You have to admire Mitch Kupchak for putting his misery on display tonight. He could've stayed in Los Angeles for Game Five. Or he could've attended it but watched from a luxury box. Instead he chose to sit in the stands and allow the TBS cameras to capture his gaze, which grew more desolate and despairing as the evening wore on. Even if you'd no idea of the score or anything happening on the court, you could've watched Mitch for two and a half hours and gleaned a pretty decent idea of where the Lakers' season was heading. His was the expression of a man seeing his best professional efforts fall well short.

The Lakers, as they're now constructed, are not capable of competing for NBA championships. The roster is too old and too slow. In consecutive seasons they've not come close to escaping the second round, and since knocking off Boston in the 2010 Finals they're 9-13 in the playoffs. Young powers like the Thunder will only get better, and the moves Kupchak has made in an effort to keep pace have made sense for the most part but haven't worked out well enough. The upper tier of NBA teams no longer includes the Lakers, and Kobe Bryant will not win his sixth championship ring as a Laker unless significant roster moves are made... and maybe not even then.

Continue reading this post »

Another Lakers season has ended in second-round disappointment. They didn't get swept, and tonight's Game Five wasn't a disaster on a historic scale comparable to the Game Four hammering in Dallas a year ago, but that's probably not making any of you feel much better right now. After hanging in there for almost three quarters, the Lake Show succumbed to a 20 to 4 Thunder run spanning the end of the third and start of the fourth periods, setting up a garbage-time celebration in OKC that's still going on. Led by Russell Westbrook (28 points) and Kevin Durant (25 points), the Thunder blitzed the Laker defense for 1.14 points per possession. Kobe Bryant (42 points) had an excellent night but got no help from anyone but Metta World Peace. Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum were thoroughly awful. As a team the Lakers pulled in just three offensive boards, their lowest total since I have no idea. They were equally bad on the defensive glass.

More to come later tonight. Welcome to the offseason.

Proceed.

Continue reading this post »

We all just got the wind knocked out of us. The Lakers led Game Four almost the entire way but ran out of gas and blew another late lead, putting them right at the edge of the abyss. It's not over yet... technically... but... well. You don't need me to say it.

Your boxscore is here. Your analysis will come whenever we can scrape ourselves up off the road and figure out what happened. Thread up your thoughts below, but please keep it civil.

Proceed.

Welcome back to the meat grinder, kiddos. I hope you got a good night's sleep and have been carbo-loading in preparation for Game Four. Here's a quick list of things we need from the Lakers tonight: more aggressive play from Ramon Sessions... Kobe posting up Derek Fisher as often as possible... Metta World Peace getting into Russell Westbrook's head again... some sweet dishing n' swishing from Pau Gasol... Andrew Bynum changing up his post moves to counter the excellent D of Kendrick Perkins... fearless clutch shooting from Steve Blake... Jordan Hill mixing it up down low... Matt Barnes not being horrible... a loud and intimidating(ish) Staples crowd... John Kuester cooking up a mad-genius out-of-bounds play... and Mike Brown not getting in the way of the foregoing. NONE OF THIS IS OO MUCH TO ASK.

Let slip the dogs of your out-of-control alcoholism whenever someone mentions:

• Free-throw stats,
• Fatigue,
• The Clippers blowing that huge lead today,
• "Holding serve," or
• Jack.

Permission to comment: GRANTED.

Proceed.

I feel comfortable declaring tonight's Game Three a must-win for the Lakers. You know it, I know it, the Thunder and Lakers know it. If there's gonna be a last stand, it has to start now.

The Lake Show is favored by 2 1/2 in this one, so enough bettors think the good things the Lakers accomplished in Game Two (rattling Russell Westbrook, forcing a few turnovers) will carry over. It would really be a big help if someone in purple and gold could make a three. Have I ever complained about that before? No, I don't think so.

Have Zooey or Sam ask Siri to mix you another cocktail whenever someone mentions:

• "This pivotal Game Three,"
• How no NBA team has ever come back from a 3-0 series deficit,
• "back to back,"
• How Staples Center will be just a little busy this weekend, or
• James Harden's beard.

BUILD A MOAT PROTECT THE MONEY.

Proceed.

The NBA levied fines against two Lakers today. Devin Ebanks was fined 25 grand for acting a fool after he got tossed from Game One. Andrew Bynum got touched for 10 for skipping a mandatory media session yesterday. That money should be placed in a fund and used to compensate Laker fans who sat through Monday's massacre.

Thunder are favored by 8 in this one. A few books are moving the line to 8 1/2. Basically, very few people expect the Lakers to return to L.A. with a series split. Derp derp derp.

Carouse responsibly whenever someone mentions:

• How the Thunder had just four turnovers in Game One,
• How Game Two is (or is not) a "must win" for the Lakers,
• That horrible 3-2 zone defense Mike Brown tried Monday night,
• The Shaq-Barkley "shirt off" bet, or
• The "college-type atmosphere" at Chesapeake Energy Arena.

This comment thread is open for business.

I'm probably not the right person to be analyzing the Lakers' Game One apocalypse in Oklahoma City tonight. The problem is confirmation bias. Coming into the game I was already bearish on the Lakers' chances - it doesn't get more bearish than predicting a Thunder sweep - so every horrible thing that unfolded on the court looked and felt like validation of my pessimism. If you start with an assumption of near-hopelessness and then watch your team get jack-hammered for 48 minutes, where do you go from there? To the offseason is where, and the realization that life with the Kobe-Pau-Bynum Lakers is nearing an end.

Certainly, there's nothing from Game One to suggest the Lakers and Thunder are in the same class. From the opening tip OKC's offense ran to perfection. Russell Westbrook, even with Kobe guarding him from the outset, knocked down one elbow jumper after the next off simple high screens. He had way too much freedom to operate, and none of the adjustments Mike Brown attempted (a 3-2 zone, briefly, then sending a big man to hedge the high screen) troubled Westbrook in the least and if anything made things worse. The Lakers need to hope he starts missing some of those 14-foot shots because if he doesn't the series is unwinnable.

Continue reading this post »

Proceed.

Nobody's got the flu. Nobody's at risk of getting fired if they lose tonight. Nobody's bitching about laptops in the huddle. The fast turnaround from Game Seven at Staples to Game One in OKC tonight has squeezed out the time-killing, media-filler subplots, leaving just a basketball game to worry about. The Thunder are favored by 7 1/2 tonight, indicating a deep and widespread pessimism about the Lakers' chances. There's a real possibility the weary Lakers will mail this one in, hoping to make their stand and get their road split Tuesday night when the balance of fatigue is more even.

Sample a beverage from Thunder Road Brewing Company's delicious product line whenever someone mentions:

• Kendrick Perkins's strained right hip,
• How MWP won't fist-bump James Harden,
• Something about Derek Fisher facing his former team,
• How Kevin Durant beat out Kobe Bryant for the scoring title, or
• "Rest versus rust."

Now who wants a PIECE OF THIS COMMENT THREAD?!?

Continue reading this post »

The Lakers are handing out pom-poms tonight, which... I don't know, doesn't that seem a little minor-league for a franchise with 16 championships? If Laker fans can't summon the fury for a playoff elimination game, props aren't gonna help. In any case, we're in for a night of pretty tense drama. Hard to believe, but the season could be over in a few hours. Or we could all be taking a two-second breath of relief before stressing about the Thunder.

Game Seven anxiety will compel you to drink whenever someone mentions:

• Magic Johnson's prediction that Mike Brown will be fired if the Lakers lose,
• The noise level at Staples,
• How the Lakers (in 2006) were the last NBA team to blow a 3-1 series lead,
• How long the Oklahoma City Thunder will have been resting by the time the second-round series starts, or
• "Win or go home."

This is Game Seven, people. Comment or go home!

Continue reading this post »

Something is rotten in Lakerdom. It's not just that the purple and gold dropped two straight to the Nuggets. Contrary to what people are saying about how championship teams take care of business quickly in the first round, they don't always do so. (Anyone remember the Celtics being taken to seven games by the Hawks in 2008?) A drawn-out first round needn't foretell disaster. But this certainly feels like a disaster unfolding, does it not? Even if the Lakers handle their business on Saturday night and advance, what hope do they have against the rested Thunder? A little, maybe, but only if they regain a semblance of discipline, intelligence and desire, none of which have been present in Games Five or Six.

Saturday night will be a turning point in the coaching career of Mike Brown. When the Lakers hired him to replace Phil Jackson, supporters of the move excused his playoff failures in Cleveland on theories involving who he had to work for (Dan Gilbert) and who he had to work with (LeBron James). Now, he might have to make room on his resumé for another postseason catastrophe. And the main reason is that he's apparently incapable of eliciting a pulse from his two superstar big men.

Continue reading this post »

This series is going the full seven. Tonight in Denver the Lakers exhibited not even a little heart, desire or competitiveness, embarassing themselves and everyone who's ever worn or rooted for the purple and gold. Faced with elimination for the second straight game, the Nuggets opened the game with a 13-0 run, withstood a brief Laker comeback in the second quarter and then resumed the blowout, winning by the deceptively close score of 113 to 96. Despite suffering from the flu and the company of his teammates, Kobe Bryant (31 points and four assists) went to battle like a true pro, as he always does. Everyone else took the night off. Andrew Bynum was a total nonfactor, and Pau Gasol (3 points on 1-for-10 shooting, 3 rebounds) played what has to be his worst game as a pro. Ty Lawson (32 points) led the onslaught for the Nugs, who scored a blistering 1.22 points per possession against the worthless Laker D.

More to come later on. This is your postmortem thread.

Proceed.

Win or lose, the Lakers will play again on Saturday. The NBA announced today that if the Lakers win, the second-round series against the Thunder will start in Oklahoma City on Saturday-Monday. If they lose, of course, they'll be back at Staples to face the Nuggets in Game Seven. Other news-chunks you might not've caught if you've been off the Internet: Kobe missed shootaround with gastroenteritis, and Chris Andersen's home is the target of a kiddie-porn investigation. Ick. Andersen has been excused from the team while the investigation continues.

The time for a nervous sip of alcomohol is whenever someone mentions:

• Laptops in the huddle,
• Michael Jordan's "flu game,"
• How after Game Five, the Lakers' locker-room white board said to "pack for three games,"
• The Lakers' 12-2 record in closeout games in the Pau Gasol era, or
• Andrew Bynum getting back on defense (or not, as the case may be).

Time to go to work!

For comfort, think back to 2009 and the second round. Against the Houston Rockets in the playoffs that year, the Lakers turned in several no-show performances of the kind we suffered tonight. Yao Ming played in only the first game of that series, but instead of pile-driving an overmatched opponent the Lakers played with energy and attentiveness only when strictly necessary, letting Houston drag what should've been a short series to a seventh game. It was lame as hell and led to a lot of handkerchief-wringing among the media and fans. Many opined that such listlessness was a sign that the Lakers lacked championship character. But go to Staples Center and look up at the rafters, and you'll see the 2009 championship banner still hanging there. The point being, games like this don't necessarily mean anything. By Saturday night, we'll probably be turning our attention to the Oklahoma City Thunder, and tonight's Game Five debacle will be a fading bad memory.

I mean, did you really think this Lakers team would make it easy on us? OK, I did. I thought the Game Four victory had broken the Nuggets' backs, that the Lakers were ready to handle their business, that they'd bring a ruthless focus from the opening tip. Aheh. I was wrong about both them and the Nugs. It's often said that teams facing elimination play "with desperation," but that's not how Denver approached this game. Desperate people are rarely so calm and impressively poised.

Continue reading this post »

The Lakers are heading back to Denver. Everything was set up for them to bounce the Nuggets out of the playoffs with a win at Staples tonight, but they failed to show up until it was too late, falling to the Nugs 102 to 99. Kobe Bryant scored 43 points and nearly dragged his team to a heart-stopping win with some late threes, but he got scarcely any help from his fellow superstars Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol. Drew was a statue on defense, while Pau scored only nine points on 4-for-11 shooting. Led by Andre Miller (24 points on 8-for-11 shooting, 8 assists) and JaVale McGee (21 points, 14 boards and a late, game-saving block of a Gasol dunk attempt), the Nugs played with energy and smarts.

Game Six will be Thursday evening. Game Seven, now an all too plausible thought, would be Saturday.

More to come later tonight. This is your postgame thread.

Proceed?