Say what you want about last night's 107-104 OT loss to the Houston Rockets, but it weren't dull.  Indeed, the game, which offered everything from sluggish stretches, miracle treys, and the most unpredictable of finishes (Traveling in the NBA?  Wha????).  That unpredictable nature of the contest may have been best embodied by Kobe Bryant, who overcame a wretched 40 or so minutes of shooting and turned red hot on a dime.  Okay, that's probably not all that hard to see coming, given Bryant's track record.  But nobody could have forseen the miracle trey he sank off Kwame Brown's clanked second freebie.  To say the least, things were looking "up" for #24 at that moment. 

On the one hand, coming off what was a solid candidate for most putrid loss of the season Tuesday night against the Grizzlies, the Lakers played hard and showed a lot of heart against a very solid Houston Rockets squad Friday night.  L.A. made big shots, hit the floor for loose balls, contested shots around the rim, refused to fold down big late in the fourth, and generally put together as good an effort against a quality team as they have in a while.  On the other hand, they still lost, 107-104 in OT.  At least it all must have made for excellent television.  Lakers come back from a 12 point deficit in the last five minutes, tying the game on a ridiculously tough, potentially disastrous Kobe three pointer off the second of two missed Kwame Brown freebies with 11.8 seconds remaining.  Then the Lakers go up by four with a mere minute of free hoops remaining.  Then, poof, it was gone. 

10:35 left in the first, and it's 2-2.  Tacos are still an option.

BK

7:04- The Lakers are doing what they can to make it hard for Yao to get a clean look underneath.  If he catches clean and close, there isn't much of anything anyone can do.  But Kwame is playing aggressively, and is doing what he can to deny the entry pass.  Still, four of five from the line means Yao already has 8 points.

5:48- Timeout on the floor.  17-12 Rockets.  Not a good opening pace in terms of keeping Houston off the board.  Remember, the Rockets defend and play mucky, grinding basketball.  30 point quarters are bad enough against the Golden States of the world.  Against Houston?  That's real ugly.

So we're down a K Brother tonight. Andy is traveling for a wedding, so it's just me.  I'll do my best to pay attention to my "WWAKW (What Would AK Write?) handbook periodically, so fans of the older brother get their fix.  We don't like unhappy customers.  Anyway...

Interesting stuff observed while standing in the Houston locker room.  Since Jeff Van Gundy is notoriously anal, it's wasn't surprising to see the Rockets watching film before the game (teams typically will have either the most recent game an opponent has played or film of their last meeting on the locker room televisions before every game).  But this one was broken down player by player, with all of their tendencies and things to watch for.  Basically, a video scouting report.  Not surprisingly, regarding Kobe, the list of things for which Rockets players need to keep an eye out is extensive.  To see all of his different moves cut into one sequence was interesting.  Basically, if it's in the handbook, Kobe's got it. 

No matter how the Lakers fare tonight against Houston, win or lose, progress will be marked if they don't have to endure the mother of all lectures at tomorrow's practice.  Phil Jackson was disappointed in his players (although he's happy no Laker was this disappointing), and challenged them to raise the intensity  (which involves not relying on Kobe Bryant's one man show, which sometimes thrills off the court as well).  Not a problem for Lamar Odom, who's been mustering up some grit of his own to play through pain of a bum shoulder. 

Judging by Phil Jackson's comments today, his players got the intentioned point of yesterday's "lecture the crap outta them, then send everyone home to think about the lecture in lieu of practice" approach.  "We had a good practice.  The response was good."  (The attendance was also good with 12 men on the floor, a luxury more rare these days than undercooked steak tartar.  The dirty dozen even included Kwame Brown, who was able to do some half court work.).  One of the themes Jackson apparently stressed was that of pride, which he summed as "a certain responsibility when you come to a ballgame to play with a certain amount of energy.  There's a chance that at this time of the season, with the amount of injuries we had, players in a position where they can't get themselves motivated without some little extra help." 

It's pretty much common knowledge that Kobe Bryant is doing just fine when it comes to scoring (and if you live on the street word hasn't reached, ask Melo or LeBron, because they'll tell ya). But Tarance Kinsey and Rudy Gay? Not exactly household names when it comes to filling up a bucket. That the duo (among others) was able to channel their inner-Elgin and help lead their hapless Grizzlies squad to a win over the Lakers sat rather poorly with Phil Jackson. In turn, he made sure it sat poorly with his team.  Perhaps while the players are at home thinking about various matters, one of them will decide he's ready to play Sundance to Kobe's Butch Cassidy.

Because I'm guessing a night's sleep, a hot shower, and nutritious breakfast haven't wiped away last night's loss to the Grizzlies, here's a chance to wallow in it a little longer, with P.J.'s postgame press conference and some words- a few pointed- from L.O.

Download phil_jackson_3.27 postgame Memphis.mp3
Download lamar_odom_3.27 post-Memphis.mp3

BK

All season long, Jack in the Box has made out like bandits on their "Lakers hold the opposition below 90, everyone gets two free tacos" promo.  The team's defensive prowess has kept the overhead costs on that deal rather low for the clownheaded CEO.  Last night, however, the fans actually walked away with their free grub, a sight for sore eyes (and hungry stomachs).  But that likely still amounts to precious little solace in the face of a 88-86 loss to the Grizzlies of Memphis, the gristle of the NBA.  The quest for the franchise's first post-Shaq sixpack got off to a good enough start, with the Lakers taking an 8 point lead into the locker room at the half.  But then came a redunkulously bad third quarter, where the Lakers shot 22%.  Rounding up.  One would have thought these were the kids Martin Lawrence coached in "Rebound."  And just like the box office take for the aforementioned flick, the results were a flop.  Even Kobe Bryant, who'd been magma-hot over the last five games, racked a harsh 7 shots on 26 attempts.  The Lakers seemed dead set on snapping their shooting woes (and Memphis' zone D) by chucking like frenzied crackheads from beyond the arc, which simply led to clangs and Memphis boards.  And one big dud of a box score. 

The Memphis Grizzlies showed up at Staples Tuesday night having won 17 games all season, and without the services of Mike Miller and Damon Stoudamire.  So this one was in the bag, right?  Especially after the purple and gold finished the first quarter with a 12 point lead?  Or held Pau Gasol to five points in the first half?  Uh... no.  In the third quarter, the Lakers didn't shoot the lights out, but did shoot as if the lights were out.  As in, couldn't see the rim.  5-23 from the floor, including 2-8 from downtown.  And no penetration, either against the zone Memphis threw at the Lakers all night long.  Only eleven trips to the line all night.  Memphis erased an eight point Laker lead in the third, shooting 50%, then made enough buckets (often with looks so clean they seemed doused with Pine-Sol) to maintain control on the way to an 88-86 win over the Lakers.

Down by two with 6.6 left in the fourth, the Lakers had a chance to tie with a two or win with a three.  Off the inbound, Smush came off a screen and had a clean look, but his three was short.  Kobe's follow was blocked by Gasol, and that was the ballgame.  Very questionable play, very disappointing result.

More on the game to come.  Not that it'll be pretty or anything.  (NOW ADDED AFTER THE JUMP)

BK