Shaq who? Mihm dominates in LA win, By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, 11/3/04
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- For one game, the Los Angeles Lakers didn't miss Shaquille O'Neal one bit.
Chris Mihm put up close to Shaq-like numbers Tuesday night, getting a career-high 23 points, 12 rebounds and two blocked shots in the Lakers' season-opening 89-78 victory over the Denver Nuggets.
''I thought our defense was just excellent,'' Rudy Tomjanovich said after his first game as the Lakers' coach. ''That's what we need to be a running team.''
The Nuggets, one of the NBA's most improved teams last season, shot a miserable 25 percent (11-of-44) in the first half and finished at 34.1 percent (30-of-88).
Tomjanovich succeeded Phil Jackson, who coached the Lakers to three championships and another berth in the NBA Finals in five years.
With O'Neal gone, the rebuilt Lakers are Kobe Bryant's team. They weren't seriously challenged by the Nuggets although Bryant wasn't the whole show -- or anywhere close.
Bryant had 25 points, seven assists and three blocked shots. He shot just 5-of-14 but made 14 of 15 free throws and scored 17 of his points in the second half.
''Kobe is a heck of a player, and great players bring out the best in their teammates,'' Nuggets coach Jeff Bzdelik said.
''He came out and played a great game, and made the new center look good -- real good,'' said Denver's Bryon Russell, who played for the Lakers last season.
In the only other opening-night games, the defending NBA champion Detroit Pistons beat Houston 87-79 and Dallas topped Sacramento 107-98.
There are 13 games scheduled Wednesday night.
Mihm, whose previous career high was 21 points, was 8-of-16 from the floor and 7-of-10 from the foul line.
''This is a good situation -- a good fit for me on this team,'' he said. ''It's a great start for the season. I'm a happy man, I can sleep well tonight. I played well and more important, the team won.''
Caron Butler added 11 points, Brian Cook scored 10 and Lamar Odom had 13 rebounds for the Lakers. Butler and Odom were acquired from Miami along with Brian Grant for O'Neal during the offseason.
Bryant, Cook, Kareem Rush and Luke Walton are the only four returning players on the Lakers' active roster.
''It was fun. We had a blast out there, especially defensively,'' Bryant said following the Lakers' first game in eight years without O'Neal on the team. ''We really did well with our execution and our ball movement.
''We competed hard and we played together, and that pleased me very much. We prepared very well. We knew what they were going to do defensively and we worked off it.''
The Lakers led by as many as 20 points in the fourth quarter before the Nuggets rallied within seven in the final minute. But that's as close as they would get.
Voshon Lenard scored 13 points for the Nuggets before tearing his left Achilles' tendon with 4:42 left in the third quarter.
He will undergo surgery and probably be sidelined for the season, a team spokeswoman said.
A downcast Lenard declined comment after the game.
''Losing Voshon is the worst,'' Marcus Camby said. ''Losing a game, I mean, we weren't going to go 82-0. We just have to regroup, get better.
Carmelo Anthony led Denver with 20 points. Kenyon Martin, playing his first game for the Nuggets, had 13 points, seven rebounds and five assists, and Camby had 16 rebounds and six blocked shots to go with eight points.