4:28 - Jim... I mean, Adam Morrison checks into the game.  Is there another athlete in all of professional sports who looks more like he's showing up for the game after a three day bender in Tiajuana?

4:09 - When he picked up his second foul, I thought for sure Smush would be taking a seat.  But defying conventional wisdom, Phil keeps him in to quickly pick off a pass and throw down a reverse dunk.  Genius.  Or it's a well timed happy coincidence.  But either way, that's why he's got nine rings and I'm some jackass on a computer.

1:46 - LO goes right at Sean May, stretching in the leaner lay up for a bucket as the UNC product unsuccessfully tries drawing the charge.  An official "Welcome back to hitting buckets, Lamar" is now officially in order.

The quarter ends with LO missing a 79-footer to beat the buzzer.  I'll chalk that up to Odom being rusty, since he normally hits that shot.  But I'm not chalking up being down 27-21 to the Bobcats to anything other than sub-par shooting and rebounding.  Pick it up, kids!

Second Quarter

10:16 - I'm not sure who Farmar's pass in the Orange-laden paint was intended for, but I'd like to think it was  some Bobcat, because otherwise, it was inexcusably bad.

9:08 - Ronny Turiaf hits a 12-foot jumper.  Hopefully, it's the sign of reemergence.  I wouldn't go so far as to call the shot previously automatic, but it's certainly better than the recent MIA status.

There are some kids about two sections up with kazoos.  I may kill them.

7:22 - Ronny Turiaf fights hard for a errant Mo Evans three, then sets up Evans for a reverse dunk.  Really nice work by Ronny.  If he doesn't end up on SportsCenter, it's because he put the hair back in braids.

5:36 - Time out called before Emeka Okafor goes to the line after dunking a ball Sasha Vujacic had absolutely no chance of stopping (although the odds of picking up a foul while trying were solid).  You gotta like a 130 guy trying to block a center, though.  Interesing to note.  We're now almost halfway through the second and Vlad Radmanovic has yet to check in.  Wouldn't shock me if he sat the whole game, with LO back.  Truth be told, I'm expecting a few DNP-CDs in his future.  I haven't entirely given up on him yet, but the bottom line is that he looks lost on both ends.

2:34 - Time stops after a little brouhaha between LO and Gerald Wallace.  Can't say I blame Wallace for being a little P.O.'ed.  That was a pretty nice elbow to the chops Lamar gave him.  But on the positive side, that's definitely a mid-season form elbow, so perhaps Odom ain't all that rusty after the layoff.  For what it's worth, before the ball was inbounded, LO gave Wallace a little tap on the butt, and Wallace reciprocated.  All's well that ends well. 

Oddly enough, in 2001, I went to a Summer League game in Long Beach for an ESPN assignment, and I specifically remember a rookie Wallace going against LO (who I guess had just dropped by an SPL game for the eff of it).  BK and I both figured it could be an athletic battle for the ages.  The skirmish wasn't quite what we had in mind, though.

After consecutive baskets by LO and Kobe (for the tie), Luke Walton beats the buzzer for three and a 51-49 lead.  A nice way for the team and shooter (who certainly could use a few makes of late) to go into the locker room.  Let's see if they can keep a little mo' going and put away this rather ho-hum team.

Third Quarter

11:23 - Sweet behind the back pass in the paint from LO to Bynum.  That's the stuff everyone's been missing.

9:13 - Bynum does a great job holding his ground in the low post and length-ing Okafor into a bad shot.  Emeka (and most players) don't have a chance when that wingspan is used so well.

8:31 - Luke lands very awkwardly against Bynum's foot, rolling his ankle and looking very uncomfortable.  He's limping, but at least gets off the court relatively quickly, which I'm taking as a sign that it's not as bad as Kwame's (mostly because I'm not a doctor, which allows me to talk outta my ass).  Otherwise, it's deja vu all over again.

7:33 - Question for y'all.  If Kobe gets fouled before dunking on Gerald Wallace, meaning the basket doesn't count and he's just getting two at the stripe, is Wallace still considered "posterized?"  Can they sell that picture in stores or are there official rules and standards involved?

6:06 - Awkward and weird (and contact heavy) as that sequence may have just looked, I think that may have really been a jump ball situation.  When I first saw the ref put his thumbs up, I was like, "Huh?"  But upon seeing the replay, I think it looked worse than it was.

3:31 - Evans drives his way inside for the bucket and his 7th point.  If lUke misses any time (which I'm thinking he will), I would think Mo's gonna get pushed into the starting lineup (unless they slide LO to the 3 and start Cook or Turiaf).  But in any event, Evans' PT (which was already on the rise as it was) is likely to jump.  Great opportunity for him.  A must for the team that he capitalizes on it.

5:31 - Bynum and Kobe run a pick and roll down low to prefection.  That could a scenario we see plenty of down the road, fingers crossed.

2:03 - Wallace drives past Kobe into the lane for the "And 1."  More imporantly, he drew the foul on Bynum, racking Socks' 4th.  Get used to the sight of Turiaf for at least a little while.

1:13 - Kobe misses a jumper, but the degree to which he fakes Wallace out of his Nikes en route to the miss is hysterically entertaining.

.52 - Kobe threads a needle on one of the best bounces I've seen in quite some time, hitting a streaking Turiaf for the bucket and one.  Turiaf's howling, having just thrown a block party with Evans at the expense of Okafor.

The quarter ends with Turiaf breaking up Charlotte's final possession.  74-72 Lakers.  Its a game you'd really like to see them hold onto.  Here's to hoping.

Fourth Quarter

Luke Walton update:  X-Rays are negative.  Moderate sprain.  Out for the night.

8:27 - Smush just misses on a slashing (and fouled) layup to the basket, but immediately ups his cool points by giving Jack a casual high five on the way back to the line.  The cool points are immediately subtracted, however, when he misses both freebies. 

7:25 - Phil puts Bynum back in with the four fouls.  I'm a little surprised, given that Turiaf's playing well and could have held down the fort another couple minutes to help prevent further whistle trouble against Andrew.  He must have faith in the youngster.

3:21 - Evans grabs two offensive rebounds, but still can't sink the ball into the bucket.  He's then hit with a T after throwing out a fairly fierce tongue lashing.  That's probably the maddest I ever seen Mo get during a game.  Or period, really. He's pretty soft spoken, by and large.  Then again, Okafor blasts the ref for a lack of whistle on the next possession, and he's not exactly known as a hot head.  Maybe it's just in the air. 

2:00 - Mo does a great job fighting for a loose ball under the Charlotte rack, but it's all for naught after Okafor hits Bynum for his fourth swat of the night.  Charlotte takes an 89-88 lead into a time out with 1:43 on the clock.

9.6 - Okafor gets kabbash put on his shot, but Wallace is there for the putback.  LO wants a travel. He may have to settle for a three point play. 

1.6 - Kobe repays the favor with a trey after Wallace took his eyes off him for a sec.  In the future, Gerald, woudn't advise doing that.  That Kobe character is worth keeping tabs on.

Morrison misses the potential game winner.  Hey, more free hoops against Charlotte, but you know the old saying.  "It takes more than four qaurters to beat the Bobcats."

Overtime

3:37 - Bynum does a nice job feeding Smush for the give and go towards the rack, but ends up trapping himself under the basket and throws up a wild finger roll to beat the buzzer.  Bynum, who's been doiung a great job on the glass, unfortunately lets this one fall to Wallace. 

2:50- I don't care if the man swears on a stack of 100 bibles.  Matt Carroll didn't call "glass."

1:09 - Felton misses the jumper, Wallace misses the putback, but nobody bodies up Okafor, who doesn't miss a damn thing.  99-93.  It's starting to look like "ball game," and not in a good way.

As the final seconds dwindle down, Cook guards Morrison in the low post.  Ever been to the turtle races in Marina Del Ray?

Well, there's your OT killer.  106-97 Charlotte.  As Clark Griswald says after his son points out they must have jumped the family truckster 50 yards in the desert, "Nothing to be Proud of, Rus."

AK