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......

Mark Cuban is somebody sports fans can appreciate on a lot of levels. He's a self-made man, he's living his dreams, and he owns a pretty damn good NBA team. He's even parlayed that into reality TV stardom and probably gets all the tail that he wants. More power to him. Unfortunately, Cuban -- who built his empire on internet commerce -- has decided to smack technological progress in the face. Per his own blog,......

Clippers 99, Heat 98 - With Shaq in Phoenix and Dwayne Wade injured for the season, the Clippers had an opportunity to beat somebody -- and actually took it. Cuttino Mobley hit a pair of free throws in the final three seconds to seal the deal. He led the way with 29 points. Since the Clippers won't be lucky enough to face many more horrible teams like Miami, Andrew Kamenetzky atSportsHubLA has some ideas on......

Lakers 108, Mavs 104, OT - The Laker's season just keeps getting sweeter. This time, it was all Kobe Bryant -- who managed to score even when triple-teamed. End result? 52 points, including 22 in the 4th quarter and 8 in OT. It was the first game between the refurbished Laker's (Pau Gasol had 17 points and 14 rebounds) and the refurbished Mavs (Jason Kidd had 15 points and 11 assists). The win keeps Los......

I told people not to overlook the Portland Trail Blazers. Historically they have played the Lakers really tough. Even though the Blazers were 32-50 last season, they won the season series against the Lakers last season. So there they were in the first quarter being run out of the Staples Center by the Blazers down 15 points. The Blazers seemed run their offensive sets as if they were in practice, and the Lakers couldn’t get......

Celtics 104, Clippers 76 - The NBA's top team won last night in the Staples Center, and it wasn't the Lakers. Boston, now an NBA-best 43-12, was just too much for the Clippers. Chris Kaman sat out once again, dropping LA's record to 1-6 without the big man in their lineup. Sam Cassell was also injured and watched from the bench. Kevin Garnett, one of five Celtics to hit double digits, was recently named by......

Was that a game or what? The Lakers staved off Phoenix’s charges to eventually pull out the 130-124 victory in Shaq’s Suns debut. The Lakers looked a tad bit lethargic coming off their complete sodomization of the Atlanta Hawks Tuesday night. Against most teams being a bit lethargic wouldn’t be a big problem, but this is the Suns we’re talking about here. Each time the Lakers went on a run, Sun’s coach Mike D’Antoni would......

Lakers 130, Suns 124 - So I'm like "OMG!" and then she's like "fer reelllllz!" And then I'm like "NO.WAY." and the she's like "totally." Whoops. That's the last time we let our teenage niece borrow the keyboard -- but she did sum things up pretty well. Jimmy will have all the deets on the NBA's greatest February game of all time at 9:00am. Clippers 100, Grizzlies 86 - The Clippers are officially LA's bastard......

Lakers 122, Hawks 93 - Atlanta had a bad draw. They were coming into a pumped-up Staples Center that hadn't seen the Lakers play a home game in weeks. They were coming in against a team rejuvenated by Pau Gasol. They were coming in against a Kobe Bryant with something to prove. Before halftime, the Lakers had a 41 point lead. Gasol and Bryant each scored 23. Bryant whacked his hand a couple times and......

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 117, Timberwolves 92 - The Lakers sent a major sign to the rest of the NBA on their long road trip, finishing with a 7-2 record, acquiring Pau Gasol, and seeing Kobe pour in 29 points last night even with a dislocated finger. Against Minnesota, the Lakers got another solid performance from Gasol, who shot 9-of-11 for 19 points and blocked three shots. The team is off through the All Star game (Sunday) and......

The Lakers aren't the only team with a new big man. The Los Angeles Times just added local icon Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to their roster of bloggers. Among his early advice to readers? Shoot the skyhook: "The 50-plus player can still run with a younger crowd at the park or fitness club, but it's best to avoid knocking around in the mosh pit under the basket. One trick the guys won't see coming? The skyhook .........

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......

I first heard about Shaquille O'Neal in middle school. Back then, he was more of a playground rumor than a superstar. The first kid to learn about him tried to tell the rest of us. 7'1"? Impossible. 375 pounds? Nah. Size 23 shoe? Are you sure that's not his jersey number? Clearly, he was telling tales. There was some giggling, name calling, and a serious demotion in the lunch seating hierarchy. Nobody could be that......

Clippers 103, Knicks 94 - Los Angeles won on the road for the first time in nine games, beating up on one of the only NBA teams that may be worse than the Clips. Two key players, Correy Maggette (19 points) and Chris Kaman (15 points), returned for the first time in several games. Coach Mike Dunleavy, however, was sick and stayed in the team hotel. He did have enough energy to issue an apology......

Lakers 103, Washington Wizards 91 - The game wasn’t as close as the final score indicates. The Lakers led by 22 at halftime, and led by as much as 25 points in the third quarter. Kobe Bryant, who outscored the Wizards in the first quarter 19-15, ended up with 30 points on 10-15 shooting with eight free throws. Vladamir Radmanovic, Lamar Odom and Ronny Turiaf rounded out the starters with double-figure scoring, and Sasha Vujacic......

Bobcats 107, Clippers 100 - As if they haven't had enough injuries this year, Los Angeles took on Charlotte without big man Chris Kaman (bruised shin) and leading scorer Corey Maggette (flu-like symptoms). Of course, the biggest loss for the Clippers might just be their biggest fan. Only in LA - Guess who's back, back again? Teemu Selanne will return to the Ducks. It only took him until the All Star break (53 games into......

by Joe King, from Pyle of List. No, this isn't about Pete Carroll returning to the NFL. That would definitely be time to panic, maybe even call the National Guard...if they're back from Iraq yet. This is about the first USC-UCLA game of the college basketball season. This is important people. Both teams played well in last year's NCAA tournament. Both teams had high expectations before the season started. Both teams had blue-chip freshman that......

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 109, Hornets 80 - Two of the hottest teams in the NBA met in New Orleans, but only one of them lived up to the billing. Los Angeles thumped the Hornets despite playing on back-to-back nights and New Orleans having several days of rest. Maybe they just got cold. The Lakers bench was key, outscoring the Hornet's reserves by 42-9. It was like the reverse of a USC game. Magic 113, Clippers 106 -......

Clippers 91, Timberwolves 82 - The Clippers came into the game with a six game losing streak, several players out with injuries, and went 0-for-14 from three point range. Fortunately, Minnesota is the worst team in the NBA so none of that mattered. USC vs. Illinois - It's a little bit of a letdown match up, but you still can't top the Granddaddy of Them All. Tune into ABC at 2:00pm today to watch the......

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......

Lakers 95, Knicks 90 - Kobe Bryant had 20,019 points on 15,314 shots (plus 6,184 from the charity stripe) last night. Not bad for a guy under the age of 30 ... The Kobster was actually 14-of-28 for 39 points (plus 11 rebounds and 8 assists), but in the process became the youngest player in NBA history to reach the 20,000 career points mark. Bryant raved about playing in Madison Square Garden and said 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......

Lakers 127, Nuggets 99 - Phil Jackson signed a $24 million contract extension for two years. Two hours later, his Lakers ripped apart the Nuggets. Good day. Heck, even Sasha Vujacic had 22 points -- 19 in the 4th quarter. Luke Walton had 14 points in just 27 minutes. Both were career highs. The Lakers are 9-6 and have recently had some pretty impressive performances. Ducks 4, Flames 1 - After getting yanked in Vancouver,......

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?......

Los Angeles seems to have a love/hate relationship with the Lakers right now. The games still sell out (and at the ">highest prices in the league) and there are more people walking around wearing Lakers gear than there are writers picketing out in front of Fox. But in every sports bar in the city there are loudmouths saying to nobody in particular, “Kobe is selfish and ruining this team.” The loudmouth sports columnists in......