Bryant removed the scorer the Rockets could not afford to lose, and the Rockets crashed to a 114-90 defeat worthy of their departed 15-game losing streak.
"He's just a good defender, he really is," Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich said of Bryant. "I've watched him play a lot of different guys. He's so athletic. He played a smart defensive game and they helped well."
That was what it took. And there were shots Mobley normally makes and had knocked down regularly in three consecutive 30-point nights leading to Sunday.
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Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers
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Dec 31, 2001 11:45 AM EST
According to the LA Times, Shaquille O'Neal said Sunday night that he expects to play against the Phoenix Suns on Friday, when he can be activated from the injured list. "The troops need their general," he said. "The troops need their Patton. So, Patton will be back."
"I didn't want to do the drug treatment, I wanted to do the natural treatment," he said. "But I just got to do all the drug stuff now. I have to get it shot up, whatever. If it gets real ugly, I'll just have to get the surgery after the season to get rid of it. I'm not thinking about that really, but I'll have to do the drugs now."
O'Neal had hoped to avoid anti-inflammatory medication, because it upsets his stomach, and because he fears its effect on his kidneys. He concedes that it appears to be the only way to treat his right big toe, which is arthritic, causing him great pain when he runs and jumps.
Surgery would create greater mobility in the toe and, apparently, eliminate some of the pain, though team physician Steve Lombardo called that a distant option.
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Los Angeles Lakers
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More than any other team in the NBA, the Los Angeles Lakers realize that championships are neither won nor lost in December.
After finishing the last regular season on an eight-game winning streak and waltzing through a 15-1 post-season, they know full well there is no reason for panic in December.
That's why they aren't fretting that Shaquille O'Neal is on the injured list with an arthritic toe, Kobe Bryant is not himself because of sore right ribs and they lost to Memphis and Golden State in two of their last three games before last night's game against the Raptors. The Lakers were only 6-4 in December — 4-4 in their last eight games — after starting the season 14-1.
"We've had a tough stretch for finding our rhythm and knocking down some shots but the shots are there," Bryant said after the Lakers' most recent loss, a 101-90 defeat Wednesday by the Warriors. "They're available to us. It's a matter of being patient and having the confidence to knock them down."
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Los Angeles Lakers, Toronto Raptors
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Lakers Dec 2001 Archive
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| Dec 29, 2001
It's funny to think that something as small as a toe could fell a seven-footer.
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| Dec 29, 2001
Things got weird when the Lakers played in Oakland on Wednesday.
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| Dec 28, 2001
The LA Times reports that Shaquille O'Neal, who has pain in both feet, watched Thursday's practice from the baseline, atop an exercise ball.
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| Dec 28, 2001
Larry Brown reviewed the NBA standings and pointed out the math to his team.
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| Dec 27, 2001
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| Dec 27, 2001
The meeting, over eggs and coffee, was somber yesterday morning as the 76ers players and coaches tried to digest the previous night's debacle.
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| Dec 26, 2001
They are damned -- I'm convinced of it.
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| Dec 26, 2001
So this is Christmas.
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| Dec 26, 2001
-- Los Angeles Lakers star Shaquille O'Neal was placed on the injured list before Tuesday night's game against the Philadelphia 76ers because of soreness in his big right toe.
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| Dec 23, 2001
For 5 1/2 years the Orlando Magic have been trying to fill the hole left behind when Shaquille O'Neal signed with the Los Angeles Lakers.
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| Dec 22, 2001
With 14 points and five steals, Parker paced the Spurs as they crushed Denver 109-74 to win their 10th straight game in front of 22,831 at the Alamodome.
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| Dec 22, 2001
Their starting and back-up centers (Lorenzen Wright and Bryant Reeves) are on injured reserve.
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| Dec 21, 2001
Moral victories are getting old, but this one was a little different.
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| Dec 20, 2001
As tiresome as ruminating over all of the Rockets' problems has become, it might be better to examine the failings of the Los Angeles Lakers.
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| Dec 19, 2001
L.
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| Dec 17, 2001
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| Dec 15, 2001
Miller made a sincere apology to Kevin Hurst after kicking a chair into the United Center stands as he was frustrated for a no foul call.
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| Dec 14, 2001
Jerry West, a consultant to the Lakers since he resigned after the 1999-2000 season, would leave the organization for "the perfect situation," according to a source close to West and the club, but so far he is content in semi-retirement, according to the LA Times.
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| Dec 12, 2001
INJURY UPDATE: Center Calvin Booth, bothered by ankle problems all season, missed the game and is not expected to play tonight when the Sonics meet the Clippers at Staples Center.
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| Dec 12, 2001
Player of the game: Vin Baker scored 20 points in the first half, but his detractors would have pointed out his zero rebounds.
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| Dec 12, 2001
When teams have their big men at full strength, defending Shaquille O'Neal is as difficult as trying to push a Mack truck — or the Los Angeles Lakers behemoth — with your bare hands.
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| Dec 12, 2001
In the hoopla over Nick Van Exel's trade request, he was quotes as saying, "I had problems there [Los Angeles], too.
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| Dec 12, 2001
The Lakers gave Mitch Richmond the roster spot once occupied by Isaiah Rider and so far, they've assigned him the same role.
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| Dec 11, 2001
Can it get worse? Can it get better? Do the Sonics have any answers, any heart, any chance tonight?
To the latter question, probably not.
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| Dec 11, 2001
Sonics @ Los Angeles Lakers
When: Today, 7:30 p.
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| Dec 11, 2001
After Shaquille O'Neal's ejection in the first quarter the last time that Seattle played the Lakers, the world champions appeared vulnerable without their 350-pound center and his monstrous skills.
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| Dec 9, 2001
At about 8 o'clock this morning, a long, sleek bus will roll through the streets of South Central Los Angeles and pull up in front of a home on East 85th Street.
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| Dec 7, 2001
On the eve of the Lakers' second game of the season against Sacramento, Laker Coach Phil Jackson insisted it wasn't that simple, that something had to be done to right a team whose offense has gone awry.
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| Dec 6, 2001
In Wednesday night's game against the Lakers, Nowitzki finished with 33 points and 14 rebounds, but the Mavericks wound up losing, 98-94.
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| Dec 6, 2001
Shaquille O'Neal scored 46 points, and Rick Fox made four free throws in the final 20 seconds Wednesday night as the Los Angeles Lakers held off visiting Dallas 98-94 to run their record to 16-1.
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| Dec 5, 2001
LOS ANGELES – Phil Jackson joked about unveiling his own "Hack-A-Bradley" strategy.
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| Dec 2, 2001
1.
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| Dec 2, 2001
No one is predicting stardom for Devean George, the Los Angeles Lakers' swingman by way of Augsburg College and Benilde-St.
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| Dec 2, 2001
While the game was decisively lost, the Milwaukee Bucks came away from their 104-85 beating by the Los Angeles Lakers last Tuesday with hope that they may have done something to possibly create a competitive series should the teams meet in the National Basketball Association Finals.
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| Dec 1, 2001
HIGHLIGHTS: Gary Payton wrapped a pass around Mark Madsen, finding Art Long for a jam and a foul in the second quarter.
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| Dec 1, 2001
Player of the game: Kobe Bryant used to wonder what it would be like to be the focal point of his team's offense.
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| Dec 1, 2001
The Sonics turned convention on its head by becoming the only team to sweep the Lakers in four games last season.
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| Dec 1, 2001
According to the LA Daily News, the Lakers closed out November with the kind of gaudy record everyone expected of them last November, before infighting and injuries turned the season into a circus.
