Los Angeles Lakers Basketball Team

Even though Kobe Bryant called the game, uh, "garbage," his last-second winner Tuesday gave him six this season, the most in an NBA season since Elias Sports Bureau began tracking the stat in 2000-01. Denver forward Carmelo Anthony had five in 2005-06, according to Elias, which defines the category as a shot that proved to be a game-winner in the last 10 seconds of the fourth quarter or overtime. With the Lakers taking a day off Wednesday, what else was there to do but recap Bryant's run?

On the cover of the Lakers' media guide is a photo of Phil Jackson getting doused by champagne in a circle of smiling players, part of the joyous aftermath of the franchise's 15th championship. The minor slice of history that ended Sunday with their return to Orlando won't be so cherished. The Lakers hadn't lost three consecutive games since Pau Gasol joined them on Feb. 1, 2008, but that streak was terminated in a 96-94 loss to the Orlando Magic at Amway Arena. Kobe Bryant missed a 20-foot jumper with 1.2 seconds to play and the Lakers completed a reverse hat trick, losing to Miami, Charlotte and Orlando on a trip they'd just as soon forget.

As the responsibilities get handed down from Lakers owner Jerry Buss to his son and daughter, more and more will be asked and demanded of Jim Buss . Jeanie Buss has already been given the business side of the Lakers by her father, but Jim is now entrusted with about 90% of his father's decision-making processes on the basketball personnel side, according to Jerry Buss. It's a sensible time for the shift, seeing as how the Lakers won the championship in June and are favored to win another one this season.

Wary Christmas. If this didn't throw some caution into the lovely prose cataloging the Lakers' steamroller of a season, would anything? The Lakers were uninspiring and unexciting, in case their angry, booing fans didn't prove the point during a thorough 102-87 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday at Staples Center. The Lakers lost their cool -- Kobe Bryant seemed edgy and off-kilter the entire game, and Lamar Odom was ejected in the fourth quarter -- and their fans followed suit, hurling about 50 promotional foam-finger giveaways on to the court with 4 minutes 4 seconds to play and the Lakers down 18. The game was briefly delayed and, despite pleas from longtime in-house announcer Lawrence Tanter, more foam fingers were tossed from the stands after another foul was called with 3:45 to play.

Old A.C. Green. Sitting like a dean. Watching the Lakers go far. Along came a bear, and sat on his hair. And everyone said, Dude, that's bizarre. * This is the story about the little green bear that sometimes sits atop the head of the Lakers' big power forward. Don't laugh. This is serious. He is an important figure. He represents an important ethic. He is about strength, endurance, respect. We're talking, of course, about the bear.

Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak eased his way into the interview room with a satisfied look on his face after having completed a contract extension with Pau Gasol . Kupchak offered a "good afternoon" to the assembled media Wednesday before being asked where Gasol was. Kupchak turned to look behind himself. "Believe me, he'll be here," Kupchak said. On Wednesday, Gasol officially signed a three-year extension worth up to $64.7 million, depending on the NBA salary-cap figures to be determined in 2011.

The Lakers lost again to the Charlotte Bobcats, which hardly passes as news any longer, though they continued to earn headlines by putting forth another indescribably uninspired effort. After a long night in Miami, the Lakers showed up in plenty of time to play the Bobcats, as confirmed by a box score that also revealed several other unsettling concepts, starting with the Bobcats' 98-83 victory Friday at Time Warner Cable Arena. Pau Gasol continued to play far below All-Star level, the Lakers kept treating March like exhibition season and Kobe Bryant seemed angry at it all for the first time in recent memory.

Kobe Bryant probably won't play Thursday against Boston, but, then again, who are the Celtics these days? Bryant did not practice Wednesday and didn't try to hide the fact that his left ankle was bothering him when asked whether he would play against the Lakers' longtime rival. "Right now it's a no," Bryant said Wednesday. "If I wake up [Thursday] and I feel drastically different, then I'll play, but I doubt it." Bryant revealed that he wasn't bothered as much by a sprained left ankle as he was by a sore small tendon on the outside part of the lower leg that runs behind the ankle bone.

All the will-he-or-won't-he chatter was rendered moot Thursday when the NBA announced that Kobe Bryant would not play in the All-Star game because of a sprained left ankle. The Lakers guard will be replaced by Dallas veteran Jason Kidd, further diminishing the appeal of a weekend in which Southern California fans had hoped Bryant would lead the West All-Stars to victory and Blake Griffin would dunk on some second-year player's head. Well, there's always Lakers guard Shannon Brown competing in the dunk contest.

This time, there was no last-minute magic. There was no encore for Kobe Bryant, no reprieve for the Lakers, no victory in the second night of a back-to-back situation. The Lakers weren't horrible, but they certainly weren't sharp, losing to the Dallas Mavericks, 101-96, Wednesday at American Airlines Center. Bryant looked fatigued in his second game back from a five-game layoff, making only nine of 23 shots and scoring 20 points. Andrew Bynum tailed off rapidly after a first quarter in which he had eight points and seven rebounds, finishing with 10 points, 11 rebounds and a telling five turnovers after several problematic possessions in the post.

The shot sailed through the basket, the brightly colored strips of paper fell from the rafters, the fans stood and screamed. And then, see ya. The only thing quicker than Kobe Bryant's game-winning basket against the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday night was the celebration afterward. The fans hustled out of Staples Center as if leaving a bad movie. The Lakers hustled off the floor as if leaving a messy house. They all know. The NBA knows. If we're going to be honest with ourselves, all of Los Angeles should know.

Even though Kobe Bryant called the game, uh, "garbage," his last-second winner Tuesday gave him six this season, the most in an NBA season since Elias Sports Bureau began tracking the stat in 2000-01. Denver forward Carmelo Anthony had five in 2005-06, according to Elias, which defines the category as a shot that proved to be a game-winner in the last 10 seconds of the fourth quarter or overtime. With the Lakers taking a day off Wednesday, what else was there to do but recap Bryant's run?

On the cover of the Lakers' media guide is a photo of Phil Jackson getting doused by champagne in a circle of smiling players, part of the joyous aftermath of the franchise's 15th championship. The minor slice of history that ended Sunday with their return to Orlando won't be so cherished. The Lakers hadn't lost three consecutive games since Pau Gasol joined them on Feb. 1, 2008, but that streak was terminated in a 96-94 loss to the Orlando Magic at Amway Arena. Kobe Bryant missed a 20-foot jumper with 1.2 seconds to play and the Lakers completed a reverse hat trick, losing to Miami, Charlotte and Orlando on a trip they'd just as soon forget.

The Lakers lost again to the Charlotte Bobcats, which hardly passes as news any longer, though they continued to earn headlines by putting forth another indescribably uninspired effort. After a long night in Miami, the Lakers showed up in plenty of time to play the Bobcats, as confirmed by a box score that also revealed several other unsettling concepts, starting with the Bobcats' 98-83 victory Friday at Time Warner Cable Arena. Pau Gasol continued to play far below All-Star level, the Lakers kept treating March like exhibition season and Kobe Bryant seemed angry at it all for the first time in recent memory.

Reporting from Miami What a short, strange trip it's already been. The Lakers looked fully uninterested for three quarters, completely content to wait until later to dial up the effort, just as they had been doing in recent games, riskily but successfully. Only one problem: It didn't work this time. The Lakers almost recovered in time to steal a victory but lost in overtime to the Miami Heat, 114-111, Thursday at American Airlines Arena. Too little, too late, very unimpressive against a team that lost at home last week to Minnesota and Milwaukee.

Arf! If "dog days" was in the dictionary, they might have a picture of a marquee reading: INDIANA AT LAKERS Tuesday, March 2 Of course, having misplaced their game, the Lakers can't ease up against anyone . . . or, at least, that was the plan, before easing up in Tuesday night's first half, then awakening to bury the lowly Pacers, 122-99. Kobe Bryant, coming off his three-for-17 game against Denver, went five for 14 from the field but scored 24 points, his most since his Feb. 23 return in Memphis.

Not that we didn't already know what a gap there was between the West's best team and everyone else . . . Of course, in Sunday's first half when the Denver Nuggets, who had already beaten the Lakers twice by an average of 19.5 points, led them again by 13, it looked as if there was a new best team in the Western Conference, standings or no standings. Staving off panic locally, the Lakers came back to win . . . barely . . . going ahead to stay with 3 minutes 2 seconds left, even with Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups shooting a combined 11 for 31 and turning the ball over 13 times.

Ron Artest sat in his chair with his hands on his chin, a towel wrapped around his waist, an ice bucket nearby, a look of interest at the mob of reporters surrounding teammate Lamar Odom. Artest slowly began to dress, appearing content with the job he had just completed. He was acquired last summer by the Lakers to put the clamps on All-Star small forwards such as Denver's Carmelo Anthony. And Artest did, using his strength and defensive acumen to hold Anthony down to the point the Nuggets' star fouled out during the Lakers' 95-89 victory over Denver on Sunday at Staples Center.

The Lakers pledged to play a physical game and did it. They promised to beat back the swagger and strut of the Denver Nuggets and succeeded. On an afternoon when little went right for Kobe Bryant, the Lakers boxed out their main rivals in the Western Conference, elbowing aside the Nuggets in a 95-89 victory Sunday at Staples Center. It took a second half of defensive resolve, specifically a fourth quarter in which the Lakers forced the Nuggets into five turnovers and five-for-19 shooting.

It has been a weird glitch for the Lakers, a hiccup in the franchise, extending all the way back to the three-championship run that began almost a decade ago. They always seem to struggle against the lesser teams, laughably so in some cases, the Charlotte Bobcats a prime example in recent seasons. The Lakers have done a notable job reversing the trend this season, but then the Philadelphia 76ers rolled into town. It took almost the full 48 minutes, but the Lakers managed to win a numbingly bland game, 99-90, Friday at Staples Center.