The Lakers generally have some Hollywood celebrity who has a little time on his or her hands come out and perform the national anthem. Apparently, all those people were booked up, and the Lakers Band did it. Anyway, they did the version … that the USC band does before football games. Which makes sense. Because […]

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More about this later. But Phil Jackson will start Lamar Odom and bring 7-footer Andrew Bynum off the bench. Bynum got in quick foul trouble in Game 1, and Odom seemed to struggle coming into the game cold. Phil Jackson believes Bynum is important to his team’s chances, and has been sort of force-feeding him […]

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One of the advantages of the Houston Rockets advancing into the second round of the NBA playoffs, vs. the Lakers … is that lots more people are being exposed to the wit of Yao Ming. Yao is the 7-foot-6 center from China. This is his seventh season in the league. But never before had he […]

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I dashed off an item late Monday night, after the Lakers lost Game 1 of their series with Houston. I was determined to catch the 12:07 a.m. Metrolink train back to Long Beach, along with several dozen of my best crazy and drug-addled homeless friends … And, yes, I made it, but only by a […]

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DJ Gallo is espn.com’s resident humorist. Well, actually, I don’t know that he works for them full-time, which is what a “resident” would do, since he also does a sports satire site that goes by the name of sportspickle.com Doesn’t seem like you’d run your own humor Web site if someone else were paying you […]

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I rarely comment on items that have appeared in newspapers. I figure you may already have read it and have your own ideas. But … I was struck, a few days ago, by how the same section (Friday) of the same newspaper (the Los Angeles Times) could have one column so spot-on valuable and fun […]

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I wrote this game story for the North County Times, out of Game 1 of the Lakers’ series with the Houston Rockets, on Monday night. I expected the Lakers to be angrier, after it was over, but the dominant theme seemed to be surprise. With a dollop of frustration. One school of thought: The Lakers […]

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No great surprise here. No, really. Houston played hard and with great energy, which didn’t surprise much of anyone, and the Lakers seemed distracted and flat — which also didn’t surprise much of anyone. The Rockets led all but, like, 47 seconds of the game,  and it was no accident. Now, we shall see if […]

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Andrew Bynum runs over a screen with 150 seconds played in the game. Two fouls for Bynum, and he’s out of the game for Lamar Odom. Nice going, kid. Good thing the Lakers can’t really have been counting on you to be a difference maker — in a positive way.

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First possession of the game, clock running down on the Rockets … and Andrew Bynum fouls Yao Ming. While the latter was putting up an offbalance shot ahead of the clock … So, Bynum has played 24 seconds and has a foul. About on his average, of late. At least the Lakers have someone to […]

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