Draft Day Has Arrived

As usual, Lakers aren't expected to be big players at the draft.

They have no first round picks again.

But they have been trying to trade up to get into the Top 5.

And yesterday a rumor surfaced that they had made an offer for the second pick.

That pick is held by Minnesota who is expected to take Arizona forward Derrick Williams.

The rumored offer was Lamar Odom for Kevin Love and the pick.

As of right now, it looks like it's not happening.

However, trading Odom might not be a bad idea because he has a very attractive contract.

And if it meant getting Love and drafting Williams?

Well, that could fill two holes created by moving Odom.

One other rumor worth mentioning...

Odom and Ron Artest for Andre Iguodala. Would you do that one?

For now, Lakers have four second round picks (41, 46, 56 & 58).

My guess is that will be the extent of their night.

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Other tidbits...

Brian Shaw has been named Associate Head Coach of Indiana Pacers.

Matt Barnes has exercised his option and will return next season.

Bill Macdonald and John Ireland headline new Lakers broadcast teams.

Macdonald joins Stu Lantz as TV play-by-play guy, replacing Joel Myers.

Ireland replaces Spero Dedes on radio and will team up with Mychal Thompson.

Former Laker Center Shaquille O'Neal has retired after 19 seasons.

Two and a Half Months

Ok, so I stole that title from the CBS hit sitcom. So sue me!

But yes, it's been a while, so let's get right to it and recap from where we left off...

We knew the Lakers got the two-seed and drew New Orleans in first round.

We knew they lost Game 1 at home.

They won the series in six.

They drew Dallas in the next round, and got slammed.

Dallas swept them in four games, and it wasn't pretty.

Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom committed stupid, ugly fouls in Game 4.

Bynum has been suspended for start of next season.

Pau Gasol simply didn't show up at all in the playoffs.

Quest for Three-peat Part II came to a crashing end.

Dallas is now playing Miami for the NBA title.

Series is tied 2-2, and the series has been closer than that!

Dirk Nowitzki is in "beastmode"; Lebron James has been MIA.

Phil Jackson retired; Mike Brown (yes, really, that Mike Brown!) was hired to replace him.

So long, triangle offense.

Moving forward in the off-season, here are five things the Lakers need...

• Kobe healthy
• Younger and quicker point guard (Chris Paul or Deron Williams, anyone?)
• Shooters who can make their shots
• More consistent bench play
• Dwight Howard

All that said, everything is peachy in Laker-land.

In the meantime, we wait for a new champion, free agency and a possible league work-stoppage.

And the Sixth Man Award Goes to...?

Lamar Odom! Congratulations, L.O.!

You've had a great season, so far!

And the Winning Streak...

Goes bye-bye.

The Clippers halt the Lakers streak at seven today with a solid 99-92 win at Staples. This time, it wasn't Kobe or the Lakers that stepped it up in the fourth quarter. Instead, they showed their frustration at the end of the game, and two players from each team were tossed after a minor altercation ensued.

Lamar Odom, Ron-Ron, Blake Griffin and Baron Davis were all ejected. And Phil Jackson had some choice words for the refs afterwards.

In any case, both teams have home games tomorrow at Staples: the Clippers vs Indiana with a matinee affair, and the Lakers vs Oklahoma City in the nightcap.

No Kobe, No Problem!

The Lakers are 4-0 with Kobe sitting out the past four games due to a bad ankle. One had to wonder if the Lakers would go into a panic mode not knowing how long Kobe would be out and make a trade before today's deadline, but it came and went and the Lakers stood pat.

The Lakers were tied to several trade rumors, including one that would have netted them Chicago's Kirk Hinrich. The sticking point to that potential deal, and frankly, any deal, was their inability to find a taker for Sasha Vujacic. The Lakers have grown more and more weary of Sasha's inconsistencies in recent weeks and started shopping him several weeks ago. But the Lakers were not looking to add any more payroll, so in order to take on the remaining two years, $17MM of Hinrich's contract, it had to be offset with a similar contract going the other way, and that contract was Vujacic. So the beat goes on. Hinrich is still in Chicago, and Vujacic in L.A.

The Lakers have beaten Portland, Utah and Golden State on the road, three teams that give the Lakers trouble in their buildings, and San Antonio at home without Kobe. Andrew Bynum missed the first three of those games, but Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol have stepped up nicely in all four games, and Bynum had a solid game on Tuesday in Golden State while playing in pain. Shannon Brown has played well in Kobe's absence, as well.

So the Lakers forward with the same team they've had all season as they host the Celtics tonight at Staples. And once again, Kobe will not play. There's no telling when he'll play, but if the rest of the team continues to step and play with the sense of urgency they've had over the past four games, they have a legit chance tonight. And it will give Kobe even more time for his ankle to heal.

Kobe Sits, but Lakers Win Anyway

The Lakers looked dreadful last night in the second half, losing big at home to Denver, 126-113, Kobe scored 33 points on a bum ankle after re-aggravating it in their win Wednesday night against Charlotte.

But after last night's game, the Laker's finally decided today that Kobe needed a rest, so he was given a night off tonight in Portland. Well, benching Kobe against a team they usually don't play well against in their building didn't seem like the right thing to do, and the odds were certainly stacked against the Lakers for a win, but lo and behold, they buckled down, and others stepped up in Kobe's absence, and the Lakers took care of business at the Rose Garden tonight, winning 99-82.

Lamar Odom, starting in Kobe's place, scored just 10 points but grabbed a whopping 22 boards. Ron Artest led the Lakers with 21 points and Shannon Brown added 19 off the bench.

I didn't get to see any of the game here, and there is no recap posted on the ol' www yet, so I am curious as to why Andrew Bynum only played 9½ minutes tonight.

Regardless, this was a much needed "team" victory. Hopefully they can use this win without Kobe as motivation because they'll need all the help they can get if Kobe doesn't play Monday when they host the Spurs.

A Tale of Two Cities

The Lakers got off to a great start on Thursday night in Cleveland, but couldn't finish off the Cavs, and lost 93-87. The battle between Kobe and Lebron lived up to its expectations, as Kobe scored 31 on 12 of 31 shooting while Lebron netted 37 on 13 of 25 shooting.

The Lakers demise on the night was their inability to make shots down the stretch. It was a see-saw battle for much of the game, but in the end, the Cavs kept their cool, and the Lakers couldn't hit their shot from the field or the free throw line. The Lakers were also unable to match Cleveland's intensity throughout the game, something Kobe was a little concerned after the game.

“The mentality has to change a little bit playing against these teams,” Bryant said. “These teams are physical, tough-minded, hard-nosed types of teams. That’s not part of our DNA. We have to step up and match that and still play skillful basketball.”

Meanwhile, the Lakers got a good game for most of the night from the Knicks on Friday, but in the end, they were too much for New York, pulling out a 115-105 win.

Kobe continued to struggle with his shooting in large part because of the injured index finger on his shooting hand, hitting just eight of his 24 shots to lead six Lakers in double figures with 27 points. It was a ho-hum game for Kobe until he took over late in the game. Obviously, it was a far cry from his 61-point night there last season, but he made his points matter, especially down the stretch.

Pau Gasol added 20 while Andrew Bynum poured in 11 of his 19 in the fourth quarter. Lamar Odom had an unusual line, scoring just two points while grabbing a team-high 14 rebounds.

Next up on the road trip, north of the border on Sunday in Toronto. Oh Canada!

Finals Rematch

It's been a while again since I've blogged in this here space, but while I've been absent the Lakers have continued to roll, sort of. They continue to lead the league with the best record at 31-9 going into tonight's Finals rematch with Orlando, but they've struggled over the last eight games since January 3rd while going 5-3.

In the process of looking like the champs that they are in their five wins against Dallas, Houston, Milwaukee, Dallas again and the Clippers, they also looked lost and uninspired in losses to the Clippers, Blazers and Spurs. Kobe had his worst game of the season, if not in his career, against the Spurs, but that was largely due to his plethora of injuries.

He's still battling a broken finger on his shooting hand, and a banged up elbow, and in that Spurs game, he strained his lower back after suffering back spasms earlier in that game. He struggled in the first half of the next game in Dallas but played well in the second half that he wound up hitting the game-winning shot.

The Lakers also got Pau Gasol back in their last game, a 40-point blowout of the Clippers. Gasol had reinjured his hamstring early in that January 3rd blowout of Dallas and hadn't played since.

In the meantime, in spite of Gasol's injury and Kobe being banged up, the Lakers have been getting some nice contributions from Lamar Odom, Andrew Bynum and Jordan Farmar. Ron Artest has also since returned to the lineup after his Christmas Day fall in his home that sidelined him for a few games since.

Back to Kobe. He's still fighting through the bad back but as he put it earlier today, "it's stiff, not painful." He'll play tonight. He needs 30 tonight for 25,000 in his career. (More on Kobe later as I want to touch on how he relishes the challenge of playing with all these injuries compared to other great players.)

Pre-season Winding Down...

Opening night is just three days away. Championship banner number 15 will be raised to the Staples Center rafters that night, against their in-house, in-town rival Clippers, with number one pick Blake Griffin making his official pro debut for the Clippers.

So many storylines heading into the 2009-2010 season.

For the Lakers, the big question is, can they repeat? Many people they can, and a lot of people think they will. Some don't think Ron Artest will make them anymore better than Trevor Ariza, and those same people don't think they can repeat. Either way, it won't be easy. And it looks like they'll have to start their quest to repeat without the services of Pau Gasol, who is still nursing a nagging hamstring injury that has kept him out of the last six pre-season games.

Back to the task at hand: repeating.

The West is loaded again. Denver still appears to be their biggest challengers, but Utah is still there, Dallas has gotten better with the addition of Shawn Marion, Portland is a year older and experienced, San Antonio is another year older but added Richard Jefferson, and just to throw them into the mix, the Clippers might contend for a playoff spot if they stay healthy.

The East still has its three beasts: The Celtics, who are a year older but added Rasheed Wallace to the mix, the Cavs, who added Shaq, and Orlando. All three teams have 60 wins written all over them.

All but the Clippers are serious contenders, and any one of them (minus the Clippers) can dethrone the Lakers. But really, the only team that can really beat the Lakers, is the Lakers. They've got to stay healthy. Artest has to be on his best behavior. (He's been seeing a sports psychologist for the past year to work on his anger management issues front he past.) Lamar Odom needs to stay focused and be accept his role off the bench. If all that happens, there's no reason the Lakers won't repeat.

The roster is virtually the same with the exception of Artest. And you can't help but think that the former Defensive Player of the Year and four-time All-Defensive Team can only help. And not to mention his 17-point career average is a little more intriguing than Ariza's eight-point average.

So let's get the banner up and defend that title.

Summer News

Ever since Lamar Odom finally re-signed with the Lakers last month, I was hoping things would quiet down for the Lakers until camp started, but lo and behold, it's been anything but for the World Champions. That said, here's a brief chronological rundown/recap on some of the key news items since Odom's signing:

• The Lakers waived guard Sun Yue. I don't think anyone will miss him.
• Guard Sasha Vujacic underwent minor knee surgery following a minor injury suffered while playing for Slovenia's national team this summer. He has since fully recovered and has resumed full basketball activities. Barring any setbacks, he'll be ready for camp.
• Former Laker forward and assistant coach Kurt Rambis was named head coach of the Timberwolves. Congratulations, and good luck in Minnesota! You'll need it.
• Forward Pau Gasol broke his left middle finger (his non-shooting hand) while practicing with the Spanish national team. The injury required surgery but it's not considered a serious injury and he was expected to miss only three weeks. This timetable means Gasol should be more than ready when camp opens up in October, but to be safe, Lakers trainer Gary Vitti is flying later this month to Spain to check on Gasol, and to make sure the reports of the three-week setback are accurate.

That should about cover it. This space is now current and up-to-date!

Odom To Re-Sign With Lakers

About time. Now can we move on and not talk about this anymore? Here's the ESPN.com report...

As L.O.'s World Turns

We haven't heard much on the Lamar Odom drama in a few days, but there's an interesting rumor floating around the internet.

Last week, we learned that Odom reached out to Laker owner Jerry Buss in hopes of fixing the mess Odom created by rejecting the Laker offers. One source claimed the two met last night. Yesterday we also heard Kobe say he's confident that Odom will return to the Lakers. Now today, Black Sports Online is reporting that their sources say the Lakers and Odom have reached an agreement.

However, John Ireland says in his blog that after talking with his sources within the organization, no such deal has been reached. He also says that Odom will have to take a lesser offer than the ones he turned down if he's to re-sign with the Lakers. The Lakers will not put either of the offers (the 3- or 4-year deals) back on the table, and no offer is currently on the table. Finally, Ireland also says it was Odom who turned down the Lakers, not his agent, Jeff Schwartz.

This all sounds like something you might find on the Soap Opera cable network at 3am.

Lakers Pull Offers for Odom

The Lamar Odom saga has taken a new twist. The Lakers yesterday pulled their two offers on the table for Odom, saying that they were growing frustrated with him and his agent, Jeff Schwartz. The two offers are reported to be around $9MM per year for four years, and around $10MM per year for three.

According to a report today in the L.A. Times, people within the Lakers organization, and people close to Odom, however, believe that Odom wants to re-sign with the Lakers and accept one of the offers. However, his agent isn't convinced of that. Well, last time I checked, the agent works for the player, not the other way around. If a player says he wants to sign one of the contracts, it's the agent's responsibility to make sure that happens. The agent is an adviser and a negotiator, nothing more. The agent isn't the decision-maker, the player is.

Last weekend Mitch Kupchak admitted he was growing frustrated with Odom and his agent, and at the time didn't like his chances of being able to re-sign Odom, although he had hoped for a resolution 'in a couple of days.' Well those couple of days have come and gone, and no resolution has been reached, unless you count the retraction of the two offers the Lakers way of saying, ' we have reached a resolution.'

The Lakers say they will be more than willing to re-open negotiations, but Odom and his agent will have to come to them, and the two offers pulled yesterday are no longer on the table. Any new offers made by the Lakers could very well be for less than those retracted yesterday.

This all has an eerie similarity to the Dodgers situation with Manny Ramirez this past spring, doesn't it? I would guess the Lakers have grown tired of the lack of communication from the Odom Camp, and are ready to move on. It also appears obvious the Lakers have no intention what-so-ever of getting into a bidding war with themselves, as there are no other known offers from any other team for Odom. There does appear to be some lukewarm interest from at least four other teams (Dallas, Miami, Utah and Portland), but no serious talks have apparently taken place, and no offers have been made.

My advice to the Lakers is this: if re-signing Odom is going to hinder their chances of re-signing Pau Gasol when his contract is up in two years, I pass on Odom. Odom's a nice role player to have coming off the bench, and when he's on top of his game, and focused on the task at hand, he's one of the best players in the game. But his inconsistencies make him a liability. Gasol, to me, is a much more important piece of the puzzle for the future beyond the next two years. Let Odom walk, I say.

Stay tuned as this may get even stickier before it all irons out.

Phil and L.O.

Well you knew Phil would return next season, especially if he was cleared medically. Well, it's now confirmed.

Not confirmed yet is the rumored three-year, $23-$24MM offer coming to Lamar Odom, as suggested by ESPN's Chirs Broussard. We'll find out soon enough.

Also, according to the NY Post, the Lakers, along with Orlando, have made "serious inquiries" about Knicks RFA PG Nate Robinson. The same report also says Robinson could very well just accept the Knicks one-year qualifying offer. Should the Lakers make him an offer for the Knicks to match, and the Knicks don't match it, you can almost bet Jordan Farmar will be out of the picture next season.

An Insider's Take on Artest, Plus Ariza To Houston

I just happened to be rummaging through some of the Laker blogs on the big WWW to see what was being said about the Ron Artest deal, and came across this posting by John Ireland, who covers the Lakers for KCAL 9, and is the co-host of the Mason and Ireland Show on 710 ESPN in L.A. from 10am to 2pm.

Also, in reaction to the Artest agreement, Trevor Ariza has accepted the Rockets offer of their full mid-level exception of five years, $32MM. Artest reportedly is getting part of the Lakers mid-level exception of three years and roughly $18MM. As Ireland notes, this leaves more than enough for the Lakers to re-sign Lamar Odom, a childhood friend of Artest.

Lakers Agree with Artest

According to the L.A. Times, the Daily News and CBS Sports, the Lakers and Ron Artest have agreed on a deal. The Lakers, and Kobe, have coveted Artest for several years now, and almost traded for him two seasons ago when he was traded by Sacramento to Houston. Now, they apparently have their man.

The addition of Artest will take the sting away from the possibility of losing Trevor Ariza. Ariza is said to be upset with the Lakers for the way they've handled his free agency and is now talking with Cleveland and Houston, among other teams. Meanwhile, Artest is expected to sign for the Lakers full mid-level exception, which is roughly five years and about $32MM, and should give the Lakers enough in their budget to re-sign Lamar Odom, as well.

Artest has been meeting with Jerry Buss and other members of the Lakers management team, including Phil Jackson for much of the day. His agent says an official announcement of the agreement could come later today.

Looking to Next Season, Tomorrow's Draft, Phil & Kobe

Now that people have had a chance to let the title run sink in, and enjoy the parade and the hoopla that came with it all, it's time to look ahead to next season. The Lakers, like most NBA teams, have some things to take care of that need to be addressed.

The first order of business is tomorrow's draft. The Lakers have the 29th pick of the draft/first round, but it is becoming more and more apparent that they don't want to add any more guaranteed contracts to the payroll, so chances are pretty good at this point that pick will be dealt. They also have two second round picks (Nos. 42 and 59). Part of the reasoning behind all this is they want to re-sign two of their own unrestricted free agents, Trevor Ariza and Lamar Odom, both small forwards who were two key components of their title run.

I was sure, that because of the uncertainty of whether or not they could re-sign both Ariza and Odom, the Lakers would use that first round pick and draft some insurance at the forward position, such as 6'9' Georgetown power forward DaJuan Summers, or possibly even go for point guard depth and draft UCLA's Darren Collison, even though Collison's size doesn't really fit into Phil Jackson's likeness for bigger guards. Either way, late word suggests the Lakers really aren't expected to make a splash at the draft tomorrow night in New York.

The only certainty of tomorrow's draft, by the way, is that L.A.'s other team will be drafting Oklahoma forward Blake Griffin with the first overall pick. After that, the rest of the draft is a crapshoot.

Back to the Lakers. The Lakers have made it clear that they will do everything in their power to re-sign both Ariza and Odom. And both players have said they not only want be back with the team, but that team also expressed the same willingness to want them both back. Whether or not they can actually do it remains to be seen. Both players, especially Ariza, will command a hefty pay raise in free agency this summer, so the Lakers will have their work cut out for them to try and get them both re-signed.

The Lakers very own human highlight reel, Shannon Brown, is also a free agent, and it is believed the Lakers want him back, as well.

The situation with Phil Jackson is more simple. He's either coming back, or he's not, but health issues have put any decision on hold until early July. There was speculation as early as yesterday that the Lakers might allow him to coach only home games, and let assistant coach Kurt Rambis coach road games. But GM Mitch Kupchak shot that idea down today saying if he comes back, he'll coach all the games. There will be no in-between. My guess is as good as anyone's but my gut tells me he will be back next season.

Finally, there's Kobe Bryant. This much we know: he will be back next year, and the year after. He does have an opt-out clause in his contract, and there was speculation he could do that to renegotiate his contract to save the team some money to allow them to re-sign Ariza, Odom and Brown. But even if that scenario played out, Kobe wouldn't get that much less than he's already making, and the Lakers wouldn't save that much on Kobe to free up addition money to re-sign Ariza, Odom and Brown. That said, its very likely Bryant will not use the opt out, and play out the final two years of his contract.

Obviously, the Lakers do have a lot issues to settle before training camp next season, but I'm pretty convinced that everything will work to the Lakers favor, and all of this talk will have been for naught.

Mission: Quest for 15 - COMPLETE!

Your Los Angeles Lakers are NBA Champions for the 15th time in franchise history after an impressive Game 5 victory over the Orlando Magic last night by a final score of 99-86. Kobe Bryant was named Finals MVP after securing his legacy with one of the great Finals performances we've seen since Michael Jordan. Kobe averaged 32 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists in the five games against Orlando, just the second player ever to accomplish that in an NBA Finals series.

For Kobe and Derek Fisher, this is their fourth title together as teammates, who joined the league at the same time in 1996. Kobe was part of the Vlade Divac trade on draft day in 1996 that sent Divac to the Charlotte Hornets for the rights to Kobe, who was drafted by the Hornets for the Lakers as part of the deal. Fisher was the Lakers first round draft pick later that night. The two struggled through three playoff seasons from 1997 to 1999, and finally won their first of three straight in 2000, against Indiana in six games, when Phil Jackson took over as head coach at the beginning of that season in 1999. The Lakers beat Philadelphia in five games in 2001, and swept New Jersey in 2002.

Jackson, with the win, becomes the winningest coach in NBA Finals history with his 10th title as a head coach, surpassing the late, great Red Auerbach, who won nine titles with Boston in the 50s and 60s. Jackson won six with the Bulls from 1991 to 1998, including three-peats twice, from 1991-1993, and 1996-1998, before coming to the Lakers in 1999. He has now won 10 of the last 19 NBA titles as a head coach, and is 10-2 overall in the NBA Finals, the two losses coming in 2004 against Detroit, and last season against Boston.

As for the game last night, the Lakers thoroughly frustrated Orlando after the Magic started off quickly and ran off to a nine point lead early. The Lakers battled back, weathered the storm, and then ran off a 16-0 run that would essentially seal the deal as the Magic never really challenged them again.

Not to be forgotten, are the performances of Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol and Trevor Ariza throughout the game, and the series. And of course, not mentioned yet and surely not forgotten, here in this space, were the two big three-pointers by Fisher in Game 4, the first sending the game into overtime, and the second helping ice the game in overtime that led to the all important 99-91 win.

In that game, the Lakers trailed at the half, after looking lost for 24 minutes. The Lakers battled through adversity, and early foul trouble, and came out of the locker room at halftime a much more aggressive team, led by Ariza's 13 third quarter points, and it carried over into Game 5. As aggressive as the Lakers were in the second half and overtime in Game 4, they did not shoot a single free throw after the third quarter. But it didn't matter.

The Magic made costly turnovers and missed numerous key free throws late Game 4, much like the Lakers did in Game 3, that enabled the Lakers to rally from five points down, and gave Fisher the opportunity to hit that game-tying three pointer with just under five seconds left in regulation.

In the decisive Game 5 win last night, the Lakers dominated many of the key components of the game, including the boards, offensively and defensively, and kept the Magic off balance much of the game, forcing them into key turnovers that led to key Laker points. As a result, the Magic played frustrated all night, and it was never more evident than in the play of Dwight Howard and Hedo Turkoglu.

Congratulations to the Lakers on a remarkable season that saw them win 65 regular season games, third most in frachise history. Congratulations to the 15-time NBA Champion, Los Angeles Lakers!

Lakers Lose Game 3, But All Is Still Good

Talk about a weird game last night. Orlando shot an insane 63% from the floor, and Kobe missed some critical free throws late in the game, and turned the ball over and missed a layup, also late in the game, and the Lakers lost a tough one, 108-104 in Orlando.

Kobe scored 17 first quarter points but was relatively ineffective the rest of the night in spite of the miscues and missed free throws in the fourth quarter. Kobe led five Lakers in double figures, finishing with 31 points and eight assists for the third straight game. Pau Gasol had 23 points, Trevor Ariza finished with 13 points and Lamar Odom and Jordan Farmar added 11 apiece off the bench for the Lakers, who shot a respectable 51% from the floor.

Meanwhile, the Magic had three players score 20 or more points, led by Rashard Lewis and Dwight Howard's 21 points apiece. But the key to Orlando's win last night was a breakout performance in the series by Magic point guard Rafer Alston, who finished with 20 points.

The Lakers overall played a solid game, and well enough to win. But Kobe's mistakes, miscues and misses would prove costly, and a bit too much to overcome late in the game.

If the Lakers continue to play as well as they have in the series, they should be in great shape as they continue their march to their 15th NBA title. I don't expect Orlando to shoot 63% from the floor again, and you can bet Kobe won't have the kind of fourth quarter as he did last night again. That said, I expect the Lakers to come out victorious in Game 4 tomorrow night in Orlando.

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By the way, I heard on local ESPN Radio 103.3 FM here in the Dallas area today that the L.A.P.D. sent a memo out to the Lakers and the city of Los Angeles, that should the Lakers clinch the title on Sunday in Game 5, they could be ready for a parade on Monday morning. The memo apparently also said that if it takes the Lakers longer, a parade could take place next Wednesday, next Friday, or the following Monday. The L.A.P.D. has apparently already mapped out a parade route that would begin at Staples Center, and wind through downtown, ending up at the Coliseum where the rally would take place.

Now if you ask me, this is a very bold move by the L.A.P.D. because they're already under the assumption that the Lakers will win. The department's reasoning for the memo will obviously be that they're planning ahead to be prepared from a security standpoint, and chances are the city would buy into that. I just hope this doesn't come back to haunt the Lakers and they wind up not winning this at all.

Lakers Go Up 2-0

It wasn't pretty, but the Lakers made the defensive stops when they needed it, and they made the big shots and free throws when they had to, and escaped with a 101-96 win in overtime in Game 2 of the NBA Finals. The Lakers used another balanced scoring attack as Kobe had a team high 29 points to go with eight assists. Pau Gasol added 24 points and 10 rebounds, and Lamar Odom had another great game off the bench, scoring 19 points and pulling down eight rebounds.

The Lakers shot 46% from the floor, but early in the game it looked like both teams were struggling to make their shots. At one point in the second quarter, both teams were shooting under 35% for the game. Orlando wound up shooting 42% for the game with a better showing in the second half, but made just 10 of 30 from three-point land. Rashard Lewis led all scorers with 34 points. Lewis also chipped in with 11 rebounds, while Hedo Turkoglu added 22 points, and Dwight Howard had 17 points to go with his game high 16 rebounds.

The Lakers were badly beaten on the boards tonight, 44-35, but they out-scored the Magic at free throw line 24-20.

The game was tied after the first quarter, but the Lakers stretched it out to a five-point half-time lead, 40-35. The Magic came out of the locker room poised to send this series back to Orlando tied, and would lead after three quarters, 65-63. The game was a see-saw battle throughout the fourth quarter, and the Lakers had a chance to win it with just nine seconds left. But Hedo Turkoglu blocked Kobe's shot with :00.6 seconds left in regulation. The Magic tried one last lob and shoot play, but Courtney Lee missed the open lay-up from the inbounds lob pass, sending the game into overtime.

Teams taking a 2-0 playoff series lead in the NBA have historically won 94% of the time, so the percentages favor the Lakers heading into Game 3. The Magic have a chance now to regain home court as the next three games are in Orlando. Game 3 is Tuesday night, with Game 4 on Thursday night, and Game 5 a week from tonight if the magic win either of the next two games.