It wouldn’t be a real game in this series if somebody wasn’t complaining about the officiating. Well, if the losers didn’t complain, anyway. Phil Jackson went after the refs following the Lakers’ defeat in Game 4, saying his players couldn’t get used to officials that called certain fouls early but didn’t call the same fouls […]

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Earlier tonight, I had the Lakers winning. Check. By 10 or more. Oops. One point shy. And two days ago, I predicted Lamar Odom would have a 20-and-10 game. Oops. He was 19 and 14. For long stretches at Staples Center tonight, I thought I might be wrong about all of it. Lamar wouldn’t really […]

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Odd stat of the night: The Lakers and Nuggets have been tied at the end of each of the first three quarters. 25-25, 56-56 and now 76-76. That Lakers’ win by 10 or more? Not gonna happen. If they win, it will be by a point or two. They need to do a better job […]

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On top of the ad lib national anthem. Lakers are down 10-6, Kobe Bryant has the ball near the three-point arc. Holding it out behind him. Dahntay Jones reaches around and knocks the ball loose, beats Kobe to it and goes the length of the court … and blows the layup against Kobe’s defense. But […]

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You will be spared this, presumably, back at home, but the guy who just did the national anthem here at Staples Center decided to change the wording. That’s what anthems are for, right? Whatever wording you feel like going with. Well, no, they’re not. Except at Lakers games. The guy who sang the anthem was […]

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I don’t usually do this. Predict a game. I just have a stronger hunch than usual about this one. The Lakers didn’t come all this way to lose home court five games into the conference finals. They aren’t going to be eliminated in Denver on Friday. Just aren’t. So they will win tonight, and the […]

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I just watched the entire Champions League final between Barcelona and Manchester United. I’m not sure I’ve ever done that before — watch a Champions League match from start to finish. I’ve always been about international soccer, and the World Cup, and club soccer … well, it’s not big in the U.S., and I’m also […]

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