LAst Night's Action: Better Showing for the Lakers

LA Lakers defeat Philadelphia 76ers 114-102. This time there was no last second put back. Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol made sure of that scoring all of the Lakers points in the last five minutes of the game. Bryant scored 32 points and Gasol got 22 as they staved off a come back from the 76ers. Former Clipper Elton Brand had an awful shooting game scoring only three points. He was so awful 76ers coach Mo Cheeks sat him down for the fourth quarter. The bright spot for the 76ers was Andre Miller who always seems to play his best game against the Lakers. He led the 76ers with 26 points.

Houston Rockets defeat LA Clippers 103-96. On the Clippers home page the headline reads, Clippers Continue Competitive Streak". Really. Well competitiveness don't get you wins, and the Clippers are well aware of that with a total of three. The Rockets had Tracy McGrady in civvies with yet another injury no one can keep track of, but that made no difference. The Rockets were led by Yao Ming in scoring with 24. The Clippers had Baron Davis sick with stomach flu and Chris Kaman injured. And for the three people who watched this game, they probably also got the stomach flu.

Chicago Blackhawks defeat Anaheim Ducks 4-2. When Chris Pronger scored the tie-breaking goal 48 seconds into the third period the Ducks looked in pretty good position. The period goes on and on, and the Ducks still led 2-1. Then with six minutes remaining it just fell apart. The Blackhawks struck thrice and with that handed the Ducks their second consecutive loss.

Notable Notes

• If you're a head coach make sure you don't lay down roots. On the same day when Notre Dame announced that Charlie Weis would remain as head football coach next season, other coaches were not so fortunate. The Toronto Raptors fired Sam Mitchell who won the coach of the year honors two seasons ago, and Auburn dismissed Tommy Tuberville as head coach of their football team. Meanwhile Texas Tech's football coach Mike Leach reportedly interviewed for the Washington job being vacated by Ty Willingham.
• HEY! Does anyone have any damned baseball news?
• Who doesn't like some rivalry? There is a war of words going on between Tennessee Titans and former USC tailback LenDale White and Jacksonville Jaguars and former UCLA tailback Maurice Jones-Drew. The sad part is that this will probably be more entertaining than the game itself.

Tonight's Action

#12 UCLA Bruins at #8 Texas Longhorns. Let's see how the Bruins fare against a good team. 6:00 pm ESPN2, AM 570 KLAC.

USC Trojans at #6 Oklahoma Sooners. One note to the Trojan faithful: This ain't football. 4:00 pm ESPN2, AM 710 KSPN.

AP Photo by Tom Mihalek