Laker Nation

The latter part of the third quarter had all the makings of a huge comeback for the Lakers – 27 points down, everything going the home team’s way and then suddenly Kobe Bryant stepped in and led a 15-4 run to decrease the deficit to a manageable 15 points. After putting their collective foot on the Lakers’ neck, the Phoenix [...]

  When it comes to the Phoenix Suns, Kobe Bryant is always ready to unleash his fury; fury over the team who eliminated his Lakers from the playoffs many years ago; fury over the guy who took back-to-back regular season MVPs that could have, should have been his. It doesn’t matter if the Suns personnel has changed, or the capabilities [...]

Home, sweet home. In their first game back from the Grammy road trip that produced a 3-3 record, the Lakers were more than happy to be dribbling across their team logo again – finally! Welcoming them back to Staples were the Atlanta Hawks, coached by former Laker Larry Drew. Like the Lakers, the Hawks have been sort of a mystery this [...]

The Lakers led 2-0, then 4-3 to start the game. Then they fell behind by as many as 14 and then scraped their way back up to get within 3 in the fourth quarter. That’s as close as they got after then giving up six straight points to the Knicks en route to another loss on the road. So much [...]

The Lakers and the Celtics may be rivals. They may hate each other for as long as the NBA has existed, to eons into the future. This season, however, they have more in common than any two adversaries in the league could be. Their records are almost identical, with the Lakers at 15-11 and the Celtics with14-11. They both dominate [...]

The Lakers sure know how to set themselves up for a victory…and still lose in the end. It was Saturday against Utah all over again, with the visiting team keeping it close through three quarters and then failing to close it out in the fourth. The Lakers and Jazz were tied after the third quarter at 67 points a piece, then Utah [...]

Kobe Bryant sitting on the bench in the fourth quarter, wearing his warm-ups, a towel over his shoulders, and a giant smile – what a vision to behold. Playing just under 28 minutes in only the first three quarters, Bryant had every reason to showcase that grin. The Lakers had a huge lead in the final minutes of the game, [...]

It’s a little more than pitiful that the Lakers just experienced their second win on the road this season in their ninth try.

The 10th seed in the Western Conference – that’s where the Lakers sat before tonight’s game; and based on how they’ve been playing lately, it’s where they deserved to be. After dropping three games in a row and four of their last five, Kobe Bryant said they needed a win - ANY win against ANY team. Well tonight they got their win, [...]

Remember when the Lakers could score in bunches but couldn’t defend a lick? When scoring was not only the very least of this team’s issues, but a non-issue at all? Everyone could score, from Kobe at the top to DJ Mbenga at the end of the bench. Tonight, like the last game against Dallas, the Lakers couldn’t score if they [...]

9.9 seconds left in the game and the score is tied. Derek Fisher inbounds the ball to Kobe Bryant, who dribbles at the top of the key and is immediately doubled by Shawn Marion and Jason Terry. With one swift motion, Bryant swings a pass to Fisher and starts walking backwards slowly, so familiar with the results of the next [...]

All of us knew to whom this game meant more. The Clippers knew. The Lakers knew…but couldn’t they at least have faked it?! Most of the effort on the floor tonight was oozing out of the players in red, white and blue. The energy, the determination, the willingness to play the right way, was mostly all Clippers, and maybe there’s [...]

The last time the Cleveland Cavaliers were in town, the Lakers beat them (to a pulp) by 55 points. Tonight, the Lakers decided (consciously, subconsciously – who can tell?) to make the game more challenging, so they played a nearly flawless first half, and then played a flaw-filled second half…until it was time to actually win the game. After such [...]

It goes by quickly, those five minutes of overtime. After 48 minutes of back and forth, the Jazz and the Lakers needed just a few more minutes to award a victor. It opened with Pau Gasol getting stripped on two possessions in a row and the Utah Jazz taking a four-point lead. The Laker big men were having a tough [...]