533 and 2

So you might be wondering what the two numbers mean. Well, the first one is pretty simple. Phil Jackson tied Pat Riley yesterday with 533 wins on the all-time Lakers win list for coaches in the Lakers 90-89 win at Boston. And Kobe was it again with yet another game-winner.

The number two might be a bit more difficult to decipher without a Laker "Number Translator."

Today marks the two-year anniversary of the Pau Gasol trade to the Lakers. In the process, they unloaded some dead weight on the team, most notably Kwame Brown, Marc Gasol, his little brother, and Javaris Crittenton, who was recently suspended for the remainder of the season by the NBA for taking part in the Dirty Harry weapon-draw incident with teammate Gilbert Arenas last month.

But it's become pretty obvious how valuable Gasol has become to the Lakers over the last two years. The Lakers have been in the last two Finals since the trade. And here's some irony for you:

On the two-year anniversary of the trade, the Lakers continue their eight-game road trip tonight in of all places, Memphis, where Gasol came to the Lakers from. So you can imagine that even as Gasol has become a mainstay and fan-favorite in L.A., and he has grown to love it there, he will have some mixed emotions as he takes the floor tonight to take on his old team.

Lakers Rockin' 'n' Rollin' Again

Since acquiring Pau Gasol, the Lakers have gone an impressive 4-1 on the road trip (4-2 overall on the trip with three more to play), including an impressive 117-113 win tonight in Orlando. How impressive you might ask? Well, in two of the games, Kobe scored a total of 17 points (he injured a finger on his shooting hand against Jersey when he jammed the finger trying to steal the ball from Jason Kidd in the second quarter of that 105-90 win on Tuesday night, the first of those two games), and tonight, the Lakers gave up 44 points in the first quarter, and were down 11 after the quarter, and led by one at the half and by 11 after three quarters.

What's really surprising me is how quickly the team has turned it around after its little funk with Kwame Brown playing the bulk of the minutes at center before last week's trade. Even more amazing is the production the Lakers continue to get from the bench. One night it's Turiaf; another night it's Farmar; another night it's Radmanovic (when he isn't starting). Tonight, as it has been on several occassions, it was Sasha Vujacic, who scored 10 points off the bench. The bulk of tonight's scoring came from the starters, though. Kobe led the way with 36 while adding 11 boards and 6 assists. Pau added 30 and 9 boards and D-Fish, Odom and Radmanovic had 14 (and 7 assists), 12 and 10, respectively.

Next up for the Lakers is Miami on Sunday, an intriguing match-up for a couple of reasons. Two nights ago, the Heat and Phoenix Suns pulled off the second stunning trade in the league in a week when Miami sent former Laker superstar center Shaquille O'Neal to the Suns in exchange for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks. My reaction? Why, Phoenix, why? They had the best record in the West. Everything was hunky-dory in Phoenix. Why mess with something if it isn't broken? Shaq is a soon-to-be 36-year old over-the-hill, overweight log who can't run anymore, isn't very mobile anymore, still can't shoot free throws and he can barely get his feet off the floor when he jumps. Oh, not too mention he's injury-prone. And let's not forget... Phoenix LOVES to run! So basically they just traded arguably their most athletic player and pure scorer in Marion, for an aging guy who can't get up and down the floor anymore in a run-and-gun offense. Good luck Phoenix!

Lakers Pull Off Stunner and Head to Canada

CORRECTION (9:24pm CT): The second-round pick the Lakers got along with Pau Gasol in today's trade is for the 2010 draft, not this year's draft. My apologies.

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UPDATE (8:16pm CT): Lakers win north of the border, 121-101. Kobe pours in 46 points with 7 boards and 5 assists. Next up on the trip: Washington, Sunday morning.

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Well, Laker fans, the day we've been waiting for has finally arrived! KWAME BROWN IS NO LONGER A LAKER. The Lakers today traded Kwame, Javaris Crittenton, Aaron McKie (who they signed today specifically for this trade so that the contracts going both ways matched up to within the required 15% threshold), the rights to Marc Gasol and two first round draft picks (2008, 2010) to Memphis for Pau Gasol (yes, aforementioned Marc's big brother) and a second round pick in this year's draft.

This is a great day for the Lakers. It's time to celebrate! Start partying, L.A.! Parade out on 11th! No, not for a championship, not yet, anyway, but just for the sole reason that Kwame Brown is no longer a Laker! And you can very well bet the rest of the league just dropped their jaws as the Lakers pretty much STOLE Gasol for practically nothing!

Gasol will slide right into the center slot while Andrew Bynum is recovering from his dislocated knee cap, and will move over to the 4 spot when Bynum returns, whenever that might be (mid-March?). When that happens, the Lakers will field a spectacular starting lineup, perhaps the best starting quintet in the league, that will feature Derek Fisher at the point, arguably the game's best player in Kobe Bryant at the 2, Lamar Odom at the 3, and two 7-footers at the 4 and 5 in Gasol and Bynum. In the meantime, Gasol, who doesn't provide much of a defensive presence for being a 7-footer, will give the Lakers some much need inside offensive help in the absence of Bynum.

When Bynum went down with his injury on January 13th against the very same team the Lakers just made a blockbuster deal with today, the Lakers were riding high, in the midst of a seven-game winning streak. They won the game that night against Memphis to put their streak at six, but have gone just 3-5 since, and have gone from a potential top-seeded team in the West, to just barely a playoff contender. They squeezed out an important momentum-boosting 120-109 win at home against the Knicks on Tuesday night to stop a little three-game slide before heading off on a long and winding nine-game road trip, which began with a one-point loss last night in Detroit.

So for the Lakers, the deal comes at a very important time of the season which could either make or break their entire season. The impact of the deal is already being felt positively as the Lakers are rolling in Toronto with a 102-89 lead with about seven minutes left in the game. Time will tell if Gasol can help propel the Lakers into the playoffs as serious contenders or fairy pretenders.

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Disclaimer: Once again I have been insanely busy which has prevented me from posting as often as I'd like, but I will continue to do my best to post as frequent as time will allow. Thanks to all my readers for being patient with me and cooperating.

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.