Bryant Jackson Crush Crush Into Staples Center

Basketball Betting Lines

History and tradition still mean something and the Lakers will always play the role of big brother to the Clips, sort of like the Yankees, who own the backpage of New York's tabloids no matter what the Mets do.

 

It's far too early to crown the Clippers in the Pacific but we are now past the one-third mark of the season and it's the Clips standing atop the division, not the Lakers.

 

He passed Shaq midway through the second quarter making shot after shot with a degree of difficultly that would make an Olympic gymnast blush before Doug Collins decided to challenge his entire supporting cast in what turned out to be a 95-90 Sixers win.

 

Collins ran the Army, Navy and Marines at Kobe every time he touched the basketball and to his credit, Bryant did what you are supposed to do -- move the ball. The Lakers got a ton of open looks and made some but missed more than their share.

 

"They just came after him immediately," Kuester said after the game, "and to Kobe's credit, what he did was try to get everyone involved. We had some great hits. When you are coming down to the end of the game, your margin of error is very small, and you have to take advantage of that. Things just didn't go our way."

 

He's obviously still one of the top players in the game, averaging a league- best 29.4 ppg coming into tonight's contest despite playing with a torn lunotriquetral ligament in his right wrist. But something is missing with these Lakers -- even with Bryant. The same air of invincibility is simply not there.

 

"I think we just need to relax," Metta World Peace said. "When you've got guys like Fish [Derek Fisher] and Kobe, we need to get on their level and not worry. Late in the fourth quarter we need to stay consistent and relax, and everything will be alright."

 

With no Phil Jackson on the bench and no Lamar Odom coming off it, it's become payback time for a lot of routs that are still fresh in the minds of quite a few rivals.

 

Brown has only been able to count on three players this season as he implements a more defensive-minded system, Bryant and his two 7-footers, Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol. The rest of the team including battle-tested veterans Fisher and World Peace, has lacked consistency and offered little production.

 

Like an aging but proud boxing champ, the Lakers still have a right hook that can quiver the liver and send just about anyone to the deck.

 

They showed it again in the first half tonight when Bryant scored 24 and Bynum dominated the boards. But the fact that Kuester or Brown can't turn around and point to someone, anyone to give Bryant a breather for three or four minutes in the second half of a tightly contested game speaks volumes. The trust is simply not there.

 

"It is pretty basic," World Peace said. "I didn't think we need to change much. We have the guys to finish games. Right now, there is not a lot of consistency, so once we start playing with a little more consistency , we will win more consistently."

comments

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•    One thing only matter in life is FAMILY cause they are always going to be there for you no matter what....THA FAMILY ESPINOZA<3

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•    #justheard: doesn't matter how you pull it out; it matters how u stick it in. Ô.O

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•    I take back my last tweet; I just saw the Season Finale commercial -__-

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•    Just finished watching season 1-6 of how I met your mother. Now I'm doing the same with the office. I love Netflix.

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•    Jessica the cat is back on solids! Eating cat biscuits this morning. Just waiting for the other end to start working now.

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•    These funny Yahoo boards - $AAPL - \

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•    If Justin Bieber is the "new Micheal Jackson" then why didn't he win any GRAMMYs?

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•    Might just dress up tomorrow if I feel up to it. Last game of the season.

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