Lakers vs. Warriors Preview | Take the odds

Mt fellow Laker fans, don't worry! Yes I said it...don't worry. Our defensive stopper in Ron Artest should be back in the lineup. Even if he isn't the Lakers will try to forget a couple of shaky starts in the past three games. The Lakers have given up 15 points in both of the loses.

A night at home against the Golden state Warriors (9-21) should do the trick. The Los Angeles Lakers (24-6) will look to avoid back to back losses for the first time since the 2007-08 season.

This will be the Lakers first game since their embarrassing defeat by the hands of LeBron James and the surging Cleveland Cavaliers. Fans threw foam hands onto the court after several questionable calls and an ejection.

While Golden State is coming off impressive wins against Boston and Phoenix they haven't had a three game winning streak since April 1-5.

The odds say the Lakers by 11.5...take the Lakers. Lakers win by 17 tonight.

Tracy McGrady says bye-bye Houston

Tracy McGrady and Houston Rockets have agreed to part ways by letting the oft-injured versatile guard/forward go back to Chicago and train while the Rockets look for a sucker!

"Screw you guys, I'm going home"



Someone call the WAAAAMBULANCE!

Lakers Win, Kobe Injured Again

BY CLINTON GOLDIE, FreshSportsDaily.com Lakers Beat Writer

The Los Angeles Lakers have been riding the Kobe wave for as long as I can remember. What is the difference between Kobe and the rest of the NBA players? The difference is that Kobe is playing with a fractured finger, no feeling in his shooting arm and hand, and a bad back. Yet Kobe found a way to stop ROY candidate Tyreke Evens from even putting up a shot at the end of regulation. Then Kobe hit two three pointers in 2OT to put the Lakers up by six. Kobe takes a charge at full speed and still has the presence to hold his injured arm up as he is falling. While Tyreke Evens maybe the ROY candidate, he met his match against the 2008 MVP and possibly 2010 MVP in Kobe "The Black Mamba" Bryant.

As this game went into overtime, all I could think about was who is going to take over? Was there another person that was going to step up besides Kobe? As much as you want to see it happen or don't want to see it happen, it's going to happen. Kobe is going to come in and drain 30 foot three pointers in double overtime with no feeling in his hand. It's better described as no feeling in his heart. Kobe lives to crush an opponent on their floor. You're setting up yourself for a heartbreaker if you keep this guy close in the game.



Even when the Lakers were down by 7 with less than two minutes left, Sacramento fans were left uneasy as a young team try to fend for themselves against a much more experienced Lakers team. You could see that as Kings coach Paul Westphal paced up and down the sidelines, while Phil Jackson sat and let Kobe unfold the situation.



How does one gain experience in winning when Kobe's in the league? You get traded to the Lakers like Ron Artest did and say  "I love Kobe." We love you Ron Ron, get better!

Lakers vs. Cavaliers Christmas Day Preview

By CLINTON GOLDIE, FreshSportsDaily.com Lakers Beat Writer

Another match-up for Kobe Bryant and Shaq on Christmas. This time the cameras won't be on Shaq and Kobe as much as they are on LeBron James and Kobe Bryant. Kobe and LeBron are the two leading MVP candidates, both are expected to bring nothing less than a jaw-dropping performance on Christmas.

Give us what we want Santa...we've all been good boys and girls, we want 40 points, 8 assists, 7 rebounds, 3 steals, and 3 blocks from each of these once-in-a-lifetime players. We want a last second shot...don't we deserve that NBA Santa? Don't we deserve a game of the year before 2009 runs out on us? This crap-year might produce one of the best games ever...will it? Will we be able to forget all the schemes, scams, and poor decisions from this past year to see a masterpiece painted before our eyes?



Oh Santa Claus, I won't sit on your lap, but I will pawn my child off as your little elf helper if you give us this little gem!

The Death of the Spurs Dynasty

By MAX CUSTARD, FreshSportsDaily.com Wire Services

When anyone mentioned true NBA title contenders for the past 10 years, the San Antonio Spurs always came up. The familiar mantra has been "the Spurs are the Spurs. They'll always be there." Much like their closest NFL counterpart, the New England Patriots, there is a tightly-held belief that San Antonio will, at the very least, get to the conference championship annually.



Just as every dynasty must inevitably fall, Wednesday night's loss to an undermanned Portland Trailblazers squad might be the moment that we point to in the near future as the end of the Spurs' run of excellence.



I hate to be an alarmist, but in 30 years of watching basketball I have never seen a team dress only six players and be competitive, let alone win, an NBA game on the road as the Blazers did Wednesday. Without diminishing what an incredible accomplishment it was for Portland to win that game, it is completely inexcusable for coach Gregg Popovich to have allowed his team to show up so blatantly flat and unprepared to play.



While it may still be too early in the season to be writing obituaries, I have a gut feeling that we will not see a Tim Duncan-led Spurs team win another NBA Championship ever again. NBA champions just do not lose games to 6-man squads that do not even feature their best player.

NBA Fired Watch - Vinny Del Negro

By MAX CUSTARD, FreshSportsDaily.com Wire Services

Following the Chicago Bulls' historic 35-point collapse against the Sacramento Kings on Monday night, Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro had "that look" in his eyes - the dazed, confused look of a coach who just got smashed over the head with a courtside chair. In addition, Del Negro didn't have his players' backs at the press conference, as he deflected the blame for the humiliating loss towards the players and away from himself, the head coach.



I know players are ultimately responsible for making baskets and playing defense. I know coaches can't get out on the floor and actually play (unless it's Bill Russell.) But if head coaches really had nothing to do with the outcomes of games, they wouldn't be out there on the sidelines screaming like lunatics. Owners are far too cheap just to pay some guy for the hell of it. Coaches should be and are held accountable for their team's performance.



Maybe Vinny's forgotten what it's like to be a player, so we'll refresh him: Players love when the coach never takes a bit of the blame for a loss. It really endears a coach to the team. Maybe Vinny thought the Bill Parcells approach would work. One little problem - Vinny ain't no Bill Parcells.



I'll give Del Negro until the All-Star break to keep his gig unless this Bulls team turns it around quickly and bounces back to the form that had them taking the Celtics to 7 games last year in the playoffs.

Lakers vs. Thunder Preview

By CLINTON GOLDIE, FreshSportsDaily.com Lakers Beat Writer

Game Info: 10:30 PM EST Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2009

TV: FSOK, FSW



Los Angeles, CA. - The Lakers have been dominant thus far, while the Thunder have been inconsistent. Yet don't rule out Oklahoma City Thunder and their leader Kevin Durant as he tries to lead his team above the .500 mark when in town against the Kobe Bryant's Los Angeles Lakers.

The Lakers have won 15-16 games and won 4 out of the 5 on their first real road trip this season. The Lakers currently hold the best record in the NBA at 22-4.



The Thunder meanwhile have dropped 4 out of the last 5 and are struggling a bit to find some rhythm. Durant especially struggled for his standards going 6 for 18 from the field for 16 points. Durant, fourth in the NBA at 27.2 points per game, has been inconsistent of late. Durant had 27 points in a 109-98 win over Detroit on Friday, two nights after tying his season low with 12 points on 4 for 18 shooting in a 100-86 loss to the Mavericks.



The Lakers can't afford to let their guard down. Laker fans expect them to get up by 20 or so by the 2nd quarter. Then the Lakers will let their bench squander the lead away trying to learn the complicated Triangle system. You would think after watching the Triangle from the bench for three quarters a night and then practicing it that the bench players could run it efficiently. Yet, more times than none this year, Kobe has had to come back into a game in the 4th quarter and bail them out.

Kobe Bryant Hits Game Winner...Again?!?!

By CLINTON GOLDIE, FreshSportsDaily.com Lakers Beat Writer

Kobe, Kobe, Kobe…or MVP, MVP, MVP. Take your pick because it doesn’t matter. This guy has ice water running through his veins. The black mamba strikes again. This time with no time left on the clock in overtime, on the road in Milwaukee Kobe hits a turn around fade away jumper to “redeem himself” for missing the earlier game winning attempt in regular time. As Kobe put it after the game he’d “be pissed” if he missed that shot. Kobe finished the night going for 39 points on 13-28 from the field but a perfect 12-12 from the free throw line.

This was another huge night for Pau Gasol who continues to rack up the rebounds. Tonight he pulled down a game, season, and career high of 22 while shooting 9-15 from the floor for 26 points. Pau continues to show why his trade is one of the steals of the century as the Lakers swindled the Grizzlies into taking Kwame Brown. Pau Gasol might be one of the best power forwards simply because of his ability to elevate his game to a standard where Kobe not only trusts, yet admires his skills. His cerebral approach could be seen when the Lakers broke down during a stretch in the fourth quarter. Pau accidentally tripped fellow player Derek Fisher allowing an easy basket by the Bucks. As Phil Jackson called a timeout to rip into his player, Pau already knew what happened, apologized, but made good on the next play with a solid block out and rebound.



The amazing part for this writer is that really good and sometimes great players like Andrew Bynum, Lamar Odom, and Ron Artest haven’t needed to be a factor. As the NBA season wears on the body, these players will need to step it up like Lamar has done in the past and be those go to guys. It’s not who starts, but who finishes.