Lakers make it took easy over Clippers
LAKERS 106, CLIPPERS 78
With six players in double figures, they roll over their Staples Center co-tenants and complete season sweep.
Chalk it up as some mandated spring cleaning.
The Lakers swept aside their hallway brethren, the finale of the season's four-game series capped with a 106-78 victory over the Clippers on Thursday night at Staples Center.
It was required tidying after Tuesday's setback at Portland and with tonight's showdown looming in the form of the New Orleans Hornets.
Lakers chart: A chart in Friday's Sports section listed some Lakers statistics as being those with Andrew Bynum in the lineup this season. In fact, those statistics referred to the team's performance since Bynum was injured in January, through April 9. Here is the
But it also was dimmed earlier news that center Andrew Bynum is not yet cleared from his knee injury to progress into full practices.
This, for better or worse, could be your playoff Lakers, for the first round, at least.
"I think there's a sense of disappointment," Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said of Bynum. "He's been looking good and been practicing a little bit."
Still, Clippers Coach Mike Dunleavy labeled the Lakers -- Bynum or no Bynum -- as title contenders. And he should know. His team lost to them by an average of 26 points.
"The trade of [Pau] Gasol solidified things a lot for them," Dunleavy said. "They are a contending team and probably a team that should win it all."
Six Lakers scored in double figures.
Lamar Odom took only a thrifty three shots, making two. But he made 10 of 14 free throws and hauled in 13 rebounds for his first double-double in four games.
He got to the line, somewhere Kobe Bryant seemingly couldn't find. Bryant didn't take his first free throw until late in the third quarter and scored 16 points on six-for-17 shooting. He did not play in the fourth quarter, ending with his lowest output since March 7, also a victory over the Clippers.
Luke Walton provided a solid scoring punch off the bench with 18 points. His two consecutive three-point shots in the fourth quarter pushed the score to 92-66. He made another as a reminder, but by then the Lakers were already on their way to a 54-25 record.
"I thought they came out with the right fervor, the right attitude to not only preserve the lead, but extend it too," Jackson said of a second unit that scored 45 points.
The Lakers wiggled past the idle San Antonio Spurs to again move 1 1/2 games behind the Hornets (55-23).
The Clippers, playing for nothing but pride, punched for a while.
Elton Brand, playing his fifth game since sitting out because of a ruptured Achilles' tendon, had 15 points in the first quarter as the Clippers took an early 20-9 lead.
But soon the Lakers came back. And the Clippers went cold.
