It’s been said for a long time, but it bears repeating. The NBA Western Conference is really tough. If the Denver Nuggets win two of their last three and the Golden State Warriors win out their final three games, then it would be the first time in NBA history that a 50-win team would miss the playoffs. The unfortunate recipient of that dubious record would be the Warriors. But let’s get to the Lakers.......

Watching the Lakers over the last week or so has been somewhat anticlimactic. With the Houston Rockets winning 19 consecutive games to gain ground on the playoff hunt, the Lakers just seem to be dilly-dallying with the lesser teams as of late with a murderers row of away games coming up for the next week. After an inexcusable loss against the Sacramento Kings Sunday night where they gave up 71 first half points, the Lakers......

While all the local teams have Valentines Day off, some news just broke that Laker fans aren't going to love. Kobe Bryant is hurt. Bad. His right pinkie, originally thought to be dislocated on February 5th, was aggravated last night. The team finally revealed that he also has "a complete tear of the radial collateral ligament and an avulsion fracture, in which a small fragment of bone had been pulled off by a tendon." Kobe's......

Lakers 106, Bobcats 97 - The Lakers are 4-1 since acquiring Pau Gasol, playing a little cat-and-mouse last night in Charlotte. After allowing the Bobcats to cut a 13 point lead to 3, Kobe put it away in the closing minutes. He had 31 points, his third game in a row over the 30 mark. Gasol contributed 26 despite a cold ... The Lakers wrap up an impressive road trip tomorrow in Minnesota. Pre-Gasol and......

It would have been a much prettier victory had the Lakers played the New York Knicks at home three weeks ago. Today’s Knicks are hardly the bruisers of yesteryear, and it often appears as though Isiah Thomas rates coaching his team a distant third priority behind office poon and gourmet popcorn. But these last few weeks have been tough on the Lakers, with Andrew Bynum and Trevor Ariza out for 8 weeks each, resulting in......

Dude, strange things are afoot in Lakerland. Last night, en route to the Lakers beating the Nuggets 116-99, Kobe Bryant passed the ball. He made shit happen. And then, postgame, with a smile on his face, Kobe spoke in approving terms about his team, citing the fullness of their “passion bucket”. WHO IS THIS MAN? It wasn’t just Kobe raising the bar. Taking advantage of the double team on Bryant, Derek Fisher hit 6......

Suns 106, Lakers 98 - Maybe Mitch Kupchak isn't a cupcake, but an evil genius. After mis-managing the Lakers in recent years, it turns out he was right about Andrew Bynum. He refused to trade the young center, and all of a sudden the kid got GOOD. Unfortunately, he's out with an injury and his backup was worthless against Phoenix (hence the evil part). Kwame Brown had seven turnovers and missed an open dunk. Bravo.......

Clippers 97, Suns 90 - LA picked up their second win in the past 12 games and snapped a 4 game losing streak on the back of Sam Cassell, who scored 32 ... In their previous three meetings, Phoenix won by an average of 15 ... The Clippers are the lowest-scoring team in the NBA (92.6 points per game) while the Suns are the highest (110.3 ppg). Ducks 4, Stars 2 - Scott Niedermayer notched......

You can halt production on that purple and gold 2008 NBA Champions afghan you’ve been crocheting so diligently -- Lakers center Andrew Bynum is going to be out for the next 8 weeks. Bynum suffered a dislocated kneecap and a bone bruise courtesy of Lamar Odom’s big ass foot during the Laker’s victory over Memphis on Sunday. The good news is that the injury will not require surgery and the 20 year old big......

Lakers 112, Pacers 96 - The purple and gold have won six of seven and 12 of their last 15 games. Against Indiana, several players had big nights. All five starters hit double-digits in scoring, including 26 from Kobe Bryant, 23 from Andrew Bynum, and 22 from Derek Fisher. The Pacers are 0-9 against the Lakers in Staples Center. Spurs 88, Clippers 82 - Manu Ginobili returned from an injury to his left hand and......

The symbol of the new year is a baby, and what better baby to ask for predictions than LAist's own sports editor? Baby Adam is much more clear-headed and clairvoyant than the adult version. We're turning to the guru of Gerber, the sultan of spittle, to see what's in store for 2008 and beyond. Q: Thanks for chatting with us, but what makes you qualified? A: I may only be 9 months old, but I've......

Suns 108, Clippers 88 - After getting pushed around by Laker's big man Andrew Bynum, Phoenix's Amare Stoudemire took his frustrations out on Clippers center Chris Kaman. Stoudemire had 30 points and 15 rebounds while limiting Kaman to just 9 points. Now lets all pause for a moment and appreciate that this is a picture of Clipper guard Dan Dickau doing, apparently, what he was born to do. Ducks 2, Oilers 1 - Doug Weight......

Lakers 122, Suns 115 - Andrew Bynum's growth as a player has been the Laker fans' biggest gift this year, and they celebrated on Christmas by watching the youngster drop a career high 28 points along with 12 rebounds and 4 assists ... All five starters for both teams scored in double digits, with Kobe's 38 leading the way. He seems as intent and driven as ever, though it's still difficult to really trust the......

It’s a holiday tradition at this blogger's house (long before I had kids, which says a lot about me) — sitting down and watching the 1964 classic Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. What’s not to love about a quirky cast of characters teaching a lesson about acceptance? Well, I suppose the lesson of incessant marketing of the show is not a great lesson, but like many things around Christmas I choose to blatantly ignore what......

Lakers 123, Warriors 113 - We're still pretty sure this is a .500 team masquerading with an occasional good run, and now even their Phil Jackson is down on Kobe and Co. The Laker's coach told the media that a 50-win season is out of reach. His squad, however, responded by out-scoring the nation's hottest team on Sunday night. Kobe Bryant led the way with 28 and both Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum hit double......

After years of pressure from stats geeks thoughtful mathematicians, the NBA has started keeping a new official statistic — the old plus/minus. It’s a simple idea that hockey has used for decades: How much does a team outscore its opponent (or get outscored) when a specific player is on the floor. It’s pretty simple. Off the top of your head, who leads the Lakers in this new stat (if averaged per game)? Kobe Bryant?......

I'm guessing someone went out to celebrate last night, as a couple local college boys were chosen in the first round of the 2007 NBA Draft. USC's Nick Young was the first to go, at pick number 16 to Washington, where he will toil in obscurity and probably be irrelevant in three years. Just kidding -- he might fit well in the Wizards offense. UCLA's Arron Afflalo was chosen 27th by the Pistons, who could......

LAist readers might be tired of the controversy, but someone is betting that at least 50,000 people still want more Kobe. The "Kobe Video," which shows the embattled Laker bashing the organization and Andrew Bynum -- and swearing a lot -- is now available for sale on the official Kobe Video site. In case you hadn't heard, the video was shot by two guys who have not identified themselves, but claim to have caught Bryant......

Kobe Bryant has made a bold demand to the Lakers front office. According to ESPN's Ric Bucher, the disgruntled diva shooting guard is asking owner, Dr. Jerry Buss to dig into the franchise's past and bring back Jerry West to replace Mitch Kupchak as general manager. Did I say ask? Actually number 8, err 24 is demanding the doctor brings back the architect of the Lakers dynasty or else...he wants to be traded. "The Logo"......

Lakers? Out. Clipper? Out. Hometown hero Baron Davis? Out. What's an NBA fan from Los Angeles to do? Go to the Santa Monica Pier. NBA Nation is on tour and they're here for the weekend. You never know who might show up. Rumor has it the Laker's Andrew Bynum and Kwame Brown were spotted on Saturday. On Sunday the Clip's Cuttino Mobley is scheduled to be there from 2:00pm-3:00pm. Among the hoops themed activities, the......

While panic is setting in for the purple and gold, confidence is rising for the red, white, and blue. In a playoff atmosphere at Staples, the Clippers withstood a huge second-half surge by the Lakers and hung on for a 90-82 win. With the Clippers notching their first victory over the Lakers this season, and seventh out of eight overall, the two LA teams finally seem to reverting back to preseason expectations as the regular......

The trading deadline came and went Thursday with the Lakers' brass deciding to play the hand dealt them. Which has the fan base frustrated. Loudly frustrated. Angrily frustrated. Not so much that youngster Andrew Bynum wasn’t traded for Jason Kidd -- people seemed split on that and you could make a good argument either way -- but rather that nothing happened to give a team that has lost six in a row a swift kick......

If Los Angeles seems a little light on groupies this weekend, don’t be shocked. It’s just that the NBA’s All-Star game, which is the brightest light of the year to the groupie moths, is just a one-hour plane ride away in Las Vegas. This is a weekend only the guys at The Smoking Gun could dream up: Take a sport where the players have the reputation for being rich and out of control, then drop......

For the next two weeks, daydreaming will be the favorite pastime of NBA fans. They will try hard picture what Kevin Garnett would look like in a Laker uniform, or what Jason Kidd would look like running the Clippers offense. Two weeks from today (Feb. 22) is the NBA trading deadline, so for the next fortnight fans on Web sites and sports talk radio hosts will dream up ways the Lakers could trade for Dwyane......

Bobcats 106, Lakers 97, OT - It had all the makings of a memorable game for the Lakers. Lamar Odom finally returned from injury. Andrew Bynum grabbed 16 boards off the bench. Kobe Bryant became the youngest player to ever reach 18,000 points. Three of his game high 32 came on a wide-open shot with 1.6 seconds to go, sending it into overtime. But Charlotte, one of the NBA's cellar dwellars, knocked off the Lakers......

Lakers 108, Warriors 103 - The Lakers kicked off a slow week in local sports (only five pro games in total) by pulling out a win against the Golden State Warriors. Los Angeles had lost two in a row, but hasn't dropped three consecutive games all season. LAist was in attendance and watched the Lakers once again play to the level of their opponent. While the Warriors are better off since a massive eight player......

Disgruntled Laker fans, it’s time to come back home. I know a lot of you went astray in the frustrating aftermath of the Shaq/Kobe split, when there wasn’t enough money to keep their enormous egos on the same court. The Kobe vs. The World teams for a couple years provided some cheap thrills but didn’t win your heart. Then many of you had a little affair with the Clippers last spring, but you are forgiven......

Like rewatching “The Year Without a Santa Claus” or drinking eggnog, ABC has decided that the Lakers playing the Miami Heat is a holiday tradition. That’s seriously how they’ve been promoting today’s Christmas Day match up (11:30 on ABC 7) for the past couple of weeks — “a game that has become a holiday tradition.” What this match up really seems is sad — more than three years after Shaquille O’Neal left the Los Angeles......

For the first time this season the Lakers are on a “bring the large pullman bag” road trip, six games between now and Dec. 29. Stops include Chicago tonight (5:30 on KCAL 9); tomorrow in Minnesota (5 on KCAL 9); Friday with Tony, Paulie Walnuts, Silvio, Christopher and the gang in New Jersey (4:30 start but tape delayed by KCAL 9 until 5:30 to make sure you can get home from work in time); and......

Lakers 101, Pacers 87 - The Lakers won their third in a row to stay atop the Pacific Division in a commanding win over Indiana. Kobe Bryant scored 21 but left the game in the third quarter with a sprained ankle. He returned to the bench shortly after going to the locker room. Before the game, coach Phil Jackson benched starting center Andrew Bynum due to questions over his work ethic, though the 19-year-old......