The Lakers weren't always productive Friday, losing most of a 14-point second-quarter lead by halftime and most of a 22-point third-quarter lead midway through the fourth quarter. They can blame their reserves for a poor showing.
But win the Lakers did, guaranteeing themselves home court throughout the Western playoffs.
"We're fortunate," Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said. "We didn't have a whole lot of injuries outside of Andrew [Bynum] this year that limited us. We had some momentum and kept it this year."
On the other hand, this is still only the regular season, as Bryant pointed out when he said he was "not really" excited to clinch the West's top seeding.
"It's a good accomplishment, but we have a lot of work ahead of us," he said.
Along the way, Jackson coached his 728th game with the Lakers, passing Pat Riley for most games coached in franchise history.
"I don't know if that's an honor or detriment," Jackson said, smiling. "I'm sure it's an honor -- longevity has something to do with it -- but I've been telling Jeanie [Buss] she saddled me with this job for the last three or four years, so I've accepted it willingly."
Buss is Jackson's longtime girlfriend and a Lakers executive.
Jackson's achievement was one of many Friday for the Lakers. Maybe there will be others between now and June.
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mike.bresnahan@latimes.com
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A lot of baggage
In the shot-clock era, no team has gone 7-0 on a single trip -- the Lakers are 4-0 on a seven-game trip. Teams that won every game on a six-game trip:
*--* Team Dates Philadelphia 76ers Dec. 25, 1984-Jan. 5, 1985 Milwaukee Bucks Jan. 24, 1985-Feb. 2, 1985 Portland Trail Blazers April 2, 1991-April 10, 1991 Chicago Bulls Nov. 20, 1991-Nov. 30, 1991 Utah Jazz Dec. 14, 1994-Dec. 22, 1994 Miami Heat Nov. 19, 1996-Nov. 27, 1996 Lakers Feb. 15, 2000-Feb. 23, 2000 Sacramento Kings March 28, 2002-April 5, 2002 Dallas Mavericks March 18, 2007-March 27, 2007 Lakers Jan. 30, 2009-Feb. 8, 2009 *--*
Note -- San Antonio won eight games in a row on a nine-game trip during the 2002-03 season (Jan. 29-Feb. 16). The Spurs lost the first game of the trip.
Source: STATS LLC
