Golden State

Is it too early to scoreboard watch? The Golden State Warriors lost in Sacramento to the Kings, 131-127, on Wednesday night, falling to 17-9. Given how poorly the Lakers have started the season (12-14), the team has significant ground to make up in the Western Conference and the Pacific Division. With the Warriors dropping a game to the Kings, the Lakers are now five full games behind. Assuming the Lakers dramatically improve with the return of Pau Gasol (already back) and Steve Nash (presumably within a week)

Clippers VS. NEW ORLEANS When: 7:30 p.m. Where: Staples Center. On the air: TV: Prime Ticket: Radio: 980: 1330. Records: Clippers 18-6, Hornets 5-19 Record vs. Hornets : 0-1. Update: Three weeks ago, the Clippers lost to the Hornets, 105-98, at Staples Center. The Hornets have lost eight consecutive games, including Tuesday night's game at Golden State. New Orleans rookie forward Anthony Davis didn't play in the first game against the Clippers, but he's back and was averaging 14.6 points and 7.4 rebounds before Tuesday's game.

WASHINGTON - Steve Nash is running and shooting and hoping to practice next week, all good signs for the Lakers. But what about Pau Gasol? The four-time All-Star continues to deal with knee tendinitis, sitting out his seventh game Friday against Washington. Using the standard for NFL injury reports, Gasol declared himself doubtful for Sunday's game against Philadelphia, questionable for Tuesday against Charlotte and probable Dec. 22 against Golden State. Yep, looks like at least another week before he returns.

David Lee had 24 points and 17 rebounds, Klay Thompson added 23 points and the Golden State Warriors beat the Washington Wizards, 101-97, on Saturday night for their third consecutive road win. Stephen Curry scored 22 points for the Warriors, who won the first three games of a trip for the first time since February 2003. Golden State, on a seven-game trip, is 13-7 overall, the first time the Warriors have been six games over .500 since the end of the 2007-08 season. Dallas 116, at Houston 109: O.J. Mayo won a shootout with James Harden and the Mavericks rallied to defeat the Rockets.

Not backing down Boston guard Rajon Rondo after he shoved Brooklyn's Kris Humphries in retaliation for Humphries' committing a hard foul on the Celtics' Kevin Garnett, earning Rondo a two-game suspension: "I don't think I did anything dirty. I didn't try to start a riot. I don't think it was more than just a pushing war. " Shoot the messenger Golden State General Manager Bob Myers, when asked whether he could understand how fans might feel deceived after only recently being told that center Andrew Bogut underwent microfracture surgery on his ankle last spring: "I can absolutely see their position and feel terrible about that.

SACRAMENTO - For the last couple of years, some of the state's most influential business titans and elder statesmen have taken time off to grapple with the mess in Sacramento. Former Secretaries of State George Shultz and Condoleezza Rice, Google Inc. Chairman Eric Schmidt, Los Angeles philanthropist Eli Broad and other heavyweights have all attended an effort known as the Think Long Committee for California, which is focused on squaring away the years of mismanagement from Sacramento and conflicting mandates from citizen initiatives.

The number of foreclosures canceled by banks surged 62% across California last month, the same month major mortgage servicers were required to comply with new rules outlined by this year's National Mortgage Settlement. Banks in the Golden State canceled 15,539 scheduled auctions last month, according to a report by website ForeclosureRadar.com. That was a 36.7% drop from the same month last year. Sean O'Toole, founder of ForeclosureRadar, wrote in the October report that the increase was most likely due to the effective banning of dual tracking in the state.

Journalist and gay activist Dan Savage often writes about the urban archipelago -- the American cities that are comfortable, safe islands for gays and lesbians set amid a vast sea of countryside where being openly homosexual remains a chancy, even dangerous, proposition. However, after an election in which four more states approved same-sex marriage, perhaps that sea is receding. In fact, the map of states that now allow men to marry men and women to marry women is beginning to resemble the now familiar chart of red and blue states.

Memo to the California GOP: Rough couple of weeks, huh? First you found out that the number of registered Republicans in California has dipped below 30%, which means we are fast approaching the day when the entire state membership can fit into two golf carts. To make matters worse, of the 1 million people who used a new online voter registration system this election cycle, only 20% registered as Republicans. And 60% of those who registered were under 35, which means your future's not looking great.