Author: Mike Trudell

The Raptors head into Los Angeles for a Tuesday evening tilt having lost 4-of-5 and 6-of-10 games due largely to the respective ankles of Chris Bosh and Hedo Turkoglu.

Bosh missed seven straight games before returning on Sunday when Toronto lost to Philadelphia, and Turkoglu’s minutes had been limited before he was held out of the Sixers game entirely. However, both are expected to start for the Raptors on Tuesday alongside Jarrett Jack, DeMar DeRozan and Andrea Bargnani.

In late January, the Raptors stole away a 1-point victory over the Lakers when Turkoglu drew a questionable foul with one second left and sank both free throws. Toronto thus got the win despite L.A.’s relative dominance of the game featuring a near triple-double from Kobe Bryant (27-16-9) and nice games from both Pau Gasol (22 & 9) and Andrew Bynum (21 & 9).

The Raptors did get hard-working forward Reggie Evans back from injury in recent days, and are looking to get back into the fifth spot in the Eastern Conference ahead of Milwaukee, as the Bucks have won 9-of-10 to earn a half-game lead on the Raptors.

The Lakers, of course, have lost three straight games for the first time since Pau Gasol was acquired from Memphis in February of 2008, providing just a bit more motivation for the Purple and Gold.

Lakers guard Sasha Vujacic is available to play for the first time since spraining his right shoulder on Feb. 18 against Boston.

The 6-7 Slovenian told us after Tuesday’s shootaround – during which he lofted shot after shot at the basket – that he was feeling much better and expected to go against the Raptors. While wearing a shoulder brace, Vujacic added that he’s been painfully eager to return to the team, which went 4-4 in his 8-game absence.

Vujacic went through practice with the team on Monday, staying late to put up some additional shots with Ron Artest.

Previously, Vujacic had been unable to shoot with his right hand, instead likely setting an NBA record for most off-hand free throw attempts.

Unofficially, that is.

Since the Lakers lost three straight games for the first time since acquiring Pau Gasol in February of 2008, the players and coach Phil Jackson knew they’d have to answer a round of “What’s wrong” questions when arriving back in Los Angeles.

Yet after L.A.’s 96-94 loss in Orlando on Sunday afternoon, Kobe Bryant may have already summed things up.

“We didn’t win the game but I saw what I wanted to see,” he said of a game he was within an inch of tying with a late jumper. “If we play with this type of effort, it will be hard for a team to beat us four times in a series. Here we competed and we have to take this mindset and this attitude and push it forward to the rest of the season.”

Bryant echoed some of those same sentiments after Monday’s practice, adding that sometimes during the regular season in particular, the team’s issue is more mental than physical.

“We’re very talented and we know what we’re capable of doing,” he explained. “Sometimes you don’t believe you can lose until it actually happens. It sneaks up on you, and that’s something that we can’t allow to happen.”

Part of that sneaking up has to do with many of L.A.’s opponents, especially on the road, giving the defending champions their best shot.

“It’s not surprising that you’re the defending world champions, you’re the Lakers, it’s going to be higher intensity, higher pressure,” said Derek Fisher. “You’re going to have sell outs, which is (not always the case) before we get there … It’s just part of it.”

That’s not to say that the Lakers wouldn’t like to improve, especially when it comes to simple execution.

“The ball has to move more,” said Pau Gasol of L.A.’s offense. “That’s going to give us a better rhythm, better looks, easier shots.”

“We just have to execute better, knock down shots,” added Bryant. “We’re getting shots that we want, really good looks, they’re (just not) falling for us.”

The Lakers are confident that the final 18 games will provide ample opportunity to ramp things up leading into the playoffs.

“We just have to get it together on both ends of the floor,” said the Spaniard. “With this team, the players that we have here and the coaching staff, we shouldn’t lose.”

The team’s first chance to show with a result what they know in their heads they can do comes Tuesday against the Toronto Raptors at STAPLES Center.

Lakers – Magic Gameday Page
We took a look at the Lakers – Magic contest in Orlando while it was happening, entering a thought or three each quarter as the Lakers looked to avoid losing three consecutive games for the first time since acquiring Pau Gasol in February of 2008.

Inactives
Lakers: Sasha Vujacic (shoulder)
Magic: Adonal Foyle

Starters
Lakers: Fisher, Bryant, Artest, Gasol and Bynum
Magic: Jameer Nelson, Vince Carter, Matt Barnes, Rashard Lewis, Dwight Howard

Pregame Notes
The most interesting pregame information regarded the fact that Kobe Bryant didn’t come on the team bus, instead taking a few more moments at the team hotel due to a stomach ailment. “He’ll be here,” said Phil Jackson. “He’s going to be all right.” For more, CLICK HERE.

First Quarter
11:30 Pau Gasol came out aggressively after consecutive sub-standard individual games as the Spaniard first backed aggressively into a double-team and missed a turnaround, then tipped in Andrew Bynum’s missed tip of his first shot. The Magic got a corner three from Lewis on their first possession, but the Lakers coaches were happy to see Bynum aggressively contest on pick-and-roll action, which had been stressed in Saturday’s practice.

6:07 Kobe Bryant, appearing to feel just fine (stomach) judging from his 7-0 scoring spurt that put L.A. up 12-9, watched as Bynum picked up his second personal foul on defense. Both came while trying to contest Vince Carter and Matt Barnes respective drives, as opposed to isolation on Dwight Howard, bringing Lamar Odom into the game for the first time. When Odom picked up two fouls himself in just two minutes, Josh Powell checked into the game; this effectively made the Lakers more of a perimeter-oriented team, since Howard could guard Gasol 1-on-1 and the Lakers couldn’t exploit a mismatch at the four.

1:30 The stat of the first quarter: the Magic were at the free throw line so often they nearly had time to build a house (or at least a shed), attempting a ridiculous 18 foul shots. Carter alone got to the charity stripe 10 times (without a miss) to help Orlando take a 31-24 lead into the second. Carter finished with 15 points despite only two field goals, while Bryant put up 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting for the foul-trouble-saddled Lakers. But the bottom line: that L.A. is only down seven after being saddled with foul trouble, making only 31.8% of their shots and allowing 18 FTs wasn’t bad.

Second Quarter
6:17 Continuing our personal foul watch: Both Bynum and Howard got tagged with their third fouls on iffy plays at respective ends, bringing Gasol back in for L.A. and Gortat for the Magic. L.A. had trimmed what had been a 10-point lead to just four with an 8-2 run keyed by Odom, who had six points, three rebounds and two assists in the first half of the second.

3:27 It has to be at least somewhat haunting for Magic fans to see Derek Fisher nail a three-pointer in this building after his two nasty daggers that won Game 4 of the Finals for L.A. In this case, the his first make of the game brought the Lakers within four points at 48-44.

0:05.1 The lead would stay at four heading into halftime after Artest’s fadeaway rimmed out in the final seconds. Howard and Bynum ended up playing just 11 minutes apiece in the half, nearly equaling each other statistically. The Lakers managed just 34 percent shooting from the field, but turned the ball over only four times and held Orlando to 39.5 percent shooting to hang around. Bryant did not score in the second quarter, missing his only two shots, while Odom put up six points, four boards and two assists while playing the majority of the period.

Third Quarter
8:43 Apparently unaware of the history of going at Kobe 1-on-1, Matt Barnes continued to get in Bryant’s face, at one point resulting in matching technicals during a “I’m-not-going-to-budge” face off. A minute later, Barnes notched a put-back dunk, then seemed to deliberately land in Kobe’s face. So Bryant promptly went at Barnes on defense, drawing a foul on the baseline for two free throws before simply starting in Barnes’s face at the other end before an inbound pass. This should be fun to watch. In the actual game, L.A. kept within four on Gasol’s dunk at the rim.

4:36Lewis wasn’t doing much besides taking threes, but fortunately for the Magic, he nailed back-to-back bombs (four total) to cap a 7-0 run that appeared to put Orlando up 68-57, forcing L.A.’s time out. But wait … his second three was wiped out by the refs – who reviewed a 24-second shot clock violation – and Fisher’s jumper cut the lead to six at the other end.

0:27.8 The Magic controlled the final four minutes of the quarter, building their lead to 12 on two different occasions before Gasol drew Howard’s fourth foul and made both free throws to make it a 10-point game heading into the final period. However, Orlando had added six points to its halftime lead, and L.A. got only three points from Bryant in the third quarter and none in the second. Could Kobe turn things around, in a big way, in the fourth?

Fourth Quarter
9:33 The lineups trotting out to start the fourth favored L.A. in a big way: Farmar, Brown, Bryant, Odom and Bynum vs. J-Williams, Mickael Pietrus, JJ Redick, Marcin Gortat and Lewis. And sure enough, the Lakers ran out to a 6-0 run to cut the lead to four, keyed by solid defense, two buckets from Kobe (his first FG’s since the first, remember) and an Odom jumper. Time out, Stan Van Gundy.

6:33 Gasol was called for a flagrant one foul by hitting the head of Howard despite Dwight’s dunk (basket counted), giving Orlando the points plus two free throws and the ball. Howard, however, missed both free throws, and Pietrus was called for offensive goaltending on the inbounds pass to negate his own dunk. Then came Kobe, who nailed a three in the face of Barnes before drawing Howard’s fifth foul on a drive to the bucket and making both free throws to make it 81-79 Magic with 5:09 to play. Artest had struggled throughout the game offensively, making only 2-of-10 shots, but had checked back in; Jordan Farmar (who was replaced by Fisher), meanwhile, missed all four of his shots off the bench.

1:10 After Bryant had his way with Barnes for nearly the whole fourth quarter, things went the other way in a (hugely important) 20-second window. After Bryant stripped Carter, he pulled up for three and missed … then at the other end, Bryant leaked into the lane to help on Nelson’s penetration, and Barnes nailed a three-pointer to put Orlando up six.

0:12.9 Just an incredible sequence, so let’s go number by number:
1) Gasol tips in Bryant’s miss, Lakers down four.
2) Howard misses 1-of-2 free throws, Magic up five.
3) Bryant nails a 22-foot three-pointer from the corner to cut Orlando’s lead to two.
4) Nelson misses 1-of-2 free throws, Magic up three.
5) Bryant appears to nail a ridiculous dagger three to tie the game, but the shot is changed to a two. Foot on the line, Magic by one.
6) Carter misses 1-of-2 free throws (uh…yeah), Magic by two.
7) Kobe misses potential game-tying two-point jumper as the final buzzer sounds.

That whole series of events practically had the Magic fans – and Stan Van Gundy – ready to jump into the Atlantic Ocean (a short drive away), but they somehow held on to send the Lakers to their third straight loss for the first time since the franchise acquired Gasol from Memphis in February of 2008.

They’ll get a chance to end the losing streak on Tuesday back in L.A. against Toronto. Until then, your numbers:

POSTGAME NUMBERS
4 Blocks in only 20 minutes by Andrew Bynum, who was saddled with foul trouble throughout the afternoon on some pretty tough calls.

7 Lakers turnovers in the game, helping the team overcome a poor shooting night (37.5 percent).

11 Orlando’s edge on the glass, 50-39.

18 Free throws taken by the Magic in the first quarter alone, of which they made 17 including Vince Carter’s 10-of-10. The Magic ended up taking 39 foul shots for the game, far above average in the NBA.

34 Game-high point total for Kobe Bryant, only three of which came in the second and third quarter. Pau Gasol added 20 points alongside 11 rebounds in a pretty solid game.

The most interesting pregame information regarded the fact that Kobe Bryant didn’t come on the team bus, instead taking a few more moments at the team hotel due to a stomach ailment.

“He’ll be here,” said Phil Jackson. “He’s going to be all right.”

Sure enough, Bryant showed up shortly after Jackson’s media session, and will start.

Some other notes:

– Jackson reiterated that the team spent some time talking about their defense during Saturday’s practice. “We did a defensive skeleton drill and (went through) some of the things we anticipate that Orlando has done and would do against us and just tried to get ourselves playing again with that vigor that we have to play with to stop penetration. (Miami and Charlotte) cut us up pretty good.

– Phil’s thoughts on the differences between Orlando this year and last: “Vince is very explosive, as everybody knows. I think the addition of (Matt) Barnes is also something that people don’t talk about, Jason Williams, (Brandon) Bass … they all contribute. They play 10 guys. Basically, Carter uses the Turkoglu plays, they run the same plays just with a different guy.” Jackson added that Carter may be a better scorer and Turkoglu the better passer, and that Carter goes right more while Turkoglu went left.

– Ron Artest had “defense” dyed and carved into his head in Hindi, Japanese and Hebrew, about which Jackson had this to say: “”Well, if it gives him the idea of what’s on his head, then we’ll be in great shape.” Artest, however, opted not to discuss his hair until after the game, focusing on the task at hand.

– Jordan Farmar said he definitely began recollecting the last time L.A. was in the visitor’s locker room at Amway Arena, pouring champagne on the heads of his teammates.

The last time the Lakers were in Orlando, they were drinking champagne in the locker room after a 4-1 series win culminating in Game 5’s 99-86 victory. Here’s the running diary from L.A.’s 15th championship-clinching contest.

Game 1
Lakers – Magic Running Diary, June 4, 2009
Lakers 100, Magic 75: Postgame 1

Game 2
Lakers – Magic Running Diary, June 7, 2009
Lakers 101, Magic 96: Postgame 2

Game 3
Lakers – Magic Running Diary, June 9, 2009
Lakers 104, Magic 108: Postgame 3

Game 4
Lakers – Magic Running Diary, June 11, 2009
Lakers 99, Magic 91: Postgame 4

Inactives
Lakers: Adam Morrison, Sun Yue
Magic: Tyronn Lue, Jeremy Richardson

Starters
Lakers: Derek Fisher, Kobe Bryant, Trevor Ariza, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum
Magic: Rafer Alston, Courtney Lee, Hedo Turkoglu, Rashard Lewis and Dwight Howard

Phil Jackson Pregame
– Jackson opened his presser by talking about Tex Winter, who he said is able to watch and enjoy the Finals from home but isn’t able to speak on the phone: “When I became the head coach of the Bulls, I asked Johnny Bach to be the defensive coordinator and Tex to be the offensive coordinator. Tex is obviously the innovator of the triangle offense … His dedication to it made him the drill sergeant to the team. He always encouraged team play and system play, so if it became too individual, he would always bring that to bear. But more than anything else, he kept a running score on the sideline, which is now done by Brian Shaw.”
– He also talked about how difficult it is to maintain a singular focus with all the outside distractions with just one more game to win. Ultimately, he said, it’s not about him and his 10th title: “It’s really about these young men and what they’re doing.”
– Finally, Jackson compared Jameer Nelson’s return to Orlando’s lineup to Andrew Bynum’s prior to the playoffs and explained that the team skipped the morning shootaround due to the time that would have been wasted getting to and from the arena. Instead, the team watched film at the hotel.

Stan Van Gundy Pregame
– “They’re prepared, they’re in a good frame of mind, it’ll come down to how well we play. I thought practice yesterday was very good, I thought the walk through this morning was good.”
– Van Gundy said he doesn’t worry about missed free throws, because they aren’t a lack of effort or execution. It just happens. He added that Dwight Howard’s improved considerably throughout the season … But just missed some shots.
– He doesn’t think Orlando is getting “badly outplayed,” but didn’t take the bait to say that the Magic should or could be up or even in the series, as an Orlando reporter suggested. “What it could be is basically anything, the reality is it’s 3-1,” he said. In other words, he said that the Magic had a chance to win two of the last three, and the Lakers had a chance to win Game 3, meaning the series “could” have been 4-0, 3-1 or 2-2. But it’s “not.”

Jim Cleamons Pregame Video
Lakers assistant coach Jim Cleamons joined us to preview the final game, and take a deeper look at the pick and roll, which has been critical for both teams in the series. CLICK HERE and scroll down to “Coach Speak” to watch.

Follow Us On Twitter
In case there aren’t enough observations for you in the diary, feel free to follow us on twitter on @Lakers or @miketrudell.

First Quarter
12:00 The energy in the building for Game 5 is noticeably less than that of Game 4 … Will that seep into the Magic (or Lakers) players? One thing to keep in mind in the early goings: Bynum, Gasol and Odom all had two fouls after quarter one of Game 1, which in large part caused L.A.’s 12-point deficit at halftime.

11:25 Lee scored the game’s first points on a deep pull-up jumper after Bynum turned the ball over trying to find Gasol down low, but quickly made up for it by grabbing an offensive board and keeping it alive for Pau’s tip in.

8:17 Orlando was extremely active on defense as the Lakers struggled to get good looks, resulting in two deep jump shots from Bynum. At the other end, Turkoglu and Lee scored on consecutive drives to put Orlando up 11-6.

7:00 Phil Jackson called timeout after Bryant was stripped and Alston converted a layup at the other end, with Kobe coming up lame surely due to pain on his troublesome finger. However, Bynum grabbed a Fisher miss and stuck it back in, his first make in seven attempts after he was forced into some tough shots.

4:15 After Bryant stuck his second consecutive jumper, Bynum converted his second straight field goal in the paint, a dunk over Howard, to bring L.A. within four at 21-17. In essence, L.A. had survived Orlando’s initial burst.

2:21 At an extended TV timeout that only the Finals can provide, Orlando’s “Dancin’ Dads” performed a bizarre dance to “Ridin’ Dirty” and “Pretty Fly For A White Guy” that you’re glad you missed, though to be fair, they sort of redeemed themselves when my top-three rap song “Big Pimpin’” came on.

0:53.4 Bryant’s two free throws cut Orlando’s lead to just one at 27-26, getting him to 11 points to lead all scorers. On the next possession, Howard got to the free throw line and missed badly on the first in an interesting situation since the last freebies he shot allowed L.A. to tie Game 4. He made the second, however.

0:00 After a Luke Walton miss, Mickael Pietrus (who moments earlier had converted a driving layup after taking six steps) couldn’t convert a quarter-ending three, making it a 28-26 margin after one. In Game 4, L.A. had trailed 24-20.

Second Quarter
9:55 Vujacic dunked … But a moving screen had already been called on Odom. Meanwhile, Bynum had scored on a nice baseline hook over Howard, but Dwight made his third straight hoop at the other end to put Orlando up 34-28 (he missed the and-1 FT).

8:32 An absolutely beautiful up-and-under layup from Odom, plus the foul, got the Lakers within three again. Sometimes we forget how many things Odom can do with a basketball because he sees less of the rock than he would on really any other NBA team. L.A. was shooting just 35.5 percent to 50 percent from Orlando, but eight offensive boards helped, including four from Bynum.

7:22 Speaking of L.O., he’s such a better shooter when in rhythm, which is exactly what his three-pointer was. Six points in less than a minute for Odom and L.A. was within two again.

5:52 The other reason L.A. was still in the mix aside from offensive boards was three-point shooting, as Fisher hit the team’s third in six attempts, while the Magic had missed all six of theirs. Into a timeout, Orlando led 40-39.

5:05 Ariza was the next Laker to nail a three, and that one preceded a Bryant pull-up in traffic…

4:08 … And another from Ariza, this time from his same favorite spot on the wing. With Orlando on its heels, Odom stripped Turkoglu, and Fisher eventually ended up with the ball and an open lane to the hoop, which he gladly took for a layup to cap L.A.’s 10-0 that produced a nine-point lead. After Stan Van Gundy took a timeout to try and stop the bleeding, an impromptu “Let’s Go Lakers!” chant rang out … in Orlando. Impressive display from the traveling Lakers fans.

3:03 Another pretty reverse layup from Odom came courtesy of Ariza’s second straight steal, putting L.A.’s run at 16-0. Alston finally scored at the other end, but Gasol quickly countered to keep the lead at 12.

1:46 Lewis hit a three, his first, to breath a bit of life back into Orlando (who seemed dead), and Phil Jackson was not happy about the lack of defensive rotation that cut L.A.’s lead to eight.

0:00 Ariza had capped a terrific quarter with a jumper to get to 12 points (11 in the period) as both teams missed their respective final attempts, resulting in a 56-46 lead for the Lakers. In firm command after a 23-10 run to close the half, the Lakers made 12-of-19 shots in the quarter (63.2 percent) including four three pointers.

Third Quarter
10:14 The first bucket of the second half came after three misses, with Lee finally converting a drive.

9:01 Bryant’s pull-up jumper was answered at the other end by Lee (12 points), but not before Bynum had picked up his second foul of the quarter and fourth overall to send Odom into the game.

7:42 Alston’s three-pointer gave the arena temporary life, at least for a few seconds, before Odom’s three took it right back out. Then, on the next possession, Odom daggered from the same exact spot 24 feet from the rim to put L.A. up 64-53. Talk about a building killer. Amway dead.

5:54 The Lakers section of the crowd went wild when Bryant hung in the air for a while before dropping a silly J over Howard’s hands and off the glass. Fisher backed that up with a jumper on the next possession to put L.A. up 68-55.

3:39 Bryant’s free throws brought the margin up to 16 as the Lakers absolutely swarmed about on defense … The championship scent was overtaking their collective nostril. Four Lakers were in double figures at that point, led by Bryant’s 21 and 14 off the bench from Odom.

1:14 Gasol got to a 10-and-10 point-rebound double-double on a free throw. He’s good.

0:02.6 The Lakers continued to get contributions from here, there and everywhere as Farmar hit a tough running jumper, off glass, that put L.A. up 76-61 heading into the fourth quarter as the Magic looked all but dead.

Fourth Quarter
11:00 After a pretty move from Pau (how good is the Spaniard offensively?), Bryant nailed an end-of-clock jumper that put the lead at 16. Jackson, who rested Bryant briefly to end the third, obviously wasn’t taking any chances.

9:45 Nelson did what he did in the regular season, nailing a three, as the crowd tried to get back into things down 80-67.

8:19 Dagger three from Kobe to answer Nelson’s, with Turkoglu all up in his face. That was 26 points for Kobe on 9-of-18. Arena dead again.

7:09 Walton’s alley-oop to Ariza was a bit of salt in the wounds for the team that traded him to L.A. for Brian Cook and Maurice Evans.

4:27 Odom’s two free throws got him to 16 points with nine boards off the pine just before Gasol’s put-back layup brought his numbers to 14 and 12.

2:35 Bryant’s layup got him to 30 points on the evening, fitting for the sure NBA Finals MVP.

2:03 Redick’s three was Orlando’s sixth of the quarter, but obviously they waited far too long to start hitting. It cut L.A.’s lead to 11, but after a Bryant miss, Gasol swatted away Lewis’ attempt at a leaner, his fourth block of the game (same total as Bryant).

1:12 Ariza drew a shooting foul as the championship trophy was buffed in the underground.

0:00 Championship.

Taking a page out of former Phil Jackson forward Dennis Rodman’s book, Lakers defensive stopper Ron Artest got a little work done on his hair.

The night before the Lakers take on the Magic on Sunday at Amway Arena in Orlando, Artest explained on his Twitter page that he had the word “defense” worked into his newly-died hair in three different languages (Hindi, Japanese and Hebrew), and in Purple and Gold.

Below are the pictures he posted:

Follow Mike Trudell on Twitter: @LakersReporter

The Lakers held practice at Rollins College in Orlando on Saturday afternoon in preparation for Sunday’s showdown with the Magic, returning to the city in which they secured the franchise’s 15th championship with consecutive wins in Games 4 and 5 of he 2009 NBA Finals.

While specific preparation for the Magic took place since the team won’t hold shootaround in the morning due to the 11:30 a.m. Pacific tip, Phil Jackson said that the team also spent some time discussing how to get back to its defensive principles.

After consecutive road losses to Miami and Charlotte, Jackson addressed a team conversation in which Kobe Bryant, among other players, was vocal.

“We’re just working with some principles that right now have escaped us as far as what we consider good defense,” said Jackson. “We’re working with those principles, and (Bryant) interjected and brought up a notion of determination.”

Bryant declined to relay to the media his message to his teammates, but when pressed further by assembled media members, Jackson elaborated.

“(There is) a willfulness that you have to have in this game, and there is also flexibility,” explained the head coach. “Willfulness carries the day about 80 percent of the time. There’s strategy, and then there is getting the job done.

“I opened it up for how we’re going to solve some of the problems we have, basically penetration off screen roll, which has been a nemesis and is for most teams.”

Screen-roll defense will certainly be a factor against the Magic, who have multiple players capable of excelling in pick-and-roll sets, such as Jameer Nelson, Vince Carter and Dwight Howard. While Nelson missed last season’s Eastern Conference Finals against Cleveland and wasn’t himself in the Finals, Carter was the key offseason addition, joining Orlando in place of Hedo Turkoglu.

“Vince can essentially do the same things as Hedo did in terms of creating for others,” said Bryant. “Obviously Hedo is 6-9*, but Vince has his strengths too.”
*Carter is 6-6.

With an added hope that Carter can handle some of the playmaking role particularly in fourth quarters, Orlando is not lacking for motivation to return to the Finals, no matter how hard it is to make it back.

“Not many teams come back again after they lose in the Finals,” said Jackson. “It’s very hard because the disappointment is so great. In all the years I coached with the Bulls there was only one that came back and that was Utah. But, you can use it as an impetus too. I think Orlando has made changes and they’ve looked really good at times. I think they’re still there, still one of the teams.”

The Lakers certainly expect nothing less than Orlando’s A game in their first trip back to Amway Arena, where a hungry team and its crowd surely await.

MAGIC RIGHT THERE WITH CLEVELAND
I asked Phil Jackson why Orlando, despite beating Cleveland – with whom they match up very well – in the Eastern Finals last year even without Jameer Nelson, hasn’t gotten anywhere near the 2010 Finals buzz as the Cavs, and if he has additional respect for the Magic. Here’s what Phil said:

It’s who comes into these playoffs (after) these last 20 games playing well and in good health, and have all their weapons available to them that’s going to make the difference. I think (Orlando) has the ability to beat Cleveland. They know that, and Cleveland’s been trying to find personnel to match that, and did so with the trades they made at the All-Star break. They’re trying to arm themselves for the possibility.

Lakers – Bobcats Gameday Page
We took a look at the Lakers – Bobcats contest in Charlotte while it was happening, entering a thought or three each quarter as the Lakers looked to come back from a tough OT loss to Miami the night before.

Inactives
Lakers: Sasha Vujacic (shoulder)
Bobcats: Alexis Ajinca, Nazr Mohammed

Starters
Lakers: Fisher, Bryant, Artest, Gasol and Bynum
Bobcats: Raymond Felton, Stephen Jackson, Gerald Wallace, Boris Diaw, Theo Ratliff

Pregame Podcasts with Radio PXP for Both Teams
Stepping in for Spero Dedes for L.A.’s play-by-play on radio is regular sideline reporter John Ireland, who spent some time with us to offer details: CLICK HERE. We also caught up with Bobcats play-by-play voice Scott Lauer to go over the matchup: CLICK HERE.

First Quarter
8:12 Artest has been thieving so much of late, they’ve had to notify arena security. With six steals against Denver and five each against Indiana and Miami, Artest matched a feat that L.A. hadn’t seen since 1981, when a guy named Magic Johnson pulled off at least five steals in three straight. Ron opened the game against Charlotte by picking Boris Diaw’s pocket and finishing a layup at the other end for a 13-8 Lakers lead.

2:57 The Lakers looked good early, getting seven points each from Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum to take a 20-13 lead … but then L.A. inexplicably started missing easy shots at the rim, though both Gasol and Bryant felt they were fouled on respective attempts. The Bobcats, however, used those opportunities to get into transition, and quickly rolled off an 8-0 run to take a 1-point lead.

1:17 Bynum capped a good first quarter by drawing a foul at the rim and hitting 1-of-2 free throws for the final point of the quarter, giving L.A. a 26-23 lead and himself eight points with seven rebounds. The coaching staff wasn’t particularly pleased, however, when Shannon Brown and Artest took respective jump shots relatively early in the shot clock instead of going back inside to Bynum or Lamar Odom.

Second Quarter
8:28 The opening to the second quarter was on the poor, to quite poor, side for L.A. Charlotte managed an 11-3 run, including three consecutive layups that produced a 34-29 lead into a time out, bringing Bryant and Gasol back onto the floor out of a time out. During the time out, the Bobcats ran a promotion featuring guys in those huge sumo wrestler suits playing tic-tac-toe, and one kid immediately made a ridiculous play by failing to block an obvious winning spot. Why do people not know how to play tic-tac-toe?

4:30 Eleven. That’s how many turnovers the Lakers amassed in the first 15 minutes of action. They average just over 13 turnovers per 48 minutes on the season. Charlotte, however, was only able to take advantage to the tune of a 38-32 lead.

1:20 Remember against the Rockets early in the Western Conference Semi’s when Kobe passed it to himself off the glass and finished a ridiculous layup over Yao Ming? He pulled that trick again, getting a layup when it seemed he’d have no good option for a shot. The possession before, Bryant had up-faked four times before nailing a fadeaway, the two shots reminding us that Bryant can always get a clean look at the basket one way or another. His buckets, however, were answered, and the ‘Cats took a 49-43 lead into the break.

Third Quarter
8:54 Charlotte put on somewhat of a bizarre halftime show featuring a collection of random dances and song performances … then the Lakers came out as if they were participating in the acts instead of playing basketball, conceding a 10-0 run to start the quarter while turning the ball over three more times. All of a sudden, the home team was up 59-43, the visitors looking nothing like the Lakers. The bright side at that point? Lots of time remained in the game, and L.A. could play no worse.

3:28 After hitting 1-of-2 free throws, Bynum nailed an open 17-foot jumper to bring L.A. within 10 moments after back-to-back Bryant jumpers cut into a 14-point lead. Signs of fight had begun to eminate from the Lakers, but two end-of-shot-clock threes from Charlotte nearly erased the progress the team was making.

1:00 Farmar’s three-pointer preceded a pretty passing play between Gasol and Odom resulting in Lamar’s one-handed dunk, producing a 5-0 run to end the third quarter and get the Lakers to within 12 at 75-63.

Fourth Quarter
12:00 Any time the Nature Boy Ric Flair comes out to pump up the crowd, it can’t hurt. Not sure who got more excited … Charlotte’s fan base, or Lakers radio analyst Mychal Thompson (a massive wrestling fan and fellow University of Minnesota alum). And while Bryant hit the first shot of the fourth, the ‘Cats responded with three straight buckets to push the lead back to 17, matching their high for the night.

6:00 Bryant tried to lead a final comeback by example with his defense, crowding Felton to the point that the former North Carolina guard pushed off. However, the Lakers couldn’t put offense and defense together, as Brown pulled up early in the shot clock for a jumper and missed badly. With that sore thumb, he’d hit only 1-of-7 field goals to that point (and Artest, also nursing a hurt thumb, was only 1-of-9), and the Lakers couldn’t cut into the lead.

3:00 The game all but over, L.A. was only fighting to avoid losing by more than 13, the most it had ever lost by in six all-time losses to Charlotte … but the lead ended up at 15 when the buzzer sounded, 98-83.

A game L.A. would surely like to forget, but has to think about tomorrow heading into Sunday’s NBA Finals rematch against Orlando, when the Lakers look to avoid losing three straight for the first time since acquiring Pau Gasol.

Until then, your numbers:

POSTGAME NUMBERS
38 Points in the paint for L.A., which got only 11 from Pau Gasol and 14 from Andrew Bynum (a total of just 10 after the first quarter), plus eight off the bench from Lamar Odom. They combined to shoot 11-of-29 from the field.

26 Points from Kobe Bryant to lead the Lakers and all scorers on 9-of-21 shooting and 8-of-9 free throws.

20 Turnovers for the Lakers, resulting in 24 Bobcats points.

15 Margin of victory for Charlotte, its largest ever against Los Angeles (previous was 13).

3 Game losing streak the Lakers hope to avoid in Sunday against Orlando. L.A. has yet to lose three straight games since acquiring Pau Gasol back in February of 2008.

With regular 710 ESPN radio play-by-play man Spero Dedes out for one game, sideline reporter John Ireland is stepping in to handle pxp duties for L.A.’s Friday evening game against Charlotte.

Ireland, the co-host of ESPN’s “Mason and Ireland Show” who also handles TV sideline duties for KCAL, joined us from his hotel room in Charlotte to look ahead to the game.

Dedes will be covering NCAA basketball on CBS on Saturday morning, but will return for Sunday’s game against Orlando.

Here’s the audio with Ireland:

After falling to the Bobcats in both regular season games in 2008-09 to make Charlotte one of only two teams the Lakers did not beat (Orlando), L.A. managed a 99-97 victory at STAPLES Center on Feb. 3 of this season.

They have their chance for a season sweep of their own on Friday night in North Carolina on the second night of a back-to-back after a tough overtime loss on Thursday to the Heat. A win would also even the all-time series between the franchises at 6-6; since it’s currently 5-6, Charlotte is one of only two organizations (Boston) against which the Lakers have a losing record.

Kobe Bryant, who went off for 39 points in Miami, is averaging 31.2 points in 10 career games against Charlotte, with a high-game of 58 points coming in a triple-overtime contest on Dec. 29, 2006.

The Bobcats are led by the wing duo of Gerald Wallace, the first all-star in Bobcats history, and Stephen Jackson, who was acquired from Golden State early in the season. Wallace actually missed Charlotte’s loss in L.A. with a hamstring strain, but will start on Friday.

For a full preview, we dialed up Bobcats radio play-by-play voice Scott Lauer:

Lakers – Heat Gameday Page
We took a look at the Lakers – Heat contest in Miami while it was happening, entering a thought or three each quarter as the Lakers looked for their fourth consecutive win.

Inactives
Lakers: Sasha Vujacic (shoulder)
Heat: James Jones

Starters
Lakers: Fisher, Bryant, Artest, Gasol and Bynum
Heat: Carlos Arroyo, Dwyane Wade, Quentin Richardson, Michael Beasley, Jermaine O’Neal

Pregame Injury Update – Shannon Brown
Brown took a few moments to describe his newly injured right thumb: CLICK HERE.

First Quarter
7:55 If you watched the Lakers defeat Denver on Sunday, it was a familiar sight when early in Miami Kobe Bryant brought a double-team to the right block, then swung the ball to the weak side for a wide-open Derek Fisher three-pointer, which swished through to knot the score at nine. In unrelated news, Miami’s introductory video looked like it was produced in the 1970’s, for some reason, with each player wearing strange outfits amidst weird bubble letters (just so you know).

6:26 Fisher capped a nice opening stretch by nailing his third straight shot for a team-high seven points, giving the Lakers a 13-10 edge. That Fisher was taking shots was related to L.A.’s struggle to get the ball inside, as Miami is one of the league’s better teams at denying entry passes to the post. Phil Jackson said the key was good ball movement from side to side within the triangle scheme, which can sometimes take a bit of time in terms of adjusting within the game.

0:07.3 Though he started slowly from the field (1-of-4) and the line (2-of-4), Bryant hit his last two shots of the second at the rim, including his hang-in-the-air-through-the-lane-and-use-the-glass (like in the 2009 NBA Finals) trick to score the final basket of the first to put L.A. up 27-26. The Lakers shot 63.2 percent from the field, but turned the ball over six times for 11 Heat points.

Second Quarter
9:58 With Bryant and Gasol on the bench, Odom began to look for his shot to open the second, connecting on consecutive jumpers as Udonis Haslem played him to drive. Earlier today, Odom was (as always) in the team hotel weight room earlier in the day with his personal trainer getting a work out in, which he says helps keep his body feeling strong and energized during games. Bryant is a well-known game day workout fiend, while Josh Powell lifts before the game at the arena.

3:02 Because of Wade’s penetration, Bryant slipped off his man – Quentin Richardson – just a bit to help, and that’s all the space Q needed to hit his third three-pointer of the game for a team-high 11 points, bringing Miami within a point of the Lakers. In other Q news, does anyone else wish he still had Darius Miles around for the two-fist-on-head bit?

1:28 After playing just six minutes in the first quarter due to foul trouble, Andrew Bynum made up for it in the second, grabbing all nine of his rebounds, including four offensive that helped earn his 10 points. Gasol and Artest added buckets for the Lakers to close the half, earning a 47-44 on 50 percent shooting with 10 turnovers.

Third Quarter
8:57 Michael Beasley, last year’s No. 2 overall pick after Derrick Rose, had a nasty put-back dunk on Gasol, then immediately drew a technical foul for taunting the Spaniard. To follow up, Beasley stared at the jumbotron for a full 25 seconds until they showed the replay.

4:27 Richardson continued to kill the Lakers from the three-point line, nailing back-to-back triples – his fifth and sixth of the game – to reach 22 points and give the Heat a 67-63 lead. Three more, and Q would tie Chauncey Billups and his nine threes against L.A. for the opponent season high.

0:10.2 Dorrell Wright closed the third quarter with a baseline jam off Wade’s pretty pass, giving the Heat a 74-68 lead heading into the final quarter. Bryant was up to 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting, while Artest, Bynum and Fisher were also in double figures.

Fourth Quarter
10:25 Wright hit a three in the corner and Arroyo a pull-up jumper in transition to give the Heat their biggest lead, at nine, as the home team was just the latest to save their best game in a long time for the Lakers. Miami had dropped four straight games before squeaking by Golden State’s D-League filled squad, but was responding to a big crowd – not the norm in South Beach – in a big way.

7:54 The Lakers bench put forth a key 7-2 stretch, featuring two monster dunks from Shannon Brown and Jordan Farmar’s three, two of the plays coming off Odom assists. Brown’s first dunk may have won him the Slam Dunk Contest, as he exploded off the baseline, double-pumped and finished with two hands. Just all nasty and fierce, and L.A. was within four at 83-79.

3:12 The team’s respective superstars hit threes on back-to-back possessions, first Wade, then Kobe, as Miami retained a 92-87 lead as the clock grew as an enemy to L.A. Then, after an impressive push from L.A., featuring a Fisher three and Kobe’s pull-up jumper plus some solid defense, Bryant drew a shooting foul on Richardson and sank both free throws to put L.A. up 97-96. That happened fast.

0:03.3 Yet it paled in comparison to Bryant’s game-tying jumper in the lane from about 17 feet over Wade, which answered Richardson’s seventh three-pointer of the game that had made it 99-97 seven seconds prior to that. Miami had a chance to win it at the buzzer, but Wade’s double-clutch jumper was well short, thanks to the defensive pursuit of both Odom and Artest. Time for some overtime, L.A.’s first extra session since Dec. 26 at Sacramento. Generally, Kobe just wins it in regulation.

Overtime
3:17 I think Kobe found his shooting touch. He followed that regulation J with back-to-back jumpers over Wade and Richardson, respectively, to put L.A. up 103-101. He’d hit once again a minute later, but Miami kept matching as the game was tied at 105.

0:37.3 L.A. got a big driving hoop from Odom to tie things at 107, but Wade alley-ooped to O’Neal for a layup that put Miami back on top. But then Odom, after just missing a three, stole the ball and fed Farmar for a layup that preceded Haslem’s open jumper to make it 111-109 Heat. Quite an entertaining final stanza, to say the least.

0:18.7 The latest biggest play of the game came as O’Neal stepped in front of a driving Bryant to draw a charge, getting possession back for Miami, which got two free throws from Arroyo to go up four. Bryant missed a three on the ensuing possession, Arroyo added 1-of-2 free throws with 0:06.2 to play, and the Lakers had been beaten in overtime for the first time in five games.

Up next is a Friday night contest in Charlotte, but until then, your numbers:

POSTGAME NUMBERS
7 Three-pointers hit by Miami’s Quentin Richardson, all in the first three quarters, for 21 of his 25 points, including the dagger that put the Heat up 99-97 with 11.1 to play. Chauncey Billups’ nine threes on Feb. 5 was the most against L.A. this season.

10 Missed free throws by the Lakers (15-of-25), while Miami made 21-of-25.

14 Points for Derek Fisher in one of his better games of late, including a late three-pointer that keyed L.A.’s late comeback.

18 Of Kobe Bryant’s 39 points that came in the fourth quarter and overtime.

22 Combined points from Andrew Bynum (12) and Pau Gasol (10), a number which will rarely get it done for the Lakers.

Shannon Brown offered an update on his sprained right thumb prior to Thursday’s game in Miami that he suffered while blocking a Dahntay Jones shot against Indiana on Tuesday.

“I didn’t know how it bent or how it stretched out of place, I just knew I blocked the shot and my thumb started throbbing,” he said. “It does (affect me), when I’m dribbling, shooting and all that. But it’s fine, it’s not going to change my activity out there.”

“It should be all right,” added Phil Jackson. “He has a sprain, but he’ll be OK.”

Brown said that he was glad that he blocked the shot clean and wasn’t called for a foul on the play, which would have been a “double whammy.”

Brown also knew that he had comfort in numbers, since Jordan Farmar, Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom and Ron Artest have also suffered varying finger injuries throughout the season.

VIDEO SCOUTING REPORT
Assistant coach Jim Cleamons joined us yesterday back in L.A. to preview the team’s three-game road trip, starting with Thursday night’s contest in Miami. After the video (below), Cleamons added that the Lakers will look to improve their post entry passes, a problem in the team’s first match up when the Heat fronted the post, try to expose Miami’s more-frequently-used-of-late zone defense and limit Dwyane Wade’s penetration.

LAKERS – HEAT CONNECTIONS
The Lakers PR staff provides a good deal of information in the Game Notes for each game of the season, including a connections page that details the playing history of Miami and L.A. Here are some of the more interesting notes:

– The Lakers lead their season series with Miami 1-0 after defeating the Heat earlier this season (12/4/09) on a Kobe Bryant one-foot, running, bank-shot three from the top, left side of the arc as the buzzer sounded.

– The Lakers will be looking for their second sweep of the Heat in the last three years, having taken the 2007-08 series 2-0 and splitting last season’s series 1-1. This will be the 44th meeting between the two franchises with the Lakers holding a 29-14 all-time lead.

The Lakers are 6-4 in their last 10 meetings with the Heat but have won 5-of-their-last-6 overall. In Miami, the Lakers are 5-5 in their last 10 games after Bryant’s jumper to tie the game rattled in and out at the buzzer in their last trip to AmericaAirlines Arena (12/19/08).

– Lakers forward Lamar Odom played one season for the Heat, averaging 17.1 points and 9.7 rebounds in 80 games. Following that season, Odom was acquired from the Heat by the Lakers along with Caron Butler, Brian Grant and a future first round draft pick in exchange for Shaquille O’Neal.

– Heat guard Dwyane Wade played alongside Kobe Bryant on the gold medal winning US Men’s Olympic Basketball Team at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Heat guard/forward Quentin Richardson played three seasons alongside Lakers forward Lamar Odom with the Los Angeles Clippers from 2000-03 while Lakers forward Ron Artest played from 2002-06 with Heat center Jermaine O’Neal in Indiana. Heat guard/forward Yakhouba Diawara, a native of Paris, France, played locally at Pepperdine University from 2003-05.

HEAT QUICK HITTERS
From Miami’s Game Notes:
– Miami has limited its opponents to just 44-158 shooting (.278) from three-point range the last eight games.

– Miami is 20-0 when holding opponents to under 90 points and 16-0 when holding opponents under 40.0 percent shooting from the field. The Heat is also 28-5 when leading at the half.

– Dwyane Wade recorded his sixth 30/10 game this season with 35 points and 12 assists on 3/2 vs. Golden State, Miami’s last game; Carlos Arroyo scored a season-high 14 points on 3/2 vs. the Warriors, and tied season-highs in rebounds (five) and steals (two); Jermaine O’Neal’s 14 points on 3/2 vs. GSW marked the sixth consecutive game he has scored in double-figures; Over his last 11 games, Dorell Wright has shot 50.0 percent (32-64) from the field and 44.0 percent (11-25) from three-point range;

To make sure you’re all updated on the most current Lakers injury information, here’s the latest list from the team’s game notes, including each player’s status for Thursday’s game in Miami:

▪ Shannon Brown (sprained right thumb) is probable.
▪ Kobe Bryant (avulsion fracture, right index finger) is probable.
▪ Sasha Vujacic (sprained right shoulder) is out.
▪ Luke Walton (pinched nerve, back) is out indefinitely.

The newest of the injuries is Brown’s sprained right thumb, suffered on Tuesday evening in L.A.’s win over Indiana when Brown blocked the shot of Dahntay Jones.

The Pacers tried to go big, they tried to go small, but it ultimately didn’t matter as the Lakers rolled to a 122-99 victory, the 10th straight year L.A. has beaten Indiana in Los Angeles.

“They’re the ultimate test period,” said Pacers coach Jim O’Brien. “It doesn’t matter what lineup that you put out there when you play the World Champions … you know you’re going to be tested at every spot.”

Indy hung around in the first half, trailing by just six at halftime before L.A. burst out of the halftime gates with a 38-17 third quarter, dealing quite easily with whatever personnel Indiana had on the floor.

“It looked like (we) got something back in the third quarter, came up with some steals and shot some balls,” said Phil Jackson. “They made things happen on the offensive end. It was a good win for us.”

While O’Brien started Hibbert, he played only 21 minutes, as the Pacers played small for most of the game with forward Troy Murphy at the center spot. Rewind back to L.A.’s 118-96 victory in Indianapolis in January, when Andrew Bynum destroyed such a small Pacers lineup, making his first four shots to put L.A. up 18-8. In the second half of that game, the Pacers started Hibbert and played him a fair amount in sum (28 minutes), but the Lakers still outscored Indy 33-22 in the third quarter to put the game on ice. Bynum finished with a season high 27 points.

Though he needed to play just 26 minutes as Phil Jackson rested his starters in the fourth quarter on Tuesday, Bynum operated with ease yet again, making 6-of-8 shots for 16 points. Pau Gasol added 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting, and the Lakers edged Indy 56-44 in the paint.

“Their length (is tough),” O’Brien explained. “They had 20 offensive rebounds* in Indiana, they murdered us on the glass. They murder a lot of people on the glass. They’re big and long and the triangle offense is one that gives you constantly good weakside rebounding. They just have all the ingredients.”
*L.A. had only 10 offensive boards on Tuesday in part due to 51.7 percent shooting and 24 free throw attempts.

Indy’s unconventional style helped keep things close early, as the Pacers took 14 three-pointers (making seven) in the first half in part by taking advantage of Murphy’s – who hit two threes – presence on the perimeter.

“They play a style of ball that is unique,” said Phil Jackson. “They really don’t start out in the low post. Our defense is generated off what normal NBA teams would run. We kind of load up our players, overload the sideline and make teams swing it, but this is a team we can’t play that normal type of defense against.”

But in the second half, the Lakers upped their intensity on D and absolutely stormed the Pacers in the third quarter, outscoring the visitors 38-17 in the period keyed by the individual play of Ron Artest. L.A.’s starting small forward holding his past six individual matchups under their average, completely neutralized Danny Granger, holding the 23.0 ppg scorer to just nine points on 2-of-9 shooting for the game, and came up with five steals in the third quarter alone.

“His defense was very good,” said Jackson, who added that the Lakers are better adjusting as a team to what Artest can do individually.

Meanwhile, Kobe Bryant attacked the rim (10 of his 24 points), Bynum dunked (two hammers), Derek Fisher hit his third three and Pau Gasol hit the glass (five boards in the period). Then Jordan Farmar, Lamar Odom and Shannon Brown came in and flew around on defense, forcing turnovers and finishing at the other end for 11 total points.

“They’re big, they’re strong, they have great inside-outside game and one of the great scorers in the game,” said O’Brien. “They’re a terrific basketball team.”

The Purple and Gold pushed their lead to as many as 32 early in the fourth quarter and had each starter on the pine with 8:25 to go in the period, the bench content to seal a 122-99 victory thanks primarily to 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting from Farmar and 12 points from Shannon Brown.

Up next is a tough three-game trek through the South East, starting with a Thursday evening contest in Miami against the Heat.

Until then, your numbers:

POSTGAME NUMBERS
5 Steals in the third quarter by Ron Artest, a game after he notched six thefts against Denver. Artest also held Indiana’s leading scorer Danny Granger (23.0 ppg) to just nine points on 2-of-9 shooting.

14 Free throws made by Kobe Bryant, who began attacking the basket after struggling with his jumper early, missing his first five shots. He finished with 24 points on 5-of-14 shooting.

19 Points off the bench from Jordan Farmar, who was hot in making 8-of-10 shots including 3-of-4 from three-point range.

38 Points scored by L.A. in a big third quarter in which they allowed only 17 points to the Pacers to break the game wide open.

122 Points scored in the game for the Lakers, including 71 combined in the second and third quarter.

Phil Jackson needed just one word to describe Ron Artest’s effort against Carmelo Anthony and the Denver Nuggets after L.A.’s 95-89 win on Sunday: “remarkable.”

High praise from Caesar, indeed.

In our postgame wrap of the Lakers win, we detailed Artest’s performance:

Sparking that defense was the terrific individual effort from Ron Artest, who was draped so close to Carmelo Anthony all night that ‘Melo may as well have worn cologne named “Ron Ron.” Anthony made only 7-of-19 field goal attempts, turned the ball over eight times and fouled out while trying to create space from Artest late in the fourth quarter. Artest tied a season high with six steals, and even went off for 17 points himself (’Melo had 21) thanks in part to four 3-pointers, plus four boards and four assists.

Not bad.

“It was just about playing decent and a lot of effort,” explained Artest. “(Anthony) is definitely one of the better players in the NBA, but when I am hungry I don’t really worry about the offensive players even if they have a good game. I know that if I am doing my job, we should be OK.”

Artest, citing improved conditioning due to his trimming more than 10 pounds (and counting) off his frame, also pointed out that he’s held the last six individual offensive players he’s faced since the All-Star break below their respective averages, which is a constant goal for the Queens, New York, native.

TO READ THE REST OF THE STORY, HEAD OVER TO OUR PRACTICE REPORT

Lakers – Nuggets Preview Podcast
We took a look at the Lakers – Nuggets contest in L.A. while it was happening, entering a thought or three each quarter as the Lakers used a huge second half to beat Denver.

Inactives
Lakers: Sasha Vujacic (shoulder)
Nuggets: Renaldo Balkman

Starters
Lakers: Fisher, Bryant, Artest, Gasol and Bynum
Nuggets: Billups, Afflalo, Anthony, Martin and Nene

First Quarter
10:07 The game’s first variation from the norm came when Derek Fisher picked up his second personal foul just two minutes into the game, bringing Shannon Brown off the bench. Defensively, at least, this wasn’t a blow to L.A., since Brown’s bigger body is something Phil Jackson likes to throw at the 6-3, 202-pound Chauncey Billups. Brown promptly gave something on offense after checking in, hitting a jumper to put L.A. up 6-5 early.

6:21 Denver got the better of the first half of the quarter, building an 18-10 lead thanks primarily to four Lakers turnovers that resulted in six Nuggets points. All four TO’s came on steals for the visitors. Meanwhile, Kobe Bryant had yet to take a shot, focusing on getting the ball inside to Pau Gasol (three field goal attempts).

1:13 Bryant, frustrated that J.R. Smith didn’t get called for a foul when reaching around him hard on an entry pass, drew his 11th technical foul of the season. Players can amass 16 techs before receiving a mandatory 1-game suspension, so with 22 games to go, perhaps the greater worry was that the Lakers had yet to get untracked while trailing 29-21 after Billups hit the technical free throw and a three-pointer on the ensuing possession. That was the margin by which L.A. trailed after the first, shooting just 40.9 percent from the floor to go along with seven turnovers, six personal fouls and 2-of-5 free throws (Denver made 9-of-13).

Second Quarter
9:56 After yet another Lakers turnover, and Andrew Bynum’s missed lay-in from five feet away, Carmelo Anthony scored on back-to-back Nuggets possessions to put Denver up 10, its biggest lead to that point. Bryant, meanwhile, was just 1-of-5 from the field, and Bynum had yet to score.

6:52 Jordan Farmar’s corner three was much needed after the Nuggets’ lead reached 13 as the Lakers continued to struggle in general. They simply weren’t getting it done at either end of the floor, yet at least remained within striking distance. Three minutes later, needing a lift from someone after Bynum and Gasol both picked up their respective third personal fouls, Phil Jackson turned to Josh Powell … and J-Peezy promptly responded with two straight buckets in the paint, the second a two-handed dunk from Kobe, to cut the lead to nine.

0:37.2 Powell continued to influence the game with another dunk a possession after he’d found Odom for a layup out of a pretty three-man sequence of the triangle also featuring Bryant. Smith, however, picked up his fourth steal of the half and dunked at the other end to keep Denver up nine at the break, 52-43. Denver had figured out that the refs were letting a lot of reaching on the perimeter go, and unlike L.A. took full advantage by slapping at balls, helping cause 14 turnovers by the Lakers, already more than their season average (13.3.) Fortunately for L.A., Phil Jackson is perhaps the league’s best coach at making halftime adjustments.
*Also notable: rookie point guard Ty Lawson would not return for the second half after suffering a shoulder contusion on a collision with Bynum.

Third Quarter
8:56 Ladies and gentlemen, Phil Jackson! The Lakers were far more aggressive defensively to open the third, recognizing how the game was being called, and that played a big part of Denver starting 0-for-4 from the field, all on contested shots. Meanwhile, Bynum scored on consecutive possessions in the paint over the shorter Nene, preceding Artest’s swipe of Anthony and resulting layup. Then came another Nuggets miss and 1-of-2 Gasol free throws to cut Denver’s lead to 52-50.

5:22 After all that positivity for L.A., the Nuggets reeled off a quick 10-0 run to push the lead back to 11 at 64-53, capped by a two-handed breakaway dunk and then a three-pointer from Afflalo. The dunk was a result of his and Nene’s strip of Bryant, the fifth turnover for Kobe, whose broken finger can make controlling the ball more difficult. Oddly, the player who hadn’t been a big part of Denver’s run was Anthony, who’d made only 5-of-17 shots with Artest absolutely attached to his body.

0:17.2 How about Ron Ron? Two more all-up-in-Anthony’s-face defensive possessions caused two more turnovers, and L.A. capitalized half as much as it might have when Odom and Gasol each missed 1-of-2 free throws. Nonetheless, the game’s flow had returned once again to the Lakers thanks to some inspired effort on D, and L.A. had cut Denver’s 9-point halftime lead to just three at 70-67, despite only six points from Bryant.

Fourth Quarter
7:50 L.A. rode that third quarter wave right into the fourth, continuing to fly around on defense while converting 7-of-9 shots on offense to open an 82-74 lead, with Bryant’s baseline jumper and assist to Farmar – who finished with a pretty driving layup – capping the action. Meanwhile, Odom began to go off on offense, scoring seven early points and tying the game with a three-pointer.

5:00 Bryant answered Denver’s own 8-0 run (L.A. had gone on the same run earlier in the quarter) with a layup at the rim, but Billups – who had just drawn a foul on Fisher while attempting a three (Fish and Jackson couldn’t have disagreed more with the call) – pulled up for three to put Denver back on top. As the game see-sawed, Odom scored in the lane, and Billups from the baseline … and finally Artest from the corner, for three. L.A. up two again … fun things.

2:15 A huge sequence in the clutch played out as follows: Bryant found Gasol for a tough cutting layup off glass in traffic on offense, and on D, Artest drew an offensive foul on Anthony – his sixth – to regain possession for the Lakers, holding a 93-89 lead. Denver wouldn’t score for the rest of the game, L.A. adding two Bryant free throws for a six-point victory.

POSTGAME SUMMARY/NUMBERS
If ever there were a tale of two halves, this was it.

After getting out-aggressived (new word) in the first half by the Nuggets to fall behind 52-43, the Lakers turned in a fantastic defensive performance in the second half to ultimately run off with a 95-89 victory. They outscored Denver 52-37 margin in the second half and held the Nuggets to only four points in the final 5:06 of action. The Nuggets shot just 31.6 percent in the second half (35.9 total) as the Lakers made sure the Nuggets knew things ran through Los Angeles in the Western Conference.

Sparking that defense was the terrific individual effort from Ron Artest, who was draped so close to Carmelo Anthony all night that ‘Melo may as well have worn cologne named “Ron Ron.” Anthony made only 7-of-19 field goal attempts, turned the ball over eight times and fouled out while trying to create space from Artest late in the fourth quarter.

Artest tied a season high with six steals, and even went off for 17 points himself (’Melo had 21) thanks in part to four 3-pointers, plus four boards and four assists.

“Ron did a remarkable job on Anthony,” said Phil Jackson in his opening postgame remarks.

Struggling with his shot (3-of-17), Kobe Bryant turned into a facilitator. He notched a season-high 12 assists (eight in the second half) thanks in large part to an adjustment in positioning as he set up on the block to draw double teams from the aggressive Denver defense before coyly dishing off to teammates.

“Kobe mentioned the fact that he could operate out of that low post position down there and he got into a position where he required a double team and we were able to get consistent offensively from there on and our defense picked up on top of that,” said Jackson.

Among the major recipients was Lamar Odom, who scored 14 of his team-high 20 points in the fourth quarter, and Pau Gasol, who scored 15 points. The Spaniard also grabbed 14 rebounds (eight offensive) while Odom added 12.

“We wanted to show them that they won’t have a chance against us (in the playoffs),” said Gasol on 710 ESPN radio. “We showed (again) that we’re a better team then them.”

Up next for L.A. is Indiana on Tuesday. Until then, your numbers:

50 Points in the paint for the Lakers, compared to just 26 for Denver.

36.8 Carmelo Anthony’s shooting percentage on 7-of-19 field goals, thanks largely to the outstanding defense of Ron Artest. Anthony also had eight turnovers, and Artest six steals.

26 Rebounds for Pau Gasol (14) and Lamar Odom (12), helping the Lakers with a 47-43 edge on the glass for the evening.

14 Lakers turnovers in the first half, 0.7 more than the team’s average for the season. L.A. turned the ball over just four times in the second half, however, which was noted on the scoreboard (+15 second half, -9 first half)

12 Season-high assist total for Kobe Bryant, who turned into a facilitator in the second half in particular

Last time they came into STAPLES Center, the Denver Nuggets emerged with a victory as Carmelo Anthony watched in street clothes due to a sprained ankle.

‘Melo’s back for Sunday’s matchup against the Lakers, which we previewed in full via podcast with Benjamin Hochman, the Nuggets’ beat writer for the Denver Post.

Among the topics we covered:

– George Karl: How does his illness affect the team?
– How and why Denver appears to think they’re better than the Lakers.
– As Hochman reported, Denver is 27-6 when Billups, Anthony, K-Mart and Nene all play … but do the additions of Arron Afflalo and Ty Lawson – and not another big man – make the Nuggs better than they were last season?
– Anthony’s health. He missed 13 games combined in January and February, but appears to be almost fully back.
– Why Sunday’s game is different from the first two meetings between the teams.

Take a listen:

Wednesday in Dallas was not a good night for Jordan Farmar and Shannon Brown.

Playing 28 total minutes off the bench between them in L.A.’s 101-96 loss to the Mavericks, the two guards combined for just nine points, two assists and two rebounds. Defensively, Brown had two steals and Farmar one, but they together drew the ire of Phil Jackson after ceding a buzzer-beating three-pointer to Jason Kidd at the close of the third quarter, giving Dallas a lead it would not give up.

That’s not ideal, to say the least, for two ultra-competitive guards that have collectively spent a large chunk of individual time honing their games not just in the offseason, but as the season’s gone on. Of course, winning remains the bottom line for both, and an unproductive game is easily shaken off when there’s a “W” after it.

Fortunately, the NBA season offers a new opportunity every a day or two, and the first chance to get Wednesday’s sour milk out of Brown and Farmar’s respective mouths came on Friday night at STAPLES Center against Philadelphia.

Take a look at the postgame box score from L.A.’s 99-90 victory, but don’t expect Farmar’s and Brown’s contributions to pop off the page.

Farmar: 19 minutes, 10 points on 3-of-7 shooting including 2-of-4 from three and 2-of-2 free throws, 1 block, 0 rebounds, 0 assists
Brown: 17 minutes, 5 points on 2-of-7 shooting including 1-of-3 from three, 1 assist, 1 rebound

But look a little closer: 10 points off the bench from Farmar and a defensive spark from Brown that woke up a somewhat dreary Lakers team were more than enough to help the Lakers win a game.

Among Farmar’s points was a third-quarter-ending 3-pointer that put L.A. up five instead of two heading into the fourth, and his 17-foot jumper with 6:52 to play in the game gave the Lakers their biggest lead to that point (85-78). Brown’s defensive focus helped slow Philly point guards Louis Williams (nine points after the first quarter) and Jrue Holiday (eight total points), which is generally what L.A.’s coaching staff is looking for from both Lakers’ backups.

“We want them to bring some energy, especially on the defensive end,” said assistant coach Brian Shaw. “When they come in the game, maybe get a couple of steals, get out in the break, do something exciting and get everybody going.”

That’s good with Brown.

“Defense is always my main focus,” he said. “That doesn’t change from game to game. When I come in the game, it’s defense.”

Because Farmar and Brown play for the league’s most talented team – where Lamar Odom comes off the bench, Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol are capable of nightly double-doubles and Kobe Bryant is Kobe Bryant – they often don’t need to do much more.

“We really just try to play with a lot of energy,” said Farmar of what was left. “Stay aggressive but at the same time, don’t go out there and do too much.”

Not that they don’t want to do more, or that they can’t.

Farmar’s single game highs this season (24 points, eight assists, five rebounds, three steals and 27 minutes) and Brown’s (27 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, three steals and 39 minutes) show as much. So did key playoff contributions last season, such as Farmar’s big Game 3 in Houston or Brown’s key third quarter stretch in Game 5 against Denver.

It’s just that on some nights, there might not be as much of an opportunity. For example, Farmar has played more than 25 minutes just once. And on a night such as Friday, there was this: Bynum put up 20 points and 13 rebounds, Gasol 23 points and 11 rebounds double-doubles, Bryant finished with a team-high eight assists in addition to his 19 points and two steals and Odom added 11 points, nine boards and three blocks.

There goes the steak, the potatoes, the broccoli and the rolls off the plate, leaving just the sauce and some butter.

“I think we did in the second half a little bit, got some stops, a shot clock violation, some three-pointers,” said Farmar. “We were able to establish the motivation in our favor.”

True enough. Then with 6:01 to play in the fourth, veterans Derek Fisher and Ron Artest returned to close out the game.

What Farmar and Brown were able to add to the effort against Philadelphia certainly surpassed what they put up against Dallas, but it wasn’t the increase in production – however insignificant in the box score it may have looked – so much as the result that mattered on Friday, and that always matters.

“It’s all about winning a championship,” said Brown. “That’s the big picture. We’re just trying to help the team win.”

That, they did.

POSTGAME NUMBERS
6 Big time celebs shown on the jumbotron late in the fourth quarter: Will Ferrell, Alyssa Milano, Ron Howard, Anthony Kiedis, John C. Reilly & Denzel Washington. Unfortunately, Jack Nicholson had already bounced from his usual seat.

8 Assists for Kobe Bryant, three below his season high, to lead the Lakers. Andre Iguodala had 10 for Philly.

32 Combined rebounds for Andrew Bynum (13), Pau Gasol (11) and Lamar Odom (9) to help L.A. edge Philly 47-43 on the backboards.

24 Points for Samuel Dalembert of the Sixers, his career high. More importantly, Dalembert was recognized on Friday morning by the NBA for his hugely important charitable efforts in his native Haiti, as he received the NBA Cares “Community Assist Award” for January.

64 Points in the paint for the Lakers, thanks primarily to the Gasol – Bynum duo that combined for 43 points.