8:33 - Kobe gives Mike Miller the up fake, receiving the bite, the contact and the foul.  Two freebies go down.

7:40 - A defensive play by... and this is not a typo... Vlad Rad sets up a three ball play for Kobe.  Vlad swats Warrick under the Laker goal and secures the board. He shuttles the loose ball to LO, who in turns dishes to Kobe outside the arc.  Money.

7:16 - Turiaf's attempt to follow suit isn't as successful.  He stops the shot, but gets called for the whistle, his second in quick time.  He'll sit in favor of DJ Mbenga.  Say with me now. 

TACOSSSSSSS!

6:10 - As the shot clock winds down, Fish keeps the dribble alive just outside the arc.  Instead of pulling up, he passes off to Mbenga in the paint, who immediately makes the extra pass to LO at the 13-foot mark.  Ball goes down. 

4:46 - Darko quite possibly gets away with a bit of offensive interference putting back a Rudy Gay miss.  A dude in the section next to me is yelling for the call, but personally, were I him, I'd be more upset that neither Mbenga, LO or Vlad put a body on Freedarko.com's namesake.

3:59 - Good decision by Walton going up for a shot in the paint with a couple Griz defenders closing in.  He pushes the ball behind him to LO, who immediately hits Farmar behind the arc for a wide open look.   Unfortunately, neither Luke or LO put a sufficient body on Darko on the possession immediately following, allowing him to get the easy putback of Mike Conley's errant six footer. 

By the way, Darko's off to a huge start in this game, already having pocketed 6/5, plus 3 blocks.  I'm torn.  On one hand, the Lakers are my team and this hurts.  On the other, as somebody admittedly fascinated by the alternately disappointing, bizarre and oddly endearing career path of one Darko Milicic, I inevitably find myself rooting for the guy. 

3:00 - The Critter checks in to some nice applause from the crowd.  Not surprised.  The Staples folks generally liked them some Javaris.  Call me crazy, however, but should he manage to get on the court, I don't see Kwame receiving the same love.  I talked to him a bit before the game, and as one might imagine, I don't get a sense he's having a blast in the land of barbeque. 

1:08 - A loose ball foul on Mbenga means three for the quarter and a trip back to the pine.  LO reenters the contest and the Lakers go very small.

8.0 - LO and Walton team up for some solid D on Gay around the arc, forcing the missed 27-footer. The board is corralled by Kobe and put up by Farmar just short for a buzzer beating three ball attempt.  The Lakers finish the quarter down 32-30.  They're getting beaten badly on the glass (particularly by Milicic) and with 23 points fr Kobe and 7 for everyone else, not much balance.  I'd love to see things even out a touch.  BK will take over the second.

SECOND QUARTER:

Kobe out to start the quarter for the Lakers.

19:24- 35-32 Memphis.

10:00 Nice quarter thus far for Radmanovic.  He moved along the left baseline cutting to the hoop to receive a pass from Ronny for a bucket, blocked a shot on the other end, then crashed the boards a couple trips later to get another deuce.  It's hard to predict sometimes which Rad will shoot from game to game, or even quarter to quarter, but the one playing right now is pretty good.

8:45- PJ said before the game that Sasha would likely be doing more ball handling if Fish has to miss some time, and we just saw why that might not be a great thing.   Driving the lane, he got himself into the air and turned the ball over.  Only a FANTASTIC recovery and block of Crittenton on the other end saved the Lakers from two points. 

He doesn't generally make very good decisions with the ball, and when he drives, he'll often do it with his head down and without any real notion of where he's going with himself or the ball if Plan A doesn't work.

8:00- Good call from Violet Palmer, who got Lowry for  shoving off with the lead arm as he went in on Turiaf under the basket.  Replay showed it was a very good call.  Then on the next trip, she correctly called Kobe for a charge underneath.  Violet Palmer is on fire tonight, people!

7:09- Grizzlies 39, LAL 38.

Kobe picks up a foul on Navarro shooting a three.  That's happened to him a lot lately.  Navarro makes the first... and the third.  Three point lead for Memphis. 

6:50- Kobe takes Miller along the right baseline, jab steps, pulls back and makes the jumper. That's a move he likes, against a player he likes to light up. 

5:42- Memphis 41, Lakers 40.  Very little offensive flow right now for the Lakers.  Lots of jumpers, not a whole lot of guys finding space in which to work.  Defensively, the Lakers are holding Memphis to 41% from the floor, but have been hurt some by putbacks, and Memphis has been aggressive, getting to the line 13 times thus far (compared to six for LA). 

4:25- Kobe continues to shoot the rock aggressively, burying a three, then following up on the next trip with a nifty layup coming off a double screen from LO and Ronny.  That opens up a six point lead for LA, and gives him 32 points with a third of the second quarter still left to play.  Fair to say this could be one of those nights.

2:34- Kobe up to 34, and tossed in a nifty little pass behind the back to Radmanovic, right in the hands. He got fouled, though. 

2:12- Great play from the Grizzlies, who on the break ended up with two guys putting in the alley oop.  Lowry came down the lane, off a pass from Gay, then lifted the ball up I think for Warrick, but Gay finishing the play (and not looking at the wing) went up, too.  But the ball went in anyway.  Don't see that all too often.

:54.8- tied at 51, then Turiaf gets a nifty layup off a great pass inside from a driving Odom.  Those plays in tight quarters are always tough to pull off, from both ends.

HALFTIME:

Tied at 53.  Dick Bavetta just winked at me on his way off the court.  Can't say I was expecting that.

Anyway, I'm putting this one on the offense.  It's very difficult to run up a lead while shooting 37% from the floor. On the other end, 43% for the Grizzlies.  This will be one of those halves people argue about with Kobe, who is both dominating the ball, but also the only source of consistent scoring.  Is he shooting because other guys aren't making it, or are other guys missing because they're not involved in the offense?  However you slice it, there's been a decided lack of ball movement and energy on the offensive end. 

No question, there are extenuating circumstances.  LO is sick, Fish is banged up... and you know the rest. But they still have to try and play. And more importantly, they have to try to get inside.  Only nine FTs in the first half, but they've taken 18 threes.  That's not a great ratio. 

More to come.

THIRD QUARTER

11:17 - A three ball from Kobe goes down one possession removed from a 17-footer swishing.  You may not have noticed, but Kobe's utilizing something of an "aggressive" mindset.

10:41 -  There's something you don't see everyday.  Ronny Turiaf gets called for an illegal assist while going up for a dunk.  Basically, he used half of the rim to hoist himself up for the jam.  About ten seconds later, Turiaf picks up his fourth whistle and sits.  Tough sledding for Martinique's Favorite Son this game.  Mbegna checks in. 

9:19 - A chippie hook from Mbenga goes down pure.  He's now only about 38,000 points behind Kareem.

7:53 - Mbenga gives Darko a taste of his swatting medicine, telling the former #2 pick that nonsense will not occur in his house.  The ball lands in the mitts of one Kobe Bryant, who whisks it coast to coast  for the breakaway dunk. 

7:03 - A trey from Kobe (his 9th make on 14 from distance) gives him 47 and counting with a LOT of time to play.  Could 81 be in danger?  I doubt it, but I guarantee I'm not the only one with that thought popping into this head.    

5:06 - Shades of Kwame with the muscle displayed by Mbenga.  Darko works his best to back down The Congo's Favorite Son, but DJ doesn't give an inch.  If anything, he might have knocked Dark off balance.  The result is a wild miss from Darko.

2:47 - Sorry for the delay.  Some connectivity issues.  Anyway, Miller's at the stripe to put down a pair after absorbing a foul from LO.  In the meantime, I'm pretty sure I heard some yahoos in the crowd chanting, "We want Kwame!"  C'mon, Staples.  Go easy on the dude.  After all, he did once throw down Boris Diaw and lord over him like a pro wrestler during the playoffs. 

32.3 - Sorry, more net issues, more delays.  Mbenga picks up his sixth foul on a sequence that could have just as easily been an offensive on Lowry. DJ running into the tunnel doesn't get the called reversed.  With ROnny in foul trouble, PJ puts in... Chris Mihm!  A big round of applause and a lot of Staples citizens up on their feet while the theme from "Welcome Back Kotter" plays. 

The third comes to a halt with Jason Collins snagging a loose ball and putting up the miss just before time expires.  89-80 Grizzlies.

FOURTH QUARTER

Man alive, are we struggling with the Staples Center wireless.  Anyway, at the 10:46 mark, The Critter catches a bit of bad luck.  He puts up a 16 footer that gets caught between the rim and the backboard.  Not only does it could as a miss on his stats, but the result is a jump ball that Mihm takes away.   Kid's just a rook tryin' to get by. 

6:50 - More internet, more problems.  The problems continue for the Lakers as well.  Down 7 and trying to stage a rally, Farmar steps out of bounds while looking to attack.  The turnover leads to a Lowry jumper stroking nylon. 

6:05 Walton works inside and absorbs the contact from Collins putting up the six-footer.  The shot falls, followed by a converted freebie.  The Lakers are back within six, a deficit they manage to at least briefly keep from increasing after an emphatic block by Turiaf at the expense of Rudy Gay.

5:43 - Walton snags Darko's seriously errant backwards dish and drives the lane before getting wrapped up hard by Lowry.  Dick Bavetta seems intent on separating them, although neither looks terribly upset or ornery.  Walton sinks one of two.

5:24 - Walton drives the lane, then dishes a beautiful wrap around to Turiaf for the dunk.  That Memphis lead is beginning to trickle down a bit.  If the Lakers can manage to accompany these makes with some D (thus far, only sporadically has that happened), they can pull out the victory. 

3:10 - Kobe's penetration causes the Memphis D to sag a touch, causing Kobe to in turn dish off to Sasha from behind the arc.  Money. 

2:20 - Terrible decision by Sasha.  Farmar snags Turiaf's miss to allow the Lakers the rare FIFTH try and a fresh 24.  He shuttles the ball to Sasha, who immediately puts it up from 20 out with barely two seconds expired.  Not a great look and not the result they're seeking out. 

.50 - The Machine's been more than a little off this game, but he picks a ferocious time to hit a HUGE trey ball and put the Lakers within a bucket. 

By the way, we just now noticed that the Lakers have taken 43 shots from behind the arc.  43!!! Forty-freakin'-three!  Between Sasha and Kobe alone, that's 36 of them.  Are you kidding me?  43?  Even Antoine Walker would find that disgusting.   

.9 - Rudy Gay tries to make his first three and misses.  Trying to create a scrum and kill some time off the clock, He tries to miss the second and makes it.  Hakim Warrick and Coach Iavroni kept help but laugh a bit.

With a 20 second time out remaining, Walton looks to find Kobe for the in bound.  He can't get a clean look, but instead of calling timeout, he forces a pass to Bryant that gets swiped by Gay.  All the ticks wind down as Kobe gestures to Walton that he should have put his hands together in a "T."  Kobe is indeed correct.  Final score, 114-111.  The comeback attempt runs a little too little, a little too late.   53 from Kobe (the only starter in double figures) and not a ton from everyone else.  Way too many threes.  Not nearly enough D.  Back-to-back losses against theoretically "gimme" opponents.  Rough night and a waste of an opportunity, to say the least.  Sorry we couldn't do better for everyone.  More to come later.