It’s Not 61, But It Is 33

Not exactly a bounce-back game due to the quality of the opponent, the Los Angeles Lakers nonetheless made up for their poor showing the night before in Cleveland by defeating the New York Knicks, 115-105 in Madison Square Garden. Kobe Bryant (27 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds) and Pau Gasol (20 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 blocked shots) led the way amongst 6 Lakers who scored in double figures. New York was led by David Lee (31 points, 17 rebounds, 4 assists) and Wilson Chandler (28 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists) who hung tough for 3-1/2 quarters before the size of the Lakers finally blew the game open. Gasol, coming off his disappointing performance against the Cavs, made up for his blunders by going up strong against the undersized Knicks. His 10-points in the 4th quarter powered the Lakers to the victory and helped ease the pain of losing the night before.

Andrew Bynum (19 points, 6 rebounds, 1 blocked shot) did most of his damage in the first half as he single-handedly carried the Lakers with 17 first half points. Ron Artest (11 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds, 1 blocked shot) and Derek Fisher (10 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds) also atoned for sub-par performance, scoring easily against the defensively-challenged Knickerbockers. Slam dunk contestant, Shannon Brown (11 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 steal) and New York native Lamar Odom (5 points, 14 rebounds, 3 assists) helped bolster the bench while Jordan Farmar (9 points, 1 blocked shot) continued his good play behind Fisher.

The first half was a battle of offensive might, as both teams shot the ball well but did little else to stop the other. Danilo Gallinari (20 points, 4 rebounds) enjoyed the freedom he was given, connecting on 3-4 three pointers in the first 24 minutes of action. The teams played to a draw at the conclusion of the first half, 63-63 much to the delight of the sellout NYC crowd. The Lakers defense finally clamped down on the hot-shooting Knicks in the third quarter, allowing the Knicks only 42 total second half points. The

Lakers shot 50% for the game, 12-23 from behind the arc for 52.5%, and shot a much improved 25-31 from the free throw line for 80.6%. New York got little help from anyone else, as both starters, Jared Jeffries and Chris Duhon, could only manage 2 points apiece. The Lakers travel to Toronto for a Sunday game against the Raptors then travel back down to the capitol for a meeting with President Barack Obama before taking on the Gilbert Arenas-less Washington Wizards on Tuesday.