LAst Night's Action: Lakers Beat Up Wiz

LA Lakers defeat Washington Wizards 115-103. Perhaps meeting President Obama yesterday did the Lakers some good as they demolished the Wizards. Then again with the turmoil going on with the Wizards it shouldn’t have been that hard to beat them. But the Lakers came up struggling in the first quarter just taking a one-point lead after one quarter. The bench came in the second quarter and ratcheted up the defense holding the Wiz to 15 points while going up by 16 at the half. While the Lakers relaxed a little in the second half, the Wiz couldn’t dig out of the hole they dug themselves. Wizards forward Antawn Jamison led all scorers with 27 points while Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol both got 26 points with Gasol adding 10 rebounds. Shannon Brown energized the Lakers from the bench scoring 11 points and getting three steals. The Lakers, now 2-2 on this road trip, move on to Indianapolis tomorrow for a game against the Pacers.

LA Kings defeat Toronto Maple Leafs 5-3. When the Kings last played in Toronto four years ago, goalie Jonathan Quick was a freshman at UMass. The Kings led off the scoring in the first period when Drew Doughty hit on a power play goal with 8:33 remaining in the period which broke a 0-for-27 drought in power play scoring. The Leafs Nikolai Kulemin tied the game several minutes later, but the Kings would assert themselves in the second period with scores from Jack Johnson, Jarret Stoll and Ryan Smyth. Niklas Hagman scored with 1:18 remaining in the game to bring the Leafs back to within a goal but Alexander Frolov scored an empty netter to secure the victory for the Kings. At 30-19-3 with 63 points, they remain in sixth place in the conference two points out of fifth place and three points out of fourth.

Atlanta Thrashers defeat Anaheim Ducks 2-1. Goals were very hard to come by in this game. Thrashers Colby Armstrong and Ducks Steve Eminger provided the scoring in the second period. In the third period with the Ducks killing 21 of their last 23 penalties and the Thrashers scoreless in their last 16 power play opportunities, there was no doubt the Thrashers would break their drought like the Kings did in Toronto. Maxim Afinogenov would provide this for the Thrashers four minutes into the third period. The Ducks will have to regroup before heading to DC to face the Capitals and Alexander Ovechkin tomorrow night.

Notable Notes

• The Dodgers had a busy day re-signing the wookie Ronnie Belliard and the world’s smartest baseball player Brad Ausmus. Apparently the Dodgers want to see a more svelte Belliard whose contract will be guaranteed if he trims down to 209 pounds during spring training.The moves will likely send infielder Blake DeWitt and back up catch AJ Ellis to AAA Albuquerque to start out the season. Now whether this will cement the Dodgers winning the World Series remains to be seen. By the way rumor has it the Dodgers are still looking for a left-handed outfielder to back up the boys out there.
• John Calipari and his #1 Kentucky Wildcats didn’t have a long time to savor being on top of the pack. Even after President Obama congratulated them for their work in raising money for Haiti and warned them to keep up their intensity, they go down in a heap. Travelling to the 12-8 South Carolina Gamecocks who are 3-3 in the SEC, the Wildcats choked losing 68-62. Guard Devan Downey and his 30 points were instrumental for the Cocks in their upset while guard Brandis Raley-Ross made key free throws at the end of the game to keep the Wildcats from coming back. I would insert an inappropriate joke here, but I already tweeted it to maintain my so-called journalistic credibility. [insert laugh track]

Tonight’s Action

LA Lakers at Indiana Pacers. 4:00 pm KCAL9, AM 710 KSPN.

LA Clippers at New Jersey Nets. 4:30 pm FS Prime Ticket, AM 980 KFWB.

Anaheim Ducks at Washington Capitals. 4:00 pm NHL TV, AM 830 KLAA.