Memphis (1-4) at Los Angeles (4-1)

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  • Game info: 10:30 pm EST Fri Nov 6, 2009
  • TV: FSTN, FSW

By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN, STATS Senior Writer Nov 5, 2:01 pm EST

Preview | Box Score | Recap

Pau Gasol(notes) doesn’t expect to make his season debut for the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night. That’s definitely good news for his former team as it tries to slow down Kobe Bryant(notes).

It’s unlikely Gasol will play against the Memphis Grizzlies, who have lost three straight as they get ready to visit Bryant and the Lakers.

Gasol has yet to see action due to a right hamstring injury, although it seems he is close to coming back. He averaged 16.0 points and 9.0 rebounds in last season’s four-game sweep of Memphis (1-4), where he played his first six-plus seasons.

Coach Phil Jackson expects the 7-footer to practice this weekend and possibly play even though Gasol believes he is not ready yet.

“We’ll have a limited practice as it is, with back-to-back games,” Jackson said. “There won’t be a whole lot of activity, but he should be out there.”

Los Angeles (4-1) has been forced to rely even more on Bryant in Gasol’s absence and the NBA’s leading scorer has delivered. Bryant has sandwiched 41-point games around a 31-point effort, and has helped deliver back-to-back overtime wins on the road.

Bryant scored the Lakers’ final four points, including the go-ahead jumper, in a 101-98 win at Oklahoma City on Tuesday. Los Angeles was forced to go past regulation again Wednesday as Bryant scored six points in overtime of a 103-102 win over Houston.

“Experience was the key,” forward Lamar Odom(notes) said. “We toughed it out at the end. Kobe took over the game and really helped us spread the court.”

The Lakers may have suffered a blow when center Andrew Bynum(notes) sprained his elbow late in Wednesday’s game. His status is uncertain for Friday.

“The elbow (stinks),” Bynum said. “I can hardly lift it up. We’ll take pictures and we will see what they say. They took a whack at me and that was that.”

Pau Gasol’s brother, Marc, has played well in his second season for Memphis, averaging 17.6 points on 60.4 percent shooting and 12.6 rebounds. But he and the rest of the Grizzlies have been overshadowed by Allen Iverson’s(notes) complaints about his reserve role.

Iverson was not happy about seeing 18 minutes off the bench in his Memphis debut Monday in an overtime loss at Sacramento. He scored 18 points in 27 minutes Wednesday in a 113-105 loss at Golden State.

Memphis, 0-3 on a five-game road trip, is allowing a league-high 115.2 points per game.

“Not a lot of players like to play defense (but) winning teams play defense,” Iverson said. “Some nights you’re not going to be able to throw a rock in the ocean but if you still play defense you give yourself a chance to win.”

Iverson is likely not seeing major minutes at shooting guard because Memphis is building around leading scorer O.J. Mayo(notes), who is averaging 20.6 points after leading all rookies with an 18.5 average in 2008-09.

The Grizzlies lost their first 13 road games against the Lakers before winning five of the last nine.

Updated Nov 5, 2:01 pm EST
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Team Comparison

Team Record Standings PF PA Road/Home Streak L10
Memphis 5-9 5th Southwest / 14th West 101.3 105.9 Road 1-6 Won 1 4-6
Los Angeles 11-3 1st Pacific / 1st West 101.8 96.5 Home 9-2 Won 4 8-2

Notes

The Grizzlies finished the regular season winning six of their final 10 games. ... G O.J. Mayo led the way in Wednesday's victory, scoring 26 points on 8-of-17 shooting.

Apr 15, 11:47 pm EDT

Lakers coach Phil Jackson is breaking with his playoff tradition of wearing the most recent championship ring from his collection of nine NBA titles. "I'm tired of wearing that ring," he said about his 2002 bauble. "I've been wearing it for seven years now." ... G Jordan Farmar played despite tendinitis in his right pinky toe.

Apr 19, 10:25 pm EDT
NBA

186 Comments

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  1. teachher
    186. Posted by teachher Mon Nov 9 2:17pm EST

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    rapist? Still on that one are we? well, there can only be 1 (white-chick) gold-digger per nba player and she already took the million dollars for being "raped". Wasn't that like getting "paid for getting laid"? rape, yes. all these people still calling kobe a rapist wanted to be raped by him and get a million dollar pay day. Beside, kobe already paid a million dollars for that lay, so is it still considered rape when you pay? Get back to me, please, haters!
  2. Terry D
    185. Posted by Terry D Sun Nov 8 11:09am EST

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    180
    yeah its good but its gonna take more than move to post gotta be strong. i aint never play mike but reggie miller did make a comment about mike and kobe cuz he played both and he said jordans alot stronger than kobe in the post. its to bad that LA didnt do something about their bench which i believe is their weakest link and that a huge link
    184 U make me laugh if u askn who were tthe stars during jordan era. remember jordan hit the scence in 1984. magic and bird were already in they 4and5 years pro
  3. Audi M
    184. Posted by Audi M Sun Nov 8 7:23am EST

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    You can compare endlessly MJ to Kobe. The only glaring advantage Kobe has is that he is still an active player right now. As a fan, I have the whole day to watch him play. Unlike the fans of Mj, they can only reminisce the past. Although, I still get the chance to see games of the Bulls but i find them boring. Today, you have so many good players. Ican''t count them.During MJ era, the only other good player you have is Pippen. Unfortunately, he also belonged to the Bulls.
  4. _____JERICHO_____
    183. Posted by _____JERICHO_____ Sun Nov 8 1:42am EST

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    @ Elena E uh did u ever had it in the ass?
  5. Mr.OK
    182. Posted by Mr.OK Sun Nov 8 1:09am EST

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    i say shut up all u sneaky filthy trash retard rednecks 4 KOBE the greatest ever, will ultimately score over 40000 points and single handidly take the untalented lakers to few more nba trophy ceremonies....NO one can touch KOBEs legacy including mj the overrated compared to the king of hoopmaster, KOBE.....like i said, one on one between KOBE and mj, mj will have hard time defending the most skilled pure shooter of all time in KOBE, period.....adinaro
  6. Elena E
    181. Posted by Elena E Sun Nov 8 12:50am EST

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    Kobe is defitnately a rapist... he does his opponents in the ass!
  7. I Hate People on Here
    180. Posted by I Hate People on Here Sat Nov 7 11:20pm EST

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    I know stats are far from the final word in these debates, but they do carry a good amount of weight. With that said, can everyone please look Jordan vs. Kobe career averages? You can break it down just about anyway you can think of, and Jordan dominates. Compare the career stats start to finish and Jordan wins every category except 3's made, 3pt%, and FT%(barely on the FT%). Compare only the years when Jordan was on terrible teams vs the years Kobe's Lakers were weak at best. The differences are even greater. Compare the years each of them played on great teams. You guessed it, Jordan wins hands down. If he was purely a ball hog, how did he average 8 assists the same year he averaged 32.5 pts? Why is his overall assists average a significant 0.7 higher than Kobe's? The biggest stats, in my opinion, that show the real gap are the Finals stats. Look them up and pay attention as your jaw hits the floor. Here is Jordan's line from 91: 31.2ppg 6.6rpg 11.4apg 2.8spg 55%FG. With all that said, I want to make it clear I'm not a Kobe "hater", whatever that is. The guy is obviously one of the best to ever play the game, and if this whole post game development is the real deal it's gonna make him pretty much unguardable. Not that he isn't close to it already.
  8. Terry D
    179. Posted by Terry D Sat Nov 7 10:45pm EST

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    i dont wont them to lose anyone it took pau to show him that the post is most effective position on that offense.1.5 years he just now wanna get post moves lol. that y he got such a low fg%. shoots alot of long balls..ha rondo cant soot half as good as kobe but he has a fg% of 50+. i do appluad his efforts to get better but he just dont want people like shane battie great defenders wring a book about ur every move like last year
  9. Terry D
    178. Posted by Terry D Sat Nov 7 10:39pm EST

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    just ask ur right about kobe too lol
  10. Terry D
    177. Posted by Terry D Sat Nov 7 10:37pm EST

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    annoyed
    u gott be out of ur mind u think kobe better than jordan. look at him now everyone talkn bout this the dream visit over the summmmer forgetting the fact that kobe been in the league 14yrs and just now tryn to get to the low post. i said it before kobe needs to take his butt down to the post to make the triangle more effective. that the most effective position in the whole offense. i kno this cuz jordon used it alll the time to draw his double teams and if u didnt u got abused. when he said how great boston played defense in 2008 finals and he said it hard to get to the paint against them i said y dont u try going to the post without the ball like jordan did instead of dribbling from the 30 ft out tryn to beat your man wasting all that energy. u pick spots for tyhat like when u got a bigge defender. lebron is in the same mode. 250lbs and he always talkn bout his strengh think about how effective he would b if he used post as his primary weapon. times have changed but the game remains the same. the dream was the beest center of all time. he could do it all. had great footwork and handles like a guard and could shoot. tell me one center who had the ability he had. by the way the real champs still remain wit the bulls since jordan didnt defend it in 99 due to retirment some had to get the crown
  11. Sara Tonyn
    176. Posted by Sara Tonyn Sat Nov 7 10:19pm EST

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    Gee, a ball hog reaches a scoring record. Big deal. What a surprise. Fact is, if the Lakers ever lose Gasol, Kobe will look very average and like a bigger ball hog than ever. Face it. His career shooting percentage isn't outstanding, he's not a serious shot blocker or super passer, his assists tell the story of how selfish he is. The guy was moved to "star" status mainly because he scores a lot of points. But let 'Melo or DWade ot LeBron take as many shots as Kobe does and they leave him in the dust. The thing is, they share the ball without even thinking about it. And they still score big points. Kobe is only about Kobe and always has been.
  12. Gemma Barnes
    175. Posted by Gemma Barnes Sat Nov 7 9:58pm EST

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    break it down baby
  13. annoyed
    174. Posted by annoyed Sat Nov 7 9:57pm EST

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    Jim's right. Jordan was a ball hog. I couldn't stand watching the Chicago Jordans. Kobe is more electrifying and he's a better passer and defender than Jordan. Lakers win as a team because everyone contributes. In Chicago it was all Jordan, how effing boring.

    LAKERS ARE YOUR WORLD CHAMPIONS (and will repeat)
  14. James Petersman
    173. Posted by James Petersman Sat Nov 7 9:52pm EST

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    assists mean nothing in basketball, its about scoring the ball into the basket to get points, since points is the only thing that matters. you can dish out 50 assist in a game and still lose because someone like kobe scores 81 points
  15. I Hate People on Here
    172. Posted by I Hate People on Here Sat Nov 7 9:01pm EST

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    Wow. Another thread that turned into morons going back and forth about Kobe.
  16. Joel
    171. Posted by Joel Sat Nov 7 8:47pm EST

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    Kobe just keeps raping his opponents... LOL... Kobe is the best NBA player right now and has been for the last 5-6 years, PERIOD. He has another 2-3 more years of solid stats. Im sure he'll get 6 or 7 rings
  17. lilac24
    170. Posted by lilac24 Sat Nov 7 8:41pm EST

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    naleway is a gay..
  18. Jim
    169. Posted by Jim Sat Nov 7 8:31pm EST

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    Kobe can't win with out Fat A S S Shaq.Kobe can't win with out Gasol.What in the hell do you people want ? Kobe to play by himself and take on 5 guys at once.You know what he would probably win.Jordan had Pippen,Kukoc,Kerr,Rodman do i need to say more and he was a damn ball hog and there was no competition back then and all the great players were retired or were retiring.Jordan makes me sick.He couldn't carry Kobes jock strap. Kobe would bust Jordans A S S !!! Step up mike and play you know who.He has got the money and he wants to bust your a s s for running your stupid mouth and please people leave that Le Chump S H I T alone.He is a loser and he is going to be just like Charles Barkley he will never win a Championship.Le Chump is in a league with D-Wade,Melo and CP3.KOBE IS IN A LEAGUE OF HIS OWN.THE BEST PLAYER TO EVER PLAY THE GAME- KOBE THE BLACK MAMBA BRYANT.LA LAKER'S 2010 CHAMPIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  19. Brown Boy
    168. Posted by Brown Boy Sat Nov 7 8:20pm EST

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    F**k U' haters...
    kobe my man the best player in the planet the lakers the best franshise ever no doubt about it!!!
    congrats to kb24 and hopefully continues breaking mo' records baby! GO LAKERS (2010 CHAMPS)!
  20. <i>sofar4ncounting</i>
    167. Posted by sofar4ncounting Sat Nov 7 6:09pm EST

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    174. Posted by Naleway "not bad...for a rapist".....is that you Roger O?........
  21. MikeTheTruth
    166. Posted by MikeTheTruth Sat Nov 7 6:03pm EST

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    Ceaser, you all seem to forget that when the Lakers got Gasol and lost to the Celtics, he was labeled "Soft" by all you Non-Laker fans and Kobe WOULD NOT and WILL NOT win without Shaq, now that he won it's because of Gasol? As for Shaq, he was a monster with the Lakers, no doubt, But....I do remember him being in foul trouble or teams using the Hack a Shaq, during the playoffs and thats when Kobe took over. P.S. Shaq QUIT on the Lakers, that's a KNOWN fact here in Los Angeles because of money, while he was with the Heat, he dissed the Laker organization THEN talked S**T about ALL Laker fans, THAT'S when we turned on him. And yes, I was a Big Shaq fan.
  22. legomyego
    165. Posted by legomyego Sat Nov 7 5:21pm EST

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    Glad to see T.O. made it to the game.
    The elite always hang with the elite.

    He used to be 1A in terms of best wideout in the NFL.
    Now he's a halfback option-yet another way for him to score.

    One would think that on a bye week-
    he would at least hang out with his new team-and try to gel.

    I miss him on Dallas.
    I miss him catching touchdowns.
    The NFL misses his showmanship.
    I bet Nicolette Sheridan even misses him!
    Come back T.O.! Come back!
    Or even better yet-host Saturday Night Live!
    With special music guest-Mariah Carey!!

    Your still the man bro-I just wish you would man up and just be that TD guy again.
    later 6. later.
  23. Naleway
    164. Posted by Naleway Sat Nov 7 5:02pm EST

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    not bad...for a rapist
  24. Dian
    163. Posted by Dian Sat Nov 7 4:26pm EST

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    157 you stupid @#$%, execution @#$% head, that is why 25 sec to shoot. and if he is the best executor why should he pass the ball. learn fraction dumb ass...
  25. Dian
    162. Posted by Dian Sat Nov 7 4:19pm EST

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    157 you stupid @#$%, execution @#$% head, that is why 25 sec to shoot. and if he is the best executor why should he pass the ball. learn fraction dumb ass...
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