Looking back, looking ahead

No question, the Lakers were off their game in the second half of Friday's loss to the Denver Nuggets. Their fatigue while playing at altitude in Denver was evident. It didn't help that they were playing for the second consecutive night against a team that prefers to run and run and run. One sign of their tiredness was their lack of offensive movement.

Or as Andrew Bynum explained, "I didn't get too many touches down low. We weren't swinging the ball and there was no movement on offense. A lot of it was a lack of team basketball. We would come down, dump it in the middle and everybody would stand still."

No practice today, so nothing newsy to report. Sunday, the Lakers host Trevor Ariza and the Houston Rockets. We will have lots of notes and quotes. The Lakers will present Ariza with his championship ring. Plus, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is expected to make his first appearance at Staples Center since announcing he has leukemia.