LAst Night's Action: Lakers Cruise Over Wiz

LA Lakers defeat Washington Wizards 99-92. The Lakers starters were focused and kept their foot on the Wizards’ throats. Unfortunately the score doesn’t reflect that because the bench decided to play willy nilly and allow the desperate Wiz to cut the deficit to single digits. They were impressive in the first half with every shot going the Lakers way especially in the end of the second quarter when they went on a 13-0 run to go up 59-33. But the bench guys came in and the Lakers looked awful playing more like it was another afternoon in El Segundo. The Wizards outscored the Lakers 59-40 to make the score look respectable. Kobe Bryant scored 24 points while Pau Gasol added 28 points and 12 rebounds in Andrew Bynum’s absence. USC baller Nick Young felt right at home with 22 points for the Wiz while former Clipper Shaun Livingston trying to make a comeback had eight points and six assists.

Sacramento Kings defeat LA Clippers 102-89. With Rookie of the Year candidate Tyreke Evans out for the Kings with a mild concussion, bruised jaw, lacerated gums and chipped teeth, Carl Landry and Beno Udrih came through big against the Clippers. Landry scored 24 points while Udrih added 20 points and a career high 17 assists. Clippers assists leader Baron Davis meanwhile didn’t get his first assist until 2:27 into the third quarter when he dished it to Drew Gooden for a hook shot. The Clippers bench did a good job of getting the team within arms reach of the Kings down 81-74 with 9:14 to play, but they couldn’t keep up the momentum to make a game of it. Eric Gordon led the Clips with 23 points while Davis had 13 points and only two assists and Chris Kaman added 12 points and nine rebounds.

Anaheim Ducks defeat Colorado Avalanche 5-2. They story of the game was Teemu Selanne scoring his 600th goal of his career. Selanne became only the 18th player in NHL history to reach that mark. His first goal was notched on October 8, 1992 as a member of the Winnipeg Jets (currently the Phoenix Coyotes for now). His 600th was on a power play 34 seconds in the second period which gave the Ducks a 3-0 lead. In fact the Ducks killed on the power play converting three of six power play opportunities. The Avs came up dry on their three opportunities mustering only six shots and even surrendering a short-handed goal to the Ducks. Quietly the Ducks are making a charge for a playoff spot.

Notable Notes

• With Dodgers owner Frank McCourt buying the LA Marathon and changing the race route to go from Dodger Stadium to Downtown LA then straight down to the Santa Monica Pier, what a better way to grade the experience than a person who actually ran the 26.2 miles? My mommy Chae Bramlett!My mom is a veteran of the LA Marathon having run it since 2005, and she hated it. She and six others from her running group Easy Runners decided to carpool having balked at paying $17 to park at Dodger Stadium. Sound familiar Dodger fans?

  “We left 5:00 from Cerritos,” she recounted. “When we got to the 101 exit on the 110 freeway, traffic was stopped. No police presence at all.

  “We waited and waited and waited until 6:30. There was no way we could make it - the race started at 7:45. So we got out of the car and walked to the Stadium.”

  Yes, these people who were about to run 26.2 miles had to walk up to Dodger Stadium from the 110 freeway in order to make the race, and they weren’t alone. They made it by 7:20 having enough time to pick up their bibs and encountering another problem Dodger fans know all too well.

  “And there weren’t enough bathrooms! There are over 25,000 people. The LA Marathon used to have bathrooms all over the place. The lines were so ridiculous.”

  As for the course, my mom didn’t care for it too much.

  “Rich people like concrete Jimmy,” she told me. “They’re trying to kill us.”

  Concrete being much harder than asphalt, my mom decided it was appropriate to show me the war wounds on the soles of her feet.

  Was the scenery pretty at least?

  “Not really.”

  Anything positive about the race?

  “Every mile there was a water station. Most marathons don’t. After 18 miles they shut it all down. But this one every mile the whole way through!”

  Final thoughts?

  “Dodgers take over the race, we expected a lot of good stuff. But nope. You’re right Jimmy. They’re cheap.”

  By the way, my mom - my 58-year old mom in fact - finished the race in 5:23:15.

• Quote of the lifetime: Vin Scully on whether there are any restrictions on his normal activities due to his bedroom fall. “I’m supposed to cut back on dangling participles, and I’m not allowed to split an infinitive for at least another week, but otherwise no.” And that’s why he’s a civic treasure.

Tonight’s Action

Colorado Avalanche at LA Kings. 7:30 pm FSWest, AM 1150 KTLK.