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This was no easy season for Pau Gasol, between the weight carried from a poor 2011 postseason, being traded/untraded for Chris Paul, hearing his name swirl around the rumor mill like a Hollywood Starlet in the pages of US Weekly, and a new role that didn't play to his strengths in a compressed season that offered little time to practice out the kinks. His streak of three consecutive All-Star bids came to an end, replaced instead by a streak of public comments from Kobe Bryant cajoling him to be more aggressive.

Beyond receiving the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award, Gasol's reasons to smile were limited this season. And the rediscovery of a toothy grin may come while donning a different uniform. Even before Mitch Kupchak acknowledged later in the afternoon a shakeup could be coming, Gasol's demeanor and body language wasn't that of someone banking on a return next season. He was the odd man out of this year's system -- and a pricey one at that -- which could lead to being out altogether. For the time being, however, he remains in his customary state: Limbo.

"I wish I could have clarification, but they can't give it to me right now," said Gasol. "I think management still has talk to ownership to see what direction this thing will be going next year... If they knew it would be good to know obviously, but I understand. We just finished playing two days ago, things don't work that easily. I wont really worry too much about it. It's something I've been through already this year, so if something does happen, it does and if it doesn't I'll be happy to be back next training camp ready to go, and Hopefully have much more peaceful year, and just focus on our goal, which will be to try to win another championship."

Besides, as Gasol noted, he, Mike Brown and Mitch Kupchak didn't spend nearly as much time talking about the future as the recent past. The pow wow lasted about an hour, which is very long by exit interview meeting standards. But considering the chaos of Pau's season, it's not surprising extra time would be required to hash out matters. Unlike the airing of grievances that accompany Festivus, Pau didn't present the sitdown as heated or hostile. His recounting of events came with the typical Gasol-ian politeness. But it's clear he got some things off his chest.

"I told them it was hard for me at times," shared Gasol. "I never had to search for offense or for looks in teams I've been on. They've always been, not given to me, but I always had them because of what I bring to table. So to have to go and search, I have struggled at points, at times with that. But obviously when you have certain players are also very good contributors on the offensive end, you have to make sure combine all those weapons, make them work at their best. And that takes a little bit of time, too.

"I always like to be aggressive and proactive, but I was still trying to adjust to the fact it was different. I wasn't getting the same things I was getting before. I'm not used to attacking from different positions on the court. Analyzing a little more made me think of it a little more. But I don't like excuses at all. It's just analyzing and seeing the fact and understanding why things happen a certain way."

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Before this series began, I listed a number of reasons Metta World Peace's suspension could prove sticky for the Lakers against Denver. By and large, however, Lakers fans didn't express much concern. Whether because most were focused more on the fairness of MWP's punishment or because most just didn't consider the Nuggets a particularly scary foe, the ramifications never became a major talking point. Six games into an increasingly unsteady playoffs, the small forward remains under the radar, brushed to the side by the likes of Andrew Bynum's Game 1 triple-double, Ty Lawson, JaVale McGee, "Closeout games are kinda easy," stomach viruses, Pau Gasol's steadily decreasing presence, Matt Barnes' ankle, Andre Miller torching Lakers guards, etc.

But make no mistake: This roster vacancy has caused serious problems. The supporting cast beyond the Big Three (and recently, beyond "The Big Anyone Not Named "Kobe" OR "Bryant") hasn't consistently put up points. Devin Ebanks was pulled from the starting lineup in Game 6's second half in favor of Matt Barnes ... which says something, considering that Barnes hasn't been terribly effective. Metta's defensive skills have obviously been missed, but more importantly, so has the defensive versatility. He can be employed against Nuggets ranging from Miller to Danilo Gallinari to Al Harrington to Kenneth Faried. His presence also means the Lakers can go small without playing Ramon Sessions and Steve Blake together, a move that inevitably leaves one to get bullied defensively.

Beyond all else, there's Metta's energy, something he brings consistently whether playing well or playing poorly. MWP is among the most mercurial players in NBA history, but you can set your watch by him going full speed. As Kobe said after the Game 6 loss, "He's the one guy that I can rely on night in and night out to compete and play hard and play with that sense of urgency and play with no fear." MWP is also the rare player who can change games through the force of his intensity. The Lakers have collectively failed to match Denver's energy as the series has progressed.

This is a team in desperate need of a spark, and Metta can be that human flint.

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The Lakers' postseason got off to as incredible a start as even those with wildly active imaginations could envision. Suffocating defense, spearheaded by Andrew Bynum in a performance that literally made NBA history. Balanced offense with six players in double figures and Steve Blake just behind them at nine. And as I wrote yesterday, the collective focus was off the charts. In the meantime, Denver made a few pushes, but largely found itself increasingly overwhelmed.

A sign of things to come for the entire series, or just one game in which both teams played at the opposite ends of the spectrum? To get to the bottom of matters, we had an IM conversation with Roundball Mining Company's Jeremy Wagner. Below is a transcript of the exchange.

Brian Kamenetzky: We focused so much on how L.A.'s size would help on the offensive side of ball, but it was really the defensive end -- led by Bynum but supplemented by Pau Gasol and Jordan Hill -- that changed the game. How much did that surprise Denver, and how do they address it?

Jeremy Wagner: It was obvious the Nuggets were not prepared for shot-blocking Bynum. They never adjusted and kept throwing up weak attempts. One key is Denver will to have to move much more on offense. I think it was six of Bynum's blocks came on an iso set when four Nuggets stood and watched. Denver also must look to pass when it doesn't have a shot at the rim. The corner was open on nearly all of Bynum's blocks and Denver must take advantage of that.

Do you think Bynum will be content to play Dikembe Mutombo, or will he demand more shots? We know he likes shots.

Andy Kamenetzky: I'd like to think this mindset will be maintained. It's important to note, Drew actually got the ball, but constant multiple defenders forced him to pass out. Even more important, Drew was aware of this, which makes me think pouting isn't imminent. However, I'm not necessarily confident he'll be as successful passing out from double/triple teams. Sunday's one turnover is the exception, not the rule, and that could give Denver more chances to run, which creates problems for the Lakers' D. Not to mention frustration for Bynum.

BK: You'll hear "tempo" come up about 700 times in a day's worth of interviews with Lakers players and coaches. Jeremy, what are you expecting from Denver in terms of changes to either the game plan or approach?

JW: I do not honestly know what to expect, because I do not think George Karl even has a solid plan of attack. Denver must respond better to the Lakers' length by showing better interior passing and look for more drive-and-kick options. The lack of movement on offense caused them to constantly attack a defense set and ready to respond to any penetration. You can tell by Karl's rotations he does not know what combination of players to put on the court, another major issue. Denver has lived playing small, especially in crunch time, but with the Lakers' length, that is suicidal. On the other hand, players like JaVale McGee did nothing to show they belong on the court. Denver is in a very tough place and I am not sure there is a clear solution.

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Even before a tumultuous turn of recent events -- a lethargic home loss to Memphis, Mike Brown sitting Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum during key stretches of two contests -- this game would be huge. As I wrote Wednesday, it marks the first of five games potentially instructive about the Lakers' postseason prospects. But with the Lakers attracting drama like a magnet attracts steel, the spotlight and stakes have increased. If the Lakers post another showing like the one in OKC in February, it will become that much harder to picture a deep playoff run. What becomes easy to envision, however, is growing tensions and eroding chemistry at the wrong time. It's important for the Lakers to win this game, but even more important that they appear on the same page.

Daily Thunder's Royce Young and I had an instant-message exchange tossing around various questions about this matchup. Below is the transcript.

Andy Kamenetzky: As far plotlines go, albeit ones that might not swing the game, the big one locally is Derek Fisher's return. What's been his impact so far and how has coach Scott Brooks used him?

Royce Young: Thus far, minimal. Nothing about his play has been all that striking. Other than the fact that Brooks played him way too much in that double-overtime game where Fisher got 36 minutes. He's been OK and brought some of that old confidence and comfort level to OKC's second unit, but he still isn't even close to what the Thunder had in Eric Maynor and not strikingly better than Reggie Jackson. "Adequate" is probably the word I'd say fits best.

AK: Do you picture Brooks continuing to use Fisher in crunch time?

RY: Brooks absolutely loves to go small, so in some situations, yes. He has said Fisher would play between 13-20 minutes a game, but there will be nights when he likes Fisher in the same way he liked Maynor with Westbrook late. Brooks uses his rotations a lot by feel.

AK: Either way, you gotta love Fisher's choosing "37" for the jersey. Rather cheeky of the ol' geezer.

RY: I did like that. It seemed by his explanation kind of a veiled shot at the Lakers.

AK: Um... yeah. You needn't be an expert in between-the-line reading to interpret what he meant by thanking rookies Darius Morris and Andrew Goudelock like they'd been through the wars, but omitting the organization altogether. It'll be interesting to see the psychological effect of playing against Fish. It was very emotional the first time guys faced Lamar Odom, and Fisher's presence was even bigger. Plus, they know he's got the huevos to hit a huge shot, and will be aching to stick it to the Lakers.

RY: Secret weapon, huh? A little mental warfare. I can dig it.

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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.

If there was one standout from the first half of the Lakers' season when the team squeezed in 34 games into just 60 days, it'd have to be Metta World Peace's wardrobe.

His jeans are crisp, his shoes are designer, his shirts are fresh, his sports coats are classy and his ties match the lot when he decides to knot one up.

He's even been wearing a paperboy hat from time to time to complete the look and none other than Kobe Bryant cribbed World Peace's style by rocking a similar hat this week.

His fashion upgrade has been a revelation. Back when he still went by Ron Artest, I remember an East Coast road trip where he wore the exact same drab button down shirt after games in three of the eight cities on the tour.

What does this have to do with the Lakers hitting the All-Star break at 20-14, giving them the fifth best record in the West and twice as many losses as the league-leading Miami Heat and Oklahoma City Thunder?

It illustrates how there have been unexpected surprises for the better this season.

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Per Dave McMenamin, Steve Blake was medically cleared to participate in Wednesday's practice and will be a game-time decision for Thursday's game against the Celtics. A return to action basically coincides with the timetable for recovery from a fracture near his ribs.

"I've just been patient with it, trying to let it heal," Blake said during Wednesday's practice. "I really had no preconception of when I was coming back. I didn't know if it was going to be sooner or later. I really had no idea. To me, it's on time...[Practice] felt good. My rhythm is a little off, but that will come with time. Hopefully whenever I do play, I'll be ready to play and able to contribute."

Obviously, Blake's potential availability is a big deal. Not that the bench ran like a Swiss watch with him in the lineup, but he was nonetheless the best second unit play-maker, and by a long shot. That the reserves have struggled to do much in Blake's absence beyond feed the ball to Andrew Bynum or watch Andrew Goudelock generate his own looks is no coincidence, nor terribly surprising. With Blake back, the second unit offense will hopefully run a little smoother, and he'll hopefully add a few buckets to the mix.

In the meantime, I assume Goudelock will assume two-guard duties, allowing him to operate more of a pure scorer, rather than outside his comfort zone as a quasi-point guard. I also imagine Mike Brown will give more minutes to Goudelock than Jason Kapono as a reserve shooting guard, which will hopefully help limit Kobe Bryant minutes. For that matter, Blake on hand should also mean equal Derek Fisher's minutes reduced, which wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. Blake and Fisher can also finish games together with Kobe at small forward in games where Metta World Peace and Matt Barnes aren't offering much, which has been too often these days.

Considering the glaring limitations of the Lakers roster, any options gained are a welcome development.

Here are your 10 additional things to take away from the Lakers' 93-89 road win against the Denver Nuggets on Friday ...

Every game on this Lakers trip figured to be important, what with the purple and gold embarking on this six-game challenge with a measly 2-7 road record and an overall record that would place them in the bottom half of teams to make the postseason if the playoffs started today.

And so the fourth quarter of the tip-off game for the trip became a battle of will, as the Lakers ignored their 3-7 record in the last 10 games at Pepsi Center and were the last team standing against one of the squads that rests above them in the standings.

"It’s good to get a win. We just kind of found a way to grind it out, stick with it; we relied on our defense, and defense got us a win in a tough environment," said Lakers coach Mike Brown. "I give my guys credit for finding a way to win."

The Lakers saw their eight-point lead with 7:10 remaining dwindle to just one less than three minutes later, but they never fell behind.

As ugly as it looked, L.A. outrebounded 14-7 in the final frame, including hauling in three offensive rebounds to the Nuggets' zero. Coming into the trip, Kobe Bryant called the offensive glass the Lakers' Achilles' heel.

"You got to go get the ball. You got to go get the ball," Bryant said. "We’re not shooting the ball particularly well from 3, so as a result, we got to go crash the glass. We’re a pretty good offensive rebounding team when we put our minds to it."

The road continues with tough games in Utah, Philadelphia and Boston and ends in New York and Toronto. The Lakers' Grammy trip has been a litmus test in years past. When they went a combined 6-14 from 2004 to 2007, nobody deemed them a championship contender. When they went 18-5 from 2007 to 2010, they made it to three straight NBA Finals.

The season hardly started out the way the Lakers had planned, but if the Denver win sparks a successful road trip, the season really takes on another tone.

"I keep telling everybody we’re going to be fine," Bryant said. "This is the start of the year and it’s tough to kind of get out on the road. We had some very tough opponents to start the season with on the road. It’s kind of getting used to everything with no practices. We’re going to be A-OK."

After a win like Friday, it's easier to believe him.

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Mike Brown can insist he's not worried about the Clippers. Matt Barnes and Blake Griffin can claim there's no bad blood between these teams (if not necessarily each other). And people can debate whether the Lakers and Clippers have entered a "rivalry." Some will say the Clippers need to win more games (or banners) to make this a "rivalry." Others won't be able to agree on what constitutes a "rivalry" to begin with.

But this much can't be disputed. There are stakes riding on this game.

The winner of the Pacific Division is probably guaranteed at least one round of home-court advantage in the playoffs. The runner-up could end up fighting just to make the postseason in a loaded Western Conference. If the Lakers can't snap a three-game losing streak with a win against their Staples Center roommates, they've lost any shot at forcing a tiebreaker. Winning the division would require leapfrogging the Clips, which means making up the ground of four losses in the standings. With only 47 games remaining afterward, the mission's not impossible, but it won't be easy.

Here are four items to watch once the ball is jumped:

1. Bench production

The upside of Metta World Peace's 11 points against Indiana on Sunday? It provided hope of a corner potentially turned, or at the very least, evidence of a concerted effort to park him in the lane that essentially makes or breaks his effectiveness. The downside? It was a stark reminder of how rare such an outburst is for a Lakers reserve. Before this night, the last Lakers reserve to hit double figures was Steve Blake on Jan. 8 against the Grizzlies.

The second unit's struggles to chip in points is an issue during any game, but could be spotlighted in particularly painful fashion against the Clippers. In an extreme example, you have Mo Williams, whose 14.5 points off the bench bests the combined averages of MWP (5.5), Josh McRoberts (3.7) and Darius Morris (3.6), the top three scorers among healthy reserves. There's even a reminder in the form of second-leading bench scorer Randy Foye, whose 7.9 points is hardly eye-opening ... except on the Lakers, where he'd be the clubhouse leader among subs. And despite Williams' presence, the Clippers remain just the 28th-ranked team for bench scoring and 29th for efficiency ... and still beat the Lakers on both counts.

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"I'm really proud of him. I'm sorry he didn't have a great shooting night, but the rest of the game, I think was incredible. He got 11 boards, seven assists, four steals, three blocks, no turnovers. I mean, that's as good as you can ask for any player in this league."

These comments came from Pau Gasol while discussing brother Marc's performance during Sunday's win over the Grizzlies, and what immediately caught my attention was how Pau rattled off those stats without looking at a sheet. The data was committed to memory, and presented with complete accuracy. Had Gasol immediate access to an advanced box score, which presents such fancy metrics like assist rate, true shooting percentage and points contributed, I wouldn't put it past him to know those numbers for Marc by heart as well.

Pau's never made any bones about the pride in his hermano's accomplishments, along with the mixed, difficult emotions accompanying competition against his younger brother.

But these feelings aren't necessarily limited to relationships in blood, nor people like Pau, as sensitive and introspective as any athlete I've ever covered. Take, for example, Kobe Bryant. It's not exactly a government secret the dude's competitiveness borders on blood thirst, and isn't quenched merely by collecting W's and jewelry. Kobe typically lives for the battle within the battle; the individual matchup. Bryant is often described as a fella who lives to pummel opposing wings, and it's an accurate description. Factor in how The Mamba routinely presents himself as unsentimental , and it stands to reason those lined up against him would be seen as raw meat to a lion, no questions asked.

Or perhaps not, based on his response when asked how much fun it'll be to have former teammate (and protege) Shannon Brown in the house on Tuesday against Phoenix.

"Not fun at all," said Bryant, shaking his head. "I don't like playing against my little brothers. I don't like it. I watched him develop. I watched him grow. Taught him a lot of things. Those are always tough games for me."

Does he expect to guard Brown?

"I really don't want to," reiterated Kobe. "It's like guarding my little brother. Him, Trevor [Ariza], all those guys. Those are tough games for me."

Family often finds a way to be wonderful and complicated at the same time.

The Lakers are still seeking their first road victory, and tonight's venue -- Portland, Oregon -- hasn't been an easy place for the Lakers over the last decade. Still, there's been recent headway, with road series split over the last two seasons, despite playing without Kobe Bryant and (save nine minutes and 33 seconds of pre-injury run) Andrew Bynum in 2010. Perhaps the Lakers can carry that momentum and ruin the Blazers' unblemished home record during this young season.

For some perspective on the Blazers, I tracked down Andrew Tonry of Portland Roundball Society (True Hoop Network). Below are some thoughts from the Blazer blogger, along with a few of my own. And for those interested, here are my responses to his questions about the Lakers.

Land O' Lakers: With Brandon Roy retired, the Blazers are truly now built LaMarcus Aldridge. His progress last season was pretty marked. Does he appear to be moving along the same path? Do you see him as a suitable centerpiece for a contending team?

Andrew Tonry: Right now LaMarcus Aldridge can be The Man on a team counted on to make the first round of the playoffs. He has yet to become, or even flash hints, that he'll be the best player on a team capable of winning the NBA Championship. As far as his progress is concerned, it's too early to say. Aldridge, because of a heart procedure during of training camp, is still rounding into game shape. Also, he's learning to work with a new point guard in Raymond Felton. Aldridge has said that his relationship with former Blazers guard Andre Miller was profound, and that Miller taught him as much as anyone.

(AK's note: True Hoop's Kevin Arnovitz recently wrote a nice piece about Aldridge-Miller relationship, for those interested.)

LO'L: How has Jamal Crawford fit in with the Blazers? Between him and Aldridge, who do the Blazers tend to go through for scoring down the stretch, acknowledging the sample size is small.

At the end of games both are getting shots. That part of Portland's offense hasn't quite solidified yet, for a number of reasons. First, there haven't been a lot of close games. Second, Crawford's shot has been rather cold. Still, it's just too early to say.

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Before Saturday's win against the Nuggets, head coach George Karl was asked if he has felt a sense of L.A. becoming more of a "Clipper town." The coach's response hardly painted a city's colors shifting from purple and gold to red, white and blue, but it was nonetheless interesting:

"I saw the game last night and before the game, the place was packed," Karl said. "I hadn't seen that in Laker Land in a long time. I'm talking back to the Forum, probably. The Forum wasn't packed when the Lakers started at the Forum. And I actually said to someone, the Clipper fans are a little [Oakland] Raider-like. A little Raider-like. A little rowdy. A little out there. ... You kind of see a little more blue collar than Hollywood. ... That was the feel on TV."

Truth be told, there is a bit of a Raider-esque quality to Clippers fans. Not necessarily the most extreme members of the Raider Nation, those cats who always appear on the verge of starting a brawl. (Before any Raider fan gets their spiky shoulder pads in a bunch, if you're not that guy, don't take this depiction personally. But please don't pretend such fans don't exist, because we both know you're lying.) But having attended many a Clipper game, I can attest to that vibe Karl noticed.

Despite decades spent as perennial doormats, Clipper fans are loud, rowdy and mindbogglingly loyal. They seem banded together by outsider status as (this season aside) permanent underdogs, through a communal belief against logic and history. This existence also doesn't lead to rooting with a tail wedged between their legs. On the contrary, Clipper fans wear this reality on their sleeves. Second-lass citizenry is embraced without a hint of apology. There's no affected hipster irony as "justification" for backing the town's B-squad. Nor do the fans laugh at themselves to beat the rest of the basketball-watching world to the punch.

Clipper fans rally around the Clippers because, well, they love their team.

And like Raider fans, this love is offered while acknowledging dysfunction and drama looming around every corner. There's considerably less outward aggression, and I've yet to see anybody at a Clipper game in a Darth Vader mask. But I can see where Clipper fans might see elements of the "Raider" in themselves.

Which got me to wondering, how exactly do Laker fans see themselves?

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Here are your 10 additional things to take away from the Lakers' 99-90 road loss against the Denver Nuggets on Sunday ...

The Lakers led 90-88 with 2:47 remaining in the fourth quarter on Sunday before Denver went on an 11-0 run to finish the game.

Stop me if you've heard this one before.

The Lakers were ahead of the Chicago Bulls by 11 with 3:44 remaining in the season opener, before the Bulls finished with a 17-5 run to end it.

The Lakers were down by just two to the Sacramento Kings with 4:24 remaining before the Kings ended the game with an 11-4 spurt.

And so, New Year's Day felt a little like the movie "Groundhog Day" as the Lakers once again stumbled down the stretch.

"To close out games, you need to be able to execute and that’s something we’re struggling with right now to be consistent at doing, is executing and getting our guys that we want to have the basketball at certain times at certain spots where they can be most effective," said Lakers co-captain Derek Fisher.

The Lakers were outscored 27-19 in the fourth quarter, allowing Denver to shoot 10-for-17 (58.8 percent), including giving up a 7-0 edge to the Nugget in fastbreak points.

"To win close games, in particular close games on the road, No. 1, you can’t play from behind the entire time, but No. 2, you have to be able to execute down the stretch and we weren’t able to do that which led to some of the runouts that [Danilo] Gallinari got out there at the end," Fisher said.

Pau Gasol could only shake his head at Los Angeles' 3-3 record to start the season.

"Those three losses were three games that we could have had. It’s very unfortunate when you let a team off the hook like we have in these three losses," Gasol said. "With this team and the talent that we have, we should have a little bit better record than we do now … Hopefully we’ll finish games off better than we have."

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Up until the point in the game where Kobe Bryant turned the ball over with less than 20 seconds to go rather than waiting for a Chicago foul, the most shocking sight of the Lakers' season opening loss to the Bulls on Sunday was Bryant being subbed out for Andrew Goudelock in the first quarter.

Eight days before the Bulls game, Goudelock was assigned to the Los Angeles D-Fenders, the Lakers' D-League affiliate, for a game. Six days before the Bulls game, the Lakers played their exhibition opener against the Los Angeles Clippers and Goudelock received the dreaded DNP - CD.

Yet, there he was on Sunday, playing 13 meaningful minutes in a game that actually counted.

The shocking part about it was that Goudelock, selected No. 46 out of the College of Charleston after a four-year NCAA career when he averaged 18.4 points, seemed like the lowest guard on the depth chart. Darius Morris, selected five picks ahead of Goudelock in the second round, was supposed to be the rookie that would play time this of year at point guard with the 37-year-old Derek Fisher having to deal with a rapid-fire condensed season.

Goudelock can thank the Clippers' DeAndre Jordan for opening up an opportunity for him. While Goudelock sat out the first exhibition game, it was Jordan who blocked Bryant and caused the Lakers star to hurdle to the ground and tear a ligament in his wrist while trying to break his fall. Suddenly, the Lakers were without a backup 2-guard for the second exhibition game while Bryant sat out to rest the wrist and Jason Kapono was plugged into the starting lineup in his place.

Even though Morris did some good things with 11 points, three rebounds and three assists in his preseason debut, he was a point guard with two other point guards in Fisher and Steve Blake ahead of him on the depth chart.

But Goudelock, who was fourth in the country with a 23.4 points-per-game average his senior year, certainly knew how to fill it up.

"When we drafted Goudelock, we drafted him to see if we could develop him into a point guard and when I realized Kobe wasn’t going to play in that second preseason game, I said, ‘You know what? This kid has played well as kind of a 2-guard.’ Because, in order for him to get some reps, we threw him in as the 2-guard during practices," said coach Mike Brown after Goudelock's six-point performance Sunday, when he went 2-for-3 on 3-pointers. "He’s just another ball-handler out on the floor. He’s a very good shooter, he can create his own shot and he’s a four-year college guy that’s not afraid."

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Few thought we'd actually make it to this point.

For 149 gut-wrenching days, the 2011 NBA lockout churned on. At times it seemed to be standing on its last legs, like when NBA Players' Association executive director Billy Hunter said, "I think we're within striking distance of getting a deal," back on Oct. 27. Then there were the days when the gap between both sides seemed so enormous that the 2011-12 season would certainly be lost, like when NBA commissioner David Stern said "we are about to go into the nuclear winter of the NBA" on Nov. 14.

There were serious concerns from people from every corner of the NBA's expansive universe that I spoke to throughout the dog days of summer. We all tried to convince ourselves that Nike's "Basketball Never Stops" campaign had some truth to it.

Players Aaron Brooks, J.R. Smith, Wilson Chandler and Kenyon Martin bet it would never start. They’ll end up playing in China rather than for the Suns and Nuggets in 2011-12.

Support personnel in every organization across the league, including the Lakers’ assistant general manager Ronnie Lester and trainer Chip Schaefer, were let go during the work stoppage.

Sometime in August, I covered a charity golf event that Matt Barnes was hosting in San Pedro. He didn't know if all the work he put in during the offseason to strengthen his right knee and slim down his body would pay off with an "on" season.

Sometime in October, I ran into Lakers rookie Darius Morris at a restaurant in Venice. He didn't know if he'd get to play a game this season and wondered if he had turned in his junior and senior seasons at Michigan for a year's worth of pickup games.

Sometime in November, I caught up with Shannon Brown at the UNC-Michigan State game played on the aircraft carrier down in San Diego. He didn't know if he'd finally get to test the free agent market and find a team to offer him a multi-year deal (after playing in four different cities through the first five years of his career).

Matt is competing for a starting gig with Devin Ebanks these days. Darius got to run out of the tunnel wearing the No. 1 on his Lakers uniform on Monday, and scored double digits in his first taste of NBA action. Shannon didn't get the security he was hoping for by signing a lengthy free agent contract, but he did get roughly a $1.1 million raise by signing with Phoenix for a year instead of staying in L.A.

Like Andy Dufresne, crawling through it and coming out clean on the other side, they’re ready to begin the season.

Aren’t we all?

Bring on Christmas; the day we worried would only be about presents under the tree.

Bring on Kobe Bryant wearing a pair old wildly colored sneakers. Andrew Bynum trying to prove to a team, a front office, a fan base and himself that he can avoid injury and realize the potential we all wonder if he's capable of realizing. Pau Gasol doing things his way, which has been good enough to become a two-time champion and four-time All-Star (but may never be good enough to quiet the skeptics). Derek Fisher hitting big buckets. Metta World Peace taking the same head-scratching shots that Ron Artest did.

Bring on Randy Newman's "I Love L.A." blaring from the Staples Center's public address system and fans cheering for free tacos.

The season was saved. The league is back. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

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