Lakers get n°1 seed in the Western conference

Finaly! Ten months after Kobe trade demands, the Lakers are going to the playoffs as the favorites to win the Western Conference.
After beating New Orleans in THE game of the year, the Lakers knew they had another big game on Sunday when they hosted the NBA defending champions at Staples. And they didn't disappoint, playing one of their best defensive effort of the season. The game was tied at 54 apiece at halftime but L.A limited the Spurs to just 11-37 from the field in the second half and get an impressive 106-85 victory over San Antonio.

Spurs Tony Parker scored 18pts in the first half of what it appeared to be tight game. But just like his team, he cooled off after halftime, with only 2pts. Kobe finished with 20 but didn't play in the final 12 minutes. The Lakers (56-25) are the league's 4th best offensive teams but to get success in the playoffs, they knew they had to make a better job at the defensive end. That's exactly what they did on Sunday, outscoring the Spurs 53-32 in the 2nd half - the Spurs were also outrebounded 31-16 during that period.
Kobe: “It’s just like offense. You have to find out what your identity is. I think we have found that defensively. We are very aggressive. We have a tremendous amount of versatility. We can get after guys.”
Six players were in double figures for L.A. Odom posted 17pts & 14rbds, while Fisher & Gasol each had 14pts.

The Lakers played vs Sacramento for their final game of the season. L.A last two wins were their most important of the season vs teams they were firectly fighting for the first place in the tightest Western Conference race ever. But to achieve thier goal, the Lakers had to win vs Sacramento. And as soon as the game began, they let the Kings know there wouldn't be any upset.

L.A scored the first eight points and quickly lead by 14 en rout to a 124-101 triomph over the Kings. The Lakers finished a season which began with Kobe trades demands by winning the Western Conference. With their 57th win of the season (15 most than last year), they took the n°1 seed and will have home court advantage throughout the conference playoffs.
Gasol lead L.A with 22pts and Kobe added 20 for L.A (57-25) which will face Denver in the first round of the playoffs. Just like vs the Spurs, six players scored in double figures and L.A made 32 asts (10 more than Sacramento's total). The Lakers will enter the playoffs playing their best basketball - they close out the season with a 8-1 record.
“It’s all about momentum. You want to be playing your best basketball going into the playoffs, and we feel like we’re doing that so we ended the season exactly where we wanted to.” KB24


Kobe earned the Western conference player of the month honors for the 2nd time in three months. He lead his team to a 7-1 record and to the n°1 seed in the tightest western conference race in history, while averaging 26pts & 5.5asts.