Just a quick Laker update because there are some interesting developments to discuss concerning the Lakers. First off, the Sacramento Queens lost again tonight, this time to the Dallas Mavericks, and it was quite an implosion by the Queens. First off, the Mavs are one of the absolute worst defensive teams in the league, but they usually keep in the playoff race by being one of the best offensive teams in the league, and this year is no different. However, the Mavs have been fairly disappointing this year and are currently the 6th seeded team in the West after tying for the league's best record last year. Anyway, Sacramento was down by as many as 27 points late in the 3rd quarter tonight before Dallas's awful defense let them back in the game a bit (Dallas ended up winning by 10). With that loss by the Queens, that opened the door to the Lakers, meaning that the Lakers now controlled their own destiny, and if they won the rest of their games would own the #1 seed in the West this year come playoff time.
Speaking of that, the Lakers hosted the Houston Rockets tonight, and ended up winning an ugly game, running their win streak to 10 games. Most impressive was the play of both Karl Malone and Gary Payton who combined for 32 points, 8 assists and 27 rebounds :eek That is really impressive considering the two positions that those two play have traditionally been by far the weakest two positions for the Lakers since even before Phil Jackson was the coach. LA looks really primed for the playoffs this year, and if they can keep up their winning ways they'll get the top seed in the West for sure. Tomorrow they've got their first road game in weeks as they go up to Seattle to play the Sonics, and then Sunday they have a huge game against last year's champs, the San Antonio Spurs. That will be a great game not just because it's arguably the league's two best teams battling for playoff positioning, but also because I'm going to the game! :grin That's right, Liz came through again (thanks to her friend not being able to attend), and she offered to sell me the extra ticket for face value (which is probably a third or fourth of what it would go for on eBay). Ok, I'm all juiced up about the Lakers, I'm sorry. I'm gonna shut up now.