LOS ANGELES — Things have got tough for the twice-defending NBA champions.
Just when the Los Angeles Lakers thought it was safe to go back into Staples Center with their twogame winning streak, Kobe Bryant was hit on the right elbow. He went to the dressing room and came back for the second half with a sleeve on his right arm. Bryant, in obvious pain, played predominantly lefthanded the rest of the game.
Then he scored 18 of his 24 points in the third quarter, making eight of 11 shots including two three-pointers, as the Lakers beat the Clippers, 108-95.
Now it’s a three-game winning streak.
Not that Lakers Coach Phil Jackson ever doubted Bryant would be back in the game.
“Not after I asked him if he was OK,” said Jackson.
“He said, ‘I’ll be there.’ ”
In other words, he’s Kobe Bryant. He does these things.
How many more miracles the Lakers will need, or Bryant has inhim, remains to be seen. But compared to what’s coming, this was an easy victory.
Starting with the game today against the Thunder, the Lakers will play in Oklahoma City, San Antonio, Atlanta, Miami and Dallas within 15 days.
Not that the Lakers aren’t ready, but Jackson said he has no idea what to expect from his team.
“We’d love to get momentum and have a seven-game winning streak, a 10-game winning streak, but we are just not that consistent yet, where we can say, ‘We really have momentum going,’” he said.
Bemused as usual, Jackson showed little interest in the Clippers, who beat the Lakers earlier this season.
Nevertheless, Jackson dispensed with questions about the crosstown rivals as if smashing lobs in badminton.
Question: What have you learned about the Clippers that might be applicable tonight?
Jackson, grinning: “I don’t know what to do with that question. Go on to the next one.”
Q: Anything that concerns you about the Clippers?
Jackson: “No.”
Q: Why not?
Jackson: “I’m not concerned, that’s all. That’s just not where I’m at.”
It’s true, if you’re coaching the Lakers and the Clippers give you trouble, you’ve really got problems.
Actually, Jackson is coaching the Lakers, the Clippers have given him trouble and he really does have problems.
The Clippers, of course, remain troubled themselves.
They began the night with a 21-37 record, with nine losses in 11 games and missing two bodies with newly acquired Mo Williams and Jamario Moon yet to pass physicals.
“We’re just trying to keep it together right now,” Coach Vinny Del Negro said before the game.
“The biggest thing right now is to get the guys to play hard, to play with confidence, to play together. I know it all sounds easy but it’s a challenge.
“I’m excited about the guys we added but I’m more excited about, let’s see how it all comes together.It’s going to be nice.”
Of course, to date it has come together only once every decade or two.
The Clippers always seem to be waiting until next year to make an impact.
For the Lakers, this is a new experience. In recent seasons, they’ve had the West locked up by now and coasted into the playoffs, letting an East team or two go by them for best record.
But now, the Lakers find themselves in unfamiliar territory.
This season, the Spurs have locked up the West and the Lakers will have all they can do to catch Dallas, which leads them by 1 1/2 games and has won 14 of 15.
Then, there’s local disappointment at the Lakers’ inability to get Carmelo Anthony, Deron Williams or Dwight Howard at the trade deadline.
Lakers players, of course, are more realistic, although some of them may have been hoping to land Melo, too.
Given all that, it was an inspirational week for the Lakers, who will need more where that came from.
Sports, Pages 24 on 02/27/2011