LAst Night's Action: Historic Night for Kobe, Forgettable for Lakers

Memphis Grizzlies defeat LA Lakers 95-93. Kobe Bryant’s 44 point effort made him the Lakers all time leading scorer. All that was for naught as sloppy play and turnovers gave the Grizzlies the win. On their final game of an eight game road trip and coming off of an emotional win in Boston Sunday afternoon, it seemed natural for a letdown to occur. Aside from Ron Artest who went 6-for-9 with 18 points and that missed three to close the game, Kobe had no help from his teammates. “This was a game we should have won,” coach Phil Jackson said after the game. In the first half bench player Lester Hudson who averaged less than two points a game for the Grizz torched the Lakers scoring 13 points. Down the stretch Zach Randolph had 22 points and 17 rebounds for the Grizz, and Rudy Gay added 25. OJ Mayo was limited to nine points hampered by foul trouble. The game was lost in the paint where the Grizz outmuscled the Lakers 42-26. The Lakers now have a two game homestand against the Bobcats and Nuggets.

Anaheim Ducks defeat Florida Panthers 3-0. Over the weekend the Ducks gave goalie Jonas Hiller a four-year extension and traded Jean-Sebastian Giguere to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Hiller showed the Ducks they made the right decision by shutting out the Panthers. In his second shutout of the season he saved 33 shots. Ryan Getzlaf got the scoring going in the second period and assisted Corey Perry’s capper in the third period. Teemu Selanne got a tip in power play goal right at the end of the second period. The Ducks are 11th in the western conference just three points away from a playoff spot.

Notable Notes

• The Dodgers finalized a one-year $800,000 contract with outfielder Reed Johnson after he passed a physical earlier Monday. Johnson will be the fourth outfielder for the Dodgers filling Juan Pierre’s spot on the bench. The 33 year-old righty grew up in Riverside and graduated at Temecula Valley High School before going to Cal State Fullerton. Johnson broke into the Majors in 2003 with the Toronto Blue Jays and went to the Chicago Cubs in 2008. He has a career .282 batting average, .313 average against lefties and .294 with runners in scoring position. He also holds the distinction of being one of four players in Major League history to hit a leadoff homer and a walk off homer in the same game - June 15, 2003 with the Blue Jays against the Cubs.
• I checked the college basketball AP poll this morning right off the press. As you might recall, California was the only Pac-10 team that was represented in last week’s poll with a measly two votes. This week, none. No Pac-10 team received a vote. In the coaches poll California maintained their two votes. After getting six teams into the Tournament the last several seasons, the Pac-10 will most likely get only one team in which is unheard of for a so-called power conference. Think about this: the Ivy League could possibly get two teams in with Cornell and Harvard.

Tonight’s Action

LA Clippers at Chicago Bulls. 5:00 pm FS Prime Ticket, AM 980 KFWB.

NY Rangers at LA Kings. 7:30 pm FSWest, AM 1150 KTLK.