Phoenix

The Lakers (36-32) have yet to win on two consecutive days this season.  After a victory Sunday, they have the chance to get their first such pair of back-to-back wins in 14 tries as they visit the Phoenix Suns (22-45) on Monday. The Suns, losers of four straight, are tied for the worst record in the Western Conference.  The Lakers lost in Phoenix on Jan. 30 in a game where Dwight Howard reaggravated his injured shoulder (torn labrum). The Suns almost made it two in a row on Feb. 12 but the Lakers had a fourth-quarter surge to win.  Kobe Bryant scored just four points with eight turnovers but Howard finished with 19 points and 18 rebounds.

Kobe Bryant will sit out Monday night when the Lakers visit the Phoenix Suns. Bryant, who severely sprained his ankle on Wednesday in Atlanta, was able to play only 12 first-quarter minutes on Friday in a win against the Indiana Pacers. The Lakers were able to win without Bryant on Sunday against the Sacramento Kings, 113-102.  They'll have to try to redeem a 92-86 loss in Phoenix on Jan. 30 without their star guard. Bryant will be listed day-to-day after the game against the Suns; the Lakers don't play again until Friday.

When: 7 PDT. Where: US Airways Center. On the air: TV: TWC SportsNet, TWC Deportes; Radio: 710, 1330. Records: Lakers 35-32 through Saturday, Suns 22-45. Record vs. Suns: 2-1. Update: The Suns have fallen to the bottom of the Western Conference after losing six of their last seven games. They did manage to help the Lakers during their recent skid by pulling out a 107-105 victory over Houston on March 9. - Ben Bolch

The wait for Pau Gasol continues. After his plans to play against Phoenix on Monday had to be scrapped because he experienced soreness in his recovering right foot, the veteran Lakers forward said Sunday he was no longer publicly targeting a specific game for his return. "I don't want to put any dates out there, so there are no disappointments or surprises," he said. Gasol said foot specialist Kenneth Jung told him the discomfort he experienced Saturday while playing two-on-two at the Lakers' practice facility was to be expected as he increased the intensity in his return from the tear inside the bottom of the foot he suffered early last month.

If cities were stocks, you'd want to short Phoenix. Of course, it's an easy city to pick on. The nation's 13th-largest metropolitan area crams 4.3 million people into a low bowl in a hot desert, where horrific heat waves and windstorms visit it regularly. And it depends on an improbable infrastructure to suck water from the distant (and dwindling) Colorado River. If the Gulf Coast's Hurricane Katrina and the Eastern Seaboard's Superstorm Sandy previewed how coastal cities can expect to fare as seas rise and storms strengthen, Phoenix - which also stands squarely in the cross hairs of climate change - pulls back the curtain on the future of inland empires.

In "Cada Quien Su Mexicano" (To Each Their Own Mexican), a one-act comedy with dark satirical edges, male actors attired as clowns take turns listing the things that make them Mexican. "I'm Mexican because I drink Mexican Coca-Cola!" one offers in Spanish. "I'm Mexican because I eat beans and rice!" says another. Then a third clown abruptly shifts the play's tone from farcical to unsettling. "I'm Mexican," he declares, "because I eat ... well, I don't eat. " PHOTOS: Arts and culture in pictures by The Times It's the kind of theatrical effect that the Arizona performance troupe Teatro Mitote y Cine likes to conjure, designed to make their largely Spanish-speaking audiences laugh, contemplate fundamental questions of identity, and perhaps shift a little uncomfortably in their seats.

For sale: one used lion costume. But we're not talking just any lion costume. Archivist James Comisar owns one of the largest archives of television artifacts, with about 10,000 individual objects. Now he's looking for a new home for the iconic Cowardly Lion costume designed by Gilbert Adrian and worn by Bert Lahr during all the "mane" sequences in the beloved 1939 film "The Wizard of Oz. " This may be the perfect time to pique collectors' interest in the costume because of the opening Friday of Sam Raimi's big-budget "Oz the Great and Powerful," which tells the story of how the wizard came to take up residence in the Emerald City.

Do you like dreamy indie-rock bands? Fireworks? Extremely confusing (but visually stunning) music videos? Today is your day, friend. New clips from Phoenix and Beach House are making the online rounds, and though we haven't really a clue what either one of them is about -- both revolve around what appear to be elaborate sporting-event spectacles -- each is a treat to behold. First up: Phoenix's video for "Entertainment," the lovely lead single from the French band's upcoming "Bankrupt!

PHOENIX - The Ducks' charter flight was scheduled to leave the Arizona desert just before midnight Monday - or about three days too late for Coach Bruce Boudreau's liking. Because when the Ducks landed here last week, they had not lost consecutive games in more than 11 months, had given up more than three goals in regulation only once in three weeks and had not lost a game all season in which they scored more than twice. All three of those streaks had ended before the team boarded the bus for the airport after a second straight 5-4 shootout loss to the Phoenix Coyotes.