8:15- Walton misses the baby fadeaway on the baseline.  After a quick start, the Spurs have taken a bit of the wind out of the sails.  Bowen hits a jumper and it's 10-8 SA.  Walton counters with a three, then Bowen counters with a three, and at the endo fo it all, things are no different than they were when I started typing this lil' paragraph.  I hate when that happens.  Bowen, by the way, is lighting it up right now.  That's never a good sign.

6:35- Timeout on the floor.  Just so everyone knows, on the way to my seat, Bruce Bowen stuck his foot under mine.  Yeah, I said it!   Smush's Jumbotron profile is playing right now.  He likes chinese food, would be a bowler if not for hoops, enjoys ice cream, and has a Smushcalade.  They didn't mention it, but I'm sure he puts his pants on one leg at a time, too.  I love those, adn feel like I really get to konw a player when those things play. 

4:35- Smush with penetration for the bucket and his sixth point of the game.  Good start offensively for him.  FYI- we're sitting in the same row as Rich Hammond, who does the Live Blog for the Daily News.  There could be some internet hijinks tonight, people!  AK said he's going after him with a tire iron.

4:02- Kobe misses a jumper, but earlier in the possession, Walton passed out to Odom, who passed up a shot.  That kind of thing will no longer be tolerated starting Monday, when Walton enters my fnatasy lineup.  All opportunities for assists must be taken.  Nobody passes up a shot when the ball was delivered by Luke.  And I think Luke should become the folcal point of the offense.

3:10- Not sure if you could hear it on tv, but Kobe was helling "help help help!" when Bowen beat him on the back cut. Kwame picked up the foul, but it was Kobe who got hurt.  Just goes to show, it's about the team, and team d.  I feel like Bobby D in The Untouchables.  Bad foul call on Smush on the next possession.

2:35- Farmar and Bynum in.

1:08- Bynum had a nice move over Elson on the last possession.  Bob Horry got a nice hand when he came in, and we're sitting Eva Longoria adjacent.  That's all. 

:23.3- Don't look now, but it's Spurs by nine.  This is a huge possession...and Bynum converts with a dunk off the Odom pass off the broken play.  That's a broken sentence.  Anyway, 28-21 looks a lot better than 28-19.  When possible you should avoid being in a whole other digit than the opposition.  20-19, okay.  29-18, not okay. 

After that bit of profound commentary, I'm sure you're disappointed to see me turn things over to AK for Q2, but like PJ, we have a rotation here, and we respect it. 

Second Quarter

AK at the helm.  And Mo Evans is at the rim, immediately kicking things off with a serious throw down in traffic.  He had to spin around a bit to make it all work.

Incidentally, I'm listening for it, but thus far, no sign of Manu Girl.  But you better belueve I'm on high alert.

8:35 -Francisco Elson launches a jumper from about 20 feet, looking the whole time like he thinks there's no way in hell he'll actually hit it.  He's right.

8:29 - LO feeds Bynum for a layup, his fifth assist early in the ball game.  A good sign of a solid effort to come, hopefully.

FYI - For those following the game on Yahoo!, that's not a typo.  Cook is reallu in the game this early on. 

7:37 - Mo Evans misses a ten footer, Bynum taps the loose ball, and is originally credited with the put back.  But as the Spurs are in the midst of a 20 second time out, it's determined that Cookie got the put back.  I guess the game scorer has Cook in his fantasy league.

7:20 - Duncan against Bynum in the paint.  TD works for position, puts up the shot, and Socks  blocks.  That's the kinda stuff the young 'un wants in his resume.   

5:54 - Another possession where Bynum's length bugs Duncan.  As Timmy tries to fight it, help D arrives and Kobe eventually ends up stipping him.  Nice by Andrew getting it all started.

3:39 - Say what you will about Bruce Bowen (and all y'all have at some point), but the dude will dive into the crowd with the best of them.  Nice job by a courtside fan preserving his tasty beverage.

2:59 - Koe should join Guns N' Roses.  Why?  Because he does brings new meaning to the word "slash" as he snakes his way past Bowen, Duncan and basically the entire Spurs fivesome getting to the rack.  Pretty flipping cool stuff.

2:05 - Smush gets hosed by the ref's for a second time, getting called for a foul blocking Ginobli's shot.  Nothing but ball.  Should have been a jump situation.

1:05 - The Parker that dates Eva heads to the hole on a breakaway.  The Parker that (to my knowledge) has never dated Eva does a nice job staying in front of him while isolated, forcing a bad shot.

28.9 - Matt Bonner misses his second three.  Were Brian Scalabrine not in the league, Bonner would easily own the title of "NBA's goofiest looking white boy."  He makes the Shmoo look tan.

The half ends with Kobe missing a desperation three to beat the buzzer.  48-46 Spurs.  They're hanging step for step with one of the league's best.  Keep it up and we'll see where the evening (and BK in the third) takes us.

As I'm about to head to the press room, David Robinson walks past, then stops to autograph a little girl's Lakers jersey.  The crowd simultaneously cheers for The Admiral while telling the girl she can't have a Spur sign Lakers gear.  In any event, Robinson is a hard guy not to admire.  Class act all the way.

THIRD QUARTER-

Duncan scores on Kwame, Kwame scores on Duncan.  Consider yourself caught up. 

Duncan picks up his third.  Can they get him to pick up his fourth? 

9:10- Duncan buries the jumper from up top.  That's (one) of the things that makes him so unbelievably good.  To be that good down low, but be able to stick a jumper from the top of the key?  Forget it.  By the way, Andie McDowell passed by and a) for an older actress, she still loks good, and b) she doesn't have as good  of seats as Eva Longoria.

7:31- Kobe's sniffin' a win in this one.  He's really driving and attacking hard.  The last couple moves he's had down the lane have been pretty freakin' sick.  Stop and go, with the hesitation and the spin.

7:02- Kwame drop steps on the baseline and dunks with authority.  Good little move.  Duncan doesn't want to pick up his fourth.   

6:22- Lakers do a great job keeping he ball alive, with a couple offensive boards.  Smush eventually takes a feed from Kwame after he got the rebound.  It's always good to see him moving towards the hoop... Lakers by three at 6:01, with a timeout on the floor. 

4:45- Kobe drills a three, and the lakers are back on top.  He's got that look tonight.  Ginobili walks on the next possession, and the Lakers get it right back.  Odom with a great offensive board, and as he goes up, Ginobili tries to flop and draw a charge.  No call (finally).  Odom puts it in, picks up the foul from Elson, buries the freebie, and all is well in the world.

3:13- Holy (*#&, if Smush had made that dunk the roof would have come off this place.  That was a fun trip.  Baseball pass for the bomb, block on Walton, missed thunder dunk, scramble for possession, and a partridge in a pear tree.

2:00- Kobe with the dunk, and the Lakers are up by six.  Kobe steals the ball on the other end, dishes to Parker who finds Odom... three pointer, good!  Lakers by nine. This place is about as loud as it gets for a regular season game.  Folks is excited, as well they should be.  This has been a really well played quarter from the Lakers, something they had a ton of trouble doing at this time last year.

:47.6- Walton drives the baseline, and finds Kwame who draws the foul on Elson, then makes the free throw.  On the ensuing Spurs poss., he gets the steal, then dishes to (a just entered) Farmar, who gets the easy layup.  Lakers by 14. 

Horry cuts it to 11 with a three- last possession of the Q... Walton hits the little jumper, for a 13 point lead. I think it's fair to say that this is the best quarter the Lakers have played this season. 

AK to take Q4.   Dude's like a leprechaun. All luck. 

10:48 - The Spurs pass the ball all over the place for about 19 seconds, weaving it inside and out until it finally ends up in Horry's hands for a layup.  That's a prime example of why they're gonna remain a tough team all season, regardless of who wins this one tonight.

9:15 - After having led an unconverted break off a defensive rebound (Cookie bobbled the ball, eventually leading to a miss by missed three by Evans, LO leads another defensive glass break on the next possession, this time cutting out the middle man and dishing directly to Evans in the paint for a layup.

8:32 - Obviously Kobe's had a nice game- Carl's Jr. "Star of the Game" worthy, even- but this possession includes too much dribbling against Finley and an eventual forced shot.  It bears mention, but no biggie...

... especially because on the next possession, Kobe redeems himself by draining a triple.  Credit Mo Evans for tracking down his own miss in traffic, then getting the ball out to Kobe.  Great effort.

4:47 - Time out, Lakers.  The Spurs have been slowly and methodically getting back in this thing.  No need to hit the panic button, but a reset is probably in order.

4:23 - Kobe spins in the paint, putting up a soft floater over Duncan.  Lakers up by six, but a quick Tony Parker layup cuts it to four.

3:36 - Make that six, after Kwame hits the Tim Duncan foul drawing layup.  Unfortunately, no "and one."  96-90 Lakers.

2:46 - Kwame starts the party by blocking Mr. Longoria's layup.  LO gets the ball to a streaking Walton, who converts the layup on a continuation call after a rather ineffective reach in by Brent Barry.  Ricky's boy oughta know if you're gonna do that, hack the crap outta him.   Luke hits his freebie.  Lakers up by 7.

2:21 - Kobe not only forces a jump ball after he and Duncan fight for the loose ball, but manages to piss off the always stoic big man enough to get him T'ed up.   That's an MVP play in and of itself.

I'm telling you, Smush must have peed in the each official's Cheerios this morning, because in the pan of 30 seconds, he gets another pair of questionable calls.  Tough going for William Henry, who's actually made some nice plays.

1:20 - Duncan goes to the line, misses both freebies and LO snatches the loose ball (his 9th board).  On the ensuing possession, LO misses a lay up, but cleans up his mess, eventually allowing the ball to get in Kwame's hands for a ferocious dunk.

40.4 - If you're gonna miss two free throws, as Kwame does, the next best thing is to snag the loose ball, which Kwame also does.  Huge glass job on that play.

20.9 -Bruce Bowen fouls out.  "Hit the road, Jack" plays.  The Laker girls get up in a row and just shake their booties in rythym.  BK and I agree, it's the best part of any game.  They should even do it when a Laker fouls out.  At least it'll put a positive spin on a hometown DQ.

Ginobli and Barry can't connect on a pass and the ball goes out of bounds.  That's the icing on an already baked cake.  106-99 Lakers.  Very big win for your purple and Gold.  With the possible exception of the Utah blowout, the best game they've played all season, and the third quarter was definitely their best 12 defensive minutes of the season.  A nice way to kick off a likely tough trip to Texas.  Thanks for dropping by.

AK