Lakers at Warriors
THE STORY: The Los Angeles Lakers seek to continue their dominance of the Golden State Warriors when the teams meet in Oakland on Tuesday. Los Angeles has won 13 of 14 meetings against Golden State, including a 97-90 victory earlier this season. Los Angeles is 10-15 on the road and is coming off a home loss to Memphis on Sunday. The Warriors have lost six of eight games and fell to the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, NBATV, KCAL (Lakers), CS Bay Area (Warriors)
ABOUT THE LAKERS (30-19): Guard Kobe Bryant scored only two final-quarter points in the loss to Memphis and was benched for nearly four minutes by coach Mike Brown before being reinserted into the contest. Bryant had only 18 points and attempted to avoid controversy afterward. “If you guys are looking for a story, I’m not going to give it to you,” Bryant said. “I can’t sit here and criticize his decisions.” Bryant has scored 18 or fewer points in three of the past five games and is only 6 for 26 from 3-point range during a rare shooting slump.
ABOUT THE WARRIORS (20-27): Rookie point guard Charles Jenkins played 40 minutes and scored a career-best 27 points in the loss to Portland with Stephen Curry (ankle) and Nate Robinson (hamstring) sidelined. Jenkins is the player who won a roster spot over Jeremy Lin. The second-round pick out of Hofstra was averaging 2.8 points in 31 games before the stellar performance in which he made 13 of 22 shots. “Charles Jenkins is a guy we have tremendous trust in,” Golden State coach Mark Jackson said. “It won’t be Jenkins-sanity, but he is a guy that is more than capable of going out and doing the job.”
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. Los Angeles is 8-2 in its last 10 road games against Golden State.
2. Lakers center Andrew Bynum scored 30 points against Memphis for his fourth 30-point effort in 12 games.
3. Warriors guard Klay Thompson is averaging 18.1 points over the last 13 games.