On a mid-summer night every year for two decades, some of the biggest names in basketball and Hollywood were summoned to the hardwood by Magic Johnson and a good cause. Last year, Magic stepped down and handed over the torch to Baron Davis and Paul Pierce, two NBA All-Stars and native Angelenos. Sunday night at USC's Galen Center, the Davis/Pierce administration carried on the tradition of sloppy yet utterly entertaining basketball for charity for the......

Timberwolves 117, Lakers 107, 2OT - Kobe had 37 points in regulation but could only manage 3 in two overtime periods as Los Angeles fell to Minnesota. The star of the game was Timberwolves' center Mark Blount. Unlike most 7 foot tall dudes, he was able to rain down three pointers when it counted. With a trio of trays in the final three minutes, he helped the T-Wolves even up and send the game into......

Anavan, Crooked Cowboy, Bob Bellerue, Bizzart @ Il Corral (fundraiser - go) Brian Wilson @ Long Beach Terrace Theater (final all Pet Sounds concert) Robbers on High Street, Lemon Sun, Mezzanine Owls @ The Echo (6pm) Of Montreal @ Avalon Cherryholmes @ Citrus College The Chieftains @ Cerritos Center The Briefs @ Alex's Bar (LA Derby Dolls afterparty) Shirley Caesar, Angie Stone, Kelly Price @ Galen Center RTX, The Binges, Year Long Disaster, HDR......

With apologies to all of the other Southland programs, tomorrow’s showdown between UCLA and USC is to determine who is the top dog in our local college basketball scene. More importantly, the winner will maintain their hold on first place in the Pac-10, which is shaping up to be the toughest conference in the country. As all of the football fans know, you can throw out records and tradition when it comes to rivalry......

Clippers 100, Hornets 90 - Sam Cassell came back from injury in a big way, scoring 10 of his 31 points in the fourth quarter to bury New Orleans (currently playing in Oklahoma City). The healthy Clippers took advantage of a not-so-healthy Hornets, who were missing three starters and were swept on their four game home stand. Oilers 2, Kings 1, OT - Los Angeles had an unexpected hero but Edmonton responded with one of......

Donning a trademark jumpsuit and moon-man helmet, Cee-Lo Green of Gnarles Barkley emerged on stage at USC's Galen Center to the tune of a surging, epic, space-odyssey instrumental. Touting the merits of Danger Mouse, Feng Shui, and Crown Royal, our weeblesque hero warmed up the enthusiastic crowd with a string of pervasive, electro-rock/neo-soul, head boppers. Threatening that the party might get “off the chain” to a bunch of arty-indie-college-punks was certainly the booze talking,......

How to celebrate the New Year? With sexy aliens and hyper Santa Clauses (including LisaNova as Dalmation Benjamin Franklin) sandwiching The Flaming Lips on stage. With Gnarls Barkley singing Crazy in a jumpsuit. With Cat Power. The balloons (see the video below), the space ship, the aural atmosphere. A good year to begin 2007.......

If there's one night you really have to dig down and pony up for the rock it's New Years Eve. Don't ask us why. So today we will put the ticket prices next to each event so you don't get sticker shock when you make your last minute plans. Although the best value appears to be down in the OC, factor in 1) you have to go behind the orange curtain 2) you better......

Why is this LAist reader smiling? Maybe it's because she's going to the Flaming Lips + Gnarls Barkley + Cat Power show tonight at the spanking brand new Galen Center at USC. And she won the sweet new dvd 40 Bands 80 Minutes about the punk rock fest that went down at Il Corral this year. And she won the hilarious new dvd of stand up comedy by Pablo Francisco "Ouch - Live From......

Didn't get everything you wanted over the holidays? We're having two contests with prizes that might tickle your fancy. First, we'd like to give you Goddess Gwen in the flesh, but we are keeping her for ourselves. Instead, we are giving away an entire bag full of Gwen goods - everything pictured above. For that contest, all you have to do is go to a site like YouTube, Google Video, or Buzznet and show......

The Delta Spirit @ Spaceland (free) Bright Light Fever @ Safari Sam's Ioma, Gabriel's Falling, Moxie Tribe, 4 Star Tribe @ Viper The Hellzaboppers @ Joe's Great American Bar & Grill Matu, The Elevaters, Shakespeare, Solomon Cole @ Temple Bar Digital Fridge, Echoes of a Boundless Life, Cat Fur @ The Scene Plastic Fate, How I Became Invisible, Natasha Lewis @ Cat Club Coming up... Wed: Los Lobos @ House of Blues Fri &......

Before we announce the new Flaming Lips / Gnarls Barkley (pictured) / Cat Power ticket giveaway concert for the Dec 31 show at the Galen Center at USC... we should congratulate the winners of the last giveaway. Congratulations Annie, Christina, and Helen! OK now we proudly present our newest contest - there will be one winner who will get two tickets to the Lips/Barkley/Power show, but this winner will also get a cd sixpack......

No, not that one. The Trojans have found a new, slightly less controversial OJ to lead the Trojans to glory, this time on the hard court. But yes, he wears the same #32. Teen phenom OJ Mayo (whose high school team, serendipitously, was the cardinal and gold-clad Trojans) started generating enormous buzz before he could shave. He is a two-time All American and two-time Mr. Basketball in Ohio. He is widely acknowledged as the......