12-12-2009

I missed the last game vs. Minnesota.  Well, I was watching it but I fell asleep.  Guess it wasn’t too exciting.  Either that, or because I was crazy drunk.  Hey, it’s the holidays, best time of year for drinkin’.  Apparently, Lakers won by around 10, Gasol had 20 rebounds, and Kobe hurt his finger.

Kobe’s finger has a rod and a splint on it, and is wrapped in gauze like an inch thick.  In addition, he’s got the stomach flu, and needed IVs before the game.  It’s the second of a back-to-back and the first of a 5 game road trip.  And again, the Jazz have come out in their alternate uniforms, the ugly green ones.  Apparently it resembles the old uniform of the old New Orleans Jazz, which is a much cooler place to listen to jazz.  Utah’s just Mormons.  If the team were founded in Utah, it would be the Utah Mormons.  WTF else they got there?  Mountains?

The Game – Lakers at Utah

Damn, Kobe be sick as a dog.  Look terrible out there.  Looks like the Lakers ran out of legs, predictably on a second of a back-to-back, on the road.  The 10 game winning streak has come to an end, the first loss since Pau Gasol got back, though Pau did have another 20 rebound game.  But Utah’s a tough place to win a game, especially when your best player is at like 50%.  Sucks.

12-15-2009

The Lakers play the baby Bulls once again, this time on the road, 2^nd of a 5 game road trip and the first of a back-to-back.  The Bulls don’t have a very good record, but they’re an underachieving team.  Lot of talented youth.  Kobe’s got a new splint going for his slightly fractured index finger (only slight because it’s not happening to me).  It’s got less padding and more flexibility.  Hopefully his stomach virus has gone away (perhaps he ate some bad Mormon food).

The Game – Lakers at Bulls

Kobe came out like a house on fire.  Scored 18 of the Lakers’ first 24, 20 points in all in the first quarter, mostly contested jumpers.  He came out super aggressive, looking to score.  Guess the finger’s feeling okay.  Guess the stomach flu’s gone.  Kobe looked like his usual self, but he was the only one going early.  The team settled in though, battling through a close first half and taking a 6 point lead into halftime.  Derek Rose, the Bulls’ best player, got hurt and only played 12 minutes in the first half.

Derek Rose came out for the 2^nd half, and the Bulls outplayed the Lakers in the 3^rd quarter.  The Bulls took a 1 pt lead into the 4^th.  The start of the 4^th saw Shannon Brown go off as he hit a 3 and then had an explosive dunk on the break.  Shannon added another couple buckets as he went 4/4 and 9 pts for the game.  Kobe blazed his way to 42 points, Pau had a lot of rebounds once again, and after a mostly close game, the Lakers cruised to a 96-87 victory.  The Lakers play Milwaukee tomorrow night.

12-16-2009

The Lakers play the Milwaukee Bucks tonight in Milwaukee.  The Bucks aren’t really a good team, but they got a good rookie: Brandon Jennings.  This kid threw up a double-nickel earlier this year.  I don’t care who you are, if you can throw up 55 pts, you are good. He’s real quick and can hit jumpers.  Spent last year in Europe on the bench and he comes into the league this year and lights it up.  I don’t understand it.  How is that possible?  I hear practices in Europe are real tough and they play everyday.  It brings up an interesting dilemma: should b-ball wunderkinds head to Europe for a year instead of spending one year in college?  I mean, this kid’s the frontrunner for rookie of the year.  Personally, I don’t like school too much.  I would bolt for Europe and bag one of them European bitches and try to take her home with me.

The Game – Lakers at Bucks

It was a close first quarter.  Pau Gasol hit some jumpers.  Milwaukee played well.  In the 2^nd quarter, it was more of the same.  Kobe wasn’t looking so good though for most of it, missing a lot of fade-away jumpers.  The Bucks took a lot of threes and made 6 of them.  The Lakers took a lot of free throws and outscored the Bucks 15-3 from the line.  Pau had a double-double in the 1^st half.  Brandon Jennings was very quiet, held in check by the Lakers, though he hit a running jumper to put the Bucks up 2 at the half.

2^nd half was hotly contested as well.  Lakers were behind going down the stretch, but made a couple big shots, one of them by Derek Fisher (what else is new?)  It was tied in the final seconds of regulation when Kobe missed a good look that would have won the game.  In overtime, the Bucks carried play for most of it and with a little more than a minute left, the Lakers were down 6.  I thought they were gonna lose, but I forgot, we got Kobe Bryant.  Kobe hit a jumper, then the Bucks missed two free throws, then Kobe hit a tough bucket in the lane with some contact, got the hoop and harm and cut the thing to one.  They exchanged possessions and with 5.5 seconds left, the Lakers were still down by one.  Inbounds play, the ball goes to Kobe… he heads to his spot, the same spot as before at the end of regulation… and he takes the jumper as the clock runs down and… swishalicious!  Kobe hit the game winning shot again, scored the team’s last 7 points in overtime, put up 39 points in all, and the Lakers won 107-106.  Pau Gasol had 26 points and a career high 22 rebounds.  The man’s been a monster on the boards lately.  The Lakers are now 20-4, tied with Boston for best record in the league.

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