Hamstring!

It sounds like a bad musical, but really, it was just the major running subplot for the Lakers over their first 11 games as they waited for Pau Gasol's balky hammy to heal up. Thursday night, the curtain finally rose on Gasol's '09-'10 season, and the reviews (I'm already sick of this metaphor, but it's too late to turn back) were sterling. Tony Award quality, even. (Wow, that last one made me cringe... hackneyed, thy name is me.) 24 points, 13 boards, 35 minutes as the Lakers knocked off the Bulls 108-93. 

Gasol didn't expect so many minutes, or to be quite so effective, while taking advantage of an undersized Chicago frontcourt around the basket on both sides of the floor.   He seemed to have plenty of polish for a guy having played less full court hoops than most rec warriors over the last six weeks.

Nor was he the only positive from Thursday's easy win. With 21 points, Kobe Bryant passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (yes, the actor) and moved into second place on the list of all-time Lakers scoring leaders, trailing only Jerry West (yes, the actor) on one of the most impressive lists in basketball, given the talent the franchise has seen (Kobe talks about it here). The box score also notes four other Lakers in double figures, including a perfect shooting night for Derek Fisher.  The only real negative was a jammed right ankle for Andrew Bynum, suffered in the second half. He's listed as day-to-day, and we'll learn more about his condition today at practice.

With Gasol, the Lakers look like the Lakers, creating matchup problems all over the floor. "They have a lot of weapons. And talent," said Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro. "It's one thing to be tall, but there's also being tall and talented, and they got both. So that helps."

More Lakers news, notes, and thoughts below...

After consecutive losses, the Lakers needed a strong response Tuesday night at Staples against the Detroit Pistons, a middling group playing without injured stars Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince. They got it, for three quarters at least, in a 106-93 win. Kobe Bryant led the way with 40 points, the 100th time he's blown up for 40 or more (that's 100 more than me and AK... combined!) over the course of his career. Bryant missed his first four shots, but then went nuts, shaking off the effects of a strained right groin to finish 17-29 from the floor. He capped his night with a three pointer, but generally speaking continued to do his damage in the post, taking advantage of an undersized Ben Gordon in particular.

LA used a Kobe fueled Q2 (13 points for Bryant) to blow the game open, and eventually built the lead to 28. Yes, they (meaning the reserves) lost their discipline and structure in the fourth and let the Pistons back in- shouldn't happen- but overall it was a positive return to form for the purple and gold. 

Add in news that Pau Gasol is on track for a return, perhaps as soon as Thursday night against the Bulls, and the process of turning those frowns of Friday and Sunday upside-down was basically complete. Not that the healing kept Phil Jackson from skewering Gasol and his guest spot on CSI: Miami.

MORE LAKERS AND NBA NOTES...

Most of the available Lakers news was noted Monday night on the blog. Start with Kobe Bryant's balky groin, aggravated in Sunday's loss to the Rockets. He practiced Monday in El Segundo, and will suit up  tonight at home against Detroit. The bum hamstring that has sidelined Pau Gasol since early in the preseason is improving. He got some work in yesterday and is confident his recovery is finally on track. Gasol will be in street clothes tonight, but Thursday's tussle with the Bulls is still on the table. Then, of course, there's his acting career (Early reviews: "Damn near Newman-esque relative to this... Variety"). For Luke Walton, the news isn't good. He'll miss six weeks, minimum with a pinched nerve in his back.

Across the (NBA) universe, though, people are a'twitter (and a Twitter) regarding the future landing spot of former Grizzly (he wore the uni, even if briefly) Allen Iverson. Leon Rose, AI's agent, says his guy is just looking for the right fit, and will come off the bench under the right circumstances. Ken Berger of CBS Sports noted one scenario floated to him: AI to LA. Which leads to today's poll question:

I voted "No." If "Oh, hell no!" was a choice, I'd have voted for that. But maybe you feel differently? More news and notes below...

Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration (the Lakers are, after all, 7-3 and the calendar reads Nov. 16), but the morning after LA's 101-91 loss to the Rockets Sunday night at Staples, Lakersville is an unhappy and angst-riddled place, filled with Morrissey albums, tax audits, and clips of the more crushing moments from Old Yeller.

As we noted last night, their shortcomings as a team were plentiful. The Lakers shot only 38% as a team, dragged down by a 5-20 night from Kobe Bryant, 3-13 from Derek Fisher, and another Large Pile O'misfires (also the name of AK's band in high school) from bench players not named Shannon Brown. Then there was the 60-38 rebounding advantage for the Rockets (and before you say, "It's because the Lakers missed so many shots!" note that Houston actually had more misses from the floor than did LA). Or the fact Houston rebounded from an early 16-2 deficit thanks to their customary tenacity and poise. There's more bad news in the box score, for those in the mood for something sad but lacking easy access to a copy of The Ice Storm. 

Arguably more upsetting than the final score or 24's shooting line was word that in the first quarter, Kobe re-aggravated a right groin injury originally suffered last weekend against the Hornets. While he says he won't miss time, Kobe acknowledged it was bothering him. "I've felt better," he said. It's certainly reasonable to believe the discomfort played a role in his poor shooting night, because Shane Battier didn't have much to do with it. 

In other injury news, Luke Walton missed Sunday night's game with a sore back. Pau Gasol, though, might just be on the road to recovery. Phil Jackson is "hopeful" Gasol will practice this week. We will now pause this regularly scheduled move to "Other Lakers News and NBA Notes" so you may knock on wood...

The beautiful southern California morning looks a lot better than the Lakers roster heading into Sunday night's game against the Hornets at Staples (6:30, FSW). Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum will both be on the sidelines, Gasol's seventh straight game in a suit, Bynum's second. The Hornets will start Devin Brown at the two next to Chris Paul, giving him the unenviable task of marking Kobe Bryant. Not sure how much time Brown has spent defending guys in the post, but given Kobe's performance Friday night against Memphis and the continuing absence of LA's bigs, expect that he'll get the opportunity tonight.

Many, many, many opportunities, actually.

Kobe's production in the post is one reason he says he's scoring more with less work (productive teammates help, too). Paul, conversely, is doing just about everything for the Hornets (and doing it incredibly well, averaging 28.5 ppg on nearly 64% shooting while dishing almost 10 assists a night). They're not winning much in the early going, something that isn't sitting well with the hypercompetitive PG. 

NOTE: Just a reminder, our Twitter feed has moved to latimesKbros. Thanks!

It was about as pretty as a Lohan family reunion these days, but when the dust settles, all anyone cares about is the final tally.  This one wrapped up at 103-102, the Lakers on top and the Rockets just short. I already summarized some high and low points from the contest during the intro to last  night's postgame chat, but here are a few more talking points to aid your mouth's mission:

• The uber-lowest issue development may have come with just seconds remaining to play. While delivering a pretty hard foul, Chuck Hayes wrenched Andrew Bynum's elbow and left the Laker center in very obvious discomfort. It's being listed as a sprain for the time being, with more tests and results to come.
  
  Hopefully, this will emerge one of those injuries that smarts mightily upon impact, but cools down fast with time and treatment. If Drew is forced to miss any games, aside from the obvious issues involving frontcourt depth (As Mike Bresnahan wryly notes, "Anyone ready for Lamar Odom at center?"), this put him even further behind the eight ball for a bigger goal: Increasing his familiarity playing alongside Pau Gasol, who's been cleared to practice and should return reasonably soon. 

If you missed it, Monday evening reader NBA4ever left a very interesting take on the Lakers without Pau Gasol:

"...Andrew Bynum might be the Laker’s second leading scorer but he is not a 2nd option. Pau Gasol is the second option, the team flows so much more efficiently going into him. Bynum is too indecisive when he gets the ball in the post, and then once he makes up his mind he can’t make the adjustments. He will score more than Gasol because of Gasol, he will score from the attention given to Gasol and Gasol's ability to make the right play. We already have seen we can win with a limited Bynum, but we can’t without Gasol. Once Gasol comes back I think Bynum will become even more of a force..."

It's not a dig at Bynum, rather a recognition Gasol's role in the offense. Moreover, it gets at something about basketball commentary that probably should change. Too often, fans and media associate "first option" or "second option" with scoring. Here, though, NBA4ever points out that being an effective "option" in an offense, particularly one like the Lakers use, involves more than simply putting the ball in the basket. Argue about the semantics if you'd like, but there's no question Pau facilitates opportunities for himself and others in ways Bynum can't at this point in his career. Gasol's ability to either score or find open man out of any portion of the post is a fundamental to the team's success on that end of the floor. The same principle applies to Kobe Bryant. Take away his incredible court vision and ability to pass surgically out of double teams, and he's another high volume shooter/scorer in a league with a lot of those types.

A really good one, sure, but not an MVP.

They say good teams can make a push at one or two points in a game that the opposition can't handle. It happened for the Lakers on Ring Night against the Clippers, and by any definition Sunday evening in LA's 118-110 win over the Hawks at Staples. Up by six at the half, the Lakers used an 18-0 run over five minutes in the third quarter to turn a reasonably tight (if oddly played) game into a blowout.

The box score shows Kobe Bryant finished with 41 points on 15-29 from the floor and 10-11 from the line, Andrew Bynum had 21 (and only three boards, something he said after the game wasn't going to cut it), and Lamar Odom- call him Lamar 2.0?- was two dimes away from a triple double. But as we noted last night after the game (from a very poorly lit corner of the arena) after the game, the big story centered around Ron Artest, whose defense against Joe Johnson over the final three quarters tipped the balance of things for the purple and gold. "It all started with 37," said Kobe. 

Johnson started red hot. 7-8 in the first quarter before Hawks coach Mike Woodson sat him down (a point of contention in that corner of the NBA universe) for a break. When he returned and with Artest on duty, Johnson only had one field goal over the final three quarters.

It was Giant Bling Night at Staples Center as the Lakers raised a banner and received their championship rings. All the pomp and circumstance made for a great pregame celebration (check out the photo gallery here), but as Phil Jackson reminded his players the other day, the purple and gold still had a game to play, a tough thing to do on ring night. Nothing spoils the fun like losing an opener. Well, the Lakers got the message, getting 33 points from Kobe Bryant and 26/13 from Andrew Bynum and using a strong fourth quarter push en route to a 99-92 win over the Clippers Tuesday night at Staples.

With Pau Gasol on the sidelines, his hamstring hamstrung, the Lakers also benefited from a very strong night for Lamar Odom (16/13/5, plus some war wounds), and while Ron Artest struggled from the floor, as we noted in last night's wrap there were encouraging signs on that front as well. He certainly enjoyed the evening. The box score reveals LAL's dominance in the post, reflected mostly in a free throw imbalance as the Clippers struggled to defend the Lakers near the bucket. 

More from around the web on last night's win:

No two seasons are alike, so in defending a title finding the balance between sticking with what works and keeping things fresh can be tricky. Before Wednesday night's successful opening to the preseason, Lamar Odom made it clear talking to the media that having found a championship formula, the Lakers have every intention of reproducing it, right down to keeping everyone's spot on the bus exactly the same. (Ron Artest slides into TA's spot, no surprise.) It's not a question of superstition, but habit and routine. On a personal level, he's long since resolved any issues about coming off the bench. "I wouldn't change it," he said. "We won a championship. I'll keep it the same."

Identical routines, maybe, but the addition of Artest can help create new things to focus on in practice, new adjustments in games, and so on. Could help keep the collective mind sharp in what is always a very long march to the postseason.

Other notes: