Los Angeles -

Doesn't look like the addition of Baron Davis and nine others made a difference in Clipper Land.  The Lakers were too much for the anticipated improvement of the Los Angeles Clippers.  

Kobe Bryant had 16 points and eight rebounds, Andrew Bynum added 12 points and nine rebounds, and the Lakers beat the Los Angeles Clippers 117-79.  Wow!

Look familiar?  The Lakers gave a similar blowout a night earlier to the Portland Trailblazers.  The Lakers are off to a good start but seriously, are they being challenged?  Several other Laker players were in double digits, Paul Gasol added 13 points, Jordan Farmar 15, and Trevor Ariza had 11 points and six rebounds.  Trevor Ariza who was injured last season looked great!  He is surely going to be the a huge asset to this team.

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An emotional Paul Pierce had a great start with 27 points and led the Celtics to a victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers 90-85.  The days of Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker are ova!!!   The returning Finals MVP looked even better as the season kicks off against LeBron and the Cavaliers.  The Cavaliers got off to a good start with great defense to take control early in the 1st quarter.  Pierce had 11 points in the third quarter, when the Celtics outscored Cleveland 24-13 to take a 67-63 lead. Boston scored 12 of the first 14 points in the third, then the last eight of the quarter to turn a four-point deficit into a four-point lead.

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Kobe Bryant had an impressive 39 points and 10 rebounds are not enough for the Lakers to beat the Pistons.  Tayshaun Prince hit a 3-pointer with 4.4 seconds left to beat the Los Angeles Lakers Thursday night.  This is the first of eight more games on the road for the Lakers.  Without Andrew Bynum will the Lakers lose their momentum and drive to keep their place in the playoff race?  In the meantime, Kobe continues to shine under pressure.

Detroit led by as much as 17 points in the first half before Kobe scored 10 straight points to put the Lakers back in the game and take the lead until the final minutes of the fourth quarter.  Tayshaun Price had 22 points while All-Star reserves Chauncey Billups and Richard Hamilton scored 16 and 14 points.  The Pistons played a mediocre game against an injured Laker team.  Without Andrew Bynum, Luke Walton, Trevor Ariza, and Chris Mihm Kobe did not get much help from the remaining players.  Kobe Bryant 11 turnovers tonight against the Pistons were the most by any player in a single season definitely had an impact on the Lakers loss today.

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King James proved to be the veteran player that this young Portland team needed to see.  A great finish for Cleveland with Lebron James’s reverse layup with less than a second gave Cleveland an 84-83 victory over the Portland Trailblazers on Wednesday night. Portland led by as many as 14 points in the second half, but the Cavaliers closed in as time ran down. James, who had 37 points and 14 rebounds, hit three consecutive 3-pointers to tie it 81 with 2:26 left. Cleveland was coming off Sunday's 98-95 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. James scored 41 points in that game, when the Cavaliers lost forward Anderson Varejao to a left ankle sprain.

Brandon Roy played a solid game as he had 16 points and eight assists for the Blazers, while LeMarcus Aldridge had 16 points and nine rebounds.  This young team has been a surprise to many with their quick speed on the court and team style pf play.  Brandon Roy has great presence on the court and is not selfish in sharing the ball among his teammates.  The Blazers did not turn over the ball the entire 1st quarter.  Though it was a low scoring game both teams played great defense.  Cleveland did struggle on the offensive end during the first half until Lebron James took over the 4th quarter.

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Hedo Turkoglu hit a spectacular 3-pointer with seconds remaining as time expires to lift the Orlando Magic to a 96-93 victory over the Boston Celtics on Sunday.  This is Orlando's second home victory over Boston this season, and the Celtics' first game without Garnett due resting a strained abdominal muscle.

Dwight Howard had 18 points and 16 rebounds for Orlando, and Rashard Lewis scored 15.  Orlando nearly blew a 16-point second-half lead with a lousy fourth quarter. The Celtics trailed 75-65 to open the period, then held Orlando scoreless nearly four minutes, and without a field goal for more than five.

Paul Pierce led Boston with 24 points and nine rebounds, Allen scored 17 and Rajon Rondo had 15 points and five assists.  Ray Allen tied it for Boston at 93-93 with 14.1 seconds left, and Orlando took its time on the last possession. Carlos Arroyo dribbled up the court and held the ball, the whole arena on its feet screaming. Turkoglu curled around and pulled up an ugly shot, but it went in.  Orlando has won 7 of their last played 13 games this month.  Turkoglu led all scores with a season high 27points.  Dwight Howard had another “double double” with 18 points and 16 rebounds.

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The turmoil over the summer led to Kobe Bryant stating that Andrew Bynum step up or trade him.  Now Andrew seems to be the missing link to the Lakers hope of making it the playoffs!  Andrew Bynum was having what appears to an outstanding year has been greatly missed...  Kareem Abdul Jabbar needs to work with Kwame Brown or the Lakers may fall out of the playoff race! Andrew Bynum has become a great asset to the Lakers as he has been the only consistent player to put up numbers along side Kobe Bryant. A leaky roof which delayed the Laker-Cleveland game today about 15 minutes was no answer to stopping King James!  LeBron James scored 41 points in leading the Cavaliers over Lakers.

Cleveland’s Anderson Varejao was helped off the court with 3:12 left in the third quarter with an injured left ankle. Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 16 points and 11 rebounds before fouling out with 6:14 to play, and Larry Hughes also scored 16 points for the Cavaliers (24-19), who have beaten the Lakers in their last five meetings. The Cavaliers took a 94-93 lead on a basket by James with 1:16 remaining, and Bryant drew an offensive foul nine seconds later.  After an empty possession by each team, James ran the shot clock down before hitting from outside with 20 seconds to go, giving the Cavaliers a three-point lead.

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Coming off a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves the Golden State Warriors continued to play their best against the sinking New Jersey nets.   Despite an injured Vince Carter, the Nets did explode in the second quarter slowing the tempo of the Warriors who lead in the first quarter. Vince Carter scored 29 points and Richard Jefferson scored 34 points for the Nets, who are on their worst longest losing streak in three years. Josh Boone also had 21 points and 17 rebounds.  Not much could stop Monta Ellis who scored his career-high 39 points. Golden State scored 22 consecutive points and blew a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter of their 121-119 victory over the New Jersey Nets.

The Warriors led for most of the game until New Jersey made an 18-7 run during Boone's repeated trips to the line. The Nets entered the fourth quarter with an eight-point lead, but Davis' 3-pointer with 11:03 to play jump-started the Warriors' run. Baron Davis posted his eighth career triple-double with 25 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists and Al Harrington scored 19 points.  The Warriors defense wasn’t much better from the night before but they had enough gas to stop the New Jersey Nets and continue their quest to return to the playoffs.

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An undefeated team will stop anything and everything in their path so they can make history.  A team who had their dream and dignity taken a year ago looks for revenge and a chance to win a Super bowl.  A rematch this was not as many of us wanted to see the “eye of the tiger” in the Chargers.  But, all we saw was the San Diego Chargers giving it their best with numerous injuries to their key players.  Philip Rivers started despite his knee injury and LaDainin Tomlinson started but did not return while watching his team lose to the Patriots a second time. He had three touches before leaving with a sore knee, he did not return.

Tom Brady was not at his best, throwing his first of may interceptions in his post-season career.  Randy Moss was a no-factor but that had no effect on the Patriots winning 21-12.  New England relied on running backs Laurence Marone and Kevin Faulk in the second half.  Maroney had a key touchdown in the third quarter and finished with 22 rushing yards.  Faulk had eight receptions for 82 yards, including a key third-down as the Patriots played good defense in the fourth quarter.

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The Phoenix Suns were expected to be the undefeated or rather the team with the best record in the west!  With the loss of Bynum the Suns found their first win against the Lakers this season.  All of the Suns starters and Barbosa were in double figures.  It was a night of great ball movement and defense on the floor for Phoenix.

Phoenix maintained the lead throughout the entire game.  They led by as many as 17 in the second quarter before ending with a halftime lead of 56-43. Bryant who ended the game with 30 pts went scoreless in the second period, missing four shots, after going 4-for-8 and scoring 13 points in the first quarter.

Kwame Brown who started in place of Andrew Bynum did not receive the best reception from Laker fans as he was booed throughout the third quarter. Prompting Phil Jackson to take Kwame out after he missed an open dunk and committed four of his seven turnovers in the third quarter.

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