Lakers Game

Nearly every time Andrew Bynum muscled his way inside, two barricades stopped his imposing presence. One roadblock came in the form of Thunder center Kendrick Perkins, whose physical approach to defense suddenly prevented Bynum from bullying his way to the basket. The other barrier simply reflected Bynum missing routine hooks, post-up shots or "bunnies," as he likes to call them. The Lakers' 99-96 victory Friday over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 3 of their Western Conference semifinal playoff series featured Bynum shooting only two of 13 from the field, leading him to say, "My touch today was a little off around the rim. " Yet, Lakers Coach Mike Brown gushed afterward that Bynum "was an absolute monster.

Tens of thousands of cycling, hockey and basketball fans will converge at Staples Center in a weekend packed with post-season games and the final stage of the 2012 Amgen Tour of California - events that authorities are warning will close streets and delay traffic in the downtown Los Angeles area. The biggest wrench in traffic will be crowds overlapping for the Kings game and the bike race Sunday. Street closures were scheduled to begin after the Lakers game Saturday night - along Figueroa Street from Pico to Olympic boulevards and on Chick Hearn Court/11th Street from Flower Avenue to Georgia Street - when two pedestrian bridges will be erected so Kings fans can cross the bike route Sunday morning for Game 4 of the NHL Western conference finals.

The less Matt Barnes plays in the playoffs, the better for the Lakers? It's starting to look that way. The Lakers' two biggest victories of the postseason heading into Game 4 of their Western Conference semifinal series Saturday night at Staples Center came with the struggling small forward playing 10 minutes or less. Barnes played 10 minutes Friday in Game 3, a three-point Lakers victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder. He was on the court less than six minutes for the Lakers' Game 7 triumph against the Denver Nuggets in the first round.

Nearly every time Andrew Bynum muscled his way inside, two barricades stopped his imposing presence. One roadblock came in the form of Thunder center Kendrick Perkins, whose physical approach to defense suddenly prevented Bynum from bullying his way to the basket. The other barrier simply reflected Bynum missing routine hooks, post-up shots or "bunnies," as he likes to call them. The Lakers' 99-96 victory Friday over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 3 of their Western Conference semifinal playoff series featured Bynum shooting only two of 13 from the field, leading him to say, "My touch today was a little off around the rim. " Yet, Lakers Coach Mike Brown gushed afterward that Bynum "was an absolute monster.

He was the four-time All-Star who became the Lakers' No. 4 scorer in the first two games of the playoffs. Pau Gasol also happened to collect more assists in those games than Denver Nuggets point guard Ty Lawson. Facilitating worked out well for Gasol and for the Lakers, who won those games to take early control of the series. Gasol became more of a shooter than a passer on Friday night at the Pepsi Center, and the Lakers seemed out of sorts for much of a 99-84 loss in Game 3 of their Western Conference first-round series.

The criticism came from all angles, and Andrew Bynum reacted to each of them accordingly. Magic Johnson made headlines by arguing as an ESPN analyst that the Lakers should fire Coach Mike Brown if the Lakers lost their first-round series against Denver. Within the same breath, Johnson then suggested the Lakers forgo exercising Bynum's $16.1-million contract option after seeing his inconsistent effort throughout the playoffs. "I don't have time to entertain stuff like that," Bynum said.

The moment Mike Brown walks into his Anaheim Hills home following a Lakers game, his sons greet him with persistent questions.  You know, the ones involving  trade rumors, why the Lakers won or lost and why Brown benched Kobe Bryant late in the game Sunday against Memphis. Brown escaped that scrutiny, however, after  the Lakers' 104-101 win Tuesday over the Golden State Warriors. Thankfully for him, he didn't have to explain benching Andrew Bynum for most of the second half after the center launched an ill-advised three-point attempt.

Shamefully, pure decadence used to be wasted on me. No longer. At my age (87), I've come to embrace over-the-top entertainment as I take a last fleeting grasp for life experiences. It's like a hobby almost. So on Monday night, as Grant Hill held Kobe Bryant to a mere 40 points, well shy of his record 81, I sampled the fast times at the Hyde Lounge at Staples Center. Here, Dr. Jekyll, is my story: The Hyde is a nightclub that sits rather high up in Staples Center, invisible perhaps to mortals such as you and me, but catnip for the young, hip and overmoneyed.

Mike Brown is not coaching the Lakers tonight against Denver because of personal reasons, according to the team. Brown went through his regular pregame briefing with media members about 90 minutes before tipoff but left after that. He was somewhat late for the briefing, spoke for 10 minutes and left Staples Center for home soon after that. Assistant John Kuester is coaching in Brown's place. Kuester took Brown's spot earlier this season in Philadelphia, a game the Lakers lost, 95-90.

Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping swept into Los Angeles on Thursday for a brief but action-packed visit that will include a stop at a local school, quality time with Vice President Joe Biden and tickets to Friday night's Lakers game. "He's a Kobe fan," said Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who invited Xi to the game. The mayor and Gov. Jerry Brown welcomed Xi, who is expected to become president of China next year, on the tarmac at LAX. From there, they drove to the Port of Los Angeles for a tour of a shipping terminal.

The less Matt Barnes plays in the playoffs, the better for the Lakers? It's starting to look that way. The Lakers' two biggest victories of the postseason heading into Game 4 of their Western Conference semifinal series Saturday night at Staples Center came with the struggling small forward playing 10 minutes or less. Barnes played 10 minutes Friday in Game 3, a three-point Lakers victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder. He was on the court less than six minutes for the Lakers' Game 7 triumph against the Denver Nuggets in the first round.

OKLAHOMA CITY — Point broken. The Lakers continued to suffer in point-guard production against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Ramon Sessions had two points and no assists in 24 minutes of the Lakers' 77-75 loss in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals. Steve Blake had five points on one-for-five shooting in almost 27 minutes Wednesday. Blake missed the possible go-ahead shot with 3.9 seconds to play, his three-point attempt from the corner a little long and a tad to the right.

OKLAHOMA CITY - Score one for youth. And speed. And rest. And fun. The Oklahoma City Thunder couldn't have looked much better than it did during the 119-90 bruising it applied to the Lakers on Monday night at Chesapeake Energy Arena. It was the opener of the Western Conference semifinals and the series could close quickly. PHOTOS: Lakers vs. Thunder, Game 1 Most people picked the Lakers to lose Game1. Few picked them to be embarrassed. They trailed by 35 in the third quarter, were blanked in fastbreak points (13-0)

The criticism came from all angles, and Andrew Bynum reacted to each of them accordingly. Magic Johnson made headlines by arguing as an ESPN analyst that the Lakers should fire Coach Mike Brown if the Lakers lost their first-round series against Denver. Within the same breath, Johnson then suggested the Lakers forgo exercising Bynum's $16.1-million contract option after seeing his inconsistent effort throughout the playoffs. "I don't have time to entertain stuff like that," Bynum said.

Bring on Oklahoma City? The Lakers teetered and tottered in Game 7 against the Denver Nuggets, finally prevailing, 96-87, to end their first-round series Saturday night at Staples Center. In a season when nothing came easy, when unpredictability easily beat out the sane and rational, the Lakers lost a 16-point third-quarter lead but came back to win. It was nonsensical, Steve Blake leading the way with 19 points, outscoring Kobe Bryant (17 points) and Andrew Bynum (16)

Mike Bresnahan covers the Lakers for The Times and ties up loose ends before all their playoff games. The Lakers lead the Nuggets, 3-2. Rarely am I stunned by the Lakers. I'm the lucky guy whose first year on the beat was when Coach Rudy Tomjanovich resigned halfway through the season and the Lakers went 2-19 down the stretch, failing to make the playoffs for only the fifth time in 58 years. Oh, yeah. They also finished behind the Clippers in the standings. But I was pretty surprised to realize Pau Gasol had only seven points with four minutes left in Game 5 against Denver.

Wounded knee, you say? What wounded knee? One of the most unexpected developments for the Lakers in Game 2 of the NBA Finals was coaxing 39 minutes out of center Andrew Bynum and his ailing right knee on Sunday night at Staples Center. Pleasant development No. 2: Bynum equaled his career-playoff high of 21 points in the loss to the Celtics, adding six rebounds and seven blocked shots. Bynum had his knee drained on Monday and took full advantage of a break in the playoff schedule between games with more-than-adequate time to rest and rehab the knee.

Some of the Phoenix Suns sat in the seats inside Staples Center, chatting with the media. Some of them stood on the court, playing shooting games with teammates and coaches. For the most part, the Suns were in a relaxed, conversational mood Tuesday some 13 hours after a thorough beating by the Lakers in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals Monday night. The Suns did their media obligations before Coach Alvin Gentry shouted above the din, "Let's go to the locker room," where the Suns would watch the horror film from a game in which they once trailed by 28 points before losing by 21. "I tried to forget about last night after the game," Grant Hill said.

He was the four-time All-Star who became the Lakers' No. 4 scorer in the first two games of the playoffs. Pau Gasol also happened to collect more assists in those games than Denver Nuggets point guard Ty Lawson. Facilitating worked out well for Gasol and for the Lakers, who won those games to take early control of the series. Gasol became more of a shooter than a passer on Friday night at the Pepsi Center, and the Lakers seemed out of sorts for much of a 99-84 loss in Game 3 of their Western Conference first-round series.

DENVER - The Lakers lost Game 3 but weren't total losers. JaVale McGee was the best big man on the court and Kobe Bryant couldn't hit a shot, but the Lakers moved closer to getting back Metta World Peace from his seven-game suspension. If the first round ended in five games, World Peace would miss one more game. If it goes six, he's back for the Western Conference semifinals. If it goes seven…the Lakers would rather not think about that. They wanted the chance at a sweep against the Denver Nuggets, which became impossible thanks to their surprisingly languid 99-84 loss Friday.