Not much of a game there until the end, but here are my thoughts…

• Diaper Drew was the one-man swat team in the first half as he emphatically rejected four shots, including the first shot of the game. Way to set the tone, big man. Bynum finished with 14-8 and led the team at +20 (Stealth had an off night at -3 and relinquished the title).
• Fish was on fire tonight. He hit his first three shots, went 7/11 from the field, 2/2 from the line and hit four threes. He also had a great flop that drew Tyson Chandler’s third foul. Most importantly, his late steal sealed the game.
• Did the Hornets’ color guy really throw out Nate Dog’s “Regulate” like it was the greatest pop culture reference of all time? I could literally hear him patting himself on the back.
• We have to do a better job against dribble penetration. I think that down the road, especially if we face the Hornets in the playoffs, you will see a lot of Jordan Farmar when Fish isn’t hitting. He’s getting to be a little old and slow to keep up with players like CP3.
• Trevor Ariza didn’t have his best night, but he started off with six points in four minutes and definitely made his presence felt. Even in a somewhat off night he still had 10-4.
• Speaking of off nights, Kobe was just cold. It didn’t matter, however, because his passing was spectacular (six assists) and he hit the big dagger shot at the end. That three he busted in James Posey’s eye as the shot clock expired to give the Lakers a six-point lead (86-80) was vintage KB24. Just sick. Gotta be honest — totally jumped out of my chair, yelled and did a Kirk Gibson fist pump. Well, maybe more like a Tiger Woods fist pump.
• Jordan didn’t score many points, but he grabbed six boards and didn’t turn the ball over. That buzzer-beater jumper to close the first quarter was pretty clutch, too.
• Lamar Odom only had two points, but he made some tremendous hustle plays, especially that corner save pass to Diaper Drew for an easy dunk. He also had nine points, four assists and three steals. Seriously, the guy was all over the place. I just hope that he doesn’t start griping about his points given that this is a contract year.
• Great, now Ric Flair’s “wooooooooooooooo” is going to be in my head all night.
• I loved seeing Pau and Bynum get feisty. Pau told CP3 (pictured above), and I’m paraphrasing here, “get that weak shit outta here” after Bynum swatted him. Bynum later pushed Posey after Posey had been rough and mouthy with teammates. Good to see that we’re sending the message that we aren’t young pushovers any longer.
• David West is awesome, but he would have been less awesome if someone had of stepped in front of his voyages to the rim occasionally. A lot of that has to be put on L.O. and especially Pau.
• Chris Paul was even more awesomer, er, whatever. Seven straight games with 20 points and 10 assists. This dude is unreal. I didn’t even think he played well until the fourth, yet he finished with 30 points, 13 assists and seven rebounds. He really went nuts there at the end, keying a 24-8 run that got the Hornets back in it.
• My two other favorite players (besides Kobe) of all time are Kareem and Reggie, so you know I love Byron Scott. But, Byron, do you seriously still have that wispy mustache? You look like a Dave Chapelle character or something.

That’s it for tonight. The big thing is that Kobe pretty much shot like absolute shit and we still coasted for most of the night. At the same time, at the end when we actually needed him, the Black Mamba stepped up and took down his prey. 7-0, baby! Detroit and the Answer on Friday — should be fun.