With a new year comes the hope of having a clearer perspective in life. Unfortunately the only perspective I have to offer is about sports since that’s what my life revolves around now. Or at least it’s the only perspective I can afford to have, but really no one cares about what I can or can’t afford. Nevertheless the Lakers and Clippers are neither as good nor as bad as previously thought. more ›

Anaheim Ducks defeat LA Kings 2-1. Thanks to Teemu Selanne’s two goals, the Ducks clinch a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. And for the very first time both the Ducks and the Kings make the playoffs in the same season. Also another interesting note: with the San Jose Sharks also in the playoffs, California has more playoff teams (3) than Canada (2, Vancouver Canucks; Montreal Canadiens.) Go figure. more ›

Portland Trail Blazers defeat LA Clippers 98-88. The Clippers have been waiting for the debut of Blake Griffin for more than a year, and in the opening seconds of their game no. 1 he provided these two gems for his first two buckets of his young career: more ›

Portland Trail Blazers defeat LA Lakers 91-88. Here are the words no Lakers fans want to hear in the closing seconds of a game that is still undecided. “Pau Gasol for three…” Yet it happened. In a tie game in the closing seconds you don’t want Derek Fisher to foul Martell Webster behind the three point line as he goes to shoot. But he did. In the closing seconds you don’t want Kobe Bryant and fisher to brick three consecutive free throws... more ›

Pittsburgh Pirates (2-0) defeat LA Dodgers (0-2) 4-3 (10 innings). Since PNC Park opened in 2001 the Dodgers cruised through going 23-7 until last season when they struggled going 1-3 at the end of the season while trying to clinch the NL West. It looks like those struggles have continued in this first series of the season. The Pirates didn’t care that Clayton Kershaw led the Majors with the lowest opponents’ slugging percentage with Garrett Jones hit another homer in the first inning with runners on first and second. While Kershaw didn’t give up another run, he had problems finding the strike zone running up his pitch count. The Dodgers responded in the fifth inning when Russell Martin hit a leadoff homer, the first for the Dodgers this season. After Rafael Furcal reached on an error, Matt Kemp drove him home with a double and Ethier knocked Kemp home with a single to tie the game. more ›

LA Lakers defeat Golden State Warriors 104-94. The still shorthanded Warriors hung around all game, but the Kobe-less Lakers were still too much for them. Shannon Brown got his first career double-double: a career high 27 points and 10 rebounds. Lamar Odom came off the bench and continued where he left off before the All Star Break swallowing up 18 rebounds. All five starters scored double digits as the Lakers got their fourth straight win... more ›

LA Clippers defeat Portland Trail Blazers 105-95. Chris Kaman once again came up big with 20 points and Marcus Camby grabbed 15 boards to lead the Clippers over the infirmed Trail Blazers. Going into the fourth quarter the Clippers led by only four points. They went on an 18-6 run holding the Blazers scoreless for four minutes during that run. Kaman has been dominant this season scoring 20 or more points in 10 of his last 11 games. He is currently the Western Conference’s leading scoring center. more ›

Portland Trail Blazers defeat Los Angeles Clippers 103-99 | Calgary Flames defeat Los Angeles Kings 2-1 | Texas Tech head football coach Mike Leach was fired Wednesday morning with cause. Brooks over at SPORTSbyBROOKS did a great job of getting the information out as it was released. Leach was due in court to fight his suspension over the Adam James incident... more ›

Cleveland Cavaliers defeat LA Clippers 87-83. If the game ended after three quarters, the Clippers would have gotten their biggest upset of the season. After all the Boston Celtics were a little road fatigued and injured when the met in the Staples Center several weeks ago. The Clippers had held the Cavs to under 20 points in each of the three quarters and had a 19 point lead. But the fourth quarter happened, and just like that the Cavs turned it on. LeBron James notched his second straight triple-double with 32 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists. However the Cavs were only 3-for-20 behind the three point line with all three coming as they were rallying in the fourth quarter. Questionable shots by the Clippers didn't help things any especially Zach Randolph's airball from three-point land with four seconds left in regulation when down by only two points. This game was marked by the Loch Ness-esque appearance by Chris Kaman. I could have sworn he didn't really exist. more ›

The LA Times is reporting that Trevor Ariza will not be suspended for his flagrant two foul that send Portland Trail Blazer's Rudy Fernandez to the hospital Monday night at the waning seconds of the third quarter. The NBA however is still looking into whether or not Lamar Odom stepped outside of the bench area in the ensuing fracas. If they find that he did, Odom could be suspended for Wednesday night's game against the Houston Rockets. more ›

Portland Trail Blazers defeat LA Lakers 111-94. Absolutely nothing in this game was pretty. The Lakers offense was MIA scoring only 56 points through three quarters. A scary moment at the end of the third quarter happened when Trevor Ariza made a hard foul against Rudy Fernandez during a fast break opportunity. Fernandez landed hard on his ribs when he couldn't get his feet under him. Ariza was charged with a flagrant two foul and ejected from the game while Josh Powell and Portland's Travis Outlaw and LaMarcus Aldridge were given technical fouls for the scuffle afterwards. While the Lakers made a valiant attempt in the fourth quarter, a 28 point deficit at the start of the quarter was just too much to overcome. Hopefully they regroup quickly for the upcoming games at Houston and San Antonio. more ›

Portland Trail Blazers defeat LA Clippers 113-88. The Clippers were hoping it would be like their last meeting up in Portland where the Clips escaped with a one-point victory, but with almost all their starters in the infirmary there was no chance. Brandon Roy led the way for the Blazers with 33 points while Al Thornton led the Clips with 23 points. Amazing the Clippers were very much in the game trailing by only six points in the fourth quarter. But the Blazers blew the Clippers out 36-15 in the last quarter. more ›

LA Lakers defeat Portland Trail Blazers 96-76. Um wow. If that's what the Lakers will look like all season, I might have underestimated them. For years the words "Lakers" and "defense" couldn't be said in the same sentence without a snicker, but seeing the beat down they handed to Blazers just changed all of that. Kobe Bryant led all scorers with 23 points while ex-Bruin Trevor Ariza notched a surprising 11. The word of the night was indeed defense with the Lakers holding the Blazers down to 34.5% shooting. Playing in his first NBA after rehabbing his knee last season, Greg Oden left the game in the first half after injuring his right foot. Oden went scoreless in 12:51. more ›

St. Louis Cardinals defeat LA Dodgers 9-6. Four words: Albert Pujols grand slam. That effectively shut the door on the Dodgers. Derek Lowe made his shortest outing of the season (3 1/3 innings) while giving up the most hits and runs of the season (13 hits and eight runs). In the eighth inning with Jeff Kent on deck to pinch hit, the PA announcer announced Mark Sweeney would be the pinch hitter. Joe Torre would argue to no avail. Kent would bat for Sweeney who "batted" for Pablo Ozuna. Kent would strike out, and the Dodgers would complete the game under protest. In the unlikely event the protest is upheld, the game won't necessarily be restarted at the point of protest if the league decides the screw up didn't affect the Dodger's chances of winning the game. So there you have it. more ›

Arizona Diamondbacks defeat LA Dodgers 10-5. The Dodgers need to rely on their pitching because they are not a great offensive club. When the pitching goes south, so goes the Dodgers. Monday night Esteban Loaiza had a bad outing. Tonight it was Chad Billingsley's turn. 2 2/3 innings, five runs and five hits just will not cut it. Oh, and odds are we won't see another hit from Andruw Jones until July. more ›

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. more ›

If one thing could have brought late Boston Celtics legend Red Auerbach back from the great beyond, it was what happened Wednesday night in the house he built. more ›