Kamenetzky Brothers Cali Report Lakers climbing in Western Conference

There are reasons to harbor skepticism regarding the Lakers, even as they rise in the Western Conference playoff race and buoyed by the news Pau Gasol seems likely to return sooner rather than later from the torn plantar fascia in his right foot. Despite a 17-6 record over their last 23 games, the Lakers’ point differential over that stretch still didn’t crack +2. On the season, the Lakers have struggled mightily against the league’s best teams, and over the last week have needed Kobe-fueled miracles to beat the Hornets and Raptors. To say the least, much is left to prove.

But if ever there was a season where context could skew the data for a team, it’s this one for the Lakers, and those looking for reasons to believe the Lakers are as dangerous a potential playoff team as Kobe Bryant believes can focus squarely on Howard. Since the All-Star break (through Monday), he has averaged 15.5 points, 14.8 rebounds and 2.6 blocks. More importantly, he is showing the sort of activity that once caused opposing offenses to fear his mere presence. That wasn’t there earlier this season, as injury and attitude hindered his impact. Tuesday, he showed mental strength some weren’t sure he had.

Steve Nash is getting healthy. Mike D’Antoni is finding a rotation. Bryant discovered the Fountain of Youth. But for the Lakers to have hope not simply of entry into the playoffs but advancement, Howard has to again become the top-five force he was before the surgery.

Tuesday night looked like a step along that path.

— Brian Kamenetzky

It’s a light week for the Clips. Just three games, two of which are against the Knicks (who have struggled of late vs. tough competition) and Kings (who have struggled of late vs. _____). But the slate is kicked off tonight with a massively important date in LA with the Memphis Grizzlies.

It’s always fun when these squads – whose mutual disdain typically creates intense, physical

220px-LA_Clippers_players_on_the_floor_vs_Kings

roundball – square off. But with the Clips now just a half-game ahead of the Griz for the third seed, the implications are huge. The fourth seed currently leaves teams precariously close to the streaking Denver Nuggets, which could result in losing homecourt advantage altogether.

The Clippers are up 2-0 in the series, so one more win safeguards against unpleasant tie-breaker scenarios. However, they’ve never faced the new look Griz, who have performed much better than skeptics predicted upon trading Rudy Gay. (It’s worth noting the post-trade deadline schedule has been fairly soft, but they’ve also competed several games without Zach Randolph, which balances the scales to some degree.) The Clips will also be missing Caron Butler (elbow), and Eric Bledsoe remains a game-time decision. This could potentially dilute the bench’s potency, which has been one of the Clippers’ biggest strengths all season.

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Kilgary says

March 13, 2013 at 7:41 pm

For all those worried about Kobe single-handedly winning 3 games for the Lakers this season, I’ll point you to their 2009-2010 season where he single-handedly won 6 games. The season resulted in a championship. It’s never a bad thing when Kobe plays out of his head. If the Houston Rockets can win a championship with a 6th seed, you can never count the Lakers out. The 6th seed is there for the taking. It’s still a huge uphill climb; but I think they have a hell of a lot better chance than the 0.2% that the Hollinger ESPN NBA Playoff Odds computer is giving.