LA Lakers came away with the shocker today, as Detroit self-destructed and handed them the 108-106 win. The outcome was one that even the hardiest of LA Lakers fans would have predicted. "Our game plan was to try to stick around be close enough that maybe we could get lucky," said LA Lakers coach Andreas Helmle. "I hate to admit it, but we all know that if Detroit is on top of its game, there's nothing we can do to beat them. Anyway, the plan worked - we kept things close and were able to capitalize when the game was handed to us."

Detroit coach David Smith took a lot of heat afterwards, especially when it was learned that he was already preparing for the team's next opponent. "It was a risk, of course, but at some point you've got to weigh the advantages of extra time preparing for LA Lakers against extra time preparing for a real opponent. Anyway, that's not why we lost - we lost from our mental mistakes, not from being underprepared for LA Lakers."

LA Lakers was led by Monroe (22 points, 11 boards, 1 assists, a steal, 2 blocks), Crandell (16 points, 6 boards, 0 assists, a block), Sanchez (19 points). Detroit was led by Delgado (24 points, 14 boards, 2 assists, a block), Fox (26 points, a block), Graham (18 points, 5 boards, 1 assists, 5 blocks).

After today's victory, LA Lakers are now 16-27 and 11-11 at home. They hold at #4 in the Pacific and hold at #14 overall in the Western Conference. Detroit fall to 35-9. They hold at #1 in the Central and remain at #1 overall in the Eastern Conference.

box score LA Lakers* roster Detroit* roster