Lakers Team

Whew. Gasp. Arrgh. The Lakers pulled a city off a ledge and themselves back into the NBA championship contention Saturday with an energizing, exasperating 96-87 victory over the Denver Nuggets in Game 7 of a first-round series that should not have lasted this long. All together now: What were they thinking? You want to hug them. You want to strangle them. You want to ask them, how much more of this madness do you expect us to watch? Saturday night should not have been necessary.

OKLAHOMA CITY - Is it over? It's just the first game in two weeks' worth of them, the earliest hours in a brawl that could last all day, but I know what everyone is thinking, so we might as well ask it. Is this first punch a knockout punch? How on earth can the Lakers peel themselves off the floor to win four of the next six games against an Oklahoma City team that just beat them by 29 points, two dozen sprints, a dozen floor burns, six dunks, five tongue-wagging celebrations, and one glaring Derek Fisher?

Part of me wants to say the best Lakers team ever is the one that's out there right now. (Hopefully, none of the Showtime Lakers are reading this or they would have to be resuscitated at this point, after which they would cancel their subscriptions.) That's the part that knows how fast things change and how much better players have gotten. When I started covering the NBA in 1969 in Philadelphia, Billy Cunningham was a power forward at 6-foot-7 (listed) and 220 pounds. Gus Johnson was a feared power forward at 6-5, 225. Cunningham wasn't even 6-7. Everyone knew his real height those days because being 6-6 got you out of the draft.

Whew. Gasp. Arrgh. The Lakers pulled a city off a ledge and themselves back into the NBA championship contention Saturday with an energizing, exasperating 96-87 victory over the Denver Nuggets in Game 7 of a first-round series that should not have lasted this long. All together now: What were they thinking? You want to hug them. You want to strangle them. You want to ask them, how much more of this madness do you expect us to watch? Saturday night should not have been necessary.

OKLAHOMA CITY - Is it over? It's just the first game in two weeks' worth of them, the earliest hours in a brawl that could last all day, but I know what everyone is thinking, so we might as well ask it. Is this first punch a knockout punch? How on earth can the Lakers peel themselves off the floor to win four of the next six games against an Oklahoma City team that just beat them by 29 points, two dozen sprints, a dozen floor burns, six dunks, five tongue-wagging celebrations, and one glaring Derek Fisher?

His eyes filled with tears. Jerry West's hands trembled as he clutched the microphone. His voice squeaked as he spoke before an attentive audience at a Manhattan Beach hotel. He and his teammates on the 1971-72 Lakers team gathered there Thursday commemorating the 40th anniversary of their championship run. West could have just marveled at the team's 33-game winning streak, which still remains the longest winning streak in professional sports history. He could have just detailed how that season provided some solace for losing in nine previous NBA Finals appearances.

The homecoming began with the national anthem. The fans couldn't even wait until it ended. "Derek!" and "Fish!" they shouted during the song, interrupting the L.A. Delta Chorale in mid-red-glare. It always sort of felt patriotic to cheer Derek Fisher, didn't it? It was certainly appropriate Thursday, his return to Staples Center becoming two hours' worth of bombs bursting in the air above a Lakers team that cowered beneath their former leader and his new teammates. Fish was back, just in time to remind the Lakers that they weren't.

We of the Los Angeles County Commission on AIDS commend Magic Johnson for his candor and openness. He has given the war on AIDS a spokesperson and leader with the ability to pass the message to communities that have been very difficult to reach in the past. Johnson has taken his health news and performed the most impressive rebound of his career. This has brought the AIDS message into the homes and hearts of millions. He has truly transcended from a Lakers team member and world-class athlete to a world-class coach of life and humanity.

Readers' questions for our Lakers beat reporter Broderick Turner. Questions will be answered every week. Question: As frustrating as the lazy play has been, is there any similarity between this Lakers team and the second year of the Shaq (O'Neal) & Kobe (Bryant) repeat teams? I don't remember all the details, but I don't think they had a great regular season either, but won about 10 straight at the end of the year and almost swept through the playoffs. Just curious if you remember whether that team was working hard but losing, or had the same tendency to coast.

Anything's (still) possible, as Kevin Garnett once said, although under different circumstances. Unfortunately for the Celtics, they have more going against them than Phil Jackson's 47-0 record after his teams win Game 1, as the Lakers did in convincing fashion Thursday night. -- No Lakers team has blown a lead over a Celtics team in the Finals in 26 years. -- No Lakers team with Andrew Bynum has ever lost in the Finals, although he didn't have much to do with it, scoring 9-5-4-6-6 in the only one he played in, against Orlando last spring.

Among the highlights of my interview with the Denver Post's Nuggets beat writer Benjamin Hochman on the Lakers-Nuggets game: On the Nuggets' season: "They started different 20 different lineups this year ... It's been nuts. They're clinging on to that eighth [playoff] spot. But they hope they can get the fifth or sixth spot so they can play one of the L.A. teams and not San Antonio or Oklahoma City. " On a possible Lakers-Nuggets first-round matchup: It would be a good series.

His eyes filled with tears. Jerry West's hands trembled as he clutched the microphone. His voice squeaked as he spoke before an attentive audience at a Manhattan Beach hotel. He and his teammates on the 1971-72 Lakers team gathered there Thursday commemorating the 40th anniversary of their championship run. West could have just marveled at the team's 33-game winning streak, which still remains the longest winning streak in professional sports history. He could have just detailed how that season provided some solace for losing in nine previous NBA Finals appearances.

The homecoming began with the national anthem. The fans couldn't even wait until it ended. "Derek!" and "Fish!" they shouted during the song, interrupting the L.A. Delta Chorale in mid-red-glare. It always sort of felt patriotic to cheer Derek Fisher, didn't it? It was certainly appropriate Thursday, his return to Staples Center becoming two hours' worth of bombs bursting in the air above a Lakers team that cowered beneath their former leader and his new teammates. Fish was back, just in time to remind the Lakers that they weren't.

Jim Buss said Friday the Lakers are "the team to beat" in the West and praised Coach Mike Brown for doing a "fantastic" job this season. "The formula is pointing toward a deep run in the playoffs," Buss, the Lakers' executive vice president of player personnel, said during an in-studio interview with Steve Mason and John Ireland on ESPN 710 radio. Buss said the Lakers are a championship-caliber team and said his opinion is shared by Kobe Bryant , whom he said he will never trade.

The Clippers were so nonchalant about Blake Griffin and Chris Paul being chosen to start for the Western Conference in the NBA All-Star game that you'd almost think it happens every day. Public-address announcer David Courtney made a quick proclamation to the crowd before Thursday's 112-91 loss to the Denver Nuggets at Staples Center, drawing a swell of applause that was lost in the buildup to the opening tipoff. Photos of the two players wearing All-Star uniforms were posted on the center-hanging scoreboard, but the team staged no pregame news conference for the duo. The Clippers' media relations department issued a polite statement from each player before the game that said all the right things about being honored and thanking their teammates and the fans who cast ballots.

The Clippers need to chill. The Clippers need to stop acting like some young new movie star who feels it necessary to prove his street cred by trashing hotel rooms and tossing bouncers. So far this season, the Clippers are the best team in Los Angeles and one of the best teams in the NBA's Western Conference, a talented and energetic group, legitimate contenders who could play deep into spring. Now they need to start behaving like it. Now that they are in the process of erasing the traditional Clippers jinx off their resume, they need to lose the traditional Clippers chip off their shoulder and stop turning Lob City into Lob Alley.

The fact that the Lakers are getting on a plane and flying nearly 3,000 miles to go back to Boston tells me they still want to be in this series. That may seem obvious, but I've seen teams, especially on Father's Day, be content to go home with their tails between their legs and stay home with their families. This Lakers team hasn't had enough yet.

The Clippers were so nonchalant about Blake Griffin and Chris Paul being chosen to start for the Western Conference in the NBA All-Star game that you'd almost think it happens every day. Public-address announcer David Courtney made a quick proclamation to the crowd before Thursday's 112-91 loss to the Denver Nuggets at Staples Center, drawing a swell of applause that was lost in the buildup to the opening tipoff. Photos of the two players wearing All-Star uniforms were posted on the center-hanging scoreboard, but the team staged no pregame news conference for the duo. The Clippers' media relations department issued a polite statement from each player before the game that said all the right things about being honored and thanking their teammates and the fans who cast ballots.

Darkness descended upon South Beach on Thursday, omnipotent and overpowering for one team, just plain frightful for the other. For the first time ever, the Miami Heat wore all black. If things don't change, Lakers fans might have to start wearing it too. The Heat intimidated. The Lakers cowered. The Heat fought. The Lakers fled. The game began with dueling violinists welcoming the Heat to the AmericanAirlines Arena with a hard-rock tune. By the time the game ended, the two dudes should have sent the Lakers off with a dirge.

I show him the picture of the grandkids screaming and sobbing after Santa Claus tells the twins it's up to Jim Buss to bring them a Lakers' championship, and Jim Buss laughs. "Look at this one," Buss says pointing to the 7-Eleven Kid, who is standing there all smiles. Why should she be different from every other Clippers fan? And so it goes, the potshots flying, a guy on the radio calling him "stupid" and a blogger referring to him as an "idiot. " After all, Scrooge is ruining the Lakers, now aren't you?