Defending NBA Champion Lakers Prove They Are Road Warriors

Posted on December 21, 2010 by Thomas Rooney

Kobe Bryant scored a team-high 20 points to lead the Lakers to their sixth win during a seven game road trip.

The defending NBA Champion Los Angeles Lakers landed their fifth straight win after they rallied from an early deficit to beat the Toronto Raptors 120-110 to complete a grueling seven game road trip.

LA failed to get the upper hand in the early exchanges as the Canadian side took a six point lead after the first period at the Air Canada Centre.

However, those following the “Livescores” note that the Lakers dominated the second quarter in which they scored 29 points, almost doubling the score of their opponents.

After that period the Lakers never looked like giving up the lead and with some good performances on the bench they looked strong in the second half.

Andrew Bynum is starting to put in the type of performances that impressed many before his offseason operation on a knee injury.

LA’s guard Kobe Bryant was his side’s top points scorer as he notched up 20 points and will undoubtedly get the headlines.

However the Spaniard, Pau Gasol, picked up 19 points of his own and aided with four assists. Lakers head coach Phil Jackson was pleased with his squad’s victory as they recorded their seventh win against the Raptors in their last eight meetings.

He said: “I’m very pleased with the bench and how they performed in both the second and third quarters.

“I thought they bailed out the starters in a significant amount of minutes,” he added.

“Livescore basketball” pundits note how the Lakers have maintained their great form away from home, as they are now 11-5, the best record in the NBA.

As for the Raptors Linas Kleiza scored an impressive 26 points against the LA outfit, which was an equal best for the season from the small forward.

However Jose Calderon was the top performer for the Atlantic Division side as he picked up 20 points with three rebounds and 12 assists.

Toronto will be looking to bounce back in their next game when they host the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday.

The Lakers now head home with a 21-7 record and will host the Milwaukee Bucks (December 21st) and the Miami Heat (December 25th) before heading back on the road.