The incident, which resulted in a Flagrant Foul Two and ejection, occurred with 1:39 remaining in the second quarter of the Lakers’ 114-106 victory over the Thunder on April 22 at Staples Center.

“The concussion suffered by James Harden demonstrates the danger posed by violent acts of this kind, particularly when they are directed at the head area,” NBA Commissioner David Stern said. “We remain committed to taking necessary measures to protect the safety of NBA players, including the imposition of appropriate penalties for players with a history of on-court altercations.”

The suspension will begin with the Lakers’ next game at Sacramento on April 26. The remaining games of the suspension will be served over the next six games in which the player is eligible and physically able to play, including this season’s playoffs.

The incident occurred with 8:41 remaining in the fourth quarter of the Lakers’ 96-87 loss to the Utah Jazz at EnergySolutions Arena in Salt Lake City on Feb. 4.

Brown will serve his suspension Monday when the Lakers play the Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Center.

When Matt Barnes signed a 2-year contract with the Lakers in the summer of 2010, the team thought they had just added another tough defender and a player who will always do the little things that are easily forgotten but will always be big factors to winning a game and, in turn, another title. But a foot injury hampered Barnes for the second half of the season and undoubtedly played a big role in their early exit in the playoffs last season.

Well, that’s all in the past now.

Since being placed in the starting lineup, the defense, rebounding and fast breaks have looked much better for the Lakers. Not only that, Matt’s shooting (51%) from the field and at the free-throw line (88.2%) have made honing in on Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, and Andrew Bynum tougher for the opposing defense.

Confidence is never a question with Barnes. But with his foot now healthy and playing for a coach who prioritizes the very things that make his game as a basketball player, Matt just looks much more relaxed out on the floor.

His passing is also something to take note of. Did you see his lob pass to Kobe for a reverse dunk and his pinpoint pass to Gasol who was being fronted against the Phoenix Suns last night? That may be the result of Mike Brown‘s practice routines, but those passes wouldn’t be successful if Matt is a mediocre passer.

Barnes may not be the ideal player the Lakers need with athleticism, speed or a deadshot stroke from distance, but he’s filling the role of a difference maker.

A lot of times, that’s all any team needs to win.

For more great articles, be sure to check out the Purple and Gold Blog.

“We have reached an economic deal,” Virtus president Claudio Sabatini told a local radio station. “There’s still some things to arrange but at this point I’m very optimistic. I would say it’s 95 percent done.”

It’s no surprise Bryant has opted to play in Italy; he spent time living there while his father played seven seasons with clubs in the Italian A1 League and the Italian A2 League during the 1980s.

The Italian Basketball season was due to start on October 9, however fixtures are being reworked after a 17th team Venezia, was been added to the league.

First, Odom’s flagrant;

Lamar Odom Flagrant

Honestly, it’s not that bad; Odom just steps into a hard pick on Nowitzki.  He gives him some impact on the shoulder, but it’s nothing that doesn’t happen dozens of times during the regular season.  I have no problem Odom him being ejected to try to keep the game under control, and feel it was unnecessary with Dallas already up 30.  However, it doesn’t reflect poorly on Odom as a player.  It was an aggressive pick into Nowitzki’s big, meaty shoulder.  It wasn’t dirty or malicious, let alone dangerous.

Now, let’s look at Bynum’s foul

Bynum Flagrant Foul

What Bynum did was throw an elbow into a much smaller man in the air, in one of the most sensitive parts of the body, right underneath the armpit. If you hit someone hard and accurately enough there, you can potentially kill them.

Worse, it’s not the first time Bynum has taken out his frustrations on the body and career of a player precariously in the air;

Previous Bynum Flagrant Fouls

It should be noted that Gerald Wallace suffered major injury thanks to the play above.

Bynum’s initial excuse for the dirty hit on Barea was that he was “salty”, but truthfully, he was just looking for a way out.  His team was getting shellacked on their way to a blowout loss, he had a lousy game, and didn’t want to be there anymore.  As soon as he threw the elbow, Bynum started walking to the exit, not even turning around.  He knew; he got what he wanted.  In the process he had placed another man’s health and career in jeopardy, but no matter.

And that folks is the very definition of a dirty player and a punk.

Apparently, I’m not the only one who saw it this way; Odom was not punished any further by the league office, while Bynum received a 5 game suspension, one of the harshest penalties in league history for an on-court incident which didn’t involve a fight, referee, or fan.

So while on paper, Odom and Bynum both committed flagrant fouls within a minute of each other, the nature of each revealed very different things about each man.

Firstly, here’s my official winners, with an almost-serious Bold Prediction for each:

East

Boston vs Miami

Miami in 5.

A wing-centric series, LeBron James will post a trip-dub. Rajon Rondo will come close to one but fall shy on rebounds by three or less.

Atlanta vs Chicago

Chicago in 6.

Carlos Boozer will return from his turf toe to post a near 20/20 with more than 15 points and rebounds.

West

Dallas vs Los Angeles

Los Angeles in 6.

Tyson Chandler has been a huge difference-maker for Dallas this season, but the difference here will be Andrew Bynum and his double-double average for the series.

Unless…

Memphis vs Oklahoma City

Oklahoma City in 5.

The Grizzlies are gritty and physical, and Kendrick Perkins can’t guard both Gasol the Greater and Z-Bo at the same time. However, this one will be decided on the perimeter. In one game Shane Battier will hold Kevin Durant to 20 points or less, and in another KD will drop 50.

___

How to flip the script

Boston

With a Zombie Jermaine O’Neal and an always-hobbled Other O’Neal anchoring the defense after Danny Ainge inexplicably decided to implode what may have been the best team in the league at the time by trading away Perkins, the Celtics would need 2008 DPoY Kevin Garnett to hop into the Hot Tub Time Machine to take this series.

Rondo and Garnett would need to own the paint against the league’s sixth-best paint defense team this season, the Heat, hooking up for alley oops as they did when only the Chris Paul-to-Tyson Chandler connection could compete in that rare air of yesteryear.

Atlanta

The Atlanta Hawks have never been out of the second round of the playoffs. Ever.

Pretty much the only way they’re doing so this season is if the Bulls suddenly decide they’re just too green make a move yet. This is the farthest the Derrick Rose-led Bulls have yet been in the postseason, but they’re extremely balanced and well coached.

This marks the second straight series that rookie head coach Tom Thibodeau goes head-to-head with another rookie head coach, this time Larry Drew. Thibs seemed a little lost a times versus Frank Vogel and the Indiana Pacers.

Dallas

…Andrew Bynum goes down, as he is apt to do. This would result in Lakers Fan dubbing him Brittle Bynum as they collectively dash their free samples of Lamar Odom’s “Unbreakable” all over the SoCal streets.

We’ve had the Lakers’ length pounded into our skulls for years now, and there’s some speculation that Mavs coach Rick Carlisle will be forced to counter with a large lineup of Chandler, Haywood, and Dirk in order to compete.

However, I believe Shawn Marion can make a huge impact in this series in regards to Lamar Odom.

Odom (left) and Marion's (right) impact when on the court together

Look what happens to Odom’s numbers when Marion goes to the bench.

Memphis

Ibaka will struggle with Zach Randolph. Consequently, coach Scott Brooks will have to switch the scowling Perk onto him at times. This has the unfortunate result of freeing up Marc Gasol who has picked up the slack in a big way when Z-Bo takes stretches off, as he inevitably will.

However, this one will be decided on the perimeter.

If Durant gets hot there’s no stopping him, but if anyone can force the ball into Russell Westbrook’s hands, making him fancy himself a hero, it’s Shane Battier and his opponent PER of 10.0.

If we get this Tony Allen defending Westbrook the Thunder could fizzle with a whimper.

_____

You can follow Clint on Twitter at @Clintonite33

When Monty Williams was given the keys to the car last summer, one of the first orders of business was to manage Paul’s minutes if at all possible.

“I will have to monitor his minutes to not overwork him,” said Williams in the October preseason, entirely with the intent of saving him for the grueling playoffs.

The goal was to try and hold him to a new career low 35 minutes-per-game, and while that lofty goal wasn’t completely realized, it was pretty close. Close enough to make a noticeable difference in his energy levels in the first round of the NBA Playoffs, and knock the LA Lakers back on their heels a bit.

Links courtesy NBCSports.com and BasketballReference.com

Paul played a career-matching-low 36 minutes-per-game, and while that may not seem like much of a difference compared to two more measly minutes, over the course of a season, two extra minutes of rest equals four-and-a-half games of repose for the frenetic Paul and his reconstructed knee.

The results don’t lie. It’s mission accomplished for Monty Williams’ master plan.

_____

You can follow Clint on Twitter at @Clintonite33

It’s felt for a while now like passing from the post is becoming something of a lost art form. I have vivid memories of vintage Karl Malone backing down his man methodically in the post while peeking for that over-the-shoulder-dump-off to a slashing John Stockton for high-percentage points, a skill he worked hard on for many years to perfect, and perfect it he did.

So, it was no surprise to me to find him on the list of premiere passing bigs of the last decade, but who are the others who did bonus damage to opponents by rummaging around in the toolbox and making use of this ever-diminishing tool?

I asked on Twitter, and the usual list of suspects popped up; Divac, Duncan, and Shaq are all there. It took a few minutes, but Pau Gasol, Chris Webber, then Brad Miller, then Kevin Garnett all popped up too. Much to my chagrin, Malone was never mentioned, and neither were a couple other oft-overlooked big dimers.

The criteria cut-off for “elite-passing big man” is at 3.0 assists-per-game.

I tried stay away from “tweeners,” sticking to those that played predominantly either the center or power forward position in a given season (like Andrei Kirilenko of the 2003-04 season, where he made the All-Star game as a PF after Malone’s departure from the Utah Jazz and before Carlos Boozer’s arrival in Salt Lake City, or Juwan Howard for the 2002-03 Denver Nuggets), so no LeBron James, despite his Malone-esque stature.

Of course, if you’re 6’10″ or bigger, you’re probably automatically qualified even if you play the small forward when your oft-injured center happens to string together a few appearances in a row.

The more-accurate advanced stat measurement of assist percentage is represented by font size in direct proportion in the following chart, for example, 2001-02 Lamar Odom’s AST% was 28.6, so was rounded up to font size 29 in the font I used, Sans Bold, while Shareef Abdur-Rahim’s 15.1 AST% is represented in font size 15.

As always, players names are staggered wherever possible, as well as represented in an approximation of his team colors of the season, and half-and-half in a season where that player was traded. Remember, you can always go where I did for the data, for clarification of a particular season’s numbers, Basketball Reference.

And yes, that is a 1949 dime, in case you were wondering.

Stats through Feb. 6, 2011

Malone aside, some other names overlooked were Toni Kukoc, Dirk Nowitzki and Josh Smith, three appearances each, and looming largest of all, the most consistent passing big man of the last 10-plus years, Lamar Odom.

As a third-wheel most of his career, with a reputation for slacking off, it’s no surprise that casual fan and professional blogger alike both overlooked Odom. However, one could easily make a case for the Candyman as Big Dimer of the Decade.

Most appearances:

Tim Duncan, Lamar Odom, eight times

Kevin Garnett, seven times

Brad Miller, six times

Most assists per-game:

2002-03 Kevin Garnett, 6.0

2001-02 Lamar Odom, 5.9

2004-05 Kevin Garnett, 5.7

Highest assist percentage:

2003-04 Vlade Divac, 28.7%

2001-02 Lamar Odom, 28.6%

2004-05 Kevin Garnett, 27.1%

For some perspective on Odom’s 2001-02 passing season, his assist percentage was better that year than guards Mike Bibby, Tony Parker, Gilbert Arenas, Chris Whitney and his backup, Tyronne Lue, Darrell Armstrong, Tim Hardaway, Kenny Anderson, Damon Stoudamire, Alvin Williams, as well as his very own starting point guard, Jeff McInnis.

But there’s clearly a disturbing trend emerging here, that being that the art of the interior pass is quietly going the way of the dinosaur. It’s interesting to note this downward trend is in direct proportion to field goal percentages going up over the same span.

Going back beyond the confines of these charts we find that Webber was a premiere passer for 14 straight seasons, right up until his last.

Malone did it for his last 14 straight, right up to his final push for a ring with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Garnett was a dime threat for 12 straight years, but hasn’t been seen on the list since before the 2008-09 season when only three bigs even qualified for this exercise.

Duncan has made it over the set threshold only 10 of 14 seasons, and almost always barely.

The longest current streak belongs to Pau Gasol, at six straight, but neither Duncan nor Gasol are anywhere near the glory levels of past years’ big dimers.

Something interesting happened when I began looking at Win Shares coupled with big dimers; that this dangerous-to-a-defense facet of the game has been largely ignored over the last several seasons.

The size of the star burst is directly proportionate to the Win Shares total for each player/season. A double star burst is indicative of that season’s NBA leader in Win Shares.

Duncan and Garnett’s consecutive years are easily spotted. That’s Dirk Nowitzki hiding twice in that nebulous cloud of 2006-2008. These three big dimers combine to account for the league lead in Win Shares for five of six years, and it goes back even further than that.

We find Pau Gasol as the current and past three seasons’ leader in Win Shares among qualified diming bigs, but the quality and quantity are slowly being snuffed right of the game like a dying dwarf star.

The golden age for passing big men seems to be from 1993-94 David Robinson right up to 2006-07 Dirk Nowitzki, where qualified big dimers were also the NBA leaders in Win Shares for 10 of 13 seasons –and it would have been 14 straight had Robinson not fallen just shy at 2.9 assists per-game in 1994-95 and Michael Jordan not jumped in the following two seasons to break up the bigs party.

Shaquille O’Neal, who made our chart only once, had his two best years as a passer in this era as well; from 1999-2001, the Lakers’ champ posted career highs of 3.8 and 3.7 assists per-game for respective 19.3 and 18.8 AST%, while leading the league in Win Shares grabbing hardware along the way.

Six times from 1998 to 2006 a Win Shares-leading, big dimer was in the NBA Finals. Dirk in ’06 was the last of his kind to date.

Looking back through the years we also find your Wilts and your Kareems. But neither of those Hall-of-Famers can claim the crown of “best big dimer you’ve never heard of.” That honor belongs alone to one seven-foot Tom Boerwinkle.

Boerwinkle played for the Chicago Bulls back in the days of true grit, with the likes of Norm Van Lier, Jerry Sloan, Chet Walker, and Bob Love. Many of you may have heard Tom call MJ’s “Shrug” game as a Bulls radio broadcaster, but he’s best known for the following excerpts as told by Boerwinkle himself:

“It was a huge thrill to come so close to the NBA Finals, as we did in 1974 and 1975, even if we fell a little short. But my favorite game with the Bulls—a game that gave new meaning to home-court advantage—came on January 8, 1970.

In early January 1970, one of the most wicked cold snaps in Chicago history was paralyzing the city; by January 8, it had been below zero for 10 straight days. Of course, you normally wouldn’t worry how cold it was outside when playing a game indoors at Chicago Stadium, but Murphy’s Law applied to this game—the Stadium’s heater was broken.

It’s funny enough to picture all 5,086 fans who braved the elements that night, wearing their hats, scarves, and gloves during the game. You certainly don’t arrive at an indoor basketball game expecting to see your breath when you cheer for your favorite player. But it wasn’t just the fans who were bundled up—the players on both benches wore coats and mittens to stay warm. It was only about 40 degrees inside the Stadium that night, so could you blame us?

Good things were happening to me from the opening tip. Never had I experienced the breaks—not in high school, college, or the pros—that I did on that night. Everything was bouncing my way. I had 12 rebounds by the end of the first quarter, and was closing in on 20 by halftime.

Despite how evenly matched the teams appeared to be on paper, we proved to have a major advantage in this “Ice Bowl” game. We continued to roll after halftime, and by the end of the third quarter, we were up 115-80.

I already had played more than my average minutes for the season, which were around 30. I wasn’t on the floor much in the third quarter because we were up so big, but by the end of the game, I had tallied an unimaginable 37 rebounds—in 35 minutes. It was an all-time Bulls record, and it stands to this day.”

The gaudy numbers on the glass really stand out, overshadowing another mark Boerwinkle holds; the all-time best season for AST% by a big man, at an astounding 33.8% that same 1974-75 season.

“[Head coach Dick] Motta had carved out a well-defined role for me at center: I distributed the ball from the high post to our scorers, Walker and Love. Those two had an amazing ability to work in close to the basket, so I would dish to them inside and then crash the boards for offensive rebounds.”

Had Boerwinkle played 36 minutes per-game he would have averaged an unheard-of-for-a-big-slow-7-foot-center 8.3 assists per game in ’74-75.

“I’ve always described our Bulls team as a bunch of role players. You might say my role was to do a lot of the dirty work, but I was proud of being in such a pivotal position on a successful team for many years. I never looked at the game in an individual sense; I’ve always operated best within a system. Besides, Bob Love says he still dreams of my back-door passes to him for layups, and I’m ranked seventh all-time on the Bulls in assists, so something must have been working right.”

This forgotten big-man passer and his size 34 font can top my chart any day.

_____

(If you ever wondered why Jerry Sloan is such a tough sonuvagun, this article about the “Ice Bowl” explains much of it. There were also several other records set in this chilly showdown)

Take a look at the two trailers that have been released.

With his team out to an early 8-4 lead, barely four minutes into the first quarter Ray Allen picks up his second foul, both drawn by Kobe Bryant. Having done his defensive job, this would be Kobe’s cue to get after it on the other end. He immediately went to work on Marquis Daniels scoring the Lakers’ next five points, first aggressively going to the lane to earn a pair from the line, and working his way back out to see how the jumper felt.

It felt good. The first tester, coming from just inside the 3-point line would drop with a sharp snap of the twine to bring his boys back to within one, 10-9. This would be one of those days.

Paul Pierce would answer right back with a short jumper for an assisted basket from KG. Kevin Garnett had now assisted each of Boston’s last three buckets, one each to Allen, Rajon Rondo, and Pierce.

Bryant would go right back to work. And pick up his second, frustrated foul of the contest barely 20 seconds later, sending him to the bench. At this point the door was open for the game to be a battle of the bigs, something that favors the Celtics and their superior depth.

Indeed, the next 13 points would come from the game’s titans as a result of working the paint, culminating in a 20-16 advantage for Boston with 2:30 left in the opening stanza. Pierce would break up the battle of the bigs by cutting to the basket where Rondo would find him for the bunny.

It was Pierce’s tenth point of the quarter, the last points Boston would put up in the first. It would also turn out be the league’s leader in assists lone dime in the entire half. Rondo’s normally open passing lanes just weren’t there. The scouting reports were catching up. He’d have to adjust if he was going to succeed on this day.

Ripley: Ash, can you hear me? Ash?

Ripley: What kind of thing? Dallas: It's an organism.

Ash: Yes, I can hear you.

Ripley: What was your special order?

Ash: You read it. I thought it was clear.

Ripley: What was it?

With Boston’s offense stalled out the Lakers would go to an aggressive stance to take their first lead of the showdown only 12 seconds into the second quarter on Lamar Odom’s second consecutive assisted cut to the rim.

All three of the Lakers’ assists had come in the last minute of game time, and with the Celtics only counter coming from Nate Robinson and Ray Allen from range LA would continue to pound the rock inside for the next several minutes, playing the percentages that the NBA’s leader in field goal percent would regress to the mean sooner or later.

Doc Rivers decides to counter with a heavy dose of his ogre. Glen Davis would literally dominate the play-by-play for the Celtics for the next minute-and-a-half. This was turning into an ugly grinder, more minced onion than parfait.

Big Baby’s chapter would be book-ended by a pair of Luke Walton assists, the Lakers’ fourth and fifth of the game, the latter going to Odom, his third layup in the last five minutes pulling the Lake Show to within seven of their hated rival.

This would mark the last relevant scene Lamar would appear in, Odom disappearing for the duration like a minor role in a movie played by a cross-over cameo actor who gets eaten by an alien when no one but the audience is looking.

Parker: Let’s talk about the bonus more.

Ash: There is a clause in the contract which specifically states any systematized transmission indicating a possible intelligent origin must be investigated.

Parker: I don’t wanna hear it…

Brett: We don’t know it it’s intelligent.

Parker: I wanna go home and party.

Doc has seen enough bunnies from LA and decides to pack the paint, taking turns swapping out his plethora of options in the front court while Pierce would drop his 11th and 12th points on freebies on the O-side for the C’s. The Truth always shows up for showdowns in his childhood homeland.

With his team down seven and making up no ground, Garnett bruised, bleeding, and momentarily neutralized, Kobe has no intention of letting Pierce outshine him in his house. Time for take-over mode…

Ash: You still don’t understand what you’re dealing with, do you? Its structural perfection is matched only by its hostility.

Lambert: You admire it.

Ash: I admire its purity. A survivor… unclouded by conscience, remorse, or delusions of morality.

With veteran sidekick aggressor Derek Fisher at his side, Bryant would indeed take over, once again starting on the interior and working his way out. With the exception of one made free throw from Bynum and one dish from Fisher to Pau Gasol for a layup, this stretch would be Bryant’s.

Kobe would make 12 of the Lakers’ last 15 points in the half, ultimately dropping 15 points in the second quarter to give his boys the go-ahead, up four heading into the locker room.

The dish from Fisher to Gasol with 1:30 left in the second quarter to break up the Bryant Show, the Lakers’ seventh of the game, would prove to be the last relevant assist of the game for LA.

The first quarter had been Pierce’s, the second, Kobe’s. Bryant was winning the battle, and Doc knew it. And he liked it. He could use this to his advantage. The course had been plotted, Rivers knowing full well where the ship was headed.

Mother: [over PA] Danger. The emergency destruct system is now activated. The ship will detonate in “T” minus ten minutes.

Kobe picks up in the third quarter right where he left off, drilling a trey to complete the turnaround from down seven to up seven, a fourteen-point swing since the switch was flipped. Now there was no going back. He was committed. He was on.

Doc smiles slyly. He knows. Oh, yes, he knows.

An assist and and an answering 3-pointer later, Pierce would make Doc’s strategy clear; goad Bryant into a shootout, a strategy that sinks the Lakers’ ship like clockwork.

LA had posted seven assists in the first half. They would log only three more the rest of the day.

Pierce would dominate the ball for the next five minutes from the 10:41 mark of the third quarter, scoring 12 straight points and taking back the lead for Boston on a 25-foot 3-pointer. 64-61, Boston.

After logging only a single assist in the first half, Rondo’s third of the third quarter comes on a dish-off to Pierce that puts the C’s up eight, prompting Phil Jackson to call a momentary halt to the action to regroup.

However, Phil’s refreshed game plan lasts only a handful of possessions, despite his team making up ground. With the Lakers down 72-70, Kobe once again goes into self-destruct mode. He’d just made a 3-pointer from almost 30 feet out.

I’m pretty sure at this point I saw his jaw twitch just a wee bit, as if it was thinking of thrusting itself upon the world, but thought better of it, knowing the closing credits were still many, many frames away on the reel.

Bryant would close out the remaining 2:49 of the third quarter taking every one of the Lakers’ field goal attempts. LA would find themselves in a more-than-manageable five-point deficit headed into the climax of the contest.

What had at one time appeared to be shaping up into a battle of bigs had instead turned into a war of the wings, Bryant and Pierce dropping 30 points apiece through three.

Kobe was primed now, ready to carry the shootout right to the bitter end, fully intending to out-gun Pierce. To show him who the man [with the underbite] really is.

As has been the case in every quarter and timeout up to this point, the Lakers come out with a team plan, intending to involve their considerable weapons to combat Boston.

They manage to make it all the way until the 6:58 mark with the team plan this time, finding themselves seven down with more than enough time left to make it up, especially with Bryant “feeling it,” having continued a meaningful stretch of efficient outings right into this game.

It’s at this point that Kobe’s only real sidekick forces it’s way into our world; the dreaded jaw jut.

Where is Paul Pierce to put that thing back into it’s place?

Well, his work is done. He’s stepped back into the shadow of the team concept, having slyly drawn Bryant into attempting to take over.

The fourth quarter game log basically reads like this:

…(Rajon Rondo assists)

Kobe Bryant makes…

I seriously can't get over how big Rondo's hands are. It's unnatural!

…(Rajon Rondo assists)

Kobe Bryant misses…

…(Rajon Rondo assists)

Kobe Bryant makes…

…(Rajon Rondo assists)

Kobe Bryant misses…

Rinse. Lather. Repeat. 9 times in Rondo’s case, 5 of 11 in Bryant’s.

Rondo would finish the game with 16 dimes, 15 of them coming in the second half within Boston’s team concept.

Where he’d been stymied in the first half with team play from LA, once Kobe took over the Lakers’ entire game ground to a halt, both offensively and defensively, freeing up Rondo to go to his game.

All three of the Lakers’ second-half dimes would come on Kobe Bryant makes, but really only one of them was a dime in the team sense; two of ‘em came on Kobe 3-makes, where he gets the ball with every intention of getting off a shot regardless of who and how many are in his face.

If you were paying attention you probably noticed the same thing I did. It’s a game plan that works, and Doc Rivers and Paul Pierce know this, flawlessly drawing Kobe into it knowing he, his “sidekick,” and his ego can’t help themselves. The Lakers now boast(?) a .400 winning percentage this season in games in which Kobe Bryant takes 22 or more field goal attempts.

Ripley: Final report of the commercial starship Nostromo, third officer reporting. The other members of the crew, Kane, Lambert, Parker, Brett, Ash and Captain Dallas, are dead. Cargo and ship destroyed. I should reach the frontier in about six weeks. With a little luck, the network will pick me up. This is Ripley, last survivor of the Nostromo, signing off.

[To Jonesy]: Come on, cat.

_____

You can follow Clint on Twitter, @Clintonite33