Laker Nation

Pau Gasol waited for Kobe Bryant before approaching the bench for a timeout. They smiled at each other, Pau rubbed Kobe on the back of the head and suddenly, a familiar phenomenon resurfaced; one that seemed to come and go as this past season has progressed...

It has been mentioned repeatedly in each of the last two games. With their next win, the Lakers would clinch the top spot in the Western Conference. They could not get it done against San Antonio, and they could not get it done in Denver, either. Tonight, however, they finally cemented their first place in the ultra-competitive West as the playoffs feel that much closer.

This game began much the same way that many Laker games of late seem to begin -- with the Lakers appearing ready to play, moving the ball, getting offensive rebounds for second chance points and then, as fast as you can say “altitude,” they are suddenly down by nine...

After the third quarter, Phil Jackson was asked in a sideline interview what it might take the team to win the game. Phil’s answer? A rabbit’s foot maybe?

“There’s no sense of urgency in this team right now,” a very candid Phil Jackson said to Bill MacDonald before the game. He also added, “And the coaches can’t push the stick hard enough up their butts to do it.” Talk about honesty...

No long winning streaks at the end of the season could do it. Being blown out of arenas wasn’t cutting it either. Inspirational talks by Derek Fisher? Check. The return of Kobe Bryant’s shooting prowess? Check. Exciting buzzer beating victories to highlight their season? Check. What is there left to do for this team to just play… well?

... What are you boys doing these days? Your team had found some momentum this past month, the Playoffs are eight games away, and you’ve both picked NOW to stop doing what has given you and the Lakers success this season?

Unpredictable, this season’s Laker team. At times, we marvel at their intelligence, their savvy and their will to win. Unforgettable road victories against rival Boston, a strong Utah squad and a veteran Spurs group were enough to keep the doubters at bay...

Well Lakers, you did something no one in L.A. thought you could ever do. You played WORSE than you did on Christmas Day...

The Spurs, this season, have been accused of being too old, past their prime, at times lost, and unable to gel with all their new players. They have struggled, it’s certainly no secret, but there has always been an air of confidence about them, from the coach to last player on the rotation, that keeps them in the rear view mirror of veteran teams who know them all too well -- like the Lakers.

In the first game without Andrew Bynum, whose absence can last up to two weeks (so far as everyone has been told), the Lakers started lethargically on the floor in the first quarter before finally picking up their game in the second quarter...

The thousand watt smile — it’s been awhile since Lamar Odom’s flashed his infectious grin for everyone, but after nailing a fourth shot from downtown towards the end of the game, how could he hide his delight? Lamar was just one of six Lakers who scored in double figures tonight and on a very rare occasion, had single digit rebounds [...]

“I was so tired,” Andrew Bynum told Stu Lantz in a post-game interview. “I thought I was gonna have a bad game.”

If you can’t kill them with your size, kill them with your speed. That’s what Don Nelson must’ve told his injury-ridden Golden State Warriors who ran the Lakers into playing at their pace so effectively that it produced 24 turnovers...