SPORTS
March 11, 2010 | By BILL PLASCHKE
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.
SPORTS
March 11, 2010 | By Mike Bresnahan
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?
SPORTS
March 8, 2010 | By Mike Bresnahan
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.
SPORTS
March 6, 2010 | By Mike Bresnahan
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.
SPORTS
March 5, 2010 | By Mike Bresnahan
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.
SPORTS
March 3, 2010 | By MARK HEISLER
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.
SPORTS
March 1, 2010 | By Mark Heisler
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.
SPORTS
March 1, 2010 | By Broderick Turner
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.
SPORTS
March 1, 2010 | By Mike Bresnahan
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.
SPORTS
February 27, 2010 | By Mike Bresnahan
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.