All I Want For Christmas...

Is a Laker win... and I got it! Great game today as the Lakers kept up with the runnin' Suns and picked up a game in the standings with a HUGE win today. Final: Lakers 122, Suns 115. Kobe had another impressive line of 38/5/7 even though he committed 8 turnovers. Andrew Bynum had a huge afternoon, pouring in a career-high 28 points while shooting 11 of 13, and also picking up 12 boards. We can only hope the imminent return of Kwame Brown any day now doesn't take minutes away from Bynum. His breakout season might be a key factor down the stretch in March and April and into the playoffs. Trevor Ariza contibuted 14 points, several on great plays under the basket or to finish off fast breaks.

All that said, the Lakers have now won 9 of their last 11, largely due to the play of Bynum and Kobe. They're now just a game back of Phoenix in the division with an 18-10 mark, a record not many could have predicted after 28 games through Christmas. Lakers get another test this weekend starting on Friday, when Utah heads to Staples, followed by the 22-3 Boston Celtics on Sunday evening.

Lakers Take Bite Out of Big Apple...

And almost swallowed it whole. I missed the entire game due to unforeseen circumstances (forgot what time the game was, and holiday shopping for the family). But from what I gathered from the updates I was getting on my cell, they almost blew a pretty sizable lead against an awful team. Final: Lakers 90, New York 91. In the process of nearly blowing a 25-point lead, Kobe went for 39 (and became the youngest player ever to reach 20,000 career points)/11/8. Not bad for a guy who's been hampered by a mild groin injury over the past two weeks.

As I expected, the Purple & Gold took 3 of 4 on the road trip to improve to 17-10 and head home for a Christmas Day game as the "Squabbling Duel" is set with first place Phoenix and head coach Mike D'Antoni taking on the Lakers and P-Jax... on ABC.

Lakers in Philly...

UPDATE (9:35pm CT): Well, finally had a chance to check out the box score for tonight's game and lo-and-behold, four of the five starters dropped in at least 19 pts each, led by Bynum, and Lamar Odom's 21 points and 11 boards. D-Fish had a season-high 21, and Kobe had a quiet 19.

UPDATE (8:33pm CT): Lakers pull out a close one, 106-101. Bynum with another double-double posting 24 & 11. I'm actually impressed with this win because they won the second game of back-to-backs rather than the first. But as I said before the road trip started, I figured last night's game would be the toughest, so based on that, they were supposed to win tonight.

Next game is Sunday in the Big Apple... road finale. If they win that game, they improve to 17-10, as I felt they should when the trip started. Mission: Almost Accomplished.

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Well, I'm shut out of the game TV-wise tonight, so I won't have much to say until after the game, if at all...

Kobe vs. LeBron

UPDATE (9:45pm CT): Bad finish to even worse start. Lakers fell behind 14-5 early. They kept it close, eventually took a small lead but could never put the Cavs away. Eventually, cold shooting spells, little help from the bench, and bad luck at the end with some questionable decisions offensively did the Lakers in. Final: Cavs 94, Lakers 90. Kobe: 21/5/5; LeBron: 33/10/5. This was the one game I knew would be the toughest on the trip. Final two are in Philly tomorrow and New York on Sunday. I would expect them to come out and play much better than they did tonight.

UPDATE (8:20pm CT): Just as I predicted, good game so far. Lakers take a four-pt 55-51 lead into the locker room at the half... Odom with 14 pts to lead the Lakers; LeBron with 19 to lead the Cavs...

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Game time is approaching! Should be a good one....

Lakers Get Bullish...

And pull out an impressive road win in Chicago. Once again the Lakers get all sorts of help from guys like Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom, who both posted impressive double-doubles again. Bynum is quickly turning into a real force in the middle. Some are already starting to compare him to what Dwight Howard looked like two years ago (and we all know how important he's become to the Magic over the past few seasons as he's become the best center in the East). And how about the bench?! Sasha led all Lakers with 19 points. Kobe had a quiet 18 as he struggled, fighting off his groin injury.

Obviously this game would have been more intriguing if the Bulls were playing to their full potential, but outside of Luol Deng, the rest of the Bulls struggled. Ben Gordon had just eight points and two assists. They need him to get going soon if they want any shot at the playoffs in the East...

Next up for the Lakers, probably their toughest match of the road trip: LeBron and the Cavs Thursday night on TNT. Should be a good one!

First New Post in Months!

Wow it's been a few months since I've had a chance to post anything here but I promise to stay on top of things now that I've set aside time on my busy schedule to do so...

Looks like the Lakers are off to a good start. Still a bit inconsistent at times (Friday night's game in Oakland is a perfect example) but they seem to be clicking much better this year than in the last few. They aren't fully relying on Kobe (who's kept quiet off the court about his trade demands and made some noise on the court with his play) and are getting much needed help off the bench, which is one of the top scoring benches in the league. It will be nice to see how they do against the elite teams. It will be even nicer if they can hold on to some of these late game leads they've let slip away, such as the aforementioned Golden State game.

Keep in mind that I am in Dallas and do not have the Center Court package (or whatever the NBA package is called on DirecTV) so I only get to see the games televised on ESPN, TNT or NBA TV. So bear with me as I won't be able to comment more specifically on all the games.

Mid-west/East Coast swing kicks off tomorrow in Chicago, then swings over to Cleveland, Philly, and the Big Apple. If all goes well, Lakers SHOULD come back at least 3-1 on the trip. That would give them a very respectable 17-10 mark....