LOS ANGELES - It's not that the Lakers intentionally were toying with the Toronto Raptors. It only seemed that way. Because even through the visitors had a hot 3-point hand, the Lakers would allow them to only get so close before widening their lead.
A fantastic dunk and resulting 3-point play by Lakers center Andrew Bynum, off a lob pass from Jordan Farmar, seven minutes into the fourth quarter, was just a tad more spectacular than Lamar Odom's no-look drop off, a minute later, to a trailing Trevor Ariza, who slammed it through.
Sunday night the Lakers were in control virtually the entire game. They put it in overdrive in the fourth quarter. Coach Phil Jackson emptied the bench, as the Lakers extended their winning streak to seven consecutive games, with a 112-99 victory, at Staples Center.
The Lakers shot 51.1 percent from the field, held the Raptors to only a 38.6 field-goal percentage mark and out boarded the visitors by a whopping 18-rebound margin.
Toronto still had a puncher's chance going into the fourth quarter, trailing by nine points. But as has been the fate of previous Laker opponents, the Raptors were down and out at game's end.
"Honestly, I don't know what it is," Lakers swingman Trevor Ariza said, when asked about the Lakers' penchant for putting teams in a virtual sleeper hold in the fourth quarter. "It's not like we're doing it on purpose. Honestly, if we could beat them early, we would."
But Ariza's Bench Mob cohort Lamar Odom said that opponents are holding nothing back at the start and coming right at the Lakers, giving them their best shot.
But even though Toronto made 11 of 25 shots from beyond the 3-point arc, including a scorching 6 of 8 in the third quarter, the closest they came within the Lakers' lead in the second half was seven points, on three occasions.
"Our job is to use our depth to wear them down," said Odom, who only scored three points but had 10 rebounds and six assists. "You can't wear them down all the time in the first quarter or the second quarter. But throughout the game, we're doing a good job."
Without the injured Jermaine O'Neal, the Raptors were undeniably weaker in the low post area. The
Lakers took full advantage, as Pau Gasol scored a game-high 24 points and Bynum chipped in 18. Gasol and Bynum combined for 19 of the Lakers' season-high tying 54 rebounds.
Bynum said it is going to be tough for any team to beat the Lakers, if he and Gasol are able to dominate the middle in similar fashion to what they displayed Sunday.
As for the floating bone spur in his right foot, Bynum said, "(The foot) feels fine. I didn't wince once, tonight."
