Good stuff:

• Taco Night in the Media Room: Shredded chicken, a very tasty beef, all the fixin's a guy can need. I particularly liked the green salsa made available.  Fresh flavor, nice tang.  The pinto beans also merit a mention.  Made with jalapenos to give a little kick, but nothing overwhelming.  Good on the tacos, or as a stand alone side.  A tasty tortilla soup rounded things out, and the tres leches cake provided a fine cap to what was a muy bien pregame meal. 
• The First Quarter: Remember the first time you heard U2's All That You Can't Leave Behind?  You tuck the CD into the car stereo, turn up the volume, on comes Beautiful Day, and it totally kicks your ass?  You knew instantly it was money well spent.  So it was with the opening 12 minutes Friday night.  The Lakers were out in front from their first shot of the game- a running hook from Pau Gasol- built a 17 point lead, and finished the quarter up by 15.  How'd they do it?  Try 67% shooting from the floor, 14 field goals (eight of which produced an assist), 12 points in the paint against two for Denver, and only one TO. Kobe was hot, going 4-7 en route to 11 points, Fish was 3-4, and LO was very strong, playing aggressively from the start to earn six points of his own. 
• Another Awful Day for Carmelo Anthony: Between the first round of last year's playoffs and the first game they played against the Nuggs this season, it's becoming pretty clear that the Lakers have 'Melo's number.  Tonight, he was 5-19 from the floor, and though he did add 10 boards and five dimes, the 14 misses meant a lot of empty possessions for Denver.  Even better, Anthony, who came into the game averaging over seven trips to the line per game, didn't visit the stripe at all tonight.  In his last six games vs. LA dating back to the first round of the '08 playoffs, Anthony is 42-122 (34.4%) against the Lakers. 
• The Hoff: Covering games at Staples over the years, I've seen many a celebrity.  During halftime of Tuesday's win over Chicago, I was in the hallway talking to my wife and Jack Nicholson walked by.  Twice.  We exchanged nods. ("Hey Jack." "Hey person staring at me.") I've seen Leo, Denzel, Will Farrell, Colin Farrell, Mike Farrell (okay, not him), Spike Lee, Beto Duran, Andy Garcia, Kate Hudson, that hot psycho chick from The Real World,  Beyonce, Britney, Christina, Tobey Maguire, Justin Timberlake, Jack Black, and more.  But tonight, I reached a new height in courtside celebrity viewing, when on my way back to the media room at the break I saw the great David Hasselhoff in all his Botoxed glory.  It's as if he's been sleeping in a tank of formaldehyde since 1986, when they put K.I.T.T. up on blocks.  The effect was delightfully creepy, unless it's relatively natural, in which case it's still creepy.  A solid Hoff sighting had me jazzed on the same level as AK the time he dropped his suitcases and literally ran down Fred Berry (you know, Rerun from "What's Happening") for an autograph in the old TWA terminal at Lambert St. Louis Airport.

Interesting Stuff:

• The Nuggets are clearly an improved team with Chauncey Billups running the show, but ironically might actually be set up worse against the Lakers than they were with Iverson, since AI gave them a penetrating guard to get inside LA's D.  This is all relative, of course, since the Lakers have had the Nuggets' number with just about anyone on the court.  Perhaps a little more run for Cheikh Samb would have made the difference? 
• We'll talk more about it in the postgame vid, but the Lakers continued their run of success on the second half of back-to-backs.  They're now 3-0, in part because they've been able to conserve energy by playing well on the front end.  Thursday's good showing in Phoenix set the Lakers up well to come out strong tonight. 
• More short minutes: Only one player- Trevor Ariza- cracked the 30 minute barrier.  After the game, PJ said that games like this will help mitigate any wear-down factor for Kobe following a Finals run and a short Olympic summer.  Tonight, he played only 29:42.  If the Lakers can keep this up, they'll literally save him games worth of PT down the road.  Jackson also got Josh Powell involved early, and while he didn't post an overwhelming stat line (three blocks were nice), it adds another player to the mix, allowing the other members of LA's cast to go harder in shorter stints.  In short, there is no drawback to depth. 

Bad Stuff:

• Machine Goofy: Sasha Vujacic's shot wasn't on target- 2-11 (you can't accuse him of giving up without a fight!) including 1-7 from downtown (the Lakers were a collective 6-22, so he had some company).  He's looked a little better with his shot over the past few games, but tonight things were clearly off, and Vujacic seemed determined to shoot his way out of it come hell or high water.  On a positive note, Sasha had five boards, four assists, and three steals in 17+ minutes, so he managed to contribute in other ways.
• The Top of the Third Quarter: Sloppy play helped the Nuggets cut a 20 point halftime lead to 11, but by the time most Lakers fans noticed, a 10-0 run between the 6:53 and 3:25 marks once again gave the Lakers a lead as cushy as any of those Custom Comfort Mattress Luke Walton likes to hawk. 

Notes:

• Vlad Radmanovic was poked in the eye during the third quarter, and was feeling the effects after the game.  There was redness, but no blurred vision.  Even if there was, "I don't shoot with that eye," Vladdy joked.  PJ expressed more concern: "We're looking at that.  That's a very vulnerable point, in that occipital cheek bone area on the eye socket.  It's real vulnerable to elbows and breaking."  It doesn't seem like anything that bad actually happened- no need to shop for Rip Hamilton masks just yet- but should more news flow like VTB, we'll pass it along. 

Audio and video to come. 

BK

QUOTES

Kobe Bryant, on the Nuggets with Allen Iverson vs. Chauncey Billups
"They're extremely different. They're just two completely different players, Chauncey and AI.  The team is going to change drastically and you'll notice it probably by around the end of the season.   It's two different players.

Is it a different challenge?  Harder? 
It's just different.  Chauncey is going to set them down.  Set everybody up.  Set the table.  Run the show.  Control the tempo.  It's just a different challenge."

Andrew Bynum, on the bench's success and enjoyment factor
"Normally, I'm a part of the second unit.  I really enjoy playing with them, just because we're all young guys.  We all hang out off the court.  It's a different style.  It's basically just kind of free for all out there.  You don't really see too much triangle.  It's a lot more drag and roll to the basket.  it's a lot more fun out there.   

Josh Powell (whose ten minutes of run featured three blocks and a lot of activity)

AK: Tonight you were able to make an impact tonight blocking shots and through general activity.  As the season has gone on, are you feeling more comfortable with what the team is doing?
JP: I'm very comfortable, but it's still a learning process.  Being in there with a different group of guys, you've got to kind of adjust to what's going on, different situation.  As each day goes, as each practice goes, my confidence is there, but it's just being comfortable knowing where you're supposed to be and what you're supposed to do.

AK: is it more of an adjustment playing in a new system or with new teammates?
JP: It's a little bit of both, but everybody has been welcoming. Everyone's talking and helping.  They've helped me on the offensive and defensive end.  it's been a great learning experience and I just look forward to just continuing."

AK: Has the coaching staff talked with you specifically about what it'll take to increase your minutes?
JP: Not really.  They just say stay with it.  Keep working hard like I've been doing.  Just keep going hard.  That's all I can do.  Just control that and give effort and be positive.  When game times come, whether I play or don't play, bring energy out whenever I can.

AK: Speaking of energy, could you feel that buzz throughout the crowd during a couple of those blocks?
JP: Yeah.  (smiles).  It feels good.  Right place, right time.

AUDIO

• Kobe Bryant: Download kobe_bryant_11.21.08.mp3
• Josh Powell (at the start, he's talking about Sun Yue's eventual D-League stint): Download josh_powell_11.21.08.mp3
• Lamar Odom: Download lamar_odom_11.21.08.mp3
• Derek Fisher: Download derek_fisher_11.21.08.mp3
• Andrew Bynum: Download andrew_bynum_11.21.08.mp3 

AK