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These closeout games ain't looking so easy, huh?

There will be a Game 7 after the Lakers drop -- and we do mean drop -- Thursday's Game 6 in Denver. Ugliness all around, save a great night from Kobe Bryant, who went for 31 despite battling a nasty stomach bug leaving him dehydrated enough to require two halftime IV's.

As for everything else, here was the agenda for tonight's show...

• A huge night for Denver's shooters, who were due for a breakout.
• A wretched night for Pau Gasol, who is now due for a breakout. One field goal, one dime, three rebounds.
• How did Andrew Bynum respond after the controversial Game 5?
• Will the Lakers win Game 7? We get into what has to change, the odds those things will happen, and what Metta World Peace brings to the table for Saturday.

Inside the Lakers locker room, the lone wall not lined with stalls has in the center a large flatscreen used for watching video flanked by two whiteboards. Before the tip, coaches use the space for notes on the evening's game plan and opponent. After, the one on the right always has the next day's plan. Some days it announces practice times, or when players are required to come in for physical therapy.

Following Tuesday night's Game 5 zombie walk against Denver, it read simply, "Flight, 3:00 pm. Pack for 3 games."

With that, you have one of the more significant practical implications the loss.

The Lakers now head to this afternoon to Denver for a Game 6 either propelling them into the second round or back to Staples for Game 7 Saturday night. The Lakers robbed themselves of an opportunity to eliminate the Nuggets, simultaneously blowing a chance for multiple days off ahead of a potential second round tussle with the Oklahoma City Thunder. As the whiteboard scrawl implies, should the Lakers win Game 6, they won't travel home, but instead straight to OKC, likely kicking off the series either Saturday or Sunday.

(UPDATE: The NBA has released Saturday's playoff scenarios, and no matter what, the Lakers will be playing Saturday. Either Game 7 vs. Denver at Staples, or Game 1 in Oklahoma City.)

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Not so suck the wind out of Christian Eyenga's Lakers debut, but the Bold Play of Thursday's Game came before it started, when Kobe Bryant decided to sit it out, passing on a chance to beat out Kevin Durant for this year's scoring title.

Nor is a lot of analysis from Thursday's 113-96 loss required. With Bryant, Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum, Metta World Peace, and Matt Barnes in street clothes, the Lakers aren't very good. Not exactly a shock.

So instead of breaking down a meaningless loss in a meaningless game, let's look ahead to L.A.'s first round opponent, the Denver Nuggets.

George Karl's crew comes into Sunday's Game 1 (12:30 pm PT, ABC) as one of the West's hottest teams, going 11-4 over their last 15, including four straight victories to end the season. At 18-15, they sport the NBA's fifth best road record, and at +2.9 have a better average point differential than the Lakers. In short, they're a sturdy first round matchup for a shorthanded Lakers squad, one with no stars but scads of B-level talent.

Denver started 14-5 before injuries took them off the rails, and while not completely healthy -- forward Wilson Chandler is done for the year, as is guard Rudy Fernandez -- they should not be taken lightly.

Here's a primer on the Lakers' opening round matchup ...

SEASON SERIES - Lakers 3-1.

1. Lakers 92, Denver 89 (Dec. 31, Staples Center): In Bynum's first game of the season, the Lakers squeak out a win. Drew pops off for 30, while Bryant and Gasol each score 17.
2. Denver 99, Lakers 90 (Jan. 1, Pepsi Center): Kobe goes 6-of-28 from the floor, while six Nuggets score in double figures as Denver takes their half of the home-and-home.
3. Lakers 93, Denver 89 (Feb. 3, Pepsi Center): Bryant was only 7-for-23, but spread around nine assists. Bynum hit 10 of his 13 FGA's, as the Lakers held on to the ball (11 turnovers) and won the glass battle, 47-40.
4. Lakers 103, Denver 97 (April 13, Staples Center): Bynum went for 30/8 with three blocks as the Lakers raced to an early 11-point lead, beating Denver without Bryant in the lineup.

SEASON STATS (through Wednesday's games)-

Offensive Efficiency - Lakers 103.4 (10th), Nuggets 106.1 (3rd)
Defensive Efficiency- Lakers 101.4 (12th), Nuggets 103.4 (20th)
Pace (possessions per game) - Lakers 92.9 (20th), Nuggets 96.6 (2nd)
Rebound Rate (percentage of shots a team rebounds) - Lakers 53.1 (2nd), Nuggets 51.5 (4th)
Turnover Percentage (turnovers per 100 plays) - Lakers 14.2 (19th), Nuggets 14.1 (18th)

5 REASONS THE NUGGETS POSE A PROBLEM FOR THE LAKERS

1. Transition offense. Via Synergy, in transition possessions Denver is the NBA's third best team measured by points per play, at 1.205. Moreover, they push relentlessly. No team in the league has had more transition opportunities than the Nuggets, by a healthy margin of over 100 possessions. While Denver isn't a strong defensive squad, they do force turnovers (7th in defensive TOV%) and are solid on their own glass (9th in DRB%, only .08 percent behind L.A.), two keys in fueling an effective running game. The Lakers, meanwhile, grade out as the 25th ranked team defensively in transition, at 1.171 points per play.

You can see where this could be problematic.

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The decisions coaches make are too frequently boiled down to overly binary, results-based evaluation. A choice was good or bad depending on the final score, as opposed to the logic driving it or the context creating it. It's one of the reasons quantifying the impact of coaches is tough, and why they often get credit or blame for things they shouldn't. The swings for coaches of marquee teams in major markets can be massive and often reflexively tilted negatively, something for which Mike Brown wasn't fully prepared entering his first season as Lakers coach.

Working under extremely difficult circumstances, Brown's first season has been a mixed bag. Clearly his credibility isn't firmly established, whether with his team, the media covering him or the fans evaluating him. While it may have been lost in the wake of the vicious foul of James Harden by Metta World Peace, Sunday's win over the Thunder at Staples was significant for Brown.

Down their starting small forward after World Peace's ejection and best bench player (Matt Barnes was limited to just over nine minutes in the second half after turning an ankle early in the game), the Lakers mounted a furious fourth quarter comeback fueled in part by choices Brown made from the bench.

If it wasn't his best day as coach of the Lakers, it was right up there, and was badly needed just one game away from the start of the postseason.

It started by dusting off Jordan Hill in one of the more significant games of the season.

Brown explained his thinking after the game. "On my ride back from the airport after our loss to San Antonio, I just had a gut feel. I picked up the phone and called Hill at two in the morning and said, "Jordan, you ready to play?"

Brown told Hill he wanted athleticism and aggression against the pick and roll, and a presence in the paint. Hill gave him all three, rewarding Brown with a great first half, and more good play starting the fourth. Faced with the decision to stick with Hill or give Andrew Bynum, ineffective Sunday but still an All-Star averaging 18.7 points, 11.8 rebounds, and toting a team leading PER of 23.02, his normal playing time, Brown stuck with Hill.

In some ways, the decision was easy: The Lakers' fourth quarter comeback was sparked by excellent defense on OKC's relentless pick and roll game, and Hill was integral to that effort. Bynum, meanwhile, was only periodically engaged. Still, while keeping an effective group on the floor sounds logical, had the Lakers come up short or had Hill made key mistakes, Brown would have been criticized.

Putting Bynum back in the game might not have been the best decision, but was safer.

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It wasn't always pretty -- actually, it rarely was -- but the Lakers nonetheless pulled out a 112-108 overtime win over the Dallas Mavericks Sunday afternoon at Staples. The team hunkered down and ragained control of the contest after a sluggish start, and consistent with their victorious ways short Kobe Bryant, a group effort ruled the day. Andrew Bynum (playing with an upper-respiratory illness), Pau Gasol, Matt Barnes, Metta World Peace and Ramon Sessions all reached double figures. Defensively, everyone who stepped on the floor chipped in his two cents. As a team, they clamped down in the second half (44 points allowed in Q's three and four) and kept the Mavs off the line.

We hit on their strong games, and more, including how the Lakers managed to win when three big cogs (Gasol, Bynum, and MWP) weren't models of efficiency, what happens when Bryant returns, and whether the Lakers are actually peaking heading into the postseason. If so, who gets the credit?



Good clips in the show from Mike Brown and Gasol. Click below for more from the head coach, Gasol, and Ramon Sessions.

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Now that's a little more like it!

On tonight's show, a happier edition than Tuesday's video extravaganza to say the least, we covered the following:

• Ramon Sessions, and why he ought to be put in the starting lineup despite doing great work entering with the second unit. It's an easier argument to make after a night like tonight (Sessions was +28 in 29 minutes, Steve Blake -9 in 17 minutes) but the logic would be the same even if Blake didn't have a nothin' game.
• Kobe Bryant broke out of his mini-shooting slump, taking advantage of Shawn Marion's absence to go 11-of-18 from the floor, en route to 30 points. What was different about tonight?
• Andrew Bynum. He did good work passing out of constant double teams in the post, but seemed irritated all night, got T'd up again (that's three in two days) and is treading in dangerous waters insofar as his relationship with officials goes. If he's not yet someone who will get slapped with reputation techs, he's on his way.

All that, plus a crying baby!



Also, we didn't get a chance to talk about it, but this happened:



Sick, sick, sick.

Once again it required extra basketball -- not exactly ideal against a 10-win team -- but the Lakers overcame a slow first half to grind out an important win over New Orleans Wednesday night. Once again, Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum led the way, but Metta World Peace came up with a few big plays late as well.

We discuss their work, the incredible endurance of Bryant over the last two nights, the determination shown by the Lakers this week, and of course the trade deadline. What would it mean to add Michael Beasley? Who else might be coming, and who is on his way out?

Plus, vintage 7-Up commercials.

As John Hollinger noted Monday afternoon (Insider required), the Western Conference has gone a little squishy as teams for a variety of reasons have piled up losses. Denver, the Clippers, Dallas, Houston, Portland, and Utah have all suffered either significant bouts of mediocrity or full on slumps at points over the last few weeks, pulling the lower rungs of the playoff ladder a lot closer to .500 than typically seen in the W.C.

Even the Lakers, winners of seven in ten, lost to the Pistons and Wizards last week, and nearly dropped a game to a Kevin Love-less Timberwolves squad.

A quiet exception to this southward inertia has been the Memphis Grizzlies, who have gone 21-10 since a 3-6 start despite the fact star power forward Zach Randolph has played only four games thanks to a knee injury. (This after losing key frontcourt backup Darrell Arthur to an Achilles injury before the start of the season.) On any floor, tonight's matchup against Memphis would be a tough game for the Lakers. In what is sure to be a raucous FedEx Forum, where the Grizzlies are 15-5, it's an even bigger challenge, particularly given how the Lakers are so flippn' awful away from Staples.

To gain a little extra insight into Lionel Hollins' crew, we hit up Red Coleman of 3 Shades of Blue, a great resource for scratching your Grizzlies itch.

1. The Grizzlies aren't at all impressive offensively, but are very solid at the other end. What accounts for their success, and how do you think they'll approach the Lakers Tuesday?

Memphis has a commitment to playing defense that permeates everything they do. It's similar to the mindset that Tom Thibodeau has instilled in Chicago, really. Tony Allen is the spark plug for this, but everyone buys into it completely. That's why everyone is active and attentive on that end of the floor.

I think the Grizzlies will approach this game like they do any other -- stick your man, disrupt the passing lanes, and box out when the ball goes up. That's fundamental basketball, so there is no reason to expect them to change. They'll pay special attention to Kobe, of course, but it will still just be solid, team defense that is employed to try and hold him in check.

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The Lakers came into Sunday's showdown having lost two of their past three games, and the Celtics were just one game removed from an embarrassing 32-point loss to Philadelphia, but these two veteran teams cast their win-loss records aside for the day to produce a fitting renewal of the NBA's most historic rivalry. The Lakers marched out to an early 15-point lead before giving it all back and then some, as turnovers (18 resulting in 22 Boston points) led to the C's taking a five-point lead in the fourth quarter.

Derek Fisher said Saturday that even though both teams have faded in the standings, "the movie still has the same characters." Those characters starred Sunday, with Kobe Bryant's game-high 26 points, Metta World Peace's turn-back-the-clock 14 points and double-doubles from Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum. Boston's big four showed up, too (14 points and 11 rebounds for Kevin Garnett; 17 points for Ray Allen; 13 points and nine assists for Paul Pierce, and 24 points and 10 assists for Rajon Rondo), but L.A. came out on top to sweep the season series from the Celtics.

What it means: After that disastrous two-game skid on the back-to-back in Detroit and Washington, the Lakers have now won two games in a row heading into their next two-game road test in Memphis and New Orleans this week. The much-maligned Lakers offense managed to score 97 points against the traditionally tough Boston D, shooting 36-for-71 from the field (50.7 percent) in the process.


Bold play of the game: Allen missed an open 3, Bynum grabbed the rebound and then, with 1:17 remaining and the Lakers down by three, Bryant lofted an alley-oop that an airborne Bynum had to reach every inch of his 7-foot-3 wingspan back behind his head to control and put in the hoop, bringing the Lakers back within one. Bryant followed up on the next possession with a pull-up jumper to put L.A. up 95-94 with 41.7 seconds left, but if Bynum hadn't finished the improbable alley-oop, Bryant's shot might have been moot. Bynum also put the icing on the cake with a mini hook shot over Garnett with 15.5 seconds left to put L.A. up by three.


Hold your breath: Bynum had a scary collision with Allen near center court in the second quarter as he tried to retrieve an underthrown outlet pass from Gasol. Both players hit the floor, and Allen was whistled for a foul as Bynum came up clutching his ribs. Turns out Bynum suffered a bruise to his right knee, causing him to stay in the locker room for treatment as his teammates emerged for their light halftime shootaround before the third quarter began. Bynum still played his regular minutes in the second half but was more effective in the first half, when he scored 11 of his 20 points and grabbed 10 of his 14 rebounds for the game.


Stats of the night: L.A. came into the game ranked 29th in the league in 3-point percentage (30.1 percent) while Boston came in ranked first in 3-point defense (30.5 percent). The trends did not continue, as the Lakers shot 8-for-16 (50 percent) from deep. ... The Lakers outrebounded the Celtics 42-34.

Dave McMenamin covers the Lakers for ESPNLosAngeles.com. Follow him on Twitter.

Style points do not matter on the road, particularly when the road team enters the game with a 5-11 record in someone else's building. So while the Los Angeles Lakers made things a lot -- and I mean a lot -- closer than they needed to be, not just in the final minute but throughout the game, they still emerged with a massive win Wednesday night in Dallas.

With a first-half capping game in Oklahoma City Thursday night, the Lakers needed a victory to help erase Sunday's completely unnecessary loss in Phoenix. Behind Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum and Derek Fisher (yes, that Derek Fisher), they got it.

Here are six takeaways...

1. Pau Gasol again did damage to the narrative that he has been struggling of late.

I'm not saying Gasol has been outstanding all season, because I don't think that's the case. I have high expectations for the guy, and he hasn't been as consistent or efficient as he's capable. But the way people have talked about him over the past week, you'd think he was Eddy Curry. Wednesday night, he exorcised some playoff demons from last spring, coming out red hot. In one way, shape or form, Gasol accounted for each of L.A.'s first 12 points, hitting four shots and delivering a couple buckets for Bynum.

On the block, he twice used the left hand for buckets on sweet moves, first losing Dirk Nowitzki, then Brendan Haywood. He finished the first half with 16 points. Opportunities were a little tougher to come by in the second half and he was part of L.A.'s parade of missed free throws late, but in the fourth Gasol still came up with a big tip off a Kobe Bryant miss and converted a tough lob from Bryant with a little more than a minute to play.

He finished the night with 24 points on 11-of-18 shooting, plus nine rebounds four assists and three steals. It was a reminder that, while he's certainly got a few things on his mind, the on-court product has been solid, particularly this month.

2. Kobe Bryant struggled.

The legs weren't there, nor was the lift or the handle. And with it, Bryant also seemed a little tired mentally. The shot selection was off, the D spotty, as was the decision-making. Add in a healthy dose of Shawn Marion on the defensive end for Dallas, and it's not hard to see why he finished the third quarter with only nine points on 3-of-11 from the floor, and his three assists undercut by five turnovers. Anger at his work through the first three added a little life in the fourth -- Kobe made two very nice passes in the final minutes -- but the final line was still ugly: 4-of-15 from the floor, only 5-of-9 from the line, plus seven turnovers against four assists. It's the sort of game, particularly early, I had in mind when writing this.

For the month, Bryant's field goal percentage is hovering around 40 percent, and only twice has he been above 50.

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The Lakers took care of business Tuesday at Staples, blowing out an absolutely hideous Bobcats squad by 33. Kobe Bryant had L.A. going early, outscoring Charlotte 18-15 in the first ten-plus minutes. Andrew Bynum was strong throughout, and the Lakers may have dipped into their February allotment for bench points, exploding for 48.

Meanwhile, Bryant played just under 28 minutes, Pau Gasol under 30, and Bynum a hair under 32, an important consideration for three guys who have piled up minutes lately. Bryant and Gasol, particularly.

We tackle these issues and more on tonight's Lakers Late Night. Here's the full agenda:

• The Lakers finished 12-of-26 (46.2 percent) from 3-point range Tuesday, continuing to show signs of improved perimeter shooting.
• The benefits of increased practice time. The Lakers are 3-1 since getting the chance to actually get on the floor and go full speed in anything other than a real game.
• The bench rotation. Interesting stuff from Mike Brown about why Troy Murphy has replaced Josh McRoberts in the last two games, and the how/why on mixing and matching.

In-show videos from Brown and Matt Barnes.



Click below for more postgame video, from Brown, Barnes, and Bynum.

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Wednesday night, the Lakers knocked off the Clippers in what was their 19th game of a lockout-shortened 66-game campaign. For those not doing the math at home, one month in the Lakers have already completed 29 percent of their schedule.

A lot of time? No, but by this season's standard not a bad sample size, either.

From a scheduling standpoint, Wednesday also marked a natural dividing line between the home-heavy start and what amounts to a national tour for the purple and gold, as 11 of their next 16 games come away from Staples Center. Put together, it makes for a natural moment to stop and assess what we know about this season's Lakers. When the lockout (tentatively) ended back on Nov. 26, we published a list of 34 questions facing the team this year in the wake of last spring's playoff disaster.

Why 34? Because 20 isn't enough when the league lets you sit around all summer thinking about stuff. Below is that list, each with some answers.

Strap in, people. We've got a lot of ground to cover.

1. Who wins the battle between the well-rested knee of Kobe Bryant (and his ankle, back, finger and general skeletal structure) and a compressed schedule?

Knee? What knee? I thought we were worried about his wrist. (Which, by the way, we’re increasingly less worried about.) Meaning 19 games in, the answer is Bryant in a walk. He leads the league in scoring (30.2), a nearly five-point improvement over last season, while maintaining a solid shooting percentage (45 percent). Asked to carry an almost comical burden in the Lakers offense, at least as measured by his league-leading usage rate (35.9), Bryant has been outstanding. And spry. Very, very spry.

Basically, the man is a running, leaping billboard for German medical engineering.

2. Who wins the battle between the well-rested will of Bryant and the authority of Mike Brown?

The relationship between Kobe and Brown has been a success. Bryant has expressed nothing but admiration for his new coach, praising on multiple occasions Brown’s work ethic and emphasis on defense, noting the team wants to win for him because they see how much Brown wants to win, too. They know he puts in the work.

Doesn't mean the questions about Bryant's shot selection, balance, or how he's used offensively have stopped, but those would be asked whether the coach was Brown, Phil Jackson, Brian Shaw or Rick Adelman. They are, in sports terms at least, eternal.

To this point, though, one major concern -- Brown's ability to "manage" Kobe, has been a non-issue.

3. What will Brown's system look like, and how quickly will the Lakers be able to pick it up?

Not totally sure, and not very.

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The Lakers got themselves back in the win column Wednesday night in a very important game, beating the Clippers 96-91 at Staples. Behold the Lakers Late Night replay below. Among the topics of conversation:

• The very tangible rivalry between the Clippers and Lakers, and why the NBA owes this city a playoff run between the two squads.
• A big game for Pau Gasol. He talked the talk, and Wednesday he walked the walk.
• Huge contributions from Metta World Peace and Andrew Goudelock.

Check below the jump for postgame video from Gasol, Mike Brown, Goudelock, Josh McRoberts, and Kobe Bryant.

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There was much to dislike in Thursday's loss to the Heat in Miami Thursday night, and we talk about all of them!

Among the big topics of conversation:

• After scoring 73 points Monday against Dallas, the Lakers managed to post 87 tonight... but needed a garbage time, 31-point fourth quarter to get there. L.A. had 39 points at the half, which ain't gonna cut it. Pau Gasol had a nice game, but everyone else struggled.
• Things have slowed down over the last two games for Kobe Bryant. We talk about why.
• The lack of bench production, or more specifically the lack of specific parts that might make the guys they have more effective. The whole Metta World Peace-as-sixth-man experiment appears to have stalled.
• Friday vs. Orlando: We try to put all the Bynum-for-Howard talk in context.

All that, plus a jaunty tune to lighten the mood. Hope you enjoy it.

The Lakers dropped to 10-6 Thursday night, with an increasingly disturbing 1-5 record on the road tucked inside, as the Miami Heat dominated almost from the start.

Little went right for the Lakers, save what was arguably Pau Gasol's best game of the season. Twenty-six points on 11-for-19 shooting, eight rebounds, two dimes, one block and much more decisive decision-making.

Here are five takeaways …

1. Monday's problems with the offense carried into Thursday.

It took a 27-point fourth quarter to push the Lakers to 73 points Monday night against Dallas. That they managed to win that game was something of a minor miracle. Against a better Heat team, even one missing Dwyane Wade, the shenanigans of a couple days ago just wouldn't work, as demonstrated by their 37 points at the break. Some of it was bad luck -- the Lakers missed a few shots around the bucket they normally make. Guys were cold, too. Together, Kobe Bryant, Andrew Bynum, and Metta World Peace scored 17 points on 5-for-19 shooting. Only Gasol (13 points) was in double figures, or at 50 percent from the floor among Lakers taking more than one shot.

It didn't get much better in the third (19 points) but by the middle of the quarter, it was basically academic. Overall, the Lakers weren't able to exploit any advantages inside, or create enough off-ball movement to generate better looks around the perimeter. And, once again, they couldn't hit a 3-pointer (6-20, or 30 percent, some of the "explosion" coming in a meaningless fourth quarter), a trend plaguing the Lakers throughout the season, even in games they've won.

2. Kobe's sweet spots are getting a little less sweet.

In the four games prior to Dallas, Bryant had scored 77 of his 172 points inside 10 feet or at the free throw line. Via ESPN Stats and Information, against the Mavs, Bryant had only one FTA, and it came on a technical foul. Three of his 22 shots came from 10 and in. Tonight, Bryant again had trouble getting to the bucket. Through three (meaning the parts when the game was even kind of in question) quarters, Bryant had 12 shots. One bucket from three feet, another from nine, and the rest of his hoists were in that 16-and-beyond range. This, plus four free throws. It's not that Kobe can't hit the midrange jumper -- no guard does it better -- but easier points have to be found in there somewhere.

A couple of things may be happening. Kobe could be tiring out just a little, or opposing teams could be doing better keeping him out of his ideal spots, knowing the Lakers don't have much by way of counters -- i.e., the offensive issues plaguing the Lakers as a group have finally filtered down to Bryant. Or both. In any combination, it's bad news for the Lakers.

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