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LA forward - Pau Gasol

LOS ANGELES (AP)—Every time Kobe Bryant(notes) misses a game—which isn’t often— the Los Angeles Lakers give another example of how much championship depth they have.

Shannon Brown(notes) set career highs with 27 points and 10 rebounds while starting in Bryant’s place, and the Lakers kept rolling with a 104-94 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night.

The fourth-year guard made his third start and had his first career double-double, scoring eight points in the final 1:13 while Bryant sat out his fourth straight game because of a sprained left ankle.

“I didn’t really know that Kobe was going to be out again, and that I was going to start until we had our pregame talk,” Brown said. “I just tried to come out and be aggressive. That team was a great team for me to play against. They’re the type of team that likes to get up and down, and I like to play like that. Read the rest of this entry »

The 2010 NBA draft still is still nearly five months away. Already, of course, there is a consensus No. 1 overall pick: Kentucky freshman guard John Wall. As one NBA general manager put it: “He will go No. 1 either for need or as an asset.”

There was no mystery to last year’s top selection, either: Oklahoma forward Blake Griffin(notes). The suspense came after that. As the NCAA season swings to conference play with March Madness on the horizon, here is a look at 13 other candidates who might join Wall in the draft lottery.

Right now, according to conversations with league executives, there appears to be a sort-of defined Top Three.

Syracuse forward Wesley Johnson could find himself as one the top three picks in the June draft.

1. Wall: The 6-foot-3 Kentucky guard is the first name out of everyone’s mouth. John Calipari delivered a couple of one-and-done studs at Memphis (Derrick Rose(notes), Tyreke Evans(notes)) and Wall will join that impressive duo. Rose is the player Wall is most often compared to – flattery of the highest. He may have even risen in the minds of any doubters when he said he doesn’t really listen to Coach Cal anyway. Read the rest of this entry »

Are there issues growing behind closed doors in Boston? Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo hinted after last

Boston Celtics

week’s loss to the Atlanta Hawks that some changes needed to be made in the Boston locker room.

“We gotta make a change and do something about it quick,” Rondo said after the Hawks capped a four-game season sweep of the Celtics on Friday at Philips Arena. “Not a trade or anything, but just making some changes in the locker room, amongst ourselves. Every guy has to look in the mirror and hold themselves accountable.”

Asked to elaborate on his thoughts this week, Rondo went further, suggesting to the Boston Herald that some players might have individual agendas. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s been a wild and wacky week in the NBA, chock-full of flying Gatorade cups, shoeless blocks, players leading officials on the fast break, dance-offs, and even a Phoenix Suns guard morphing into a creepy blue alien that lives inside James Cameron’s dreams and/or bank vault.

Quite honestly, I couldn’t make this stuff up.

But this clip might top ‘em all.

During Monday night’s game against the Lakers, Grizzlies forward Rudy Gay(notes) hoisted up a desperation three-quarter court shot to try and beat the first quarter buzzer. Sounds pedestrian enough, right?

Only one problem: Gay let his livin’-on-a-prayer fly with seven seconds to go in the quarter! He didn’t know the clock. So, naturally, the Lakers rebounded the miss, pushed the ball up the court, and the assassin that is Kobe Bryant(notes) nailed a three-pointer in the corner as time expired.

Yeah, not the most eloquent way to end a quarter. Good thing the Grizzlies won.

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BOSTON (AP)—The Los Angeles Lakers are doing their best to forget all those awful memories of playing in the Boston Garden.

Kobe Bryant(notes) sank the go-ahead basket with 7.3 seconds left, and the Lakers won 90-89 on Sunday for their third consecutive victory over the struggling Celtics. Boston has not been able to make good on the traditional “Beat L.A.!”
chant since winning 131-92 to clinch the 2008 NBA championship here in Game 6 of the finals.

“They smacked us two years ago,” Lakers forward Lamar Odom(notes) said. “It was a big game for us. This is a team that’s going to be battling to be coming out of the East.”

Winners of 32 NBA titles between them—including the last two—the Lakers and Celtics have met in the finals 11 times, from Bill Russell against Elgin Baylor and Wilt Chamberlain, to Magic Johnson vs. Larry Bird and on to the current matchup of Bryant facing the New Big Three of Kevin Garnett(notes), Paul Pierce(notes) and Ray Allen(notes).

But while the Lakers’ superstar came through in the stretch for them, Boston’s couldn’t.

The Celtics led by as many as 11 points in the fourth quarter and nursed a one-point lead until Pierce was called for an offensive foul for pushing off as he jumped to shoot with 28 seconds left.

“At that point, I think it’s got to be unbelievable, but I didn’t see it so I really can’t give an opinion on it,” Boston coach Doc Rivers said. “You know, I do know Kobe pushes off a lot.”

Bryant complained of a stiff ankle after Friday night’s win in Philadelphia, and it seemed to bother him during the game. He shot just 8 for 20 but made the big one: making a move toward the basket before stepping back from Allen’s defense and swishing the ball through the net to give Los Angeles its only lead of the second half.

“He had a couple of looks before that that were good looks, and he didn’t put them in. We were mystified by that,” said Lakers coach Phil Jackson, who tied Pat Riley atop the franchise coaching list with his 533rd win in Los Angeles. “He told me the next one was going to go in, so we went with him.”

Bryant finished with 19, Andrew Bynum(notes) had 19 points and 11 rebounds, and Pau Gasol(notes) had 11 points and 11 boards for the Lakers, who won their fourth consecutive game.

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