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LA Lakers defeat Golden State Warriors 124-118. Yet again the Lakers defense was helpless against an uptempo offense, however thanks to another superhuman effort by Kobe Bryant with 44 points and a season high 11 assists the Lakers offense saved the day. The Warriors held the edge on fast break points at 30-9 while the Lakers barely outscored the Warriors in the paint 46-44. While this game goes in the win column, these last four games have been nothing to write home about. Not to sound the alarm or anything.
Anaheim Ducks defeat Minnesota Wild 4-2. Bobby Ryan scored two goals and had an assist to help the Ducks withstand the loss of Ryan Getzlaf and Teemu Selanne. While Ryan’s last goal helped give the Ducks a 3-1 lead which they held until the third period, Kim Johnsson cut the lead to one on a power play goal with 6:53 left in the game. The Wild were the aggressors until the end of the game when Todd Marchant scored an empty-netter with 10 seconds remaining. Little by little the Ducks are trying to rise up from the bottom of the Western Conference.
UCLA Bruins defeat Temple Owls 30-21. The Bruins had to make the trek to a freezing Washington DC where the wind chill factor was in the teens at kick off, but after a lackluster first half they shut out the Owls to win the EagleBank Bowl and their first winning season since 2006. Thanks to a Kevin Prince interception in with 3:25 left in the first half, the Temple Owls rushed the ball into the end zone for a 21-7 lead. That ended any offense Temple had. Their best drive was their first one in the third quarter that stalled at the UCLA nine-yard line when they couldn’t convert a fourth-and-one. The play of the game came in the fourth quarter with Temple leading 21-20, Bruins linebacker Akeem Ayers intercepted a pass and ran it in the two yards for a touchdown. A safety sealed the game on Temple’s next possession sealed the game for the Bruins.
Notable Notes
Oh Ron Artest. At half time in the Lakers game, he got up on the podium to address the media in what has to be the strangest presser this city has seen in a while. Addressing the events of Christmas night where he fell down a flight of stairs outside his home while carrying Christmas boxes suffering a concussion and an elbow injury. He ended up getting staples in his head and stitches on his elbow.
Now none of this is funny since Artest did say that he did lose his memory. “I can’t even remember half the stuff that happened,” he said. In fact he couldn’t remember his wife, the fact he lived in Los Angeles nor the fact he had a game earlier that day.
Also stunning was the obvious effects the fall had on him. His explanations were meandering.
“I can’t even remember… But I guess… I don’t even remember even getting… I just went to the doctor and they said, ‘You need stitches on your elbow.’ And I was like, ‘For what?’ And they showed me the picture, and it was a deep cut. And I got a little scrape on my back too, but the scrape on my back is not as bad. But yeah, they just put stitches in my… But it don’t hurt. Good thing it doesn’t hurt.”
There’s also a doozy of a response after John Ireland asked a question about the Lakers, but I don’t have the heart to transcribe it.
I knew this year would be fun with Ron Artest. Here's an excerpt of the presser
Tonight’s Action
LA Clippers at Portland Trail Blazers. 7:00 pm FS Prime Ticket, AM 980 KFWB.
LA Kings at Calgary Flames. 6:30 pm AM 1150 KTLK (no tv).
