Kaman, Meeks Carry Lakers Past Suns

Knowing a playoff spot is at stake for the Suns, the Lakers took it to heart in attempt to derail their division rival's hopes. Chris Kaman had his best game of the season since last month vs. Chicago as he was the Lakers' top performer with 28 points and 17 rebounds to lead the Lakers' upset over the Suns 99-115. Jodie Meeks was the 2nd leading scorer 22 points, Kendall Marshall finally re-igniting some life into his game, recording 13 points and 11 assists, and Kent Bazemore racked up 12 points despite shooting poorly from the field. From the bench, Ryan Kelly was the top scorer chipping 17 points and Nick Young contributed 11 points, also despite shooting from the field.

Final Score: vs. Phoenix 99-115 [W]
Full Recap: http://www.nba.com/games/20140330/PHXLAL/gameinfo.html

Highlights:

Next Game: vs. Portland (04/01)

Note: I do apologize for these posts coming in late. I've been in and out of the hospital with family taking care of my grandmother. Hopefully no setbacks happen for my grandma tomorrow, if so, the Lakers-Blazers game will be in the quick recap format. Once again, I'm very sorry guys.

Lakers Hammered by T'Wolves

The Lakers wrap up their back-to-back road trip to the northwest and just when Milwaukee was a bad start, the end in Minnesota was just worse. Kent Bazemore was the Lakers' top performer scoring 21 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists, but it was over when it started as the T'Wolves put on 41 point performance in the 1st quarter and never looked back, routing the Lakers 107-143. Jodie Meeks added 19 points and Jordan Hill took a step back scoring only 10 points and 7 rebounds after a 28 point and 16 rebound performance last night. Robert Sacre was the bench's leading scorer with 14 points, Wesley Johnson added 13 points, and Nick Young had one of his worst shooting performances since returning from injury, scoring 11 points, but only connecting 3-12 shots.

Final Score: @ Minnesota 107-143 [L]
Full Recap: http://www.nba.com/lakers/gameday/140328_gameday_timberwolves

Highlights:

*To be posted*

Next Game: vs. Phoenix (03/30)

Lakers Fall Short vs. Bucks

I'm going to make this recap as quick as possible because the Lakers have a game tonight on back-to-back nights vs. the Timberwolves to wrap up their northwest road trip. As bad as the Bucks have been lately, they showed that records can be a bit misleading. Jordan Hill was the Lakers to performer with 28 points and 16 rebounds on 13-17 shooting (providing valuable stat lines on my fantasy team in the playoffs), but the Lakers couldn't extend the Bucks' losing skid as the Lakers fell short 105-108 in Milwaukee. Only three other Laker players were in double figures as Chris Kaman added 13 points, Jodie Meeks with 10 points, and Nick Young off the bench with 17 points.

Final Score: @ Milwaukee 105-108 [L]
Full Recap: http://www.nba.com/games/20140327/LALMIL/gameinfo.html

Highlights:

Next Game: @ Minnesota (Tonight 5 PM Pacific Time)

Lakers Blow Out Knicks on 51 Point 3rd Quarter Performance

Ok guys, yesterday's game was supposed to have Q-by-Q, Halftime Post and Full Recap. However, I had to attend to a personal emergency, it was a rough day for me yesterday and I wasn't able to see the game because I spent most of the game time waiting in the ER waiting room with family. Right now, everything is fine, just a tough day, but I'm ready to give you guys a quick recap about last night's game.

So the Lakers blew out the Knicks at Staples Center, 1st quarter looked like the Knicks had it in the bag, then the Lakers stormed back in the 2nd quarter and they didn't let up all game, scoring a franchise record 51 points in the 3rd quarter. No Kobe, no Nash, no Gasol, this Laker team was on fire last night. Xavier Henry was the Lakers' top performer this game with 22 points, 8-11 shooting on the bench to help the Lakers lay the smackdown on the Knicks and their playoff hopes 96-127, spoiling their playoff hopes big time. Obviously Phil Jackson was in attendance, I told you guys in my Spurs-Lakers recap, PJ was going to be there and I assumed there were loud chants of "We Want Phil" before or during the game. Back to the recap, Nick Young added 20 points on 6-10 shooting off the bench, Kent Bazemore added 18 points, the bench was huge last night. Starters in double-figures, Jodie Meeks chipped in 14 points and Chris Kaman, back on the active roster, finished the game with a decent near double-double with 13 points and 9 rebounds and our other bigs, Jordan Hill and Robert Sacre were perfect 4-4 from the field with 9 points from Hill and 8 points from Sacre.

Overall, the Knicks were just absolute crap this game and the Lakers took advantage of it, huge disparity from 3 point land with the Lakers shooting 64% compared to the Knicks' 26%. Us Laker fans, we're aware we're a lottery team, but for Knicks fans, when you get blown out like this and almost lose to a mediocre 76ers team, you guys are thinking "we don't deserve a playoff spot." There's absolute disparity in the East, the only team I can think of potentially knocking off either Miami or Indiana is Chicago because coach Thibs makes his players play hard. Other than that, the playoff picture in the East is a joke. Anyway, the Lakers start a mini northwest trip to Milwaukee and Minnesota, go back home against a Phoenix team scrapping for a playoff spot. They are on National TV again against the reeling Trail Blazers on Tuesday so I'll see you guys for that game.

Final Score: vs. New York 96-127 [W]
Full recap: http://www.nba.com/games/20140325/NYKLAL/gameinfo.html

Highlights:

Next Game: @ Milwaukee (03/27)

No Gasol, No Nash, No Kobe, No Problem as Lakers Top Magic

Prayers out to Gasol and hope he is ok after finding out via Bleacher Report's Team Stream app that he suffered an illness during tonight's game. With Gasol out, Jordan Hill managed to pick up the slack for this Laker team as he was the team's top performer with 28 points and 13 rebounds on 9-15 shooting to help the Lakers make Magic disappear 94-103, ending a short 4-game losing skid. Only two other Lakers joined Hill in double-figure scoring as Jodie Meeks chipped in 13 points and 6 steals, but didn't have a good shooting night finishing 4-11 from the field and Nick Young was the bench's leading scorer with 26 points on 8-17 shooting, displaying another great game scoring-wise coming back from injury.

Final Score: vs. Orlando 94-103 [W]
Full Recap: http://www.nba.com/games/20140323/ORLLAL/gameinfo.html

Highlights:

Next Game: vs. New York (03/25)

Nash, Hill, Young Return, Still Can't Help Lakers' Woes vs. Wizards

Being out for a long period of time, Jordan Hill, Nick Young, and Steve Nash returned for the Lakers in tonight's game vs. Washington. Among the 3, Young was the one that didn't look like he missed a beat as he was the Lakers' top performer off the bench with 21 points on 7-19 shooting and 4-9 from beyond the arc, but even at close to full strength, the Lakers still faltered over the Wizards 117-107. Hill added 9 points and 14 rebounds and Nash (surprised they let him play at this point of the season) chipped in 5 points and dished out 11 assists. All other Lakers, Jodie Meeks was the top performer in the starting lineup also with 21 points and 4 steals; Pau Gasol, another double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds, Robert Sacre added 11 points, and Xavier Henry came off the bench finishing the night with 12 points.

Final Score: vs. Washington 117-107 [L]
Full Recap: http://www.nba.com/lakers/gameday/140321_gameday_wizards

Highlights:

Next Game: vs. Orlando (03/23)

Lakers Fall to Spurs Again

Alright, welcome in to the full recap of tonight's game between the Lakers and the San Antonio Spurs as both teams wrap up playing each other back-to-back and the Lakers put up a better effort against the Spurs at Staples, but it was still the same result as the Spurs beat the Lakers 125-109.

First 3 quarters, I was satisfied with the Lakers' efforts of putting up a better fight against this Spurs team and making this a game and then the 4th quarter, things just went out of control for the Lakers and the more experienced Spurs managed to take advantage of the mistakes of the Lakers' young guns and continued to show why despite their old nucleus in Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili, they still manage to rack up wins.

The Positives

Pau Gasol, 22 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists, 8-18 shooting. I cited Gasol as a negative (I had time to think about it because I was pleased with the Lakers' efforts), but I predicted he was going to get it going by the 2nd half and he did. He didn't have a solid shooting night, but Gasol always puts up efficient numbers to retain his title as the constant for this Laker team.

Xavier Henry (1st half), 19 points, 8-14 shooting. Refer to my halftime post on Xavier's first half performance. I thought he was getting more healthy as he's getting integrated back from the game. I thought his jumper was getting more polished and I gave credit to D'Antoni for keeping him in the game because he was the Lakers' offense in the first half and was doing everything right, till the 2nd half came along.

Robert Sacre, 7 points, 11 rebounds. Again refer to my halftime post. Sacre didn't finish good, but I thought he had a decent game tonight playing alone in the interior as the Lakers went small and playing alongside Gasol. Sacre played decent minutes

Kent Bazemore, 13 points, 5-11 shooting, 6 steals. Once again, I love Bazemore's attitude of playing hard until the final buzzer. He didn't have any time to show his skills in his stint with the Warriors, but Bazemore's activity was amazing this game. 6 steals, including pick pocketing Tony Parker for a breakaway dunk. Bazemore is definitely a guy in consideration to keep on this Laker team, he may be a bench cheerleader, but when you put him on the floor, he plays hard and brings the energy.

The Negatives

Xavier Henry (2nd half), 5 points, 1-8 shooting. What the hell happen X? I'm just assuming Henry started gassing out in the 2nd half because he got his explosiveness back to drive to the rim and I guess that same explosiveness drained him out. Another guess is that he built a lot of confidence that he was trying to hard to do too much and not rely on his teammates. There was one play in the game where he tried to knock down a floater in front of 4 defenders and personally I think a foul should've been called. It was a tale of two halves for Henry where in the 1st half he played amazing, then in the 2nd half, he started coming back down to earth.

Jodie Meeks 11 points, 4-10 shooting. He still has not recovered from his 42 point performance. That's the one knock that Meeks has is not following up, not being consistent. It's three straight games already since he hasn't dropped a 20+ point performance.

Transition Defense. What else can I say? The Spurs' ball movement killed the Lakers' transition defense at the end of the game. Guys like Marco Belinelli, Danny Green, Kawhi Leonard, and Ginobili were being wide open as a book to hit  momentum-killing 3s. Lucky enough, the Spurs didn't hit as much 3s as last game (they still scored a lot of point this game though), but the transition defense has been a huge issue for the Lakers for a long time.

Conclusion

Well playing the two best teams back-to-back is over. The Lakers were lucky enough to snatch at least one week in that hectic sequence of the schedule. Nothing else to say, I'll see you guys for the game against the Knicks on Tuesday. Hopefully a Phil Jackson sighting is in effect. If he makes an appearance, you can bet us Laker fans will be chanting "We want Phil" from the top of our lungs. I'll see you guys later.

03/19: LAKERS vs. San Antonio Spurs (Again) Q-by-Q Reaction

Q4:

Score: SA 125 LAL 109

And the Spurs showed why they are the best team in the West and one of the hottest teams in the NBA right now. It was a good effort from the Lakers, but overall this 4th quarter was just ugly for the Lakers as their game spiraled out of control. Stay tuned for the full recap.

Q3:

Score: SA 92 LAL 87

Henry's falling, but Gasol is rising, just as I predicted in my halftime post. This is a game and the Lakers are just hanging around, they just need to keep hitting their shots and play defense.

Q2:

Score: SA 58 LAL 57

I'm seeing much better ball movement from the Lakers because this is the way to keep within striking distance against the Spurs, sharing the ball. Onto the halftime report.

Q1:

Score: SA 35 LAL 29

Better competitive effort to battle this deep Spurs team this time around. Xavier Henry looks like he's getting more healthy and re-adapting to the game scoring 8 straight points. All I can say, great effort from the Lakers to start, if they stay like this, it'll be a close game as to what every odds maker predicts.

LAKERS vs. Spurs Halftime Post

Score: SA 58 LAL 57

Alright welcome in to the halftime post of the game between the Lakers and the San Antonio Spurs where the Spurs are clinging on to a one point lead after the first half.

The Positives

Xavier Henry, 19 points, 8-14 shooting from the field. Professor X, Sir Henry, his game is starting to get going after a few games back from injury. His game is penetrating and using his speed to blow by defenders, but Henry's jumper looks more polish. His outside shooting still needs a little work, but Henry is our offense this game and D'Antoni milked the hot hand as much as he can during that half. X's highlight this game, shaking Tiago Splitter and hitting the step back jumper.

Robert Sacre 6 points, 7 rebounds. Gasol is struggling this game and Sacre put up some efficient numbers playing long-term minutes. Sacre can be a good backup center in this league if he can polish up his post moves and hook shots, but I liked his activity this game so far and expect him to play more minutes because the bench was doing it all this game.

The Negatives

Pau Gasol, 8 points, 4 rebounds, 4-11 shooting. Gasol must be tired from carrying the load of this team too much. I understand the long layoff between this game and the game at San Antonio. I expect Gasol to get it going in the 2nd half, but credit to the Spurs defense for locking him down in the post.

Bottom Line

A better effort than the game at San Antonio. The Lakers have moved the ball at the right places, made the extra pass for better shot percentages, they need to keep this up if they're planning for an upset against one of the best teams in the West.

2014 Oakland Raiders Offseason Activity (will be constantly updated)

03/15:

Gain:

FS Usama Young - Re-signed to a 2 year deal

COMMENT: Glad to see at least one player from our secondary last season re-signed. Young is a great backup at safety for special defensive packages and a very relatable, stand up locker room guy.

Loss:

03/14:

Gain:

DE Antonio Smith (HOU) - Signed to a 2 year $9 M deal

COMMENT: JJ Watt's partner in crime! But our defensive ends so far are in the 30s range in age with Tuck (30) & now Smith (32), but they still have some mileage left to still get after the quarterback on the edge. Legit pass rush duo McKenzie has brought together via free agency.

CB Tarell Brown (SF) - Signed to a 1 year $3.5 M deal (via Twitter)

COMMENT: Very underrated pickup. Played opposite end of Carlos Rodgers, but I think the 49ers have more confidence going forward with Tramaine Brock. Since McKenzie is going defense first, he's now addressing the secondary and follow the pattern the last three signings including this one: defensive line (Tuck), linebacker (Woodley), and secondary (Brown).

Loss:

DT Vance Walker - Signed to a 3 year $13 M deal with the Kansas City Chiefs (via Twitter)

COMMENT: The worst thing that could happen is getting one of your own players signed to a division rival. Walker had his moments in Oakland, but didn't do much impact because Pat Sims was getting the spotlight on the inside.

03/13:

Gain:

LB LaMarr Woodley (PIT) - Signed to 2 year $12 M deal

COMMENT: A great addition to an already-solid linebacker corps, but I think he's going to play majority of minutes as a defensive end. At least Woodley can provide that leadership role at linebacker from his experience playing with a solid, but aging Steelers defense. Likely, Tarver will hit him up with creative defensive packages on playing his natural outside Linebacker spot and as a full time defensive end. Sio Moore could learn a thing or two from him to get after the quarterback quickly.

DE Justin Tuck (NYG) - Signed to a 2 year $11 M deal

COMMENT: This is a signing I can live with. The Saffold deal was just another failed experiment, major setback, but McKenzie is getting a grip and recovering step by step. I like the Tuck signing, played opposite end of JPP and they can give offensive tackles hell when healthy. Last season, Tuck had to carry all the pass rushing load considering JPP was out majority of the season. We have a decent pass rusher to say the least, but the defensive line still has a lot beefing up to do and hopefully we can snag Jason Hatcher to fill the interior.

Loss:

CB Tracy Porter - Agreed to sign with the Washington Redskins

COMMENT: Another frustrating loss. I just would've love to see our secondary in tact because that's one of the positions that I feel is good enough to stay along with our linebacker corps if we just build around a decent defensive line to rock the pocket. With Porter going to Washington, it's an interesting pair up with him and DeAngelo Hall, although Porter is usually fit in Dime packages, but he's proven to be a starting-caliber cornerback (I mean the dude picked off Peyton Manning to seal the Saints' first Super Bowl victory). Paging Walter Thurmond?

03/11: Start of Free Agency

Gain:

OT Austin Howard (NYJ) - Signed to a 5 year $30 M deal

COMMENT: I said in my preview that there are three priorities the Raiders have to address in the offseason and one of them is offensive line. Reggie McKenzie is doing just that signing Saffold early on at the start of free agency and now, before the end of day 1, inked ex-New York Jets right tackle, Austin Howard. I honestly don't like how we've given big contracts to two offensive linemen, Saffold, that was questionable and Howard, a little understanding since he's one of the best right tackles available in the market. Putting a lot of beef on the O-line, now I would like to see Reggie find a way now to address the already-thin defensive line and at least, just one decent play maker.

RB Darren McFadden - Re-signed to a 1 year $4 M deal

COMMENT: UGH! Well it was indeed an option to bring back McFadden for cheap. A lot of fans like myself are livid due to the fact that he can't stay healthy, we want him to walk but for him to be put on a 1 year deal is a safe deal and McKenzie is saying that "we're giving you one more chance to deliver for a full season, if not, you'll be gone permanently" and rightfully so. It makes sense too since Jennings is gonna sign with the Giants.

OT Rodger Saffold (STL) - Signed to a 5 year $42.5 M deal (UPDATE: Contract signing nullified after Saffold failed his physical)

COMMENT: We needed a fallback since Jared Veldheer is going to Arizona. Haven't seen too much on Saffold, but what I'm hearing in the comments section, not positive and McKenzie's gotta pick it up after losing two of his top tier free agents early on in the new NFL year. UPDATE: Well at least that saves wasted cap money. Kinda like the Jared Gaither situation back in 2011 where the same thing happened when Gaither failed his physical and couldn't sign a contract with the Raiders. McKenzie has to start leveling up his game because the top tier free agents are selling out fast.


Loss:

RB Rashad Jennings - Agreed to sign with the New York Giants (via Twitter) (Contract Details: 4 years $14 M)

COMMENT: Another free agent I'd love the Raiders to bring back gone. Jennings helps toughen up the Giants' running game with his physical style of running. Now the Raiders definitely have a wide open competition at running back unless we bring somebody like a Darren Sproles or a Knowshon Moreno (I'm just making guesses).

DE Lamarr Houston - Signed with the Chicago Bears to a 5 year $35 M deal           
OT Jared Veldheer - signed with the Arizona Cardinals to a 5 year $37.5 M deal          

COMMENT: Welp there goes our top priorities, it was expected since respectively, Houston and Veldheer have garnered high interests for the Bears and Cardinals respectively, Bears needed a backup plan since Julius Peppers is about to depart and Veldheer, reunites with Carson Palmer; the Cardinals got a top tier offensive tackle

Lakers Wrap Up Back-to-Back Southwest Road Trip With Another Blowout Loss

Alright welcome in to the full recap of the game between the Lakers and the San Antonio Spurs where the Lakers have yet again suffered another blowout loss to an elite team in the West in the Spurs 85-119 to wrap up their back to back road trip in the Southwest.

Well this loss officially puts us out of playoff contention. Wait, we were still in the playoff hunt prior to this game? Obviously there was no way in hell that the Lakers would've storming back in the season to push for a playoff spot, we all know that. An even awkward moment when the Los Angeles D-Fenders, the D-League affiliate of the Lakers scored more points in their last game than the Lakers this game and the game last night against the Thunder.

The Positives

Pau Gasol, Lakers' top performer with 18 points, 11 rebounds, and 4 blocks on 8-16 shooting. Major freaking props to Gasol for continuing to play out when the season's already lost and even more lost with Kobe and Nash both officially ruled out for the season. A lot of fair weather fans were calling for his head and his name popped up in the trade category so many times. Without Gasol, the Lakers' would've easily break the Bobcats' worst winning percentage in NBA history, especially with kind of roster they have and with so many injuries. Talking off season, it's gonna be hard to bring Pau back considering Kobe's extension ate up most of the salary cap, unless Pau is willing to accept less money to stay, which is highly unlikely, he's still an efficient big man in the league unless his age really catches up to him.

The Negatives

3 point shooting. The last time I remember when the Spurs faced the Lakers early on in the season, they held them to like 25% from 3 point land. This game, the Spurs' defense held the Lakers to an abysmal 4-21 shooting. The D'Antoni system was non-existent this game and like I said in my halftime post, D'Antoni's system all-time against Pop and the Spurs' defense has not had any great success and it was further evident. When the Spurs started shooting the ball well in the 1st and the Lakers still couldn't make a bucket, that's when I knew that the Spurs easily had this in the bag; it was a no contest from the start.

Jodie Meeks, 15 points, 5-17 shooting. This is what I hope I didn't want to see from Meeks, have a great game on Sunday, then go on a flat out free fall (he did shoot well last night against the Thunder again, but didn't put up as much points). He's still got a lot of consistency to do, but regardless he's still my dark horse for NBA's Most Improved Player because he expanded his game to say the least other than just being a spot up 3 point shooter.

Garbage time efficiency. The only time the Lakers got going was garbage time. I see in the 4th that they were finally moving the ball and the shooting has improved a little because the Spurs went deep in their bench already. Garbage time points helps ease the pain of a blowout loss a little, but when that time hits and players start hitting shots and moving the ball, it's pathetic to see that.

Conclusion

Out of the playoffs, the season's almost over and the torture is almost over. Lucky enough I'm a Raiders fan in football and I guess witnessing those long losing seasons paid off because little did I know the disappointment was going to pass down to the Lakers at some point in time. We play the Spurs again on Wednesday, I mean what a joke of a schedule to play two of the best teams in the West twice back-to-back (one at home and one on the road). I'll see you guys for that game. Be sure to keep track of my post of the Raiders' free agency transactions here on my blog because Reggie McKenzie is starting to make a flurry of moves.

03/14: LAKERS @ San Antonio Spurs Q-by-Q Reaction

Q4:

Score: LAL 85 SA 119

No contest, simply no contest. Stay tuned for the full recap.

Q3:

Score: LAL 60 SA 89

A better quarter from the Lakers, but yet again the depth of the Spurs is the reason why the game is still not even close and it has not been the whole game since the beginning of the 1st quarter.

Q2:

Score: LAL 34 SA 61

How on earth did Kendall Marshall miss that layup at the end? Nothing else to say, back to back games hurt. Onto the halftime report.

Q1:

Score: LAL 14 SA 29

Sloppy game to start with offensively for both teams, but the Spurs turned it up and showed why they are still one of the best and most consistent team in the West. I lost count how many times Kawhi Leonard destroyed Ryan Kelly and the Lakers got to start getting the jump shot going because this Spurs team is underrated in the paint defensively. Reason why the Spurs have this massive lead early, good ball movement and penetration and busted defense from the Lakers.

LAKERS @ Spurs Halftime Post

Score: LAL 34 SA 61

Alright welcome in to the halftime post of the game between the Lakers and the San Antonio Spurs where the Spurs are all over the Lakers 34-61 as the Lakers close out their to Southwest road trip in San Antonio.

The Positives

Positives? Gasol 12 points and 10 rebounds. That's about all I can say about the positives this game because the there have been no pluses this game so far.

The Negatives

Shot Selection. The Lakers are shooting 26% from the field and 17% from 3 point land compared to the Spurs' 45% and 44% from 3 point land. For a long time, the Spurs have been an underrated defense under coach Pop. No surprise, head to head wise, Mike D'Antoni's offense record against Gregg Popovich and the Spurs' defense has been abysmal. Pop knows D'Antoni's style well and it's no surprise the Lakers are struggling shooting the ball and driving to the hoop just like the at Staples early in the season the last time these two teams met.

Ball Movement. As an NBA fan, you can't deny how beautiful and fundamental the Spurs play basketball making the extra pass for a better high percentage shot. The Lakers have been lacking that all game long as they only have 9 assists compared to San Antonio's 18. To break the defense of the Spurs, you have to give them a taste of their own medicine in moving the ball well and the Lakers aren't doing that.

Bottom Line

The Spurs are just that deep of a team. There's no way the Lakers can't keep up with the Spurs' full on 12 man rotation considering the short handed roster they have. If they want to get back in the game, they have to pick it up offensively and they are just ice cold right now and still feeling the fatigue after getting beat down by the Thunder at OKC last night.

Durant, Westbrook Burn Lakers in OKC

Well Sunday's victory was sweet while it lasted. Removed from their last game, the Lakers traveled to OKC for a final regular season showdown against the Thunder to remind the world that the Lakers are what everybody thought they were, still a lottery team. Jodie Meeks' was the Lakers top performer, slight regression from his 42 point outburst with 19 points on 6-15 shooting and 3-4 from three point land, but Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook reminded everybody why they are the league's most dynamic duo as both scored 29 points to help the Thunder cruise past the Lakers 102-131. 5 other players were in double figures besides Meeks. Pau Gasol added 14 points and 6 rebounds, Ryan Kelly added 12 points and 6 assists, and Wesley Johnson racked up 10 points, but shot 4-11 from the field. Kent Bazemore was the Lakers' leading bench scorer racking up 16 points and 7 rebounds and Jordan Farmar was the second leading bench scorer with 13 points.

Final Score: vs. Oklahoma City 102-131 [L]
Full Recap: http://www.nba.com/games/20140313/LALOKC/gameinfo.html

Highlights:

Next Game: @ San Antonio (03/14)

Oakland Raiders 2014 Free Agency Outlook

Alright Raider Nation welcome in to my preview of the upcoming 2014 Free Agency period for the Raiders. Obviously we all know that the free agency period is like every NFL team's Black Friday and starting tomorrow, it's big spending time for all 32 teams on the unrestricted free agent market.

So far during the offseason, the Raiders have made little coaching changes, particularly on the defensive backs position, so I want to give a late welcome to coaches Joe Woods and Marcus Robertson. Both coaches were recruited from the NFC North with Woods coming in from the Minnesota Vikings, coaching under Leslie Frazier and Marcus Robertson came the Detroit Lions, serving under the recently fired Lion head coach, Jim Schwartz.

Prior to the upcoming free agency period, Raiders re-signed Taiwan Jones to a 3 year contract extension. Good move on McKenzie's part because Jones was our bright spot on special teams and thrived into the gunner role really well and hopefully Jones tries out at the now wide open running back position since we signed CFL Grey Cup MVP, Kory Sheets as a camp body to start the preseason. Aside from Sheets, another notable camp body the Raiders also is QB, Trent Edwards. If you're not familiar with Edwards, he joined the Raiders as a camp body before in 2011 and I can just say welcome back and hope McGloin or Pryor can learn a thing or two from them. Raiders have also tendered 6 exclusive rights free agents, among them are safety Brandian Ross, Chimdi Chekwa, Jamize Olawale, and Kaelin Burnett, although I read that Brandian Ross is the only confirmed exclusive rights FA that was signed.

So where to start, finally the Raiders have the money to spend on solid free agent players. McKenzie and Dennis Allen had 2 years to endure from salary cap hell, now they can start signing their guys. Basically this is it for both Reggie and Dennis, no more excuses, it's either put up or shut up in this year's offseason period. So that's the good news, the bad news is, the Raiders didn't use the franchise tag on either Lamarr Houston or Jared Veldheer. That adds a little more pressure because for sure a lot of teams are going to offer both free agents, big money and a big contract.

If I had to choose between the two on who's the top priority to resign for the Raiders, I'd probably put my priority on re-signing Veldheer. Yeah Veldheer was injured the majority of last season, but aside from Stefen Wisniewski, Veldheer has been our constant on the offensive line. When he's healthy, he can solidly shut down on a team's top pass rusher and we've been missing that last season since he went down during the preseason. Other than that, in my opinion, Veldheer should be our top priority to re-sign, he missed the majority of last season, but we already saw the impact with his absence, since Khalif Barnes couldn't match wits with the league's top tier pass rushers. By the way I forgot to mention, Barnes re-signed with the Raiders also, I mean I'm tired of the Raiders hanging onto him, but now I realize him coming back, I'm not too mad at it as I used to be because he provides that depth on the offensive line anyway.

As a whole, there are three priorities the Raiders have to address during this free agency period: offensive line, defensive line, players who can make a big play and can mentor the younger receivers or running backs. Defensive line wise, if we tend to lose Houston, I thought Carolina's Greg Hardy would provide a big upgrade over him, but since Hardy agreed to the franchise tender, highly unlikely we get him. We need guys who can get to the quarterback and can wreck the interior because the defensive line was outright atrocious and our linebackers and secondary have been getting burned. It wouldn't hurt to go after someone older like a Jared Allen, we don't know how many mileage he has, but he can be that veteran leader up front, what the Raiders have been lacking last season since we didn't bring back Richard Seymour (and rightfully so). Defensive line is what I'm looking at for the Raiders to fill this season and they can bring in a few serviceable offensive linemen to beef up o-line depth. For big play players, if we're going to build our offense around a young quarterback like Pryor, McGloin, or anybody in the draft whether it'd be David Carr or Johnny Manziel (I hope not), we need somebody like a Jeremy Maclin, a Pierre Garcon, or a Hakeem Nicks to be that guide and reliable target for the young QB to go to. It wouldn't hurt to bring in a veteran back up. All this talk about Michael Vick to the Raiders campaign, I love it as a pipe dream, but will Vick accept that mentorship role to tutor the QBs, especially tutoring Terrelle Pryor? Personally, I think Vick going to Oakland would be good for Pryor, but if we're looking to a more traditional pocket passer QB, we'd have to go with a Josh McCown or another capable backup QB.

Which free agents do I want to see brought back? Rashad Jennings, Tracy Porter, and Charles Woodson. I'm done with Darren McFadden, I would be shocked if he accepted a lesser role and re-signed for cheap (he wants big money when in fact he hasn't played 1 full season), I think Jennings has played his heart out to earn a contract extension and it puts up more competition at the running back position. Tracy Porter and Charles Woodson, just their presence alone, particularly with C-Wood, you can see the secondary playing with heart at times, C-Wood is a fan favorite in Oakland, why would the Raiders not bring him back to finish out his career permanently? Porter, he's had his ups and downs last season, but he's been our decent nickel corner and with DJ Hayden coming back healthy, he can learn a lot if the Raiders bring back C-Wood and Porter in the secondary.

Overall, it's going to be interesting to see what approach McKenzie takes tomorrow. Like I said, this is it, we've deconstructed everything the last 2 years, now we can finally start building from the ground up. If McKenzie makes boneheaded moves or overpays and coach Allen can't get the team to improve, they'll be hearing it from us I can tell you that. I'll be looking forward to the free agency period, be sure to keep track on it here on the blog as I'll update it constantly on one post on who signed and my comments on the signing. I'll see you guys later.

Lakers Hold on to Lead This Time vs. Thunder

Alright welcome in to the full recap for today's game between the Lakers and the Thunder where the Lakers have brought the energy and intensity today to upset the Thunder 110-114, redeeming from the last February game where the Lakers choked on the lead the last time these two clubs met and they learned from that and managed to finally get a little sweet redemption at Staples against the Thunder.

What I thought when the Thunder jumped to an 11 point lead at the end of the 1st quarter, I was like here we go again, we're going to get another ass kicking from one the contending teams in the West, especially against the Thunder, when you're up against the best team in the West, there is no room for error. The Lakers responded the last three quarters, gave a scare in the fourth and they managed to pull it off.

The Positives

Jodie Meeks, 42 points on 11-18 shooting, 6-11 beyond the arc, 14-14 from the charity stripe and 4 steals. Overall, just a fantastic game from Meeks, his activity this game was all over the place and I mean that in a good way. He managed to disrupt Russell Westbrook enough on defense, very good shot selection, he made the extra decision when he needed too, and I tell you guys, once Meeks is hot, he's hot. After this game, I don't care how poorly the Lakers have played all season, like I said in the halftime post, Meeks is my dark horse candidate for the Most Improved Player award. Besides Gasol (of course Gasol has been the constant and had another good game today), Meeks has been playing phenomenal this season. He's not just the stand behind the three line and shoot away player like he has been the last couple seasons in the NBA, he has expanded his game, using his speed to penetrate and create very high percentage shots and he's also a very underrated defender.

Jordan Farmar, 12 points, 4-9 shooting, 3-4 beyond the arc. Farmar came alive at the right time during the 2nd half, coming up with big shots as Meeks looked like he was getting cold at the final minutes of the 3rd and continued on in the 4th. Farmar played decent off the bench.

Ryan Kelly, 12 points, 8 assists. The activity of Ryan Kelly has been everywhere today. I give some credit to Mike D'Antoni for putting Kelly back in the starting lineup because he's starting to rebuild some of that confidence and he showed me not only he can score, he can facilitate. His one pass to Meeks, off balance looked like he was going force it up, nice last minute decision to find the cutting Meeks for a reverse layup. Kelly also displayed some defensive game too, having 2 nice blocks and helping with the trap defense at the right time.

Kent Bazemore, 11 points, 7 rebounds. Bazemore is more on a limbo this game, but he made a couple of clutch shots to help the Lakers hold onto the lead. When OKC was going on a crazy run at the final minutes in the 4th, Kent Bazemore, hit a critical 3, a critical jumper, he was clutch this game, not to mention he got dunked on by Westbrook too when his dunk put the Thunder within 3. Give a lot of credit for Bazemore to come out, make a couple of big shots to help the Lakers pull away.

The Negatives

2nd chance points. If there is ever a reason what kept the Thunder alive this game even though the Lakers were outplaying them defensively and continued pushing, it was the offensive rebounds and 2nd chance points. The Thunder out-rebounded the Lakers 19-1, talk about a huge disparity. I was literally screaming at the TV and at Pau or anybody to at least get one defensive rebound to seal the victory. The Thunder were down to one timeout left, in my opinion, I thought Reggie Jackson stepped out before he called the Thunder's penultimate timeout because I think Pau and Marshall trapped him so hard. However, one timeout, you're letting them back in the game and they have a chance to come back and steal a game. That is what's basically hindered the Lakers from a flawless game against the Thunder, the lack of boxing out and giving the Thunder more chances to stay alive and potentially win this game, but lucky enough they were missing free throws, missing bad shots with questionable shot selection, and the Lakers were able to hold on and win.

Conclusion

Overall, the phrase "any given Sunday" applies to anywhere, not just in the NFL and the Lakers, despite having the worst record in the West pulled off a big upset today against the team with the best record in the West in the Thunder. As a Laker fan, I look at this as a pride and poise win, it's not a big win considering we're not in playoff contention, but it was for pride and they showed a lot of poise this game to knock OKC off. If I were a Thunder fan, I'd be concern with the style of play they've been playing at this stretch of the season. The Thunder they jump to a big lead and then they start taking their foot off the gas and play out of control to let opponents back in the game. And as a Thunder, I would be very concern because the #1 seed in the West is still a free for all, San Antonio is slowly knocking on the door with their ever consistent play, in fact San Antonio just claimed the #1 seed after this loss and then you have the Rockets and the Clippers coming from behind and both of those teams are hot right now. So legitimate chance OKC can drop at best to the #4 seed, if they keep playing like that and unless Portland gets it going again, they can snatch the Northwest Division away from the Thunder. Anyway thanks guys for reading the full recap. NFL free agency is just around the corner, either tonight or tomorrow, I'll give out my free agency preview for the Raiders. I'm out.

03/09: LAKERS vs. OKC Thunder Q-by-Q Reaction

Q4:

Score: OKC 110 LAL 114

What a game. Looked like the Lakers were gonna clamp down and choke on the lead against the Thunder at Staples again, but they learned their lesson the last time and pull off yet another shocker this week against one of the best teams in the West. Stay tuned for the full recap.

Q3:

Score: OKC 75 LAL 87

Standing ovation for this Laker team this quarter. Jodie Meeks, when he's hot, he's hot, outscoring the Thunder alone in the 3rd 20-19, currently the Lakers' top performer also. Once Meeks got cold at the very end of the quarter, Farmar started to come alive, hitting 2 three pointers and now the Lakers have a chance to redeem from the last game before all-star break, closing out the best team in the West in the 4th.

Q2:

Score: OKC 56 LAL 51

Talk about a sloppy 2nd quarter for both teams. Lakers' activity this quarter woke me up and OKC has made it a habit of blowing by inferior teams and find ways for the game to get out of control from their hands. Onto the halftime report.

Q1:

Score: OKC 35 LAL 26

I honestly can't believe this is a still a televised game on ABC considering the way the Lakers are playing. That four point play Durant made, just a boneheaded foul by Wesley Johnson and basically summarizes the trend the Lakers are playing right now, in fact, all season long.

LAKERS vs. Thunder Halftime Post

Score: OKC 56 LAL 51

Alright welcome in to the halftime post between the Lakers and the Thunder where the Lakers have come back and made it a game, but the Thunder still go into locker room holding on to a five point lead.

The Positives

Jodie Meeks 18 points on 4-9 shooting, 8-8 from the charity stripe. As I said before, Meeks is my dark horse candidate for the Most Improved Player. Just the improvement of his game has been impressive. He started off as only spot up 3 point shooter and a solid wing defender, now he is penetrating using his speed to make shots off the dribble rather than relying on the 3, consistency is there, but he can improve if he keeps this work ethic up.

Ryan Kelly, though he's not contributing much, I love his activity on the floor this game especially on the defensive end contributing 2 blocks.

The Negatives

Shot selection.  Too many missed shots, ugly airballs. Reason why Lakers are shooting 37% from the field, 21% of the 3 point shooting, a lot of questionable shot selection. I know Kent Bazemore, Xavier Henry were one of the players who shot some airballs and most of those shots were just taken from really bad angles. All in all, not happy about the shot selection.

Bottom Line

Short halftime post, now the Lakers have to make the next step of putting the same effort for the next 24 minutes. They're getting a gift today from the Thunder with their out-of-control play, let's see if the Lakers choose to receive it.

Lakers Fall to Nuggets in yet Another Offensive Shootout

"Offense sells tickets, but defense wins games/championships." In the Lakers' mind, nothing matters as they get involved in yet another shootout. Pau Gasol was the Lakers' top performer with 27 points on 12-21 shooting, but yet again no defense leads to major high scoring losses as the Lakers put up a better effort offensively, but defensively fall to the Denver Nuggets 126-134. Jodie Meeks added 16 points and Ryan Kelly added 24 points and 11 rebounds off the bench as Meeks has a bounce back game and Kelly has a superb game in a long time (surprisingly he is the only player with a double-double). Xavier Henry had his off night on the bench scoring 10 points, but shot 3-9 from the field. Kendall Marshall and Jordan Farmar continued the tale of two point guards this game as Farmar provided the scoring off the bench with 24 points but dishing out 4 assists and Marshall provided the facilitation with 14 assists, but scoring 8 points and continuing shooting woes as he shot 3-9 from the field.

Final Score: @ Denver 126-134 [W]
Full Recap: http://www.nba.com/lakers/gameday/140307_gameday_nuggets

Highlights

Next Game: vs. Oklahoma City (03/09)

Lakers Suffer Worst Home Loss in History

Alright welcome in to the full recap of the game between the Lakers and the Clippers where the Clippers yet again, showing the changing of the guard in the city of LA, blowing out the Lakers 142-94 to hand the Lakers their worst home loss in franchise history.

Yeah, you guys are reading this right. I said in the full recap in the Pelicans that the Clippers won't blow it this time around because they are primed to get the highest seed in the West possible considering there are a few games left before playoff time. 1st quarter, looked like this was going to be a game and then in the next 3 quarters, the Clippers stopped toying around and started turning up the Jets.

The Positives

I could be saying that this game had no positives, the way it turned out, but I still gotta acknowledge a couple bright spots this game. Pau Gasol, once again the Lakers' top performer with 21 points and 7 rebounds on 8-15 shooting. Gasol has been our only bright spot this season and the most consistent out of all players. No surprise here, moving on.

Kent Bazemore, 14 points, 6 assists on 4-9 shooting. Though he didn't have as great of a game he had Tuesday night, but I can't deny his willingness to play hard. Even though the Lakers were getting blown out this game, Bazemore was still there trying to earn stripes still fighting for loose balls, generating steals, penetrating to the basket while everyone else just waved their white flags up this game. I commend him for that, a lot of young players play hard to earn their spot in the pros regardless of how the game is going and Bazemore evidently displays that since being traded from Golden State.

The Negatives

The negatives just continue to pile up.

Energy. The Lakers came out fighting in the 1st quarter, but the next 3 quarter, the Clippers sucked all of that out. There's a lot to blame on the players for not displaying 100% effort. Defense yet again was atrocious and the Clippers exploited that with their game beating the Lakers with athleticism and range.

Rebounding. The Lakers were out-rebounded 64 to 33. 64 to 33. Breaking it down on both ends, the Clippers out-rebound the Lakers defensively 48 to 29 and offensively, 16 to 4. This is a continuation on the energy part because the Lakers didn't make any effort to box out. Matt Barnes was machine this game, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan, as usual were on their A game on the boards. It's pretty inexcusable to see that stat line because the effort to gather the ball was pathetic all game long.

Point guard play. Final stat line for Jordan Farmar and Kendall Marshall combined: 11 points, 4 rebounds, 10 assists, 4-15 from the field. Decent numbers for a single point guard, but that stat line shows that the point guard play is getting even worse for the Lakers. Farmar had a couple of great games, the Sacramento one in particular where he scored 30 points and shot 8-10 from beyond the arc. Here, Farmar had an off game and played conservative for the most part of this game. We all know the story with Marshall, he's fallen off the cliff a bit and it's putting his future as the Lakers' long term starting point guard in serious jeopardy.

Wesley Johnson, 2 points, 1-9 shooting from the field, 0-7 from beyond the arc. His defense was decent at best this game as he came up with 3 steals, but Wes too is starting to fall off the cliff offensively, after displaying decent numbers against Portland and pretty much winning the game for the Lakers, he's now only contributed 9 points on a combined 3-14 shooting the last two games.

Conclusion

Well, that is 2 hours and 30 minutes of something I'll never get back. How far the Lakers are going to get for the top pick is beyond me. If I'm ESPN/ABC, I should pull off the 4th and final game against the Clippers on their home floor on April 6. The Lakers go on the road tomorrow against Denver, and even though the Nuggets are bad too, Denver is always a rough place to play at considering the high altitude. Then, the Lakers have a Sunday showcase game against the Thunder. Wow, talk about more games to pile up on the loss column, unless the Lakers show some heart and pull off an upset like the Portland game in either one of the two games coming up. I won't see you guys tomorrow for the Nuggets game considering it's not on TV, but I will see you guys on Sunday for the OKC game. I'm out.

03/06: BATTLE LA III: LAKERS vs. Clippers Q-by-Q Reaction

Q4:

Score: LAC 142 LAL 94

Sums it up, worst loss in the of the regular season in the Lakers' history and now the worst home loss with a 48 point blowout. Stay tuned for the full recap.

Q3:

Score: LAC 109 LAL 60

Interchange "day" with "time" and pretty much Ricky Caldwell sums up this quarter perfectly. Smh.

Q2:

Score: LAC 73 LAL 40

Obvious enough that the Clippers have stopped toying around with us. This quarter, they've showed us why they've won 5 straight in a row and keeping within striking distance with Houston, Portland, San Antonio, and OKC. Onto the halftime report.

Q1:

Score: LAC 29 LAL 27

Nice play to beat the buzzer at the end of the quarter by Xavier Henry. I gotta say, I'm seeing better defensive commitment from the Lakers than the Tuesday game vs. the Pelicans, letting the Clippers earn every shot and not giving them easy baskets on transition. Defense generated 9 turnovers, the Lakers just have to keep this energy up for the next 3 quarters.

LAKERS vs. Clippers Halftime Post

Score: LAC 73 LAL 40

Alright welcome in to the halftime post of the game between the Lakers and the Clippers where the Clippers have gone full on Lob City over the Lakers 73-40.

The Positives

The first quarter. Whatever happened to the first quarter energy heading into the 2nd? The Lakers defense came out and taking it to the more athletic, fast paced Clippers. In that quarter alone, the Laker D committed 9 turnovers and it was frustrating the Clipps real hard.

Pau Gasol. Currently the Lakers' top performer with 16 points on 6-12 shooting. Again, as I said last game, Gasol has been the constant all season. Showed a little Magic Johnson-esque in the first quarter leading the break for an easy layup.

The Negatives

The second quarter. That quarter, the Clippers have outscored the Lakers 44-13 alone. I have to ask this again, what happened to the first quarter energy? The Lakers start to play almost out of control, to make things matters worse, the hustle to get back on defense has been atrocious as 3 Clipper players are already in double-figures and credit to coach Doc Rivers for getting this Clipper team to calm down after the 1st quarter, they started settling down and started beating us at the pick-n-roll, three, and transition game.

Point guard play. I'm starting to question if Kendall Marshall is the long term answer and if Jordan Farmar can stay consistent. Combined they have 1 points, 1 rebound, 5 assists and it has become the catalyst to why the Lakers have started crumbling at controlling the ball at their own pace.

Bottom Line

Short half time post. It's apparently obvious that it looks like the Clippers have this in the bag already. I know I shouldn't doubt my team, but with the roster we have, an improbable comeback is unlikely. It can work against teams that are also horrible like us, but with a great team like the Clippers, very unlikely.

Lakers Fall to Pelicans in Shootout

Alright welcome in to the full recap of tonight's NBA TV Fan Night game between the Lakers and the Pelicans, where the Lakers, as much as they made a massive run after being 20+ down, couldn't overcome that big lead at the end of the 4th as they drop one at Staples to the Pelis after upsetting the Blazers last night.

First off, do not blame the game on the offense. The offense did just enough to put the Lakers back into the game, but talk about a stinker on the defensive side. If you're a fan of All-Star caliber high-scoring games, this game is the right fit, but if you're a defensive, grind it out, kinda fan, then you will cringe at the lack of defense this game had because both defenses weren't making any stops, especially on the Lakers' side, which I'll talk about further.

The Positives

Pau Gasol was the Lakers' top performer this game scoring 29 points, 12 rebounds, and 4 assists on 10-15 shooting. I could easily harp on Gasol missing a couple free throws, especially after starting 7-7 from the line, but all-around Gasol played a fantastic game. Had not Gasol played, the Pelicans would've easily had this game in the bag. All in all, Gasol got what he wanted and that was getting more touches in the paint. I'm not really going to be hard on Gasol because he played his ass off this game, on offense, on defense, not so much, which again I will elaborate after.

Kent Bazemore, 23 points, 8-17 shooting, 4-9 shooting beyond the arc. I just want to take this time to apologize to Bazemore. If you guys saw my thoughts on the trade during the Rockets vs. Lakers full recap, I labeled Bazemore as a throwaway piece for the Steve Blake because I thought MarShon Brooks was the main trade target. But every game, Bazemore has been proving me wrong, he's showcased a lot what the Warriors didn't see out of him, he can penetrate, shoot the 3 ball, and he's fast. He's excelling in the small forward position (for now). Personally I didn't like the decision of him taking the go-ahead 3 after the Lakers finally got a stop being down 4 late in the 4th. There was still plenty of time left to get a two, get another stop (hopefully) and go for the tie, but what does he got to lose though? The 3 game was working, considering the defense was total ass this game and  Bazemore was taking huge advantages of it. A little upset, but I understand why because the 3 ball was working and if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Jordan Farmar, 20 points, 8 assists, 7-12 shooting, 2-5 shooting beyond the arc. I mean with Kendall Marshall's current slump, Farmar has a chance to re-integrate himself as the long-term answer for the Lakers' point guard woes. The thing that Farmar had over Marshall is that Farmar can score, he can penetrate and create his own shot. Sure Marshall has the assist and the court vision, but Farmar has what I mentioned that Marshall doesn't have. Back in 2010, I was bummed out when let him go because he can speed up the tempo, though he can be reckless at times with ball, Farmar has the speed and he has the ability to create his own shot and open some lanes for teammates.

Robert Sacre, 9 points, 5 rebounds, on 4-7 shooting. Since Gasol needed a breather, carrying the team all game long, Sacre made some big buckets to put us within striking distance against the Pelicans. All he needs to do is polish his jump hooks and floaters and needs to learn how to finish aggressively. Pretty unfortunate that Kaman and Hill have fallen off the depth chart, but this game, Sacre put up decent numbers and provided some scoring on the inside with Gasol on the bench.

The Negatives

Defense. *Clap clap* defense *clap clap* defense. The stereotype of all Mike D'Antoni coached teams, all offense, no defense. I said in the halftime post that the defense has to be addressed considering guys like Tyreke Evans and Eric Gordon were penetrating in the paint, add in Brian Roberts too, filling in for the injured Jrue Holiday, also finding wide open lanes for easy deuces. I thought the defense from beyond the arc was decent, considering the Pelicans shot 41% from the field, but they didn't need the 3 ball to beat us, all they needed to do was exploit our rim protection and it's over. The interior defense is what ultimately killed the Lakers this game, they couldn't stop the Pelicans from driving, and when they finally do, the result ends up in a foul and 2 free throws and it was evident this game.

Conclusion

Awful game on defense for the Lakers. The wins prior to this was way beyond my wildest imaginations, Lakers beat the Kings 122-126 last Friday, upset the Blazers last night 107-106, but lost here 132-125, and I keep asking myself looking at the score, where is the defense? Just the last 3 games, not impressed that the Lakers needed to muster enough offense to win those games, although I'll give the benefit of a doubt the on the Blazers game. To go from that to this, proves that its back to reality. The Lakers have the Clippers, Thursday night and for sure, they won't blow it big time now unlike the season opener because now, the playoffs are coming and the Clipps are gonna be primed to win as much games as possible to capture a wide open best record for the West (although the Thunder did won today). I'll see you guys on Thursday for that game.

03/04: NBA TV Fan Night: LAKERS vs. New Orleans Pelicans Q-by-Q Reaction

Q4:

Score: NO 132 LAL 125

Mike D'Antoni be like...

Just like the Kings game last Friday, except the Lakers are on the other end of the stick this time. Stay tuned for the full recap.

Q3:

Score: NO 95 LAL 85

Hash tag Bazemoring. Kent Bazemore has started to come alive this quarter and providing the scoring from outside to the inside. Lucky enough the Pelis have missed some free throws to make this a close game. Turnovers are still costly, but the Lakers have to keep the momentum on their side for another 12 minutes to capture a 3rd straight win.

Q2:

Score: NO 67 LAL 51

Great three pointer by Meeks to end the quarter with something positive, but like the Laker announcers say: this is a half to forget about. Even though most players are starting to find their groove, Gasol is still the only Laker in double-figures. Onto the halftime report.

Q1:

Score: NO 35 LAL 23

It was either run and gun the D'Antoni way or feed the ball in the post the Gasol way and the Lakers chose to get Pau going early in the paint. Somebody else at some point has to get hot and help with the scoring. Only 2 points from Wes, 1 point from X, 2 points from Farmar, and 3 points by Bazemore. Other than that, it has been the Gasol show this quarter and the defense has to step up because the Pelicans are shooting away and attacking the basket at will.

Lakers vs. Pelicans Halftime Post

Score: NO 67 LAL 51

Alright welcome in to the halftime post of the Tuesday Fan Night game between the Lakers and the New Orleans Pelicans on NBA TV where the Pelicans have ran over the Lakers so far this game 67-51.

The Positives

Pau Gasol, I said it all season long, Pau has been constant all season long, if he's out along with Nash and Kobe, this Laker team is dead in the water by opposing offenses. Pau had 17 points on 5-9 shooting, perfect from the charity stripe. 1st quarter in alone, Pau was the offense, scoring the first like 13 points. He's been vocal about the Lakers feeding him more in the paint to be more aggressive and they're doing just that rather than run and shoot.

Jodie Meeks and Xavier Henry. Meeks 9 points, wasn't finding his shot early on, but he started getting it going in the 2nd quarter. Surely he's a potential candidate for the NBA's Most Improved Player, but it's unlikely. Welcome back X, in his return scoring 6 points, he hasn't lost a step in his ability to slash through the paint since his injury and that's a great sight to see.

The Negatives

No defense. Again the stereotype of all Mike D'Antoni coached teams, all offense, no D. The whole game, the Pelicans were slashing the paint, the Lakers weren't even trying to contest. They're just getting outhustled, no box out whatsoever, couldn't secure the ball leading to more 2nd chance points for the Pelicans. Not only that, the Lakers are not closing out too. When New Orleans is not penetrating, they'll rely on Eric Gordon or Austin Rivers to shoot from the outside. Other than that, Tyreke Evans is burning the Lakers in the penetration game and lack of a rim protector is seriously hurting considering the Pelicans play a big lineup leading to rebounds by either Davis or Ajinca.

Bottom Line

Good to see that the Lakers are buying into feeding the ball into the paint more and Gasol's getting his touches, now they just gotta find a way to balance that and still shoot the 3 ball. Glad that Xavier's back, at least the Lakers get their slasher back, but man the defense has to be addressed. It's embarrassing to see that the Lakers are getting their butts kicked by the Pelicans after pulling off a big upset yesterday against the Blazers in Portland.

Lakers Stun Blazers on Game Winning Layup

I didn't see the game, but I did see the game winning layup on Bleacher Report and that will posted once the full Laker highlights have been posted. Despite the fact, the Lakers were heavy underdogs against one of the best teams in the West in the Trail Blazers, in Portland, the Lake Show manages to pull an amazing upset of the season. Kent Bazemore and Wesley Johnson were the last minute heroes this game as after a timeout, Bazemore inbounded the ball and Johnson ran to the hoop untouched for a risk-reward alley-oop with 6.5 remaining in the fourth to put the Lakers over the Blazers 107-106. Final tally, Johnson added 14 points and 7 rebounds on 7-11 shooting and Bazemore added the same tally as Johnson with 14 points and 7 rebounds on 5-9 shooting. Pau Gasol was the Lakers' top performer with 22 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists on 10-20 shooting and Jodie Meeks added 21 points, shooting 50% from the field. Kendall Marshall, after a couple of bad games, managed to bounce back finishing with 7 points and 11 assists, but still needs to rekindle his shooting as he shot 3-9 from the field this game.

Final Score: @ Portland 107-106 [W]
Full Recap: http://www.nba.com/games/20140303/LALPOR/gameinfo.html

Highlights:

Next Game: vs. New Orleans (03/04)