Who wants to make Mark Cuban cry?

Game chat below.

BK

Rockets tonight, Spurs tomorrow. On the one hand, it's reason for concern among Lakers fans.  On the other, it's a chance for one of those "how championship teams are made" moments in the season.

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BK

Lakers look for the season sweep of the Suns and the chance to rinse the bad taste of Friday's loss out of their mouths.  It's like multitasking.

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BK

All the fun stuff is in the preview.  Chat box below.

BK

A few fun numbers to digest before tonight's tip:

• No team in the NBA takes a smaller percentage of its shots from beyond the arc as the Thunder.  Conversely, the Lakers give up (or encourage, or allow, depending on your POV) a larger percentage of opponent's shots from three point land than all but two teams.  When the teams met at Staples on Feb. 10, OKC attempted 18 triples, well above their 11.4 average.
• The Thunder grant the opposition more inside shots than any team in the NBA, and are near the bottom in terms of percentage of shots blocked.  Meaning they offer little resistance near the basket, something the Lakers didn't fully exploit earlier this month.
• There aren't many things the Thunder do well collectively, but rebounding is one.
• OKC's new mascot- Rumble (he's a bison)- isn't bringing the team any luck. They're 0-3 since he was introduced. Granted, they were 13-40 without him, so perhaps it's too early to assign blame and/or make lower cholesterol mascot steaks out of him.

Chat box below. 

BK

Heads up.  With Monta Ellis back, the Warriors are better than their record might indicate (their 19 wins, of course, indicating that they're pretty awful).  Corey Maggette is now coming off the bench, which changes GSW's look that much more.

Still a game the Lakers should win, but by now we all know the dangers of casual play against Don Nelson's fun house gang.

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BK

What was supposed to be a marquee matchup of two Western Conference titans instead pits one elite squad (that would be your Lakers) against a Jazz squad so battered by injuries that they're battling for a playoff spot.  Still, they're very good at home (20-6), and Deron Williams has been a bad, bad man over the last 10 days or so. Tonight, Utah is without AK47 and Carlos Boozer, more lack of continuity that has contributed to subpar-by-Jazz-standards defense this season.

The Jazz still play fundamentally strong ball, move well, and pass the rock, so the Lakers will have to mind their p's and q's.  If they do, LA's superior fire power combined with Utah's limited frontcourt scoring ought to get them into the All Star break on a high note.

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BK

The Lakers have already turned in a great road trip.  Beat the Cavs today at the Q, and it becomes somewhat otherworldly.  Kobe vs. LBJ will deservedly get the attention, but for me the most interesting things to watch will be closer to the basket.  LA crushed the Z-less Clevelanders down low when the teams met in LA, but now Andrew Bynum is out and Ilgauskas is back. 

I'm very interested to see if/how that changes the dynamic between the two teams.

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BK

A few things I'd like to see:

• The Lakers spring Kobe on screens and curls, and get him the ball on the move.  It worked well during the Finals.
• Beyond that- ball movement, player movement.  The Celtics are a great defensive team, but the ball always moves faster than the man.
• An aggressive Pau Gasol, on both ends. 
• World peace and a new Radiohead album.  Just sayin'.

Chat box below.

BK