Lakers Blast Warriors 107-83 To Stay Unbeaten
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Pau Gasol had 26 points and 12 rebounds, Kobe Bryant added 20 points and the Los Angeles Lakers kept up their unbeaten start to the season with a 107-83 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Sunday night.
Lamar Odom had 16 points and 14 rebounds for the Lakers, who easily improved to 3-0 with their 10th consecutive win over their upstate rivals.
Los Angeles outrebounded Golden State 55-42 and held a comfortable double-digit lead throughout the second half, with the Lakers' starters continually outrunning the Warriors at their own uptempo game.
[Photo Gallery: Lakers v. Warriors]
Monta Ellis scored 20 points for the Warriors, whose first loss ended their first 2-0 start in 16 years. Golden State played without guard Stephen Curry, who aggravated his sprained right ankle Friday.
Dorell Wright added 18 points for Golden State, which won five straight back in 1994. All-Star forward David Lee went scoreless with just three rebounds in 19 minutes, dominated by Gasol and Odom.
While the Lakers opened defense of their back-to-back titles last week with wins over Houston and Phoenix, the Warriors raised a few eyebrows by knocking off the Rockets and Clippers at home in Oakland. But Golden State's degree of difficulty got considerably tougher against the Lakers, who pushed their lead to 32 points during the fourth quarter.
Several Warriors wore fluorescent-orange shoes better suited to deer hunting than hoops, but they didn't help Golden State keep pace with the Lakers' starters. Derek Fisher added 14 points, and only Ron Artest struggled among Los Angeles' top five, missing eight of his first nine shots.
The Lakers started smoothly, taking a 14-2 lead before Odom's 3-pointer at the first-quarter buzzer put them ahead 34-14. After Los Angeles' bench gave away much of the lead, Bryant and Gasol restored it to 21 points shortly before halftime.
In Curry's absence, Warriors rookie Jeremy Lin got into the game in the third quarter, prompting a round of applause from the Los Angeles crowd for the Harvard guard who's already a celebrity among his native Bay Area's sizable Asian population. Lin then scored his first NBA points on a layup midway through the third quarter.
Lin committed five fouls in his first 11 minutes, but also played a role in Golden State's 12-1 run in the third. Los Angeles still took a 17-point lead into the fourth.
NOTES: Stephon Marbury watched the first half with Lakers executive Jeanie Buss. The 33-year-old two-time All-Star hasn't played in the NBA since early 2009. ... Lakers rookie Devin Ebanks made his NBA debut in the second quarter and scored his first career point on a free throw with 4:58 to play. Fellow rookie second-round pick Derrick Caracter scored his first points on the previous possession. ... Warriors rookie Jeff Adrien scored his first NBA points on a tip-in with 4.2 seconds to play. ... Fans near courtside included Ryan Seacrest, Paramount Pictures CEO Brad Grey, former Lakers forward Rick Fox and girlfriend Eliza Dushku.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
