Hot Hand

It's still very, very early in the campaign to become the next mayor of Los Angeles, but right now, it's City Controller Wendy Greuel who's playing the hot hand. The only independent poll shows her in a tie with City Council President Eric Garcetti and county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who still has not decided whether to run. Greuel is personable and well liked and holds an office that allows her to make news, most recently with an audit of the city's lax oversight of its gas stations that helped lead to the arrest of a city worker.

It's still very, very early in the campaign to become the next mayor of Los Angeles, but right now, it's City Controller Wendy Greuel who's playing the hot hand. The only independent poll shows her in a tie with City Council President Eric Garcetti and county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who still has not decided whether to run. Greuel is personable and well liked and holds an office that allows her to make news, most recently with an audit of the city's lax oversight of its gas stations that helped lead to the arrest of a city worker.

Reading the reviews might have been the first mistake for the Lakers' Adam Morrison. "I had a lot of criticism after my first year," Morrison said of his rookie season with the Charlotte Bobcats in 2006-07, having been the third overall pick in the NBA draft. "I remember one website saying I was the worst player in the NBA. All that stuff."

Top-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus kept her hot hand going Sunday in thre women's final of the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament. On a cold and windy day, Azarenka beat second-seeded Maria Sharapova of Russia, 6-2, 6-3. That brought Azarenka the first-ever $1 million winner's check for the women's side of this event. It also brought her year-to-date record to 23-0. She won the Australian open, beating Sharapova in that final, too, and now has won the title in five of the last six tournaments she has entered.

Amid the rows of chilled, sparkling luxury suites at Dodger Stadium, one is not air conditioned. Coincidence or not, it's the one belonging to Ned Colletti. The Dodgers general manager was smiling through the stifling heat Tuesday, wearing a long-sleeve dress shirt in his fancy steam bath. "This is great," he said. "I'm great." Oh yeah? Well, it's about to get hotter. Colletti finished his season's work late Monday night, acquiring enough players to satisfy most of the team's postseason needs.

Nestled in between the blocked shots supplied by Andrew Bynum and the flawless passes crafted by Jordan Farmar was another sight welcomed by the Lakers. Their main free-agent acquisition during the off-season, Vladimir Radmanovic, was drilling three-pointers in a fourth quarter that carried them to victory Wednesday against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Oh, if only Byron Scott could have gotten that last shot, because he had such a hot hand. Or, if only Robert Horry could have taken that last shot, because he could do no wrong. If only somebody could have shot that last shot. But in the span of a couple of seconds, Nick Van Exel couldn't get one off, and all the arguments in the world that Karl Malone had hacked him were of no use, because the Lakers had lost Game 2 of their series with the Utah Jazz, 103-101. What a waste.

So much for the rumors about Curtis Joseph having a sore right hand. Hot hand is more appropriate. Joseph stopped 32 shots and the Toronto Maple Leafs showed their new playoff look is for real, defeating the New Jersey Devils, 2-0, on Thursday night at East Rutherford, N.J., in the opener of the Eastern Conference semifinal. Joseph's third shutout of the playoffs and 12th of his career came after days of speculation about his right hand.

The Seattle SuperSonics may be one game away from being eliminated from the NBA playoffs, but star forward Xavier McDaniel said the SuperSonics aren't going to roll over and die. "It don't look too good for us," McDaniel said after the Lakers edged the SuperSonics, 122-121, Saturday to take a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference finals. "It's like we're in the hospital in critical condition. And they're about to gather up the family because we aren't going to make it.

Pepperdine returned Saturday to the scene of its only road victory, but with the exception of center Bryan Hill, the Waves left their games at home. Despite a career-best 39 points by Hill, Pepperdine never recovered from a poor start and lost to St. Mary's, 85-69, in the first round of the West Coast Conference men's basketball tournament at Loyola Marymount.

Sasha Vujacic stayed after practice Thursday, lofting dozens of outside shots before heading to the free-throw line for some extra work there. He was the odd man out of the Lakers' guard rotation in the season opener Tuesday, failing to enter the game while reserves Shannon Brown and Steve Blake combined for 26 points and clutch fourth-quarter play against Houston. Was it a one-game omission or a sign of things to come this season? Vujacic, 26, is in the final year of a contract that pays him $5.5 million this season.

at Boston 103, Indiana 94: Paul Pierce missed his first 10 shots but scored 16 points in the fourth quarter, including seven in a row, to put the Celtics ahead for good. Pierce finished with 21 points. Troy Murphy had 24 points and a season-high 18 rebounds for the Pacers. at Washington 105, Philadelphia 98: Gilbert Arenas scored the game's first seven points and finished the first quarter with 15 on the way to a game-high 31 points for the Wizards. Elton Brand led the 76ers with 18 points and 12 rebounds.

Another day in court still awaits Nikola Dragovic, about a month or so down the line. The UCLA forward still must answer to a felony charge stemming from a recent fight at a Hollywood concert. But the mere act of standing in front of a judge this week, pleading not guilty, seems to have done wonders for Dragovic on another type of court. "Just by not having to deal with lawyers, not going to meetings, just even think about it, I'm able to put more time into basketball," Dragovic said.

Ronnie Belliard started at second base in place of Orlando Hudson tonight for the third consecutive game, as Manager Joe Torre said he intended to continue to "ride the hot hand." "We'll ride it as long as we can and see what happens," Torre said. Torre said he spoke about playing time to Hudson, whom he described as understanding. "I told him without him we wouldn't be in the situation we are to win something, but Belliard's hot right now," Torre said. ""I told him this time of year we need to get something done and we're just going to ride the hot hand.

Amid the rows of chilled, sparkling luxury suites at Dodger Stadium, one is not air conditioned. Coincidence or not, it's the one belonging to Ned Colletti. The Dodgers general manager was smiling through the stifling heat Tuesday, wearing a long-sleeve dress shirt in his fancy steam bath. "This is great," he said. "I'm great." Oh yeah? Well, it's about to get hotter. Colletti finished his season's work late Monday night, acquiring enough players to satisfy most of the team's postseason needs.

Reading the reviews might have been the first mistake for the Lakers' Adam Morrison. "I had a lot of criticism after my first year," Morrison said of his rookie season with the Charlotte Bobcats in 2006-07, having been the third overall pick in the NBA draft. "I remember one website saying I was the worst player in the NBA. All that stuff."

Frank Arnold, former assistant to UCLA's John Wooden and the head coach at BYU for eight years, quit coaching two years ago because he "failed to enjoy life." "I was so involved and intent on success that I forgot to enjoy my family and friends," he said.

Santa Ana 66, Irvine 47--Center Bobby Joyce sure knows how to make his presence felt as he played an instrumental role in lifting the Saints to a victory at Irvine High School. The 6-foot 7-inch junior had a remarkable two games this week after sitting out the Saints' previous six games for disciplinary reasons.

It was like old times for Elton Brand in Wednesday's 109-105 loss to the Houston Rockets at Houston. Playing more than 45 minutes in the Clippers' second game in as many nights, Brand scored a season-high 37 points, shot 13 for 23 from the field and 11 for 12 from the free-throw line. He also had 10 rebounds to become the Clippers' all-time leader.

They managed to fit in the NBA All-Star game between parties here, and it came at the right time for Kobe Bryant. The Lakers guard joined the league's biggest stars in having a great Las Vegas experience, but Bryant was the best of the best again, scoring a game-high 31 points and being selected the most valuable player for the second time after the West's 153-132 victory over the East on Sunday in front of a sellout crowd of 15,694 at the Thomas & Mack Center.