Kobe Bryant's left ankle has kept him out of the lineup

Weekends like this one are conflicting for a Laker fan.  On one hand, you’ve got a devastating loss on Friday to a surging Nuggets team.  Then again, I’m not quite sure who can beat a team with a player shooting 3’s at a better percentage than most players free-throw percentages.

Couple that with a field goal percentage of almost 60% as a team and you’re going to beat just about anyone that night.

Even a team of Jordan, Kobe, Lebron, Shaq, and Tim Duncan would struggle against a team shooting 60%.  It’s THAT good.

After the conflict about Friday’s loss, Kobe decides to sit out and everyone panics.  The Lakers, in Portland, without Kobe?  The sky is falling!

Then they find a way to grind out a victory- everyone stepping up.

But… then Bynum sits out the end of the game and is now out for tonight’s game.

Do we come out of this weekend happy or sad, then?  All things considered, I’d say it was a pretty even weekend.  The yin tied the yang in terms of everything I mentioned thusfar.  But wait, there’s more!

Yesterday as most people were preparing the barbecue or heading to parties, the Orlando Magic and Boston Celtics squared off in Boston on national television.  If there was any doubt that this was a good weekend, the last 15 minutes of that game squashed all doubt- this was a GREAT weekend for Laker fans.

Kobe will recover.  Bynum will recover.  The Nuggets had a good night and had a superstar have a career night.  None of that can upend the fact that Boston is in a free-fall.

I don’t know when it’s time to push the eject button, C’s fans, but your plane is going down and there just aren’t enough injured players to use as excuses anymore.

Shannon Brown (ESPN)

Buzzer beaters are extraordinary.  They are high-five-inducing miracles.  They can be season-enders, championship-winners, back-breakers, and everything in between.  They can even cause men with young children asleep in the living room to loudly yell in glory only to find that as their yell dwindles another voice, a crying voice, rises.  Then a third voice rises.  This one is motherly, but angry.  This voice is pissed that the baby is awake.

“But Kobe just hit another game-winning buzzer-beater,” pleads the apologetic father.

“Great.  Now that you woke up the baby, change his diaper and make him a bottle,” she replies.

“Damnit, Kobe.”

A stat that has been thrown around a lot recently is the Lakers excellent play in close games.  The Lakers are now 7-2 in games decided by 3 or less points.  Both of those losses came on the recent road trip.  What is staggering to me about that stat is not the success the Lakers have had, but the percentage of games being decided by that small of a margin.

The Lakers have played 49 games.  A full 9 of those have been settled by 3 points or less.  That is 18%, or around 1 in 5.  In terms of close games won, the team has won 7 of their 37 wins by 3 points or less.  Again, that is around 1 in 5.  So almost 20% of the Lakers wins this year have been gut-wrenching games with an emotionally-charged finish.  In other words, I wind up changing my son’s diaper and giving him a bottle after 20% of Laker victories (surprise, it was me I was quoting earler!).

This has to stop.

When the Lake show plays Boston or Denver, you expect a fight.  Cleveland or Orlando? Bring on the close game.  Thunder, Bucks, Warriors, Kings?  Those won’t even be close, right?

Granted the Thunder are a better team this year.  The Warriors score like crazy.  The Kings have some young talent.  But still… why are these games so close?

Why is it that the Laker team that can beat a title contender one night can’t handle a team that MIGHT make the playoffs the following night?  Why is it even close?

The only thing I can come up with is effort.  Sure we can talk about coaching strategies and matchups.  We can talk about poor shooting nights where the ball just doesn’t fall.  Every team will have those.  But how often can you chalk it up to those before you have to look for another excuse?

This season’s Lakers are a Jekyll and Hyde group.  They have the raw talent to win every night.  They have the coaching to win every night.  They have the leader to follow in order to win every night.  But they don’t.

They don’t run back on defense after a possession and we get burned on fast break points.  They force full-court passes that are unnecessary and cause turnovers.  They shoot 60% as a team from the foul line.  They settle for outside shots when two of the most talented big men in the game are waiting on the block for touches.

It’s hard to come off a win against Boston and even be upset about a missed buzzer-beater against Memphis.  My mental high from Sunday carried through last night’s game and made me slightly indifferent about the outcome.  It wasn’t until today that it hit me- the Lakers are better than this.

If I may, I’d like to lay out a wish list for a few select players over the next few games:

Ron: Be aggressive, but don’t force it.  You’ve got this habit of missing difficult layups that is perplexing.  How about kicking it back out if you wind up in traffic?

Pau: Find your shot.  Your post play has been great with your back to the basket, but your face up game has declined from last season.

Derek: Keep on fighting.  Run without the ball and get open looks- you have been taking ill-advised shots ever since you started slumping.  Very few players can shoot their way out of a slump.

Andrew: Finish two-handed, rebound two-handed, and keep the ball high.  It kills me to see you get stripped.  When someone beats you on defense, you don’t ALWAYS have to foul.

Kobe: Know your limits and play within them.  Your shooting percentage is down.  I don’t think it’s due to a lack of effort.  I think your injuries are causing you to lose some ability.  Recognize that and adjust.  Don’t just take more shots to make up for a lower percentage.

Shannon: We love when you dunk, but you don’t always have to dunk.  It seems like it’s your first thought when you get the ball.  Yes, people get excited for that, but you’ve stated you want to be a multi-dimensional player.  Slow it down a bit and play under control.  You’ve got potential like none other.

Jordan: Don’t get frustrated.  You force things when you’re frustrated.

If the team can just find a way to come together and put in the effort, there won’t be so many close games.  The average margin of victory will rise.  The record will rise.  The team won’t bounce all over the power rankings each week.

Most importantly, you’ll save me from changing a few diapers.

Considering how hard Kobe Bryant has to work for every bucket, it must have been somewhat of a let down to become the Lakers’ all-time leading scorer on such a gimmie.

Knowing the type of competitor the Mamba is, he’ll be haunted by the result of the game more so than the nature in which he passed Jerry West. Despite pouring in 44 points on a brilliant 16-28 shooting night, the Lakers ended their longest road trip of the season with a bitterly disappointing 95-93 loss to the much improved Memphis Grizzlies.

Had Ron Artest converted the good look he got at a potential game winning three, this night would have been one for the record books. Instead, Phil Jackson is still tied with Pat Riley for most wins in franchise history. The next chance PJ will get comes Wednesday night as the Charlotte Bobcats, a team that has had the Lake Show’s number in recent years, enter Staples.

While the outcome was unfitting for such a historic occasion, the symmetry in which Kobe accomplished this milestone is ironic to say the least.

Just over 14 years ago, Jerry West decided to go check out this high school hoops prodigy in Pennsylvania. When he returned from his trip, West proclaimed Kobe Bryant to be the most intriguing prospect he’d every seen. As one of the great general managers in NBA history, West proved he is also a modern day alchemist by turning Vlade Divac into Kobe Bryant via a draft day trade.

Mr. Clutch: The man who brought Kobe to L.A.

The rest is history.

After being the architect of yet another Lakers’ dynasty, West opted to leave the organization, eventually taking up the same position as GM of the Memphis Grizzlies.

On Monday night, the man who proudly stands as the symbol of the NBA saw his most prized pupil push past him as the greatest scorer in Lakers’ history. Kobe needed only 29 points to complete the task but netted 44, matching the retired number that hangs from high above Staples Center with the name “West” on the back. Just for good measure, KB24’s accomplishment occurred in Memphis, the last stop on Jerry’s NBA tour.

During Kobe’s ascension to the summit of Laker greatness, he passed such iconic names as James Worthy, Wilt Chamberlain, Shaquille O’Neal, Elgin Baylor, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson and finally Jerry West. He did so with clutch shots, breathtaking moves, unbelievable scoring performances and a competitive nature unlike any other currently in the game.

Over the last week, the debate on “who is the greatest Laker of all-time” has raged, building to the moment when Kobe would stand alone atop the record book.

Now that the moment is here, the debate will continue until it ultimately morphs into another poignant question: Is Kobe Bryant the greatest to ever play the game?

We’ve still got plenty of time to delve into that topic. So for now, we’ll just congratulate Kobe on such a historic moment while also being thankful for bearing witness to such an amazing career.

25,208 points and counting!

Give the Boston Celtics credit. After being run off the court in the first quarter, the C’s dominated the next 24 minutes of the game.

Too bad for the folks in Beantown that an NBA contest consists of 48 minutes.

The Los Angeles Lakers bookended their 90-89 victory over Boston by outscoring Doc’s Army 54-35 in the first and fourth quarters combined.

Ron Artest set the tone early by not giving Paul Pierce an inch from the opening jump. Kobe Bryant sent a sea of green home angry by hitting the game winner late. If you’re keeping score at home, then you know it has been nearly two years since the Celtics have “Beat L.A.” going all the way back to that embarrassing loss in the 2008 NBA Finals. Since then, this rivalry has been like most of the streets in Downtown Los Angeles – one way.

Mamba’s tightly contested game winner with 7.3 ticks left will be the highlight, the continued disintegration of the Celtics might be the headline, but Phil Jackson equalizing Pat Riley as the winningest coach in Laker history is the real story.   

PJ has won 533 games as the head shot caller in Los Angeles City. Soon, he’ll stand alone with more wins than any other coach in franchise history. Typical of Jackson, he willed the Lakers to victory on his terms. Jackson gave All-Star forward Pau Gasol a view from the bench for almost all of the crucial fourth, opting instead to let Andrew Bynum (19 points, 11 boards, 2 blocks) and Lamar Odom take the Lakers to a 5-2 mark on this eight game, Grammy induced, road trip.

While Kobe struggled all afternoon to find his rhythm (8-20 from the field), he hit a high note at the right time by draining an improbable jumper right in Ray Allen’s smug grill. KB24 dropped 19 on the afternoon and pulled even closer to The Logo as the all-time leading scorer in franchise history.

After dropping two of their first three on an eight game road swing, the Lakers were badly in need of some inspiration.

One trip to the White House and a visit with Barack Obama later, the Lake Show found all the inspiration they needed. Nothing like a little praise from the leader of the free world to get those competitive juices flowing again. If the Lakers want to see the oval office in 2011, then they’ll need to show more of the effort displayed against the Washington Wizards on Tuesday night.

Kobe Bryant had one of his vintage nights of efficient offensive production (26 pts, 8 assts, 8-15 from the field). Pau Gasol doubled his pleasure with 26 points and 10 boards. There was even a rare sighting of Gasol’s mean streak when he and Andray Blatche swapped technical fouls in the fourth. After the twin techs were called, Lamar Odom went right to Pau in the post and he proceeded to give Blatche the business.

Never mind KB24 doin’ work, though. Forget Pau’s punishing performance. We’re not even going to discuss Odom’s 15 points, 8 boards and 3 dimes.

Nope!

The tone for the 115-103 demolition of the Wizards was set by Shannon Brown.

Brown’s energy was contagious as he harassed anyone in the Verizon Center wearing a Wizards jersey. Shannon’s hard nosed defense led to a game best +19 during his 30 minutes of court time.

While his Obama inspired effort won’t be discussed on SportsCenter, his three throwdowns in preparation for the dunk contest certainly will make many a highlight reel. ShanWow completed the hat trick by catching an oop from Lamar, gliding for a one-handed break away jam and a Jordan-esque tip dunk on a missed free throw.

Enjoy!