LAst Night's Action: Lakers Drop Balls, Cake. Still Win.

Lakers 100, Spurs 96 - The Lakers opened a three game road trip by surviving a late San Antonio rally. Both teams suffered from ball control issues. The Lakers dropped the rock 17 times (7 by Kobe), and the home team had 19 turnovers resulting in 25 points. Before the game, Kobe threw a lot of cliches at the press about getting back to basics. While the turnovers didn't live up to the expectations, his 34 point performance and another victory did. Speaking of dropping the ball, you'd be doing just that if you're a Lakers fan and don't get on the season ticket wait list.

Clippers 115, Warriors 109 - After LAist scrambled to lay the points, the game was a push. Odds makers only favored the Clippers by 6, which was how many players Golden State had after a massive trade earlier in the day. The Warriors made a couple token moves to meet the NBA requirement to dress eight, including "activating" an injured player and signing a 10-day contract with a D-League player. They gave playing time to two other D-Leaguers, including 48 minutes for Kelenna Azubuike (who scored 28).

SoCal Sports/Crime Blotter - Several Lakers were connected to some good ol' South Bay debauchery. In the end, avoiding the perp walk was a cake walk. The best part is that Kwame Brown will forever be known as the Caked Caperer ... The Padres are in a scrappy mood. Didn't anybody tell them baseball players aren't supposed to fight at a football game? Or double park at the airport? Telling the cop to "write me up a ticket and I'll pay for it," is just, well, icing on the cake.

Beckham Watch - Real Madrid hates that wanker. Or do they think he's OK, after all? Some columnists seem luke warm, too.

Elsewhere - Happy birthday to the Greatest of All Time (no word if Kwame brought the cake) ... For the Greatest Way to Waste Time, you'll have to check out this baseball reference site ... If you want to get in shape, why not try swimming the entire Amazon?

AP photo by Eric Gay.