Kobe Hits The Game-Winner (Source: Yardbarker.com)

Lakers tickets aren’t easy to come by.    Getting to Staples Center for a game isn’t easy, either.  Parking is frustrating and expensive, and the whole experience sometimes makes you wonder if watching the game on TV would have been a better idea.

Sometimes.

Last night, roughly 20,000 fans and I were inside the famous structure to witness a winner doing what he does best: win.  After three quarters of basketball that were extremely painful to watch, the Lake Show decided to make a go at the Toronto Raptors.  The crowd responded, and things changed.  To really feel the intensity, however, we must recap the events leading up to the end.

Pre-game felt empty.  The arena was eerily quieter than normal, and the fans simply didn’t seem enthusiastic about the game they were about to see.  If you’ve never been to a game before, you should know that the Lakers drop these enormous curtains around mid court and project a video montage of great highlights before announcing the starters.  It gets the crowd fired up, and they keep it fresh with highlights from the current season.  Last night, the electricity of that pre-game highlight reel was slightly subdued.  My only guess is that the 3-game slide made fans nervous, and it’s difficult to be boisterous when you’re as worried as many fans were.

This was the first time I attended a game against the Raptors, so I was a little surprised when the Star-Spangled Banner was preceded by the Canadian National Anthem.  The extra anthem was only one of many quirks in an odd evening.

When tip-off came, it finally felt like a Laker game.  The Lakers won the tip, and Fisher took the ball up court.  “This feels normal”, I remember thinking.  Fish then takes a three-pointer and it rims out.  “Yep, this is normal,” was my internal response.  It feels like we miss our first shot quite often to me.

Chris Bosh was being defended by Andrew Bynum on one of the early Toronto possessions.  The fans in my section quickly started talking about how difficult it is for Bynum to guard someone who has an outside shot and decent quickness.  Just as this chatter came to a peak, Bosh steps back and drains a three.  That would be Chris Bosh, the forward who is a 30% career three-point shooter and averages around 25 three-point attempts per year.

The Raptors’ Andrea Bargnani caused problems for multiple people last night.  The most detrimental was his play against the Laker bigs.  Laker bigs just can’t keep up with a big man on the perimeter.  It’s just as bad as the guards against a fast point guard- the Lakers just can’t keep up.  The other problem Bargnani caused was for the announcer, who butchered his name repeatedly throughout the evening.  He kept saying “Barn-yarni”, making many of us cringe.  It’s just as annoying to me as when some announcers (*cough* Reggie Miller *cough*)  say “Farmer” instead of “Farmar”.  Learn to pronounce names when that’s what you’re paid to do.

At half time, the murmur of the crowd told the story.  The Lakers were down by 8, losing the inside battle to a team that isn’t known for its inside presence.  Some people were talking about going home early.  I’m glad I didn’t (I would never, for the record).

At the start of the fourth quarter, the Lakers bench players found a rhythm.  They started playing inspired basketball that was enthralling to witness.  They were jumping routes, boxing out, and playing with a determination that hadn’t been seen all evening.

The Raptors fought back, though, and it took a great defensive play to get the crowd into the frenzy that continued until the end of the game.  This defensive play was not an Artest steal or a Gasol block.  It wasn’t a deflected pass or a hustle play.  It was simply a fan who stood up from his courtside seat to knock a ball away when the Raptors’ Jose Calderon was chasing it.  You may not know it from TV, but that man received a standing ovation from the crowd for his heroics with less than 2 minutes on the clock.

The game was tied back up on a Chris Bosh three with 9.5 seconds left.  Just after seeing his second three-pointer of the night go in (remember, 30% career, only takes 25 per year), Bosh made his way back to the Raptors’ bench with the same swagger that Robert Horry had after draining his game-winner against the Kings a few years back.  He had that “I’m the man” look as he chest-bumped other teammates.

As we watched this reaction, many of us wondered two things:  First, the words “oh no” were said thousands of times in the arena.  But within a half second, a second though collectively hit the crowd: “Does he realize he just left almost 10 seconds on the clock for Kobe to hit a game-winner?”

The entire arena rose to their feet during the ensuing timeout.  The roar of the crowd grew despite the lack of action on the floor.  You just knew something amazing was about to happen.

I turned to my friend and said, “I hope Kobe draws a double and passes to Lamar or Pau inside for an easy layup or dunk to win it.”  Little did I know that Kobe actually had the same plan, but wound up abandoning it when the defense reacted differently than he expected.

I’m not complaining, though.

As Kobe went up for the shot, Staples Center turned quiet for a split second as everyone held their breath.  “NO!!!”, I heard one fan shout as they were worried about his shot selection.  To be fair, our angle made it seem like he was shooting from behind the backboard- a shot he CAN make, but not the one you want him taking when the game is on the line.

Swish.

As the ball went through the net, the final 1.9 seconds didn’t matter.  Most of the arena paid no attention to the final desperation shot by the Raptors, even though it would have won the game for them had it gone in.  Everyone was too busy high-fiving and cheering.  Staples Center came back to life on the shoulders of a game-winning shot by the best closer in the game.

Let’s hope the Lakers come back to life as a team now, too.

The Los Angeles Lakers should be sporting Purple and Gold Manchester United shirts this season. Instead of donning a jersey with a Lakers logo plastered on the front, they need to be flying the corporate sponsorship of AIG.

Like the insurance giant, the Lakers have been receiving bail outs all season.

Unlike AIG though, there have been no funds taken from tax payers to keep a failed business afloat. Instead it is Kobe Bryant who is keeping his team from sinking into the red.

Staring a fourth consecutive loss dead in the grill, Bryant didn’t blink.

When Chris Bosh hit a clutch three to put this game on level terms with 9.5 seconds left, Bryant knew what he had to do.

The whole world knew what he was going to do.

San Bernardino native Antoine Wright definitely knew what Kobe was going to do.

If you watched G.I. Joe then you’ll recall that knowing is only half the battle. Doing is an entirely different task.

For three quarters the Lakers played no defense, played with no intensity and were playing right into the hands of gifting the Raptors their first ever season sweep. Then the fourth quarter came around and the champs finally played as such. Before you could spot Jason Statham sitting next to Eddie Murphy courtside, the Lakers were within striking distance of a win.

Back in January Kobe just missed the potential game winner in Toronto. This time around he was not going to allow history to repeat itself.  

This marks the sixth time this season that Kobe has bailed out his teammates. The only way they can repay him is by hanging another banner.

Come to think of it. Instead of rocking AIG, maybe the Lake Show should wear KB24 on the front of their jerseys.

217 games, 2 years, 1 month and 6 days. That’s how long it has been since the Los Angeles Lakers have lost three consecutive games. Not coincidentally, that streak coincides with the day that Pau Gasol began wearing a Purple and Gold uniform to work everyday.

The Pau streak came to an end today in Orlando with a 96-94 loss to the Magic. Not even Kobe Bryant’s clutch heroics were enough to deliver the Lake Show from putting up a goose egg on their three game road swing.

(John Raoux / Associated Press / March 7, 2010)

Zero wins and three losses with two close calls in the state of Florida and one worthless performance in North Carolina.

This is not the stuff of which champions are made.

Every team experiences their ups and downs during an 82-game schedule. But this has been the tight rope the Lakers have walked all season long. Take a few of those clutch Kobe moments away, toss in some better decisions by a few opponents and voila! You’ve got yourself a team that could easily be in the midst of that bar room brawl known as the playoff picture in the West.

The King of Clutch nearly delivered another miraculous moment as KB24 dropped 18 of his game high 34 in the final frame. As we’ve come to expect, Kobe shouldered the burden when the game was in the balance hitting big shots but never delivering the dagger. One foot on the three point line here and a missed jumper at the end of regulation there. The only Magic in Amway Arena was being coached by Porn Stash Van Gundy.

Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo!

For the Lakers, the clock struck midnight back in Miami and the Cinderella comeback in Orlando was never to be. 

Unfortunately the Lakers are going to have to rediscover their swagger on the fly. Of the final 11 games remaining in March, only three will be played in the Downtown Hoop Dojo.

One streak might have come to an end but the dry spell on the road is now at four straight and counting. For the sake of homecourt advantage, another four they cannot afford. In that case we could be looking at the genesis of the anti-Pau streak. Let’s hope it lasts nowhere near as long.

The Lakers need to make a change! Leave it to Ron Artest to take that as a literal statement.

Artest will be sporting a new do when the Lake Show takes the court in Orlando tomorrow. Ron Ron gave his followers on Twitter a sneak peak of his new golden dome.

It should be noted that Artest claimed he was only “half way done” and then later asked, “How do you write defense in Hebrew?”

Stay tuned. Artest could be giving Dennis Rodman a run for his money with this hair style.

Phil Jackson is at his wits’ end when it comes to motivating Pau Gasol. PJ’s tactics just aren’t getting through to the All-Star forward. In addition to Pau’s weakened and sickly condition, the Spaniard is playing without any fire or passion lately. He’s routinely being guarded by smaller opponents yet fails to take advantage of the mismatches. Pau’s putrid presence in the post has this blogger wondering if he’s devolving into Slava Medvedenko right before our eyes.  

So what’s a coach with two fistfuls of rings to do when his words are falling on def ears?

He locks his soft seven-footer in a room with Charles Oakley and lets nature take its course. That’s what he does!

Since the rain here in Los Angeles isn’t depressing enough, I decided to read Mike Bresnahan’s recap of last night’s crapfest in Charlotte.

Bresnahan recounts a very interesting meeting arranged by Phil after last night’s game.

In case the Lakers’ startling lack of effort wasn’t enough, the night took another turn when Jackson approached a handful of reporters who had been interviewing Gasol after the game.

“You guys done with Pau?” Jackson asked. He then turned to Gasol. “Pau, I want you to meet a friend of mine.”

Jackson walked Gasol into an adjacent room and introduced him to Charles Oakley, a fierce power forward in his day and a player Jackson coached on the Chicago Bulls in the 1980s.

Oakley, his hair now flecked with gray, was later asked by a reporter if he gave Gasol some strong advice.

“Always,” he said, smiling.

No telling what the result of this encounter will be. If Gasol suddenly decides to punch Jeff McInnis and then shakes down Tyrone Hill for a dice related gambling debt then we’ll know the meeting has had the desired effect.