What a night! What was expected to be a quick win for the Lakers even without their second scoring option Lamar Odom, turned out to be one of the logest games both teams had seen in a while. During the 3 hour, 20 minute playing time, the triple overtime, neither the sold out arena in Charlotte let the Lakers have it easy, nor the Bobcats themselves. What started as a 30-18 lead for the Lakers in the first quarter was quickly shifted as the Bobcats caught on and was a neck to neck game thereafter. The game also got physical as time passed and both Kobe Bryant and Gerald Wallace were fouled out in the overtimes. Shooting 22-45, Kobe Bryant scored 58 points, his third highest and 14th 50+ game. Still, Lakers couldn’t hold on to the win despite the tremendous efforts of Luke Walton who grabbed 5 steals, five assits, and 11 rebounds. It was an exceptionally dissapointing night for center Kwame Brown, who only scored 4 of 10 from the field and according to Head Coach Phil Jackson, “There was certainly some disappointment in the ability, or non-ability, of Kwame to complete plays that we thought were big plays for us. His teammates are disappointed. He just has to accept the fact that the next time he gets that chance, he doesn’t [fumble].” Phil went on to say that the players on the floor depended too much on Bryant. “I was yelling at them to run their offense and get away from that,” Jackson said. “They just seemed to be going back to him all the time.”

For the Bobcats,Emeka Okafor scored 22 two points and 25 rebounds, but the big help came from the bench from Matt Carroll who hit a career high 27 points and also 4-7 in three pointers. Of course, we can’t talk about three pointers without mentioning Kobe Bryant’s three pointer to tie the game at the end of the second overtime. The Lakers eventually ran out of fuel as they let the Bobcats have in the third overtime.
The Lakers wrapped up their 6 game road trip having won three and lost the other three. They take on the Philadelphia 76ers on New Years Eve.  

-Smush 

Comments from Mitch Kupchak (Lakers’ GM) and Phil Jackson suggest that the Lakers will look to add to the squad with minor changes during this offseason. However, both Mitch and Phil seem happy with the core of Kobe, Odom, Kwame, and Walton, so it is unlikely any of these players will be traded. Although Smush Parker had a solid season despite his struggles late in the playoffs, he could easily be moved to the bench if the Lakers acquire a more promising starter at the point guard position, and his salary is too low to get anyone of equal value through trade. Also, waiting to one day dominate in the paint is the Lakers’ young center Andrew Bynum who showed flashes throughout the season (including shooting 6 of 6 from the field with 16 points), but he is very young (18 years old at this point). With these said, here are the players that seem to be untradable:

Kobe Bryant
Kwame Brown
Lamar Odom
Luke Walton
Andrew Bynum

-Smush

Magic was surely in the air at TD Waterhouse Centre where the Los Angeles Lakers took on the Orlando Magic. What was a 12 point lead by the Magic in the second quarter was quickly turned to a 1 point lead as the Lakers went on 7-0 run near the end of the quarter. But the real highlight of the night was from the one and only Smush Parker who had a season high of 20 points. 18 of those 20 points came in during third quarter and Smush was playing impressive with 3 steals and 2-3 threes. The rising center Andrew Bynum brought in 13 points in 13 minutes and helped bring the Lakers a victory along with Kobe Bryant’s 27 points. The Lakers finished the game 106-93 and take on the Bobcats Friday night, continuing their roadtrip.

-Smush

Tue 12 @ Houston – WON!
Wed 13 @ Dallas – LOST!
Fri 15 vs Houston – WON!
Sun 17 vs Washington – LOST!
Tue 19 @ Chicago – LOST!
Wed 20 @ Minnesota – WON!
Fri 22 @ New Jersey – WON!
Mon 25 @ Miami – LOST!
Wed 27 @ Orlando -
Fri 29 @ Charlotte -
Sun 31 vs Philadelphia -

So far we are 4-4.

-Smush

Tonight the Lakers will be facing the Orlando Magic. The game will be aired on KCAL9, but it would be sadly delayed. Stopping Dwight Howard in the key, defending the 3 pointers, grabbing the boards, and slowing down Jameer Nelson will be our key to victory. Kobe needs to play his heart out tonight, but he has to rely on the jump shot more since Dwight will be waiting for him in the key. We have to defend the pick and roll tonight, unlike we did against Miami, because the Magic have some solid shooters, such as Jameer Nelson, Grant Hill, Carlos Arroyo, Hedo Turkoglu, and Kenyon Dooling.

 -Smush