95-80, Houston. These effin' (s)La(c)kers are getting on my nerves. 40 pt. winning landslide followed by Kobe and the Anemia Drips. As the coach noted, Jekyll-Hyde. Question: Who's the winner, Killer Hyde, or Mild Doc Jekyll? One of those bad means good, good means bad conundrums.

A quick glance at the box score and you see those other fellers besides Kobester (32 pts.) apparently thought their previous efforts counted in this game. Only Farmar's 13 pts. in 21 mins. off bench sparked. No wonder Kobe was sober and cautionary after Game 5, noting they weren't playing "chumps," like he knew it was gonna swing the other damn way again. They closed gap some in 3rd, fell back again in the 4th.

Now, the Celtics last year had at least two 7-game battles on their hands, and it didn't hurt them. This year, Garnett-less, they're heading into second 7th game,

Continue reading "Round 2, Game 6, Lakers Fail to Seal the Deal; Orlando Wins"

You never hear the term "Final 4" applied to the NBA conference finalists. That marketing marker is applied to collegiate March Madness.

But this exhilarating post-season, the L.A. Nuggets are in a dead heat with the Denver Lakers, as of midway of Game 3, Western Conference final.

And the Cleveland Magic are in a dead heat with the Orlando Cavaliers, on the strength of King James's miracle 3-pointer with 1 sec. left.

The switch of brand names with the respective cities well illustrates the nonpareil level of neck-in-neck competition.

But soft, a front-runner slowly emergeth.

Denver Nuggets 52, Los Angeles Lakers 48 at halftime.

Lakers are lookin' like a team in transition again, as in finding themselves, not game phase only. Hinges a lot on getting Bynum un-sulky and effective again, particularly being a stalwart defensive presence with blocks and rebounds.

Continue reading "NBA Final 4 Rock Equally Hard -- Lakers Step Out First"