LAKERS vs. Celtics Halftime Post

Score: BOS 46 LAL 44

Alright welcome in to another ESPN televised game between the Lakers and their old nemesis from the east, the Celtics where the Lakers have battled back after sluggish start, but the C's have the two point edge in this recent meeting of the two historical rivals.

Come to think of it, this could be a short halftime post. Overall, just a boring game to watch.

Onto the positives, there are not a lot of positives, but Pau Gasol and Kent Bazemore have been positives. Welcome back Gasol as he's the only Laker player so far in double figures with 10 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 blocks. Yup, Gasol is still a Laker even after the trade deadline. He's been the guy all season long to look up to put up efficient numbers. My opinion, he's still one of the best big men and power forwards in this game, but it's hard to rank him that this season considering how crappy this Laker team has been. Other than that, nice to have him back. Another positive, Kent Bazemore, yeah he's shooting 3-7 from the field, but 7 points in his first game as a Laker is not a bad start. Personally, I haven't seen highlight of him a lot considering the Warriors barely use him, but from what I'm hearing, he's a slasher. Yeah he's known for his cheerleading, but he's contributing at least and I thought Brooks would contribute more, but again it's just one game and both players are gonna compete hard to earn a spot. Kendall Marshall and Jodie Meeks, positives as well with 5 points and 5 assists by Marshall and 9 points by Meeks, they've been playing well all season.

Onto the negatives, can I just say that the kind of turnovers the Lakers are committing look like a football game? They're just going for the long pass on the break and the Celtics have done a good job to get back on defense and have good awareness on the ball. This whole game so far is a negative. Just imagine if this was the finals and both the Lakers and Celtics are playing this kind of bad basketball?

Overall, this is a lazy halftime post. I'm trying to sugarcoat at how boring this game is to keep myself interested, but it is what it is. One more half, hope the Lakers at least pull this out against the Celtics, especially since this is Dr. Jerry Buss' death anniversary week.

Dwight Howard Triumphant in Return to LA + Thoughts on the Steve Blake for Kent Bazemore and Marshon Brooks Trade

Alright welcome in to the full recap of tonight's game between the Lakers and the Rockets where the Rockets made Dwight Howard's return to LA a successful as they throttled the already short-handed Lakers 134-108 for their 8th straight victory.

First off it's great to be back after a long layoff for Q-by-Q, halftime, and full recap posts. Of course spent a lot of time watching All-Star weekend, great break, but fun while it lasted. Meanwhile, not so fun for the Lakers' 1st game after the break. Obviously the hype surrounding Dwight's return. He needed something to prove much to the dismay of many Laker fans including myself and credit where it's due, he did a hell of a job, just like he did last season in his return to Orlando since being traded to LA and he's continuing that trend.

Some of the positives this game. I'm serious this game was pretty hard to keep up with, since pretty much the outcome was already set. It's difficult to pick who's the top performer this game in between Wesley Johnson and Kendall Marshall, but I say Wesley Johnson deserves to be the top performer for the Lakers this game. Johnson 24 points, 7 rebounds, on 7-13 shooting. Like I said in my halftime post, he's been playing a lot better. Aside from the Chicago game, he's put up decent double figure numbers dating back on the road against Minnesota, Feb 4, Johnson has been averaging 16.6 PPG shooting around 52% down the field (I checked the stats, thank you very much). In a previous recap, I said Johnson is athletically gifted, the only thing he needs is confidence and the last few games, he's been confident alright. Anyway, Kendall Marshall, 20 points and 16 assists. Marshall wasn't doing all that well this until garbage time, shooting wise, but he's been constant all season long tallying up double-figure assist numbers. The Houston D respected his game and they've find ways to contain him resulting in 4 turnovers committed by Marshall. Jodie Meeks aside from his highlight play early in the 1st, he didn't do much too until garbage time, so his return game is somewhere in the border.

Onto the negatives this game, again it's like I'm beating a dead horse, the turnovers. Literally almost 20 turnovers this game, sure Houston had their share in committing boneheaded turnovers, but the Lakers committed too much, too many that they pretty much sealed their own outcome early. Nothing I can else say. Another negative, Chris Kaman. Obviously, Dwight Howard was having his way against Kaman and I'm sure Dwight liked it. After making his first shot, Kaman started missing 4 consecutive shots including an air ball. The Lakers' interior defense was getting abused all game long and it was evident in this rout.

For a little bonus in this full recap, I'm going to talk about the Steve Blake trade. Obviously the trade deadline is tomorrow at 12:00 PM Pacific time, so GMs around the NBA are shopping around like it's Christmas Eve. So the Lakers traded Steve Blake to the Golden State Warriors for Kent Bazemore and Marshon Brooks. It's tough to see Blake go because the guy was really a tough, hard-nosed competitor. His tenure in LA was pretty rocky considering he was so lost in Phil Jackson's triangle and in Mike Brown's "I have no idea what I'm doing" offense until he found his groove back under D'Antoni's system. But this trade, it's obvious the Lakers needed to get younger. Not so sure about Bazemore, I'm sure he's just throw-away piece in the deal, but for Marshon Brooks, like I said, it's a way for the Lakers to get younger. Brooks has fallen off since his rookie year in the Nets' final season in New Jersey and he's another 1st round cast off. This season is audition season and we'll see if Brooks can adjust the sail of his pro career with the Lakers. Steve Blake to the Warriors obviously helps improve the Dubs' bench. They have a solid lineup in the Splash Bros (Curry and Thompson), Iggy, Lee, and Bogut, but what has derailed them this season is lack of bench play and Blake can provide decent numbers off the bench for them, not to mention, they traded for Jordan Crawford early in the season to provide more scoring off the bench. With the Blake trade, it adds more depth in the back court for the Dubs and improves their bench play just a little bit, not a lot.

Overall, thanks for reading the full recap. The Lakers got a rivalry game against the Celtics on Friday. Both made the finals, 4 years ago and they're on the same path rebuilding to reclaim glory in their respective franchises. Hard to believe that. I'll see you guys on Friday for that game. It feels good to be back.

02/19 Dwight's Return: LAKERS vs. Houston Rockets Q-by-Q Reaction

Q4:

Score: HOU 134 LAL 108

Garbage time, but the score is less painful to look at. Stay tuned for the full recap.

Q3:

Score: HOU 104 LAL 75

Just-end-this-game-already.

Q2:

Score: HOU 64 LAL 43

It's the same story for the Lakers all season and with Dwight's return, you can tell he was really amped up for this game with the he's playing in this game so far. Stay tuned for that halftime report.

Q1:

Score: HOU 32 LAL 22

Long layoff since I did a Q-by-Q reaction so I'm gonna shake off some rust. We're giving Dwight an earful in his return, hell I was booing in front of my TV, but I gotta say he's handling it well owning our non-existent rim protection. Jodie Meeks had a flashy welcome back play with and 1 off the backboard and the lucky bounce. Lakers were able to hang around, but things got pretty ugly once Chris Kaman missed 4 consecutive shots. We're with 8 players since we traded Steve Blake to the Warriors, but it's a steep mountain to climb against one of the hottest teams in the West.

LAKERS vs. Rockets Halftime Post

Score: HOU 64 LAL 43

Alright welcome in to the halftime post between the Lakers and the Houston Rockets where the Lakers are yet again undermanned and being dominated by high powered Rockets 64-43.

Like I said before, it's been a long layoff since I've last made a Q-by-Q and a halftime post so there's going to be a little rusts in my posts. Other than that, I don't feel any disappointment because I've seen this from the Lakers all season long to the point where I don't care how they are performing because it's a lost season anyway.

Some of the positives this game so far, Dwight-oh wait, he's not with the team anymore. But to make a joke this is the best he's performed at the Staples Center than last season as a whole donning the purple and gold. All kidding aside, there is not a lot of positives going into the 2nd half. But so far, Wesley Johnson is one of the positives, he should be the top performer at this half with 15 points and 6 rebounds on 6-8 shooting. Dating back before the All-Star break, he's been performing better putting efficient double figure point with the exception of the Bulls game on my birthday, but Johnson's been stepping up the last few games in scoring since Nick Young and Jodie Meeks were out. Although he's been having an off night shooting, I'll count Kendall Marshall as a positive, though he has 7 points, he dished out 7 dimes and generated 3 turnovers. The Rockets have put their attention on defense on Marshall, I believe he's like the only player on the Lakers the Rockets respect to defend hard on.

The negatives this game, a lot of negatives. That 2nd quarter was probably the sloppiest I've seen all season long considering both teams like to run and gun, but the Rockets do it efficiently. But for the Lakers, turnovers. Not to beat a dead horse, but there were just awful passes, lazy passes, and lack of awareness of holding on to the ball and we know the Lakers can't run with the Rockets' transition offense. Then you got guys like Chris Kaman and Ryan Kelly firing air balls, which makes matters worse. Not sure if I was seeing the Lakers or the Bobcats 2 years ago where they were constantly air balling each game.

Overall, this season's lost, the Lakers have to keep fighting. At this point, we are what our record shows already. It's just a matter of keeping games close and don't get blown out at home at the expense of Dwight Howard and the Rockets.

Lakers Choke on Lead in the 4th, Couldn't Upset Thunder

I actually watched the final 3 minutes of the game as soon as I got home from Programming class, but it was already way out of eligibility for an impromptu full recap. The last game before the All-Star break turned out to be a surprising good one for the injury-ridden Lakers and the best in the West in the OKC Thunder. Kendall Marshall bounced back from a off-game against Utah Tuesday night as he was the Lakers' top performer with a near triple-double with 14 points, 7 rebounds, and 17 assists. The Lakers were in full control the first 3 quarters of the game, but Kevin Durant and the Thunder decided it was time to stop screwing around in the 4th. Durant's near triple-double of 43 points, 12 rebounds, 7 assists helped the Thunder avert a scare against the Lakers 107-103, you can add critical turnovers and missed throws at the end into the equation to the Lakers' loss. Chris Kaman added his 3rd straight double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds, but missed a critical free throw to tie it up down the stretch and Wesley Johnson also added 19 points on 8-13 shooting. Steve Blake added 13 points, but also missed a critical free throw to keep it at a one possession game, Shawne Williams added 15 points and 9 rebounds, and Jordan Hill lead the bench with 10 points.

Final Score: vs. Oklahoma City 107-103 [L]

Full Recap: http://www.nba.com/games/20140213/OKCLAL/gameinfo.html

Highlights:

Lakers' Home Drought Continues with Embarrassing Loss to Jazz

Looks like the Lakers are just homesick. Chris Kaman had another great outing as he was the top performer 25 points, 14 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 blocks, but the Lakers couldn't find the groove at home as they fell to the Jazz (still feeling the emotions after upsetting the Miami Heat) 96-79. The Lakers lead the Jazz 16-27 at the end of the 1st quarter, but Utah stormed back in the 2nd outscoring the Lakers 32-10, pretty much setting the tone for the rest of the game. Only 2 other Lakers were in double figures besides Kaman as Wesley Johnson added 15 points on shooting 50% from the field and Shawne Williams added 11 points also shooting 50%. Kendall Marshall, after contributing efficiently since playing more minutes, had his worst outing this season scoring only 7 points and 7 assists and shooting a whopping 3-13 from the field.

Final Score: vs. Utah 96-79 [L]
Full Recap: http://www.nba.com/games/20140211/UTALAL/gameinfo.html

Highlights:

Next Game: vs. Oklahoma City (02/13)

Chris Kaman Has Career Day, But Lakers Still Fall Short vs. Bulls

Alright welcome in to a condensed post game recap of yesterday's game between the Lakers and the Chicago Bulls where the Lakers, never lead, had a couple of runs, but they just fell short against the Bulls 92-86. If you guys saw my announcement, yesterday, I was not going to cover this game because I was gonna be with family the whole day as I was celebrating my 20th birthday, but I did watch the game with them on ABC and I'll provide with as much of my perspective on the game.

So 1st quarter, both teams were not doing so good, but like 2 minutes into the first quarter, the Bulls started to get it going hitting 5 straight shots to put the Lakers within a 10-0 hole. As soon as I saw that score, I was like man this is gonna be an automatic loss because the Lakers early on were not buying a bucket, they were erratic in taking care of the ball, I mean they were just flat. It's not until mid quarter where they ended the drought on a floater by Robert Sacre and the Lakers put enough points in the first to make this watchable as the Bulls just lead by 11 at the end.

2nd quarter, the Lakers were starting to respond back, like Kendall Marshall had a great all-around game, he was hitting some threes to make the game close, it was more of a low-scoring affair in the 2nd, but the Bulls came away with 52-46 lead.

2nd half is underway, 3rd quarter, if you're looking at it there's a pattern. The Bulls completely dominated the Lakers, even without Derrick Rose and Carlos Boozer on the floor and considering the Bulls traded Luol Deng to the Cavs, Coach Tom Thibodeau has this team playing hard this game, Taj Gibson and Kirk Hinrich, it was their show this quarter and Chicago ended the 3rd leading 77-62, but the game is still close. Steve Nash left the game like mid-quarter after trying to draw contact off the break from Kirk Hinrich, resulting in a clean steal and another turnover for the Lakers.

4th quarter, the Bulls started to put the foot off the gas pedal a little bit, but the Lakers couldn't hit anything until down the stretch. Jordan Hill and Chris Kaman were the headlines this quarter, coming up with big buckets and like I said Marshall , he was having an efficient game from downtown, making big 3s down the stretch. Down by 6, Blake makes a key steal, passes it to Kaman, Kaman finds Wesley Johnson for an easy dunk to cut the Bulls lead to 4. Lakers had a chance this game, they come up with another defensive play, but Steve Blake makes a critical turnover on a pass intended for Kaman and that pretty much sealed the game. Credit where its due, Bulls' Joakim Noah, made a couple of key defensive plays and D.J. Augustin made critical free throws to put it in the bag.

Some of the positives this game, Chris Kaman, he was the Lakers' top performer with 27 points and 10 rebounds off 13-23 shooting. If you think about it, Pau Gasol, out, no more Dwight Howard, who was going to score inside the paint? It had to come between Kaman and Hill and Kaman answered the call with the game he had yesterday. Mike D'Antoni had no other choice because the Lakers needed something inside, Sacre is not contributing in big minutes, D'Antoni has no faith in Hill, so he had no choice but to play Kaman extended minutes and he was contributing big down the stretch. Like I mentioned, Hill also had a great game from inside scoring 15 points and 9 rebounds, so who contributed big? The non-D'Antoni guys and with Gasol out for a great amount of time (who knows) and Sacre failing to contribute, it'll probably force D'Antoni's hand to give either Hill or Kaman the nod in the starting lineup. Another positive this game, like I said before, Kendall Marshall as he recorded 13 points and 11 assists, he was our only guy that was giving us efficiency from beyond the arc.

Some of the negatives this game, it's been a stereotype for any Mike D'Antoni-coached team, defense. The Lakers didn't even try to play defense until the final stretch of the game, poor transition, pitiful in closing out, as much of a low score game it was, they couldn't stop a scrappy Bulls team playing without Rose, playing without Boozer, playing without Deng, it was pretty pathetic to watch. Another negative this game, Steve Blake. Blake shot 3-12 from the field and committed 5 turnovers, his shot selection was very questionable this game, in an essence, he was forcing the issue trying to draw a couple fouls and he gave the ball right back to the Bulls the most. Overall, it was just nightmarish game for Blake, he's been somewhat efficient all season long before the injury back in December, but just horrible. Another negative Ryan Kelly, after having a couple of good games, he dropped a goose egg this game leading to him benched indefinitely in favor of Shawne Williams. Kelly just still has a lot to learn, Lakers have a pretty legit chance in turning him into an efficient stretch 4, but this was one tough road block for the rookie out of Duke.

Overall, it's not a surprise anymore. It's obvious that the Lakers are playing for the lottery this season, how they are still televised nationally is beyond me because this season has been a downer overall, heck they are even losing ratings on their Time Warner Cable channel because of poor play. If you ask me to compare the 2004-05 Lakers to this season's Lakers, I'll say the 2004-05 Lakers still had more talent to make the playoffs than this year's Lakers (even though both didn't make it), but with a healthy Kobe and Lamar Odom and if Coach Rudy T stayed a full season, they would've had a chance. This season's roster is just void of talent to see who's going to make the cut next season. The Lakers have two games left before the All-Star break against Utah and OKC. At best, the Lakers have a chance to win against the Jazz, I don't wanna even think about what the Thunder are going to do to this depleted roster on Thursday night at the Staples Center. I'll see you guys after the All-Star break.