9 takeaways from the Lakers 113-106 victory over the Blazers

Pau Gasol #16 of the Los Angeles Lakers talks to Dwight Howard #12 and Kobe Bryant #24. (Getty Images)

The noose is tightening around the necks of the Lakers. For a team which considers anything less than a championship to be a failure, not making the playoffs will be seen as the ultimate self snub. They travelled to the Rose Garden Arena to try and best the Blazers and keep the hangman from ending their season. Thanks to their big three and largely thanks to Kobe’s 47 points they managed to win 113-106.

Here are 9 takeaways from this game:

Vino is perfection

Kobe is not perfect. But his drive to win is as close to perfection as it gets. He has been playing out of his mind recently and on a second night of back-to-back he finished with game-high points. What makes it even more impressive, he also dished out assists. Early in the fourth quarter, Pau Gasol had 8 points, largely thanks to Kobe. Kobe also had 4 blocks and 3 steals today. Right now, the Lakers are simply being willed to the playoffs on the back of Kobe. And he got MVP chants at the Rose Garden. Kobe set the Rose Garden record with 47 points while playing all 48 minutes.

Final stat line: 47 points on 14-27 shooting, 8 rebounds, 4 blocks, 3 steals, 5 assists and only one turnover. Those are otherworldly numbers. And it’s only going to get better as the Lakers hang on for dear lives.

Back to back

“I really was just trying to pace myself,” Bryant said of the last game in which he had 30 total with 23 coming in the 4th. “I know fatigue comes in when you play so many minutes. So, I really just tried to lay back and manage the game and turn it on at the right time.” Think of the carryover fatigue for him coming into this game. And he played all 48 today as well. The Lakers were 2-8 on back to back games, but they won a hard fight at the Rose Garden to improve to 3-8.

You want to bench Pau Gasol?

I never understood Mike D’Antoni’s reason for benching Pau Gasol earlier in the season. When you have a player like Pau, you don’t make him fit your system, you tailor your system around him to fit his unique skill set. You want to argue against Gasol’s face up jumpers? Those nifty drives? How about those lobs to Dwight Howard? A 7 footer throwing it up from that height to another big man, that is a play which quite often comes out of broken plays on the court. He had 22 points with 11 rebounds last game and he had 23 points, 9 assists, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks. First it was the benching, then it was the injuries, but now thankfully Gasol is back. D’Antoni had said that Gasol’s return won’t affect the playoff seeding, but it turns out that Gasol is back in time to make the playoff push.

Big three for Lakers

“We got four games left. We control our own destiny” said Dwight Howard. Howard finished with 20 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks. He did have 6 turnovers though. But the Lakers survived this one. Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol finished with 90 of 113. No other Laker finished with double figures.

The streak

The Blazers came in to this game on their largest losing streak of this season, having dropped eight games in a row. The Lakers made that 9 losses in a row today. The Lakers have now won two in a row.

Damien Lillard is serious

After the game, Kobe remarked that Damien Lillard is “serious. He’s not afraid of anything and can do so many things, hit the three, hit the midrange shot.” Lillard finished with 38 points on 12-25 shooting with 9 assists.

Star player disappoints on offense

LaMarcus Aldridge had 16 rebounds with his 17 points, but when the opponent has three players scoring over 20; your team needs you to pad the scoring. Although Lillard dominated the ball, the Blazers need Aldridge to be more aggressive.

Advantage on the boards

The Lakers out-rebounded the Blazers 39-31. Aldridge had 16 boards for the Blazers and no other Blazer had more than 5 rebounds. The Lakers got four players grabbing 7 or more rebounds with Howard’s 10 leading the way.

Alive for another day

With this win the Lakers stand at 42-37, and the Jazz are 41-38 and still nipping at the heels of the Lakers. The Lakers now play the Warriors, Spurs and Rockets to end the season. All those games are at home. If Kobe can continue to score and get his bigs involved, the Lakers have a good shot at making it to the postseason.