Lakers 96, Blazers 83 - Portland made their first 21 free throws so, um, they got that going for them. more ›

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. more ›

Fire 1, Galaxy 0 - We happened to be at Chicago-area hotspot Krem last night and saw players from both teams drinking, but for different reasons. The Fire scored in extra time to clinch the final MLS playoff spot and send the Galaxy back to Los Angeles for the year. We think we ran into Chicago mega-star Cuauhtemoc Blanco in line for the bathroom, but it's a little fuzzy. We did see LA's Cobi Jones,... more ›

Los Angeles is a hoops hotbed. Three professional basketball teams play at Staples and three local colleges made it to last year's Big Dance. But just because some of the players come from around the country and overseas, don't think LA needs to poach outside talent. The city boasts an amazing legacy of high school basketball. Local courts are responsible for current pro stars like Baron Davis, Gilbert Arenas, Paul Pierce and Jordan Farmar. Many... more ›

Despite all the talk about the Lakers’ newly revitalized motivation after reading about how the Phoenix Suns and their coach put them down in a book about last year’s playoff series, no one realistically expects the Lakers to beat the Suns in this year’s playoffs. Recent projections by four “NBA experts” printed in Sports Illustrated called Phoenix to win in either five or six games. Couple that with the Times reporting Lakers coach Phil... more ›

There was a strange look in Kobe Bryant’s face during Friday night’s game against the Phoenix Suns: It was a look of defeat. Kobe seemed tired and listless, playing only 17 points in their 93-85 loss. We shouldn’t waste too much sympathy on a multi-millionaire, but it’s been hard not to feel for Kobe, who has been playing some of the best basketball of his career without getting any consistent help from the rest... more ›

Lakers 126, Kings 103 - Kobe doesn't have to score big to win big. Dishing out 13 assits to go with 19 points, he led the Lakers to a commanding victory over Sacramento. Los Angeles had six players in double digits and shot a whopping 61.7% from the floor. Maurice Evans led the way with 21. Jordan Farmar set a new record by playing in the development league in the afternoon, then being recalled and... more ›

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. more ›

Nobody is more obsessed with lists, rankings, top 100, top 25, and top 10 than the sports world. ESPN, Sports Illustrated, The Sporting News, and every independent and not-so-independent sports writer puts together these lists at the end of the year ... not to mention every few hours on the web. So much action happens over the course of 12 months that there are ample stories to compile a top 10. Even when it's just... more ›

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... more ›

Just what do we know about this season’s Lakers after nine games? We know they can win with Kobe dragging one leg behind him (although he looked better Friday night against Toronto, to the point that Phil Jackson benched him for “imposing his will” on the game and ignoring teammates). We know that young guys like Andrew Bynum, Jordan Farmar and Ronny Turiaf can take on more than maybe we thought. We know Luke Walton is developing into quite a player. more ›

The reaction across campus to Tuesday night's tasering of a student by UCPD officers is one of shock and disgust. Many question how tasering is appropriate force against someone who fails to even threaten to strike an officer. "I realize when looking at these kind of arrest tapes that they don't always show the full picture. ... But that six minutes that we can watch just seems like it's a ridiculous amount of force... more ›

Tuesday night: Andrew Bynum has a career best 20-point, 14-rebound game in a win against Minnesota and at age 19 is the toast of Staples Center. more ›

Laker fans can seem impatient. Sure, fans of lesser franchises would probably go with the word "spoiled", but in the past Laker fans simply ignored those comments as they were driving to parades through downtown. They even thought Mark Madsen's dancing was cute; winning will cloud your judgment that way. But after two whole seasons without a Finals appearance some fans this summer called for a BIG move. Fortunately, the more rational fans among them... more ›

UCLA super soph guards Arron Afflalo and Jordan Farmar both declared for the NBA draft yesterday. They will not hire agents however and will be able to return to the team next season, as they are just testing the NBA waters and want to see where they would be drafted. They will hold individual workouts for scouts and GMs in May and will have until June 18th to withdraw their names from the draft. more ›

As good as the #18 Bruins (15-4) looked in their win agains cross-town rival USC, thats how bad they looked in the first half against #12 West Virginia (14-3). Down by as many as 20 points in the second half, the Bruins sucked up, bucked up, and finally D'd up before falling short 60-56. A furious second half rally that only fell short when in the last possession Mountaineer guard Mike Gansey stripped Jordan Farmar clean to kill the Bruin rally and seal the victory. more ›

The UCLA Men’s basketball team dropped a tough game to the visiting Washington Huskies, 69-65, giving the Huskies their first win at Pauley Pavilion since 1987. The Bruins, who led by as many as 15 points, found themselves trailing 64-60 when Ryan Appleby hit a three-pointer with less than 3 minutes to go. After some scrambling and a key three pointer by Arron Afflalo, the Bruins pulled to within one. But Husky forward Bobby Jones made one of two free throws to put Washington up 67-65 with 11 seconds left to play. UCLA had one last chance to tie but saw it disappear with a turnover by Luc Richard Mbah a Moute. more ›

5 Reasons You Will LOVE the Bruins This Season more ›

While Dijon Thompson had a decent senior game, UCLA clearly needed a better performance from Jordan Farmar who was constantly frustrated and finished with a measley 3 points on 1-9 shooting. more ›