Clearly Kermit didn't have the Celtics in mind when he famously lamented the condition of his hue, because these days, it's apparently not that difficult being green.  Boston made that plenty clear with a 110-91 win over the Lakers Sunday night at Staples.  To say there was a lot of hype and excitement coming in would be an understatement, as fans and media alike had sugar plum visions of an old school rivalry revived.  The Lakers even put their uniforms in the Way Back Machine, and came out in the first half in 80s style short shorts to go along with more traditional throwback jerseys.  In the end, though, despite all the excitement, the Celtics showed the Lakers who the better team is heading into 2008.  The Lakers, said Kobe, Phil, and Fish after the game, still have some work to do before getting to that elite level.  Boston controlled the game early and dominated late, as their defense (thanks to KG, the NBA's best) stymied Kobe and his brethren.  On the other end, Boston's "Big Three" of Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and some Garnett fellow- maybe you've heard of him- did plenty of damage, with guys like Tony Allen pitching in as well.  Pierce was particularly effective, scoring 33 points.  Toss in some frustration at the refs that hurt the Lakers mentally, understandable given the officiating but not acceptable in any situation, and you have the ugly result reflected in this ugly boxscore. 

Still, it's exciting to have Celtics-Lakers mean something again. 

Well, that sucked. 

About the only taste of the true, highly competitive, old school Lakers/Celtics rivalry fans got tonight came in the form of uniforms and a killer pregame, days-of-yore montage on the giant curtain they hang from the scoreboard during pregame introductions at Staples.  Everything else was all Boston, as the NBA's winningest squad kept on winning, 110-91.  From the beginning everything was a little wonky.  The short short look?  Not a winner in this day and age, more a modern day wedgie fest.  But while it might have been a distraction, it was the solid play of the guys in green that ruined what most hoped would be a marquee matchup.  (Note: the officiating didn't help, either.)  The Celtics were in control from the start, opening up a nine point lead after one, as the Lakers settled into an early pattern of taking (and generally missing) perimeter jumpers.  Doc Rivers made a point of packing the lane and trying to stop ball/player penetration.  Fair to say it worked.  The 38.1% L.A. shot in the first quarter looked positively robust compared to the 26.1% mark they posted in the second.  And while, thanks to a miracle Derek Fisher triple, the Lakers finished the half down by only eight, it was pretty clear who was in control.  They stuck around for a while in the third, even cutting Boston's lead down to six, but the Celtics ran away with the game with a big run to end the third and start the fourth. 

Really, though, while the scoreboard may have shown a competitive game for a while, it wasn't really that close.  Click below for the breakdown.   

Lots of energy in the building tonight.  As much as any regular season game they've played in a long time.  Maybe the first Christmas day game when Shaq came back was buzzier, but other than that?  I can't think of one.  Very cool Celtics/Lakers montage shown on the big white curtain thing they hang from the scoreboard before games. 

Nice that this rivalry means something again.  Lakers starters: Drew, LO, Ariza, Kobe, Fish.  Boston, without Rajon Rondo goes with: Tony Allen, Ray Allen, KG, Pierce, Perkins. 

They're holding off on taking their tearaways off as long as possible... can't wait for the unveil! 

BK

FIRST QUARTER:

Wow.  They all look like they have wedgies.  That look hasn't aged well. 

No early action to the hole yet for the Lakers.  They don't want to get trapped taking too many jumpers early.  Attack, folks.  Boston is a better defensive team than Utah, but they still have to try to get the ball inside one way or another.

The shorts got shorter.

As part of tonight's throwback uniform ensemble, the Lakers will be kickin' it old school with genuine late-80s short shorts. Nobody in the locker room was allowed to cop to it before during media time, but assuming plans don't change, the Lakers will be fully time warped for tonight's tussle with Boston's Big Three.  I saw Sasha walking through the locker room in them, and needless to say, he looked a little sheepish, kind of like a guy who realized he was the only one at the pool in a Speedo. My understanding is that the Celtics, while wearing throwbacks of their own, will be wearing the longer version that is so popular with the kids these days.  In all seriousness, I wonder if that gives them an advantage.  No feeling self-conscious. 

"It's not the shorts they played in 20 years ago.  It's the style, but not the length," said Ray Allen with a sense of relief (Thanks to the Boston beat guy sitting next to me for the quote!).  Meaning, they're not quite as short as they were back in the day... but they're still pretty damn short.  I think as a show of solidarity, I'm going to wear a fedora with a little piece of cardstock that says "PRESS" on it.  Everytime anything interesting happens, I'll shout "What a scoop!" from press row.  Yeah, I know the unis aren't reaching back to the mid 30s, but I refuse to put on parachute pants or feather my hair (metaphorically speaking) for anyone.

Some notes:

• PJ said both Walton and Sasha will dress, despite sore ankles.  We talked to both, and neither is totally healthy, but it sounded like they'll give it a go.  Jackson wasn't sure how much each would play, though.  But only Chris Mihm is inactive for L.A.
• For the Celtics, Rajon Rondo won't play, because of a bum hammy he tweaked last night in Utah. 
• As you'll hear in the audio, Jackson continued to sound like a guy who plans on keeping Trevor Ariza in the starting lineup.  He likes what Ariza does defensively for the first unit, and his lack of familiarity with the offense is less of an issue with that group.  Walton, who Jackson has hoped to put with the reserves all season, fills a greater need there.
• Jackson said Kwame felt fine after Friday's game, and actually looked like he gained a lot of confidence in his mobility and spring.  That's good news, for sure.      
• AUDIO: Phil Jackson- Download phil_jackson_12.30 preBOS.mp3

BK 

(For those who can't resist, insert obligatory Cheech and Chong, "Friday" or Willie Nelson joke here.)

Why the fire?  Because the Celtics are in town (7 PM, FSN and Prime Ticket) and for the first time in quite a moon, this showdown sparks the excitement of a historic sports rivalry.   Granted, some new history- or at least a repeat of some old arrogance- needs to develop before people can refer to the current incarnation as a true "rivalry."   But with Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett now in the fold with Paul Pierce for Boston, the interest level couldn't be any higher.  Especially now that the Lakers are playing like a well oiled, well adjusted machine.  Plus, Red Auerbach will likely be watching this game from above (or below), and it stands to reason that he'll choke on his cigar watching one Phillip Jackson break his regular season wins record at the expense of his old squad.  And speaking of folks once tangling with Auerbach, Jerry West weighed in on "KG vs. Kobe," comparing the two in cinematic terms.  And for his money, Bruce Willis beats Gene Hackman every time.

In any event, we can all agree, this Boston squad is indeed talented.  However, they still might be, as the cliche says, "one player away."  Thus, the rumored interest in Smush Parker.

After all, it ain't often that the Lakers, or any NBA team for that matter, put the smack down in such fashion as last night's 123-109 win over the Jazz.  Some garbage time sloppiness from the second unit helped create the appearance of a slightly more competitive outing, but in truth, the Lakers owned this showdown from about the opening tip onward.  Crisp ball movement, plus a relentless (and often successful) attack towards the basket kept Utah on their heels all game, allowing the Lakers to quickly fill up the bucket towards a large lead.  75 points in the first half (a season record) often creates such gaps, especially when the defense is allowing fewer looks than a pitch black blindfold.  And coming out of the halftime break, instead of letting up, the good guys found necks and stepped on them.  Thus, the scrubs got some extended run, allowing Kobe to conduct a triangle tutorial for Andrew Bynum and LO.  With any luck, the extra lessons will bear fruit in a future box score. 

For the Jazz, the loss was a sad way to see the "Gordan Giricek era" wind down.

The popcorn guy chipped in with 10, Jack yanked down a couple boards, and that cute Laker Girl (you know, the brunette) managed a triple-double in only 14 minutes of play. 

Okay, maybe none of those things actually happened, but given how completely the Lakers dominated the Jazz in their 123-109 win Friday night at Staples (it wasn't nearly that close), it's not hard to stretch the imagination far enough to accommodate any of the aforementioned scenarios.  (Maybe not the part where I block four shots, since that's my yearly quota in pickup ball, but seriously, folks...) Before getting a touch loose in the final 12 minutes, The Lakers laid the wood down on Utah like I used to punish Soda Popinski in Punch Out! on my Nintendo.  Up by 15 after one quarter, 27 at the half, 32 after three, all part of a smorgasbord of purple and gold contributions.  Six players in double figures.  34 assists to go along with 43 field goals.  54.4% from the floor against a fourth-quarter-boosted 45.6% for Utah.  All of these numbers would have been more lopsided had garbage time not started so early. 

I should have known something like this was coming, given that it was carne asada night in the media room.  Good, delicious karma.   

Click below for the breakdown:

Paul Simon in the house!  He's quite wee. 

BK will have the first. 

FIRST QUARTER:

Starting lineup: Odom, Ariza, Bynum, Kobe, Fish.  Marielle Stoermer and Mel Trudell delivering tonight's game ball.  Solid work by both.  Smattering of boos for Steve Javie, upon his introduction.

First team to score wins!

11:15- Well, hopefully not, as Kirilenko hits a three in front of Ariza.  The Lakers go down 5-0 when nobody boxes out Brewer, and he dunks an Okur miss. 

8:33- While it's always fun to be at the game, I always enjoy watching the Jazz on TV, because what they're doing offensively is easier to see.  The endless back screens and picks away from the ball to free people.  Lord knows it gave the Lakers trouble in November.  It'll be interesting to see how they do with it tonight.  Thus far, not great, as the Jazz have been able to generate some pretty clean looks.

So large that I can't tell if I'm Woodward or Bernstein.

First, Kwame Brown will suit up tonight.  Second, Luke Walton won't.  Third, Lamar Odom's head star is gone.  He's planning on bringing it back, but the vagaries of trick barbering were apparently screwing with his look.  It wasn't growing in correctly.  Odom told AK that he was curious if anyone would notice that it was gone.  Are you kidding?  We live to notice this sort of thing around here. 

With Kwame, don't expect big minutes, but PJ seemed happy to have him back, another body to bang with Boozer down low.  Kwame, for his part, was happy to be healthy enough to play ("There will be a Kwame sighting, thank God," he joked) and said he thought this matchup would be better for him than it would have been had he been on the floor against Phoenix.  Less up and down, less high screen and roll, more doing what he does best- bodying up to a guy on the block.  No talk yet from anyone on how his return will impact the rotation in the long run.  It'll certainly be interesting to see how it plays out (call it a hunch, I think it'll be a topic of conversation on the site...). 

Audio:

• Phil Jackson: Download phil_jackson_12.28 preUTAH.mp3
• Kwame Brown:  Download kwame_brown_12.28 preUTAH.mp3

BK

Perhaps you've taken the memory and stashed it somewhere deep in your gray matter.  That wrinkly, dark, hidden place where you store those things you'd prefer simply to forget.  Things like After M.A.S.H., Eddie Murphy's singing career, or Gigli.  "It," of course, would be L.A.'s November 30 visit to Utah, in which the Jazz, missing both Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur, dissected the Lakers like a biology class frog on their way to a 120-96 win over the purple and gold.  Well, if the Lakers wanted to forget, Phil Jackson didn't let them, forcing his guys to watch all 48 minutes of the horror in anticipation of tonight's rematch at Staples (7:30, FSN).  The verdict?  L.A. was outplayed in every way, shape, and form. 

Now the Lakers are a team on a roll, and should be better equipped to handle Jerry Sloan's array of back picks and fancy player movement.  They'd be in even better shape if Kwame Brown and Luke Walton were available, but that doesn't look like it'll happen.  Trevor Ariza, however, is becoming increasingly more comfortable with his new teammates and offense, so he'll be more likely to kick in with some contributions.  For Utah, Sloan and Gordon Giricek have made nice, so the backup guard, banished from the team for over a week, is back. 

Must be something about the holidays, because even Smush Parker has returned to the Heat.