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When we last left the Los Angeles Lakers, a painful season was mercifully being put to an end at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs.

But the past is the past. A new season is right around the corner. Hope springs eternal, right?

A lot has changed in Laker Land in the five months between the Spurs series, which ended in a 21-point loss to complete the sweep on April 28, and when training camp opens up Saturday. Most notably, the will-he-or-won’t-he game the team played with Dwight Howard ended with the Lakers stranded on the dance floor as Howard made his Texas two-step to the Houston Rockets. Beyond that, L.A. said goodbye to key contributors Metta World Peace, Antawn Jamison and Earl Clark, and hello to a handful of hopeful replacements in Chris Kaman, Nick Young, Jordan Farmar and Wesley Johnson.

With that said, it’s time to count down to training camp. Let's take a look at the 10 storylines to keep in mind as the Lakers open up the 2013-14 season.

1. How will Kobe Bryant open up the “last chapter” of his storied career?
Seemingly whenever Bryant’s Achilles tear was brought up this offseason, one would point to Bryant’s age (35), his amount of career minutes logged (54,000 and counting between the regular season and playoffs) and other players to be decimated by the same injury (Chauncey Billups, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, Elton Brand, etc.) to analyze Bryant’s chances of returning to form, but then couch all that with a statement along the lines of, “But I wouldn’t bet against him.” The speculation will end soon enough. Beyond the perfunctory questions of when Bryant will actually return to the lineup and how much playing time he’ll receive, there’s the more meta cloud of mystery as to what type of approach Bryant will take once he is back. Did all this time away from the game change him? Will he still be the player with individual iron will who demands his teammates to follow, or will he be more willing to meet them halfway? If the Lakers struggle, as ESPN.com’s NBA panel suggested, how will Bryant respond to potentially playing on a noncontending team for the first time in nearly a decade? After tapping into the fountain of youth for his “Vino” resurgence the past couple of seasons, does he have anything left for an encore? It’s sure to be fascinating.

2. What will a full training camp do for Mike D’Antoni?
"This year we should start off finding and solving some problems in October and in September when you watch guys play and [find out] what's their tendencies, and then you formulate your ideas and you try to get it going by November," D'Antoni told ESPN 710 in August. There were excuses built in from the start of D’Antoni’s tenure with the team last year, from the disadvantage of taking over a team that was 1-4 in the regular season following an 0-8 preseason to a roster that included a starting point guard with a broken leg (Steve Nash), a backup point guard with a lingering abdominal strain (Steve Blake) and a starting center still rehabbing a major back injury (Howard). Not to mention D’Antoni was coming off knee replacement surgery of his own when he took the gig and facing the fallout of being the guy the franchise chose over Phil Jackson. He’ll go into this season with a roster that better fits his style of play, a clean 0-0 record and more manageable expectations from a fan base that is no longer thinking championship or bust.

3. Who will make the team?
The Lakers have 11 guaranteed contracts for next season in Bryant, Nash, Blake, Young, Kaman, Farmar, Johnson, Pau Gasol, Jodie Meeks, Robert Sacre and Jordan Hill. They have also signed Shawne Williams, Elias Harris, Marcus Landry, Xavier Henry and Ryan Kelly as camp invitees. How many out of those five will make the team? The most who can make it is four, as the maximum number of players allowed on an NBA roster is 15. The Lakers will indeed likely open the season with a 15-man roster according to a team source, with several of those players on partially guaranteed deals that become fully vetted only if they stick around the team later in the season. Williams already has a partially guaranteed deal, according to a league source, so you figure he would put the roster at 12 (D’Antoni recently raved about him in an interview with Time Warner Cable SportsNet). And Elias Harris also has a partially guaranteed deal, according to the L.A. Times, so let's say he's No. 13. From there, who out of Kelly, Landry and Henry will be the odd man out when it comes to cut day?

4. Who wins the backup point guard job?
Yes, Blake will turn 33 this season, while Farmar will only be turning 27. And yes, Farmar has proved to be a championship-caliber player in L.A., helping to capture two rings before leaving as a free agent in the summer of 2010, but let’s not diminish what Blake is capable of. The 11-year veteran was at his best when the Lakers needed him the most last season, averaging 12.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.0 assists while shooting 40.7 percent from 3 during eight games in the month of April when L.A. made its playoff push. There could be plenty of time for both of them if D’Antoni is committed to cutting down on Nash’s minutes, but on nights when Nash receives a lot of burn, either Farmar or Blake will find himself riding the pine.

5. How long before the next Phil Jackson rumor pops up?
As long as Phil Jackson doesn’t have a job with another NBA team, his presence will continue to swirl around the Lakers like a Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon. His name was already linked to the failed Seattle ownership group, the Brooklyn Nets, Toronto Raptors, Orlando Magic and Detroit Pistons in the past year, but none of that has quieted the calls by fans for him to return to the Lakers in some capacity (and consulting on a scripted television series about the team for Showtime won’t be enough). With the Jeanie Buss-Jim Buss relationship continuing to be played out in the public eye, it’s doubtful we’ve heard the last of Jackson when it comes to the team he coached to five championships.

6. Can Kurt Rambis get these guys to play defense?
In a move that is still somewhat puzzling considering D’Antoni’s natural motivation to remove himself from Jackson comparisons, Rambis was brought in as an assistant coach this offseason. While D’Antoni hasn’t made any delineations as to which one of his aides will responsible for what next season, Rambis’ defensive mind will surely be explored to help the Lakers start to find a way to get stops. The Lakers were tied with Brooklyn for 18th in the league in defensive efficiency last season, allowing opponents to score 103.6 points per 100 possessions. In a word: dreadful. Now, without the services of two former defensive player of the year award winners in Howard and World Peace, the Lakers will try to figure out a way to improve in that all-important end of the court.

7. What does Pau Gasol have left?
After he turned in a masterpiece of a Game 7 in the 2010 NBA Finals with 19 points, 18 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks, it’s been pretty much all downhill for Gasol. In the 2011 season he fizzled in the playoffs as Jackson’s “Last Stand” season went up in smoke. In the 2012 season, he was demoted in the pecking order as Mike Brown tried to develop a system around Andrew Bynum. And last season, D’Antoni felt compelled to go through Howard rather than Gasol to appease the impending free agent, not to mention that the Spaniard’s health was an issue during the entire campaign. With Bynum and Howard out of the picture and Gasol's body supposedly in good shape after he took the summer off from international competition for the first time in a long time, can he return to the form that made him a four-time All-Star and two-time champion, or will the 2013-14 season be a continuation of his rapid descent?

8. Will history be made?
Bryant enters the season with 31,617 career points, placing him fourth on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. The next name ahead of him? None other than Michael Jordan, sitting 675 points away with 32,292 career points. If Bryant can maintain his 25.5 points per game career average, it will take him somewhere in the neighborhood of 27 games to catch MJ. Nash enters the season with 10,249 career assists, putting him fourth on the all-time list. He is just 85 assists away from Mark Jackson for third. If he can distribute dimes at his 8.5 per game career rate, it will take him a mere 10 games to move up the ranks.

9. Will there be a Howard hangover?
By most estimations, having Howard in Houston will help clear the chemistry in the Lakers' locker room and allow the team to start fresh with a much-needed attitude adjustment. But what happens if the Rockets soar to the top of the Western Conference standings and L.A. is left with a roster devoid of rim protectors? The prevailing sentiment from Laker Nation after Howard skipped town was “good riddance,” but will regret creep up if a healthy Howard has an MVP-type season for Houston? Will everything that went down with Howard haunt the franchise in the way that the vetoed Chris Paul trade still lingers around the Lakers? Or will Howard wear out his welcome with the Rockets in the same fashion he did with the Lakers and the Orlando Magic?

10. How will those new jerseys look?
Being a fan isn’t just about analyzing the rotation and cheering for what the players do on the court, it’s about having an opinion on how they look while they’re doing it, too. It’s not all serious stuff. Paul Lukas of Uni Watch recently ranked the Lakers’ jerseys as the No. 2 best kit in the league, just behind their rival Boston Celtics. It’s tough to mess with a classic look like that, but the Lakers are giving it a try, introducing a black alternative “Hollywood Nights” uniform as well as a white, short-sleeved jersey. If that wasn’t enough new wardrobe possibilities, the NBA is considering allowing players from the Miami Heat and Brooklyn Nets to put nicknames on the back of their jerseys, which could lead to a “Black Mamba” No. 24 uniform down the road.

Pretty much any fan of the Los Angeles Lakers will tell you that the last three seasons haven’t been very fun, with the 2012-13 season falling much closer to painful than joyful on the experience scale.

“We were stacked and it was an epic failure,” said Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist and Lakers super fan, Flea, in a recent podcast with LandOLakers.com. “For me, it was the most disappointing Lakers season of all time and not even close to any other season.”

From the embarrassing ending to Phil Jackson’s final campaign, to the uninspiring Mike Brown era (L.A. topped 100 points just 24 times in the 71 regular-season games he coached), to the utter disaster of last season, the return on investment of time, money and emotion spent by Lakers fans has not resulted in any sort of payoff.

I know what that life’s all about, having grown up as a Philadelphia sports fan. Losing and frustration and disappointment come with the territory.

If I went into every season with a championship-or-bust mentality as a fan, I would have given up watching sports a long time ago and probably would be really into cooking shows and have some random additional skill, like being able to play the piano.

But, I kept watching and I keep watching. And even though there’s been only one Philadelphia championship in my lifetime (the 2008 Phillies) and I have that Jerry West in me where I hate to lose more than I love to win, I have conditioned myself to still be able to find enjoyment as a fan in a season, even if there is no ring at the end.

Now, the Lakers have 16 championships in their history, compared to just five for the three major pro sports teams in Philly (three for the 76ers, two for the Phillies and zero Super Bowl wins for the Eagles … I’m not an ice hockey guy). So that fact alone might naturally lower my expectations. But is being a Lakers fan all about rooting for rings and nothing else?

What if those expectations were removed? What if you forgot about the history for a second and, instead of focusing solely on the team’s quest for No. 17 or Kobe Bryant’s fight for No. 6, you took in each game for what it is? What if a loss in January wasn’t a referendum on how the team could potentially perform in June, but rather something the team could learn from in February?

Take my Eagles, for instance. Have you seen them under Chip Kelly? I came into this season thinking that an 8-8 record would be pretty much their ceiling after a dreadful 4-12 mark last season. Two weeks into it and they’re 1-1, so that’s right in step with my instincts. But there is nothing mediocre or ho-hum about how they got to 1-1. If I wanted to view everything in the specter of their Super Bowl chances, then I could focus on how they almost let a 26-point lead disappear against Washington and how they were 7.5-point favorites at Lincoln Financial Field in Week 2 and lost to San Diego.

But if I forget about Lombardi for a second, I can appreciate what’s going on here. Back-to-back 30-point games? Last season, the Eagles scored 30 or more in just one game all season -- a 38-33 loss to the Dallas Cowboys. LeSean McCoy putting up 184 running yards in Week 1, Michael Vick collecting 428 passing yards in Week 2 and DeSean Jackson hauling in 297 receiving yards over two games? This is silly stuff. And wildly entertaining. And all I could ask for as a fan.

So, how about it, Lakers fans? What if Mike D’Antoni gets these guys to reach the 110-115 points per game that he promised at his introductory news conference? What if there is chemistry and growth and a few upsets along the way -- both from the Lakers beating a team or two that are better than them and falling to a few inferior opponents?

The knee-jerk reaction from some of you I’m sure will be, “Well, we had ‘Showtime’ already AND we won.” And you’d be right on both counts. But even though this season’s Lakers will be wearing the same purple and gold uniforms as those teams from the 1980s, everything else has changed in the NBA they’ll be competing in. You can still honor the past without making it an unrealistic standard you hold the present to. Plus, it’s all about context. Comparing this aging Bryant/Steve Nash/Pau Gasol-led team to Magic Johnson/Kareem Abdul-Jabbar/James Worthy in their prime isn’t a fair fight. But comparing it to the squad that had an injured, unhappy Dwight Howard on it last season? Or to the team that slogged up and down the court under Brown? It would have to be better than that, right?

I called up Paul Coro, who covers the Phoenix Suns for the Arizona Republic and got on the beat one month after D’Antoni got the job as head coach of the Suns. How did Phoenix fans accept the 7 Seconds or Less era?

“When he took over the team, [there] was kind of free rein because there wasn’t any expectations,” Coro said. “Everything about it was great. They were winning beyond anybody’s imagination. They were doing it in a way that was innovative and thoroughly entertaining. It just blew people away how much fun it was. Immediately, they had big crowds -- sellouts early in the season. I think they ended up starting a sellout streak that carried on for a few years. It was nothing for them to be up in the 110-120 [point range].”

Albeit the Suns have never won it all, having lost to the Chicago Bulls in the 1993 Finals and to the Boston Celtics in 1976, so you could say that they never knew what it was like to root for a championship team like L.A. The point is, though, that those D'Antoni Suns teams were worth it for the fans. They were memorable. They were thrilling. They were fun.

A healthy Bryant, Nash and Gasol, with additional playmaking from guys like Nick Young, Jordan Farmar, Wes Johnson and Steve Blake, plus Jordan Hill and Chris Kaman playing big down low and Jodie Meeks and Ryan Kelly or Shawne Williams spreading the floor outside can be fun, too.

I'm excited about watching the next Eagles game. Do I think this will be the best season ever for the Birds? Nope. But they could surprise me. It's a nice feeling.

Wouldn't it be nice to feel that way about the Lakers again?

On March 18 of last season, Darius Morris didn’t get into the game until the last three minutes of the Los Angeles Lakers’ blowout loss to the Phoenix Suns. Coach Mike D’Antoni stuck to a seven-man rotation on the second night of a back-to-back, and Morris didn’t figure into his plans.

Two days before that, Andrew Goudelock was playing for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers and picking apart the Lakers’ D-League affiliate, the L.A. D-Fenders, with 33 points and 12 assists in a 15-point win.

Five weeks later, Morris and Goudelock made up the Lakers’ starting backcourt for Game 3 of their first-round playoff series against the San Antonio Spurs. They put up an admirable effort -- Goudelock finished with 20 points and three steals, Morris had 24 points and six assists -- but the Spurs still embarrassed the Lakers, winning by 31 points on the Lakers' home floor.

The Lakers started the season with a Hall of Fame-bound backcourt of Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash, backed up by a D’Antoni favorite in Steve Blake and a pure, space-the-floor shooter in Jodie Meeks.

They ended it with two former second-round picks playing close to 40 minutes apiece in a playoff game.

Even with the rash of injuries the Lakers experienced last season -- trainer Gary Vitti said it was the worst string of bad luck he’s seen in his 20-plus years with the team -- the Lakers clearly had to address the guard position in the offseason.

Part of that process was upgrading from Morris (who remains an unsigned free agent after L.A. cut ties with him) and Goudelock (who signed a one-year deal to play in Russia after shining with Chicago’s summer league team).

Here’s a look at how the Lakers’ depth chart at guard should shake out next season:

1. Kobe Bryant

Even as a 35-year-old coming off of Achilles surgery and entering his 18th season in the league, Bryant is still the sun the Lakers' planet revolves around. He’ll be looked to to jump-start the Lakers' offense, whether in scorer or facilitator mode (hopefully more of the latter), and instill the belief that L.A. can actually accomplish something in 2013-14 outside of jockeying for draft lottery status. While Bryant will still surely play more than any other guard in the Lakers' lineup next season (when he's ready to return from his injury), it will be up to D’Antoni to manage his minutes better than last season. Bryant played 38.6 minutes per game in 2012-13, including an average of 45.6 minutes in his final seven games leading up to the injury. Just like the sun sets, Bryant and D’Antoni will have to figure out a way to pace themselves, perhaps by borrowing a page out of Gregg Popovich’s book and sitting Bryant on the second night of back-to-backs like the Spurs often do with Tim Duncan.

2. Steve Nash

Not only is Nash older than just about every player in the league -- he’ll turn 40 during the season -- he’s older than some of the top executives, as the Denver Nuggets hired 36-year-old Tim Connelly to be their general manager in the offseason and the Suns, Nash’s former team, brought on 33-year-old Ryan McDonough as their GM. Nash has already proved to be an ageless wonder, however, and as long as he can put his hip and groin injuries behind him, he will be relied upon to run D’Antoni’s offense the way the two hoped could have happened last season. Just like Bryant, however, there should be a minute cap for Nash. He averaged 32.5 minutes per game last season with only Blake providing consistent relief. The addition of Jordan Farmar, who at 26 is nearly a decade and a half Nash’s junior, will make it easier to cut into those minutes.

3. Jordan Farmar

Once upon a time, Farmar left a Lakers team that had won back-to-back championships because he didn’t want to continue to play behind an aging point guard in Derek Fisher. This time around, Farmar is joining a Lakers team that suffered back-to-back early exits in order to -- wait for it -- back up an aging point guard. Despite that, it seems like a natural fit for Farmar to return to the Lakers and play in a system that is better suited to his dribble-drive game than Phil Jackson’s triangle offense ever was. He will play both the 1 and the 2 at times and could really show his value if Bryant misses any portion of the season while still in recovery.

4. Steve Blake

Blake is the incumbent here, but it will be difficult for him to maintain his primary backup spot if Farmar comes in and performs to the best of his ability. The good news for Blake is there will always be time for him and his brand of hard-nosed, on-ball defense, and if D’Antoni gives Bryant and/or Nash the second night of back-to-backs off, there could be major minutes to be had. Plus, D’Antoni told ESPN 710 radio in Los Angeles that he plans to play an 11-man rotation. If the coach follows through with that plan, there will certainly be a role available for Blake.

5. Nick Young

Young has played shooting guard for the majority of his six-year career, but the Lakers think he’s capable of playing small forward. “Nick’s size, ability to create his own shot and athleticism make him a versatile player who will give our lineup multiple looks on the floor,” GM Mitch Kupchak said in the news release announcing Young’s signing mere minutes before the team used the amnesty clause to waive Metta World Peace. So, while Young will inevitably get some time at guard, he’ll more than likely be the team’s starting 3 when the season opens up.

6. Jodie Meeks

Meeks’ role will likely be hit-or-miss -- he’ll stay in when he’s hitting his shots and sit when he’s missing them. Like Blake having his value challenged by the addition of Farmar, Meeks will have to fight against becoming redundant with the addition of Young.

7. Xavier Henry

Henry, a former lottery pick by New Orleans in 2010, has the right frame at 6-foot-6 to play swingman, but hasn’t gotten the rest of his game together enough to stick in the league yet. Henry has a training camp invite with no guaranteed money, according to a league source, so his first priority is making the team, let alone cracking the rotation.

Granted, the 2012-13 season was pretty crummy for every Los Angeles Lakers player, but consider the plight of Jodie Meeks.

After two and a half solid seasons in Philadelphia, where Meeks established himself as a valued contributor on playoff teams, the sweet-shooting guard signed with L.A. at a discount with the hopes of winning a ring.

While he witnessed his teammates go down left and right with injuries as the season wore on, Meeks fortunately avoided any health problems. With Kobe Bryant out with a torn Achilles tendon, it was Meeks who was on the court at shooting guard in Bryant's place in the regular-season finale against the Houston Rockets, driving baseline and throwing down a game-sealing dunk in overtime to secure L.A. the seventh seed in the postseason.

But whoever was holding the purple and gold Voodoo doll spared Meeks only for so long. He suffered a third-degree sprain in his left ankle in the Lakers' opening playoff loss to the San Antonio Spurs, ending his season three games sooner than his team did after the Lakers' decimated roster was swept by the Spurs.

"It was really bad timing," Meeks told ESPNLosAngeles.com in a phone interview from his offseason home in Atlanta on Monday. "I was very frustrated just because, selfishly, I was like, ‘Man, I can get as many shots as I want now and I can’t even play.’

"I felt like it was a good opportunity for me to kind of showcase what I could do on a more productive level because the guys were hurt."

As this upcoming season approaches, all Meeks wants is that opportunity again.

(Read full post)

Los Angeles Lakers fans, brace yourselves.

You’re about to experience the basketball equivalent of the well-known lyrics of frequent courtside seat holder, Tom Petty:

“The waiting is the hardest part.”

For a team that has won 16 championships and made it to the NBA Finals 31 times (in a league that’s only been around 67 years, meaning that just about one out of every two seasons, L.A. is within four wins or less of the title), giving up on championship aspirations before training camp even opens up seems sacrilege.

But with Dwight Howard choosing to go to the Houston Rockets and L.A. now sporting an aging roster without the best big man in the game to make up for it, the 2013-14 season is destined to be nothing more than a holding pattern for the Lakers.

All is not lost, however.

The upside is that next summer promises to be a pivotal time in the franchise’s history. And if everything goes according to plan, the Lakers should be able to eventually vault themselves right back on a championship trajectory.

Before we get to the summer of 2014, let’s look at what the Lakers have in store for themselves in the immediate aftermath of Howard’s decision.

Outside of filling out their roster with the limited free-agent tools they have at their disposal (the mini mid-level exception of $3.2 million, as well as veteran minimum deals), the Lakers’ front office brass of general manager Mitch Kupchak and vice president of player personnel Jim Buss must figure out what to do with the players they currently have under contract.

A source familiar with the Lakers’ thinking told ESPNLosAngeles.com’s Ramona Shelburne they will not use their one-time amnesty provision on Pau Gasol during the July 10-16 window when the league allows teams to waive one player they signed prior to December 2011 without that money owed counting against their salary cap.

With Gasol back in the fold to slide over to center in Howard’s absence, that means the Lakers will most likely amnesty Metta World Peace.

While World Peace enjoyed a resurgent season last year, he is coming off minor knee surgery and waiving him would save the Lakers close to $25 million in salary and luxury tax fees.

With World Peace let go the question is, will a core team of Kobe Bryant (coming off Achilles surgery), Gasol, Steve Nash, Steve Blake, Jodie Meeks and Jordan Hill even be competitive?

Say Bryant is out until Christmas while his left leg recovers:

Will the Lakers be 10 games under .500 at that point without him? And if they are, would it be better to try to make a run for a low playoff seed at that point or simply join in the “Tank for Andrew Wiggins” movement that several teams -- the Philadelphia 76ers, Boston Celtics and Toronto Raptors among them -- already seem to be primed to do in order to increase their odds of drafting the University of Kansas phenom?

The Lakers would never admit it, but bottoming out next season could be the best thing for the franchise in the long run.

As L.A. sent away future first-round draft picks last summer in order to acquire Howard and Nash, they were sure to hang onto their first-rounder in 2014. Wiggins is considered a generational talent along the lines of Shaquille O’Neal and LeBron James. But even if L.A. doesn’t end up with the No. 1 pick to land Wiggins, Duke’s Jabari Parker and Oklahoma State’s Marcus Smart are considered can’t-miss prospects, as well.

Maybe the Bryant-Nash-Gasol-led Lakers are still good enough to make the playoffs and maybe Bryant comes back sooner rather than later. That might take them out of the running for Wiggins & Co. But L.A. also has positioned itself to go after the league’s marquee free agents next summer, by carefully coordinating when it would have cap space open up.

Every player but Nash comes off the Lakers’ books after the 2013-14 season. Which means that should Bryant negotiate an extension at a discounted rate (think $10 million range), L.A. would be able to pursue not one, but two max-level free agents and immediately be in the hunt again.

It might seem like a pipe dream, but would you doubt the Lakers’ championship chances if they got Bryant and Gasol to come back on the cheap and were able to lure the likes of James, plus Carmelo Anthony or Dwyane Wade or Chris Bosh or DeMarcus Cousins or Paul George?

However, just like the Lakers' first-rounder in 2014 won't guarantee them a top-three pick if they miss the playoffs, having all that cap space doesn't guarantee a shot at any of these players. Some of them, most notably James and Anthony, would have to exercise an early termination option on their current contracts to hit the market. Others like Cousins and George (you can throw Washington's John Wall into the mix, too) will be restricted free agents, so something would have to go south in their current situations for their respective teams not to match any max offer that came their way.

“Should Dwight leave, we’ll have a Plan B,” Kupchak said the night of the draft, about a week before L.A. learned Howard would indeed be bolting for the Rockets. “It’s not going to be as good as Plan A. But we do have a plan that goes beyond one year.”

“It is a system. It’s not like there are no rules in the NBA,” he said. “There is a system that is in place that provides the team that does the worst [to get] the best picks. If you have good teams with good players, then the players have to be paid well. That puts you into an environment where you don’t have free-agent money and you can’t use exceptions. It’s hard to replenish that team.

“At the same time, the players get older. It’s a natural cycle that you have to live with, but you plan the best for opportunities. That’s not to say there won’t be a two- or three-year [rebuilding] period like there was in the early '90s. But if there was, we feel like it would be short-lived.”

It could be as short-lived as one year’s championship chances all but forgotten even before the season had tipped off.

Then all of the waiting could pay off big in the summer of 2014.

Before the NBA free agency period officially begins on Sunday night, the Los Angeles Lakers took care of some business Wednesday.

The team announced it picked up guard Jodie Meeks' $1.55 million contract option for next season and also made a qualifying offer of $989,000 to center Robert Sacre to make him a restricted free agent.

“Jodie is not only a gifted three-point shooter who helps us space the floor on the offensive end, but he is also a very active and underrated player defensively who continues to work on and improve all aspects of his game,” said Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak in a statement.

Meeks averaged 7.9 points and 2.2 rebounds in 21.3 minutes per game in his first year in L.A. last season. The 6-4, 208-pound Meeks shot 35.7 percent from deep and was third on the team with 122 made 3-pointers, only behind Metta World Peace's 141 and Kobe Bryant's 132.

Sacre, selected by L.A. with the final pick of the second round (No. 60) of the 2012 NBA Draft, played sparingly as a back-up big man last season, averaging 1.3 points and 1.1 rebounds in 6.3 minutes. The 7-footer out of Gonzaga put up 6.7 points and 3.0 rebounds in three starts at center, however, and fared even better for the Lakers' D-League affiliate L.A. D-Fenders, averaging 11.4 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 32.6 minutes.

With the luxury-tax laden Lakers only having the mini mid-level exception worth approximately $3.2 million and veteran minimum contracts available to them to fill out their roster for next season, neither offer was much of a surprise.

For a franchise that has won 16 titles, any Los Angeles Lakers season that doesn't end with a championship is considered a failure. But rather than just dole out a blanket "F" for the Lakers' disappointing 2012-13 season, we're going to break down each player's production in groups, beginning with the bench backcourt. Check back for grades on the bench front court, starters and the Lakers' coaching staff and front office.

STEVE BLAKE

In the four starts Blake made after Kobe Bryant went out with season-ending Achilles surgery, Blake was the Lakers’ most consistent offensive threat on the floor. Blake averaged 18.8 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 1.5 steals in those four games -- two wins to end the regular season and get L.A. into the playoffs and two losses to start off the postseason against San Antonio before suffering a season-ending hamstring injury of his own.

The pulled hamstring was a particularly unfortunate way for Blake to go out. The Lakers' injury-plagued season was perhaps cruelest for Blake, as he also missed 27 games during the regular season with a groin and abdomen injury and had the bizarre incident when he stepped on a spike strip in a beach parking lot that caused him to miss a chunk of training camp.

“As everybody knows, it was a tough year injury-wise, not only for myself but for the entire team,” Blake said after his exit interview. “Whenever we took a couple steps forward, there was an injury there to make us take steps back. But, I was pleased with the way I played throughout the year even though I was hurt.”

Stats

7.3 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 3.8 rpg, 26.1 mpg, .422 fg, .421 3fg -- all of these averages were Blake’s best in his three seasons with L.A.

Outlook for 2013-14

Blake is one of four players on the team -- along with Bryant, Pau Gasol and Metta World Peace -- who is eligible to be waived via the Lakers’ one-time amnesty clause this summer. At one time, it seemed feasible for L.A. to use it on Blake. Not anymore. Blake’s $4 million deal for the last year of his contract looks like a bargain for next season, especially because the Lakers can’t rely on the 39-year-old Steve Nash to stay healthy all season.

Grade

B: Blake was a very important piece for L.A. this season and stepped up when he was needed. His grade would have been better if he hadn’t missed so many games because of injury.

JODIE MEEKS

The Lakers had very limited resources available to them last summer to attract free agents and used up half ($1.5 million) of their mini mid-level exception on Meeks. The 6-4 shooting guard had a rocky season in L.A., but eventually settled in along with Blake and Antawn Jamison as one third of the Lakers’ core group off the bench as they made their playoff push.

He certainly had his moments -- a baseline dunk in overtime to seal a win against Houston in the regular season finale, 14 points in a must-have road win in Sacramento late in the season, 12 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter during an incredible comeback in New Orleans, and 21 points on 7-for-8 shooting from deep against Denver -- but he was largely inconsistent. After staying healthy all season, he too fell victim to the injury bug, missing the Lakers’ final three playoff games with a sprained left ankle.

Stats

7.9 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 0.9 apg, .387 fg, .357 3fg -- Meeks’ numbers took a dip across the board from his previous season with the Philadelphia 76ers.

Outlook for 2013-14

The Lakers have a team option for Meeks at $1.55 million that Meeks’ camp expects to be exercised. If he can improve his accuracy and consistency, he could be a steal. Plus, with Bryant’s status up in the air for the start of the season as he recovers from his Achilles, Meeks could be leaned on more in the early going. “My shooting was up and down this season for whatever reason. I’ll be ready to come back next year and (get better); this system fits me perfectly and (Mike D’Antoni) has a lot of confidence in me,” Meeks said at after his exit interview.

Grade

C: Meeks was an X-factor at times, but hard to trust night-in and night-out.

DARIUS MORRIS

It’s rare in the NBA for a team to have a player considered a home-grown talent, but Morris fits that description as he matriculated at Winward High School in L.A. and then was plucked in the second round out of Michigan to learn at the feet of Bryant the last two seasons. “He gave me a lot of insight about stuff on and off the court,” Morris said of Bryant. “He became a mentor to me, kept me encouraged, and I really appreciate that.”

If Morris’ rookie year was about improving his body, as he added 15 pounds of muscle, his sophomore season was about getting that body to perform in games. Morris made incremental improvements, most notably on defense, but he still has a lot to learn. He finished off the season strong, however, averaging 14 points and 4 assists in the Lakers’ final three playoff games after Bryant, Nash, Blake and Meeks went out.

Stats

4 ppg, 1.2 rpg, 1.6 apg, .388 fg, .364 3fg -- Morris’ points, rebounds and assists all went up from his rookie year, but his shooting percentages slid significantly.

Outlook for 2013-14

Morris could be brought back on a minimum deal. The Lakers like his attitude and work ethic and he likely hasn’t done enough in his two seasons in L.A. to generate much interest around the league. Bryant said the Lakers’ top needs heading into next season were “length, speed and athleticism” and Morris fits two out of three, which isn’t a bad place to start.

Grade

C -: After starting 17 games early on in the season, D’Antoni didn’t trust Morris’ decision-making skills enough to play him so much that when L.A. was plagued with injuries, the coach limited his rotation to seven players at times rather than give Morris another shot.

ANDREW GOUDELOCK

In one of the few feel-good parts of the Lakers’ nightmarish season, Goudelock -- a 2011 second round draft pick by the Lakers and a 2012 training camp cut -- was called up from the D-League shortly before the playoffs, after Bryant was injured. His time back with the team was short as the Lakers’ season was over two weeks after he was signed, but Goudelock reminded everybody why he deserves a chance back in the NBA, averaging 17 points in two starts in Games 3 and 4 against San Antonio.

“I definitely think I’ve come a long way,” Goudelock said at his exit interview. “From getting cut [by the Lakers in training camp], going to the D-League for the whole season, winning the MVP and then coming back and getting significant minutes [in the playoffs] . . . It was crazy.”

Stats

12 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 1.0 apg, 1.7 spg, .444 fg, .200 3fg -- Goudelock’s playoff stats in three games played in the first round.

Outlook for 2013-14

Goudelock proved that he can not only dominate the D-League, he can perform in the NBA when the playoffs pressure cooker is on. There are still deficiencies to his game, most notably his lack of size on defense, that won’t make it an automatic for him to latch back onto an NBA roster, but his shooting will give him a chance. Whether that chance will be with the Lakers will be worked out after L.A. goes through its other major offseason moves.

Grade

A: Goudelock couldn’t have reasonably done any more with the opportunity he was given. He maximized it.

CHRIS DUHON

Duhon was not targeted by L.A., but rather came to the Lakers as part of the Dwight Howard deal to make the numbers work. Ten games into the season, Duhon found himself with an ally in new coach Mike D’Antoni, who coached him back when they were both with the New York Knicks. Injuries to Nash and Blake, coupled with D’Antoni’s trust, gave Duhon an opportunity to start nine games and he filled in capably -- 6.9 points, 5.4 assists and a 42.1 percent mark on his 3-pointers. The nine-year veteran was a back-up and solid bench presence the rest of the season, but seldom used once D’Antoni settled on a shortened rotation when the Lakers were making a late-season push for the playoffs.

Stats

2.9 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 2.9 apg, .382 fg, .363 3fg -- Not impressive stats, but his 3.3 assists to turnover ratio was respectable for a point guard.

Outlook for 2013-14

Duhon’s $3.8 million salary for next season can be bought out by the Lakers by June 30 for approximately $1.5 million. L.A will go that route and Duhon will not be back with the team next season. He mentioned in his exit interview that he is interested in getting into coaching.

Grade

C: Duhon remained a professional in a topsy-turvy season for the Lakers.

SAN ANTONIO -- Without the guy with the reputation for being basketball's ultimate closer, the Los Angeles Lakers looked lost and overmatched in the final minutes of quarters all night in their 102-91 loss in Game 2 to the San Antonio Spurs.

While the Spurs' Tim Duncan, who turns 37 on Thursday, was able to put his stamp on the game with 16 points, five rebounds and two blocks, the Lakers' 39-year-old Steve Nash looked, quite literally, to be on his last leg.

Playing for only the second time since missing the Lakers' final eight regular-season games with nerve damage in his right hamstring stemming from a right hip injury, Nash was just a shell of his former two-time MVP self.

Nash gave it his all in 32 minutes, shooting 50 percent from the field (nine points on 4-for-8 shooting) and dishing out a game-high six assists, but he didn't have the type of impact on the game he's used to having, and was seen limping around the court in dead-ball situations.

The Kobe Bryant-less Lakers just didn't have an answer on offense or composure on defense at the end of quarters, whereas the Spurs hunkered down and made what started off as anybody's game, another W for the team in silver and black.

How it happened: The Spurs were 35-6 at home and the No. 2 team in the West during the regular season for a reason. As much as it was Duncan's consistency, it was about Tony Parker's brilliance (28 points and seven assists), Matt Bonner's timeliness (10 points on 4-for-5 shooting, five rebounds and three steals), Kawhi Leonard's athleticism (16 points, seven rebounds) and Manu Ginobili's Manu-ness (13 points and seven assists in 19 minutes).

What it means: The Lakers played inside-out as planned and it wasn't enough. Dwight Howard (16 points, nine rebounds, four blocks) wasn't as dominant as planned (five turnovers, five fouls), nor was Pau Gasol (13 points on 5-for-14 shooting).

Hits: L.A. made slight improvements in 3-point shooting (8-for-22 instead of 3-for-15) and turnovers (13 instead of 18) from Game 1.
Steve Blake had 16 points before injuring his leg late in the game.

Misses: Jodie Meeks (sprained left ankle) did not play.

Stat of the game: The Spurs had seven players with seven points or more.

Up next: The Lakers are sure to get an emotional lift with Bryant in the building for Friday's Game 3 at Staples Center. As they say in this business, a playoff series doesn't truly start until a team wins on the road. If the Lakers can hold serve and win on their home court, then going into Game 4 down 2-1 doesn't seem so daunting. Of course, if they lose Friday then it will just about be time to turn the lights off on the Lakers' thoroughly disappointing 2012-13 season.

SAN ANTONIO -- Jodie Meeks sat with his left leg elevated on the chair next to him as he watched his teammates shoot around after practice Tuesday.

Meeks missed his second consecutive practice after spraining his left ankle in the first half of the Los Angeles Lakers' 91-79 Game 1 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday.

Despite sitting out, the Lakers backup guard said he plans to "give it a go" in Wednesday's Game 2.

"It's the playoffs, man," Meeks said. "If it was the regular season, I'd sit out."

Meeks, who averaged 7.9 points during the regular season, scored just four points in Game 1 on 1-for-4 shooting, and also had two turnovers in 20 minutes.

Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni said there was "no doubt" the team would turn to Darius Morris to fill in with some minutes if Meeks is too hampered to play. Morris went 0-for-1 from the field and picked up one foul in eight minutes Sunday.

D'Antoni said recent signee Andrew Goudelock could play as well.

"We need somebody to put the ball in the basket," D'Antoni said.

The Lakers shot just 3-for-15 from 3 (20 percent) in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series with the Spurs.

D'Antoni says he hopes Steve Nash is one of the players improving that shooting line. Nash scored 16 points on 6-for-15 shooting Sunday and missed the only 3-pointer he took, playing for the first time in nine games because of nerve damage in his right hamstring stemming from a right hip injury.

Nash was able to practice Monday and Tuesday, however, and D'Antoni said he was going to rely on the 17-year veteran guard in Game 2.

"I think about 5-6 minutes is all he needs to go [at a time]," D'Antoni said about Nash, who contributed to the Lakers being a plus-2 in the 30 minutes he played Sunday. "Then he starts going over the hill a little bit. So, we'll watch out. But, we're going to need him out on the floor. So, he'll get through some stuff. He's a competitor, once he gets out there, he wants to go. So we'll try to watch it and then try to watch how he looks physically."

SAN ANTONIO -- Sometime during the third quarter of a Game 1 that just couldn't find a rhythm, Kobe Bryant chimed in on Twitter some 1,350 miles away from San Antonio at his Newport Beach, Calif. home.

"This game has a 'steal one' written all over it for us," Bryant tweeted.

It looked that way for a little while, with the Los Angeles Lakers cutting the San Antonio Spurs' lead that was 12 shortly after halftime down to four after a Steve Blake fadeaway jumper midway through the third. But rather than wilt with a little pressure, San Antonio had the cushion back to 13 heading into the fourth and ultimately held firm for a 91-79 victory.

Coming into the series, the Lakers talked about their defense needing to show up and set the tone, and guess what? That happened.

The Spurs shot just 37.6 percent from the field, but L.A. was more anemic on offense, shooting three for 15 (20 percent) on 3-pointers.

We'll see if the Lakers missed a golden opportunity Sunday or if they just needed to flush a game out of their system before Game 2.

How it happened: Quite simply, the Spurs' guy with the injured hamstring outplayed the Lakers' guy with the injured hamstring. Not that Steve Nash was terrible out there, he gutted out 16 points on 6-for-15 shooting in 31 minutes with three assists and just one turnover, but he was a step slow on defense and missed a few timely shots that really could have made it a tight game in the third. Manu Ginobili, meanwhile, only scored two more points than Nash (18) and shot slightly better (6-for-13), but he made timely contributions with a momentum-swinging 3-pointer late in the third quarter to put the Spurs up 12 and a nail-in-the-coffin assist to Matt Bonner, who hit a 3 late in the fourth, to seal it.

What it means: The Spurs came into the game having lost their last five regular-season games against Western Conference playoff teams, and coach Gregg Popovich admitted that his team looked "discombobulated" when he spoke to the media before Sunday's game. Meanwhile, the Lakers had won five straight, including two in a row without Bryant, and seemed to be clicking. So, what does Game 1 mean? That the regular season is ancient history. The Spurs got back to their game when it counted. Now L.A. has to prove it can do the same.

Hits: Pau Gasol (16 points, 16 rebounds, six assists) was just four assists away from his third triple-double in his past four games.

Dwight Howard had 20 points and 15 rebounds and was able to manage playing with five fouls without fouling out.

Misses: Jodie Meeks (1-for-4) not only had a rough day from the field, but he suffered a mild sprain of his left ankle. Lakers trainer Gary Vitti re-taped Meeks, and the backup guard was able to get back in the game, but they’ll have to monitor the swelling heading into Game 2.

Howard started off 2-for-2 from the free throw line and finished 4-for-8.

Stat of the game: Howard (8-for-12) was the only Lakers player to shoot better than 50 percent.

Up next: The teams get two days of rest before Wednesday's Game 2. The time off should benefit the Lakers, as it will give Nash and Meeks two days to recover and Mike D'Antoni two days to make adjustments.

LOS ANGELES -- It figured to be an emotional night in the first Los Angeles Lakers game since Kobe Bryant went out with that devastating season-ending Achilles tear. And L.A. used the charged atmosphere to its advantage.

Here's a look back at L.A.'s game No. 81 of the season and game No. 1 without Kobe, where the Lakers improved to 44-37, the most games above .500 they've been all season:

How it happened: L.A. controlled the game from the tip and withstood the Hack-a-Howard strategy by the San Antonio Spurs in the third quarter to pull ahead in the end, thanks to some timely fourth-quarter buckets by Antawn Jamison and made free throws by Dwight Howard and Steve Blake.

What it means: If the Utah Jazz lose either of their next two games -- at the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday or at the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday -- the Lakers are in the playoffs no matter what happens on Wednesday, when the Lakers host the Houston Rockets in their regular-season finale.

Hits: Howard might have shot just 4-for-11 on free throws in the third quarter, but he was lights out all game for the most part. He clearly wanted to step up in Bryant's absence and finished with 26 points and 17 rebounds, while shooting 9-for-15 from the floor.

Blake scored 23 points, topping the 20-point plateau for just the 17th time of his 10-year career.

Jamison scored nine of his 15 points in the fourth quarter.

Misses: Gasol shot just 3-for-17 from the floor -- but chipped in 16 rebounds.

Stat of the game: The Lakers shot just 31-for-85 from the field (36.5 percent) and still managed to win, holding San Antonio to 37.1 percent shooting overall.

Up next: One game left -- Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. against Houston. Oh boy.

LOS ANGELES -- There's been little doubt who the best basketball team in Los Angeles is for a while now. The Los Angeles Clippers took care of that with a 17-game winning streak earlier this season and the first 50-win season in franchise history.

But just to put an exclamation point on that statement, the Clippers dealt a devastating blow to the Lakers' desperate playoff push Sunday with a 109-95 win at Staples Center.

The win marked the first time the Clippers have swept the season series from the Lakers since moving to Los Angeles. You have to go back to the 1974-75 Buffalo Braves for the only other time in franchise history it's happened.

The Lakers put up a fight early, but this one was never really close. The Clippers were too good. The Lakers looked too tired after what's been a frantic last month of the season as they try to salvage what's left of this awful season.

Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 25 points but took 19 shots to get there. Twelve of his points came at the free-throw line.

It didn't help that the Lakers got virtually nothing from their starting backcourt of Steve Blake (eight points, two assists in 39 minutes) and Jodie Meeks (six points in 31 minutes.) while point guard Chris Paul led the Clippers with 24 points and 12 assists.

How it happened: The Lakers jumped out to an early lead, but the Clippers went on a run as soon as Dwight Howard came out of the game and wasn't around to protect the rim. The Lakers rallied to make it close at the end but just didn't have enough firepower to match the Clippers, who got another nice game from Sixth Man of the Year candidate Jamal Crawford (20 points) and ex-Laker Matt Barnes (12 points on 5-for-6 shooting).

What it means: Every game is critical for the Lakers the rest of the way as they try to nose out the Utah Jazz for the eighth and final Western Conference playoff berth. Because Utah holds the head-to-head tiebreaker, the Lakers must finish a game ahead of the Jazz to get in. All the storylines about the rivalry between the Lakers and Clippers were far less important Sunday than what's become a rather desperate playoff push for the NBA's highest payroll and most disappointing team.

Hits: Dwight Howard has the size and speed to dominate inside against the undersized Clippers. Pau Gasol has the skill and savvy to be effective against them as well. The Lakers' big men combined to score 37 points and grab 17 rebounds Sunday. You'd like to see more than four rebounds from Howard, but on this disappointing day, his 25-point performance passes for a positive.

Misses: Kobe Bryant came into the game having missed his past 16 3-point attempts, which makes sense considering the heavy minutes he's been logging and the effect that has had on his legs. Though he finally made a 3-pointer, he had an off shooting night overall (6 for 19). To his credit, though, he switched into facilitator mode when his shot wasn't falling and finished with 10 assists.

Stat of the game: The Lakers made just seven of their 24 3-pointers Sunday. Seven. It was ugly.

Up next: The Lakers have a day to recover from this one before their final back-to-back of the season -- at home against New Orleans on Tuesday and on the road in Portland on Wednesday. The Lakers have yet to sweep a back-to-back this season.

LOS ANGELES -- It's never easy with this team, is it?

It was an important night for the Los Angeles Lakers, welcoming two starters back in the lineup in Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol and facing a team buried way below .500 after losing to a team just like that Monday in Phoenix.

And boy, did they blow it.

L.A. dropped its second straight game to a team that has no prayer of making the playoffs and instead of using a soft spot in the schedule to build momentum, finds itself back in a bit of a tailspin with just 12 games remaining in the regular season.

Gasol's night started off great, as he grabbed a defensive rebound on the Washington Wizards' first possession and picked up a no-look assist to Metta World Peace on the Lakers' first possession, but he finished with just four points on 2-for-10 shooting and eight rebounds.

That's OK. Gasol had missed close to seven weeks of action and 20 games, so rust was expected.

Turns out Gasol was a minor part of the story.

Former Laker Trevor Ariza ended up having a much bigger impact on the game.

Ariza scored 19 of his game-high 25 points after halftime, setting a new career high by hitting seven 3-pointers as he was able to help Washington come all the way back from an early 18-point deficit to briefly take a two-point lead in the fourth.

While the Wizards came into the game with a 24-43 record, they were actually 19-15 this season with their best player, John Wall, in the lineup, so the fact that they gave L.A. a challenge shouldn't have been a surprise.

Bryant didn't have his normal late-game magic working, as he missed an open 8-foot jumper to tie it in the final minute, and had one more chance at it with a desperation heave at the buzzer on a fadeaway 3, which clanked short off the rim.

L.A. got some help by Utah losing to San Antonio on Friday, so it holds on to its eighth seed for the time being -- but at some point you worry about these missed opportunities piling up.

How it happened: L.A. controlled the game at the start, leading by 16 at the end of the first quarter and never letting up. Washington was playing its fifth game in seven days and its third road game in a row, while the Lakers on came in on three days' rest -- and it showed. Washington made its run on the backs of Ariza and John Wall (24 points, 16 assists) and finished the upset.


What it means: Mike D'Antoni's pregame remarks were pretty prescient.

"We got to win, first of all," D'Antoni said. "We can’t experiment and we can’t play around with it too much. We got to win every game and that’s how it’s going to be played, and hopefully we get better every game because they have some improvement they can do -- a lot of improvement because they haven’t played together. A lot of talent is on the floor; let’s see if we can get it together."

Getting Gasol and Bryant back is certainly a boost to the Lakers' chances down the stretch, but L.A. has to stick to what it did to get back in the playoff hunt in the first place. It can't get too cute.

Hits: Dwight Howard had 20 points and 15 rebounds.

Jodie Meeks scored 16 points off the bench, including eight in the fourth quarter.

Bryant added another momentum-changing dunk to his season-long aerial display, sending home a reverse jam with 7:04 remaining in the fourth quarter to put L.A. up by 3 when its offense was struggling. It ended up being a moot point, though.

Misses: Seeing World Peace take it upon himself to go 1-on-5 and pick up an offensive foul in a crucial possession when he has playmakers like Bryant and Steve Nash on his team is a crime against basketball.

While Bryant's distribution game was strong (11 assists), his defensive game wasn't. Bryant was routinely late to close out on open shooters (most notably Garrett Temple, who scored 10 points on 4-for-8 shooting) and L.A. in turn let Washington hang around longer than it should have in the third quarter when the Lakers could have put it away.

Antawn Jamison was brilliant in the first half, scoring 11 points on 5-for-9 shooting to go with seven rebounds, but he suffered a sprained right wrist in the third quarter which ended his night early. He will receive X-rays on it after the game.

Stat of the game: The Lakers had 10 assists on 13 buckets in the first quarter, but finished with 27 on 39 baskets for the game as the ball started to stick.

What's next: For the first time in a long time, the Lakers do not have games on either Saturday or Sunday, as they'll have the weekend to get ready for their final multi-game road trip of the season -- four games through Golden State, Minnesota, Milwaukee and Sacramento beginning Monday. The Warriors game will be doubly important as L.A. is still in the hunt to catch Golden State for the No. 6 seed in the West, and it will also set the tone for the trip.

ATLANTA -- I walked to Phillips Arena from my hotel on Wednesday afternoon with a fan who said he never got the chance to see Michael Jordan play live, so he wanted to make sure he got to see the next-best thing in Kobe Bryant.

The fan figured there was no way Bryant would have two clunkers in a row after going just 4-for-14 in the Los Angeles Lakers' win over the Orlando Magic on Tuesday.

For a while it looked as though the fan would end up disappointed, as Bryant started the game 0-for-6 in the first quarter and had just three points on 1-for-8 shooting by halftime as the Lakers trailed big.

Then the third quarter happened.

Vintage "Vino."

Bryant scored 20 points in the quarter on 8-for-16 shooting (along with three rebounds and a steal), nearly matching the Hawks' 21 points as L.A. was down just two heading into the fourth.

Bryant's magic seemed to wear off in the fourth as he started the quarter shooting just 1-for-7 before hitting a deep 3-pointer to pull L.A. to within one in the final minute.

He missed his final attempt, however, a pull-up jumper from the baseline with 2.6 seconds left that could have tied the score. He went down on the floor clutching his left leg after the play, adding injury to insult.

That Lakers fan can try to trick his memory to focus on just Bryant's third quarter when he tells his grandkids about seeing him play one day, but that won't do this current Lakers squad any good.

How it happened: The Hawks had control of this game for most of the night, leading by as many as 14 in the first half. They pulled it out thanks to balanced scoring (six Atlanta players in double digits) a timely late layup by Ivan Johnson and a couple of late free throws from Kyle Korver after he missed one to open up the door for Bryant's potential overtime-forcing jumper that missed.

What it means: It means that on the second night of a back-to-back, a weary Lakers team had no legs. It means that winning on the road for this Lakers team that started off 5-15 away from Staples Center and had since gone 7-5 before Wednesday's loss remains a challenge. It means the Lakers can't afford Dwight Howard missing any playing time because of foul trouble. It means that when Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni said "We're still in the middle of a dogfight" before the game, he meant it.

Hits: Howard had 16 rebounds, continuing his streak of 12 straight games of 12 rebounds or more.

Misses: With Atlanta missing three of its best players in Josh Smith, Jeff Teague and Lou Williams because of injury, and the Hawks entering the game losers of six out of seven games, this was clearly a missed opportunity for the Lakers.

Earl Clark suffered a sprained right ankle, leaving the game in the third quarter after putting up just four points and three rebounds in 12 minutes and did not return. His ankle was examined, but X-rays were negative.

Stat of the game: Bryant shot just 11-for-33, taking 24 more shot attempts than Howard's nine.

What's next: The Lakers finish out their three-game trip against the Pacers on Friday in Indianapolis, where they'll have to watch out for most improved player candidate Paul George and former assistant coach Brian Shaw's schemes. Indy had the second-best record in the East while winning seven of its past 10 games coming into Wednesday's action.

ATLANTA -- From the creator of the "Travel Dance" we give you Chris Duhon's latest bench celebration.

Despite not playing a single second in the Los Angeles Lakers' 106-97 win over the Orlando Magic on Tuesday, there might not have been a more animated player in purple and gold than Duhon.

The nine-year veteran broke out a cheer I hadn't seen from him before when Jodie Meeks hit a 3-pointer and again when Earl Clark connected from downtown. Once the 3s went down, it was Duhon's cue to crouch down off the bench, put one foot on the court while game action was continuing down the other end and kneel with his other leg as he straightened three fingers on each hand and pointed them toward the ground as he motioned his arms up and down over and over.

What was that exactly?

"It's just something we did in Orlando, Quentin Richardson and I," Duhon said. "We were a rock band. We both had the guitars and J.J. [Redick] was on the drums and we always did that for 3s."

Duhon didn't have a name for his dance on Tuesday (although I think "Ooh-three wally wally, ooh-three bang bang" would be ridiculous enough to work) but said it wasn't as wild as he can get.

"That was kind of our subtle one," Duhon said. "You'll see us do the air guitars. It was just something that would always keep us into the game."

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