LOS ANGELES LAKERS
by ClipperSteve of Clips Nation
Recap Rewind: The Lakers started the week on a six-game losing streak, the second such streak of this season. When the team traveled to Denver on Thursday and lost to the Nuggets 113-86 (and were embarrassed in the second half 62-35) it was Phil Jackson's career high seventh consecutive loss as a coach. The next night, in the fourth quarter of a tie game at home againt last place Portland, Jackson did what any first ballot hall of fame coach would do in a similar situation - he scrapped the gameplan and gave the ball to Kobe Bryant. Number 24 scored 24 in the period to force overtime, scored 9 more in the extra 5 minutes, and finished with 65 in the game, a 116-111 Laker win. The 65 points were the highest in the NBA this season, and the second highest of Kobe's career. The most remarkable stretch came in the final two minutes of regulation. With the Lakers down 7, and two defenders chasing him everywhere on the floor, Kobe made three contested three pointers to force the OT. Two nights later against the Timberwolves, he picked up where he left off, scoring 22 points in the first quarter on his way to a 50 point game and the Lakers' second win in a row, 109-102. Kobe became the only player other than Wilt Chamberlain to follow a 60+ game with a 50+ game, and the 55 points in 29 clock minutes from the beginning of the fourth quarter of the Portland game until the end of the first quarter of the Minnesota game has got to be some sort of 'only player other than Wilt' thing also.
Notable news: Lamar Odom returned to action, torn labrum and all, and has been effective playing with pain. Luke Walton played against Denver, sat against Portland when the ankle soreness returned, and then played (and played well) against Minnesota. The Lakers need these two healthy if they're going to have a chance in the playoffs. Or maybe they don't. After spending most of the season as a more team-oriented facilitator, suddenly it's 05-06 again for Kobe. Before the last two, he was averaging fewer than 21 shots per game after hoisting over 27 per last season. He took 74 shots in the last two. The team knew both success (26-13 on January 17) and failure (7-19 since) with Kobe the facilitator. They're now 2-0 with Kobe the gunner, and my guess is that's what we'll see the rest of the season.
Fast Forward: Three games this week, and all of them could go either way. After three days off, they travel to Memphis to play the Grizzlies Thursday night. Although they have the worst record in the NBA, the Grizz seem to relish playing the Lakers, and beat them handily the last time the teams played in Memphis. Friday night it's off to Oklahoma City, and although the Hornets have been struggling, they still have playoff aspirations. Next Sunday the red-hot Warriors come into Staples Center and believe it or not, they look like a threat to catch the Lakers in the standings, so this game could be huge. With Baron Davis in the lineup since his knee surgery, the Warriors are 6-0 (they lost to Portland when Baron sat out) and as of Monday they trail the Lakers by 3.5 games.