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Lakers blog ~ The latest on L.A. Lakers news, by the Orange County Register Sports staff
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Lakers 117, Magic 113

February 8th, 2008, 6:39 pm · 1 Comment · posted by KEVIN DING, OCREGISTER.COM

ORLANDO, FLA. – After losing their first two close games on this trip, the Lakers toughened up Friday night.

Pau Gasol (30 points) showed some grit and savvy in drawing fouls on Orlando center Dwight Howard (19 points). Lakers coach Phil Jackson asked more from Kobe Bryant with three lighter games coming up to finish this nine-game trip. Bryant didn’t have a third consecutive poor game with his injured right pinky finger, making the go-ahead foul shots with 1:00 left and scoring a game-high 36 points.

The Lakers gave up an Orlando record 44 first-quarter points, when the Magic shot 75 percent from the field. Vladimir Radmanovic repeatedly had defensive lapses, and he struggled to stay with Orlando’s Hedo Turkoglu in the final minutes, too. Jackson berated guard Jordan Farmar for similar defensive errors in the fourth quarter.

TIGER’S TOWN

Tiger Woods isn’t coming to town for the Northern Trust Open, but he did come out to see the Lakers on his Orlando turf. Bryant greeted Woods while coming off the court at the end of the first half.

COOKIE & LUKE

Former teammates and good buddies Brian Cook and Luke Walton got to get close again with Cook guarding Walton often during the game – and even blocking a Walton layup with 10:11 left, although replays showed Cook hit Walton on the arm.

QUOTABLE

Jackson on whether Bryant should take part in the Feb. 15-17 All-Star weekend in light of his finger injury: “No, he shouldn’t play in the All-Star Game. I’m sure Kobe wants to be a part of it because of his continuous appearances there.” Bryant, the reigning All-Star MVP, is in line to make his 10th consecutive All-Star start.

NEXT

Lakers at Miami, 12:30 p.m. Sunday, KABC/7, KLAC/570

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Posted in: 2007-08 • Game reports |

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One Response to “Lakers 117, Magic 113”

  1. Dallas Business Telephone Systems Says:
    February 10th, 2008 at 3:20 pm

    I would personally like to see Kobe play at the All Star game, and I believe he will do all that he needs to in order to make that happen.

    This will be his 10th consecutive year, and the record is 14 years in a row. I don’t think it is a stretch to think that Kobe will at least match that if he remains healthy.
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