The Hawks flight plan lands them at Staples

Coming off a stunning loss from the Spurs the Lakers are still trying to find their identity. They still have something to prove to the world and themselves as they face the new look Hawks. Al Horfofd is the only remaining Hawk from the ATL team that had high hopes of going deep in the playoffs the last couple of years. He's joined by Kyle Korver the 3 point assassin or as I call him " The vampire Ashton Kutcher", Paul Milsap who I've hated since his Utah days because he's just that good, and  a handful of other guys I don't know from Adam.
Early Sunday afternoon we get word that the X Factor is getting the start in place of Nick Young. Coach D is  showing lots of faith in X due to his play in the preseason and recent surges of energy. There is always a  risk with switching starters. But, he thinks Swaggy P can be more of an asset coming of the bench while battling some shooting woes these last few games.

The game gets underway and X drives for a layup to put the Lakers on the board. The defense looks a little slow unlike the Spurs game, but the offense is clicking on all cylinders. Pau Gasol host a 3 from the arc which is becoming quite common as of late. Players are gonna have to start coming out on him and respecting that jumper! At the 6min Mark Sawggy P checks in with a pull up deuce looking like he hadn't missed a beat. The Lakers are on fire! They go on a 21-7 run with 4min to go in the quarter. The Steve's have 8 assists between them. The ball movement is great....wait..is that...Elton Brand?????? He's still alive?? Moving on..the Lakers end the quarter leading by 11. Pau again leads the way with 7 points and 6 boards on top of 7 fast break points.

Swaggy P gets to start the 2nd quarter along with the Caveman and the Lakers pick up right where they left off. But Kaman picked up his 3rd foul with 10:58 to go and has to sit. Insert  Mr Energy...The Garbage Man..Jordan Hill!!! The Lakers are running on all cylinders. Hill is crashing the boards on both ends. Swaggy P even has a few assists and Meeks is lighting it up from the outside. Again our defense isn't as solid as the previous game, but we are so on fire the lead has stretched to 17. True to form Korver hits a three to end the half and we head to the lockeroom up by 13. Young has 9points and 3 assists in 11minutes. Our guards have 13 assists and no turnovers! We are shooting 53% from the field and 66% from behind the arc. Al Horford leads the ALT with 10/10. X and Pau both have 9. Both teams are pretty even on the boards. If the Lakers can keep this pace they are on track for an easy win.
Pau opens the quarter with a slam dunk over two Hawks!!! Yes you read that right:Pau.

But our third quarter woes continue and the defense continue use to slip. Our offensee is cooling off a bit as we go down to 49% from the field. But Wesley Johnson is coming alive and has his hand on every defensive possession.

Kaman is back in and he's racking up assists to follow Nash who has 11! I think he had his Suns jersey on under his uniform for luck.

The lead had gotten down to two but the Lakers are relentless. By the end of the third the bench true to form had 40points, 19 rebounds,and 10 assists. We lead by 12 shooting 50% from the field and from beyond the arc. 12 more minutes of the same and we are home free......
The 4th and final period gets underway and the Hawks come out with tons of energy. We look sleepy and open the period with two quick turnovers. Korver has heated up from three and has a smooth 16 points. Who would EVER leave him open?? The Lakers are making shots but the Hawks are remaining dangerously close. The Lakers just can't seem to pull away. The very next play the 30 year old rookie from Germany, Schroeder goes on for a layup and Dantoni is pissed! The lead is down to 7!! With 9:42 left Kaman picks up his 5th foul and in comes the backboard assassin Jordan Hill. He comes in and makes a quick layup giving the Lakers a spark.  This dude needs to be playing at least 15-20 minutes a game. Nonetheless ALT won't go away. They are now on a 14-4 run are are the closest they've been all  night with 7:09 to go they are only down 5. Shawn Williams and Wesley Johnson both have 5 fouls and before I could finish writing that stat Williams fouls Milsap for and " And 1." It's now a two point game with 3:26 to go. X drives to the basket and draws the foul. He sinks them both to put us up4 with 2:10 to go. Pau duplicates that same play and steps to the line. I said to myself I said " Self, believe in Pau at the line. He knows we need this win self." But true to form Pau " make one miss one Gasol" does just that. We're up by 5. One the other end Teague blows right thru the lane for a layup! Pau who must be channelling his inner  Kobe is in take over mode. He bricks a layup but the clean up man Jordan Hill commands the board, draws the foul, and sinks BOTH free throws.

That folks would prove to be one of the best plays of  the game...But no celebrating yet. Korver pulls up from what seemed to be the scorers table and drains a 3!!!! This dude is PERFECT from three tonite and you leave him open down the stretch???? He's the Hawks Reggie Miller!!! Why would Blake rotate to Martin and leave him open???? Uggggggggggg I feel like I'm gonna be sick. On Atlanta's next possession they get a silly back court violation much needed for the Lakers. We need all the help we can get. X pulls up for a jumper but we come up empty. On the other end Milsap hits a jumper to tie the score with 30secs left!!!! At that moment my inner being is in the corner rocking back and forth singing Deborah Coxs " How did youuuuuu get here???"....We had this game in the bag! I can't Believe we are tied!!!!! Lakers ball. Pau is still feelin himself and misses a jumper but Jordan Hill cleans the glass and dishes back to Nash. That play could also be the one that sealed our fate. Nash dishes back to Pau who heads to the lane with a dribble drive only to be met by Milsap who tries to draw the foul. Pau looses  the ball falling on top of Milsap and Jordan Hill recovers for the layup! The crowd goes wild but the whistle blows: no basket. The refs now meet mid court to discuss the previous play. Was Milsap in the restricted area before Pau arrived? We're his feet set? It could go either way. If he gets the call the Hawks have the ball and it could be over. Everyone  is on pins and needles as we watch the replay about 50 times. His feet clearly were not set but the refs are in control and they make the game go however they want....especially if you're playing the Heat..ok that's another blog, where was I? Yes...the Jeopardy theme song is playing in my head as we are still awaiting the verdict.... Blocking foul is called and Pau goes to the line with 6.0 to play. I'm thinking come on Pau...the basketball gods could not be this cruel. We neeeeeeeeeeeeeed this win....We neeeeeeeeeeeeeed BOTH these free throws. Show me why you are a 4time All Star....he steps to the line..does his trademark blow in the hands.....and SINKS. THEM.BOTH. Put your kids to sleep because PG16 is in the building!!!!!!!!!! Lakers up by two. ATL inbounds the ball and we all know who it's going too. Stevie Wonder can see they are setting up Korver for the win. He looses Blake for the 56th time tonite and pulls up for the three....But up in the sky..it's a bird..it's a plane....no..it's the Spaniard!!!! Pau meets him In the air for the block and this one is in the books!

It was an ugly win, but I'll take it and I'm sure Dantoni and the bunch are with me. The only stat that shows in the column is the W. We fought for it tooth and nail and when it mattered most we pulled through. This team is  just like Novocaine....give it time.....it will work. See you Tuesday!!!

Here come the Spurs.....

Awwwww the San Antonio Spurs..Greg Pops Golden Corale..Timmy D's cowboys...around these parts they've  been  known as our playoff rivals since the early 2000s. But both these teams looked a little different tonite. Tim Duncan ( chest contusion) and Kobe Bryant ( chink in his super hero armor) were both sidelined. Neither one of them have missed a game together since 1996!. Xavier Henry was only 4 years old! Ok Ill get to him later. The Lakers limp into this game after being demolished by Golden State on Wednesday. No, they didn't look like the team who throttled the self proclaimed " Best team in LA" in the season opener. They didn't have the same energy on either end of the floor. The were dug into an awful w hole and just couldn't recover. Add that to the fact that Clay Thompson played like an All Star. But these young Lakers are still learning each other, the system, and how to overcome adversity. But, as Dantoni told his team  this is not a marathon its a long season. Put that behind you and have confidence going into he next one.
 Well I'm sure when news got out that The Big Fundamentals would be sidelined the Lakers let out a sigh of relief. I know I did. The Spurs could still pose a challenge having arguably the best coach in the league, one of the best point guards in the league, and the number one bench warmer ( Kenny Smith voice) GINOOOOOBBLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!! So this could still be an uphill battle. One way you can hurt the Spurs is to keep Tony P out of the paint. He can hit that pull up jumper if he has too but that's not where he is  most deadly. He can beat you off the dribble like the best of them.
 
The Lakers look like they have left their Golden State woes behind them in the first quarter. The Spaniard put the Lakers on the board with a 3 from the top of the key. Steve Nash started tonite ( DNPCD on Wed) and looked like he hadn't missed a step. He was slashing, dishing, cutting, and shooting, but his shot just wasn't falling. Our other veteran leader however was on fire. Pau had fluidity in his jumper and he was feeling it. I would've liked him to go to the post more but who am I? The thing that stood out the most was our defense. The Lakers defensive rotations look great. Although Tony P had the majority of the points, we had the other Spurs pretty much contained. The Lakers led by 7 to end the first. Aside from Pau we werent shooting very well, but had the lead because of our defensive efforts.

Dantoni sends some subs in and  The X Factor ( artist formally known as Xavier Henry) pics up two quick fouls. Nevertheless the Lakers get hot while the defense remains steady. We start he quarter off with an 8-0 run. But that would soon change. At the 8:32 mark of the quart X drives to the basket and upon falling bangs his head on the knee of Wesly Johnson. He lays on the floor for  a few seconds only to get up and leave a pool of blood. As MVP Gary Vitti runs on the court X is having trouble steadying himself, obviously woozy from the blow. They immediately get him a towel but to no avail. No mater what they try to do the blood wont stop. Towel after towel gets thrown to the side while workers work feverishly to clean the floor. Gary is trying to stop the flow mainly because if he cant shoot free throws he cant return to the game. So McGuyver Vitti get some black gauze and wraps it around his head like the mummy so he can see long enough to step to the line. Looking like Queen James he knocks down both free throws with he swag of a hurt Kobe Bryant and runs to the locker room for treatment.

 http://youtu.be/SWBnk0R5rXM

With the Lakers looking on as their budding star is being attended too the energy seeps out of the building. The Spurs gain confidence and the Lakers have no air left in their lungs. The lead is cut to 4 with 5:14 left in the half bringing them to a whooping 58% shooting! Kawai Leonard is near a double double, Tony Parker is explosive as usual, and Tiago Splinter is heating up as well. They end the half on a 23-9 run and are down by only one.On a good note the Lakers are 9-10 from the line where they have struggled in the last two games. Pau leads the Lakers with 11 points and 7 rebounds.We are still shooting better ( 42%) than the Spurs ( 36%), but they are out rebounding us by 8...where is Jordan Hill???. The Lakers as a team have only 4 turnovers and 5 blocks. Kurt Rambis is definitely earning his paycheck.

As usual the 3rd quarter starts slow and both teams are trading baskets, but neither can get a good rhythm going.The Spurs go up by 3 as TP gets his 20th point with 3:57 to go in the quarter. Not sure why the Lakers keep jacking up shots but they've put up 20 3 point shots so far! Take the ball inside fellas!. Where is Jordan Hill ( did I say that already?) Dantoni then brings the Bench Mob back in...without JHill (*face palm*)...But the defense is tightening up and Meeks hits a lay up off of the fast break and puts us within 2. The energy looks like its coming back.The guys on Laker Tv must have been in my head  because after the quarter, sideline reporter Mike Trudell asked coach about Jordan Hill being MIA.. According to Trudel, the coaching staff is still trying to work out the rotations. They wana get a feel of how to play him, Pau, and the Caveman together. Having many options is a good problem to have though. We have players that are pretty versatile so its just finding the right formula.

The 4th and final quarter gets underway and..wait..is it true? Could it be...(*wipes eyes*)...Folks we have a  Jordan Hill sighting!!
Sure as my blood is purple and gold Jordan Hill gets an assist  to Wesly Johnson for a 3. Going back the other way he fouls Diaw hard sending him to the line. This guy brings INSTANT energy! Hes everywhere. This ignites the team and everyone seems to have a little pep in their step. Wesly Johnson ( who had the block of the game by the way) is heating up offensively as he shoots a 3 to bring the Lakers within 3, bringing his total to 12. The Lakers pull within 1 with 7:15 to go. The Spurs have no answer for Jordan Hill. Since hes been in he already has 4 points, 2 assists, and 2 boards.They have to foul him to avoid put-back layups.Just like that the score is tied with 3:27 to go. Wesly Johnson's ties up Leonard with 2:18 on the clock but Spurs control the jump ball and TP hits a jumper. The lakers bring it back down and the Spaniard takes it to the rack to draw the foul. In drew Pau ( make one miss one) Gasol fashion he hits one of two. As the Spurs bring it back down TP find Boris Diaw at he top of the key and he drains a 3...and that pretty much sums it up.
 
 We are down by 4 with 1:25 left and Tiago Splitter although well defended makes a layup. Down by 6 Meeks takes it to the hole to bring us within 4 with 20 secs left. Do we go for the 3 or do we drive to the hole to get the bucket and the foul. Nights like this the presence of the Mamba is greatly missed. We all know who would get he ball and how it would go in. But, with him watching on the sidelines we had to make other arrangements. Although I don't trust our outside shooters enough to win the game, I know Pop is too smart of a coach to have his guys foul someone goin to the rack, so it looks like we will try for the 3. The ball is inbounded to Meeks who does some dribbling, some looking, some passing, some knitting, some crossword puzzles, and whatever the heck else he wanted to do...but pullin up for a 3 wasn't one of them. Instead, he gets the ball stolen and the Spurs make a lay up on the other in. Stick a for in us because were done.
This win wasn't really a bad one for me. The spurs are a great veteran team with the best coach in basketball and they have a knack for winning down the stretch. Pau ends with 20/19/2, and the Lakers as a team had 20 2nd chance points to the Spurs 8. But it wasn't enough. Ginobli has 20 points
 and the Frenchman TP ends with 24 shooting 67% from the feild!!! Containing him is way easier said then done.
During the post game Dantoni admitted he is still working on rotations.  He may look to putting the caveman back in with he first unit, but him and Pau play together as good as him and Hill. But its a marathon. We have 79 more games to go and we will come up with  a winning formula."  My boy John Ireland asked Farmer what he felt led to the loss. " The 2nd unit needs to come in with more energy, and Ill take on that responsibility of making sure we are ready."
This was a winnable game for us. That phrase was repeated throughout the night. But it just seemed when X went down the team went down as well. When asked how he felt, he said " I have a massive headache, but that no excuse as to why I didn't play well." My kind of guy.
I think we have yet to see what this team can do. They have tons of potential. They just have to learn how to play together, trust each other, and weather the storm when they get behind in the ball game. But, with the help of our veteran leaders, the 3 time defensive coach Kurt Rambis, the hunger of these young guys, and the Staples Center sized chip on Kobe's shoulder when he comes back......this is literally only the beginning. Fasten your seat belts cuz its gonna be a bumpy ride.

The Big Payback : Lakers vs Dallas

The Lakers welcome back Lamar Odumb back for the first time since he demanded to be traded. For those who don't know I don't like Odumb so I couldn't care less. The showed a video montage at the beginning followed. Y the song " Welcome Back". When Lamar checked in the game there were some boos, but Derrick Fisher stood at mid court and urged the crowd to cheer, then ran over to hug him.

 The Staples Center rose to their feet and gave him an ovation. I did as well because I'm glad he's off our hands. Reports came out today that he contemplated taking a year or more off because his head was not in the game. THAT'S WHAT I'VE BEEN SAYING FOR YEARS!! The only reason he played this year was because Kloe told him too. Your wife needs to make you play a game you love and get paid millions for???? Get the heck outta here!!

  Whoosaw..ok now that I got that out lets get to the game. The first quarter was very sloppy. Both rims seemed to have lids on them. Dirk and Kobe were both scoreless. But guess who had 7 points....Odumb. I wonder why he couldn't make them here...he hit the last shot of the quarter to put Dallas up by three.
The second quarter gets underway and the Lakers go on a 6-0 run. Including a steal from Kobe to give him his first points of the night. Then, the next play after that he hit a fade away jumper. The Lakers seemed to being waking up out of their slumber.. Pau then gave a between the legs pass to Bynum for a slam. Then on the other end he blocks Dirk! Then Kobe blocks JKidd on the other end.!It's a Block Party and The Mavericks are invited! But, our bench once again is being out scored 18-6. We end the half up by 4 shooting 41%. Dallas is shooting 36%.
The third quarter opens up with a jumper from Dirk. This sparks the Mavs and Jason Kidd hits his first three ( he was 0-6)to put them within one. This sparks an 8-0 run by the Mavs. But then everything gets very sloppy. Kobe can't by a basket, Dirk can't buy a basket, Fisher is shooting the lights out and not drawing iron, Brendan Haywood is painful to watch on offense as usual, and Ron Artest is dribbling around the key like he's on the freakin Globetrotters! Bynum who has a double double already is the only one keepin us in this game.

But with that said the Lakers are 1-15 from the field!!!! But we are only down by five!! This was the ugliest game I had seen this season. Only 7points in the quarter!
The fourth quarter starts with a bunch of bricks of course but then Ron passes a lob to McBob who did a reverse slam! Then I promptly coined the phrase  #mcbobcity. Then the next play down Barnes thru a lob to Bynum. We may be comin alive people! That sparked an 11-4 run to put us up by five. But Dirk answered with six straight. It gets down to the wire at Staples. Lakers up by two with .38secs left and they are playing Let's Go Crazy by Prince. I got good vibes....Kobe goes up for a jumper and missed. Jason Terry pulls up for one and makes it. Tie score with 9secs left. And then......just as I live and breathe......D Fish pulls up for a threeeeeee!!!!




The Mavs get the ball back and Vince bricks a three to loose the game.  One of the worst games a season turned out to be another D Fish highlight. The hardest working man this off season,in and out of board rooms fighting for our entertainment and his lively hood.. All the people talking bout Fish need to shut their mouth. If Kobe ain't takin the last shot Fish is...and you can bet money it's goin in!!!! " This is what I do." said Fisher When opportunities present themselves, I'm confident in my ability to step up and make the right play.Ive been fortunate in my career to come up with some of those big plays." Fisher not only hit the game winner, but scored 9 of his 13 points in the 4th quarter. Kobe who ended his streak of 40 points games was a facilitator down the stretch. The best part is when he drew the double team he kicked out to Fish who delivered.

Its the same "old" song with Fisher. Many people say he needs to be off the team. I say as long as he keeps producing like this then why not keep him? Its just like Robert Horry. He would be scoreless all night and hit the game winner..those are the most important ones right? Yes hes old, yes hes slow, yes he gets burned by the new quick PGs in the league, but you know what else he does? Comes thru in the clutch: MR DEPENDABLE!!!!

The Downtown Showdown: Lakers vs Clippers Round 1

Lob City vs Ring City, The Hallway Series, Lakers vs Staples Center JV..however you slice it no matter what the outcome of this game was, people were gonna put wayyyy more on it than they should. Its one of three that will will play with our roommates the Clippers but with all the buzz surrounding this game you would've thought it was a playoff series! So lets get right to it.Let me just say Ive lost all respect for Blake because of his dirty play last nite.We all saw the play and the Mike Brown tech. Ive never seen Mike that mad.

 He later apologized to the team for loosing his cool and most importantly giving the other team a point. Kobe had another 40 point game, but this time it wasnt enough. But thats not the reason we lost....This blog wont be long, because there isn't much to say.  We lost to the Clippers 102-94. There were no lobs on this night..no monster blocks from Deandre Jordan. We actually held the Clips to 41% shooting. But,there are several reasons we lost and I will state a few:
  * The number one reason in my opinion is rebounding. We were murdered on the boards. This type of thing can happen on any given night, but we are the 2nd highest rebounding team in the league and the Clippers are dead last! Its not algebra. There is no excuse. The Clippers had 17 offensive rebounds that turned in 25 points!! Not good.
* The next problem were our big men.

Sure Kobe went on a shooting spree as always. Come on the guy doesn't get 22 mil a year to pas the ball. Hes a scorer that's what he does. So if I hear one more time that " He needs to pass the ball and get our big men involved " I'm gonna scream!!.

How bout our big men fight for position?? Andrew Bynum was playing soo scared last night! You would've thought Dwight Howard was waiting for him in the key! Now don't get me wrong, Deandre Jordan is a very good player, but he has nothing on Bynum when it comes to size and mass! Sure he leads the league in blocks, but this is a mans game!! Go down low and see what happens!Be dominant!! Bynum is arguably the best offensive center in the league. Demand the ball!! Be aggressive! Bynum spent most of the game outside the key like he was scared to go inside!! Not good. Lets not start on Pau. He was slow on getting position as well, and when he did he would shoot that dumb fade away. The one time he got a basket inside it was a layup! If you are that tall and that close to the basket ( in my Bill Walton voice) THROW IT DOWN BIG MAN!!! Sure they both had a double double. Pau ( 14,10) and Bynum (12,16). But you wouldn't know it. At times I didn't even know Bynum was in the game. When he did actually take it to the rim and draw a foul he didn't convert. Pau ( make one miss one) Gasol didn't show much from the line either. They both COMBINED for 8 points the whole second HALF!!. Not Good.

* Another reason ( not excuse but reason) was fatigue. The Lakers were coming off of 4 games in 5 nights. The Clippers had 2 days rest. The Lakers lead the league in games played this season. The Clippers?? The have played the least amount of games. Add that to the fact we were on the 2nd day of a back to back, we had alot of injuries so many of our players have been playing extra minutes to fill in the gaps, and we are  older. The Clippers have a young explosive team and they love to run the floor, we have a half court offense for the most part, and lastly we have so many holes in our roster it looks like Swiss cheese. We need a point guard and or another play maker like Kobe. Someone who can create his own shot. So...when you add all those things together its a recipe for disaster.


Don't get me wrong I'm not taking anything away from the Clippers. When you add Chris Paul to ANY team it will improve immensely. Bottom line, I would rather the Lakers work all these kinks out now than during the playoffs. All these things we are going through can and will be corrected. We all just have to be patient and trust that the Lakers will continue to make history like we always have

Jazz open the game 5-0 at home. The game was pretty up and down from the beginning. Kobe fresh of a 48 point game came out still hot. He made Raja Bell remember why he hated him. When the game was tied at 15/15 Kobe went up for a layup and Raja gave him a shove, then followed that up with a little jaw jacking that Kobe just ignored as usual. Raja got a smooth technical foul. For the Jazz Milsap came out firing as well. The fact that Luke was guarding him didn't help matters much. He was having his way on both ends of the floor. Kobe ends the quarter with a buzzer beater three that puts the Lakers up by three. Pau already had five boards and Kobe had 12points in counting.
The Lakers are being out rebounded but they are still keeping good pace. Defense was still holding strong though. It was very evident when Milsap ran down the lane for what he thought was a one hand jam and Bynum met him at the top of the key and hung him like a Christmas wreath! The Lakers end the half down by one. Mainly because Kobe had 21 and the Lakers had 41! With one guy scoring half the points it usually doesnt end well. We needed points from other players and fast.
The Lakers open the third on an 8-2 run led by The Blank Mamba. All things seemed to be going right for the Lakers. Luke Walton actually made a left hand floater in the lane. At the same time, Steve Blake takes a shot to ribs and couldn't breathe. He's helped to the lockeroom. With Jason Kapono ( wife gave birth to twins),McRoberts ( toe injury),Troy Murphy ( flu), our already thin lineup just got thinner.
Kobe and Fish sit on the bench until the 9:34 mark in the 4th which is about all I could handle from the line up of Ron, EBanks,Morris (the rook who dribbles too much),and Luke. The Jazz then go on a 6-0 run to take the lead. Matt Barnes then hits a long two to improve his perfect night from the floor. The starters are now all in as we learn Steve Blake has a bruised rib and will not return. The starters are very well need because our bench has not been producing. Utah bench has 27 to the Lakers 11!!
Well the game gets down to the wire and it's 73-73 with 1:17 to go. Then Josh Howard hits a 3,then Kobe answers with a fade away. Then of course Milsap scores underneath on Pau and it's a tie game with 28 secs left. Kobe is fould with 6 secs left. He holds for the last shot but doesn't make it and we are goin to OT.
Milsap abuses Pau for the first few possessions and Pau has a blanket of frustration draped over him. But just like that with a pass from Kobe he makes his first three of the season! Raja Bell fouls out on the next play as always when guarding Kobe and Lakers lead by one with 1:03 to go. Kobe misses a basket on our end and the Jazz head down the court with 11 secs left. Al Jefferson is posed for a dunk and Bynum blocks his life!!!!! NO BASKET!!!! Lakers up by three. Jazz in bound with .007 secs left. In bound pass goes to Devin Harris who is blocked by Kobe....with his left hand...GAME. Kobe walks off the court with a smirk and 40 points ending the Jazz home streak. On to the next one......

Well our Lakers head up north to take on Mark Jackson's Golden State Warriors. I love to say that because that means I won't have to hear his ridiculous commentary any longer. According to the practice report this game should've been an easy one. Their star Stephan Curry is hurt, they still have Monte Ellis who is also a threat, but both of them together are deadly. Also with David Lee we have and advantage over them inside...so here we go..As expected Bynum opens the game with a monster dunk. I figured that was a good sign. But, sigh..the Lakers seem to be sleepwalking again just like the Portland game. The " Curryless" Warriors were having their way. It's not that they were playing exceptionally good, but the Lakers were just playing bad. The score was 18-18 to end the first and the Lakers seemed like they couldn't get anything going offensively.
Golden State went on an 11-2 run to start the 2nd to put them up by five. To add insult to injury the Lakers already had 5 turnovers. Nate Robinson debuted as a Warrior tonight and was typical Nate. Taking Ill advised and often rushed shots..making most of them. He had 7quick points. We were now shooting a woeful 39%. Our 3point shooting continued to do a disappearing act. We also had many problems on the offensive glass. The floor spacing was also a mess. When the ball goes down low, the players need to either cut or space the floor. The Lakers did neither. Bynum didn't look on track to have a monster game . The coaching staff urged the team to dump the ball inside, but when Bynum touched the ball the Lakers were 4-14, and they were 7-13 when he didn't. Not very much difference. Well we go to the half down by 4. Kobe led the Lakers with 13 and Donkey led the Warriors with 9. Gasol only had 3 points and Bynum was 3-9. Our big guys needed to step it up and bad. We only shot 37%. in that half, and 12 turnovers!! The report from the lockeroom was that our team was tired from the game last nite,and the flight, but no excuses we have work to do.
I'm not sure what was or wasn't said in the lockeroom, but from the first play...It was all.Kobe. Let me just interject that in my opinion Kobe is damed if he does and damed if he doesn't. If he takes too many shots that he is a ballhog who is going away from the offense and playing his own game. But, when the ship is sinking and he doesn't take over we are all confused. When he takes over and bails us out we are all singing his praises. I don't get it. At any rate, all the cries of playing inside out and feed the big man went out the window. Besides, Bynum wasn't having that much of an impact anyway. But, Kobe being Kobe saw the Lakers couldn't make two points with a paper and pencil and he went to work. He was making layups, shooting fade aways, dunking, and he even fell out of bounds on the defensive end only to get back up and sprint to the other end for a layup. The guy was everywhere. No matter who the Warriors thru at him it didint matter..it never does. He had 17 in the fourth quarter alone.
When Kobe went to work that sparked Matt Barnes. He was making great passes, great defensive plays, and ended up with 16 points before he fouled out. He was actually with Mike Brown on the plane studying tape of the last game and it showed. Pau ended with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Bynum was one assist shy of a triple double, but didnt have nearly as dominating as the last two games. We out scored them in the third quarter 32-19. That made the score 67-58 going into the fourh quarter. We did get sloppy at the end letting our defense slip a little and the Warriors pulled to within four. They actually rattled off 32 points led by Monte Ellis. But our determination and resilience led us to a victory. We ran off 30 more shots and shot 10-19 in the quarter to win by 7. It wasnt our best game, but once again with Kobe's help and his 39 points we found a way to win. We won the battle of the boards pulling down 47 to the Warriors 34.
Kobe is still in a lot of pain with his wrist. He's been getting hormone shots before the game and he was seen whincing on the sidelines and he got it messaged during a time out. He won't have the normal three weeks rest, or even two day in between game rest he normally would get due to the shortened season. With the tighten scheduled and the fitigue and injuries Kobe said we would have some ugly victories....this was definitely one of them.

Welcome to the Rose Garden.........

Well the Lakers never win in Portland. It's a known fact. Ok well let me clarify we have won 4 out of the last 20!! True to form goin into this game Portland is 4-0 at home. With that being said the Lakers started out very, very,good. The offense looked very fluent, but our defense was not. Gerald Wallace and Wes Matthews were on fire. In the first quarter they each had 10 points. We close the first quarter up by 4.
The Peace Corp takes the floor to start second and the offense is still there but the defense gets worse. Matt Barnes continues to get left on the wing by Gerald Wallace. Ron Artest can't guard him either. Then to add insult to injury Raymond Felton gets hot and Steve Blake can't keep up. But, they sure do make up for it on offense. Steve looked like CP3 out there! He was throwing dimes!! We were shooting 68%, but we're we're only up by two. The Lakers were givin up too many 2nd chance points. One reason we maintained the lead was because of pure luck. Portland missed soo many layups I lost count. We dodged a ton of bullets! We end the half up by 4. Bynum has 14 points (7-7)and Kobe has 14 as well.
LeMarcus was hot to start the fourth...

.but then again so were all the Blazers. The Lakers true to third quarter form came out flat as a pancake. Their transition defense or lack thereof was making me weep. They couldn't seem to defend without fouling. Matt Barnes went to the bench with his third foul and in comes Ebanks who just gets abused by Gerald Wallace.

Just as hot as the Lakers were the first half is as cold as they were in the third. We were then down by 6..then 8....then 10....it was hard to watch. With that being said newly aquired Jamal Crawford hit what looked like a thirty footer in the face of Steve Blake as the buzzer sounded to end the third. The Lakers went from shooting 68% to going 5-19 in that quarter and down by ten. SMH
The fourth quarter was too much of the same. We scratched and clawed our way back,sometimes cutting the lead to six, but they kept firing shot after shot and we had no answer for them. Gerald Wallace had a game high 31 points and Jamal Crawford single handily out scored our whole bench. We loose by nine. The Lakers have yet to win on the road.

Even though history is against us there is still that feeling in the pit of your stomach that says we just may win tonight...but once again the Blazers said..Not in our house..