California Sports Fan Blog

The Los Angeles Clippers may not have won the NBA draft lottery for the second year in a row, but they are getting the No. 1 pick.

Blake Griffin, the Oklahoma star who missed all of his rookie season with a stress fracture in his left kneecap, has been fully cleared for all basketball activities.

“Right now Blake is working out with no restrictions, at full speed, 100 percent to the point where [strength coach] Rich Williams asked me to talk to Blake about dialing it back a little bit,” Clippers general manager Neil Olshey said.

“He’s working out in May like we were ready to tip off in October. The only guy I feel bad for is the first one of his teammates that shows up and wants to play one-on-one with him.”

Griffin injured his knee in the Clippers’ final preseason game on October 23. He rested for a few weeks and was hoping to return by the middle of the season. But the recovery process did not go as hoped and he was forced to have season-ending surgery.

Click here to read the full article – By Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com

The Los Angeles Lakers played more like they were trying to avoid a sweep rather than complete one.

The Lakers stormed out to a 22-point lead in the first half, then withstood a brief surge by Utah in the third quarter before regaining control in the fourth and winning 111-96 on Monday night, sweeping the second-round series and advancing to the Western Conference finals for the third straight year.

Pau Gasol added 33 points and 14 rebounds for the Lakers, who are off until hosting the Phoenix Suns next Monday in Game 1 of the West finals.

The Lakers quickly ended Utah’s hopes of extending the series by dominating the second quarter both offensively and defensively, holding Utah to just 17 points in the period. Utah’s push in the third made it at least competitive and exciting for a little while, but the Jazz couldn’t sustain the comeback against the defending NBA champions.

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com

Kobe Bryant sometimes thinks the Los Angeles Lakers are an orchestra in need of a conductor. He picked up the baton in Game 5, driving the lane aggressively and defending Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook with zeal.

The result was a businesslike blowout that showed exactly what Bryant meant when he said the upstart Thunder had captured the mighty Lakers’ attention.
Pau Gasol had 25 points and 11 rebounds, Andrew Bynum added 21 points and the Lakers vigorously rebounded from back-to-back losses with a 111-87 victory over Oklahoma City on Tuesday night, taking a 3-2 lead in their first-round playoff series.

Gasol and Bynum followed Bryant’s no-nonsense lead, relentlessly scoring inside while giving up no easy buckets on the other end. Even Ron Artest shaved off his goofy blond dye job before playing another standout defensive game against Kevin Durant in support of Bryant, who volunteered to guard Westbrook.

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com

Throughout the season, the Lakers’ bench has been the target of criticism. But Wednesday, coach Phil Jackson was generally complimentary of how his reserves performed over the first two games of their first-round matchup against Oklahoma City.

“I have to give them credit,” he said. “They’ve held their own against the Oklahoma bench. We’ve really survived that well.”

Still, heading into Ford Center for Thursday’s Game 3, Jackson believes he’ll need better play from his bench players, starting with the most prominent member of the group. “I think Lamar [Odom] has to give us an imprint in the ballgame,” he said.

Through the first two games, Odom has scored a total of 11 points on only 13 attempts. Jackson believes Odom can have a far greater impact.

“It’s an understanding of what the game is. Opportunities are going to be in shots and little things like that and probably little pockets he finds to make penetration,” Jackson said. “He found a couple in the second half [of Game 2], or one for sure in the second half that looked like he had established the kind of game he plays.”

Click here to read the full article – By Brian Kamenetzky and Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com

Kobe Bryant had been waiting for a breakout game, the kind of high-scoring effort he’s made his reputation on. He got it just in time.

Playing with a broken finger, sore knee and bum ankle, Bryant scored 39 points, carrying the Lakers in the fourth quarter when they lost the lead three times, and Los Angeles beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 95-92 on Tuesday night to take a 2-0 lead in their Western Conference playoff series.

“What did Mark Twain say? Rumors of my demise or whatever,” said Lakers coach Phil Jackson, who predicted before the game that Bryant would strongly return to form.
Bryant was 13 of 15 from the free throw line, but just 12 of 28 from the floor in front of his dad Joe, who sat next to the Lakers’ bench.

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com

Andrew Bynum leaned over, his hands on his knees, his chest heaving from his first minutes of game action in nearly a month.

Other than being out of breath, Bynum displayed little rust in teaming with Pau Gasol to dominate the middle in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 87-79 victory against the Oklahoma City Thunder in their playoff series opener Sunday.
Bynum ignited the Staples Center crowd with a monster one-handed dunk over a defenseless Nenad Krstic in the second quarter that pushed the Lakers’ lead to 17.
“It kind of got me going,” Bynum said. “It hyped the team up. That’s the kind of player I can be — exciting.”

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com

Tyreke Evans speaks so softly, sometimes you’re tempted to hand him a megaphone. He ran his 20-5-5 campaign from the basketball court, left the door-to-door lobbying to his friends and his relatives and his bosses. So while he would never say it, we will.

This is your Rookie of the Year.

This is the guy.

While the competition tightened in the closing weeks – Stephen Curry leading the Warriors’ mini-surge and Brandon Jennings directing the Bucks’ postseason venture – Evans distinguished himself with a season-long body of work that delivered bruises to the record books as well as to opponents.

The No. 4 overall draft pick a year ago, he averaged 20.1 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.8 assists, becoming the fourth player to reach the 20-5-5 mark in a rookie season. And as Kings coach Paul Westphal noted after Monday’s home finale: “I don’t think we need the numbers to validate what a great season Tyreke has had. He’s been the most consistent rookie I’ve ever been around.”

Click here to read the full article – By Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee

Considering the Los Angeles Lakers’ only remaining goal in the regular season is to avoid adding more players to their lengthy injury list, their final home victory wasn’t much of a success

And while Jordan Farmar could be a problem with his strained hamstring, Pau Gasol is just grateful he didn’t turn into another.

Gasol had 28 points and eight rebounds, Shannon Brown scored 24 points and Kobe Bryant rested as the Lakers hung on for a 106-100 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday night.
Sasha Vujacic scored 13 points for the Lakers, who lost six of nine before Gasol and the reserves pulled away in the second half of their sixth straight win over the Kings, their formerly fierce Pacific Division rivals.
Yet the Western Conference’s top playoff seed didn’t emerge unscathed from a meaningless game against the 14th-place team. Farmar, the backup guard who regularly plays key minutes, strained his left hamstring in the first half, and the Lakers don’t know the injury’s severity.

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com

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The top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers will take on their Staples Center co-tenant tonight, the Los Angeles Clippers, in a tuneup before the playoffs.

The Lakers haven’t been playing like a playoff team, however, having lost three of their last five games, but are coming off Tuesday’s 106-100 win versus the Sacramento Kings in Hollywood. With Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum sitting out the final games of the regular season for the Lakers, Pau Gasol stepped up with 28 points and Shannon Brown added 24 in the win.

Sasha Vujacic added 13 points for LA, which is slated to take on the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the playoffs.

“We got the ball moving tonight, everybody got touches,” Brown said. “I am taking shots, what’s given to me. I’m just trying to get a nice rhythm for the playoffs.”

The Pacific Division-champion Lakers are 23-17 as the guest this season.

Click here to read the full article – By of http://www.sportsnetwork.com

NBA Rookie of the Year would be a nice honor for Stephen Curry, if he manages to beat out Sacramento’s splendid Tyreke Evans.

Much more important is the fact that the Warriors took a bit of a flyer on Curry and he wildly exceeded expectations. Whatever the Warriors do for next season – new owner, new coach, new home city, roster overhaul – it all has to revolve around their waif-like point guard.

Curry and Evans figure to fight their who’s-best fight for another decade or so, and Rookie of the Year is only one small step. Magic Johnson and Larry Bird fought a similar duel in 1979-80, two instant legends, and I don’t even remember who won the award, even though I witnessed every minute Johnson played that season.

I don’t care enough to look it up; their deeds that season outshine any trophy.

Click here to read the full article – By Scott Ostler of San Francisco Chronicle

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