TheLakers, who lead their season series with the Sonics 3-0 with one gameremaining, have now won each of the last three season series againstSeattle. This will be the 211th meeting between the Lakers and Sonicswith Los Angeles leading the all-time series 127-83. The Lakers are 8-2in their last 10 games against the Sonics and have won seven of theirlast eight against Seattle overall including the last five straight. Athome, the Lakers have gone 7-3 their last 10 games against the Sonicsand are 10-7 all-time against Seattle at STAPLES Center. In Seattle,the Lakers have gone 6-4 in their last 10 road games but have won fiveof their last six games at Key Arena. Under head coach Phil Jackson,the Lakers are 19-11 against Seattle. Last season, Kobe Bryantestablished a Lakers series record with 46 points 4/6/07 at Seattleonly to surpass it nine days later with 50 points 4/15/07 vs. Seattle.In those games, he surpassed the old mark of 45 points established byhimself in January of 2003 and Jerry West in December of 1970. In 42career games including 35 starts, Kobe Bryant is averaging 24.6 pointsagainst the Sonics but has averaged 40.2 points against Seattle intheir last five meetings. Additionally, Lakers forward Ronny Turiafplayed high school basketball with Sonics center Johan Petro in Franceand for the French National Team in the 2006 FIBA World Championship inJapan. Lamar Odom and Sonics forward Chris Wilcox played one seasontogether (2002-03) with the Los Angeles Clippers. Wilcox was tradedfrom the Sonics to the Clippers in 2006 in exchange for current Lakersforward Vladimir Radmanovic. The Lakers defeated the Sonics 126-106during a preseason matchup in Bakersfield on 10/18/07.
PauGasol scored a game-high 22 points and seven rebounds, Lamar Odom (19points, game-high 11 rebounds) and Kobe Bryant (21 points, game-high 10assists) each posted double-doubles and seven Lakers in all scored indouble-figures as Los Angeles extended their win streak to eight androad win streak to seven with a 111-91 victory over the Sonics atKeyArena in Seattle. The Lakers 8-game streak is the longest since an11-game streak in March/April of 2004 while their 7-game road winstreak is the team’s longest since the 1999-00 season. Luke Walton (11points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists) and Derek Fisher (10 points) each brokeinto double-figures, marking the 13th time this season (12-1) all fivestarters have posted 10 or more points. Sasha Vujacic added 13 pointson 5-of-10 shooting (3-of-6 3FG) while Jordan Farmar scored 12 pointsin 25 minutes off the bench. Mickael Gelabale led four Sonics indouble-figures with a career-high 21 points, rookies Kevin Durant andJeff Green each scored 15 points and Earl Watson totaled 12 points anda team-high eight assists in the loss. With the win, the Lakersimproved to 3-0 on the season against Seattle with one game between thetwo teams remaining while also moving a full game up on New Orleans,San Antonio and Phoenix for first place in the Western Conference.
