5:15 - John Salmons strips LO under the Kings basket, then drives coast to coast for the reverse lay up.  Turnover #4 for the Lakers and we're barely halfway through the opening frame.  That, as they say, ain't gonna get 'er done.

3:01 - Walton gets away with literally being inside Salmons' jersy, but the handsy D doesn't do much to stop the Kings' 6th man from canning a 17-footer.  Given that the Lakers are currently allowing Sacto to shoot almost 53%, you could probably say that about "blank" King and "blank" Laker defending him.

2:10 - Sasha picks up his first foul.  Normally, I'd be more upset, except my chair just arrived!!! Thanks to the nice Arco ushers and P.R. staff for helping out.

Okay, now we're in bidness.

The quarter winds down with Kobe getting stripped going iso for the final Laker possession, K-Mart missing a three ball and the Lakers down 33-27.  My situation with the chair kept me from typing much, but were I able to write a lot of words, they'd have been about crappy D.  Certainly needs fixing if they wanna take what's theoretically a "gimme" game.

By the way, funny jumbotron sketch during the timeout.  As Meatloaf's "I'll do anything for love (But I won't do that) plays, Samson, the Kings mascot, somehow finds himself in a room with a cute young lassie who appears more than interested in some romance.  But then she takes off a hoodie to reveal a Laker jersey.  The romance ends abruptly and she kicks him out.

Second Quarter

9:17 - Thought for a second that Kobe picked up his second foul as Salmons drove to the bucket for the make.  Ended up charged to Luke.  Salmons piucks up the freebie, then wastes no time racking another layup on the following possession.

By the way, I'm getting kinda tired of writing "Salmons," but the Lakers aren't giving me a ton of choice in the matter.

6:55 - LO's block and controlling of the loose ball go to waste as Jordan Farmar bobbles the ball on the fast break (slowing down the action entirely) and then turns the bal over with a wild pass.

5:03 - On one hand, it's kind of a waste to see Ron Ron end up with Sasha on him and not use the mismatch to back him down.  On the other, if the 18-foot fadeway attempt falls, guess there ain't much to complain about beyond the aesthetics.  Apparently feeling his "impressive" oats, Artest proceeds to swipe the ball from a posting Turiaf (Ronny had his back to Ron Ron) and throws down the uncontested dunk.

4:27 - Farmar sails an attempt behind the arc in front of the rim, netting him nothing in the neighborhood of actual net.  But LO comes down with the loose ball and draws the foul from Mikki Moore (whose dreads and gangly build once prompted Mom to describe him as looking like "half a spider).  Lamar sinks both tries, putting the Lakers back within 9.  A running layup by Fish off his own steal  makes it 7 before I can finish typing.

1:58 - Fantastic sequence.  Sasha snags Sacto's miss, then streaks downcourt before shuttling the rock to LO just inside the arc.  Touch pass from Odom to a streaking Gasol.  Dunk. 

51.8 - Sasha loses track of a cutting K-Mart, who runs unimpeded to the rack for an easy score.  Fish quiets down the crowd a touch by canning a three ball.  The King lead is now back down to 5, but the key is to sustain any momentum gained for more than a few possessions.  As of yet, the Lakers haven't been able to make that happen.

Walton attempts to heave a last second prayer to beat the buzzer, but Ron Ron literally slaps it down with a sideways hand.  Not something you see very often.  But it's a fitting way for the half to end, since the Kings have been pretty successful deflating any upward motion the Lakers attempt to mount.  Each time the Lakers stage a mini-rally for a possession or two, they end up letting the Kings have their way.  Whether it's the non-ability to guard in transition, hang onto the ball (10 TO's and counting) or keep the offense flowing (to say the least, the Purple and Gold look out of sorts), they're not doing themselves much in the way of favors. Throw in the shooting percentage dropping from 48% to 46, and it's safe to say, "adjustments" are in need of discovering.  We shall see.  Be back for the third.

Third Quarter

Phil must have said something in the lockerrom along the lines of "put the freakin ball in the hole and actually guard somebody," because the nine-footer from Gasol and LO's layup come without trading baskets.  Suddenly, the Lake Show is back with a point of making this interesting.  But...

And I emphasize "but"...

The Tuesday old habit old failing to sustain any results of the good work quickly resurfaces.  The Kings not only pick up where their march to the basket left off, but the Lakers are again bone dry from the field.  The 11:11 mark sees the last Laker basket for nearly five minutes, until LO sinks a hook shot from seven out. 

6:51 - Air ball by Walton.  That doesn't exactly help the issues I'm referring to above.  Between Luke and Kobe alone, there are 26 shots.  Between Luke and Kobe, there are only 8 success stories.  That's not about to pay the proverbial rent.

5:30 - Brad Miller starts working on Luke at the top of the arc, puts the ball on the floor a few times, spins, spins again, takes the contact, then throws up a circus hook shot for the and one make.  I'd say it's been "that kind of night for the Kings," but the way the Lakers have played, Sacto doesn't need a lot of help.

4:11 - Coming out of the dead ball, Kobe's got one of those "I'm done screwing around" looks on his mug.  Upon receiving the inbound, he dribbles himself over to the top of the arc, sizes up the surroundings, then drives through a few bodies for the emphastic throwdown.  Nivce, but it's nothing without some stops.

3:09 - Fish parks himself behind the arc and recieves the dish from Pau.  Money.  Lakers are back within 8, but as has often been the case this evening, I can't even finish typing a sentence before the spread has changed in the Kings' favor.  This time, it's a Ron Ron 8-foot fadeaway, but to some degree, the devil ain't in the details.  The broad strokes are always the same.  Sacto scoring too many times.

2:06 - I just learned Beno Udrih is a lefty.  How?  Because he, like the rest of his teammates, is able to can another uncontested jumper, this time after losing Farmar off the dribble.

Vlad Rad sighting!!!  Either Phil is really looking for a spark (and thus going with a guy who's still kinda gimpy and has yet to enter the game) or wants to guarantee Laker fans a little happiness (by showing that Vlad must be at least a little healthy).

A little bit of Laker mojo emerges in the form of a layup and three pointer from LO, plus a pair of freebies from Farmar.  87-81 Kings, but as usual, the Lakers aren't out of this.  But as usual, the Lakers also need to put together a run that not only includes some scoring, but prevention of the same.  One frame to make it right.

FOURTH QUARTER

10:02 - Tough D on Kobe from Ron Ron.  He's one of the few who can make Kobe earn every single ounce of his scoring.  That time, he forces a very tough 16-foot miss while attached to the Mamba's hip.

9:15 - Big three ball from Sasha, and on the next possession, he snags K-Mart's miss and sprints it into Laker territory to theoretically assist the Lakers at getting it to within a score. Unfortunately, the ball gets intercepted by Salmons en route from Gasol to Vlad Rad.  Salmons goes coast to coast.  And we're right back at square one.

4:30 - Sorry.  Som techincal difficulties were keeping my from doing by play-by-play thang.  But maybe that's a good thing.  Ever since I wasn't able to descrobe the action, the Lakers have managed to get back into this.  A pair of freebies and a hook shot from Gasol puts the Lakers within one and a drive from Kobe draws the foul on the ensuing possession.  Two opportunities from the stripe given.  Two from the stripe taken.  Against all odds, the Lakers are actually up 101-100.  It's their first lead of the game, for those keeping score.  But again, and I know y'all have heard this broken-record style by now, but can they keep Sacto from putting in a few more easy ones?

2:48 - Some big time Laker D forces a 24-second violation from Sacto.  When I mentioned the notion of sustaining good fortune accrued, that would be along the lines of what I'm talking about.  It's the kind of stuff that can amp an entire squad.  Sure managed to gear up that Kobe Bryant chap, who takes a rock stolen by D.Fish and proceeds to put down the 360.  Lakers up by 7, 107-100.

1:14 - A 19-footer by Kobe puts the Lakers a little further in the driver's seat, but he fails to truly stick a dagger in by missing one of two freebies awarded a possession later.  Luke Walton follows suit after drawing the loose ball foul on Brad Miller under the Kings basket.  Those two points allow it to remain a two possession Contest.  Thanfully, Udrih seems willing to cooperate int he Laker quest by missing one from distance.  The rock lands in Fish's mitts and he draws the blocking foul on Udrih while taking it to the rack.  Two freebies down.  It's now 8 points up with less than a minute to go.

Well, it weren't pretty, but it were a win.  117-105, but the dozen point spread could end up making this appear considerably more impressive than really was.  I'll be blunt.  This was hardly a showing of quality round ball.  A strong fourth by uber-closer Kobe and something along the lines of defense down the stretch made up for approximately 40 or so minutes of motion sickness in the form of sport.  But in the end, it counts the same as would a masterpiece, so that's a plus.  But I wouldn't wanna be a participant in tomorrow's practice, that's for sure.

Thanks for keeping me company on my roadie.  More to come later.

AK