, the Clippers went on an 11-7 run and tied the game on Cuttino Mobley's 3-pointer. Mobley gave the Clippers an 81-79 lead grabbing a loose ball under the basket and making a layup.

But the Clippers got into foul trouble. Baron Davis picked up his fifth foul at 7:29 and both center Chris Kaman and power forward Marcus Camby had four fouls early in the third quarter.

The Lakers pulled away midway through the final quarter, and Derek Fisher's 3-pointer with 5:07 remaining gave the team a 10-point lead. Fisher finished with 13 points.