Lakers 104 - 101 Warriors
Final
  for this game

Lakers aim to continue dominance of Warriors

Mar 27, 2012 - 2:46 PM (Sports Network) - The Los Angeles Lakers will resume their chase of another Pacific Division crown when they visit the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday.

The Lakers have won 13 of 14 over Golden State but are coming off an uncharacteristically poor performance at Staples Center, losing to the Memphis Grizzlies, 102-96, on Sunday.

Kobe Bryant didn't pick up his second field goal until the last two minutes of the first half in that one and ended 7-of-15 for 18 points. Ramon Sessions scored 18 for the Lakers and Pau Gasol had 16 with 14 rebounds.

LA made a brief run with its star guard on the bench for about four minutes in the fourth quarter -- a move coach Mike Brown downplayed afterward. Bryant did play 38 1/2 minutes, more than everyone on the team except center Andrew Bynum, who scored 30.

"If you guys are looking for a story, I'm not going to give it to you," Bryant said. "I can't sit here and criticize (Brown's) decisions. As the leader of this ball club, that's something I can't afford to do."

The Lakers, sitting No. 3 in the Western Conference, had a two-game winning streak snapped with their third loss in five games. They fell to 20-4 at Staples Center and have a two-game lead over their co-tenants, the LA Clippers, in the Pacific.

"Give them credit. They out-worked us at both ends of the court," Brown said of the Grizzlies. "Their energy they brought to the table was very good."

The Warriors, meanwhile, are out of the playoff conversation for the time being, sitting 5 1/2 games off the pace for the last postseason spot in the West after a 90-87 loss in Portland on Sunday.

Charles Jenkins, a rookie starting in place of the injured Nate Robinson, netted a career-high 27 points to pace Golden State. David Lee posted 16 points and 16 rebounds for the Warriors, who have dropped two of three overall.

"We had a game plan coming in of Raymond Felton hitting 24 percent or 25 percent from the three, and to his credit he hit shots in the second half and that was really the difference in the game," said Lee.

Robinson, who was only in the starting lineup himself as a replacement for Stephen Curry, strained a hamstring in Golden State's win over Sacramento on Saturday and is questionable for tonight. The Warriors, of course, have been playing without Curry, who is battling persistent right ankle problems.






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