Record 45–37 (.549) Period 2005 – 2006 Owner Jerry Buss Arena Staples Center | Head coach Phil Jackson General manager Mitch Kupchak Radio KLAC | |
Place Division: 3rd (Pacific)
Conference: 7th (Western) Playoff finish First Round
(Eliminated 3-4) Televisions Fox Sports West and Prime Ticket, KCAL-TV | ||
The 2005–06 Los Angeles Lakers season was the 58th in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and 60th overall. The Los Angeles Lakers finished in third place of the Pacific Division and as the seventh seed of the Western Conference playoffs. The season ended with the team being eliminated in seven games against the Phoenix Suns after holding a 3-1 series lead. After a year absence, the Lakers rehired Phil Jackson as their head coach. It was the final season Kobe Bryant wore jersey number 8 before changing it to 24 the following season.
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Draft picks
The Lakers had 3 picks going into the 2005 NBA draft. The Lakers picked seven footer Andrew Bynum as the 10th pick of the draft. Los Angeles also picked Ronny Turiaf and Von Wafer as the 37th and 39th picks respectively.
Injuries
Regular season
The Lakers opened the season with an overtime victory against the Denver Nuggets. Despite dipping below .500 during the November, the team recovered and finished 2005 with a 15-14 record. The team went into the All Star Break with a 26-26 record The Lakers did not maintain any long winning streaks nor were they in long losing slumps; their longest winning streak of the season equalled their longest losing streak of 5 games. The team finished the season with a 5-game winning streak, the longest of the season, and an overall 45-37 record. The Lakers finished third in the Pacific Division and qualified for the playoffs as the 7th seed in the Western Conference. In a January home game against the Toronto Raptors, Kobe Bryant scored 81 points, the second most in a single game in NBA history, behind Wilt Chamberlain's 100.
Playoffs
The Lakers met the Phoenix Suns in the first round of the NBA playoffs. After taking a 3-1 lead, Los Angeles lost three in a row and was eliminated from the playoffs.
West First Round:(1) Phoenix Suns vs. (7) Los Angeles Lakers
Golden state warriors got off to a good start by ending the first quarter with a 10-point lead. The Lakers trailed the golden state warriors by as much as 14 points during the second quarter. Kobe Bryant had an off shooting night. Although he averaged more than 42 points against warriors, Kobe Bryant scored only 22 points on 7-21 shooting. During the late stages of the fourth quarter, the Lakers went on a 6-0 run to cut the lead to 98-95 with 2:12 remaining. However, Steve Nash sealed the game with a three pointer and two free throws in the last 67 seconds of the game
Los Angeles took advantage of poor shooting by Phoenix to take Game 2. The Lakers opened a 36-22 lead in the second quarter. The Suns went on a 20-6 surge to get as close as 61-58. Los Angeles responded by making four straight baskets to rebuild the lead back to double digits
The Lakers used a balanced attack to take a 99-92 victory over the Suns. All five starters from Los Angeles finished the game with double figures. Los Angeles took advantage of height defferences and outrebounded Phoenix 53-34. The game was intensely physical; a total of three technical fouls were called. During the first quarter, Los Angeles' Walton and Phoenix' Thomas got into an altercation and had to be separated; Walton was given a flagrant foul. In the third quarter, Lakers' center Kwame Brown elbowed Boris Diaw leading to a heated exchange between players. Brown and Diaw received technical fouls. The third technical foul was given to Raja Bell.
In terms of scoring, Game 4 was the closest in the series. The Suns held a 90-88 lead with eight seconds left in the fourth quarter. Capitalizing on a Steve Nash turnover, Kobe Bryant made a basket with seven-tenths of a second left in the fourth quarter to force overtime. During overtime Bryant made a jumper at the buzzer to ensure a 99-98 victory. With this victory, the Lakers placed the Suns one game away from elimination.
Despite shooting better than their opponent, the Lakers lost Game 5. Phoenix took advantage of 20 turnovers committed by Los Angeles and easily rolled to a 114-97 victory. The Lakers fell behind by as many as 22 points but closed in to 86-73 with an 11-2 run during the fourth quarter. Bryant was ejected from the game after receiving his second technical foul with 3:11 to play in the fourth
With 6.3 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Tim Thomas made a three pointed to force the game into overtime. Kobe Bryant scored 12 of the Lakers' points in overtime for a total of 50 points; his personal playoff record and the highest by a Laker since Jerry West in 1969. The Suns scored efficiently during overtime by making baskets on seven of their first eight possessions. Thomas' three pointer with 1:41 left sealed the game and guaranteed a Game 7 in Phoenix.
The Los Angeles Lakers were eliminated and overwhelmed by the Phoenix Suns' offense in a 121-90 loss. The Suns became the eighth team in NBA history to win a series after trailing 3-1. The Lakers shot 35% in the game while the Suns shot 61%. Bryant had 23 points in the first half but only scored one point during the second half. Last Playoffs meeting: 2000 Western Conference Semifinals (Los Angeles won 4–1)
Player statistics
*Total for entire season including previous team(s)