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Steve Nash To Miss LA Lakers’ Entire Season

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LOS ANGELES (Sporting Alert) — The Los Angeles Lakers have announced that veteran point guard Steve Nash will miss the 2014-15 season after struggling to shake off a persistent back problem.

Nash picked up the back injury early this month after he reportedly tweaked a muscle in his back while carrying bags.

And after meeting with Lakers medical staff and the organization, the 40-year-old decided that the best thing for him right now is to sit-out the entire season and work on recovering.

“Being on the court this season has been my top priority and it is disappointing to not be able to do that right now,” said Nash on Lakers.com.

“I work very hard to stay healthy and unfortunately my recent setback makes performing at full capacity difficult. I will continue to support my team during this period of rest, and will focus on my long-term health.”

Meanwhile, Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak also echoed how disappointing it was to lose such an experienced member of the group.

“As disappointed as we are for ourselves and our fans, we’re even more disappointed for Steve,” Kupchak said.

“We know how hard he’s worked the last two years to try to get his body right for the rigors of the NBA, and how badly he wants to play, but unfortunately he simply hasn’t been able to get there up to this point in time.

“Steve has been a consummate professional, and we greatly appreciate his efforts.”

Last week Kobe Bryant had expressed concerns about Nash’s ongoing problems.

“I’m very concerned,” he was quoted as saying. “It just seems like he can’t get going on a consistent basis.

“I understand how frustrating that is.”

It is being reported that Nash, the oldest player in the NBA, is consider retiring from the game this season.

Balanced Utah Jazz rout Lakers; Pelicans hammer Thunder

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ANAHEIM, CA (Sporting Alert) — The Los Angeles Lakers continued its shaky run in preseason after losing 119-86 to the Utah Jazz on Thursday night.

The defeat at the Honda Center was the Lakers’ third in a row, adding to the back-to-back defeats suffered at the hands of the Golden State Warriors.

Thursday night, Gordon Hayward scored 16 points, four assists, four steals and two blocks in 27 minutes on 5 of 7 shooting and Derrick Favors added 15 points for the Jazz, who remain undefeated in preseason from four games.

Kobe Bryant scored 14 of his 27 points in the second half to lead the Lakers, while former Chicago Bulls forward Carlos Boozer added 17 points and Jordan Hill collected a double-double of 12 points and 14 rebounds in the defeat.

Utah also got good contributions from Dante Exum, who scored 13 points and six assists, as well as Rodney Hood, who finished with 11 points and five rebounds.

Los Angeles was without veteran point guard Steve Nash, who was rested after the 40-year-old apparently injured his back on Wednesday, and Jeremy Lin, who is recovering from a sprained left ankle.

The Lakers went 41-percent from the field, but were 0 of 5 from three-point range.

Utah Jazz led the LA Lakers 56-35 at halftime and 86-62 through the first three quarters.

AT Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, LA:

Also on the night, star forward Anthony Davis poured in a game-high 28 points and 8 rebounds for the New Orleans Pelicans to eased to a 120-86 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Ryan Anderson added 17 points and Jrue Holiday finished with 14 in support of Davis.

Jeremy Lamb had 20 points and seven boards to lead the way for the Kevin Durant-less OKC, which also got useful contributions from Sebastian Telfair, 16 points and Steven Adams, 12 points and eight rebounds.

Lakers beat Nuggets 98-95 in preseason opener

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Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bryant scores 13 points in preseason come back game.

San Diego, CA (Sporting Alert) — Kobe Bryant scored 13 points and had five assists to help the Los Angeles Lakers beat Denver Nuggets 98-95 in a preseason game at Valley View Casino Center in San Diego Monday night.

Bryant, who has been sidelined since missing over 70 games last season because of a fractured left knee injury, played 21 minutes and shot 5 for 12 from the field.

Fellow veteran and starting point guard Steve Nash was 4 for 8 from the field and scored 11 points and dished out five assists in his 20 minutes on the floor.

Jordan Clarkson led the Lakers with 14 points and five rebounds, while Ed Davis finished with 12 points and four blocks and Jordan Hill had a double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Ty Lawson paced the Nuggets with 14 points and six assists, with Timofey Mozgov adding 13 points and Gary Harris, 11.

Arron Afflalo, Erick Green and Quincy Miller all chipped in with 10 points apiece.

The LA Lakers shot 50 percent from behind the arc on 5 for 10 shooting, while going 44.8 percent from the field.

Denver also shot 50 percent from three point range on 8 for 16 shooting.

Ryan Kelly (hamstring) and Xavier Henry (back spasms) were among the players who didn’t feature Monday night for Los Angeles.

Henry, Young guide LA Lakers to preseason win over Golden State

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Ontario, CA (Sporting Alert) — The Los Angeles Lakers, playing without the injured Kobe Bryant and veterans Pau Gasol and Steve Nash, battled to a 104-95 preseason victory over the Golden State Warriors Saturday night.

Top Performers
Golden State: K. Thompson 26 Pts, 1 Reb, 1 Stl
Los Angeles: X. Henry 29 Pts, 7 Reb, 2 Stl

As a team, the Lakers went 35-of-85 from the field for 41-percent, as Xavier Henry, acquired by Los Angeles from New Orleans led the way with 9-of-15 for 29 points and severn rebounds. Henry also went 2-of-4 from three-pointers in his 26 minutes of action.

Fellow acquired shooting guard Nick Young added 17 points, with Jordan Farmar, return to the Lakers had 12 points and seven assists in the win. Also scoring in double figures was Chris Kaman, who collected a fine double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds, to go with his four assists and two blocks.

For Golden State, Klay Thompson led the way with 26 points, while Andre Iguodala went 6 of 7 from the field for 15 points.

Harrison Barnes scored 10 points, but struggled with his shots after going just 3 of 14 of the field, while Stephen Curry was 0-4 from behind the arc and finished with five points.

David Lee had 10 points in the defeat for the Warriors.

 Flagrant Fouls: None
 Technical Fouls: PLAYERS: None – TEAMS: GOLDEN STATE (1), LALAKERS (1) – COACHES: None
 Officials: Rodney Mott, Mark Ayotte, J.T. Orr
 Attendance: 6,946
 Time of Game: 2:25

Nash out; McGrady inactive still: LA Lakers v San Antonio live on ESPN – Game 3

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LOS ANGELES (Sporting Alert) — Steve Nash will not feature for the Los Angeles Lakers in tonight’s NBA playoff first round Game 3 clash with the San Antonio Spurs at Staples Center.

San Antonio at LA Lakers | Listen Live Audio
Live TV Channels: ESPN, Fox Sports Southwest (San Antonio), Time Warner Cable SportsNet (Los Angeles)
When: 10:30 PM ET, Friday, April 26, 2013
Where: Staples Center, Los Angeles, California
Watch Live Streaming on ESPN3.com and WatchESPN.com on your phones.

Nash, who is suffering from a strained hamstring was listed as a game time decision for the contest after receiving shots to take care of in his back and on his hip, but Lakers are now reporting that the veteran point guard is inactive for Friday night’s game.

Los Angeles team officials say Darius Morris will replace him in the starting team, while Andrew Goudelock also comes in for Steve Blake.

The rest of the team is expected to stay the same, with Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol and Metta World-Peace also starting.

Nash joins the injured Kobe Bryant on the sidelines, while Steve Blake is also out with a hamstring injury.

The Lakers are down 2-0 in the seven game series.

Meanwhile, Tracy McGrady continues to be inactive for the San Antonio Spurs, but Tony Parker and Tim Duncan are both amongst the starters for the travelers.

LA Lakers vs Houston Rocket Live: ESPN & WatchESPN.com, 10:30 ET

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Los Angeles, CA (Sporting Alert) — The Los Angeles Lakers face a must win game on Wednesday night against the Houston Rockets to win the final playoff place in the Western Conference.

Watch LA Lakers vs Houston Rocket Live Streaming on WatchESPN.com

Time, Date: 10:30 PM ET, April 17, 2013
Place: STAPLES Center, Los Angeles, CA
Live TV Channel: ESPN

The Lakers (45-36) and the Utah Jazz are both battling for that last slot, but a victory for the Kobe Bryant-less team would send them into the playoffs.

Dwight Howard, who is averaging 17.1 points and 12.4 rebounds per game, is coming off a 26 points and 17 rebounds outing in the 91-86 home win over the San Antonio Spurs and he believes it’s a great opportunity to prove that they are no flop.

“This is a great opportunity for myself and this team to show who we are,” said Howard.

“We’ve got to give it everything we’ve got. We’re going to fight to the end and do our best. Despite whatever has happened this season, we’ve got a chance to win this next game, go into the playoffs and make history.

“With Kobe out, I understand that I have to do more and be more for this team. This is a great opportunity for me, and I believe I can do it.”

Lakers will again be without veteran guard Steve Nash, who continues to be hampered by injuries, so Steve Blake, who scored a season-high 23 points on Sunday will continue to handle the ball.

With Bryant out the battle for that final slot seems very difficult against and very tough Rocket (45-36) team, but Lakers forward Pau Gasol is keeping the belief.

“We have players that won’t give up, that won’t quit,” said Gasol. “We’ve been through quite a bit this season, but we’re still here, and we’re going to continue to be here as long as we can.”

Meanwhile, Houston stars James Harden and Jeremy Lin are both expecting a strong challenge from the injury hit Lakers side, while head coach Kevin McHale echoed the same statement.

“We are going to play a very determined L.A. team,” McHale said. “We have to play well.”

Victory for the Los Angeles Lakers at STAPLES Center tonight will see them taking the seventh-seeded spot and avoid a first round matchup with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Howard stars in return to Orlando, Lakers 106, Magic 97

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FINAL SCORE: Lakers 106, Magic 97
Top Performers
Los Angeles: D. Howard 39 Pts, 16 Reb, 2 Ast, 1 Stl, 3 Blk
Orlando: T. Harris 17 Pts, 15 Reb, 2 Ast, 1 Stl, 3 Blk

ORLANDO, FL (Sporting Alert) — Dwight  Howard scored a season-high 39 points and pulled down 16 rebounds in helping the Los Angeles Lakers to a 106-97 victory over the Orlando Magic on Tuesday night.

This was the first time the star center was making an appearance at the Amway Center since his trade from Orlando during the offseason and he was greeted with a bitter welcome by the fans who once adored him.

Howard, who shot 7-of-13 from the field, also matched his own NBA record for free throw attempts with 39, while shooting to the top of the LA Lakers’ (34-31) list with the same number.

Metta World Peace finished with 14 points, while three players, Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash and Jodie Meeks all added 11 points in the victory.

Star point guard Jameer Nelson paced the Orlando Magic with 21 points and seven assists, with Tobias Harris collecting 17 points and 15 rebounds in the defeat.

Arron Afflalo also had 17 points, while Moe Harkless and Beno Udrih both finished with 12 for the Magic (18-47), which dropped its 25th game at home this season.

The Los Angeles Lakers have now won eight of its last ten games and is currently on a four game win streak.

Orlando have dropped seven of its last 10.

NOTE: LA Lakers Biggest Lead – 16; Points in the Paint – 34; Fast Break Points- 7. Orlando Magic Biggest Lead – 1; Points in the Paint – 32; Fast Break Points – 4.
Flagrant Fouls: None
Technical Fouls: PLAYERS: None – TEAMS: LALAKERS (1), ORLANDO (1) – COACHES: None
Officials: Bill Kennedy, Eric Dalen, Mark Lindsay
Attendance: 19,287

LA Lakers v Phoenix Suns starters, Live Coverage

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LOS ANGELES (Sporting Alert) — The following are the starting lineups for tonight’s NBA clash between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Phoenix Suns at Staples Center.

When: 10:30 PM ET, Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Where: Staples Center, Los Angeles, California
Watch Live: TV Channel: FSAZ, TWSN
Officials: #27 Dick Bavetta, #72 J.T. Orr, #9 Derrick Stafford

The Lakers are looking to bounce back from the defeat to the Miami Heat.

They will continue to go with the same starting five tonight, with Steve Nash and Kobe Bryant starting as the guards, Metta World Peace and Earl Clark, the forwards and the big center being Dwight Howard.

Phoenix Suns, in the meanwhile, will go with Jared Dudley, Goran Dragic, PJ Tucker, Luis Scola and Marcin Gortat.

Los Angeles Lakers: Steve Nash – G; Kobe Bryant – G; Metta World Peace – F; Earl Clark – F; Dwight Howard – C

Phoenix Suns: Jared Dudley – G; Goran Dragic – G; PJ Tucker – F; Luis Scola – F; Marcin Gortat – C

LA Lakers v Chicago Bulls: Live Score Updates

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The Los Angeles Lakers are struggling to build a consistent run this season and the Chicago Bulls will be looking to pile on further misery on Kobe Bryant and his teammates on Monday night.

ALERT!

The Chicago Bulls have announced that Luol Deng is out of tonight’s game because of a hamstring injury. Team officials confirmed that Jimmy Butler will start in his place.

FOLLOW LIVE UPDATES HERE…..

Watch Live Chicago Bulls v LA Lakers on TNT

[liveblog]

After beating Cleveland and Milwaukee to end a six game skid, the LA Lakers have fallen back into its old way and are again building another losing streak.

Following the defeat to the Miami Heat last Tuesday, Los Angeles (17-23) fell to the Toronto Raptors on Sunday – losing back-to-back games, and dropping eight of its last ten games.

Bryant continues to play big minutes as he continues to lead the league in scoring, but is finally becoming more and more frustrated with his Lakers fellow teammates.

The Bulls (23-16), meanwhile, enter the contest after losing 85-82 to Memphis in overtime on Saturday, but have won three of its last four games.

Chicago, who is still without the injured point guard Derrick Rose, has won seven of its 10 games played in the new year and are predicted favourites to add to Los Angeles’ problems.

STARTING TEAM NEWS

LA LAKERS
Dwight Howard, Steve Nash, Earl Clark, Kobe Bryant and Metta World Peace are the starters for the Lakers. Coach Mike  D’Antoni believes Pau Gasol will be more effective coming off the bench and will play at the center when he does.

CHICAGO
The Bulls will be looking for more energy from the first string so as to make up for the absence of Deng.

Kobe Bryant retirement hint? Probably not, but guard fed-up with defeats

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Philadelphia 103, L.A. Lakers 99
When: 10:30 PM ET, Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Where: Staples Center, Los Angeles, California
Officials: #23 Jason Phillips, #50 Olandis Poole, #40 Leon Wood
Attendance: 18997


LOS ANGELES (Sporting Alert) – Was this a Kobe Bryant retirement hint?

Probably not, at least not for him, but you can tell that there is something eating away at the NBA great.

A very frustrated Bryant ripped into his Los Angeles Lakers teammates after the New Year’s Day 103-99 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers Tuesday night.

The super star guard commented that the age of the current Lakers (15-16) team is the main problem why it is struggling to compete with the high energy sides in the league.

“Cause we’re old as s—,” said Bryant on ESPN.com when asked about the Lakers’ a lack of energy.

“What do you want? We just got to figure out how to play when we don’t have that energy. We got to change things up a little bit defensively.

“We got to figure out what we want to do offensively, figure out what we want to do on nights when we don’t have those legs or have that energy.”

The Lakers played well in patches, but were not consistent enough at both ends of the floor and paid the price with the defeat.

There were many difference kinds of excuses for the defeat, but Bryant presented his own observation.

He said: “You just saw an old damn team. I don’t know how else to put it to you. We’re just slow.

“You saw a team over there that was just younger and just had fresher legs and just played with more energy, and we were just stuck in the mud.

“I think individually we all have to figure out how to get ourselves ready each and every game to have a high level of energy. That’s all that is.”

A Bryant retirement date is the last thing on the player’s mind at the moment as he continues to lead the league in scoring and poured in 36 points in the defeat to the Sixers.

Meanwhile, in that defeat, Metta World Peace had 13 points and nine rebounds, Steve Nash added 12 points and 10 assists, but Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol combined for just 18 points.

Howard did pulled down 14 rebounds, but his lack of contribution at the scoring end didn’t help a Lakers side desperately trying to go on a solid winning streak.

Bryant, despite the slow start is still backing his team to win a playoffs slot.

“I don’t think there’s a doubt about that,” he said. “The problem is we’ve dug ourselves such a deep hole we got to do a lot of fighting just to catch up and get in that conversation.

“We firmly believe it’s going to happen but we have to do a lot of fighting just to get there.”

In the meantime, Jrue Holiday paced the 76ers with 26 points and 10 assists, while Evan Turner added 22 points and 13 boards in the win.

The Los Angeles Lakers will try to rest up ahead of their clash with the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday, a game many are expecting to be a thriller.

Clippers recently had a 17 game win streak snapped by the Denver Nuggets, but the confidence are still high in the camp and the team is eager to get back on the court and put it right following Tuesday night horrible outing.