9:30- Fish gets wiped on a massive pick from Big Ben.  Gordon converts coming around on the jumper.  That was a serious collision- and to give you an idea of how strong Fish is, he actually was able to take Wallace down to the floor.

8:38- Good play by Kwame to draw the charge on Hinrich.  Kobe then gets one on the other end running through Wallace, but in the midst of it, Kwame goes down hard, grabbing his left knee.  Looked like on the replay that he fell over Wallace underneath.  He wasn't able to walk off under his own power, which is not a good sign, and went straight to the locker room.  We'll pass along news as soon as we have it. 

Bynum in.

7:31- Lakers get a shot clock violation that really gets chalked up to Cook, who passed up a couple looks when Drew got him the ball out of the post.  He ended up having to force the ball down low to LO, who never really had a chance to get a good look at the hoop.

5:53- Drew shows some nice hands inside, going up to catch the ball in traffic, then fighting hard fro a shot.  He draws the foul, and gets to the line. They've done a nice job giving him his looks down low.  But regardless of how you feel about Kwame, losing him if he's indeed out for any stretch will hurt the Lakers.  Bynum had developed a great rhythm with the second unit, so if he has to start, that makes an impact.  If Mihm slides in there, obviously he's not the defensive presence Brown is.

Walton in for Cook.

3:44- Timeout on the floor, Lakers down by one, 13-12.  This is playing out about how you'd expect a Chicago game to go.  Lots of grinding, good defense, not a ton of offense.  It'll be interesting to see how the second unit does trying to push the pace (Farmar is now in the game) against a team that does a great job at controlling the pace.

2:04- The Lakers have some serious mismatches to exploit on the offensive end, with Joe Smith on Bynum and Nocioni on Odom.  They need to take advantage.

END OF THE FIRST- Chicago 21, LAL 16.  Looks like the Lakers are in their "second and third quarter vs. Detroit" mode offensively.  They finished the quarter shooting 38%, and, in a more distubing blast from the all too recent past, turned the ball over eight times.  Eight.  That, people, is bad.  All things considered, it's actually pretty impressive they held Chicago to 21 points.  The Bulls were able to hoist nine more shots, aided by the P and G.

AK will have Q2.

Second Quarter

11:18 - Bynum snags a great rebound in traffic off Vlad Rad's missed layup, but fails on the attempt to put it back.  Luckily, the Nocioni rebounded ball ends up in Farmar's hands (theft on Thabo), which eventually leads to a Mo Evans converted and one.

10:07 - Another missed layup by Drew, but this time upon snagging the board, he stuffs in with force, despite the presence of Ben Wallace in his vicinity.

MEDICAL UPDATE!!! A mild to moderate sprain of Kwame's ankle and knee.  Quite the crappy double whammy.  With any luck, both will fall closer to the "mild" side of things.

6:54 - Great patience by Drew working down low against Big Ben with the clock winding down from four.  Didn't panic to put up a bad shot.  Instead, works a sweet spin move to the basket for the dunk.

6:16 - Luke dribbles straight into the paint, then dishes out to Vlad at the top of the circle.  Three ball converted.  Luke's already got a triple of his own and a couple assists.  Hopefully, this is an early sign of him calming down a bit after a rough stretch of games since him moving back to the bench.  He had a nice outing against Detriot, but some extended proof of some stability would be nice.

4:28 - Gordon gets to the line as Kobe, Mihm and Fish all look around trying to figure out who apparently touched Little Ben.  As it turns out, it was Fish, but upon looking at the replay, that remains news to all of them.  Terrible call.

3:38 - Little Ben is absolutely having his way with Fish, putting a little floater up to score his 14th of the half.  You don't want this guy getting hotter than he already is.

3:25 - For those convinced that he's going to the movies during the game, Sasha just checked into the game.

1:55 - LO snags a defensive board, then strides like a gazelle downcourt, gracefully hitting Mihm in stride.  Mihm gets draped by Nocioni and earns two chances at the line.  Both converted.  Next possesion, LO sparks another fast break, this time after swiping the ball from Thabo.  One of two converted.  Lakers now down by two.  44-42.

The final seconds wind down with Kobe working his way into the paint, unsuccessfully drawing a foul, but successfully laying the ball up and in.  46-45 Lakers.   Considering they lost their starting center, they've turned the ball over 13 times and are shooting 40% if you round up, the Lakers are lucky to be right in the thick of things.  We'll see if they can make a better effort of it in the second half.  BK will have the third.

THIRD QUARTER-

Fish starts off hitting a jumper, which is nice to see.

8:23- Lakers have put the clamps on Chicago early in the period.  The Bulls are still sitting on two points for the quarter, almost four minutes in.  Meanwhile, on the other end, it's still not exactly a work of art, but certainly enough to get the job done.  The Bulls aren't a dynamic offensive team, especially down Deng, so if the Lakers can put a little space in between themselves and Chicago, that's a good sign. 

7:15- Bynum puts up a nice little baby hook over Big Ben.  Given Drew's length, it's a shot he ought to be able to get off over anyone if he sets it up well enough with his body.  56-48 LAL.

6:33- Kobe hits a jumper, and the lead is up to 10.  Even BC is doing good work on the glass, as he fights for a ball down low off a missed  Chicago jumper.  Then does it again on the next trip.  Talk about your positive omens.  Chicago still stuck on two points for the quarter. Combination of solid work on the defensive end, and playing a team that can't really put the ball in the hole anyway.

5:10- Cook draws the charge on Joe Smith.  That's the one thing he does consistently well defensively. 

Finally, Gordon hits a three and the Bulls get off that sorry two point mark for the quarter.

3:05- Timeout, Lakers, after Ben Gordon again beats Fish on the perimeter, then floats the ball nicely up and off the glass over Drew rotating over.  That's a situation where you just have to give it up for a solid offensive play.  Fish kept his body on him fairly well, and Drew made Gordon work to get the shot over his arm. Gordon just got it done.  The Lakers need to make sure, coming out of the timeout, they keep the pressure on.

Instead, they let Tyrus Thomas have at the basket, and Mihm picks up a cheap foul, then they almost give it away on the other end b/f forcing a re-turnover (they took it away, the Lakers took it back) and got the foul on Kobe. Kobe misses the first, hits the second.  63-58 Lakers.

:35- Lakers get another late surge, courtesy of Jordan Farmar and the second unit.  Good plays on both ends by Farmar, nice ball movement from Luke, a couple good boards from Mihm (though he's still having some issues on the defensive end, and other than hitting some FTs hasn't done much on offense, either).  Mo in there putting pressure on them.

END OF THE THIRD: Lead goes from 6 to 15 quick fast, thanks to good pressure defensively and execution offensively.  Given that the Bulls scored all of 14 points in the third, it's reasonable to believe the Lakers can hold on to a 75-60 lead over the final 12.  If they don't, blame AK.

FOURTH QUARTER:

10:55 - Fantastic sequence, with LO taking a rebound to halfcourt and passing off to Luke, who bounce passes to a cutting Farmar, who shuffles the rock to Mihm for the forceful dunk over a posterized Nocioni.  Keep the ball moving and nice things happen.  That's a formula juist crazy enough to work.

9:44 - Luke streaks into the paint to cut off Gordon's penetration to the rack and forces him to change his shot.

7:38 - Good recognition between Walton (low post) and Farmar (at the arc), passing the ball back and forth between them.  Realizing that Luke had the size advantage on Chrus Duhon guarding him, the two patiently allowed Walton to get better position, which eventually set up Luke for the easy nine footer.

5:52 - Big Ben may be a four-time defensive player of the year, but that doesn't stop Bynum from going right at him, backing him down, then spinning for the turnaround from five feet out.

3:37 - Some nice D by LO forces Thabo to force up a wild shot, which Bynum quickly scoops up for a 9th rebound.  One more board and he's got a double double going, hopefully a good omen for the work he'll do in whatever amount of time Kwame misses.

3:31 - Out of the timeout, Vlad and Sasha enter the mix.  I believe we've officially hit the cruise control phase of the game for the Lakers.  The only reason Bynum is likely still out there is he can always use the practice (whatever inexperience rook center Aaron Gray has, he's still a load at 7'0"/270) and Mihm's health needs to be preserved.

2:14 - Vlad Rad's wasting no time.  He's been in the game about 30 seconds and he's already buried a pair of triples.

1:29 - Sasha buries a trey.  He ain't nervous when his team's up 22.

.51 - And if he wasn't nervous with his team up by 22, you better believe Sasha's blood was running ice cold with them up 25.  Another three ball buried!  I think I've figured out the key to getting the most out of Sasha.  Don't ever let him watch the game as it's progressing (I'm thinking blindfold on the bench) or let him look up at the scoreboard.  Just tell him the Lakers are way up at all times.  He'll have no reason to freak or rush his shot.  Money!

Who likes a 106-78 Lakers win?  Me, for starters!  And I'm sure y'all feel the same way.  Nice job taking a third quarter lead and absolutely burying an opponent with that advantage.  The Bulls only scored 14 in the third and 18 in the fourth.  That, as they say, will get it done.  Thanks for dropping by.  More to come later.

AK