Lakers manhandle Spurs behind Bynum's 30 rebounds

By PAUL J. WEBER

SAN ANTONIO (AP) Andrew Bynum had 16 points and 30 rebounds, the most in an NBA game this season, and the Los Angeles Lakers didn't need Kobe Bryant to blow out the San Antonio Spurs 98-84 Wednesday night.

Metta World Peace scored 26 points and the Lakers, playing their third straight game without the injured Bryant, manhandled the Spurs underneath to hand the West's second-place team one of their most embarrassing losses this season.

Bryant is sitting out to heal his sore left shin. There remains no timetable on when the NBA's leading scorer might return.

Bynum's dominating night surpassed the previous NBA season-high of 25 rebounds, set twice by Orlando's Dwight Howard and Milwaukee's Ersan Ilyasova.

Danny Green led the Spurs with 22 points.

Pau Gasol added 21 points and 11 rebounds for the Lakers, who are now 2-1 without Bryant. Two nights after barely squeaking past lowly New Orleans, the Lakers played far livelier this time without their superstar.

World Peace scored a season-high while shooting 10 of 15 from the field, including 5 of 8 from behind the 3-point arc.

Los Angeles has seven games left and are in third place in the West, 4 1/2 games behind the Spurs for second place. San Antonio remained just a game out of first despite the loss since Oklahoma City also lost Wednesday night.

After winning 11 in a row, the Spurs have now lost consecutive games for the first time since January. Falling in Utah on Monday night was hardly shocking: Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili didn't even make the trip that night in coach Gregg Popovich's pursuit to keep his stars fresh as possible for the playoffs.

But the Big Three were back for the Lakers, and few saw this coming - especially with Bryant sidelined in a suit.

Parker and Ginobili might as well have taken another night off. Parker scored four on 2 of 12 shooting and Ginobili scored 9. Duncan had 14 points and just two rebounds.

So unstoppable was Bynum under the basket that by the end of the third quarter, the 7-footer already had matched Howard and Ilyasova for the season's single-game mark. Bynum tapped missed shots to himself with ease over the undersized Spurs frontcourt, and nearly single-handedly outrebounded the entire Spurs lineup combined.

San Antonio finished with 32 rebounds. It's the second time the Spurs have been beaten up on the boards: One of Howard's 25-rebound nights was also against San Antonio.

NOTES: Spurs G Gary Neal (gastroenteritis) did not play. ... Ginobili surpassed 10,000 career points, joining Duncan, Parker, David Robinson and George Gervin as the only other players in Spurs history to reach the milestone.

Lakers take on the San Antonio Spurs Wednesday, April 11th at AT&T Center at 5:30PM. Catch all the action on KCAL and 710ESPN.

POSTGAME QUOTES



Mike Brown:

(Thoughts on Andrew Bynum’s rebounding…)
“Drew’s (Andrew Bynum) performance was outstanding. Thirty rebounds and sixteen points was remarkable. One of the things we talked about doing coming into the game was trying to control the tempo because we know San Antonio likes to push the pace and they’re very good at scoring a lot of points. One of the ways we could control the tempo was by trying to rebound and Drew took it upon himself with thirty rebounds. It’s amazing with thirty total rebounds and the eight offensive rebounds were great because these guys don’t give up offensive rebounds. Getting that from one player was phenomenal. He on the pivot which helped us control the tempo, so I give him a lot of credit.”

(On limiting turnovers against the Spurs…)
“I thought our two point guards did a nice job controlling the tempo. We never let this game get into much of a rat race. Even though San Antonio had seventeen fast break points, we still had control of the game, most of the time. We got a lot of good production from a lot of guys. Coming into this game, we had been trying to iron out our mistakes a little bit. We can’t have unforced turnovers; to have twelve turnovers against this team in an environment like this for us is pretty good. Just to allow ten points off those twelve turnovers is even better.”

(Thoughts on the team’s performance…)
“Pau’s (Gasol) double-double was terrific. I thought our bench played well, especially Matt (Barnes). He just filled the stat sheet with his points, assists and rebounds. Metta (World Peace) had a terrific game for us. His scoring was much needed tonight, whether it was inside or outside, I thought he did a heck of a job. He helped out with our scoring punch and then defensively too. He was very solid as I thought our entire team was. We were all with the game plan.”

(How did you do this without Kobe Bryant?)
“It was teamwork. You have a big fella like Andrew (Bynum) down there cleaning up all the rebounds and making the Spurs take tough shots. We can win a lot of games without him.”

(Why were you guys able to dominate tonight?)
“It started with defense. Coaches gave us a good defensive game plan and we executed it well. We made them take tough two’s with our hands up and not letting them get offensive boards.”

(Did you guys think you could beat this team coming in?)
“We definitely thought we could beat them. You never expect to come in and blowout a team like the Spurs in their home building. But, we are always very confident. We have a great team, a talented team, and when we play together like this we can be tough to beat.”

(What do you think was the key in you getting 30 rebounds tonight?)
“Just going to go get them. They missed a lot of jump shots. They shoot very quickly and they were coming off the rim nice and soft.”

(Did you notice early that this might be a game where you can control the glass?)
“Not really, I just got boards. A lot of them came right to me and they missed air balls that fell right to me. I just had my hands ready.”

(Do you understand the significance with only 4 other Lakers having 30 rebounds in a game?)
“It’s great to have 30 boards, but my shot was not working and I’m kind of upset about that. So for me, I’ll remember shooting horribly.”

(How did you guys beat a team as good as the Spurs with poor shooting and Kobe not playing tonight?)
“Metta (World Peace) stepped up big and he hit a lot of clutch shots for us. Blake did too. Matt Barnes shot freely so that’s why we have teammates and they picked up the slack. I was just playing defense.”

(Opening statement on tonight’s game against the Lakers…)
“The Lakers played an excellent game. They beat us from the beginning of the game to the end. (The Lakers) did a great job.”

(When asked about Andrew Bynum’s 30 rebounds and being out rebounded 60 to 33…)
“(The Lakers) played great and they beat us to death. There’s nothing else you can say about it. They deserve credit for playing so well. A lot guys shot it well. They rebounded well and they were physical. They beat us in every facet of the game. It was a really poor performance execution wise and competiveness wise. There’s nothing else to say. You can look at the stats all you want because what I just said is why the stats look the way they do.”

(When asked if he was surprised about the lack of competiveness out of the Spurs tonight…)
“We usually don’t play like we did tonight. But (the Lakers) had a lot to do with it. They started out making shots and they got up on us. They just played very, very well on both ends of the court. A lot of guys played very, very well for them.”

(On tonight’s game…)
“It was a very disappointing performance. We have to give a lot of credit to the Lakers tonight. They shot the ball very well and we played very bad and I played very bad.”

(Thoughts on the Lakers length and asked if it affected his game tonight…)
“Nope, I just missed shots. I had great shots and great looks, they just did not go in. I did not play well tonight.”

(Thoughts on how disappointing tonight’s lost means to the team…)
“It is very disappointing because we did not play very aggressive and they came in and knocked down a lot of threes. They just played great.”

(Thoughts on if this is a good thing for tomorrow night’s game…)
“Yes, it is a great wakeup call and tomorrow we have another big game for us. Tomorrow night is going to be more physical and Memphis has been playing very well.”

(Thoughts on Bynum’s play tonight…)
“It was a great performance. He was everywhere tonight. Offense, defense, blocking shots and controlling the paint, he did a great job tonight.”

(Thoughts on lack of competiveness tonight…)
“We did not play well across the board. We had a lot of their guys play better than we did. They shot the ball better than us, they rebounded the ball better than us, they got a bunch of second chance points and Bynum was a big part of that. All in all they just outplayed us tonight.”

(Thoughts on Bynum being just too long…)
“He got a lot of position rebounds tonight. He obviously is a big body and he had eight offensive rebounds, which really hurt us. All in all, we just did not play well and our focus was not there for whatever reason and we just did not play well for long enough tonight.”

(Thoughts on game tomorrow night…)
“Very glad there is a game tomorrow night. After a game like tonight we just want to get back on the floor and guarantee a better performance from us.”

(Thoughts on whether he thinks this a setback for the Spurs…)
“You hate losing games like this especially by this much and we respect the Lakers as an opponent, but we just did not play well tonight.”

Lakers-Spurs Preview

By MATT BECKER

After Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili all got San Antonio's last game off to rest, the Spurs' top three players are expected to be back on the court against the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Lakers' biggest star, however, will not play.

Los Angeles will again be without Kobe Bryant on Wednesday night when it visits the Spurs in a matchup of division leaders.

San Antonio's 11-game winning streak ended with Monday's 91-84 loss to Utah, but extending the run was of little concern to Gregg Popovich. After bowing out in a first-round series as the No. 1 seed in last season's playoffs, Popovich wants his veteran team fresh for a championship drive this spring.

He has periodically given Duncan, Parker and Ginobili time off, and Monday all three rested, leaving a combined average of 46.8 points on the bench. Not surprisingly, the Spurs (40-15) finished with their third-lowest scoring output of the season - 24.4 points less than they averaged during their winning streak.

The loss, coupled with an Oklahoma City win, dropped the Spurs one game back of the Thunder for first place in the Western Conference.

Maintaining good health, however, is the biggest priority for San Antonio, which enters Wednesday's contest tied with Cleveland for the fewest games played with 55. The Spurs close the season with 11 games in 16 days, including three against the Lakers (36-22), whom they split their four games with last year. By comparison, Los Angeles has eight games left.

Like San Antonio, the Lakers are also hoping to make the playoffs at full strength. Bryant's health is obviously invaluable to Los Angeles, but the 14-time All-Star is a bit banged-up.

Bryant, the NBA's leading scorer at 28.1 points, will miss his third straight game with a sore left shin. He has worn a walking boot to protect an inflammation surrounding a tendon, and the only way it will improve is with rest.

"It's OK that it's taking time for him to get right," coach Mike Brown told the team's official website after practice Tuesday.

The Lakers have split their two games without Bryant - losing to Phoenix 125-105 Saturday and beating West-worst New Orleans 93-91 two days later.

Pau Gasol has stepped up his play in Bryant's absence, finishing with a season-high 30 points against the Suns and scoring 25 versus the Hornets. Andrew Bynum also helped the Lakers stay strong inside without their top playmaker, combining for 41 points in the last two.

"I'm one of the anchors - when (Bryant) is not there, even more - so I get a lot more involved in the offense," said Gasol, who averages 17.3 points. "I'm not trying to be the main guy here. We have a great team and some great weapons. ... I just picked up a little bit the role of scoring and being aggressive offensively just because, obviously, the absence of the top scorer in the league."

The Lakers were strong defensively down the stretch Monday, limiting New Orleans to 19 points on 34.8 percent shooting in the fourth quarter, but containing a San Antonio team averaging 112.6 points during an eight-game home winning streak seems like a much bigger challenge.

Parker is averaging 21.7 points on 59.4 percent shooting in his last nine at the AT&T Center, while Duncan is averaging 18.7 points and 12.2 rebounds in his last six there.

Duncan, however, struggled mightily in his three games against the Lakers last season, averaging 4.0 points on 19.2 percent shooting.

Bynum also wasn't much of a factor offensively in last season's series, averaging 7.0 points.

Bryant totaled 53 points in the two wins against San Antonio in 2010-11 but only 37 on 28.9 percent shooting in the defeats.

4/09/12 W LAL 93, NOH 91	4/07/12 L PHX 125, LAL 105	4/06/12 L HOU 112, LAL 107	4/04/12 W LAL 113, LAC 108	4/03/12 W LAL 91, NJN 87

SEASON & SERIES NOTES; CONNECTIONS
This will be the first meeting on the season between the Lakers and Spurs, after the two teams split last season’s series 2-2 for the second straight season. In their last 10 overall games, the Lakers are 6-4 against the Spurs. At home, the Lakers are 6-4 in their last 10 games against San Antonio in Los Angeles. Overall, the Lakers are 11-12 all-time against the Spurs at STAPLES Center. In San Antonio, the Lakers are 5-5 in their last 10 meetings with the Spurs. In 52 career games including 47 starts against San Antonio, Bryant is averaging 24.3 points per game. On February 8, 2010, Pau Gasol helped defeat the Spurs with 21 points, 19 rebounds, 8 assists and 5 blocks, marking just the 7th time a player has accomplished that feat (at least those totals in each category in a single game) in league history. Spurs guard Manu Ginobili played for Argentina in the 2008 Beijing Olympics but suffered a foot injury in their August 22, 2008 meeting with Kobe Bryant’s United States team. Bryant scored 12 points as the U.S. defeated defending champion Argentina 101-81 to advance to the gold medal game while Ginobili played just six minutes due to injury. Lakers head coach Mike Brown spent three seasons as an assistant coach for Greg Popovich’s Spurs, helping San Antonio to three straight division titles (2000-03), including the team’s 2003 NBA Championship. Lakers assistant coach Chuck Person played in 222 games as a member of the Spurs (1994-98) averaging 9.7 points over that span. Lakers assistant coach Quin Snyder was the head coach of the NBA Development League’s Austin Toros, the Spurs minor league affiliate, for three seasons (2007-10), amassing a 94-56 (.627) record while guiding them to three consecutive playoff appearances and an appearance in the 2008 D-League championship game.

LAKERS FORCE FRANCHISE-LOW THREE TURNOVERS
By forcing just three turnovers in a 125-105 loss at Phoenix on April 7, the Lakers saw the Suns set an opponent franchise record for fewest turnovers in a game. The previous franchise-low of four opponent turnovers was originally established in a 108-114 loss 12/21/01 at Memphis, but was matched three times this season, with the Lakers forcing four turnovers January 5 at Portland (96-107, loss), January 29 at Minnesota (106-101, win) and February 6 at Philadelphia (90-95, loss). Leaguwide, the last time a team committed 3 turnovers or less came on back on 4/3/10, when the Pistons committed three turnovers at Atlanta.

DYNAMIC DUO
In the Lakers 113-108 victory over the Clippers on April 4, Andrew Bynum scored 36 points on 13-of-20 shooting (.650) and Kobe Bryant scored 31 points on 13-of-19 shooting (.684). Since 1990, the only other pair of Lakers teammates to each score 30-plus points while shooting at least 65% from the field were Bryant (35 points on 11- of-16 shooting ((.688)) and Shaquille O’Neal (31 points on 15-of-23 shooting (.652)) back on February 18, 2004 in a 100-99 Lakers victory at Golden State. *

40-POINT GAMES
With 40 points April 1 vs. Golden State, Kobe Bryant scored 40+ points for the fifth time this season and 112th time (regular season) in his NBA career. With 42 points January 14 in an away game against the Clippers, Kobe Bryant scored 40+ points for the fourth consecutive game. Bryant’s 40+ point games this season came 1/10 vs. Phoenix (48),1/11 at Utah (40), 1/13 vs. Cleveland (42), 1/14 @ LA Clippers (42) and 4/1 vs. Golden State (40). In the history of the NBA, only two players have more career 40-point games: Wilt Chamberlain (271) and Michael Jordan (173). The Lakers are now 77-35 all-time in games that Bryant scores 40+ points. Bryant holds the Lakers franchise record for 40-point games in a season, recording 27 during the 2005-06 campaign. Bryant also holds the franchise record for most consecutive 40-point games (9), established during the 2002-03 season. Only Wilt Chamberlain (14 twice, 10 once) has had longer consecutive 40-point game streaks in NBA history than Bryant.