Lakers move into playoff position with third consecutive victory

Dwight Howard, Carlos Boozer, Metta World Peace

Lakers center Dwight Howard and Bulls power forward Carlos Boozer watch as Lakers forward Metta World Peace tries to grab a loose ball in the first half Sunday afternoon. (Christina House / For The Times / March 10, 2013)

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Photos: Lakers vs. Bulls

By Eric Pincus

March 10, 2013, 3:10 p.m.

Lakers 90, Bulls 81 (end of regulation)

The Lakers won their third consecutive game on Sunday afternoon by defeating the Chicago Bulls. It didn't take late-game heroics or a 25-point comeback as in their previous wins over the Toronto Raptors and New Orleans Hornets.

The Lakers led most of the game, including by as many as 18 points, against a short-handed Bulls squad.

With the victory the Lakers improved to 33-31, climbing past the Utah Jazz into eighth place in the Western Conference. The Bulls are now 37-27.

Lakers All-Star guard Kobe Bryant and Bulls guard Nate Robinson tied as leading scorers with 19 each. Bryant also led the Lakers with nine assists while committing only two turnovers.

The Lakers had six players in double figures while shooting 45.3% from the field.

Lakers center Dwight Howard pulled down 21 rebounds while blocking four shots and scoring 16 points. He missed all five of his free throws, though.

Center Joakim Noah had a strong game as well for the Bulls with 18 points, 17 rebounds and three blocks.

Metta World Peace had a difficult shooting night, missing all six of his three-point shots, but he matched Carlos Boozer's 12 points. Boozer had a difficult time scoring against the physical World Peace, making only four of 16 shots from the field.

Chicago played without Derrick Rose, Rip Hamilton, Kirk Hinrich and Taj Gibson.

The Lakers are still missing big men Pau Gasol, who should return from a foot injury, and Jordan Hill, who is out for the season with a hip injury.

Lakers 73, Bulls 61 (end of third quarter)

Steve Nash found his shot and the Lakers quickly pulled ahead of the Bulls by as many as 18 points. The veteran guard finished the third quarter with 16 points on six-of-nine shooting.

Dwight Howard fought through foul trouble to collect 17 rebounds. He has eight points and two blocked shots. Fellow All-Star Joakim Noah leads the Bulls with 12 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks.

Once Howard sat with his fourth foul, the Bulls were able to whittle the Lakers' lead down to 12.

Nate Robinson leads all scorers with 17 points, although Chicago is shooting only 36.4% from the field.

The Lakers are shooting 45.6% from the field.

Lakers 44, Bulls 40 (halftime)

The Lakers briefly gave up their lead to the Bulls before pulling ahead by six points. With the chance to make it eight, Metta World Peace was called for a moving screen and Nate Robinson scored in the final seconds of the second quarter to make it a four-point game at the half.

Robinson was the game's leading scorer with 13 points -- followed by Dwight Howard's eight.

Comments (50)

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stnlong71 at 1:41 AM March 11, 2013

I won't get too enthused until I see their road game results. Eight at home and ten on the road left. As of now, 22-11 at home and 11-20 on the road. 8th place means the Spurs or the Thunder.

King_J at 6:39 PM March 10, 2013

If Dwight keeps improving on defense and Kobe plays team ball, and some how Gasol can be back before the playoff, then anything can happen. Hopefully they can duplicate what LA Kings did last summer.

LJP305 at 5:57 PM March 10, 2013

Dwight Howard’s free throwing is his Achilles heel that prevents him from being a much better NBA Center. Comparing Howard’s free throwing to Kareem Abdul Jabbar’s is informative. That is, at UCLA Kareem made 62.8% of his FTs (439/699). But in the NBA, especially after joining the Lakers, Kareem improved his FTs to 72.1% (6,712/9,304) over his career for regular season games and 74% (1,050/1,419) during the playoffs -- thus avoiding having a late game hacking strategy by opponents named after him. Kareem was paid well to play professional basketball and he showed his appreciation to fans and his teams by improving his performance in all areas of his game.

Howard on the other hand is a 57.9% free-thrower (3610/6232) for his professional career. Drafted into the NBA from Atlanta Christian Academy High School, Howard has no college record. Shaq was an atrocious free thrower too and inspired the dreaded Hack-a-Shaq strategy by opponents (which kept Shaq on the bench the last few minutes of close important games) and the NBA’s last 2 minute foul-away-from-the-ball protection rule. Given his size and other basketball skills, Howard’s NBA career likely will not be at the top of great NBA Centers unless and until he improves his free throws.

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