There Are Twenty-One Nations of Latin America. Name Them!

By the way, if I'm wrong about the number, don't blame me. Instead, talk to Lakers P.R., who fed me the info about tonight's annual 'Fiesta Lakers' celebration. As part of it, the Lakers will have special trim with the flags of all twenty-one aforementioned nations sewn on their unis. Kind of snazzy, really. In honor of the occasion, AK and I did consider writing tonight's live blog in Spanish, but a trip to Barcelona last summer reminded me that when the conversation strays past asking for the time, directions, or a good place to eat/drink, I struggle... and my Spanish may be better than AK's. So circumstances will force us to stay mono-lingual, unless AK decides to break out the pig Latin for a quarter.

Onto the news:

First, Mo Evans won't play, and when he'll be back is something of a mystery. However, Smush Parker and Brian Cook have both healed up enough and should play tonight. At the very least, they're both active. That means Smush's streak of starting every game since the beginning of last year will very likely remain intact. Pretty impressive. More impressive than using that as a segue to Kobe Bryant, who is looking for his fifth straight 50+ night. On paper, the defensively challenged Warriors should give Kobe a solid shot at the el cinco grande (I'm trying, folks), but Phil Jackson notes that Golden State coach Don Nelson will occasionally break out some odd defensive schemes. Phil discusses all the stuff I just mentioned: Download phil_jackson_3.25 on health, stopping Kobe.mp3

Not much more from Jackson, who was apparently (as you'll hear) running a bit behind schedule. But he talked about when the streak might come to an end. Download phil_jackson_3.25 on Kobe, and how long the streak will last.mp3

Smush talked about his personal streak, playing through pain, and how he thinks the team has improved over the last few games (beyond the obvious, of course).
Download smush_parker_3.25 on ankle, consec. games streak.mp3
Download smush_paker_3.25 on Kobe, team success.mp3

Now it's back to seeing whether or not Kobe can get to five. If he doesn't, it's likely because he became distracted trying to identify all those flags on his uniform.

Any readers feeling a continual itch to make sushi at home but just don't know the first thing about the prep work involved, give either Brian Cook, Chris Mihm or Luke Walton a call. The pre-game jumbotron entertainment included a segment (apparently filmed a while back, since Mihm was on crutches) with the trio learning to make what appeared to be spicy tuna rolls. Unfortunately, due to specific contract language and restrictions, no Laker can fully delve into the art of Japanese cuisine and enroll in a knife-flipping, Benihana-style cooking tutorial (although that may not stop Vlad Radmanovic).

If there's a tried and true strategy for neutralizing a phlegmatic point guard, the Lakers should implement it tonight against Baron Davis. I don't know whether he's sick, just finished eating an entire wheel of cheese or smoked an entire pack of Camel Unfiltereds last night, but whatever the case, dude was hawking loogies into a paper cup in the warriors locker room like nobody's business.

AK