Lakers Crush Hornets in Potential Playoff Matchup

The New Orleans Hornets have overcome major injuries to their team throughout this season, but the recent season-ending torn ACL injury sustained by PF David West might be too tough for this Hornets team to play through.

The Lakers exposed the absence of David West with a 102-84 victory over New Orleans Sunday Night which helped the Los Angeles improve to 15-1 since the All-Star Break and extended the current win streak to seven games.

The Lakers were in control for nearly the entire game except for a late fourth quarter run by the Bee's. However, Kobe came to the rescue and the Lakers forced the Hornets into tough shots to capture a pretty easy win.

Carl Landry filled in the starting lineup for the ailing West and played a great game with 24 points and 10 rebounds. Emeka Okafor pitched in 14 points and 11 boards while Chris Paul had an off night with just 10 points.

Paul's subpar point total was influenced by the Lakers limiting the Hornets offense with tenacious defense. The Hornets were forced to take outside jumpers, many of which they missed, as the Lakers protected the paint.

Pau Gasol took advantage of the missing David West by dominating the boards and going to work offensively. Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom were in foul trouble for a good part of the game(there was even a Joe Smith sighting!), but still combined for 21 points and 10 rebounds. Kobe put up 30 points, but he did take 25 shots.

Player of the Game: Pau Gasol 23 pts 16 rebs 4 blks

Highlight of the Game: Shannon Brown On the fastbreak, Brown ran up the court and with Aaron Gray lurking behind him, he rose up and switched the ball from his right hand to hsi left hand to send home a nice dunk. Video below.

Next Game: Thursday vs. Dallas Mavericks 53-21 3rd Western Conference

Huge game in deciding playoff seeds!

Random Amusement Around the Association #2

The Wizards were visiting the Blazers and JaVale McGee rejects the high-flying Wesley Matthews. This block is one you have to see to believe!

After the Laker's win against Portland Sunday, Kobe was asked how much of an impact Derek Fisher has had on the team and if he was missed while he was not on the Lakers for a few years.

Kobe responded,"You mean when I was throwing to Smush? I shot with three Mutha####@$ on me. That's the difference, Now I only shoot with one, maybe two."

Watch the video below for his response.

Matt Barnes has returned from injury to help revive the bench's play. The Killah Bee's (Steve Blake, Shannon Brown, and Matt Barnes) have been playing well as of late and Matt says he is going to be selling these new T-shirts below.

The shirt is alright, but the stingers look retarded. If I wasn't a Lakers fan, then I would definitely not wear this in public. But I wasn't planning on buying one of these shirts anyway.

Ron Artest was interviewed immediately after the exciting triple overtime thriller against Phoenix Tuesday Night and here's what he had to say.

You got to love Ron's theatrics. He might be crazy, but Ron know's what's up. The celebration is the only thing that counts!

Miami Brings on the Heat Against L.A.

Kobe Bryant started 4/4 from the field and it looked like he would score the Lakers to a ninth straight win. However, Bryant went 4/17 for the remainder of the game. Not only did this factor in to the Laker's loss, several turnovers, numerous defensive breakdowns, and a few silly mistakes down the stretch ultimately helped the Heat win.

But the Miami Heat deserve some credit for this 94-88 victory. Chris Bosh played well in the paint and on the boards, Lebron James nearly had a triple-double, and Dwyane Wade was much in the clutch. Also, the Heat shot 42% from behind the three-point line.

The Lakers seemed to be in control in the first half but the Heat went on a few spurts by hitting timely threes to take the lead into halftime. The Heat then had the crowd in the game in the second half and used momentum to spark the team.

Lebron ended the third with a buzzer beater, along with the first quarter, and Mike Bibby came in off the bench to nail a few jumpers. With the game tied at 88, Dwyane Wade stole the ball from Kobe and passed the ball up court to Lebron for a one-handed slam. The Heat got a stop and Wade drove past Kobe and Pau Gasol for a layup, making the score 92-88.

With forty seconds on the clock, Kobe loses the ball out of bounds, but Wade subsequently dribbles the ball off his leg on the ensuing possession. With twenty seconds to go, Kobe takes a stupid deep three which clanks off the rim. The Lakers foul Lebron, who hits both his free throws to close out the game.

The Lakers bench did not show up. No player shot the ball efficiently except for Pau Gasol and Kobe really hurt the team by taking too many shots. The Heat end the five game losing streak and clinch a playoff berth. The Lakers wore the "Los Lakers" uniforms and the Heat wore "El Heat" jerseys in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month on Noche Latina.

Player of the Game: Dwyane Wade 20 pts 5 asts 5 rebs 4 stls 1 blk

Highlight of the Game: Ron Artest stole the ball from D-Wade, dribbled up the floor, faked the layup as Mike Bibby went for the block, and laid it off to Kobe for the soft layup off the glass.

Next Game: @ Dallas Mavericks

This is crucial in the Western Conference standings as the Mavs are the 2 seed and Lakers behind them by 1.5 games.

Random Amusement Around the Association

On Tuesday, the Boston Celtics met with President Obama. Mr. Obama, a devout Chicago Bulls fan, asked the players how they could let go of Tom Thibodeau, the current Bulls head coach. He joked with NBA players who thought he would congratulate them on a great season thus far, but he speaks his mind. I think it's funny that the President isn't intimidated by the weak Celtics and just hints that the Bulls are getting better than the Cs.

Here is a video with the Blake Show (Blake Griffin) and USC football tight end James Cameron. It's definitely worth watching.

The best part has to be the cardboard cut-out of a car, referencing Griffin's Slam Dunk Contest performance.

The Onion Sportsdome pokes fun at many things, and a few weeks ago they made fun of the pathetic losing streak of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Basically, they "reported" that juvenile kids that were getting in trouble with the law came to a Cavs practice session. Once they saw the horrible display of basketball, their lives were set straight because they didn't want to end up like the Cavs players. For the funny article

http://www.onionsportsnetwork.com/articles/kids-in-scaredstraight-program-visit-horrifying-cl,19156/?utm_source=recentnews

Dirk Nowitzki did this crazy commercial to publicize his upcoming bobblehead night.

I'm not sure what to say. The Charlie Sheen references are retarded, but the way Dirk tries to act all gangsta is just pathetic and truly sad. And the bobblehead makes me cry even more.

Lakers Ground Hawks Offense, Extend Win Streak

Kobe Bryant stepped to the free-throw line with two minutes left in the fourth quarter. He took a couple of dribbles and then... the MVP chants started. However, the Lakers weren't playing at Staples Center. They were at the Philips Arena, in Atlanta!

The chants came with the Hawks' fans out of the building because the Lakers had already sealed a 101-87 win Tuesday night, lengthening their current win streak to eight games. The Lakers get their first win in Atlanta since 2007.

Despite a hot start by Al Horford and the Hawks, the Lakers locked in defensively and forced the Hawks into tough, contested shots. Matt Barnes and Steve Blake provided a spark off the bench and Andrew Bynum dominated the boards all game long. Pau had some nifty moves in the post and Kobe, as always, hit several fade-away jumpers en route to a Lakers victory.

Player of the Game: Kobe Bryant

How can he not be the player of the game if he just passed Moses Malone for sixth on the all-time scoring list? Kobe is playing great and is actually playing some defense. He has been hitting his threes, including one deep in the corner with the shot clock running down, in which he nailed it and turned to the crowd with his hand shaped like a goose neck. Guess who is next on the all-time scoring list? Shaq.

Highlight of the Game: As Josh Smith dribbled down the baseline, he gathered the ball and prepared himself for a two-handed slam dunk. But, Kobe was there to swat away the ball, an emphatic rejection to say the least. Josh Smith was surprised while Kobe looked to the crowd with a "I got swagger" look.

Next Game: @ Miami Heat 43-21 3rd Eastern Conference

"We want to see how much we improved since Christmas," said Kobe Bryant.

Phil called the Heat "boys" for crying after the game. The Heat are on a five game losing streak.