By Kyle Soppe
Andrew Bynum’s huge night led the Lakers over the host Grizzles in a double overtime thriller, 116-111. The Laker big man dominated the paint, shooting 83.3% from the field, on his way to a season high 37 points. Foul trouble wasn’t an issue and Bynum was able to stay on the court for 84.8% of the game. He was the only Laker starter with a positive plus/minus ratio (+11) and led all players with 16 rebounds.
In addition to Bynum, Los Angeles only had one other player shoot over 50% (Steve Blake) but the team shot 49.4% as a team. Despite scoring 116 points, the Lakers only had three players score double figure points.
Close games are typically decided at the free throw line, and this one was no different. The Lakers outscored the Grizzles by 23 points from the stripe.
Pau Gasol, who is rumored to be on the move to Chicago, noticed the hot hand in Bynum, and turned into a 7 foot distributor. He handed out eight assists, and has now surpassed his season average in helpers (3.4apg) in 11 of his last 13 games.
No Laker recap is complete with Kobe Bryant, as he scored 30+ points for the sixth time in eight games. He hasn’t been overly efficient in those games, as he has made 69/152 field goals. I know it is still “Kobe’s team”, but Bynum is at least Robin to Bryant’s Batman now. Bynum, over his last eight games, has been much more efficient as he’s made a ridiculous 74/108 shots from the field.
The Grizzles refused to be aggressive, leading to some odd stats. The home team only attempted five free throws in 58 minutes of action. They took 33 more shots than the Lakers, and still lost. This was the first time this season in which Memphis has scored 100+ points and come out on the wrong end.
Ex-Sixer Marreese Speights recorded a season high 25 points and five assists. He played 30+ minutes for the seventh time this season, with this being the first time his team has lost such a game.
Mike Conley handed out 11 dimes, and has now assisted on 67 buckets over the last seven games. The NBA leader in steals has 20 thefts over the same period of time.
The double overtime nature of this game would make most assume that this was an even game the whole way, but every quarter was decided by at least seven points. The two teams scored 10.6% of the games total points from behind the arc, by far the lowest in the NBA on tuesday night (Pacers/Trailblazers rank a distant second with 16.6% of their points being scored on triples).
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