LAKERS 7-1

Yes, the Lakers had won so many good games. And they would have broken a record since the late 1990's. Pistons took the eighth game and had disappointed so many Laker fans. We would have never thought right? yeah hard to believe, i was disappointed in them too. but other than that, they are still in the lead with teams of 7 to 1! Nobody expected the Lakers to go 82-0, but nobody really predicted this either. The Lakers did more than lose to the Detroit Pistons. They were pushed, prodded and posted up in a 106-95 thumping Friday that brought back shades of their struggles against another physical Eastern Conference team in June.

Kobe Bryant couldn't shoot straight, the Pistons aimed and fired from wherever they desired, and, for the final ignominy, the Lakers surrendered a double-double to Kwame Brown (remember him?).

It was a weird scene, almost surreal, but the sight that had played out in their road games -- fans leaving early when a Lakers victory became apparent -- unfolded in reverse at Staples Center as fans headed for the exits in the final minutes.

The Lakers hadn't been 8-0 since 1997-98, but, well, that's now a swing and a miss.


"We didn't do nothing good as a team -- defense, offense, extra effort, loose balls, steals," forward Lamar Odom said.

The Lakers (7-1), for all their success, had pushed the envelope in many of their victories.

They needed a 14-point fourth quarter from Bryant to slip past Denver and a 22-0 run after trailing the Clippers in the fourth quarter.

They trailed Houston by 16 in the second quarter, Dallas by 10 in the third quarter and almost blew a 21-point fourth-quarter lead Wednesday in New Orleans.

Perhaps it finally caught up to them, karma turning its cheek when the Lakers leaned in for another peck.

Bryant scored 29 points against the Pistons but took a whopping 30 shots, making only 12.

Derek Fisher, a source of stability in a 20-point effort against New Orleans, missed 12 of 16 shots and finished with nine points.

Vladimir Radmanovic failed to find his stroke, scoring two points on one-for-six shooting.

"Kobe and Fish both had difficult nights shooting the ball," Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said. "You're not going to win sometimes when that happens."

And to think Detroit was coming off a push-the-pace victory 24 hours earlier at Golden State.

It was the Lakers, however, who looked tired.

They trailed immediately, 12-2, and never led by more than two.

Radmanovic and Fisher were scoreless in the first half, missing all 10 of their combined shots as the Lakers went into halftime with a 53-44 deficit.

It didn't get much better from there, the Pistons leading by as many as 20 in the fourth quarter before the Lakers made it look a little better by the time the final horn sounded.

New acquisition Allen Iverson had 25 points, as did old Lakers nemesis Rasheed Wallace.

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