Daily Highlight: Lakers Crash Out

Rough night for the Lakers.  Phil Jackson had never been swept in a playoff series in his entire career.  And some of his players didn't take to it too well.  Down by 30ish points late in the game, Odom and Bynum both took cheap shots on Mavs players and got ejected.  It turned out to be an ugly game and an embarrassing one for the Lakers, but the Mavs move on to face either Oklahoma City or Memphis.

Daily Highlight: Lakers Pushed to the Brink

It's a well known fact that in the NBA playoffs, no team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a playoff series.  That being said, the Lakers are in trouble, and I couldn't be happier.  Not that I like the Mavericks, but they're certainly better than the Lakers.  I gotta say though, we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves.  It may have never happened before, but someone's going to do it eventually (win a series after being 3-0 down).  And the Lakers could certainly be that team.

Daily Highlight: Lakers Lose Game 1

In their first playoff matchup since 1988, the Mavs posted a huge comeback in the second half to take the first game in LA.  It is also the first time that Dirk and Kobe have played in the playoffs, and while Kobe had more points, Dirk's Mavs got the better of the Lakers this time.  Can the Lakers turn it around in Game 2?

Daily Highlight: Kobe's Ankle Seems Okay

Well, after all the talk about Kobe being injured and perhaps not being able to play his best, he came out and had a great game to put the Lakers one win from the second round of the playoffs.  And he wasn't just making his normal mid range jumpers and layups, he was throwing it down with authority on top of people.  It was another game when Kobe wanted it more than anyone else, and he took it.

Daily Highlight: Lakers Lose and Kobe gets Injured

It was a rough game for the Lakers as New Orleans tied the series at 2 and Kobe came up with an injured ankle.  Chris Paul had another triple double to lead the Hornets, but the question as the games head back to LA will be the fitness of Kobe for the rest of the series.

Daily Highlight: Lakers Even Series

It was a sloppy game, but in the end the Lakers won't care how they won, just that they pulled it off.  Nobody had a particularly good night for the Lakers, and in their first 2 games of the series they've been unconvincing.  How will they do in New Orleans as the series shifts over there?

NBA Playoffs: Wild West Round One

3 of the 4 games in the Western Conference first round are done.  And they were all a bit surprising.  Before we get into those, lets look at the conference standings:

1. San Antonio Spurs
2. LA Lakers
3. Dallas Mavericks
4. OKC Thunder
5. Denver Nuggets
6. Portland Trailblazers
7. New Orleans Hornets
8. Memphis Grizzlies

In the conference's first game the Mavericks were given all they could handle from the Trailblazers.  This is a popular upset pick among the "experts," and rightly so in my view.  The Mavericks often under-achieve in the playoffs, and Portland is a solid team.  Their biggest problem right now is that Brandon Roy isn't 100%, but lately LaMarcus Aldridge has been picking up the slack.  For the Mavericks, they got a great game from the aging Jason Kidd, and Dirk Nowitzki, while having a tough shooting night, turned it up in the 4th quarter.  It looked like the Blazers would pull off the upset, but Kidd and Nowitzki poured it on in the 4th quarter to regain the lead and take game one.

As for the top 2 seeds, the Spurs and the Lakers, neither one was able to defend their home court.  Both teams entered the playoffs in a bit of a slump, but with both teams being so experienced, you wouldn't think it would matter.  They're playing very inferior teams, but it just proves if you're not at your best, you can lose to anyone.  The Spurs were definitely missing Ginobili, and I expect they'll be able to turn things around when he comes back.  I don't think the Lakers had any excuse.  They beat the Hornets in all 4 regular season games, but Chris Paul lit them up for 33 points, 14 assists, and 7 rebounds.  However, I expect both the Spurs and the Lakers to turn it around and win their series.

The last game will be the Thunder verse the Nuggets.  This is a very intriguing matchup.  The Nuggets have been on fire since Carmelo left for the Knicks.  Everyone is contributing, and they're playing with belief and desire.  The Thunder have 2 of the best young players in the NBA: Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.  The Thunder also have Kendrick Perkins now, who they acquired from the Celtics, and he has lots of playoff experience against some great big men in the game.  Perkins could very well be the man the changes the series.  You know you're going to get big games from the big name players, Durant and Westbrook, but if Perkins can contribute a bit on offense, as you know he will on defense, the Thunder should win this series.

Daily Highlights: Lakers Lose to Nuggets

The Lakers were on fire since the All Star Break.  But the Nuggets have been grreat since trading away Carmelo Anthony too, and they pulled off the win over the Lakers 95-90.

Daily Highlight: Lakers v Mavericks; More Fighting

Tension is running high in the NBA right now.  After the fight at the Heat v Wizards game 2 nights ago, we got another one in the Lakers v Maverick's game last night.  It seemes the Mavericks were getting frustrated as they got completely blown out in this one.

Daily Highlight: Lakers v Suns 3OT

What a game in LA.  The only thing that would have made it better would be if the Lakers had lost.  But it was exciting nonetheless.  Kobe had a near triple double and Nash put up 20 assists.