It's long been theorized, in 2012 at least, that there is a growing rift between superstar Kobe Bryant and former All-Star Pau Gasol. The theory, based on on-court interaction and off-court press quotes, is clearly a logical one. Kobe Bryant is very quick to blame others, most notably Pau, when things don't go the way he wants them to. And Pau Gasol, more than any other player in a Lakers uniform, is unable to deal with the wilting pressure of Kobe Bryant's supreme will. It is for these potential reasons, among others, that Pau Gasol is the least likely of the Lakers' big three to be donning the purple and gold next season.

As further confirmation, a report has emerged from Bulls.com's Sam Smith that Pau Gasol does indeed want out of Los Angeles, and that he'd like to play for the Bulls. OK, that's nice. Does anybody really care where Pau Gasol wants to play?

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The Roof, The Roof, The Roof is on fire. We don't need no water, let the mothaf***a burn.

The Los Angeles Lakers season is over, having been mercifully put down by a group of kids who were stronger, faster and more skilled than the team the Lakers were able to put out on the floor. Those qualities were why nobody expected the Lakers to advance past the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2nd round of the playoffs, but those qualities were not what ultimately led to the Lakers' dismissal in five games. The qualities the Thunder had, and which were absent in the Lakers, were mental toughness and unity. The Lakers had their chances, but in the final moments, both of important games and the series, were too busy bickering at each other to do what needed to be done.

It didn't have to be this way. The Lakers could very well be the ones advancing. Games 2 and 4 were theirs for the taking, only to slip through their grasp for the exact same reasons: Not enough execution in crunch time, not enough people on the same page. We've seen it all series, and we've seen it often during the season, and now it has led us to the abyss. To which I say: Good

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Tonight, the Los Angeles Lakers face the Oklahoma City Thunder with their season on the line. A loss will mean a quick and ignominious exit for a team that is not built for 2nd round losses. A win will mean a reprieve of their judgment for at least 48 hours. The odds are not in their favor. Last year, the Lakers came to a shameful end on the opponent's home floor, the result of a shocking and unexpected sweep. This year, for all of their possible issues with team chemistry, attitude, and depth, the Lakers have at least proven to have more fight in them than last year's squad. But that fight hasn't been fully harnessed, and has spilled over into fighting with each other as well as the opponent.

After Game 4, we highlighted how various Lakers, chiefly Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol, seemed ready to point fingers at each other in the wake of yet another defeat snatched from the jaws of victory. As is often the case in these situations, both players had points brimming with merit: Pau Gasol does need to be more aggressive and be ready to shoot in all circumstances when he is passed the ball in late game situations. And that one turnover was not the reason Game 4 was lost, since it was just one failed possession in a sequence filled with them. Kobe's efforts in quarters 1-3 put the Lakers in great position to get the needed win on Saturday, but his poor 4th quarter is as much to blame for the loss of the lead as any other factor. So both players were right, but both players were also wrong, because this is the worst possible time for the team to be doing anything remotely resembling in-fighting.

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For the third time in the first four games of their 2nd round playoff series, the Los Angeles Lakers have been in prime position to be victorious, with a sizable lead in the final minutes. For the third time in the first four games of their 2nd round playoff series, the Los Angeles Lakers have been defeated.

The Lakers lost Game 2 because the Thunder scored the final 9 points in a game in which the Lakers led seven. They lost tonight because the Thunder outscored the Lakers 25-9 over the final eight minutes. They lost both games because the offensive strategy in the waning moments of tight basketball games is one that no longer works. That model used to suffice. It used to lead the Lakers to more close wins than close losses. But this series is putting into sharp focus how flawed the Lakers end game has become.

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Less than 24 hours after proving they can play with the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Los Angeles Lakers will need to do it again. Because of the lockout, a shortened season, and television contracts that must be fulfilled, back-to-back basketball has come to the NBA playoffs. Which is awesome, you know, because if there's one thing this Lakers-Thunder series has had too much of, its basketball players playing at a high level.

In case you didn't pick up on the obvious sarcasm, this Lakers-Thunder series has not been all that well played. The Lakers have struggled from the field in all three playoff contests, and after their opening game mauling, the Thunder have also struggled to put points on the board. Each team's offensive efficiency in game 3 was high, but that was due, on both teams part, to an obscene number of free throws which were converted at an equally obscene rate. Between turnovers, poor shooting, and two teams that seem better suited to each other defensively than offensively, this series has not been a portrait of the beautiful game of basketball.

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The Los Angeles Lakers took care of business and protected their home court in defeating the Thunder 99-96 to win their first contest in the 2nd round of the playoffs. It was in no way easy. The Lakers had difficulty scoring from the field all night long. Kobe Bryant went 9-25. Andrew Bynum was 2-13. Ramon Sessions, Pau Gasol and Steve Blake (a fantastic bounceback 4-5 performance) were the only guys to shoot 50% or better. Throw in 15 turnovers, and you have all the ingredients for a blowout loss. Well, all the ingredients save one.

Free throws. A boatload of made free throws. The Lakers shot 42 freebies on the night. They made 41. When factoring in the number of attempts, it was the most prolific display of free throw shooting in their history (or least, the part of their history which can be looked at on basketball-reference.com). The Thunder had plenty of their own trips to the strike, and did fine in their own right, hitting 26-28, but they could not overcome a Lakers team that was desperate and fortunate to have the whistles going their way.

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Tonight, the Los Angeles Lakers face the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 3 of the Western Conference Semifinals, and depending on the result, it may end up being the last meaningful basketball contest of the Lakers' season. A loss tonight would surely doom the Lakers to another early exit from the 2nd round of the NBA playoffs, while a win, on the back of almost winning Game 2, would put the victor of this series firmly back in question. The stakes of this game, especially for the Lakers, are quite high. The season hangs in the balance.

And so much more.

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In the wake of the Los Angeles Lakers' devastating Game 2 defeat at the hands of the Oklahoma City Thunder, after the tears had been shed and the rubble that was our hopes and dreams had been cleared, the more optimistic members of Lakers Nation began the process of putting a positive spin on the night's events. The argument goes a little something like this: The Lakers were destroyed by the Thunder in Game 1, and for 46 minutes were clearly the better team in Game 2. After 48 minutes of basketball, it looked as if the Lakers didn't even belong on the same court, but after 96 minutes, the Lakers could very well have been tied if not for some very unfortunate finishing. The Game 2 loss hurts, it hurts bad, but the bottom line is that the Lakers made significant progress from one game to the next. If they can improve just a little bit more, games will be won and the series will up for grabs. By winning the first two games at home, the OKC Thunder have not done anything "unexpected" and the Lakers still have opportunities to turn the tide in their favor.

it's a tempting argument to make, and to listen to. There are solid pieces of evidence that support it - the ease with which OKC scored points in Game 1 was significantly weakened in Game 2, especially in a 2nd half in which, save for a few easy buckets at exactly the wrong time, the Laker defense completely stymied the Thunder offense for 22 out of 24 minutes. Whereas the Lakers looked unprepared, tired, and slow on Monday, they looked big, imposing, and active on Wednesday. The Lakers were this close to winning a game in which they shot 39% from the field, and only 13% from 3 pt range. They most certainly made progress. That is a fact.

It is also a fallacy. There is no such thing as progress in the NBA playoffs. There are only wins and losses, and the Lakers just let an amazing chance to win a game slip through their fingers.

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There was never much hope. Just a fool's hope.

Tonight, the Los Angeles Lakers face the Oklahoma City Thunder in game two of the Western Conference Semifinals in OKC. Based on results, many many results, you might be forgiven for thinking the Lakers have no chance of winning this contest. For evidence, you could look to Game One, in which the younger, faster Thunder made the Lakers look every bit as weary as you might expect them to be after a grueling first round series. The Lakers lost that game by 29 points, but even more troubling is that the Lakers were down 15 at the end of a first half that saw them play OK. The Thunder were just that unstoppable, going over under and through whatever token resistance the Lakers were able to put up. It was a demoralizing loss for anybody that had any morale left.

You could look at the results in the first round, too. Save for one magical stretch in the 4th quarter of Game 5 in the 1st round, Monday's contest marked the third time in four games that the Lakers have failed even to look competitive. Or the regular season, in which the Lakers consistently appeared second best, both against the team they are currently playing, and against all the other teams that are considered worthy of championship aspiration. There is plenty of evidence out there in the world, and just about all of it points to the same conclusion: The Los Angeles Lakers cannot defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder in a seven game series.

So that's it then. Game over, series over, season over, right? Well, not exactly. The Lakers, and their loving followers, do have hope.

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Sometimes, a fresh start is all you need. We've all been there at one time or another. Whether it's the relationship that just doesn't work and needs to be ended so that a fresh one can bring you all the expected joys, or a computer that is running unbearably slow that needs to have its cache cleared, or the video game that you keep screwing up with mistakes, there are times in everybody's life when a reset button, figurative or literal, is needed. You press the button and the screen goes black, the relationship ends, the mistakes are gone, and when the system reboots, you have a chance to do it all over again.

In advancing to the 2nd round of the Western Conference playoffs, the Lakers have a chance to do just that. They have a chance to erase all the idiocy and stupidity of a 1st round match-up they seemed to have full control of before nearly letting it slip away. They have a chance to re-write all the negative headlines about effort and heart and consistency and turn them into storylines about experience and capability and the heart of a champion. All they have to do is hit the reset button and start this process all over. And then pray that, against all odds, the issues that plagued them in the last round do not return.

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After getting off to a rough start with our usual traditions, we're back up and running on schedule for Round 2!

Well folks, I hope you are ready for uncharted territory. Today, for the first time in Silver Screen and Roll history, the Los Angeles Lakers will begin a playoff series in which they are ... *shock* underdogs. In fact, it will be the first time the Lakers are expected to lose a playoff series since 2007, when their first round exit to the Phoenix Suns was extremely predictable. Since then, they have been favored to win every single series they have played in, including the lost 2008 NBA Finals (they probably shouldn't have been favored, but the Lakers looked great in the 2008 postseason and Boston did not) and last year's shameful sweep at the hands of the eventual champion Dallas Mavericks.

We've only been around since 2009, a run that has seen two championships and one epic flame-out. In that time, I believe only one person has ever had the temerity to pick against the home team in this space, when Dexter Fishmore predicted doom in the 2009 NBA Finals. He was wrong then, and nobody saw last year's exit coming, but the bottom line is that confidence has been extremely high around these parts the past few seasons, and we've had good reason for that confidence. How will our crack team respond to the circumstances of not having the favorite in the series? Find out after the jump.

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In a game seven that was the very definition of "Anything can happen", the Los Angeles Lakers were able to hold off the Denver Nuggets in a compelling contest filled with strange moments. After two straight no-shows from the Laker big men, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum both played the game with a fire under their asses. Pau Gasol was especially aggressive and effective, scoring a team high 23 points to go along with 17 boards. Bynum struggled from the floor (4-15), but he picked up 18 boards, and the two combined for 10 blocks as well.

But those two playing well, as rare as its been in the past week, isn't all that strange. Strange would be the team's 2nd leading scorer being Steve Blake, with 19 points on 11 shots off the bench. That would be both a career playoff high and a season high for the much-maligned Laker back up who played the majority of minutes due to Ramon Sessions' ineffectiveness. Also joining the unexpected fray was Metta World Peace. It seemed unlikely that the Lakers would be able to count on Metta to jump right back into things and be a significant difference maker with everyone else on the court adjusted to playoff intensity, but Metta was the shot in the arm the Lakers so sorely needed. Metta shot 11 (!) three pointers on the evening, but he made enough of them (4) to justify the aggressiveness, and his energy and defense, including 4 steals, were vital. Perhaps strangest of all, in the moment in which Kobe would have had the most justification to try and win it on his own, he did the exact opposite, shooting just 16 times as Denver aggressively double teamed. But the Denver Nuggets were not to be deterred. Ty Lawson played spectacularly, and nearly led his team to victory on his own. He had help by great games from Al Harrington and Arron Afflalo, but poor contests from Danilo Gallinari and Andre Miller were too much to overcome.

Coming into tonight's contest, there was much talk about the negative ramifications of a loss. After all, it would be an historic collapse for a team of this talent level to lose a series after going up 3-1. Now, with a round 2 match up on the horizon, the Lakers have staved off the apocalypse for at least a little while. Now it's time to find out what happens next.

Tonight, the Los Angeles Lakers will attempt a feat that would be completely stereotypical of the brand of basketball we Lakers fans have been privy to the past 4+ years, to close out a playoff series on their opponent's home floor after getting dominated on their own home floor due to apathy. I'll just get this out of the way right now, I think they will be up to the task. In fact, I've thought they would be up to task since before the series began, and that includes the part where being up to the task is necessary because the series has progressed this far. A game 6 win, in Denver, to win the series, has seemed inevitable to me since it became clear the Denver Nuggets would be the first round opponent.

But as a dose of added intrigue, its been reported that Kobe Bryant is sick with a stomach problem. If you think there's a chance in hell of him missing a game due to a stomach virus, you've got another thing coming. No, the added intrigue brought on by this development is not of the "How will the Lakers deal without their leader?" variety. Its more along the lines of how will Kobe handle the adversity of trying to perform your best against your own body's will. How weakened will Kobe be by whatever bug he has picked up? How will it affect his play? And will he attempt to be the hero even more than usual because of the adversity he now faces?

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Kobe Bryant dribbles slowly up court. He motions for a teammate to come set a high screen. The defender hedges the screen, so Kobe attempts to go around him. The defender pushes him towards the sideline, as Kobe's original defender trails the play, forming a sideline trap. Kobe continues to attempt to get around the help defender, but realizes he's running out of real estate. He jumps in the air to pass back to the screener, only to find his teammate isn't where he expected, and the ball sails into the arms of one of the five guys wearing the wrong color of jersey. Kobe finds his teammate with his eyes, and gives him a look that escalates somewhere between frustration and disgust.

We've all seen many examples of variations of the above passage. Kobe attempts to take on too much, and when it causes him to fail, he inevitably looks at one of his teammates like it's them who made the mistake. To be fair, this interpretation of Kobe's thoughts might be inaccurate. Maybe the look of frustration is actually directed at himself. It's tough to look introspectively in front of 20,000 people with no mirrors in sight. But regardless, it looks unbecoming, and Kobe's seemingly visible frustration with teammates who haven't actually done anything wrong is one of his least endearing qualities. There's no way around it; Kobe Bryant is a tough teammate to have.

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Tonight, the Los Angeles Lakers look to close out their first round playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a tidy five game "gentleman's sweep". Denver will be throwing everything they can at extending the series, because they know if they can get things back to Denver and take care of business at home, anything can happen in a one game series. They are not in an enviable position. If past history is any indicator, even if the Lakers were to lose tonight, they have had little trouble over the years closing a playoff series on their opponent's home floor, which means they have three very good opportunities with which to win this series. But they only have one chance to keep pace.

Just in case your purple and gold sunglasses prevent you not only from vested interest in the other contests that make up the sum of the NBA Playoff experience, but also from a general awareness of the progression of the postseason, let me sum up the entire 1st round in one word: Fast. Now, I will use two words ... Blindingly fast. Two 1st round match-ups are already in the books, with San Antonio laying siege to the ghosts of playoff under-performance with a sweep of the Utah Jazz, and OKC making a mockery out of the Dallas Mavericks re-peat championship bid (in truth, Mark Cuban made a mockery of that chance before the season even started). Every other playoff series, in both conferences, sits at 3-1. There is a very decent chance that the entire first round could be over by tomorrow night. That would be the fastest first round since the playoffs switched to a 7 game format in 2002.

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Yesterday, the Los Angeles Lakers eked out an important victory in Denver, beating the Nuggets to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven 1st round playoff series. It was a gritty effort in which the Lakers were behind for most of the contest, but always kept the Nuggets within striking distance. In the end game, the Lakers closed well, as they have all season long. The formula was a bit of a strange one; if you check the box score, very few performances stand out. Kobe Bryant scored 22 points, but took 25 shots to get there. Andrew Bynum had 19 points and 3 blocks, but just 7 rebounds. Even unlikely hero Steve Blake didn't have spectacular numbers. Sure, he scored 10 points, but it took him 9 shots to get there, although if we're being honest, Steve should be commended for simply attempting nine shots. Jordan Hill was the only guy with eye-catching numbers, logging another double double off the bench, and picking up seven (!) offensive rebounds.

The formula used by the Lakers to achieve victory was an interesting one, however. It involved quite a bit of Kobe Bryant. Twice as much, in fact, as the two-headed big man monster of Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol. This is not an altogether unusual occurrence. Kobe Bryant tends to shoot the ball a lot, and has the highest usage rate in the league by a wide margin. On occasion, his shooting habits tend to dwarf the amount of touches his big men receive, even if his big men tend to be a bit more efficient with their scoring chances. This is a criticism often levied at the Lakers, and at Kobe Bryant specifically. There should be no reason why Kobe shoots the ball as much as Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol combined.

Well, maybe one reason. Yesterday, Bryant shot more than Bynum and Gasol combined. He didn't do particularly well with those shots, shooting 40% and ending up with more shots than points. But there was a pretty good reason why he was taking so many. Denver wouldn't let Andrew Bynum get involved.

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Tonight, the Los Angeles Lakers look to rebound following their Game 3 defeat to the Denver Nuggets in Denver. That game's result, to say nothing of the Lakers' effort and execution, were very, very predictable. There's a good reason why nobody on our crack writing staff predicted the Lakers would sweep this series. Even if plenty of folks think the Nuggets are over-matched, the Lakers have a habit of under-matching intensity. With the defeat, the Lakers' chances for a sweep are gone, but they remain theoretically on schedule for the "gentleman's" sweep. A gentleman's sweep is when one team is clearly better than the other in a playoff series, but lets one game on the road get away before re-establishing their dominance and closing the series out in five games. If the Lakers win tonight, they will be well on their way to exactly that kind of series.

And it might end up being important that they do wrap things up quickly, because the prospective opponent in the next round is already known. By white-washing the defending champs in four games, Oklahoma City is waiting for the winner of this series. They get to rest, and prepare, for their opponent for many, many days. If the Lakers want to have as much of the same advantage as possible, taking care of business quickly will be of the utmost importance.

But is it that simple? Is Game 3, in which the Nuggets won easily, really so easily written off? We'll know soon enough, but there is plenty of reason to believe it.

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Tonight, the prodigal version of the Los Angeles Lakers returned, as they do every year around this time. You know this team well: Immensely talented, immensely experienced, immensely, well, immense. You also know their other qualities: Immensely lazy, immensely entitled, immensely apathetic. Complacency is a part of the very DNA that makes up this Lakers roster.

It's been this way for nearly as long as I can remember, in one way or another. The dominant teams of the early 2000s would often be underwhelming during the regular season.They were masters of winning games by doing just enough to not get run out of the building through three quarters and then taking over in the fourth. They were also masters of playing down to the competition. But it was a professional, veteran, group that knew how to take care of business when the business truly mattered.

More recent years have brought the same level of success, but with a whole new brand of willingness to treat any game, even a playoff contest, as worthy of slacking off. Its almost Pavlovian; whenever the Lakers find themselves up in a series, against an opponent against whom they feel comfortable exerting their dominance at will, they invariably choose not to do so until they absolutely must.

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The Los Angeles Lakers fell to the Denver Nuggets by fifteen in Game 3 of their first round playoff series, the very same margin of defeat which was their margin of victory in a Game 1 performance many labeled as dominant. I'm almost more impressed by the losing. Denver ended up destroying the Lakers in a game in which they failed to shoot 40% from the floor. They throttled the Lakers despite getting out shot from the free throw line. Make no mistake, the Denver Nuggets won, and won handily, on a night when they were way, way below average.

The Lakers were also below average. They were also below interest. The entire first quarter was an ode to the merits of effort, and the Lakers trailed by 16 at its conclusion. The fourth quarter was much of the same. Denver is severely undersized in this series, but that didn't stop them from picking up 19 offensive rebounds on the evening. The Nuggets ranked 18th in the league at turning the ball over, but did so only 6 times on the contest. Put those two numbers together against the Lakers' 13 O rebounds and 15 turnovers, and it adds up to an extra 15 possessions with which to do your business. The final score was a 15 point deficit. Go figure.

With the defeat, the Lakers ensure they will have to play another game in Staples Center, but they've cost themselves almost nothing. They still had ample opportunity to win a contest they had no business, or interest, in winning. This contest proved two things: Not all 15 point victories are created equal, and you can't win a game in which you play one good quarter if you aren't winning after that quarter.

More to come, this is your postgame thread.

At the start of the season, the Lakers found themselves with quite the little personnel dilemma: They had a glut of small forwards (none of whom were particularly good) and just one shooting guard (who, of course, is spectacular). Two of those 3s were pretty worthless and saw little time on the court, and at mid-season both Luke Walton and Jason Kapono were shipped out of town. But the question of what to do with the other three was a curious one. Metta World Peace was a known, if possibly declining commodity. So, too, was Matt Barnes. Both are fine players. But Devin Ebanks represented the unknown, filled with potential but completely unproven. With no clear cut backup for Kobe Bryant at shooting guard, and with Ebanks by far the most mobile and agile of the three wing players, it seemed clear that Ebanks would find time as Kobe's backup. Even when it was decided, for strategic purposes, to have Metta World Peace come off the bench, it seemed clear there weren't many minutes for Ebanks at the 3. That is, until Mike Brown announced Ebanks would start.

It was an intriguing proposition. Devin Ebanks, a 2nd year unknown, starting over known decent commodities Barnes and Peace? He must be doing something to impress, we all thought. He must be tapping in to the potential. Then the games happened. Ebanks' numbers were hardly life altering, but they also weren't too bad. In three games, he averaged only 7 points and 3 boards a game, but he was extremely efficient with his chances. He only took 13 shots in those first three games, hitting seven of them. He also got to the line six times in one contest in which he couldn't hit from the field. His defense (as measured poorly in small sample sizes by his defensive rating) was not significantly worse than other starters like Kobe or Derek Fisher. He had two steals in one contest. His statistical contribution wasn't all that much, but he was a 2nd year player sharing the court with Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol. He took what came to him, and took it well.

Or so I thought. Mike Brown apparently disagreed. In the fourth game of the Devin Ebanks experiment, the kid got in early foul trouble, and only played 14 minutes. And just like that, he was gone. He didn't play in the next game. Or the next one. About a week later, he played 16 minutes in a loss to the Phoenix Suns. A week after that, he played the same amount against Cleveland in a win. He wouldn't play more than 10 minutes in a game again until April.

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Two (or sometimes 3) games in to the NBA Playoffs, the Los Angeles Lakers are looking pretty darn good. Behind a dominant Game 1 display, and a Game 2 victory that came despite the team not bothering to shift into high gear, the Lakers certainly look like a team primed for a deep playoff run. They are not alone. The San Antonio Spurs are happily avoiding a repeat upset by laying waste to the poor Utah Jazz. The New York Knicks look completely overmatched against the Miami Heat. The OKC Thunder have had a little more stress, but they too are up 2-0 over the defending champs. And Indiana has quickly rectified their Game 1 setback by going up 2-1 with resounding victories. And only one of the most miraculous comebacks in NBA history has prevented the Clippers from being down 2-0, with the Grizzlies up big in both contests (and having collapsed in one). Aside from Chicago's struggles in a post-Rose world, and the interesting match ups in the 4-5 slot in both conferences, the first round of the NBA playoffs looks pretty devoid of interest.

From here, the Lakers can go one of two routes. They can assert their dominance over a Denver roster that is too small to handle them, and easily win this series in four or five games. Or they can half-ass their way through a contest or two, and take more time in the first round. A lazier path could result in a 5 (with the single defeat being by 15+ points), six, or even seven game series. Hell, it could even result in defeat, though that remains exceedingly unlikely. Which Lakers team will show up in Denver? The answer remains unknown. It also remains irrelevant.

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Tonight, the Los Angeles Lakers square off once again with those crazy Denver Nuggets in Game 2 of the 1st round of the Western Conference Playoffs. Game 1 was a complete and utter domination, with the Lakers having zero difficulty keeping Denver at arm's length the entire contest. Andrew Bynum's massive arm's length, to be exact. Bynum was certainly the story in Game 1. He brought forth an historic performance, one that got his name etched in the record books for both league and illustrious franchise. He was supported by a quietly excellent Kobe Bryant performance, about what you'd expect from Pau Gasol and Ramon Sessions, and enough surprisingly good (Ebanks, Blake, Hill) to more than make up for the surprisingly bad (Matt Barnes).

Denver was also politely subservient to the Lakers' desires for an easy contest. Ty Lawson was horribly ineffective both as a scorer and as a playmaker, Aron Afflalo was unable to keep up the hot shooting that he's been bringing to the table recently, and nobody in a Nuggets uniform had the kind of breakout performance that you imagine should be coming from somewhere on a team that rolls 7-8 deep in the quality starter department.

Game 1 ended up being an incredibly easy affair for the Los Angeles Lakers, and that should worry all of you fine folks sporting those purple and gold jerseys. The Lakers never, ever make things easy on themselves, and for that reason alone, you can pretty much bank on the fact that game 1 was too good to be true.

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A day (or two) late, a buck short, but we have a tradition around these parts of putting our knowledge (or lack thereof) on display in predicting how each playoff series will play out, and I'll be damned if we're going to let the fact that Game 1 has already been played prevent us. There's no getting around the fact that the Lakers' dominant display in Game 1 has already happened and already affected folks' thoughts on how the series will play out, but there's still plenty of unknown with which to risk our titles as experts.

Without further ado, the late predictions of your crack SSR writing staff (including the newbies!!):

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This NBA season has been quite the intense trip ... games almost every night, a bunch of different events, trades, and new items that all seem intent on topping the previous entry for ridiculousness and scope, it's been, well, exhausting. And sadly, along the way, there have been casualties. You may have noticed a distinct lack of "whilst"s in your life of late, and that is because we have sadly lost our favorite Australian teenager, Saurav A. Das, to the apparently brutal academic schedule of your typical Australian undergraduate student. We thank him profusely for his dedicated service (and 3 AM game watching) and wish him the best of luck.

With that sad announcement comes a whole bunch of good ones, because Silver Screen and Roll has some new blood, and we are extremely blessed to be able to bring on not one new writer, but THREE of them. And the best part is, these guys are all ringers. They've all been in the game in one form or another for a long time, and Silver Screen and Roll is lucky and proud to have them ply their trade within our humble confines. Introductions abound after the jump.

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Just one game. That's how long it took the Los Angeles Lakers to show they mean business this postseason. Or, at least, that's how long it took Andrew Bynum to show that he can mean business, and meaning business for Bynum means trouble for the rest of the league. In compiling only the 2nd playoff triple double of points, blocks, and rebounds ever, the precocious Lakers big man showed that defensive dominance is still very much one of the tricks in his bag.

It's a trick the Lakers have missed quite often this season. Drew has rarely been the kind of game changing presence on defense that he's so clearly capable of being. Instead, he's put considerably more energy into expanding his offensive presence, and he's had a great deal of success doing so. But the bottom line is that the Lakers are always at their best when Drew is locked in defensively. Kobe Bryant can score points. So too can Pau Gasol, Ramon Sessions, and whoever Ramon Sessions passes the ball to. But nobody on the team can fill the lane on defense, affecting shots in such a wide arc around the rim and cleaning up the glass as effectively as Bynum can. Hell, there's only one person in the league who can do those things as effectively as Bynum can, and Dwight Howard won't be suiting up in these playoffs.

Which means the Lakers have an edge that no other team can match.

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The Los Angeles Lakers easily took care of the Denver Nuggets in Game 1 of the 1st round Western Conference playoff series, on the back of their ridiculously talented big man Andrew Bynum. Big Drew scored just 10 points, but his effect on the game was most surely felt, in historic fashion. With 10 blocks, Drew joined joined the history books as one of only three players to go for double digit blocks in a game (the other two were Mark Eaton and Hakeem Olajuwon), and with 13 boards, Drew also became the first Laker to go for a triple double in a playoff game since Magic Johnson in 1991. Not bad, young man. Not bad at all.

With Drew destroying any semblance of offense for the Nuggets, the Lakers had the contest in complete control, leading by double digits for at least half the contest. Kobe Bryant struggled early, but figured things out by game's end, going for 31 points on 11-24 shooting, and Pau Gasol was right behind Drew in trib-doub territory, with 13 points, 8 boards and 8 dimes. Meanwhile, Devin Ebanks and Steve Blake both gave the Lakers a lift in the first half, and Jordan Hill cemented his place as the only backup big man in the rotation, picking up 10 and 10 in 24 minutes.

We'll have more on this way too easy victory today, but for now, bask in the shade provided by the behemoth in the middle of the Lakers franchise.

The wait is over, folks. Los Angeles Lakers playoff basketball, circa 2012, has arrived. Today, the Los Angeles Lakers begin what will hopefully be another long playoff journey towards that ultimate prize, the Larry O'Brien trophy. They start their journey with the Denver Nuggets, those fast-paced crazy cousins of the NBA fraternity. Most of the Lakers' starting lineup hasn't played basketball in over a week, so getting off to a strong start and avoiding the rust of rest will be vital to ensuring that this series doesn't give us any more heartburn than it needs to.

Tip that cup of PBR whenever:

• ABC shows yet another replay of Metta World Peace's elbow to James Harden's head (it will be the 357,657th time they've shown the clip)
• Kobe Bryant decides to leave Arron Afflalo wide open on the perimeter
• You can't actually see Ty Lawson fully defined because he's moving to fast
• Matt Barnes makes a three pointer
• The Lakers throw a lob pass

We live for this time all year long, folks, so enjoy it.

The Los Angeles Lakers tip their first round playoff series off tonight against the Denver Nuggets, and this series is one of the marquee matchups of the first round. With the Lakers' stature, their playoff series are almost always marquee matchups, but this series has quite a few interesting themes to it: The most traditional team in the playoffs against the most unorthodox. The most top heavy team in the league against the most balanced. The fastest team in the league vs. one of the slowest. I could go on and on, but the bottom line is this: You will not see a matchup between two teams more different than the Lakers and Nuggets in these playoffs.

The Lakers are the prototypical model of basketball. That's not to say they are the best team in the league, but every single Lakers starter performs the exact role you'd think of as "normal" for his position. Ramon Sessions is a pass first point guard that makes his hay with the pick and roll, with tons of speed and good court vision, but not a lot of scoring on his own. Kobe Bryant is a shooting guard in every aspect of the title. Metta World Peace (and Matt Barnes) are your normal defensive stoppers who contribute to, but don't shape, the offense. Andrew Bynum is an old-school back-to-the-basket, you can't stop my hook shots, center. Pau Gasol at the power forward can do his business in the post, but with some added mid range game. It's ridiculous how traditional the Lakers have become once the point guard position was filled with an actual point guard.

The Nuggets? They crazy, yo. The best center on their roster doesn't start. They have two point guards who often see the court at the same time. Their bench routinely out-performs their starting lineup, as it did in the last contest against the Lakers. The entire lineup is made up either of energy guys or quirky players like Miller. Their backup small forward looks like an alien duck (sorry, just couldn't resist). They completely defy the normal conventions of basketball.

Any time you have two teams with such divergent styles, entertainment is usually the winner. Every game will be a war of strategy to see which team can dictate not just who wins, but how the game is played. Let's take a look at the positional breakdowns after the jump.

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Yesterday, we took part in SB Nation's network-wide effort to preview the 2012 NBA Playoffs. That preview wasn't so much for you fine folks who've been following the team every day.

66 games in the time normally reserved for 50, the regular season has finally come to a close. Unlike in seasons past, where our proud fanbase (and for that matter, our proud team) might have languidly meandered through the final 4 weeks of the season with one eye looking ahead, this year was a gauntlet which continually flew at you at breakneck speed.There was never a chance to catch your breath, never a chance to stop and think about what the Los Angeles Lakers accomplished, or failed to. With just one day between the end of the season and the start of the playoffs, that pace continues.

It behooves us then, to take a moment. To smell the roses, to assess the state of the Lakers heading into a another postseason. This will be the first postseason in a long time in which the Lakers are not favorites to win the NBA title, or even get to the NBA Finals in the first place. It will be the first time in a long time in which they are not the defending champions. At the start of the season, there was talk of re-loading, of grabbing a superstar via trade and continuing both Kobe Bryant's and the franchise's assault on the NBA record books. When CP3 fell through, and the Lakers' extremely advantageous All-Star big man rotation was shipped out of town with Lamar Odom, the talk turned to survival. Now, after the Lakers' offensive explosion and decent showing against high quality teams since the acquisition of Ramon Sessions, we've come full circle.

The Los Angeles Lakers enter the postseason with a chance, a legitimate chance, to win another NBA title.

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This is part of an SBNation-wide effort for the blogs of playoff teams to provide a re-set going into the postseason. You can check out how the Lakers first-round opponent feels at Denver Stiffs

Team Record: 41-25

First Round Opponent: No. 3 Los Angeles Lakers vs. No. 6 Denver Nuggets

How would you describe The Lakers in the regular season?

Erratic. So, so erratic. The Los Angeles Lakers may have ended the year third in the Western Conference, but lost out only to the New York Knicks when it comes to insane twists and turns over the course of the regular season (and the corresponding media following to cover said twists). From the pseudo-trade for Chris Paul to the very real trade of Lamar Odom for nothing (a trade which, sadly, appears to have been justified), from the early season struggles (in which all but the top four players were, statistically, among the worst in the league) to the post trade-deadline rennaissance following the acquisition of Ramon Sessions and the re-discovery of an energized Metta World Peace, this has been one wild ride of a season. And just when you think you've got a handle on this bizarre Lakers team, Andrew Bynum jacks a three pointer or MWP cracks James Harden's head. Never a dull moment.

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