We've mentioned the stint Jeannie Buss did on The Dog Whisperer- seriously- a couple times on the site, but have never actually posted the footage.  It's particularly entertaining to watch PJ, who I believe, zen as he may be, seems ready to call &(@^^%@$ on Cesar (said soother of canines), but like any good boyfriend, sucks it up and plays along.  UPDATE: A couple people mentioned they heard Petros and Money talking about this with Jeannie yesterday on their show, and I completely forgot to mention that yesterday (I heard it, too). Doubtful I'd have remembered without that reminder.  Funny show, by the way, for those of you who enjoy afternoon radio.

BK

Let's put things in perspective.  If we told you in October that before the beginning of April the Lakers would get their 50th win of the season, making them the third seed in the W.C., only a game out of the top spot, would you have complained that said 50th win didn't come in dominating fashion?  Doubt it.  So in that context, Sunday night's 126-120 overtime win at Staples over a hot Wizards team seems a lot better, right? Coming off two straight brutal losses on their home floor, the Lakers were dying for a victory, and behind a balanced effort including production up and down the lineup, that's what they got.  The box score shows a strange night all around.  Kobe was outshot by his teammates, and both teams were better from downtown than they were inside the arc, a big time statistical oddity.  And against a team with more established stars, the Lakers were burned by local lad Nick Young (27 points, a career high) and DeShawn Stevenson (eight threes).

In terms of triples, the first half belonged to the Lakers, and the second to Washington, especially the twisting, leaning Caron Butler hoist that helped push the game into overtime.  But just like the Wizards received a boost from more unlikely sources, the Lakers were goosed by 20 from Sasha Vujacic (a welcome bounce back), 19 from Luke Walton, 18 from Vlad Rad, and some nice contributions from DJ Mbenga (including the block at left) on a night where Phil Jackson said Kobe came out distributing after dominating the ball more against the Grizzlies on Friday.

It didn't come quick.  It didn't come easy.  And it didn't come without a boatload of three balls getting hoisted and drained by both sides (interesting nugget of trivia to come later). But when the dust finally settled on the five minutes of extra hoops required to create an outcome, the Lakers were sitting on top of a 126-120 win over the Wizards.  Seven Lakers notched double figure tallies (the five starters, plus Sasha Vujacic and Luke Walton off the bench) and the Lakers bested their opponents in the rebounding (44-43), diming (35-29) and blocking battles (9-5).  Kobe Bryant's team-leading 26 points came off a tough 7-24 shooting clip, but he kept a constant eye out for his teammates, helping set up 13 baskets while only turning the ball over once.

Finaly, the trivia.  As mentioned, both squads were scorching from downtown, the Lakers hitting 14-27 (52%) and the Wiz knocking down 17-30 (57%).  Overall, the home team was 50% from the field and the visitors 47%.  Thus, tonight marked the first time where two teams sported a better three-point percentage (with a minimum of 27 attempts per side) than straight up field goal percentage since the addition of the arc itself.  Should any member of the blogosphere end up on Jeopardy! and this answers the Daily Double, the K Brothers expect a cut of the winnings.

The Breakdown is below (courtesy of BK)

AK

For one night at least, one in a row sounds a lot better than three in a row.  Vlad Rad, LO (still sick, but still playing), Kobe, Fish, and Turiaf start for L.A. 

BK with the first. 

FIRST QUARTER:

First trip down, Lakers get the ball in deep, but Turiaf is blocked at the basket by Haywood.  Next trip, LO posts up, they work the ball around, and then the ball is kicked out to Fish on the perimeter for the three.  That's the sort of trey they should take.  Inside out.

Not that the Lakers ought to take any team lightly after the events of this week- do I really need to remind you what happened?- but there's no question if they look past and/or dismiss the Wizards, the purple and gold will lose their third straight home game.  Unfortunately, it's not simply a question of showing up to play.  Washington may only be a 38 win team, four games over .500, but they've won eight of ten and are playing very well, having leapfrogged Toronto for the fifth spot in the E.C. while simultaneously holding off a red-hot Philly squad (no, that last part isn't a typo) and nearly catching the Cavs.  Antawn Jamison  and Caron Butler have been particularly good over the last couple weeks.  This is no freebie.

Stuff to look for:

• The Wizards love to get the ball up and down the court, so the Lakers might want to dial things down a little from the franchise record 45 three point attempts they took on Friday.  Whether they go in or not, that sort of launch-happy style puts an incredible amount of pressure on their defense.
• With that in mind, the Lakers need to find a way to establish the inside early, whether the Wizards zone them up or not.  Early in the Charlotte game, Kobe spent a ton of time in the post taking advantage of the mismatches that generally come to him down there.  Whether it's that, getting LO (who is still feeling like crizzle) on the block or whatever, it needs to happen.  And against the zone, the Lakers need to be far more disciplined in finding the soft spots in the high post- moving themselves, and the ball, and forcing more action from the defense. 
• Keep an eye on DeShawn Stevenson's beard.  Lord knows what might pop out. 
• Check the audio for the entire conversation, but when I asked Phil if he's seeing from the players what he would want in terms of demeanor and attitude following the Charlotte and Memphis games, he said "Not all of them," though didn't elaborate as to who might be lacking when asked. 
• The process of scouting for the playoffs has started, as it's becoming at least slightly more clear which teams will match up against each other, or at least what the possibilities are.  Jackson said that as a team they've suffered through some restless nights due to recent results, but realize they still control their own fate over the last few weeks of the season.
• Gasol worked out today, and seems to have come through fine.  He won't play today, but is getting closer.  The/a problem right now is pushing off on that ankle.
• Jackson also mentioned he apologized to DJ Mbenga, who fouled out of Friday's game in a big hurry.  PJ said he missed one of Mbenga's fouls when talking to his coaches, and didn't realize Mbenga was on his fifth.  Had he, Jackson said he likely would have pulled him in order to preserve Mbenga, or at least his last personal, for later in the game.

Audio: Phil Jackson- Download phil_jackson_3.30 preWAS.mp3

BK
BK  

A variety of inquiries rest uncomfortably on every Laker fan's mind as a showdown against the "solid in the east, not all that mind blowing by western standards" Washington Wizards approaches.  Can the Lakers break their recent two-game slump against teams most pundits would classify as "beneath them" and regain sole ownership of the Pacific?  Assuming the answer is "yes" (which would be great, because many a Laker Nation resident is noticing how much lower the sky looks these days), the mysteries then shift to personnel.  What up with the walking wounded?  Well, Andrew Bynum is considered close to a return and will board the plane with the team for next Sunday's upcoming two-game roadie (although not necessarily play in it).  Save an unexpected setback, Pau Gasol should certainly be back in the swing of things by then.  Tonight's status, however, remains up in the air, as he's still unable to get the lead out in pain-free fashion.  Oh, and for those wondering how often Kobe Bryant naps, the answer is "not particularly often and always with the help of his daughters."

Not that reliving Friday night's loss to the Grizzlies at Staples- even typing that seems unfortunate- is a lot of fun, but here's some audio from after the game.  PJ talking about what went wrong, and some good copy from Fish both on how the Lakers need to respond to these losses, and why the zone continues to give them so much trouble.  Lord knows they'll continue to see it.  Also some sound from Chris Mihm, who was understandably happy to be back on the floor, though he didn't think he'd actually see time Friday night. 

Phil Jackson: Download phil_jackson_3.28 postMEM.mp3
Derek Fisher 1: Download derek_fisher_3.28 postMEM 1.mp3
Derek Fisher 2: Download derek_fisher_3.28 postMEM 2.mp3
Chris Mihm: Download chris_mihm_3.28 postMEM.mp3

BK

And now even smaller. 

My girlfriend was perusing TMZ.com for celeb dish and stumbled upon this nugget about the namesake of my 2006 All-Laker fantasy squad.  It appears Isaiah was driving around L.A.'s skid row at 2:30 am on this particular Saturday in an automobile neither purchased by him nor willfully loaned to him.  The classic recipe for "nothing going wrong."  According to TMZ, it's the second arrest this month.  Yikes.  Considering he's currently on a probation and already has at least one felony to his name, this development could turn out rather poorly for the former slam dunk champ. 

It's astonishing how much talent this guy flushed down the porcelain.  Hopefully, he can get some help ASAP.

AK

For those unfamiliar with the reference, time to shore up your Bob Dylan collection.  And for those unfamiliar with the reference but nonetheless feel them same blues, then you must have watched last night's 114-111 to the Memphis Grizzlies.  It was one of those nights where, save Kobe Bryant's explosive showing to grace the box score with 53 points, not a ton went right.  A flu/bad ass cold-like bug had stricken Lamar Odom (who managed to rack the rare 11/11 assist/rebound double-double, but struggled to put the ball in the hoop).  Derek Fisher entered the fray just having discovered news of a partially torn tendon in his foot, an ailment that would normally take about 6-8 weeks to heal up, but Fish will be a gamer and play through it as much as possible.  The team struggled to hit often wide open shots.  There was also a matter of defensive lapses that allowed 60 Griz points in the paint and far, far, too many triples launched (45 in all, a franchise record).   Throw in the failure to get a play off with .9 seconds left for a game-tying, overtime inducing three-pointer, and it wouldn't be shocking if "The Artist formerly know as Robert Zimmerman" dropped by today's practice to gain a little insight for his next misery-centric ditty. 

With any luck, the Lakers will start playing some legitimate title-contending, cream of the crop, elite squads ASAP, because this two-game stretch against a pair of the NBA's worst is killing them. Wednesday's loss against the Charlotte Bobcats went coupled with tonight's 114-111 fall to the Grizzlies, a squad rarely associated with the word "powerhouse," especially on the road. So what accounted for Grizz's sixth victory outside of Memphis?  Well, outside of a honkin' 53 points from Kobe Bryant (19-37 from the field), there wasn't a ton of scoring support. The only other Lakers to reach double figures were Jordan Farmar (11) and Sasha Vujacic, who required 17 shots to rack 14 points.  The Machine's errant touch reflects one where the team shot a paltry 39% from the field.  And speaking of inefficient, the Lakers chucked a franchise-record 45 balls from downtown.  (Before you ask, not a typo.)

That's just crazy enough to not work. 

But despite the madness and mostly poor defense, the Lakers did manage to stage a rally and offer themselves a shot at a tie at the end of regulation.  But with .9 ticks remaining and (ironically enough) a trey needed to knot things up, Luke Walton attempted to force an inbound pass to Kobe rather than use a 20-second time out still in his pocket.  The ball gets batted away, along with any shot at a winning box score. 

AK (The breakdown is below, courtesy of BK)