Real Deal

Yeah, it's something to be concerned about. Dallas is the one team the Lakers should watch out for out West, and I believe Kobe even acknowledged their potential improvement when they made that trade for Haywood (most important piece in the deal) and Butler. We don't need home court to beat 27 other teams in a playoff series, but we need it to take out the Cavaliers, and I'm starting to think we'll need it against Dallas, unless Bynum steps up and plays like an all-star.

Darren Collison, without a doubt. I don't even consider it close, to be honest.

Houston has to start winning games like this, or they can kiss the playoffs goodbye. Having three guys score 20+ every game won't get it done if they are going to allow 150 points.

Haha, you like rooting for the underdogs, don't you?

Yeah, Roy was bad on both ends of the court, really, and everyone knows how good of a defensive player Roy is.

Saw maybe five minutes of the game...and it looked like the Sixers played small and ran the hell out of them. And Sonny Weems is a PLAYER. I love it. Big loss for Toronto, though. Although they did fall to 6th, and I said that would be best for them...the loss came against a team they really should've put to sleep at home.

To be honest, he's probably one of the more intimidating players in the league, both as an opponent and as a teammate. As great as it would be having someone like him as a teammate, learning from him and winning with him, it would probably suck just as bad, because I'm sure he puts high expectations on everyone, lol. Dude might be more serious about the game than I thought, haha.

http://i48.tinypic.com/2gwxl68.gif http://i50.tinypic.com/2i1ypsx.gif http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/9237/18459.jpg http://i.imgur.com/ctMD7.gif

Thought this was funny, Lakers fans... http://i45.tinypic.com/59ucms.gif Beast.

That was pretty sick. Chris Manning (LD2k) has been doing Kobe Bryant Trailers for about two or three years now. I like the idea, don't get me wrong...but man, I love those 4-5 minute mixes with music a little more, especially when all the dunks and shots are in sync with the song playing in the background. Still cool, though.

OKC pulls it off. Westbrook didn't do much in that first half, but he was great for the Thunder in the second half, and the Kings just couldn't keep up in the end. Good win against a decent home team.

Leave it to Ray Allen to close it out. He may not be playing like the Ray Allen of a few years back, but he's still dangerous when the Celtics need a shot.

Can't say I like this for Boston. They need to get younger, and add more defense. Finley will get smoked by other two-guards, and Boston doesn't need that at all. Do they really need the bench production? He doesn't really bring much. They have Nate, Sheed, Davis and Daniels coming off the bench. I'm not sure what they were looking for in Finley.

I don't think Howard would've left Gasol. He gave him the space, but if you watch the replay, it wasn't to fill the lane for a driving Kobe, but to run out to a shooter to his right if needed. Otherwise, Howard was a little over an arm length away from Gasol, and because he's not as big as Shaq, he would've ran over to Pau quick enough, had Kobe decided to drive. Orlando (and in particular, Dwight Howard) has excellent help defense. Kobe could've driven a bit more to pull up for a shorter shot, but to be honest, I would've rather seen him shoot a three to try and win the game. That's money for him, and Barnes may be able to contest it, but he can't have a negative effect on Bryant's accuracy when that clock is ticking. This team doesn't know how to move without the ball anyway. Our defense is excellent (there are holes, though), but our offense is ugly, middle of the pack. We don't win a championship like that.

Looked as if they did to me. If not, my bad. He still landed right in his face, and he was getting in his face all game long. Doesn't matter anyway. Barnes isn't Bowen, Battier or Artest, so it's no big deal.

Good point. I'd rather play Cleveland anyway, or get our revenge on Boston before they all retire. We already took care of Orlando last season, despite the 0-2 record against them in the regular season. As much as I'm worried about the Cavaliers (they are the team that can beat us in seven, IMO), I'd still rather have that match-up. I want the best Finals possible, and you really can't get any better than that.

He was a [expletive] all game long. His hand hit Bryant's face, and even if it barely brushed against his cheek, he shouldn't have fallen right in front of Bryant, an inch away. Stop being so biased and admit Barnes was being a [expletive] to everyone on the court. Mark Jackson was pointing it out, JVG even asked why the hell Barnes was bumping into everyone like he did. The ball fake right in Bryant's face, then he bumped into him right after that...just another example. Illegal screen on Fisher. I wonder what Stu Jackson will do about that ball fake, though. I mean, that's actually considered an unnatural basketball act. Probably nothing.

Ah, well that's cool. So does anyone think Orlando can catch Cleveland?

Forget the thread. Barnes doesn't deserve a topic in this forum. Bryant put him to sleep in the 4th anyways, and it was just a miss by Bryant on that last game-winning shot attempt, definitely not on the level of Wade's shot-contesting, or what elite defenders have done against Bryant in the past. As long as the video is out there, it's all good. Topic closed.

I don't even know why I waste my time on people who root against the Lakers every single game of the season, no matter who the opposing team is. Don't bother looking, because I rarely complain about no-calls. You WOULD say something like that, though. On with the next game.

Go to the rest of the Lakers games this season and show me where I've complained. Find me a few other times, and I'll agree that I'm wrong. Or, just don't bother commenting again.

Wait, what? Barnes elbowed Kobe on the way down from that dunk, clear as day. If you didn't see that, you need to take your star-studded blue glasses off. And the clip doesn't show Barnes drilling Fisher with an illegal screen and knocking him to the floor. That screen was almost as bad as those that Kevin Garnett was laying on smaller point guards, and it was obviously intentional. Punk move by a punk player, who will get lit up, eventually, just like he did in that fourth quarter. Gonna be fun. EDIT: Forearmed him in the face, or hammer fist, whatever you want to call it...right in Kobe's face. Clear as day.

I'm sure a lot of athletes have the same "drinking troubles" as Iverson. It's convenient to write articles like this, and cover this worthless piece of news, when the man is about to lose his wife and possibly his kids, and maybe watch his own daughter die in the process.

Too bad Courtney Lee wasn't defending Kobe. He actually played good defense against him, good physical and legit defense, without the garbage in between. Even Pietrus does it without the baggage. Barnes is a fool.

@Mike_Bresnahan