Lakers Dominate S.A. Heading to Texas

Talk about two games completely opposite of each other. The Lakers looked lost, confused and tired for about two and a half quarters in game one Wednesday, and found themselves trailing by 20 points with a little over five minutes left in the third quarter. Since then, the Lakers have outscored the Spurs by a whopping 54 points. They rallied to beat the Spurs in Game 1, 89-85, behind Kobe Bryant's 25 second half points, and then demolished the Spurs last night in Game 2, 101-71.

Last night's game was a pretty evenly matched game, until the Lakers broke a 37-37 tie with a 9-0 run to end the first half. They never looked back. They've been getting some expected contributions from the usual suspects: Kobe, Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol, Derek Fisher; and from the role players: Vladdy Radmanovic, Sasha Vujacic, Jordan Farmar, Luke Walton, Rony Turiaf. And it's generally been someone different stepping up with key baskets and big plays defensively. In Game 1, it was Sasha. Last night it was Farmar. And in the meantime, everyone else has been consistent offensively and defensively.

The series heads to San Antonio now for Games 3 (Sunday night at 7:30pm CT) and 4 (Tuesday night), and it's obviously extremely pertinent for the Lakers to maintain, and even increase their intensity. The Spurs won't be a pushover on their home court. Split on the road and come home and take care of business!

10 down, 6 wins to go to #15.

Series Tied; Kobe Hurting

Don't mind me while I homer up for a second here, but the officiating in this series has been brutal, especially in yesterday's game four in Utah. I don't think I've ever seen such one-sided calls in a long time. It was atrocious all game. Utah was getting every little "ticky-tack" foul all afternoon.

On the flip side, every time the Lakers did get to the free throw line, they were lucky to get one out of two. They were hitting free throws about as often as one couldn't hit water if they fell out of a damn boat. And Lamar Odom, bless his little heart for having a great game otherwise, and Luke Walton have got to be the two worst players lay-up shooters I have ever seen. It seemed like they were missing them all day. I don't understand why, when they have an open shot that close underneath the basket, they just don't go up and be more aggressive. It seemed like Utah blocked half of their attempts. I wish these two morons would just learn to be a little more aggressive and little less lackadaisical when it comes to easy, open shots under the basket.

Can't have a Laker blog that doesn't include Kobe. Another two solid performances for the MVP. But more importantly, and probably more concerning is his stiff back that suddenly developed over the weekend. If it happened during the either of the games, then I missed it. But it just pained me to watch him in the fourth quarter because as much as he was trying, he just couldn't get any lift in his legs. His shots were flat, too long, or too short.

Around the five minute mark of the fourth yesterday, I had pretty much conceded the game to Utah. The Jazz had a commanding 10-point lead, and it looked like they were about to blow the game open even more. (I had conceded to the point that I switched over to watch Hiroki Kuroda of the Dodgers take his no-hitter against Houston into the 7th inning.) To my surprise, the Lakers had made a couple of defensive stops and the next thing I knew, Utah's lead was down to 104-103 with under a minute left. The Lakers had kept chipping away at the lead all afternoon but every time they got it close, Utah would break it back open to 9-, 10-, 11-point leads. So when I heard the lead was down to one, of course I gave up on the no-hitter (smart idea, Mike!) to watch the end of the Lakers. Lamar Odom had taken over the game to score five big points down the stretch to force OT. Unfortunately, the Lakers had nothing left for OT. Kobe was basically ineffective at that point.

So we head back to L.A. and Staples for Game 5 on Wednesday night. Lakers don't want to head back to Utah down 3-2, so this is a definite must-win for either team, but more so for the Lakers. And let's hope Kobe (who intends to play) and his back don't become a hindering problem for the Lakers!

Lakers Cruise to 2-0 Series Lead; My Kobe Rant

Well, I hate to be a cocky or arrogant fan, but this is almost becoming too easy for the Lakers. I know they're far from halfway to reaching their ultimate goal, but it just seems the Lakers, perhaps the only team that can go 10 or 12-deep into their bench on any given night, are having their way these lower seeded teams. Now, I'm pretty sure, as the series heads to Utah for Games 3 and 4, that the Jazz won't make things much easier for the Lakers. Utah had one of the best home records in the league this season, so the Lakers will have to make sure they sustain their intensity of their first six games and not have any letups when they get up to Salt Lake City.

One thing I am interested in is how the Jazz fans greet and treat Derek Fisher. Last season in the playoffs, Derek Fisher was forced to leave the team for a short period to be with his ailing baby daughter, who was battling a rare form of eye cancer. Fisher returned to the team and showed up at half time during one of their games, and received a standing ovation as he made his way from the locker room to the courtside bench. Upon being inserted into the game by Utah coach Jerry Sloan, Fisher made an immediate impact on the game, which the Jazz eventually won. After the Jazz were bounced out of the playoffs, Fisher requested to be released from the remaining years of his contract so he could be closer to his daughter. The Jazz granted his wish and released him. Several weeks later, he signed with the Lakers, returning for his second stint.

Earlier this season, when the Lakers made their first trip to Utah, the Jazz fans were relentless in booing Derek Fisher every time he touched the ball, knowing full well what his situation was. This bothered me, mostly because I had always thought Jazz fans were better than that. So after losing the first game in Utah, the Lakers returned to Salt Lake City later in the season, and the fans booed him AND Kobe, although the second time around, Kobe got the louder jeers. I'm guessing the fans got on Kobe because he was very outspoken about the way they treated Fisher the previous trip. All that did was get the Lakers more fired up, and the end result was a Laker rout.

Now you see why I'm anxious to see how Utah reacts to Derek Fisher everytime he touches the ball starting tomorrow night in Game 3. Stay tuned. It should be an interesting two games this weekend in Utah for the Lakers!

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In my previous post a few days ago, I vented out some frustration over the way some people still perceive Kobe Bryant as a rapist. While it still angers me that people still stereotype him as such, it bothers me more that some people refuse to recognize him for what he has done on the court. Kobe had perhaps his most rewarding season yet, in large part because he accomplished so much after such a tumultuous off-season. But here's something else I overlooked throughout the process: Kobe had been playing the last month or so with a torn ligament in his pinky on his shooting hand. Most players would have opted for surgery and called it quits. But Kobe didn't, and because he understood his teammates needed him in order to win, and vise versa, he was rewarded with the league MVP for the first time in his career. Kobe understands one thing, and only thing: that is to reach the ultimate goal of winning another championship.

The Lakers are two wins away from the halfway point. The Lakers need just 10 more wins to earn their 15th NBA Championship.

Lakers Roll Past Denver; Kobe To Win MVP

Well, that was a rather easy first round series for the Lakers. There really isn't much to say about it. Denver didn't really show up, and the team was accused by Carmelo Anthony of quitting in Game 3. But then again, consider the source. The Nuggets come across as a bunch of egos with issues. They might have been the worse 50-win team in history in the playoffs. As for the Lakers, Kobe and Pau pretty much did their thing, while the rest of the team contributed its share throughout the series. The offense was clicking; the defense was good enough. Next up: Utah, who defeated the Houston Rockets four games to two. Tip-off is 12:30pm PT tomorrow on ABC.

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Kobe Bryant will be named league MVP next week, according to the L.A. Times. The Times reports Commissioner David Stern will be in L.A. to officially present Kobe with his first MVP award during a pre-game ceremony, likely before Game 2 of the Utah series. How close the balloting was is still uncertain, but Hornets PG Chris Paul was likely a close second. Kobe led the Lakers to the top-seed in a very competitive Western Conference after asking for a trade in the off-season. Several other Laker players had breakout seasons, in large part because of Kobe's willingness to make his teammates around him better.

Now, for those of you who hate Kobe because of his legal battles in 2004, let me remind you of several things:

1. The accuser wanted NO part of a trial.
2. The accuser's stories consistently changed as witnesses came forward.
3. The DA dropped the charges.
4. He was NEVER tried.
5. He was NEVER convicted.
6. The accuser filed a civil suit BEFORE a criminal trial ever started, or ended.

So yeah, according to the "haters", he's still a rapist. Which leads me to say this:

GET OVER IT ALREADY!! MOVE ON!!