May 2009 Archives

Wanted to amend something I had in a column last week. I misunderstood the contract situations of Josh Powell and DJ Mbenga for next year, but the inimitable salary-cap guru Larry Coon thankfully set me straight, and the Lakers PR staff confirmed it for me, so we can correct it for the record.

The Lakers have a team option on Mbenga and Powell for next season, each for $959,111. However both players' salaries are unguaranteed if waived by June 30 (Mbenga) or July 1 (Powell). They can be free agents if the Lakers choose to waive them.

Lakers guard Shannon Brown was served papers in a civil case filed against him in Denver before the team's Game 6 win over the Nuggets Friday, Brown's agent Mark Bartelstein confirmed Sunday afternoon.

Brown is being sued in civil court for an alleged sex-related incident a Denver woman claims took place in late January, while Brown was still a member of the Charlotte Bobcats. He was traded to the Lakers on February 7.

Bartelstein said that Denver prosecutors investigated the incident but it ``was dismissed very quickly.''

``We did our own investigation and came to the same conclusion,'' Bartelstein said. ``I find it sad that now when he's having success, someone is going to come after him with a civil charge.

``The authorities looked at it and found no basis. I just think it's kind of sad what goes on in our society. These guys have some success and now someone is going to come after him in civil court. That's why I want to get out there and publicly make sure people know what the situation is.''

Brown will be an unrestricted free agent in the offseason. He has been a surprising star during the Lakers playoff run, coming off the bench as a defensive stopper and making highlight-reel dunks that have endeared him to fans. He is averaging 5.7 points in the playoffs.

``Right now he's enjoying every moment of being a Laker,'' Bartelstein said. ``His entire focus is on trying to win a championship. He's hoping to have a long career with the Lakers.''

Here are a few statistics on the Lakers and the NBA Finals, as unearthed by the crack statistical researchers in the league office:

The Lakers have reached the Finals for the 30th time, the most in NBA history. The Boston Celtics are second with 20 appearances. The Lakers are in search of their 15th league championship, which would bring them within two of Boston's NBA best of 17. ... The Lakers have advanced to the Finals six times in this decade, winning in 2000, '01 and '02 and losing in '04 and '08. ... They have made the Finals in consecutive seasons 10 times.

Here's a followup of Jerry West's reaction to the reaction of his Kobe-LeBron comments in an interview I had with Jerry West today.

Here are the dates, sites and times (all games on Channel 7 and KSPN-710 radio):

Game 1: Thursday at Staples Center, 6 p.m. PDT.
Game 2: Sunday at Staples Center, 5 p.m.
Game 3: June 9 at Orlando, 6 p.m.
Game 4: June 11 at Orlando, 6 p.m.
Game 5: June 14 at Orlando, 5 p.m. (if necessary).
Game 6: June 16 at Staples Center, 6 p.m. (if necessary).
Game 7: June 18 at Staples Center, 6 p.m. (if necessary).

DENVER -- Fairly subdued postgame atmosphere inside the Lakers' locker room after they defeated the Denver Nuggets tonight and advanced to the NBA Finals for the 30th time in franchise history. The general consensus was: "That's nice. Now let's win the title."

Kobe Bryant on the journey back to the Finals:
"Much, much tougher. Much more physical. Mentally challenging for us. But we gained valuable experience, went through a roller coaster of emotions. You win one, lose one at home, then dealing with that day, the travel and then to come up in a hostile environment and try to win Game 3. Those are things that make you tougher."

Pau Gasol on the hurt of losing to Boston last June:
"You don't really think about the loss of last year. But we think about how hard we have been working all year long to get this far and to have the opportunity to win the championship. I think that's what went through my mind a couple of times when I thought I was a little too tired or a little fatigued here or there. I'm, like, 'Look, you've got to toughen up, gotta dig deep and get whatever you have out there because that's what my team needs.'"

Coach Phil Jackson on the Lakers' play in Game 6:
"We saved our best game for last here, or maybe we caught our opponent a little off stride in tonight's game. But we had the momentum almost from the beginning of the game on. A lot of precise work tonight, even though there was 11 turnovers in the first half. I thought we moved the ball the right way and got the ball in the places we could operate. Defensively, still one of those things were the coach is never totally happy with the defense, but we were able to shut them down from running, and that's a big part of their game."

In case you're wondering, assistant coach Brian Shaw has the scout for Orlando and Frank Hamblen has the scout for Cleveland.

Hamblen, incidentally, had the scout for Denver. Which means he'll either be tired, or on a roll.

LUKE WALTON:

``This is very, very big. this is one of the best team's we've played against. This year, last year, whenever, and to come on their home court where the last few months of the season and the playoffs they were pretty much unbeatable, to put a whole 48 minutes together and have the lead from start to finish is impressive and i think it shows a lot about our team. ''

GAME 6 box
FIRST QUARTER
Trevor Ariza gets the Lakers off to a hot start, scoring 10 points in the quarter including two, 3-pointers and a highlight-reel reverse dunk. Andrew Bynum gets into foul trouble early again.

LAKERS 25, NUGGETS 20

SECOND QUARTER
J.R. Smith sparks the Nuggets with eight of his 13 first-half points in the second quarter, earning them their first lead of the game with a 10-foot jumper to make it 31-30. The Lakers then got on a 22-10 run to close out the half, capped by Kobe Bryant's 3-pointer as time expires.

LAKERS 53, NUGGETS 40

It's a month away and there's still quite a bit of basketball to be played before then, but I thought I'd pass along some information on Jordan Farmar's charity golf event this summer. For $100 you can tee off with the Lakers point guard or check out some of Lamar Odom's clothing line at the accompanying fashion show.

Pretty decent foundation Jordan has got going... check out the rest of the release below:

Los Angeles Lakers star Jordan Farmar and friends are coming together for two days this summer for the inaugural Jordan Farmar Celebrity Golf Classic and Gala benefiting The Jordan Farmar Foundation. A few of the projects in which the foundation is involved include Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA, Seeds of Peace Camp, Peres Peace Center Basketball Clinics, and more.

The Gala will be held on Sunday, July 19, 2009 at TenTen Wilshire in downtown L.A. and the Golf Classic will be held on Monday, July 20, 2009 at the prestigious Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, California.

With the help of partners that include adidas, Venom Energy Drinks, Chipotle, Core Performance, Golden Bird, Ed Hardy Eyewear, Visa Black Card, Ecover, Los Angeles Lakers, and many more, the Jordan Farmar Foundation plans to donate the funds to a few specially selected charitable organizations and projects.

An array of celebrities and athletes have been invited to lend their time and golf skills to raise awareness and funds, including comedian/actor George Lopez, musician/actor Justin Timberlake, actors Jack Nicholson, Denzel Washington, Will Smith, and Rob Morrow, soccer icon Mia Hamm, musician Flea, MLB greats Kenny Lofton, Royce Clayton and Darryl Strawberry, UCLA coach Ben Howland, Lakers' teammates Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom, Andrew Bynum, Luke Walton, Trevor Ariza, Derek Fisher, and others.

The Golf Classic and Gala also invites the general public to give back by purchasing a spot or foursome in the golf tournament and/or purchasing tickets to the Gala featuring a live music performance by a special guest, a fashion show featuring Lamar Odom's clothing line Astor and Black, Elevee Clothing, Lrg, and more. A limited number of tickets, both VIP and general, are now on sale for the Gala and a limited number of single and foursome golf spots are available now.

"I've been given a great opportunity to give back to the community I grew up in," said Farmar, a Taft High School standout, UCLA star and now, Lakers point guard. "With the help of my friends, sponsors, community leaders, and fellow Angelenos, we can all work together to create goodwill and raise awareness and funds to give the less fortunate more in this world."

General admission tickets for the Gala are $100 with VIP tickets at $125 and are on sale now as well as golf tournament single spots and foursomes. To participate in the Gala and/or Golf Tournament, please visit Jordan's website ( HYPERLINK "http://www.farmarlive.com" www.farmarlive.com) or call 310.473.5445. All tax-deductible proceeds will benefit The Jordan Farmar Foundation.

About The Jordan Farmar Foundation
The Jordan Farmar Foundation was established in 2008 in order to make a positive impact on the community that Jordan grew up in. The Jordan Farmar Foundation supports charitable programs that build value, develop character, create opportunities, and foster positive attitudes, with an emphasis on youth programs in Southern California.

A few of the projects in which the foundation is involved in include Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA, Seeds of Peace Camp, Peres Peace Center Basketball Clinics, and more.

An anonymous Denver Nuggets player claimed the Lakers paid $50,000 to win Game 5 of the Western Conference finals Wednesday night at Staples Center. He did not reveal who received the money or who wrote the check. Or, whether it was in cash.

The implication was clear, however.

The Nugget believed the referees were paid to call the game in the Lakers' favor, a charge the Lakers dismissed Thursday. The Nuggets were whistled for 30 fouls compared to 22 for the Lakers. Denver shot 30 free throws, and the Lakers shot 35.

"The Lakers paid $50,000 to win that game. They got their money's worth," a Nugget told the Denver Post newspaper after Game 5, not wishing to be identified for fear of receiving a fine from the league.

Denver coach George Karl wasn't pleased with the officials' work in Game 5. He was upset because he believed Lakers coach Phil Jackson campaigned for calls after he criticized the referees after Game 4. It wasn't as if the Nuggets got jobbed by the refs, though. They had more fouls than the Lakers, 30-22. The Lakers shot more free throws, 35-30. But it wasn't as if the numbers were skewed dramatically in the Lakers' favor.

Here's what Karl had to say:

"There's a home-court edge and intensity to the game. I thought they (the Lakers) got the benefit of the whistle. But it just seems like (it's) very frustrating for me to sit here and have to worry about every -- like there's gamesmanship in the press conference on refereeing. I wish it wasn't -- that's not part of coaching for me.

"I mean, Melo (Carmelo Anthony) got beat up tonight. And the same type of attitude and actions that we had that got us to the rim and got us a lot of easy baskets. ... Tonight, they defended better, at least from the standpoint of the scoreboard. The stat sheet says they defended better. They blocked more shots. We didn't get as many paint points.

"But I'm not sure that's the case. And I think there's some good things that my team did, that for three quarters it was a pretty evenly matched game. I think it will be very easy to get my team ready to play for Game 6.

"I'm not going to get fined. I'm not going to get into the game of -- Phil is much better at it than I am, so much more philosophical about the whistle and how it changed. It was a very difficult whistle to play, play in the game. No question about that. Every player in my locker room is frustrated, from guards to big guys.

"Look at the stat sheet. (Pau) Gasol goes after at least 20 jump shots, 20 shots to the rim and gets one foul. Our big guys have 16. I don't know. Nene has six fouls, three or four of them don't exist. And it's frustrating when you take one of your best big guys off the court for that many minutes.

"But, again, it just seems like, I think (Orlando coach) Stan Van Gundy says it right. In the postgame, we're lobbying for the league to help us with the refereeing. And this is too good of a series. It's two good teams competing that we're sitting here just confused by the whistle."

FIRST QUARTER
Chauncey Billups was off to a good start by making all three of his shots and scoring nine points. Kobe Bryant took just two shots. The physical play that has defined the series has marked this game, too. Denver outrebounded the Lakes, 14-9.
Lakers 25, Nuggets 25

SECOND QUARTER
The Lakers bench was solid as it made 5 of 12 shots. Bryant took just two shots again. Carmelo Anthony scored 10 points, but the Nuggets had just two offensive rebounds. Sasha Vujacic made a 3-pointer with 3 seconds left to tie the game.
Lakers 56, Nuggets 56

THIRD QUARTER
Shannon Brown made two consecutive baskets, including an unbelievable one-handed dunk over Chris Anderson. Lamar Odom, who played extensively at point guard, followed the dunk with a 3-pointer. The Nuggets squandered a six-point lead. Pau Gasol took and made just one shot.
Lakers 76, Nuggets 76

FOURTH QUARTER
The Lakers dunked over the Nuggets at will and won the physical battle. Kobe Bryant was whacked in the face by Carmelo Anthony, then calmly made both free throws. The Nuggets made just four field goals in this span.
Lakers 103, Nuggets 94

HERO
Lamar Odom
Odom had a double-double with 19 points, 14 rebounds, three assists and four blocks. Odom was in a groove. The highlight of the night was Odom's dunk over Chris Anderson to give the Lakers an 81-76 lead. Odom even showed his versatility by playing a little point guard in the second half.

GOAT
George Karl
The Nuggets coach said before Wednesday's game that it's difficult for the team that loses Game 5 to overcome it. Asked what his team would think if they lost and heard he said that, Karl stammered that his players don't know what he says in the pre-game chats. Hellllo, George! There's this thing called the Internet.

STAT
4
The number of shots Kobe Bryant took in the first half. Bryant had two in the first quarter and two in the second. This was a good thing in that the bench was more involved and made 5 of 12 shots in the second quarter. And Bryant did his thing in the third quarter, making two shots in the first three minutes.

QUOTE
``Somewhere over the last six weeks, we've become the bad boys of the NBA ... I think we want to play aggressive basketball. What was Phil's term? Unsportsmanlike? I don't think we're unsportsmanlike.''
-- Nuggets coach George Karl on the physical nature of his team

THIRD QUARTER
Shannon Brown made two consecutive baskets, including an unbelievable one-handed dunk over Chris Anderson. Lamar Odom, who played a lot of point guard, followed the dunk with a 3-pointer. The Nuggets squandered a six-point lead.
Lakers 76, Nuggets 76

SECOND QUARTER
The Lakers bench was solid as it made 5 of 12 shots. Bryant took just two shots again. Carmelo Anthony scored 10 points, but the Nuggets had just two offensive rebounds. Sasha Vujacic made a 3-pointer with 3 seconds left to tie the game.
Lakers 56, Nuggets 56

FIRST QUARTER
Chauncey Billups was off to a good start with nine points. Kobe Bryant took just two shots. The physical nature that has been the theme of the series was in full swing, and the officials were letting them play.
Lakers 25, Nuggets 25

After Monday's Game 4, Kenyon Martin rather famously informed his teammate Dahntay Jones that ``You made it,'' because he'd been called a dirty player by national television commentators and the Lakers.

Well, Lakers guard Trevor Ariza is also havign a ``you made it'' moment, but for far more glamourous reasons. He's featured in this week's Sports Illustrated. Lots of really compelling stuff in there, beautifully written as always, by the excellent Lee Jenkins.

OK, I'll admit it. I was totally dragging today at practice. Even after my relatively late morning flight home from Denver. By NBA standards, a 9:40 a.m. flight home is on the late side.

It wasn't until reading Jon Saraceno's article in USA Today, which had been conveniently left in the press room, that I realized why. The Lakers had just played their 11th game in 22 days. Which means that we sportswriters had just covered our 11th game in 22 days, not to mention the practices and shootarounds in between.

Now, I don't have Dahntay Jones tripping me on the way to the pressbox, or Kenyon Martin grabbing my arm as I make my way to the lockeroom, but that's a whole lot of games, travel and basketball in 22 days.

In other words, you can imagine why the entire local and national media seemed fixated on how tired everyone was after the two hard fought games in Denver.

You'll have to excuse me then, if I don't do more to set up this quote from Lakers quote Phil Jackson, on how tired his team is and whether fatigue is playing a factor in the series:

``It's possible. But you know we're really trying to take care of our players in the process between,'' Jackson said. ``Guys are doing anything from ice baths to massage, to we're not asking players to play over 35 minutes, 30 minutes, really, to do anything physical.
So there's a recovery period, and they have to take care of themselves in that period and we hope they're doing that off site here.

``But we think that they can respond to this. We're not going to use it as an excuse.''

JR Smith was excited. That much was easy to see from his emotional reaction to each of the four 3-pointers he nailed in Denver's Game 4 win over the Lakers Monday night.

Then he began dancing, doing the ``Funky Chicken'' right in front of the Lakers bench, and not all of the Lakers shared in his enthusiasm.

``I don't know if i'm supposed to say (this), but it pissed people off,'' Trevor Ariza said. ``They hit some shots late in the game, when the game was over, and they got excited about that ... that's cool.''

Busy, busy day for Stu Jackson, the NBA's punishment czar who is no relation to Lakers coach Phil Jackson. Jackson fined Jackson and the Lakers $25,000 each for the coach's critical comments about the officiating in Game 4. Jackson also downgraded Andrew Bynum's flagrant-1 foul against Denver's Chris Andersen to a simple personal foul. He then assessed a flagrant-1 foul against the Nuggets' Dahntay Jones for tripping Kobe Bryant. Publicly, the Lakers were mum on the subject when asked if the Nuggets had crossed the line with their physical play. Privately, they were incensed. Game 5 is Wednesday.

Honestly, it's amazing he has held his tongue this long:

DENVER -- He has tried being polite. Tried to hint, to make his point with his play, to let the Lakers coaching staff correct what is so obviously wrong in games like Monday night's 120-101 loss to the Nuggets in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals.

But polite isn't working.

Actually, polite is hurting the team.

And so Pau Gasol finally dropped the nice act after Monday's unnecessary loss and said what has become clear as the crisp air here in the Rocky Mountains.

``I wish we would take more advantage of our height and the inside game, because it's pretty effective. It's unfortunate that we don't recognize it enough,'' the 7-foot Gasol said after making eight of his 11 shots, but watching his teammates jack up a ridiculous 31 shots from behind the 3-point arc.

``I don't know what to do anymore to be able to get a couple more looks. Like I said, I've been pretty effective all season long, and in the playoffs, and I want to continue to be able to help us have a better chance of winning ball games. I think I've been doing that. I just haven't had a chance to do it enough.''

In the four games of this series, Gasol is shooting an efficient 62.5 percent from the field, making 25 of his 40 shots from the field.

And yet in the second half of Monday's loss, as the Lakers were trying to rally and win a game that could've given them a stranglehold on the best-of-seven series, he took just four shots.

Lakers coach Phil Jackson offered little by way of explanation. Asked if there was any reason Gasol didn't get the ball more, Jackson said: ``No. You can ask him when he comes in about it.

``Some of it is ball movement. Some of it is their defense. Some of it is their help defense that's coming down. Some of it, I'm sure is the amount of touches he's actually getting in the post.''

In nearly every series they play, the Lakers have a dominant size advantage over their opponent. Gasol stands 7-feet tall, Andrew Bynum is a shade north of that and Lamar Odom is 6-foot-10.

But against these Nuggets, whose tallest starter is the 6-foot-11 Nene, you'd hardly even notice.

Monday night, Gasol and Bynum combined to make 14 of their 18 shots. Denver's far less talented and polished front court players, Kenyon Martin (5 of 11, 13 points) and Nene (5 of 8, 14 points) took one more shot as the Lakers All-Star power forward and future All-Star center.

FIRST QUARTER
Carmelo Anthony is stone cold from the floor, missing his first eight shots from the field. Nene and Kenyon Martin combine for 13 points and 10 rebounds. The Lakers are just as cold, getting nine points from Kobe Bryant and just 10 from everyone else

NUGGETS 22, LAKERS 19

SECOND QUARTER

The Nuggets to on an 8-0 to open the quarter and extend their lead out to as much as 39-24 before the Lakers come back. Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol lead the Lakers on a 18-6 run to cut into the lead.

NUGGETS 52, LAKERS 45

THIRD QUARTER

The Lakers resort to shooting a bunch of 3-pointers and it doesn't go well. Sasha Vujacic finally makes one, but it's too little too late. LA is 3-for-9 in the period from behind the arc, contributing to its poor overall shooting and embarrassing 47-29 rebounding deficit.

NUGGETS 77, LAKERS 66

FOURTH QUARTER

The Lakers hang around within striking distance until Denver goes on an 18-7 run to stretch the lead out to 120-99 on Dahntay Jones dunk with under a minute to go

HERO
JR Smith had had a rather miserable series until Monday night, scoring just 21 points on 25 percent shooting in the first three games. Monday night he turned all that around, shooting 7-of-19 from the field and nailing four 3-pointers to finish with 24 points. In a game where Carmelo Anthony was hobbled by an ankle injury and a stomach issue, the Nuggets could not have won without Smith.

GOAT
Hard to pick just one Laker as the team combined to shoot a wretched 9 of 31 from behind the 3-point arc and 24-of-35 at the free throw line. Kobe Bryant kept the Lakers in it with 34 points, so we'll forgive his 2-for-10 from behind the 3-point arc. Hard to overlook Derek Fisher's 1-for-5 though.

STAT
58-40
Margin by which the Nuggets out-rebounded the Lakers in Monday's 120-101 win. Twenty of those rebounds came off the offensive glass.

QUOTE

``I'm probably not going to be calling timeout if I don't have to. Because I think Odom is going to be covering the sonofa(gun), whoever I put in there.''

--Denver coach George Karl on whether he's drawn up any new inbounds plays after Trevo Ariza's two steals at the ends of Games 1 and 3.

The Lakers resort to shooting a bunch of 3-pointers and it doesn't go well. Sasha Vujacic finally makes one, but it's too little too late. LA is 3-for-9 in the period from behind the arc, contributing to its poor overall shooting and embarrassing 47-29 rebounding deficit.

Denver's Carmelo Anthony had to get fluids at halftime, and get his ankle re-taped. Word is Anthony was sick before the game, which is the reason he needed fluids.

The Nuggets to on an 8-0 to open the quarter and extend their lead out to as much as 39-24 before the Lakers come back. Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol lead the Lakers on a 18-6 run to cut into the lead.

Carmelo Anthony hurts his ankle about three times, but is able to stay in the game.

Carmelo Anthony is stone cold from the floor, missing his first eight shots from the field. Nene and Kenyon Martin combine for 13 points and 10 rebounds. The Lakers are just as cold, getting nine points from Kobe Bryant and just 10 from everyone else

Lamar Odom said he'll be wearing some extra padding on his bruised lower back in tonight's Game 4 vs. the Nuggets. He was not wearing anything substantial on it in Game 3 and paid the price on several occasions.

``I've you think about posting up or boxing out, I don't think anybody is purposely trying to elbow me or hit me in the back, but just in case they do, I go a little football pad (back there),'' Odom said.

Odom has been sore and bruised since injuring his back in a hard fall in Game 4 of the Houston series.

Denver coach George Karl said Sunday that the first three games of the series were so close, viewers at home watching without a scoreboard, may not have been able to tell who won the game.

``If you didn't have a scoreboard, took all three games and put them out there and say who won, I don't know, I think most people ‑‑ it would be a toss‑up,'' Karl said.

Then he went quite a bit further.

``People would say I think Denver played better,'' Karl said. ``If you saw it again, what I'm saying don't put a scoreboard on, just watch the games, I think you would think we were a better team.''

There were a lot of weary looking Lakers on the Pepsi Center court Sunday morning. This series, this season, has clearly taken a toll on them.

But as Pau Gasol said, ``It's definitely easier to recover when you win. You just have to keep your mindset aggressive and realize that if we win tommorrow we're going to have a huge advantage in this series and hopefully we'll be able to take it.''

Kobe Bryant said he took an IV yesterday after the game, then went straight to bed and slept until the team meeting at 10:30 a.m. When we chatted at practice, he again had a water bottle in his hand. He grabbed a seat along the courtside in order to rest his legs...

``My wife called me and said, `Man, you look like (crap), Get some sleep man,' '' Bryant joked. ``I didn't eat no breakfast or nothing. I just got home and slept until the meeting this morning. Brutal.''

Like Gasol though. Bryant seemed determined to find the energy to try and take Game 4 here tommorrow night.

``We've got two more series. We've just got to get through it,'' he said. ``There's two more series. We can be tired in August.''

DENVER -- The Lakers rallied for a victory in Game 3 tonight over the Nuggets, 103-97. Here's what they were saying after the Lakers took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-7 series:

Lakers coach Phil Jackson: "It was kind of a ragged game in many ways, with inconsistency. Both teams fed into it ... but we had the ability to pull it out. Trevor (Ariza) made a big steal down at the end and it changed the complexity of that game."

Jackson on what the Lakers did differently against Carmelo Anthony (21 points): "I'm not sure. I'm going to have to look at that on tape. He took a couple of jump shots that were contested. He had, I thought, a pretty good first half. The second half, he didn't play a lot because of foul trouble, but I think our identification was better on what he was going to do, on picks he was going to be coming off, where he wanted the ball, some those those things were much better tonight."

Kobe Bryant on his fatigue near the end of the game. Was it the altitude? The Nuggets' rugged defense against him? The wear and tear of a seven-game series against Houston and now this one? "It's a little bit of everything. I haven't had a break for three years now, and the team's been leaning on me, trying to beat me up, and I try to dish it out, too. that makes you tired, too. But you gotta do what you gotta do. And you need support, too, and Pau (Gasol) gave me the support I needed for about three straight plays. I didn't have anything (in the tank). I just laid on the baseline and tried to rest and Pau made some big shots, and bought me some time."

Denver guard Chauncey Billups: "It's very frustrating. Great opportunity we missed out on. We knew it was going to be tough. They (the Lakers) knew the importance of this game as well. you know, they played good. We played hard, but not smart most of the time in the game. I thought our offense was a little too impatient tonight, from everybody, from me all the way on down. ... And it hurt us. It hurt us in a lot of different ways."

FIRST QUARTER

The Lakers did exceedingly well at some of the things they worked on after Game 2. The got the ball into the lane, scored 14 points in the paint, played better transition defense, and got Derek Fisher's shot going. They did not however, shoot very well from the free throw line, shooting an atrocious 4-for-10 at the charity stripe in the first quarter. The Nuggets were 11-for-13 from the line, including 7-of-8 from Carmelo Anthony.

NUGGETS 28, LAKERS 26

SECOND QUARTER
Both teams allow way too much dribble penetration, but neither team shoots particularly well from the floor. Denver hits just eight of its 23 shots (39 percent), the Lakers make eight of 20 (40 percent). Denver goes on a 13-5 run to turn a 39-39 game into a 52-44 lead on Linus Kleiza's fast break dunk, but the Lakers close out the half well, getting a 3-pointer from Trevor Ariza and technical foul shot by Kobe Bryant to cut the lead back to four. Denver's Chris Andersen scores 10 points in the quarter.

NUGGETS 52, LAKERS 48

THIRD QUARTER

Two of the game's coldest shooters finally get hot. First Denver's JR Smith hits a 3-pointer after missing his first six shots, then the Lakers Sasha Vujacic hits a 3-pointer from the top of the key for his first field goal of the game. Smith drills another triple at the end of the quarter after beating Vujacic to a loose ball, sending the Pepsi Center crowd into a frenzy. The only good news for the Lakers is they manage to hold Carmelo Anthony scoreless in the period, he misses his only two shots and picks up his fourth foul.

NUGGETS 79, LAKERS 71

FOURTH QUARTER

The Lakers tighten up their defense, forcing the Nuggets to miss their first nine shots of the quarter, and allowing the Lakers to take the lead 83-81 on Kobe Bryant's 16-foot jumper with 6:46 to go. The Nuggets regain some composure, and even the lead, 95-93 on JR Smith's jumper with 1:30 to go, but Bryant isn't about to let the Lakers lose this game. He scores eight of the Lakers final 10 points, Trevor Ariza comes up with another big steal and the Pepsi Center crowd exits in stunned silence.

LAKERS 103, NUGGETS 97

HERO
It wasn't the dramatic, end of the game dagger like LeBron James hit Friday night to win Game 2 for the Cavaliers, but Kobe Bryant's 3-pointer over JR Smith with 1:08 remaining the game, was no less important. Bryant had 41 points on 12-of-24 shooting, but no shot was bigger than the 3-pointer he drained in front of Smith to give the Lakers a lead they would not relinquish. He scored eight of the Lakers final 10 points.

GOAT

After two stellar games in Los Angeles, Carmelo Anthony was a non-factor in the decisive second half in Game 3. He managed just three points after halftime, all on free throws before fouling out with 36 seconds remaining in the game. Anthony finished with just 21 points after scoring 72 in the first two games.

STAT

9

Consecutive shots missed by the Nuggets to start the fourth quarter. Denver's 79-71 lead evaporated within five and a half minutes.

Two of the game's coldest shooters finally get hot. First Denver's JR Smith hits a 3-pointer after missing his first six shots, then the Lakers Sasha Vujacic hits a 3-pointer from the top of the key for his first field goal of the game. Smith drills another triple at the end of the quarter after beating Vujacic to a loose ball, sending the Pepsi Center crowd into a frenzy. The only good news for the Lakers is they manage to hold Carmelo Anthony scoreless in the period, he misses his only two shots and picks up his fourth foul.

DENVER -- Trevor Ariza is suffering from hip and groin pain after taking a tumble midway through the third quarter. He was driving to the basket when he crashed-landed on the court. He was in the locker room being treated for his injury. He returned to the game to start the fourth quarter.

Both teams allow way too much dribble penetration, but neither team shoots particularly well from the floor. Denver hits just eight of its 23 shots (39 percent), the Lakers make eight of 20 (40 percent). Denver goes on a 13-5 run to turn a 39-39 game into a 52-44 lead on Linus Kleiza's fast break dunk, but the Lakers close out the half well, getting a 3-pointer from Trevor Ariza and technical foul shot by Kobe Bryant to cut the lead back to four. Denver's Chris Andersen scores 10 of his 13 first-half points in the second quarter.

The Lakers did exceedingly well at some of the things they worked on after Game 2. The got the ball into the lane, scored 14 points in the paint, played better transition defense, and got Derek Fisher's shot going. They did not however, shoot very well from the free throw line, shooting an atrocious 4-for-10 at the charity stripe in the first quarter. The Nuggets were 11-for-13 from the line, including 7-of-8 from Carmelo Anthony.

Kobe Bryant and his wife are accusing their former housekeeper of violating her contract by talking to the media about the family’s private affairs after suing them for allegedly harassing and humiliating her, the Associated Press reported.

The countersuit filed Friday in Orange County Superior Court says Maria Jimenez violated a confidentiality agreement she signed when she came to work for the Los Angeles Lakers star and his wife.

The court filing calls Jimenez’s allegations that she was denied health insurance and was forced to quit because of intolerable working conditions specious and frivolous.

The Bryants’ attorney Jon G. Daryanani said he did not have any further comment on the suit.

I had a really interesting talk with Derek Fisher earlier in the week, talking about the 2004 Lakers team and some of the things he learned from the experiences that crazy bunch had....

Click here for the link:

Or, for a quick preview, here's a short excerpt:

Like the championship teams of the early part of this decade, Fisher said he thinks the current team is constructed to have an opportunity to win this year, next year and even a few years after that.

"I had an appreciation for them then, but I think I relate to them more now. I don't see this as my last stand, but obviously I'm much closer to the end of my career than the beginning, so I would never want an opportunity like last year's or this year's to just kind of slip by as if, "Oh well, five years from now I'll get that back."'

Here's some stuff from Phil Jackson and Kobe Bryant after today's practice.

Q: Are you concerned about having to match them more than they have to match you? Jackson: "No. I'm not that concerned about it."

Q: Any big adjustments for Game 3?
Jackson: "They won, but these were both very close games. It's not like the bottom fell out of the ocean just because we lost this ballgame. We had a game. We lost our shot to win the game, obviously, on a couple of plays down the stretch. We're OK. What we have to do is get more physical with this team, and that's a hard thing to say because it's a physical basketball club. Just being able to play through a physical game without letting it affect our cuts, our activity level. They're jamming up the cutters. We're not able to keep the movement going that facilitates our offense."

Q: What's your road strategy?
Jackson: "You definitely know you're going to have to play a tighter game turnover-wise. You can't be quite as loose. We can't get involved in a 25 3-point shot attempt-type of ballgame. Our spacing has to be better. We have to dramatize our spacing in this ballgame. And our activity level has to be better."

Q: What about the altitude in Denver?
Jackson: "I think they're effected by it, but it's not a factor that's going to change the outcome of the game. They've been here for four or five days. The body changes in a period of 36 to 48 hours."

Bryant's opening statement: "You've just got to respond to the challenge. It's the playoffs. It's not easy for anybody. Denver is a great team, and so are we."

Q: Do you expect the Nuggets to be even better at home?
Bryant: "Much better. They'll be playing looser, with more confidence, more energy, more aggression. I think we played hard. I don't think they outhustled us or anything like that. They got to the free throw line and created easy opportunities for themselves at the end of the ballgame. It's always been a tough place to play. They had a great home record last season, too. This season is no different."

Q: Does the series feel as close as it looks?
Bryant: "We've had two really close ballgames, great ballgames to watch. ... It does feel that close. It's different from the last series, when we had these big leads and milked the games away. This series is not like that. We know what they're capable fo doing. Now it's about stopping them, which is harder to do because it's the Western Conference finals. It's not the first round or the second round."

Q: Who makes the next move?
Bryant: "The team that loses. It's on us. It's always the team that losses that makes the adjustments. It's kind of a back-and-forth thing.

Q: What about Carmelo Anthony asking to guard you down the stretch?
Bryant: "I rubbed off on him. To be a great player you've got to play both ends of the floor. You've got to be able to do everything. I told him all summer long, you've got the talent to do both, don't do just one. He seems to be responding to that challenge. ... It adds to the competition, to the excitement."

Q: How do you get your big men more involved in Denver?
Bryant: "We've got to stop their big men, that's first and foremost. We've got to stop them from being as effective as they've been. As far as ours go, Pau (Gasol) did a good job for us last night, both on the boards and his production. We've just to get some more of that. It's funny Game 2 comes down to some plays down the stretch, some calls here and there and some calls here and there. Now it's like we have to re-invent the wheel. We'll just do what we do."

Q: How do you stop Chauncey Billups?
Bryant: "Keep them out of the bonus. They get into the bonus early, then Chauncey starts running into people. He draws contact. Those are some of the things we need to prevent."

The Lakers failed to hold homecourt advantage in the Western Conference finals. They dropped Game 2 to the Denver Nuggets, 106-103, tonight at Staples Center, losing a game they could have won but didn't. They swapped places with the Nuggets, who could have won Game 1 on Tuesday, but didn't. The series shifts to Denver for Game 3 on Saturday and Game 4 on Monday. Game 5 is Wednesday back at Staples.

Not too much difference between the teams in either game. Trevor Ariza had a big steal to help the Lakers win Game 1. Kobe Bryant made six straight free throws in crunch time. In Game 2, they failed to make the big plays. The Nuggets snared a couple of loose balls and Chauncey Billups made three of four free throws in the closing seconds.

Derek Fisher missed a 3-pointer over the outstretched hands of Nene that could have tied the score at 106-all. Fisher's shot was woefully short, however. Fisher scored only three points on 1-for-9 shooting, which begs the question: why him? Well, Lakers coach Phil Jackson said he figured the Nuggets would just foul Bryant if the ball went to him on an inbounds play with 4.3 seconds remaining. So, Luke Walton passed it to Fisher.

"I had a pretty good look at it," Fisher said after the game. "I figured they were going to try to foul to prevent us from shooting a 3. I think I got rid of it a little quicker than I probably had to. Definitely don't want to put yourself in a position where you need that kind of shot to try and tie the game."

Now, it's off to Denver.

Kobe Bryant started Game 2 tonight needing only 15 points to tie Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for second place on the Lakers' all-time playoff scoring list with 4,070 points. Bryant passed Magic Johnson (3,701 points) for third place earlier in the postseason. Jerry West holds the Lakers record for playoff points with 4,457. West also is fifth on the NBA's all-time playoff scoring list.

UPDATE: Bryant passed Abdul-Jabbar when he scored on a layup to give the Lakers a 49-36 lead late in the first half. The basket gave Bryant 16 points in the game and 4,071 in his career in the postseason.

Report out of Sacramento this evening says that the Kings have requested permission to speak with Lakers assistant Kurt Rambis.

Rambis interviewed with Philadelphia for its coaching vacancy Monday.

The report indicated the Lakers will give their permission, but would prefer the interview take place between playoff series' or after the Lakers have been eliminated by Denver.

EL SEGUNDO -- And all along, we thought the only wrestling going on the Western Conference Finals would be under the baskets as the Lakers and Nuggets fought for rebounds.

Though Game 1 Tuesday night was rugged, it turned out to be nothing compared to the behind-the-scenes wrestling between WWE chairman Vince McMahon and Kroenke Sports Enterprises over a scheduling conflict at Denver's Pepsi Center.

Wednesday, the WWE laid the smackdown on the arena ... with a little help from an unexpected tag team partner as the Staples Center jumped into the ring.

The arena, owned by Kroenke Sports, had been scheduled to host the WWE Monday Night RAW event, but ran into conflict when the Nuggets advanced to the conference finals and Game 4 was scheduled for the same Monday.

``They bumped us right out of the building, hardly an apology," McMahon said Wednesday. ``They didn't do anything for us at all, and the media was talking about someone has to write a check. They didn't want to write anything and they wanted to give us a Sunday night. And the name of the show is Monday
Night Raw.''

Staples Center spokesman Michael Roth said that his group approached the WWE when news of the schedule conflict surfaced.

``WWE has been a good partner for Staples and when we saw they were having a scheduling conflict, we reached out to them,'' Roth said. ``We were really pleased our schedule allowed us to accomodate WWE and their shows for Monday and Tuesday.''

Tickets for the Staples Center event went on sale at 8 p.m. Wednesday and will be available until they are sold out. Roth said previous WWE shows have done well at the arena.

More than 10,000 tickets had been sold to the now-cancelled Denver event, but fans with tickets can get a refund through Ticketmaster or exchange them for tickets to a new show set for Aug. 7 at the Denver Coliseum.
Not that this story is settled just yet.
The always-bombastic McMahon hinted that there will be a confrontation between himself and an actor posing as Stan Kroenke, owner of the Nuggets and the Pepsi Center.
Kroenke Sports issued a statement Wednesday afternoon that asserted WWE had gone back on a verbal agreement to reschedule the show for Sunday night.
"We had hoped for, and worked hard toward an amicable resolution - which we verbally had on Tuesday," said KSE Executive Vice President Paul Andrews.  "It's unfortunate and disappointing that WWE executives ultimately chose this path.  The sensationalism employed by WWE in this instance is not surprising.  The amount of publicity and coverage enjoyed by their group over the last few days has clearly become their new business goal instead of finalizing what we thought was a favorable solution and would have ultimately allowed their fans to attend the event." 

Two things about the final play of the Lakers' victory over the Denver Nuggets in Game 1 on Tuesday night. First, after talking to Kobe Bryant after practice today, he did not dribble out of traffic after snaring the rebound of J.R. Smith's free throw with 3.2 seconds left. He leaped out of the paint and then did kind of a pivot move that he admitted might have been traveling. Second, after Smith made the first free throw to cut the Lakers lead to 105-103, he missed the second one off the front of the rim on purpose. I had written in print that it was the back of the rim because no one in their right might would ever try to miss it short on purpose. If you miss it long, it bounces around and your team might get it. If you miss it short, it's an airball and a whistle and the Lakers' ball automatically. So, there you go.

Here are a couple of injury updates that got lost in the shuffle in the aftermath of Game 1. The Lakers' Trevor Ariza was hit in the groin and wasn't feeling great afterwards. No kidding, right? He limped out of the locker room more than an hour after the final buzzer. Denver's J.R. Smith suffered a hyper-extended knee, according to Nuggets coach George Karl. Ariza and Smith were injured during that mad scramble for the ball after Smith missed the second of two free throws with 3.2 seconds left in the Lakers' 105-103 victory.

The Lakers came up with the big plays to beat the Denver Nuggets in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals tonight at Staples Center. They refused to say they stole the game from the Nuggets, but I will say it for them. They stole the game from the Nuggets.

Here's some of the postgame chatter from both locker rooms:

Lakers coach Phil Jackson: "We kind of won that game just on energy and gutting it out, finding a way to get some stops at the end of the game and make some plays at the other end of the floor, some big ones. I think they outplayed us, but we won the game."

Denver coach George Karl: "I'm not going to analyze it, They (the Lakers) are a great team. They were great in the game. They have the best closer in the sport (Kobe Bryant), and we didn't do enough. We didn't do enough to win the game."

Bryant, who scored 18 of his team-leading 40 points in the fourth quarter: "We just had to gut it out. It was a tough game. We were down virtually the whole game. We just had to dig deep a little bit and see if we couldn't pull it out. ... It's a little bit of desperation. You have to have that. It's a sense of urgency. It's not sit back and let the game come to us. Now is the time, the moment. This is what we've been waiting for all year."

Denver's Carmelo Anthony, who had 39 points: "I'm sitting up here thinking that we had a lot of chances to win the basketball game. I know a lot of people think it came down to that steal (Trevor Ariza's interception of Anthony Carter's inbounds pass with 30.5 seconds remaining). But us missing 12 free throws, (coming out on the wrong side of) 22-10 on second-chance points. That's a lot. You can't win no game like that."

The Lakers were down by seven points midway through the fourth quarter, but Kobe Bryant took over the game. Bryant scored 18 of his 40 points in the fourth quarter. He made all nine of his free throw attempts, including six in the final 30 seconds. He also had the rebound on a missed free throw in the game's waning seconds.
Trevor Ariza had the play of the night. The Lakers were nursing a two-point lead with 30 seconds left, and Phil Jackson put Ariza back in the game for his defense. Great call. Ariza stepped in front of Chauncey Billups and stole Anthony Carter's inbounds pass. On that possession, Kobe Bryant was fouled and made both of his free throws with 10 seconds left to give the Lakers a 103-99 lead.

THIRD QUARTER
The quarter started with Kobe Bryant missing a long-range jumper and Andrew Bynum fouling Anthony (for his fourth foul). It didn't get much better as the Lakers had embarrassing miscues with 8-second and 3-second violations and were booed during a turnover-happy stretch.
Nuggets lead 76-74

SECOND QUARTER
The Lakers came storming back even though Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum picked up their third fouls. Anthony was held in check and was assessed a technical foul. Derek Fisher made a baseline 3-pointer at the end of the half to give the Lakers the lead.
Lakers 55, Nuggets 54 halftime

Kurt Rambis confirmed an Associated Press report that he has interviewed with the Philadelphia 76ers. After he left the pre-game warmups, I asked him how his interview with Philadelphia went today. He said: ``It wasn't today.'' He confirmed there was an interview but said he had no further comment as he hurried into the Lakers locker room.

FIRST QUARTER
Carmelo Anthony was on fire, making 7 of 8 shots for 16 points. He already had more points in one quarter than he averaged in each of the previous four regular-season games against the Lakers. The Lakers starters missed 13 of 21 shots.
Nuggets 31, Lakers 23

If you're coming to Game 1 tonight against Denver, give yourself a little extra time and bring a little extra money for parking. The finale of "American Idol" is going on across the street from Staples Center and the streets are clogged with "Idol" fans. Parking at the Convention Center garage is almost gone. Plus, I forked over $25 instead of the usual $12. Can you say, price gouging, boys and girls? Anyway, you've all been warned.

Wow, interesting story out of Washington DC today. Jerry West, architect of the Lakers three world titles at the beginning of this decade, and the man credited with ``discovering'' Kobe Bryant told Reuters Monday that LeBron James has surpassed him.

"If I had to have somebody make a last-second shot, it would be Kobe Bryant," said West, architect of the great Lakers teams from Magic Johnson years in the 1980s through the Shaquille O'Neal clubs of the early 2000s.

"But even though it's hard for me to be objective, because I brought Kobe to Los Angeles, I do think LeBron has surpassed Kobe as a player."

Crazy story out of Denver today

Sounds as if there's a real smackdown brewing in Game 4:

Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers are scheduled to be at the Pepsi Center in Denver next Monday night.

Problem is, so are John Cena and a bunch of wrestlers--and they called it first.

World Wrestling Entertainment said it is booked at the arena for an episode of Monday Night Raw, the same night the Nuggets are slated to host the Lakers in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals.

WWE chairman Vince McMahon told The Associated Press he doesn't believe there was "any malice, just ineptness," on the part of Kroenke Sports, which owns the team and the building, but can't tolerate the company "just simply throwing us out on our ear."

Without a quick resolution, McMahon plans to send his trucks to Denver.

"That's what we intend to do," he said. "We're going to show up."

WWE spokesman Robert Zimmerman said the organization secured the Pepsi Center last Aug. 15 and has already sold more than 10,000 tickets for the event. He says the organization expects a sellout, with tickets ranging from $20 to $70.

McMahon blamed Kroenke for not believing his team was good enough to still be playing in mid-May.

"The fans in Denver had a lot more faith in making the playoffs than the owner," he said in a phone interview from Louisville, where Raw was taking place later Monday night.

Denver is usually done with basketball by now. The Nuggets had lost in the first round five straight years, but as the No. 2 seed in the West are in the conference finals for the first time since 1985.

The folks at Nike still got game!

Here's another:

It's probably nothing, but the Lakers first two playoff opponent held their practices and shootarounds at the Clippers beautiful new practice facility in Playa Vista.

The Nuggets intend to practice Monday at Staples Center. Coincidence?

Here is a score-by-quarter analysis of the Lakers' 89-70 Game 7 victory over the Rockets and some other tidbits.

That was shockingly easy. So much for the drama of Game 7. The Lakers put the Rockets away early and kept their finger on them the rest of the game. Houston only cracked 70 on two late baskets by Kyle Lowry.

Pau Gasol was outstanding, scoring 21 points and pulling down 18 rebounds.

Andrew Bynum looked like Andrew Bynum again, with 14 and 6.

One day to bask in the glow of the win, then it's Denver in town for Game 1 on Tuesday.

The Lakers doubled their first-quarter lead with a double dose of defense in the second quarter. They were aggressive, quick and downright stingy.

Trevor Ariza and Andrew Bynum really came to play today. Ariza leads all scorers with 13 points while Bynum has eight points, five boards and two blocks shots. More importantly, he looks active defensively for the first time in a while.

Pau Gasol has 11 points and Von Wafer is keeping the Rockets in it with eight points off the bench.

Well, the battle of the first quarter here in Game 7 goes to the Lakers and so far in this series that's been a darn good omen. The team leading after the first quarter has won all six games.

Interesting note, the Lakers led 17-4 at one point, exactly the same score the Rockets led by in the first quarter of Game 4. Wonder if anyone will ask Rick Adelman if he was embarrassed after the game?

Relatively short practice this morning because of the early tip time for Sunday's Game 7, but the somber mood that descended upon the Lakers training facility after the Game 6 loss in Houston seemed to have lifted Saturday.

Game 7 is here, the first Game 7 since 2002, and the guys all seemed excited about it.

Yes, the season could end unbelievably early if they lose, but my impression from talking to the team today was that they were relaxed and excited, not tight and nervous. Just my impression.

Here's a quote from Sasha Vujacic, who quotes Shakespeare, in making his point. Who knew Hamlet had been translated into Slovenian?

``I think it's a good challenge for us. It's ``To Be or Not To Be,'' like Shakespeare said.

``We've got to deliver the first punch, we can't let them get going because the last six games whoever won the first quarter won the game. We've got to know that, we've got to change our mentality from the beginning.

``As a basketball player you have to love the pressure because that's what it's all about. you can't be scared at all.''

As he was talking to reporters, Luke Walton ran by and let out a loud scream as he entered the weight room.

``See, as you can see, my teammates and I are excited,'' Vujacic joked.

I have held off posting this because it was unclear which Lakers team would show up for Game 7 on Sunday. But after today's practice and media session, I have to think the good Lakers will come to play and the bad Lakers will stay home. Anyone who has seen the team play the last three games against the Houston Rockets knows what I'm talking about. I'm not much on predictions. I always cringe when a boss asks me to print one. But here goes: the Lakers will win Sunday and advance to play the Denver Rockets.

(Update: Rockets, Nuggets, Broncos, Avalanche, Coors... whatever).

Here's the Western Conference finals schedule:

Game 1, Tuesday at Staples Center, 6 p.m., ESPN.
Game 2, Thursday at Staples Center, 6 p.m., ESPN.
Game 3, Saturday at Denver, 5:30 p.m., Channel 7.
Game 4, May 25 at Denver, 6 p.m., ESPN.
Game 5 (if necessary), May 27 at Staples Center, 6 p.m., ESPN.
Game 6 (if necessary), May 29 at Denver, 6 p.m., ESPN.
Game 7 (if necessary), May 31 at Staples Center, 5:30 p.m., Channel 7.

The Lakers went into full video mode today (OK, everything's on DVD's now, but whatever, you get the idea, right?). They studied some stuff in advance of Game 7 on Sunday afternoon at Staples Center. Lakers coach Phil Jackson had them looking at the differences in shot selection. See how the Rockets' shots are in the paint and the Lakers' shot are outside the paint? There were a couple of other items of interest, too.

Luis Scola got the Rockets' pointed in the right direction by scoring 18 of his playoff career high of 24 points in the first half of Game 6 on Thursday night. Aaron Brooks, their speedy guard, kept them on the right course by scoring 15 of his 26 points in the second half. Asked who has been the greater threat, Scola or Brooks, Jackson said, "We're going to consider everyone a problem going into the game on Sunday."

The Lakers asked the NBA to review the technical foul called on Kobe Bryant late in the second quarter of Game 6, and league officials agreed to rescind it. Bryant was involved in a chest-bumping collision with Houston's Ron Artest with 2:03 remaining in the first half. Artest was whistled for a foul and Bryant got a technical. Bryant and Artest have had a couple of run-ins during the series, including a confrontation that led to Artest's ejection from Game 2. Artest believed Bryant had elbowed him and said so after attempts at justice with referee Bill Spooner didn't pan out.

The Lakers did not have a formal practice after their video session, which gave Lamar Odom a much-needed break from the court. He suffered a bruised back in Game 4 and has been sore ever since falling to the floor midway through the third quarter. "We hope he's improving," Jackson said of Odom, who had eight points and 14 rebounds in Game 6. "There's only an upside for him from here on. We're hopeful he comes back and plays with energy for us (Sunday in Game 7). He rebounded well (Thursday) night for us, so that was good."

Jackson said he might tweak his rotation for Game 7, but wasn't specific. Backup guard Sasha Vujacic suggested he might be the one whose playing time is given to others. Vujacic scored two points in only 6 1/2 minutes in Game 6.

Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinal series between the Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets was the most watched basketball game ever on ESPN.

The Rockets’ 95-80 victory on Thursday drew 7.35 million viewers, topping the 6.6 million that watched Miami beat Detroit in Game 6 of the 2006 Eastern Conference finals.

The game earned a 5.4 national rating and a 16.0 rating in Houston, ESPN’s highest local rating for an NBA telecast. ESPN’s audience for its six conference semifinal games is up 16 percent from last year.

The rating is the percentage of all homes with televisions tuned into a program, while the share is the percentage of all TVs in use at the time.

The Lakers last played a Game 7 in 2006, when they lost to the Phoenix Suns in the decisive game of their first-round series, 121-90, in Phoenix. The Lakers last won a Game 7 in 2002, when they defeat the Sacramento Kings in the decisive game of the Western Conference finals, 112-106, in overtime in Sacramento. The Lakers last played a Game 7 at home in 2000, when they defeated the Portland Trail Blazers in the decisive game of the conference finals, 89-84, at Staples Center. They went on to win NBA titles in 2000 and 2002. What will happen in Game 7 against Houston on Sunday is anyone's guess.

Much as we'd all like to believe age is just a number, these young Lakers seem bent on playing heartache to heartache here in Houston.

After the way they bounced back from their stunning swoon here at the Toyota Center last Sunday, it appeared the Lakers were done with all their youthful indiscretions, or at least had learned from them.

But before the Rockets could even summon a bit of red glare Thursday night, the Lakers already seemed caught up in it. They trailed wire-to-wire and lost 95-80.

You thought the Sunday's first half was awful? Thursday's start to Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals was even worse, if only because the stakes were so much higher, and the previous mistake so much closer in the rear view mirror.

The Lakers didn't score a field goal until the first quarter was almost half over. Before they finished their first cup of Gatorade, the Rockets were up 17-1 and Luis Scola was making a bid for mayor.

It got so bad, the normally-patient Phil Jackson yanked Andrew Bynum and Trevor Ariza out of the game after just five and a half minutes, replacing them with Lamar Odom and Luke Walton, who played smarter and harder, but weren't all that much more effective at getting the road squad back into the game.

Of the under-25 set, only Jordan Farmar made a meaningful contribution to the bottom line, hitting back-to-back 3-pointers at the end of the first quarter to give the Lakers a faint pulse.

But the rest of the kids -- Sasha Vujacic, Andrew Bynum, Shannon Brown and Trevor Ariza -- could barely stay on the court, let alone make their mark on the game.

This being a closeout game, the Lakers seemed a bit edgier than they did in the Game 4 loss here.

After that one, their lack of panic nearly created a panic back home in Los Angeles.

But the calm front was just a front to protect the young guys' developing confidence.

``Most of the young guys are pretty mature. We have a good combination and good understanding with each other,'' Lakers forward Pau Gasol said. ``But the young guys get more affected by it the nerves and the attention. The older guys use that for motivation.

``We definitely didn't want to overreact (to the Game 4 loss). So us older guys have to keep the cool and tell the young guys that it's all good, that we just have to go out there and play the next game.''

Behind closed doors though, Lakers coach Phil Jackson went into Catholic -school-teacher mode.

``We watched a lot of film (after Game 4) and saw how gross that was,'' Luke Walton said. ``How easy they were penetrating our defense and getting kick out shots and lay-ups. As competitors you take that personal.''

That was apparent from the start of Game 5 back in Los Angeles Tuesday night, but once again it seemed to take the Lakers a full half of playoff basketball to channel that ire on Thursday.

It wasn't until the Rockets showed highlights of their Games 1 and 4 victories set to the cool, but quickly-being-overplayed ``Where Will Amazing Happen Next?'' slow-motion commercials, that the Lakers snapped to attention and went on a 16-2 run to cut the Rockets lead down to 54-52.

Unfortunately, by that point, the Rockets already had their confidence back and realized they weren't going to get steamrolled again.

Which set up a dramatic fourth quarter and had the sellout crowd here acting like they were attending an English Premier League game.

Dramatic, that is, to watch the Rockets hold off Kobe Bryant's inevitable fourth-quarter attempt to will his team to victory.

Not only could Bryant not bring the Lakers back, they fell further behind under the Rockets relentless pressure.

Which brings us to Game 7 on Sunday, and about the only good thing you can say about that is that it will take place in Los Angeles.

NBA commissioner David Stern met with the media here in Houston before Game 6 and had some interesting comments. Among them:

-- Stern said he was disappointed in the league's ``non-action'' in the Mark Cuban-Kenyon Martin affair and said he'd be suggesting some changes in the offseason, particularly in regard to arena security. Stern also said that he had called Cuban and asked him to ``reach out'' to Martin's family and help resolve the situation, which he said he thought had happened.

-- Stern admitted that the referees are ``human'' in the way they may or may not have called flagrant fouls on Ron Artest. ``I don't know that it's profiling, but I understand where Ron is coming from.''

-- As for the run on flagrant fouls and ejections in this postseason, Stern said we'd better get used to it. There will be no return to the Bad Boy days. ``No, no a thousand times no. ... We're not going back on my watch, that's from another time.''

-- He mentioned that broadcasters could do a better job of explaining the rules to the television audience. But in terms of players and coach's understanding the way the rules will be enforced, he said they will learn with time. But he thinks it's very important to protect the safety of players.

I'm just settling into the old hotel room here Houston, wrapping up a chat with the Houston Chronicle's Jonathan Feigen, and tracking down the latest from shoot-around, which wrapped up a little while ago.

Word is Lamar is still sore but will be ready to go tonight in Game 6. Considering how well Game 5's lineups worked, I'm expecting Bynum to start and Lamar to come off the bench. His minutes are supposed to be monitored, but he should still be able to play.

Kobe Bryant was named All-NBA First Team today, joining Cleveland's LeBron James, Orlando's Dwight Howard, Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki and Miami's Dwyane Wade. Bryant was selected to the team for the fourth consecutive season and the seventh time overall. Among the league's active players, only San Antonio's Tim Duncan (nine) and Phoenix's Shaquille O'Neal (eight) have been selected to the first team more times than Bryant.

In addition, Pau Gasol made the third team.

The Lakers were in no mood to celebrate their 118-78 victory tonight over the Houston Rockets in Game 5 at Staples Center. They were already looking forward to Game 6 on Thursday in Houston, when they can eliminate the Rockets with the victory and advance to play the winner of the Denver Nuggets-Dallas Mavericks second-round series.

Kobe Bryant, who scored 26 points, said:

"You've just got to stay focused and you have to understand that the effort that we had tonight is not going to be enough on Thursday night. It's just not. So, you've got to pick it up and bring more energy, bring more effort because that's what the playoffs are about."

Lamar Odom, who had 10 points and six rebounds despite playing with a bruised back, said:

"We can't get on our high horse. We have to put this game behind us. It was fun. ... I think we can always do it (play as well as they did). ... Teams look forward to playing one of the best teams in the league, especially our brand. We know the world is watching."

The line on this game was Lakers by 12 points. It sounded kinda high after the way the Lakers lost Game 4. Not so much any more. Lakers 64-37 with a minute to go in the half.

Lamar Odom is on the Lakers' active roster tonight for Game 5 against the Houston Rockets. Odom underwent treatment on his bruised back before the game and was not available for immediate comment. Coach Phil Jackson said he would start Odom if he was fit enough to play. But when he spoke with reporters 75 minutes before the opening tip, Jackson was unsure whether Odom could play. Odom was hurt when he fell after colliding with Shane Battier of the Rockets midway through the third quarter of Game 4 on Sunday.

The fine folks from Sports Illustrated's Website have put together a list of the best and worst owners in professional sports. Not surprisingly, Lakers owner Jerry Buss is among the five best owners and Clippers owner Donald T. Sterling is among the five worst. The criteria for judging included the team's success or failure, willingness to spend money, stability and capability of the front office and management, amenities at the team's venue, plus the club's culture and interactivity with the fans.

SI.com further broke it down into sports.

Top 5 owners in the NBA: 1 Buss, 2. Peter Holt (San Antonio Spurs), 3. Mark Cuban (Dallas Mavericks), 4. Les Alexander (Houston Rockets), 5 Dan Gilbert (Cleveland Cavaliers).

Worst 5: 1. Sterling, 2. Cablevision/James Dolan (New York Knicks), 3. Michael Heisley (Memphis Grizzlies), 4. Chris Cohan (Golden State Warriors), 5. Johnson/Jordan (Charlotte Bobcats).

Just got word that Lamar Odom is still a game-time decision with a sore back. He was able to do some things at shoot-around, but is still hurtin'

Not surprising at all. Did you really expect Phil Jackson to help the Rockets with their scouting report? This late in the playoffs, everything is close-to-the-vest.

Hey all,

The Houston Chronicle's Jonathan Feigen and I will be hosting a chat this morning at 9 a.m. (PST) to discuss anything and everything you could want to know about Tuesday's GAme 5 showdown between the Lakers and Rockets.

Lamar Odom has a promotion going on through his clothing company, Rich Soil, where anyone who buys the Lakers-inspired Rich Soil Creative Spirit t-shirt from now through Sunday, May 17th will be entered into a raffle to win two tickets for a Lakers playoff home game for the next series.

If the Lakers do not advance, the tickets will be for an upcoming regular season home game. The winner will be announced on Lamar's home page www.lamarodom.com as well as the Rich Soil Clothing site on Monday, May 18th at 10am Pacific. Again, this only applies to the Lakers-inspired shirt.

Lamar Odom underwent an MRI exam and a CT scan today, which revealed that the Lakers power forward has a bruised back. His status for Game 5 on Tuesday at Staples Center was termed questionable by a team spokesman. Odom was injured when he fell on his back midway through the third quarter of Game 4 on Sunday afternoon. It's possible Lakers coach Phil Jackson could start Luke Walton instead of Andrew Bynum if Odom isn't sound enough to play in Game 5.

HOUSTON -- Lamar Odom suffered back spasms after a hard fall with 6:01 left in the third quarter of Game 4 today. He was driving to the basket when Houston's Shane Battier intercepted him in the paint. They collided. Odom was charged with an offensive foul after falling onto his back. He left the game and, minutes later, left for the locker room. He will undergo tests and treatment today. His status for Game 5 on Tuesday is uncertain.

Did anyone see this coming?

Yes, you knew there was a chance the Lakers would have a letdown with the news that Yao Ming was out for the rest of the year. But you also kinda thought Houston would have a letdown too, right?

Not even close.

The Rockets absolutely pummeled the Lakers in this one, in what has to be considered one of the Lakers most embarrassing losses in years. Anyone can have an off game, but for a team with designs on winning a championship, this was anything but encouraging.

It's 90-71 Houston with 4:20 remaining and the only thing left to decide is just how big the final margin will be.

HOUSTON -- Lakers coach Phil Jackson and his staff had to adjust on the fly after learning late Saturday that Houston Rockets center Yao Ming suffered a broken left foot and is out for the rest of the playoffs. The Lakers' coaches had only hours to prepare for Game 4 today. Jackson said he cautioned his players against expecting the Rockets to roll over and play dead. He also said he felt bad for Yao, whose game was better than ever this season. Here's what Jackson had to say before Game 4:

"It's too bad, it's too bad. There's a guy (Yao) who has been in the best shape I've ever seen him in this season. We always thought if you ran Yao 30 or 32 minutes, he was going to fade in the game. This year he has shown he can play a 40-minute game and still have an impact. So, I know it's a great disappointment for him.

"My second reaction is I don't want my players thinking it's going to be an easy night. It's not going to be easy. They have a different role they play without him on the floor. They have played without him in the course of the year This is a team that does well with adversity. My players better or else they're going to be coming back here next week. They've had Mutombo in the background. But this is a much more mobile team. They're probably play with a faster pace. We have to anticipate that screen-and-role is going to be a feature. I suppose a lot of fans on our side will say that's great.

"I gave an example (to the players) when I was coaching against the Lakers in the first championship run, they were without Scott and Worthy in the last game of the Finals. And we had a bear of a game with Elden Campbell, who was out there, and Terry Teagle, who was a bench player that filled in for Scott. Things happen. Just because you have to replace a player doesn't mean that there's a void there.

"A person who was in physics once told me that if a man was 60-foot tall the first step he took he would completely crumble. Gravity is a bitch. The taller you are the more you have on you. It's just the life of what it is. I'm a living witness to it."

There's a part of you giggling, right?

A part of you sighing with relief.

You're a fan, that's natural. Just don't let anyone see you. And don't say it out loud if you believe in karma.

Yao Ming's season-ending foot injury might be good for the Lakers post-season hopes, but it's bad for basketball.

More than anything it's sad.

One of the best center's in NBA history is injured again, right as he was beginning to flourish, and you have to wonder how many more years he'll be able to play now that a lower leg or foot injury has knocked him out for the third straight year.

We don't get to see Houston's gentle giant very often out here in Los Angeles, but he's a joy to watch. Big and strong with soft hands and an even softer touch on jumpshots. Unselfish, sometimes to a fault, with a basketball IQ that's off the charts.

What's more, he finally seemed to be developing into a team leader and fierce competitor. Twice in this series with the Lakers, Yao pushed through pain, shooed away the Rockets' team doctor and tried to carry his team to victory.

In Game 1 he did just that. After knocking knees with Kobe Bryant, collapsing into a heap of pain, he refused to go to the locker room to be checked out, limped back onto the court and helped close out the Rockets stunning victory.

In Game 3, he tried to play through what turned to be a broken foot, knowing it was a game his team absolutely had to have to have a chance to unseat the defending Western Conference champions.

He wasn't able to finish the game, and you have to wonder now whether he'll ever get to finish a season on his own terms.

The strain on his 7-foot-6 frame just seems to be too much. Which sadly isn't that surprising. Basketball is not a contact sport in the way football or hockey are, but the pounding and strain it puts on the joints of extraordinarily tall athletes is tremendous.

More often than not, their careers end before they bloom.

So sigh with relief if you want, Laker fans. It's not going to be one of your prouder moments in life, though it's an honest reaction.

But basketball is poorer today. One of its biggest stars has fallen yet again. Let's hope it's not for good.

HOUSTON -- The Rockets just announced that Yao Ming is out for the rest of the playoffs because of a broken left foot. They said earlier today that he had suffered a sprained ankle in the second quarter of Game 3 on Friday night. The Rockets announced later this evening that a further examination revealed a hairline fracture. The Rockets said Yao would need 8-12 weeks to recover, although surgery is not required. Yao's absence means the Rockets must fight harder for rebounds. No clue how they will replace him for Game 4 on Sunday afternoon. How do you replace a man who is 7-foot-6 and 310 pounds? They will be in big trouble trying to slow down the Lakers' Pau Gasol.

HOUSTON -- Ron Artest's flagrant-2 foul on the Lakers' Pau Gasol in Game 3 on Friday was downgraded to a flagrant-1 by the NBA today. It means Artest will not be suspended for Game 4 on Sunday afternoon. He was ejected late in each of the last two games. He got booted for confronting the Lakers' Kobe Bryant and referees Joey Crawford and Bill Spooner in the fourth quarter of Game 2. He got kicked out for knocking Gasol to the floor with a hard foul with 43.6 seconds left in Game 3. Meanwhile, the Rockets announced Yao Ming has a sprained left ankle and might not play in Game 4. Yao was hurt in the second quarter of Game 3. Houston coach Rick Adelman said the Rockets were prepared to play without Yao. Artest said Yao told him he would play.

Chuck Daly, the longtime Detroit Pistons coach, passed away Saturday morning at his home in Florida. The team announced in March the Hall of Fame coach was being treated for pancreatic cancer.

The Lakers battled Daly's Pistons in the 1988 and 1989 NBA Finals, winning the '88 series in seven games and being swept by the Pistons in '89. Daly's ``Bad Boys'' beat the Trail Blazers in the 1990 NBA Finals.

I can't explain in words how much he gave me as a player and a man," said Isiah Thomas, the former Pistons point guard.

HOUSTON -- The Rockets won Game 1 in part because Yao Ming, their 7-foot-6 center, ran amok. He scored 28 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. They didn't win Games 2 and 3 because the Lakers held him down quite a bit better. Yao scored 12 points and took 10 rebounds in Game 2, which the Lakers won. He had 19 points and 14 rebounds in Game 3, which the Lakers also won. Now, there's nothing wrong with 19 and 14, but ...

"We did what we wanted to do against him, making him work and do other things than just post up," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said after tonight's 108-94 victory in Game 3 at the Toyota Center.

What's more, Yao limped noticeably in the fourth quarter with an injured ankle. He later said he was hurt in the second quarter "and it was just getting worse and worse. Tomorrow we will have a running test. If everything is all right I will play Sunday."

The Lakers opened up a double-digit lead in the third quarter and held on for what has to be considered one of their most impressive wins of the year. Jordan Farmar came up with a key steal at the end of the game, Ron Artest got ejected again -- for a hard foul on Pau Gasol -- and Kobe Bryant led all scorers with 33 points.

Key stories from this game:

-- Yao Ming was limping all through the fourth quarter and left the game in the final minute. Hopefully he's OK, but with his history of lower leg injuries you always have to be worried.

-- Artest was ejected for a hard foul on Pau Gasol, but the only people in the building who thought he deserved it were the referees. After the game, Kobe Bryant said, ``I don't think that was a flagrant. That rule is all over the place. I felt like it was a good hard foul. But I'm an 80s baby so that should've just been two hard shots and be done with it.''

-- Jordan Farmar filled in admirably for the suspended and twitter-happy Derek Fisher (see his twitter feed during the game). On the broadcast, ESPN analyst Jeff Van Gundy said he'd continue to start Farmar even when Fisher returned to keep Farmar's confidence up, and ``because the Lakers were getting nothing out of him off the bench.''

What did Kobe Bryant have to say about the Farmar/Fisher situation after the game?

``Jordan is confident anyway and he works really hard to back that up,'' Bryant said. ``He stepped in tonight ... But we can't wait to get Little Rock (Fisher) back.''

Houston's Yao Ming appears to be limping here in the fourth quarter, but it's not affecting his play. He's got 18 points and 14 rebounds.

Lakers lead 92-84 with 3:02 remaining

I'll let Derek Fisher explain this one: ``Couldn't ask for a better 3rd qtr from the guys! Up 12 going to the 4th qtr on the road is a good place to be! Finish the job fellas!!!''

After and uptempo first quarter, neither team found much offense in the second quarter. Kobe Bryant has 14 for the Lakers and Yao Ming has 14 for the Rox.

The Lakers much-maligned bench has outscored Houston 14-7. Jordan Farmar, who started in place of the suspended Derek Fisher, has four points and four assists in 17 minutes,

Derek Fisher via his Twitter feed:

``Keep creating turnovers & playing active defense. Shooting most likely won't stay @ 60% so we have to tighten up defense as game progresses.''

Lakers lead 42-39 with 5:46 to go in second quarter

Derek Fisher isn't allowed to be anywhere near the arena for tonight's Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals in Houston, but you don't have to wait until tommorrow to hear what he thought of the game.

Fisher, who is suspended for tonight's game for his foul of Luis Scola in Game 2, will be twittering throughout the game. His site is twitter.com/derekfisher

Here's his opening tweet:

``Since I can't be @ the arena, I'll be here with you guys, the fans, as I watch! I'll tweet on time outs, commercials, etc & weigh in. GO LA!''

Derek Fisher filmed a video after practice, speaking directly to his fans, particularly young people, about the incident in Game 2 against the Rockets, that earned him a suspension for Game 3. It is posted on his website:

Here's how Fisher describes the play with Scola:
``I'm looking up at the clock, because during last timeout we had talked about how we still have fouls to give, and i see we only have one team, and I know the Rockets are getting ready to run high screen and roll. So at that moment I'm thinking I'm gong to take a foul, no matter what. That's the normal NBA strategy when the clock is running down. If you still have a foul to give when the clock's running down, foul the guy before they're in the act of shooting and make them take it out again.

``So at that moment I knew they were going to run a high screen and roll so I just started bracing myself for the guy that's running up to set the screen. Once I saw him take off and start running, I just went running towards him first. But my force, I met him before he could get to me.

``Normally when the big guys come to set the screens, they come and knock you off and you have to react to them. So this time I was like, `I'm going to take a foul, I know we have a foul to give, I'm just going to run through the screen really hard.'

``But because I led with my arm, it made it appear that I really tried to level the guy out.

``I knew I was going to take a foul, but obviously didn't intend, for sure not be ejected or just have it turn into the situation that it's turned into.''

On the aftermath of the play:

``It's unfortunate. I've never played basketball with a violent intent to harm or to physically injure other players on other teams. It's just not my style. I try and play hard, I try and compete. I try and be physical on the floor. but I'm not an over-the-top kind of guy.

``Regardless of what's decided, in terms of going forward, I just want people to know that. In particular young people. Seeing that play, when you watch the NBA, when you go and play out on the court, that's not the part of the game that you want to emulate or take after as far as NBA guys. ''

Here's a portion of the conference call with NBA veep Stu Jackson today, in which he discusses Derek Fisher's suspension, Kobe Bryant's flagrant foul and Ron Artest's ejection.

On assessing Kobe Bryant a flagrant foul:
``Our view was that Kobe committed a flagrant foul penalty one, that was an elbow delivered as part of the rebounding play under the basket. We reviewed it and
it appeared that he made contact with the elbow to Ron Artest's chest area and upon that review, that's we deemed it to be a flagrant foul penalty 1.

On whether Bryant would've been suspended if the elbow had been above the chest:
``It's certainly clear in our rules we treat elbow contact above shoulder area differently than we do other parts of the body.''

On how much the league reviews these plays:

``Anytime we look at these plays, we exhaust our review of them. We do treat each one of these plays individually and make a judgement on them.''

On whether Artest should've been ejected from the game Wednesday:

``Yes, that is in the refs judgement. He made the judge to eject Ron on one technical foul, which by rule is permissable. That judgement was made on the act Artest committed, complaining to the official and walking quite a distance to confront the other player.''

In Jackson's view, was the judgement correct?

``The referee made a correct judgement.''

On whether he's surprised a guy like Fisher, who has a good reputation, would be suspended?

``The prase control themselves is a bit of a misnomer. My point is, when our players are in a competitive environment, where the stakes are extremely high, it brings out the best and the worst in people. Soemtimes players do things they probably later regret, nonetheless it's our job to make sure the appropriate acts are penalized where necessary so that all players can play the game safely.

On whether he's worried all these suspensions, flagrant fouls will affect the competitiveness of playoff basketball?

``We would rather not have to make these decisions, and we certainly don't want to take away the competitiveness of players or the aggressiveness of players, but what we do want is to make sure the players play the game within the rules, because it's important for the safety of the players. When we need to intervene, we will.''

Lakers guard Derek Fisher has been suspended for one game, by the NBA, for his body check of Houston forward Luis Scola in Game 2, the Daily News has learned.

Fisher spoke with the media Thursday before he learned of the suspension, but said he'd spoken earlier with NBA security to explain his actions.

``I shared with the league what my thoughts were about the play and I'm confident they'll at least be able to take what I said in a genuine and sincere manner,'' Fisher said.

``I still have to respect their decision as we all will, but I've played this game for a long time and I've made a point not to involve myself in anything that's personal or based solely in retaliation, I just go out and play hard.''

With Fisher suspended, the Lakers will likely start either Jordan Farmar or Shannon Brown in Game 3.

``I think all the guys on the team are prepared to do whatever it is they need to do. If in the lineup, or I'm not,'' Fisher said. ``I personally am extremely confident in Jordan and Shannon's ability to hold down our lead guard position and make the plays necessary to win the game.''

Wow, where do we begin with this one? Well, for starters, the Lakers defeated the Houston Rockets tonight, 111-98, in Game 2, tying the best-of-7 series and one victory apiece. Games 3 and 4 are Friday and Sunday in Houston. The Lakers might have to play without guard Derek Fisher, who was ejected late in the third quarter after knocking Houston's Luis Scola to the floor with a check that would have made any of the Anaheim Ducks proud. That followed a jawbone-session among Scola, Lamar Odom and Luke Walton after Scola fouled Odom on a drive to the basket. Odom and Walton were upset that Scola tugged on Odom's jersey.

Then things threatened to get really nutty.

Houston's Ron Artest followed Fisher off the court after he ran to referee Joey Crawford to argue about a foul. Artest thought Kobe Bryant elbowed him in the neck as they jockeyed for position under the Lakers' basket. Artest got the foul, so he went to Crawford in search of justice. When he received none, he then ran across the court to take up his beef with Bryant, who did his best to walk away from the situation. The referees surrounded Artest and ejected him.

Artest and Bryant clashed in a March 11 game in Houston, when Bryant scored 31 of his 37 points in the second half to rally the Lakers to a victory over the Rockets. Artest and Bryant engaged in a spirited trash-talking duel after Artest asked to guard Bryant in the second half. Shane Battier had been guarding Bryant. Things got physical midway through the fourth quarter and Artest and Bryant each received technical fouls. It seemed to be only a matter of time before they found each other in this series.

It's unlikely that Artest will be suspended. Bryant said he didn't believe Artest should have been kicked out. Naturally, Artest agreed. You can expect league punishment czar Stu Jackson to keep a watchful eye on the Lakers and Rockets from here on out. I wouldn't be surprised if Fisher draws a one-game suspension for knocking down Scola.

I'm not sure how else to describe this, but Ron Artest just lost it. Sadly, after impressing everyone with his smart, controlled play the first game and a half of this series, he went all Ron Artest again.

Kicked out for taunting Kobe Bryant, getting so livid the two had to be seperated, and then making a slit throat gesture to Bryant, right in front of the official.

Derek Fisher was just ejected from the game for committing a Flagrant 2 foul on Houston's Luis Scola.

A flagrant foul 2 is unnecessary and excessive contact. This usually has a swinging motion, hard contact, and a follow through. A flagrant foul 2 also results in an ejection of the player committing the foul.

Fisher appeared to body check Scola as Scola came over to set a back pick. The collision left Scola on the floor and Fisher with a cut on his head. From my vantage point it appeared Fisher was trying to hit the much larger Scola before Scola hit him. It's not clear if he mis-timed the hit or not. But clearly he was trying to dive into the impending impact to brace himself, rather than to initiate it.

All flagrant fouls are reviewed by the league and further punishment could follow. If I was guessing whether Fish would be suspended for Game 3, I'd put the chances at 40 percent.

The Lakers started by making eight of their first 10 shots and 13 of their first 15 and all they had to show for it by halftime was a tie with the Houston Rockets tonight in Game 2. The Lakers' second unit let them down again to start the second quarter. Houston caught the Lakers and passed them late in the half before Kobe Bryant hit a tying 3-pointer with 4.5 seconds left. Bryant had 20 points on 9-for-15 shooting. Pau Gasol added 16 points on 6-for-6 shooting. No on else had more than six points, however. Ron Artest had 17 points for the Rockets, which wasn't a big surprise. Carl Landry had 16 points, which was.

Hoping to get their sluggish offense moving again, Lakers coach Phil Jackson returned power forward Lamar Odom to the starting lineup and sent center Andrew Bynum to the bench for Game 2 tonight at Staples Center. Pau Gasol moved from power forward to center to complete the shuffle.

"The damned if you do, damned if you don't aspect is that we know we need rebounding and shot-blocking and size with Andrew in there if we're going to be very successful this season," Jackson said. "We're not as forceful or as intimidating in the paint if we don't have him. But we're so much better at the offensive end (with Odom)."

Also, Luke Walton returned to the active roster after sitting out two games because of a sprained left ankle. Walton, a backup forward, was hurt in Game 4 against the Utah Jazz.

Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard and Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant headline the NBA All-Defensive first team, the league said Wednesday.

Howard, the defensive player of the year, received 55 points overall and 27 first-team votes to edge Bryant for top honors. Bryant had 53 points overall and 24 first-team votes.

Also selected to the first team were LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Chris Paul of the New Orleans Hornets and Kevin Garnett of the Boston Celtics.

The Second Team featured Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs, Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat, Rajon Rondo of the Celtics and Shane Battier and Ron Artest of the Houston Rockets.

The voting panel consisted of the NBA's 30 head coaches.

obe Bryant led everyone with 32 points Monday, but it took him 31 shots to get those points. Of those 31 shots, a whopping 26 were jump-shots. Who was the most effective Rocket in defending him?
Bryant was just 8-for-22 from the field with Shane Battier defending him and 6-for-9 against everybody else.

After hitting 11 of his 18 3-point attempts in the Lakers first-round series against the Jazz, Trevor Ariza went cold in Monday's Game 1 loss, missing all four of the 3-pointers he tried. Will it stop him from shooting anymore?

``Heck yeah I'm going to keep shooting,'' he said. ``I don't think it's anything to worry about. I just have to relax. I'm still confident.''

Luke Walton spent about a half hour after practice putting himself through a grueling workout to make sure he really was ready to return to action after missing the last two games with an ankle injury.

Afterwards, he said he would play in Game 2 tommorrow night against the Rockets.

``It's good enough to play,'' he said. ``It felt good in practice today.''

Luke said it was tortuous to be in street clothes last night as the Lakers dropped Game 1 of the series 100-92, especially since his ability to move the ball was one of the things the Lakers were sorely lacking.

``It was really hard to watch. It's always hard to sit out, then you make it a playoff game and your team loses, and it's really really tough.

For now though, he's just happy to be getting back on the court after what initially sounded like a scary injury.

``To be honest I really didn't know what it was,'' he said. ``It was scary what they told me. I don't have any experience with an injury on the inside of my ankle, but the whole time my mindset was to come back.''

Walton said he hadn't spoken with Lakers coach Phil Jackson just yet, but based on their conversation Monday night, he expected to be in uniform Wednesday.

Andrew Bynum said today what has been painfully obvious to everyone watching him play in the playoffs. His right knee is not 100 percent. The brace he's been wearing to protect the damaged medial collateral ligament limits his mobility and jumping ability. He wore a neoprene sleeve over his brace in practice today because he said "people were getitng hit in the knee by it (the brace)." Of his knee, he said, "It's just not ready. I'm probably about 85-90 percent. Coming back from an injury, It takes a while. (His lackluster play) is hurting the team and it's something we're doing to have to deal with."

You saw the game, now read what the Lakers and Houston Rockets had to say about it after Game 1 tonight at Staples Center. OK, just in case you didn't see it or hear it or read about it, the Lakers lost to the Rockets, 100-92.

The Lakers led only briefly and trailed by as many as 11 points late in the fourth quarter. Kobe Bryant had 32 points on 14-for-31 shooting. Yao Ming had 28 for Houston. Bryant and Yao knocked knees late in the game, with Yao getting the worst of it. He returned after less than a minute and helped the Rockets gain home-court advantage.

Bryant: "It's one game. Everybody is disappointed that we lost ... but there's nothing much we can do about it now. We are a good road team. We believe that we can win anywhere. We just have to bounce back Wednesday and go from there."

Bryant: "We just blew some defensive assignments and key moments. We missed a rotation here and there, gave up baskets and points and good looks. That's something that we cannot do and (still) make a run. You have to make them take at least contested shots, so that is something we have to correct."

Lakers coach Phil Jackson: "Well, that was no surprise to us, I don't think. To me, at least. But the outcome of that game, you know, it's not as bad as it seems. We're OK. We feel confident we'll come back and give a good effort on Wednesday night . I thought we took tough shots. We fell into some of the things they wanted us to do. That's obvious."

Yao: "My knee feels fine, thanks for asking. There's no need to worry about it. I just need to put ice on it. Tonight, I think my team had a great night. Everybody came out with a very active attitude. I think Ron Artest and Shane Battier did a great job guarding Kobe. Everybody played unselfish."

Houston coach Rick Adelman: "Give our guys a lot of credit. They came in with the right attitude at the very start of the game. From the middle of the third (quarter) on, we really played well, really played well as a team. We thought we could play well. We talked about it. ... We knew Kobe was going to turn it up. We knew everything."

Game 2 is Wednesday night.

Whoa, get out the body armor. This is going to be a rough and tumble series, if the first half is any indication. The Rockets don't have many other options but to muck things up and slow down the games if they hope to win. The first half certainly was played in a manner they would prefer. The Lakers never got into a rhythm and trailed by three at halftime. Kobe Bryant had eight points on 4-for-12 shooting for the Lakers. Ron Artest led Houston with 12 points. They were not matched against each other in the first half except for a couple of possession. Shane Battier drew the assignment of guarding Bryant. Battier also was bloodied when Sasha Vujacic got him over the left eye with an elbow or forearm while tapping a rebound out to Bryant on the perimeter in the closing seconds of the first quarter.

Denver's Mark Warkentien has been named the NBA's executive of the year.

Cleveland's Danny Ferry finished second with seven votes, Orlando's Otis Smith finished third with six votes, the Los Angeles Lakers' Mitch Kupchak and Chicago's John Paxson were tied for fourth with two votes apiece, and Denver's Rex Chapman, Houston's Darryl Morey, Utah's Kevin O'Connor, Oklahoma City's Sam Presti each received one vote.

The big news of the day came down early this morning when word leaked LeBron James had indeed beaten out Kobe Bryant for MVP. Not that that was a huge surprise. But it's official now. And in even less of a surprise, Kobe Bryant wasn't ready to comment on the MVP award just yet.

Even though James was widely expected to win, if you know Kobe, the competitive Kobe, there's a part of him already visualizing beating James out for the Finals MVP to prove a point.

We'll find out what he says publicly later tonight, most likely after Game 1 against the Rockets.

By the way, he's expected to play despite missing Sunday's practice with a sore throat.

``He seems OK,'' Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. ``He says he's fine so we'll go with that.''

Jackson said Bryant went through his normal gameday workout before shootaround. It's a grueling workout, so that fact alone should let you know how he's feeling.

``He had an earlier workout this morning so he's had plenty of activity,'' Jackson said.

Luke Walton (ankle) also participated in shoot-around and is a game-time decision.

Numerous reports from Cleveland indicate the Cavaliers' LeBron James will be named the league's MVP later today. James and his teammates will appear in a press conference at his old high school in Akron, Ohio, at about 1 p.m. our time. James has ended Kobe Bryant's reign as MVP, edging out the Lakers' superstar and the third man in the running, Miami's Dwyane Wade, in voting by reporters. Winning the MVP award has been the kiss of death when it comes to leading a team to the NBA title, however. No league MVP has carried his team to the championship since Tim Duncan helped San Antonio win in 2003.

The Daily News had an extensive preview of the Lakers-Rockets series which begins tonight, with features from Elliott on the pivotal match-ups between Yao Ming and the Lakers two 7-footers; and longtime rivals Kobe Bryant and Ron Artest.

There's also a position-by-position breakdown from yours truly, and the daily notes from ET here and here:

For those of you who like your previews in video form though, check out this video from my buddy Chris Manning.

Kobe Bryant missed practice today because of a sore throat. Will he play in Game 1 against the Houston Rockets on Monday night at Staples Center? No one seemed to know, but you can bet the house on his participation. Bryant hasn't missed a game in two seasons. He's played with all kinds of bumps and bruises, plus a damaged pinky that needs surgery. He hurt his digit last February. That's last February as in February 2008.

Meanwhile, it appears Andrew Bynum will start after moving to a backup's role for Games 4 and 5 of the Lakers' opening-round series against the Utah Jazz. Lakers coach Phil Jackson said today that Bynum's chances of starting against Yao Ming and the Rockets were "90 percent." Lamar Odom is expected to return to a backup's role.

Luke Walton vowed to play in the second round after damaging a ligament in his left ankle during Game 4 against Utah. Walton's participation will be made just before the opening tip Monday, Jackson said. Walton, a backup forward, did not practice with his teammates today, but has been making rapid progress in his physical therapy.

There were three medical updates at practice today.

Luke Walton probably won't be able to play in Game 1 against the Houston Rockets on Monday. Coach Phil Jackson doesn't expect the backup forward to be ready to play. Walton injured his left ankle in Game 4 of the Lakers' first-round win over the Utah Jazz.

Andrew Bynum said playing without his bulky knee brace is not an option yet, so he's going to do his best against Houston's Yao Ming with it. Bynum said the brace restricts his movement, but it's necessary to wear it in order to protect his injured right knee.

Tex Winter, the Lakers' special consultant, has been moved to an extended-care facility in Kansas City that specializes in treating stroke victims. Winter suffered a stroke while attended a reunion of Kansas State basketball players and coaches.

Maybe Ron Artest was just caught up in the moment after the Rockets closed out the Trail Blazers in Game 6 Thursday night, but it's probably not the best idea to give Kobe Bryant any extra motivation heading into the Western Conference semifinals.

But Artest might've inadvertently slipped up in an interview with TNT on Wednesday night.

``Brandon Roy was the toughest guy that I ever guarded,'' Artest said. ``He's the only guy to ever score 40 against me, that hasn't happened in ten years, you have to respect that."

Here's some video of a follow up interview with Artest.

OK, so maybe Kobe Bryant didn't get 40 points on Artest, but the 37 points he poured in the Lakers 102-96 victory on March 11 in Houston weren't too shabby. Remember that game? When Kobe scored 18 of his 37 points in the fourth quarter with Artest yammering in his ear the whole time?

Thursday, Artest abruptly backpedalled on his statements.

"I don't know; that was yesterday," Artest was quoted as saying in the Houston Chronicle.``This is a new day .. He (Bryant) is a good player. He might be better. I don't know. I don't know how to judge who's better.''