Not that it seemed that way for the Lakers, who entered their game Friday night in Portland on a ten game winning streak and 13-1 in February.  But alas, all good things must come to an end, and they did so courtesy of a 119-111 loss to the Blazers at the Rose Garden.  For the first time in a while, the Lakers weren't the better team when it mattered, as Portland pick and rolled, picked and popped, and generally picked apart the purple and gold once they recovered from an early ten point deficit.  This is a team the Lakers have struggled with for a while, and it wasn't hard to see why on Friday.  Brandon Roy (who missed Tuesday's game at Staples) returned to the Portland lineup with a bang, with 20 points, 12 dimes, and only two turnovers.  Jarrett Jack had ten helps of his own, along with 21 points and only two TOs. 

In fact, as a group, the Blazers took incredible care of the ball, giving it away only six times all night. 

Among Portland's taller folk, L.A. had trouble containing LaMarcus Aldridge (22/8 on 10-18 from the floor) and Travis Outlaw (18 points on 9-15).   

If Tuesday night's win over the Blazers was a summer music festival, they'd have called it Clutch'N'GrabaPalooza.  No flow, no style, and a whole bunch of technical fouls.  Hopefully tonight the aesthetics improve but the results don't change. 

Keep an eye on LaMarcus Aldridge on Pau Gasol when they find themselves matched up.  PJ mentioned last night that Gasol didn't have the same spring in his step he'd had in previous games, which is why he sat through most of the fourth.  Given his whirlwind schedule of late, fatigue wouldn't shock, but he'll need to bring it tonight.  Aldridge often had his way with Gasol on Tuesday, and crushed Tim Thomas when the Blazers played the Clips on Wednesday.  Granted, most of us could make Thomas look bad defensively. 

Brandon Roy will play for Portland- that's a big boost for them- and L.A. looks to improve on their 9-4 record on the second half of back-to-backs, and run the win streak to 11.

BK

Lakersblog mainstay "Exhelodrvr," with this gem of a response to BK, who had recently explained to another reader that considering Andrew Bynum is just now able to jog in a swimming pool, the odds heavily favor him not being ready for NBA action quite yet.

"What if they let the home team pick the surface, like in Davis Cup tennis?  Like the story of a height-disadvantaged Congressman who, after a heated debate, challenged Congressman Abe Lincoln to a duel. Lincoln didn't want to fight, so (as the challengee) when he picked the weapons, selected sledge hammers in 6 feet of water. The two ended up becoming good friends."

I don't think it needs to be explained why that's sheer, unbridled genius.

AK

Cultivating career games, Jordan Farmar is, while the Lakers harvest win after win. 

Farmar, fresh off a 21 point game in Tuesday's win against Portland came back Thursday night with a career high 24, as the Lakers rolled over the Heat 106-88 at Staples.  The second year PG's efforts were just part of yet another true group effort for the L.A., who led wire to wire for their tenth straight win. Kobe scored a little, at least by his standards (21 points), and distributed a lot (seven dimes), and his block of a Shawn Marion dunk attempt to end the third was one of the better highlights the Lakers have had this season, which is saying something since times are pretty rosy.  But, as the box shows, the Lakers had contributions up and down the lineup.  A quiet 13/11 for Pau Gasol.  13/11/6 for L.O.  9/11/4 for Luke Walton, and 12 points off the bench for Sasha.  No wonder the Lakers are quickly becoming an aspirational model for the league's downtrodden. 

Another game, another win.  Ho hum. 

Okay, "ho hum" isn't exactly the proper sentiment, but it's clear that the Lakers have reached a point where they expect to win every time they hit the floor.  And why not?  They generally do, if a 13-1 February is any indication.  The latest notch in the victory belt came Thursday at Staples in a 106-88 win over the hapless (to put it mildly) Miami Heat.  After taking the first quarter off against the Blazers on Tuesday, the Lakers learned from their mistake, coming quick out of the gate tonight and finishing the first 12 up by seven.  They'd control the flow of the game for the rest of the night.  There were moments along the way that weren't particularly sharp, where they settled for too many outside shots or tried to force too many highlight reel plays, but overall there was no question as to who was in charge. 

Better still, the Lakers received the sort of balanced production that has become this season's M.O.  43 points off the bench, led by Jordan Farmar's career high 24.  Four players with 11+ rebounds.  Seven of the eight players who saw some run had at least seven shot attempts, nobody took more than 14.  (The eighth, DJ Mbenga, didn't actually shoot in his 2:27.)   Up and down the box score, its easy to find good numbers for the purple and gold.  Should be plenty to fill up the "Good" category in tonight's breakdown... which comes below, courtesy of AK.

BK

I'm gonna be honest.  As much as I love wire-to-wire action, if this turns out to be anything remotely resembling an exciting game, something went horribly wrong.

AK (with the first)

Wow.  Smush got booed when they announced that he wasn't playing today.  That's the sign a dude none too popular in the City of Angels.

First Quarter

11:42 - First Laker possession, first shot put up by a Laker (Kobe), first bucket of the game.  Very little in the way of resistance.  Sounds about right.

Is a day without sunshine?  Without bold, occasionally questionable fashion choices?  Without entertainingly named Cadillac SUVs?

Whatever the answer, it's no surprise that Smush Parker didn't accompany the Miami Heat on their trip to Staples for tonight's game.  After all, he hasn't accompanied them anywhere since Pat Riley revoked his "I'm Welcome Around Miami's Practice Facility!" card.  It's unfortunate, too, because given the Heat's current woes, the Return of Smush could have made for a nice little side note in an otherwise dull matchup.  (My guess?  He'd have heard some boos.  Just a hunch.) The numbers certainly favor the purple and gold.  The Lakers are working towards their tenth straight win while the Heat on Tuesday finally won their tenth game of the season. L.A. is 19-7 at home while Miami is (gulp!) 4-22 on the road, including 13 straight losses. Overall, the Heat have dropped 26 of their last 28, while the Lakers have rocketed to the top of the Western Conference. 

Over yonder at the K Brothers' Internet venture SportsHubLA.com, our co-founder David Neiman has written a piece about the evolution of Kobe Bryant as a leader, a maturation process featuring up's paired with down's, unfair media treatment paired with legitimate criticism, Kobe not instilling confidence paired with lesser players not always providing him reason to feel secure, along with the inevitable "Is he the next MJ" analysis (which I'm happy to say I've never written about, nor do I plan to).  Every turn along this twisty, unpredictable road has taken us to 2008, where two-thirds of the season is in the books, the Lakers are looking like the team to beat, and Kobe Bryant is emerging as the leader many hoped he could eventually become. 

Ironically, this has all happened after The Mamba kicked off this season appearing to have as much interest in leading these Lakers as Harrison Ford had in being a presenter at this year's Oscars without a new Indiana Jones movie to promote and the apparent lure of an open bar.  But after a fairly indifferent preseason, Kobe immediately began proving many, including myself, wrong by doing what we predicted he wouldn't (or couldn't).  Both in example and through continual encouragement, Kobe wasted no time getting the best out of teammates.  Before we knew it (and even before Pau Gasol), this Laker team was looking more and more "real." A lion's share of that credit should go to Kobe and a never-better display of leadership, even if some fans will resist these props as an unintended backhanded compliment.

The NBA only hands out an official award to the first man off an NBA bench, but for the Lakers, their entire reserve panel's work merits some kind of cash prize, ribbon or smiley face.  If you ask one Kobe Bean Bryant, his pine boys are the cat's pajamas.  In particular, the work of Sasha Vujacic, Ronny Turiaf and Jordan Farmar has stood out in bright, shiny fashion.  Of course, if you're gonna credit the young Farmar, some props need to be simultaneously tossed in old man Fish's direction.  The effectiveness of the purple and gold bench has been pretty obvious all season, but if any further evidence of their prowess is required, compare the Laker second unit to that of their opponent during tonight's match against the hapless Heat.  Frankly, Miami's first unit ain't world's better.

September inspires Earth Wind and Fire to boogie, Neil Diamond to get sentimental and Kobe Bryant to have his hand fixed. 

And assuming my information is correct, who deserves the lion share of credit?

A) The formidable duo of Nancy Reagan and Arnold Drummond.

B) Jesse Spano.

C) A musically inclined child and his mustachioed father.

D) Whitney Houston.

E) Whoever this chick is.

F) The incredible, edible, yet deceptively treacherous egg.

G) The Showtime Lakers.

I'd totally forgotten about the last item, but thankfully reader Alex forwarded this gem our way.  What's even cooler, he's one of the kids dancing in front of Magic, Kareem, Riles and the Gang.  His memories of the shoot are below the jump.

AK