The Lakers closed out a four game road trip with two big wins, the first in Dallas on Tuesday, then in Utah last night. Their victories have put them in sole control of the top seed in the west, even though they lost the first two games of the trip to the number two and three seeded, Hornets and Rockets. It was a successful week, considering they lost Pau Gasol at the start of it. They held off some good teams and kept their position, with certain players stepping up. They got off to great starts in both wins, and managed hold on, though the games became close in the end.
Last night, Kobe Bryant led all scorers with 27 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists. Odom had another great performance, 21 points, 12 rebounds, and 6 assists. Since Gasol’s bsence, he has risen his game to a more aggressive level, looking to score, and being focused on rebounding and finding his teammates. Vladamir Radmanovic and Sasha Vujacic have also shown their ability to threaten teams from beyond the arc. They both went 3-4 last night and are shooting threes at over 40%.
The Lakers (47-21) return home tonight to play the Seattle Super Sonics (16-52), second worst in the league behind Miami. They have back to back games against Golden State (42-25) Sunday and Monday which should be very competitive match-ups. The Clippers (21-46), meanwhile, have lost five in a row and are playing in Portland tonight, and against Portland tomorrow night at Staples Center. The Trail Blazers (35-33) are several games out of playoff position.
(11) Kansas State beat O.J. Mayo and (6) USC 80-67 in the opening round of the Midwest Regional last night. Michael Beasley had another big game, scoring 23 points and grabbing 11 rebounds for the 27th double-double of his brilliant, and likely only, college season. Bill Walker scored 22 points, going 3-4 from three point range. Mayo had 20 points, but went 6 for 16 in a not so impressive effort. Kansas St. moves on to face (3) Wisconsin who defeated CSU Fullerton 71-56.
Kevin Love scored 20 points in (1) UCLA’s victory over (16) Mississippi Valley State, 70-29. Miss Valley St. scored the fewest points in the tournament since 1946, when Baylor had 29 in a loss to Oklahoma State. Seeking a third consecutive Final Four berth, the Bruins advance to a second-round West Region game against (9) Texas A&M, who had a 67-62 win over (8) BYU. Love also had nine rebounds missing his 21 double-double by one board.
Tiger Woods shot a 67 and was two shots off the lead yesterday at the WGC-CA Championship in Miami, Florida. Woods hasn’t lost a tournament since September, a streak that includes six official victories around the world, the last title coming four days ago with a 25-foot birdie putt on the final hole at Bay Hill.
Woods was looking to catch Geoff Ogilvy and Miguel Angel Jimenez, each of whom opened at 7-under with a 65, until he missed a 7-foot birdie putt on the 16th and three-putted the 18th hole from 70 feet, missing the last one from 5 feet. “Yeah, I’m ticked,” Woods said with a cold glare. “You three-putt 18, you’re not going to be happy.”
One shot out of the lead was Stewart Cink, who has played in the final group at three tournaments this year and is playing more consistently than anyone but Woods. Phil Mickleson is also in the hunt, also shoting a 67 on opening Thursday. The purse for this weekend’s tournament at the Doral Blue monster course is $8,000,000.
All photos courtesy of wikipedia.com
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