8:51 - LO works the baseline for a one handed dunk.  On the previous possession, he fouled Brand and sent him to the line for a pair.  As EB was shooting, some steroided-out musclehead Clipper fan was screaming "Hey, let's get high after the game, Lamar!  Let's get high!"  I've seen this guy at games before and he's like that from start to finish.  He'll be worked up into a lathered out sweat by halftime. 

6:32 - Something you don't see a very often: A completely airballed layup, the guilty party in this case being Derek Fisher.  Granted, it was a reverse and the angle was a little weird, but when I say he missed, I mean, he may not have even hit the square, much less the rim. 

5:34 - A shooting foul on EB prompts a timeout from the Clips.  The Lakers could definitely use the time to talk things over, because some kinks in the offense are definitely in need of ironing.  Those 8 points currently sported (and doubled by the Clips) have come courtesy of a 27% clip from the field.  That, as Stu Lantz would say, will not get it done.

4:43 - A bad pass from LO to Kobe squirts out of bounds, providing the Clips a fresh possession to make something happen.  "Something" comes in the form of a 19-foot jumper from Thornton.

3:17 - Vlad does a nice job cutting towards the rack while all eyes are on Kobe around the arc.  The feed from Bryant proivides Vladdy the easy bucket.  Having just racked a three ball on the previous, Radmanovic's doing his part early on to get the Lakers back in it.

1:41 - A 5 foot hook from Gasol goes down smooth, cutting the Clipper lead down to a deuce.

1:22 - Smush Parker checks into the contest, not getting a ton of applause from the Clips fans on hand.  Whoda thunk it?

28.9 - Walton misses from the contested shot from point blank, but scoops up his own rebound and comes clean the second time around.  Those two points put the Lakers up 27-25, the spread when the quarter ends.  A period of about 2 1/2 minutes down the stretch added up to 13 quick Laker points, which certainly helped make up for the horrible beginnings to the Laker O.  Not great seeing them start out yet another opening quarter in unenthused fashion, but the finish was at least decent.  BK with the second.

SECOND QUARTER

Second unit in to start Q2- Sasha, Turiaf, Farmar, Walton, with Kobe.  He's actually a starter. 

10:40- Walton tries to spin on Thornton in the post and is blocked, then redeems himself by causing a TO on the other end... then on the ensuing break, the ball gets held up in his hands and the Clips force a jump ball.  Not the best of sequences for Walton.

10:00- 29-27, LAC.

Sasha hits a J in the corner- about a foot from being a three- and the Lakers are tied.

8:37- Terrible foul from Sasha, who lost Ross coming through the lane on the dive, then rather meekly shoved him as Ross went by.  It had no effect on the shot, and Ross had the easy and one.  You could tell that as soon as the whistle blew, Sasha knew he screwed up.

The second unit hasn't given anything away, but their level of play has been far from crisp.  Bad passes, missed opportunities, etc.

Tied at 33, with Q Ross going to the line after the timeout. 

Same lineup out of the TO.  Ross misses, and we're still tied at 33. 

8:10- Nice work by Farmar and Walton, who capitalize on a soft Parker pass to trap Powell (I believe) on the sideline for the turnover.  Smush just sort of dropped the ball off, and teh speed of the pass allowed Farmar to aggressively come down to make the play. 

Good defensive work and recognition by JF. 

Michael Beasley just walked by, for those interested in the NBA draft. 

6:21- Lakers are starting to crank up the defensive intensity at this point.  They're rotating a little better, and putting more pressure on the ball.  Unfortunately, they're still breaking down enough to give the Clippers chances to score.  They need to play through the clock, then make sure they're not getting lost on screens or making bad fouls. 

Good work by Kobe on Thornton, who tried to take him down one on one.  When Thornton came off the spin, Ronny made a hard step at him to make him think- the Lakers have been doubling and trapping hard- and Kobe stayed in Thornton's face. 

5:45- 38-35 LAL.

Starters back in coming out of the TO, or at least a few.  Gasol, Fish and LO.

Yikes.  Walton goes low baseline... and hoists up the short airball.

4:20- Kobe back in, along with Vladdy.  Back to the starting lineup for the end of the half, presumably.  Radmanovic gets an open look at a three and drills it.  Lakers up by five, and a chance to make it more as Thornton fouls LO underneath the Lakers basket.  Odom will shoot two, as the Clips are in the penalty. He makes the first, makes the second.

With three and a half to go, the Lakers have a chance to make some space for themselves, despite not having played all that well. 

Timeout Lakers, 45-38.  3:06 to go.

1:46- Kobe comes from the weakside to block Thomas.  The ball might have been on its way down, but whatever.  Hopefully that can fire the Lakers up.  They're in control of the game and limiting opportunities for the Clippers- since a hot start, LAC has basically been shut down- but there's not a lot of pop right now for LAL, and after the Portland game, they need some.  Especially with a back to back tomorrow.  The more they can do to put the game away early tonight, the better.

They'll certainly need a better effort out of the gate to beat the Hornets Friday night.

1:00- Nice work from Vlad, who outhustles a couple Clippers for a loose ball on the offensive end, going up and securing the batted ball, then finding Pau Gasol with a quick pass underneath and an easy bucket.

:45- Lakers up 49-38.

END OF THE HALF:

Lakers up 51-42, showing the value of taking care of the ball, and not giving the opposition too many easy opps to score cheap points.  Only five TOs for the Lakers, who have held the Clippers to 40% from the floor, most of that coming early.  The Clippers were 7-23 in Q2 after an 11-22 start. 

Nice play by Kobe to end the half- he's been spending a lot of time posting guys up on the low block- it's a good place for him.  Few guards can cover him down there, and it also takes advantage of his ability to pass the ball out of there in close quarters if the double comes.  He can really hurt teams with his back to the basket.  Of course, he can hurt teams from everywhere. 

Good shooting half for Vlad (4-7), LO finishes with 9/7.  It might not have looked that good, but finishing the first half with a nine point lead counts for something.

More to come

THIRD QUARTER

8:52 - A missed floater from Dickau gets snatched up by LO, who shuttles it to Kobe.  The layup attempt goes off-rim, but Gasol's there for the clean up.  Mike Dunleavy doesb't like the call or the sequence or something, because his bellyaching earns him a T.  Kobe misses that extra freebie at the stripe, but the Lakers are nonetheless up by a baker's dozen.  By the way, my blood pressure rose for a second when I saw the "T" motion with Kobe anywhere near it.  Not that he was really doing anything to merit one, but still, you never know when a player will rub a ref wrong and pick up a tech.

8:17 - Fish's pass gets intercepted by Tim Thomas and shuttled into EB's hands.  Dude may not have played a ton of games up to this point, but he's shaken off enough cobwebs to throw a little shake n' bake Kobe's way in the open court en route for the dunk.   

5:28 - Thomas hits the trey ball, but only briefly blows on his hand to demonstrate that he's indeed "hot."  He's even mailing that in these days, too.

5:03 - The shot clock runs down to a quartet of ticks before Kobe hits string from 19-feet out.

3:12 - The Lakers catch a break after Kobe picks off Thornton, but LO proceeds to nearly toss the ball away en route to Fish.  Thankfully, Dickau picks up a loose ball foul in pursuit (the ball might have gone out of bounds as it was).  The team can now settle into the possession and it results in a three ball from Fish.

2:03 - I didn't like that three by Kobe and not just because it didn't go down.  No ball movement of any kind to set it up, inside-out or otherwise.  Nobody really around for the rebound.  Fairly early in the clock.  And considering Kobe's only 1-5 from behind the arc right now, I think he could have found something better.

50.9 - Thornton swipes the rock tossed between LO and Gasol, then provides EB an opportunity for another two points after his miss lands in 42's hands.  Offensive board.  Another pair for Brand. 

The Clips' sense of mo' could have been started building after a serious throwdown from Thornton, but those sails gain less win after Farmar sinks a buzzer beater from 34 feet.  The officials double check, then verify the make.  73-61, providing the Lakers a dozen points worth of cushion heading into the fourth.  Still not the most intense of games I've seen the lakers play in some time.  From rebounds to settling for downtown shots to general energy, there's a lot I'd change in what they're doing.  We'll see if it happens.  BK with the close.      

FOURTH QUARTER

Strong opening minutes for the second unit, who have pushed the lead out to 17.  Good two man work from Luke to Odom, much better ball movement, very active play.  Certainly a much better effort than their first go round. 

10:00- LO makes two FTs, and the Lakers  are up 18. 

They might just let Kobe sit for the fourth, a welcome change from the Sacramento game, where the seconds played the starters back onto the floor.  This would be a huge boost. 

9:15- 81-64 LAL.

8:19- Timeout on the floor, Lakers up by 20.  They've put the hammer down on the Clippers with a 13-5 run over the first four minutes.  The way the Clippers score- or more precisely don't score- it'll be exceedingly tough for them to come back.  The Lakers could, at this point, probably win if they didn't score another bucket, but just ran the 24 second clock down on each trip. 

If the Lakers have a little extra burst Friday night against the Hornets, this sequence to start the fourth could have a lot to do with it.

6:00- Mbenga in.  fair to say PJ is feeling confident.  Up by 25, I can see why.  We'll probably see Newble soon.

5:13- Walton hits his third three of the quarter.  Hopefully this gives him a little confidence.  He hit one in the first half, too.  If he is able to force defenses to be honest in guarding him, that'll make a big difference for the Lakers when he's out on the floor.  Obviously, it takes more than one good shooting game to say it's happened. 

Overall, the bench players have finally given the team a little ball movement.  There was some solid flow to what they were doing, and how they created baskets. 

4:58- Turiaf to the line, getting the FTs and the ball after Brand is called for the Flagrant. 

Newble in off the TO, and Mihm is going to check in as well.

Lakers up 98-69.

3:18- Mbenga gets into the scoring column, with a nice little hook in the lane on Fazekas.  The NBA: Where Mbenga vs. Fazekas happens.

1 :30- Not a lot of folks left in the crowd, and even less red white and blue.  Fair to say at this point, anyone who is still here probably thinks they've missed their window to beat the traffic. 

1:00- Mbenga gets off another shot.  Dude loves to put up the rock.  Like an African Von Wafer.  Five minutes, five shots.  But he's 3-5, so you can't complain.  The guy just rolls! 

14.9- It's all over but the buzzer.  What was a reasonably close game heading into the fourth certainly didn't end that way.  LAL hangs a 33-17 quarter on the Clips.  That'll do it.

In the end, six Lakers finish in double figures, they shoot almost 50%, hold the Clips to under 40%, limit the TOs to eight, and have 25 dimes after a first half in which they didn't move the ball.  One for the time capsule?  Not really.  But it certainly got the job done.

Thanks for following along.  More to come.

BK