Laker Nation

Literally – the Lakers gave away this game. With 2:08 min left in the fourth quarter, the visitors holding a 7-point lead, and the Thunder having only scored eight points in 10 minutes, the Lakers just fell apart. Instead of the playing the lockdown defense they had played in the first 45:52, and running the offense through the paint, they [...]

It happened in the exact opposite way of what we hoped, and it was exactly as bad as we feared it would be. That the Oklahoma City Thunder swept the Dallas Mavericks in the first round and got 9 days of rest, and the Lakers had to play the full seven games to eliminate the Denver Nuggets, was there really [...]

It’s not supposed to come easily. Otherwise, what would be the point, right? After wasting two chances to close out this series with Denver, the Lakers came into a do-or-die Game 7 and reminded everyone, probably including themselves, what happens when they play with the right attitude and stick to the game plan. You know, similar to how they played [...]

If the Lakers wanted to eliminate themselves from the post-season, they should have done it earlier. Get swept. Don’t tease your fans with back-to-back efforts, then waltz into Denver looking unprepared, lose big in Game 3, barely win Game 4, lose on your home court in Game 5, and then come back to Denver and get beaten to smithereens by a [...]

….and Kobe Bryant’s efforts were enormous. They always are. One thing we’ve learned to appreciate about Bryant is that no matter how bad a game he’s playing, his effort is always there. His will to keep trying is always there. He’s never doing NOTHING. He may be maligned for talking trash on and off the court, but you know what? [...]

The Lakers’ last two shots were a pair of three pointers from two of their point guards in the final minute of the game, and no, not one of them was named Derek Fisher (or even Kobe Bryant). Ramon Sessions and Steve Blake, holding down the backcourt in crunch time, may never be placed in the same breath as the [...]

Note to Andrew Bynum: It’s okay to participate in the game before halftime. Otherwise, you’re just a late arrival to Party McGee. Note to Kobe Bryant: When you’ve hit just three 3–pointers in seven attempts, you should stop and try something else, like getting to the rim. You’re crafty. You’re talented. You’re the Mamba for crying out loud. Note to [...]

It would have been ignorant and delusional to think that the Denver Nuggets would just lay down and succumb to the Lakers after their Sunday afternoon dominance. The Nuggets are a proud team, led by a proud coach, and despite falling short on the scoreboard for the second game in a row, they gave the home team something to really [...]

“Note to self,” Andrew Bynum told Lisa Salters after the game, “the more I play D, the better we’ll be.” And if today’s effort is any indication of what the young center is planning for the post-season, the doubters may want to temper their predictions of the Lakers’ demise. Kobe Bryant mentioned last week that their game is built for [...]

Tonight’s game was so meaningless, not even Lawrence Tanter and James Worthy made it to the pre-game show on KCAL 9. The Lakers had locked up the third seed in the Western Conference two days ago, so Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum predictably sat out the last game of the season. Without their big three in the starting [...]

This is the first time we can say it this season – the Lakers cruised past their opponent. They actually cruised. They started the game steadily, built up their lead slowly, maintained their collective efforts on both sides of the court, and as hard as they played, didn’t appear to break a sweat (figuratively speaking of course). Without gig men [...]

We expected San Antonio would play much better than the last time these two teams met. We expected Tony Parker, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobli would combine for more than just the 27 points they scored as a unit a week ago. And we expected the Lakers to continue their excellent efforts of the last week and a half to [...]

First-round match-up? Possibly, and who would mind it? After getting embarrassed by Dallas in last season’s playoffs, the Lakers exacted (albeit less major in magnitude) some form of revenge in this regular season series sweep of the Mavericks. Don’t think for a minute that second round a year ago has dropped from the Lakers’ minds. Kobe Bryant never forgets, and neither do these Lakers. Despite playing without Bryant for the fifth game in a row, the Lakers have made their captain proud. It wasn’t a blowout. It was, in fact, a difficult game to get through.

It’s been like clockwork for these Lakers this season. They get an impressive win, and then follow it up with a stinker. After besting the Dallas Mavericks in their first meeting since getting eliminated from last year’s playoffs, they were clobbered by the Heat in Miami. A huge win the following week against the Clippers, was followed by a loss [...]