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LA Lakers defeat Atlanta Hawks 101-87. Poor Moses Malone. On Monday Minnesota Timberwolves’ Kevin Love tied his record of 51 consecutive double-doubles and looks poised to break the record on Wednesday against the Indiana Pacers.
And now? Well Kobe Bryant surpassed him for sixth in the NBA all-time scorers when making three free throws with 2:05 left in the first half en route to his 26 points.
While Kobe is as magical as we’ve all come to expect, the real conduit to the Lakers recent demolition ride through the NBA has been Andrew Bynum. While his 16 points were great, they were mere gravy to his 16 boards and three blocked shots - all this coming after back-to-back 17-rebound efforts against the Charlotte Bobcats and San Antonio Spurs.
The Lakers really demoralized the Hawks, but for the second consecutive game the bench allowed the opponents to crawl back into the game. In fact the Hawks did get to within eight points with 5:30 left forcing head coach Phil Jackson to bring the starters back into the game.
In a blink of an eye the starters pushed the lead to 16 points by the final minute cementing the Lakers eighth consecutive win.
Pau Gasol added a double-double of his own with 14 points and 11 rebounds while Derek Fisher seemed to shake any lingering doubts of his elbow with 11 points of his own.
Now the Lakers will take their talents to South Florida and see if they can take advantage of a demoralized Heat squad who just lost their sixth straight game to the Portland Trail Blazers 105-96.
TONIGHT’S ACTION
LA Kings at Detroit Red Wings. 4:30 p.m. KCOP 13, AM 1150 KTLK.
New York Rangers at Anaheim Ducks. 7:30 p.m. FS Prime Ticket, AM 830 KLAA.
LA Clippers at Boston Celtics. 4:30 p.m. FS Prime Ticket, AM 980 KFWB.
