Lakers guard Kobe Bryant, to the right, turned in another excellent performance with 30 points, that his team obtained by Trevor Ariza and the Hornets Friday night. (Chris Graythen/Getty Images) Kobe Bryant has been his usual prolific soi, a combination which has proved too much for the upstart New Orleans Hornets overcome and Pau Gasol has recovered from his funk of the playoffs.
Bryant scored 30 points, Gasol added 17 points and 10 rebounds, and the Los Angeles Lakers took control of their first-round playoff series, with a 100-86 Friday night victory.
The victory gave the Lakers a lead of 2-1 in the series-of-seven, with 4 of game in New Orleans on Sunday. Just as important, the performance restored Gasol as one of the main threats notation of the Lakers.
"It was only on my game and be assertive and comfortable over there", said Gasol. "Do not try to address it." Do not try to think of the last piece. Try to make the right play. "It was a game much better on my part."
After making only 4 of 19 shots during the first two games of the series, Gasol surprised the Hornets taking - and making - a pointer of three of the corner early in the fourth quarter. The basket ignited a key 10-1 run in which Gasol scored seven points.
"The big aspect is Pau with 2, 3 minutes from the offensive display it in the fourth quarter." "He helped establish the lead and give us some room", said Lakers coach Phil Jackson. "It is really too good a basketball player." It can be drawn, it can handle the ball, he can do many things. It is a question to find a comfort there zone.
"I expected him to know about the line of the three points," Jackson added, we are not surprised when he makes these shots. ?
Andrew Bynum added 14 points and 11 rebounds. Briefly, it went down holding his right knee, but remained in the game after that trainers examined and then obtained a rest during the major part of the fourth quarter. Lamar Odom recorded 13 points for the defenders of fields, who took the lead for good, when Ron Artest is a stacking of as he has tarnished to make it 13-10 on two occasions.
Chris Paul had 22 points and eight help for the Hornets, who managed to stay in the unique numbers for long periods of game but never really threatened to take the lead.
"They just had a collective effort tonight", Paul said of Lakers. "Everyone pitching and this is what we really can't let them do." ... We are beaten. We played a great first half. It's just, in the second half, it is us. ?
The intensity of Bryant was evident in the opening minutes when he violently rejects attempt to close-range shot of Carl Landry out the limits and shortly after he cut into the lane for a jam a vicious hand.
Attempts sifflé Hornets fans or heckling him seemed only to help him concentrate. Hitting on his typical array of demoralizing threes and off balance jumpers off the coast of the glass, he had 15 points in the first half. He did not need to resume the game in the second reason for the emergence of Gasol to the Lakers, has long been after it registered only eight points, 11 below his average, in the first two games of the series.
While Gasol seems still quite himself in the first half, while he had four points, it has become a factor when it mattered, hitting his three momentum-evolution of the corner which made it 78-70 early in the fourth quarter. Shortly after, Gasol added a putback and a soft baseline jumper to give Los Angeles lead an 85-71 with 8: 36 left, largest lead of the Lakers at this point.
Paul fades in the same time, a little in the second half, when he scored only four points.
While the Lakers proceeded to make adjustments to keep the ball from Paul defensive All-Star of Hornets, said: "I blame myself because I don't care if they deny."
"I can't let them do it," Paul continued. I've got to get my shots. I've got to be more aggressive and allow them to not take me out. ?
The Lakers wound up cruise with an advance of two digits for a large part of the fourth quarter in the most convincing performance of the series by each team. If the Hornets were unable to bounce back in game 4, Paul described as "definitely a must-win", the Lakers could close the series at home in game 5 Tuesday night.
Of course, the Hornets will have better production from their bench, which was a major factor of their surprising 1 game triumph but represents only nine points on 4-of-17 shooting in game 3.
Landry scored 23 points for New Orleans, while Trevor Ariza had 12 points and 12 rebounds and Emeka Okafor 15 points.
Derek Fisher had 10 points for Los Angeles.
The Lakers size advantage translates into one advantage 48 42 points in the paint and a 43-38 advantage to bounce. That included 14 offensive rebounds that helped 17 points of the second chance.
"They are probably much larger we are but the rise to a certain attitude", said Hornets coach Monty Williams. "We just believe, we can get those rebounds.
The Hornets kept the crowd in the game in crushing the Lakers by a point in the third quarter, marking the first time in six quarters since their game 1 win that they had done.
Still, Los Angeles led 75-68 position in the fourth quarter and the Hornets would get as close that 75-70 before Gasol scoring spurt put the Lakers firmly in command.
Bynum helped the Lakers dictate the pace of the game in the beginning, to the torment of New Orleans in painting with four offensive rebounds and all 14 of his points by halftime. The Lakers took their largest of the first half when lead Bryant 3, followed by Bynum overpowering low-post move on Okafor, made it 43-32.
It could have been worse if not for Paul, who had 18 points in the first half, including seven by the end of the second quarter to trim the deficit of New Orleans 51 - 42 at halftime.
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