Lakers Survive in Double Overtime

One day after getting a beatdown from King James and the Cavaliers, the Lakers hit the road in Sacramento, minus Ron Artest who suffered a concussion after falling down some stairs at his home in Los Angeles.  If you missed most of the first three quarters, like I did, you didn't miss much of the action.

As it always seems to be, the Lakers were in a close one in the fourth quarter.  Toward the end of the fourth, Pau Gasol was fouled and had a chance to give the Lakers the lead with just under 24 seconds remaining.  In a rare occurrence, Gasol missed both free throws.  The Kings then had a chance to win it in regulation but Tyreke Evans was unable to get a shot off thanks to some stellar defense by Kobe Bryant.  Oh, and not to mention that Bryant suffered an elbow injury earlier in the game.  As many Laker fans know though, it takes a lot more than an elbow injury to keep Kobe from playing.

In the first overtime the Kings got off to a fast start with a 101 to 94 lead with a little over two minutes remaining.  The Lakers were seemingly on life support, but these are the Lakers.  They somehow managed to fight their way back to a 101 tie, forcing a second overtime.

The turning point in the second overtime was when Kobe Bryant, bad elbow and all, hit back-to-back three pointers to give the Lakers a 109 to 103 lead.  In the end, Bryant had 38 points and the Lakers shocked Kings fans with a 112 to 103 win.  It was somewhat hard to figure out who the Kings fans were because it seemed like there was a huge contingent of Laker fans in attendance.  It would make sense because they are the number one draw on the road and Sacramento isn't that far from Los Angeles.

The Lakers will stay on the road as they head for the scorching heat of the Phoenix desert to take on Steve Nash and the Suns tomorrow night.

Photo courtesy:
Wikimedia Commons and Keith Allison under CC-SA 2.0 License