As much as we want to give credit to Kobe Bryant for icing the Lakers win in Brooklyn last night, L.A. should throw the Nets a bone. Brooklyn did everything they could outside of express mailing the W to Hollywood. Down the stretch, the Nets endured a couple of bad shots from Brook Lopez – one was an ugly airball – on poorly executed plays. Then, Gerald Wallace threw away an inbounds pass. Read More »

Going into this season, we knew the title window for the Lakers was incredibly small. We figured one, maybe two years, and then after that, they’d rebuild around Dwight Howard. But with Kobe Bryant hinting at retirement, and Pau Gasol and Mike D’Antoni filming a re-run of the Jets season, the issues may come to a head even sooner. Read More »

The Pistons nearly came back from the dead to beat the Lakers in yesterday’s matinee. But while they didn’t get the win, Brandon Knight got the highlight, jamming all over Pau Gasol on a fast-break finish. Read More »

Someone forgot to tell Boston they don’t have Rajon Rondo or Jared Sullinger for the rest of this season. The Celtics ran off their fourth straight win after losing their All-Star starter point guard a week ago by devouring the short-handed Clippers, then holding on for dear life at the end, 106-104. One Caron Butler dunk aside (we’ll get to that in a second), the Celtics were clearly the dominant team in the first half and even led by 19. Read More »

In a world where everything is instant, overreaction is expected. Today’s world has no gray area, only black and white. Seeing things differently and reading between the lines is too much work. That’s where your 2012-13 Los Angeles Lakers stand right now. Read More »

Each time we checked in with the Hawks vs. Celtics it was like watching a different game. In the first half the Celtics were on cruise control and it almost looked as if Tommy Heinsohn could have stepped in because of Boston’s 27-point lead. Atlanta was going to old standbyes Al Horford and Josh Smith (17 points, 14 boards) inside, though not with much success. Read More »

A super-entertaining article posted on the L.A. Times web site last night by writer Mike Bresnahan describes a Lakers team meeting held before yesterday’s shootaround in Memphis, where the “guys went at each other a little bit.”

The picture he paints sums up the Lakers circus – it’s pretty much exactly how you would envision it to be: Read More »

Once the difference Los Angeles needed in the paint to win consecutive NBA championships, Pau Gasol has transformed from a guy so good at his job people found it lucrative to impersonate him on the streets to one of the most maligned players in years. To believe the hilarious vision of the minds behind this video, Gasol needs to be freed from the constant trade rumors and badgering from Kobe Bryant and given to a good home like a stray pet. If you’ve ever watched daytime television you know exactly the adoption video this mimics. Bravo. Read More »

Hey, remember this from 3 p.m. today? Yeah, things may have changed in a big way.

Word just broke that both Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol are out indefinitely. Read More »

The wheels were already coming off in Los Angeles for the Lakers, but now it seems like an axle just gave way. A 112-105 home loss to Denver drops L.A. to 15-18, which is three games worse (as ESPN’s J.A. Adande perfectly pointed out) than the ’04-’05 Laker team with Chucky Atkins and Chris Mihm at point and center. The way Sunday’s loss ended is a metaphor for the Lakers’ season so far. Something good happens (Dwight Howard‘s block on Andre Miller with less than 15 seconds to go, with the Nugs up three), and then something worse happens (Howard’s block going right to Danilo Gallinari, who sank a three). And then when something good happens again (Kobe Bryant‘s insane corner three, guarded by three guys) it’s much too late to really matter. Your 2013 Los Angeles Lakers. Read More »