Deadline

With one week until Election Day, every move by the mayoral candidates is being closely scrutinized for signs of what they believe is happening among voters below the radar in what is expected to be a  low-turnout election. And no one is being watched more closely at the moment than Jan Perry, who is waging a blistering mail campaign against Wendy Greuel. Greuel's recent decision to respond may signal that Perry is making headway in the five-candidate contest. But the aggressive, and some would argue questionable, nature of Perry's mail campaign is drawing scrutiny as well, with county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky the latest to speak out about the Perry campaign's tactics.

Thanks to the NBA's new CBA, the trade deadline was DOA. The reluctance of teams to assume future salaries or part with increasingly coveted draft picks under the constricting collective bargaining agreement meant that nearly all was quiet on the Western (and Eastern) fronts Thursday. Dwight Howard remained a Laker. Josh Smith stayed in Atlanta. Eric Bledsoe didn't have to buy change-of-address cards to denote he was a former Clipper. There was little movement of note, unless you count part-time starting shooting guard J.J. Redick going from one bad team (Orlando)

The Clippers took phone calls from other teams, made their own calls and listened to offers. But in the end, the Clippers didn't make a trade before Thursday's noon deadline, preferring to stick with this team for the stretch run. Coach Vinny Del Negro was asked why the team didn't make any trades. "Because there was no trade to be made," Del Negro said. "There was nothing there. "All these reports and all these talks and everything else, there's things out there you can't even do under the collective bargaining agreement that were reported and that weren't even accurate.

It's official. The Lakers did not make any trades before today's noon deadline. They did not deal Dwight Howard or injured forward Pau Gasol, keeping their roster exactly the same. The Lakers were adamant they would not deal Howard, who could become a free agent in July. "Regarding Dwight, it took a while for the league to understand our position was exactly what we stated it would be. But I think they finally got it," Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak said Thursday.  The Lakers were busy last year -- Derek Fisher and Luke Walton were out, Ramon Sessions and Jordan Hill were in -- but nothing come to fruition this season.

The NBA's trade deadline was D.O.A. There was little movement of note Thursday, unless you count part-time starting shooting guard J.J. Redick going from one bad team (Orlando) to a middling playoff contender (Milwaukee) as part of a six-player trade. Dwight Howard remained a Laker. Josh Smith stayed in Atlanta. Clipper guard Eric Bledsoe put off having to buy those cute little change-of-address cards. Maybe the lack of trades shouldn't have come as much of a surprise given the two blockbusters that already transpired: James Harden going from Oklahoma City to Houston on the eve of the season and Rudy Gay getting his passport stamped last month on the way from Memphis to Toronto.

All indications are that the Clippers will not be making any trades before the NBA's deadline at noon PST on Thursday. Even Clippers Coach Vinny Del Negro said after practice on Wednesday that the team not looking to make any moves because he and his staff like the current team. The most talked-about rumor had backup point guard Eric Bledsoe and center DeAndre Jordan going to the Boston Celtics for center Kevin Garnett. Because Bledsoe (23) and Jordan (25) are such young players, Del Negro was asked if he needed to talk with them about the trade rumors.

HOUSTON - Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard were here, so of course there was going to be drama. Howard said Friday that Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak had told him he would remain with the team through Thursday's trade deadline. On Sunday, Bryant said "it doesn't matter" what his team does with the six-time All-Star. "I don't know what they are going to do," Bryant said Sunday at Toyota Center after helping the West defeat the East, 143-138, in the All-Star game. "But at this point ... , it doesn't matter.

Lamenting the departed in Boston Rajon Rondo was lost for the season and the Boston Celtics continued to win. Jared Sullinger was lost for the season and the Celtics continued to win. Leandro Barbosa was lost for the season and … well, you get the idea. The injury-plagued Celtics headed into the All-Star break with a healthy share of eight wins in their last nine games since Rondo sustained a torn knee ligament late last month, the first in a series of bad injury news for the franchise.

HALF MOON BAY, Calif. - The piano was delivered to its bluff-top perch under cover of fog nearly two weeks ago. It is scheduled to leave this coastal enclave in a burst of flames on Sunday. In between the fog and the fire, musician and sculptor Mauro Ffortissimo has been treating his neighbors to an illicit outdoor concert series grandly dubbed Sunset Piano. Chopin, Debussy, a tango or two. The performances are timed to end the moment the sun sinks below the horizon. He plays to cyclists and dog walkers, babies in strollers, his landlady in a folding chair, the charmed, the perplexed.

Either way, he won't make the playoffs Dallas forward Shawn Marion , on the possibility of being traded to another bad team: "If I'm going to get traded, they're going to tell me what's going on and where I'm going. Because if I'm going to a . . . situation, I'm not going. It's just that simple. " Waiting to exhale Miami forward Chris Andersen , on the all-out effort he gives the Heat: "No matter the situation, I'm just going to keep on playing until I'm out of breath.