Players fight NBA's push for revamped system

Unable to come up with a new collective bargaining agreement and seeking enormous changes to its system, the NBA locked out its players Thursday night. The owners have sought a system with a set salary cap and tighter limits on contract length and guarantees. The players prefer to keep the basics of the current system, offering tweaks to the percentage of revenue to be devoted to player salaries.
A look at the issues and circumstances that shut down the NBA:

Follow the money
The NBA claims it was $300 million in the red last season with 22 teams losing money. No matter the accounting that led to those numbers, the owners have negotiated based on those figures and the goal of turning them around, with NBA commissioner David Stern arguing the investment it takes an owner to get into the league should be expected to be profitable.
Players have proposed a reduction in the percentage of basketball-related income they would receive, from 57 percent to 54.3 percent, but argue they should not be responsible for preventing ownership mistakes. Owners seek a more even split.
The owners contend their proposal would guarantee $2 billion annually in player salaries. Players contend that would assure only about 45 percent of basketball-related income.
New blood
Unlike the 1998 negotiations, when much of the league leadership had bought in before the dramatic increase in franchise values, the league is filled with owners such as Boston's Wyc Grousbeck, Phoenix's Robert Sarver, Cleveland's Dan Gilbert and Golden State's Joe Lacob who bought into the league at elevated team prices.
Six owners are also NHL owners. Wizards/Capitals owner Ted Leonsis said the NHL is in better financial shape than the NBA because its CBA prevents owners from taking "stupid pills."
Exceptions
When players say they should not have to protect owners from themselves, they are largely talking about exceptions that have driven up their payrolls. The mid-level exception in particular was designed to protect the sport's middle class but has instead become a contract demand in free agency.
Owners began negotiations by proposing a $45 million hard cap, allowing no exceptions that would exceed that number. They have since proposed a "flex cap" in which teams could exceed the salary cap to an undetermined level, targeting $62 million for typical payrolls.
But players argued that the larger ceiling is, in effect, a hard cap. Last season, 17 teams exceeded the $58 million salary cap.
Player power
Friday will mark the one-year anniversary of The Decision and the consolidation of power of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami. Though there was nothing new about players leaving teams to play with other top players, this move seemed particularly beyond the owners' control, with many teams knowing they had no chance to be considered.
Even the possibility of Deron Williams becoming a free agent led him to be traded more than a year before he could leave Utah on his own. The potential of Dwight Howard or Chris Paul bolting from relatively small-market cities adds to the sense the league is becoming a collection of haves and have-nots.
The ability of teams to offer longer and richer contracts to their own players than to players switching teams no longer seemed likely to keep stars from aligning.
Spending parity
The idea of a luxury tax — a penalty of a dollar for every dollar spent over a specified threshold - was expected to keep teams from buying their way to championships and to redistribute the tax to those that did not exceed the tax threshold.
Though just seven teams exceeded the luxury tax last season, the past four champions were taxpayers.
The past three titles went to this season's top spending teams, Dallas and the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers paid $110 million in salary and taxes. Last-place Sacramento spent $45 million.
The rich get richer
The NBA has little revenue sharing. The largest portion of that comes from distributing the money collected from teams paying luxury taxes - money that would be eliminated in the system the NBA has proposed.
Stern has said he wants to triple the league's revenue sharing, but the owners have not come up with an agreement that the players argue would solve many of the problems the owners have sought to remedy by reducing player salaries.
The Lakers' new television deal with Time-Warner Cable could be worth as much as $3 billion over 20 years. Some small-market teams struggle to get a deal that turns a profit. Where the NFL can have extensive revenue sharing based on its national television contracts, the bulk of NBA television revenue is from local deals controlled by individual teams.

Mike Brown's arrival signals demise of triangle for Lakers

The triangle has been shuttered and closed for business — and it won't be reopening under the watch of Phil Jackson's successor with the Lakers. One of Mike Brown's former players was asked whether they ever tinkered with the triangle offense in practice in Cleveland, even a moment or two of curious experimentation. "Uh, no," said Clippers point guard Mo Williams, who played for Brown and alongside LeBron James for two seasons in Cleveland. "He had his own style. Like I said, he's not Phil [Jackson]. Obviously, he'll put his mark on the team. Knowing him, as a coach, I think he'll come in and do a great job.

He'll bring his stuff and be good at it." That style was a direct one, according to those who have known Brown for years. ESPN analyst Jeff Van Gundy called him a "straight shooter" and "realistic," saying: "He's not like, 'Everything is OK' if it's not OK." An NBA official, not authorized to speak publicly about the matter, suggested what might have tipped the Lakers into hiring Brown. "What he is not is a politician and a psychologist," said the official. "Maybe that's what attracted them. They want to get away from the triangle. They went far away from the Phil model. I think they're trying to find their [Tom] Thibodeau and that's the thing du jour now: defense, defense, defense." Thibodeau, a longtime assistant known for his defense, was hired last summer as the Chicago Bulls' coach. Williams used the same words when he was talking about the mantra in Cleveland under Brown. "As long as he's in L.A., you'll hear: defense, defense, defense, defense, defense and that's going to create a lot of offense for them," he said. "At the same time they have arguably one of the best players [Kobe Bryant] to ever play the game on the team. You can't forget that either." Williams thought it was a major mistake when Cleveland dismissed Brown a year ago and criticized the Cavaliers for making the move. Now he remains just as supportive of Brown joining the Lakers. "There's going to be pressure on him," Williams said Wednesday. "But he's dealt with pressure for five years in Cleveland. So pressure is nothing new to him. The pressure in Cleveland has prepared him for the ultimate pressure of coaching the Lakers." Said Van Gundy: "I thought he used LeBron great. They didn't have a lot of great weapons offensively. It was LeBron, Mo Williams and the shooting of [Zydrunas] Ilgauskas. It wasn't like a high-powered team, but I thought they executed well. "Everybody talks about style. With Mike, I know this — they'll play a winning style. They're going to win and win big." Additionally, Williams thought that Brown would work effectively with a veteran Lakers team. "He knows how to prepare veteran teams, when he's got guys up in age and needs their rest," Williams said. "And at the same time, even though you are a veteran, he still coaches you. He still teaches you… I was vocal about the departure in Cleveland because of one reason: He's a great coach." Williams said Brown was equally adept at listening to input from all sides: the starters and the bench. "Sometimes with veteran teams it's hard," Williams said. "But he did a great job with us as far as the ego aspect of it. He's a coach that listens to the Kobe Bryants, LeBrons, the Lamar Odoms, Pau [Gasol]. Not only those guys, it could be a Steve Blake and Shannon Brown, if they have something they see, he will listen" Williams, and others, have described Brown as someone who would stand up for his players, that he would take the heat, or a bullet, if you will. "Oh man. He'll take it," Williams said, laughing. "Without a bulletproof vest on."

Jackson is moving on

Phil Jackson imagines himself exploring the southern tropics next winter, or maybe circumnavigating the globe on a motorcycle. The Lakers’ retiring coach doesn’t imagine returning to an NBA bench. At least not right now.

Jackson informally wrapped up his tenure with the team yesterday, three days after the two-time defending champions were swept out of the playoffs by the Mavericks. The Lakers have no plans to replace him imminently, but Jackson left only the slightest doubt he’s done with what’s likely the last chapter of his unmatched career.

The awful ending to the season did nothing to change the 11-time champion coach’s mind about his future. Although he still loves basketball, Jackson wants to get on with the life he imagined as a boy growing up in North Dakota.

“I have no plans to return,’’ the 65-year-old Jackson said in an emotionless news conference at the Lakers’ training complex. “Today, I’m sure. What it’s going to be like in six months, I’m not sure.’’

Jackson’s equivocation could keep the rumor mills turning for several more years, but the coach clearly relishes the prospect of his extended break from the NBA grind.

Jackson said there’s a point in a coach’s life at which “you either move on or stay in it, you never break away from it, and it becomes the rest of your life. I always thought I’d like to do something beyond just the basketball coaching.’’

Jackson made it clear he wishes he had left the Lakers last summer, fresh from the glow of his 11th championship after a Game 7 victory over the Celtics. Instead, he reluctantly returned at the behest of the Buss family and his players to go after an unprecedented fourth three-peat in his coaching career.

But the Lakers never got it together during his curtain call, foundering through long stretches of a 57-win regular season and struggling in the first round of the playoffs before the Mavericks blasted them in four straight games.

“Talent wins, and when you have talent to coach, it makes all the difference in the world,’’ said Jackson, a 1,155-game winner whose career .704 winning percentage is the best in NBA history. “I’ve coached some of the best talent that’s ever played the game.’’

Yet Jackson acknowledges he never really reached his amply talented final team, which appeared exhausted or just plain uninterested in another championship run.

“This team just had an ability to get into a funk and not [get out of it],’’ Jackson said. “I never really had a team like that, that couldn’t make adjustments and learn from mistakes.’’

Kobe Bryant also checked out of the Lakers’ training complex yesterday, defining the season as “a wasted year of my life."

For a team that knows its season could be one-and-done, the Hawks are still feeling quite confident about their chances in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Their mantra: Just take it to Game 7.

“If we get this win,’’ Jeff Teague said, referring to tonight against the Bulls, “I think there’s a good chance we’ll get Game 7. I feel like there would be a lot of pressure on them playing at home in Game 7.’’

Of course, there’s that little matter to take care of in Atlanta. Game 6, with no room for error.

For the first time in this postseason, the underdog Hawks are one loss away from going on vacation. They’ve played three competitive games on the road, winning the series opener and putting the Bulls on the ropes Tuesday night.

But led by MVP Derrick Rose and backup Taj Gibson, the top-seeded team in the East pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 95-83 victory and a 3-2 lead in the series.

The Bulls sound confident, too, as well they should. Just one more win will send them to the conference finals for the first time since 1998.

“No matter the situation, down or up, we believe,’’ Carlos Boozer said. “They’re a good team. There aren’t going to be too many times in the playoffs when you blow a team out. In the course of a game there are going to be waves . . . This is two very good teams battling things out.’’

Traylor found dead Robert Traylor, the former NBA and University of Michigan big man nicknamed “Tractor’’ because of his hulking frame, has died. He was 34. Police in San Juan, Puerto Rico, said Traylor was found dead yesterday on the bedroom floor of his oceanfront apartment. Police and Traylor’s team, the Bayamon Cowboys, said he had been missing for a few days and apparently died from a heart attack. Perez said Traylor’s survivors include his wife and two sons . . . Mavericks guard J.J. Barea says he doesn’t hold any animosity toward Lakers center Andrew Bynum after their ugly collision. Bynum elbowed Barea in the chest while the guard was in the air for a layup in Game 4 of their playoff series. He hit the floor hard, Bynum was ejected, and on Tuesday was suspended for the first five games of next season. Barea says he has a bruise on his ribs and another on his left hand. He said yesterday that he received an apologetic message from Bynum that he considers sincere. He didn’t return the call because he didn’t think it was necessary. Barea said: “He just had a big mistake. People have those sometimes. He lost his mind and he fouled me pretty hard. I know he regrets it.'

Mavs sweep, Lakers' Jackson exits

Phil Jackson walked off the court with a tight smile, shaking hands and accepting congratulations as he has after so many series-ending playoff games.

Never like this, though.

His team didn't win; it was crushed, swept.

And he wasn't just heading to the offseason - he's calling it a career, ending the most successful run by any coach in NBA history.

Jason Terry and the Dallas Mavericks ended Jackson's tenure, and the Los Angeles Lakers' reign as two-time champions, with a 122-86 victory Sunday. After two tight finishes and another game that was relatively close, the Mavs turned this one into a rout in the second quarter.

With Terry leading the way, Dallas hit a barrage of three-pointers to go ahead by 24 points at halftime. When Terry made treys on consecutive possessions early in the third quarter, Los Angeles knew it wasn't going to come back in this game or the series.

Things got ugly early in the fourth quarter, with vicious, frustration-fueled cheap shots by Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum getting them ejected 45 seconds apart. But at game's end, Dallas coaches, players and team owner Mark Cuban lined up to bid farewell to the coach they call the Zen Master.

"It's been a wonderful run," Jackson said.

The 65-year-old Jackson has retired before, but he insists it's for good this time. While he goes out with the sour taste of his first sweep in 21 postseasons, and his second-widest margin of defeat, it can't override all the sweet days.

A Hall of Famer since 2007, he leaves with a record 11 titles, and only 10 series losses. Take away Red Auerbach, who won nine championships, and Jackson won more titles than any two coaches combined. He won six championships with Michael Jordan, three with Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal, and the last two with Bryant leading the way.

"I grew up under him" Bryant said. "The way I approach things, the way I think about things - not only basketball, life in general - comes from him. It's a little weird for me to think of what next year is going to be like."

Assistant Brian Shaw, a former Lakers player, is considered likely to take over.

"We all know they always come back and get themselves back in the race," Jackson said. "The Lakers are going to survive."

For Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavs, clearing this hurdle sets them up for a chance to redeem themselves for flopping during the 2006 NBA Finals and for flaming out in every postseason since.

"The job is not finished," said Terry, who tied a playoff record with nine three-pointers. Dallas matched NBA postseason marks with 11 treys in the first half and 20 for the game.

"We've been doing it by committee all year long," said Nowitzki, who scored 17 points, his fewest this postseason.

Nowitzki was still in the game in the fourth quarter and took the blindside blow that led to Odom's ejection. Then J.J. Barea took a Bynum elbow after releasing a layup. Fans threw things toward the court as Bynum took off his jersey and was escorted to the locker room by Ron Artest.

Hochman: Even Zen might not help L.A. Lakers

How crazy is it that Marc Gasol might be in the Western Conference finals but Pau Gasol probably won't be?

Such is the reality in this madcap and maddening NBA postseason. With the Lakers down 3-0 to Dallas, the dynasty is on life support.

Now, the Lakers struggled down the stretch in the regular season, but we dismissed it: "Surely they'll toughen up come the playoffs (. . . it's the Lakers!)" Then L.A. got smacked around a little by the New Orleans Hornets, whose post players included Aaron Gray and a guy from a Tulane intramural team. But we dismissed that too: "Surely they'll toughen up come the next round (. . . it's the Lakers!)"

But here we are. No NBA team has come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a playoff series. Give the Mavericks credit. Dirk Nowitzki is playing with, well, a Kobe Bryant-like hunger. The Mavericks, yes, were wimpy down the stretch — before beating the Hornets in the final game of the season, they had lost their previous nine games against Western Conference playoff teams. But now the Mavericks might be the best Western Conference playoff team.

I will say this: You'd have to think if there was ever an NBA team to blow a 3-0 lead, it would be a Dirk-led team (with memories, of course, of the 2006 NBA Finals, in which Dallas lost after leading 2-0). And you'd have to think if there was ever an NBA team to overcome a 3-0 deficit, it would be a Kobe-led team.

"You don't ever want to give a champion life," Nowitzki told reporters after Game 3.

The Lakers do have some confidence. They didn't play that bad in Game 3 at Dallas and would host Games 5 and 7. Andrew Bynum is playing at a frighteningly high level. And Ron Artest, suspended for Game 3, will be back today.

And then there's Phil Jackson, the Zen master who went from namaste to nasty in Game 3, screaming at Pau Gasol like Bobby Knight would at some turnover-prone sixth man. Everything seemed so fitting this season — Jackson would win his third consecutive title (his fourth three-peat) and ride off into the sunset on Sunset with L.A. girlfriend Jeanie Buss. We know Jackson is a brilliant coach. Or is it now past tense? We'll see if he can stir up some old magic today and revitalize his troops.

Pau has been a problem. He worked so hard the past couple years to swat away the "soft-Euro" label, which has been reapplied this month. Meanwhile, little brother Marc has been a menace for Memphis, which took a 2-1 series lead Saturday against Oklahoma City.

After Game 2, Bynum said the Lakers were having "trust issues." There was a moment in the fourth quarter that was indicative of Bynum's revelation. The shot clock was about to expire and the ball-handler, Bryant, was smothered on the perimeter. To his right, Lamar Odom was wide open, but Bryant instead launched some off-balanced fadeaway thing that put the ill in ill-advised.

Even now, it's hard to fully believe that this Lakers team — Kobe, Pau, Bynum, Lamar, Artest, Phil — might not even crack the conference finals. But just because it's the same guys from the 2010 Lakers team doesn't mean they are the 2010 Lakers. And right now, they're looking like the 2010 Nuggets.

Lakers on the ropes against Mavericks after 93-81 loss

First there was disbelief. Then came the anger.

Neither emotion had appeared much at Staples Center in recent years, but they each made up for lost time Wednesday, as boos followed Pau Gasol around the court and the Lakers staggered stunningly close to an early playoff flameout.

Lakers fans turned their backs on their team with two minutes to play, heading for the exits for possibly the last time at home in the Phil Jackson era.

Those that stayed until the smoldering end looked up at the scoreboard, took in the Lakers' 93-81 loss to the Dallas Mavericks, and donated more boos.

The Mavericks lead the Western Conference semifinals, 2-0, and they're headed home for Games 3 and 4 in the best-of-seven series.

The Lakers lost the first two games of a series 19 times since moving to Los Angeles and came back to win it only once, in the 1969 West semifinals against Golden State.

Somewhere, Mark Cuban is smiling. Actually, he was behind the Mavericks' bench, smiling.

Where to begin? With Gasol, for sure.

He continued his wilted postseason with 13 points and 10 rebounds, making five of 12 shots and three of six from the free-throw line.

The third quarter, when the Lakers scored only 13 points, marked a new low for him. Lakers fans let him have it.

DeShawn Stevenson blocked his shot from behind, and then Gasol missed badly on a mid-range jumper up top, leading to a host of boos.

This was the guy with 19 points and 18 rebounds in Game 7 of the NBA Finals against Boston? The one who reinvigorated a franchise after being acquired from Memphis? The player who was the 1B to Kobe Bryant's 1A on two championship runs?

Yes, yes and yes.

Jackson said there were "weird things" and "gremlins" in Gasol's game.

"Wish I could have been more productive," Gasol said. "Wish I could have been more effective. Some plays I should have finished better, but I tried my best."

With Gasol a non-factor and atrocious three-point shooting , the Lakers had few options beyond Bryant and Andrew Bynum. Bryant had 23 points on nine-for-20 shooting. Bynum had 18 points and 13 rebounds.

Bynum apparently wanted the ball more often, ominously referring to "trust issues." He made eight of 11 shots.

"We have to come out and discuss them or things won't change," Bynum said. "It's quite obvious if you watch the game. Hesitation on passes, defensively not being there for a teammate because he wasn't there for you before. Little things."

The Lakers made only two of 20 three-point tries. Steve Blake was 0 for 5, all from long distance.

We've been playing with fire for the last three years, dropping games on our own home floor," Bryant said. "We finally got what we deserved. Dropped two."

The Lakers couldn't even lament a lost 16-point lead. Their biggest edge in Game 2 was only four points.

"I plan on flogging them [Thursday]," Jackson said.

The only memorable part of Ron Artest's night was getting ejected after picking up his second technical foul with 24.4 seconds left. In a play that will be carefully reviewed by the NBA office, Artest smacked Jose Barea across the face with his forearm as the diminutive guard dribbled upcourt.

Jackson acknowledged there was a "good chance" Artest would be suspended.

Meanwhile, Dirk Nowitzki continued to drill holes in the Lakers, scoring 24 points on nine-for-16 shooting.

"Dirk's one of the hardest guys to guard in the history of basketball," Dallas Coach Rick Carlisle said.

Jackson has been chronologically working his way through his championship ring collection, wearing a different one each game. On Wednesday, he put on the one from 2000, his first title with the Lakers.

At this rate, he might not even get past the 2002 ring.

Bryant tried to sound optimistic.

"If you want to make history," he said, "you have to do historic things."

James and Wade score 63 as Heat top Celtics 102-91

Exactly 365 days after losing Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals at home — his former home in Cleveland, anyway — against Boston, James was on the cusp of losing the upper hand to the Celtics again.

Not this time.

James scored 24 of his 35 points in the second half, Dwyane Wade added 28 and the Heat used a late 14-0 run to pull away and beat the aching Celtics 102-91 in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series on Tuesday night.

"Feel good about it," James said. "Series is far — far, far, far — away from over. It's really just beginning for us."

James shot 14 of 25 from the field, and logged 44 minutes with no turnovers. Chris Bosh finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds for Miami, which leads the best-of-seven 2-0.

Game 3 in Boston isn't until Saturday night, and the Celtics may be particularly thankful for the break.

Rajon Rondo played through a balky back to score 20 points and add 12 assists for Boston, which got 16 points from Kevin Garnett and 13 from Paul Pierce — who retreated to the locker room for treatment on his strained left Achilles' in the first half. Ray Allen was held to seven points, and left with what he said was a bruised chest cavity courtesy of an elbow from James in the third quarter.

"Being down 2-0 doesn't scare any of us, doesn't make us nervous," Allen said. "It's just an opportunity to come out shining."

Boston tied the game at 80 on a pair of free throws by Pierce with 7:10 left. The Celtics missed their next six shots and Miami pulled away, taking command of both the game and the series.

And for James, it was delicious irony.

May 1, 2010: Cleveland opened the East semis at home with a win over Boston.

May 1, 2011: Miami opened the East semis at home with a win over Boston.

May 3, 2010: Cleveland loses Game 2, the first stumble on the way to falling in the series.

May 3, 2011: James gets what might go down as a breakthrough win — for him and the Heat — over Boston.

"We finally wore them down," James said.

Jeff Green scored 11 and Delonte West added 10 for the Celtics.

Even for a franchise with such fabled history as the Celtics, an 0-2 deficit represents a colossal challenge.

This is now the ninth time Boston has dropped the first two games in a best-of-seven series. In the previous eight, the Celtics prevailed only against the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1969 NBA finals.

And it's something this group of Celtics has never faced before, either.

The last time Boston lost the first two games of a playoff matchup was in 2004, when it was swept by Indiana. The current core of Celtics had lost Game 1s four other times before this series, then bounced back to win Game 2 each time, against Chicago and Orlando in 2009, then Cleveland and the Lakers in 2010.

"Nothing we can do about it," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "We've got a third game and we've got to take care of that. Whatever the past is, it is. They've won two games at home. But we can't allow them to play like this, or it's going to be tough at our place."

To win this series, Boston will need to prevail four times in a five-game span — which it did in the first round against Miami last year, then again in the second round at the expense of James and the Cavaliers in the East semis. So it can be done, but neither James (7-0) nor Wade (5-0) has ever been part of a playoff series defeat after their clubs won the first two games.

"This is a great team we are going against right now," James said. "We're just trying to give ourselves a good chance to win, just try to keep on attacking them, playing as hard as we can defensively, just trying to wear them down throughout the game, but it's a great team."

That's one of the titles the Heat are trying to claim, too.

James won the MVP award in 2009 and 2010, his reign officially ending a couple hours before Tuesday's game when the NBA made the long-expected announcement that Chicago's Derrick Rose was this season's top player.

James' name did not appear on nine of the 121 ballots cast. Wade was entirely left off all but 10 of the ballots; voters were asked to rank the league's best five players.

They noticed.

"At the end of the day, we don't really play this game for individual awards," Wade said. "He has two MVP trophies, which is awesome. I have a finals MVP trophy. Our body of work speaks for itself. What we've done in this game speaks for itself."

James scored 12 points in the third quarter, one more than he managed in the first half, to help Miami take a 72-67 cushion into the final 12 minutes. James then added the first basket of the fourth, but Boston answered with a 13-6 run over the next 4 minutes to knot the game at 80.

The outcome was undecided — momentarily.

That's when Miami's big run began, including a three-point play where James dunked and got fouled after Joel Anthony kept an offensive rebound alive. Mario Chalmers started it all with a 3-pointer — his only points of the night — off a pass from Wade, and Miami was on its way.

"Now the mental discipline begins," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "This thing is just getting started."

NOTES: All-Star guard Chris Paul sat near the Heat bench, with longtime James confidant Maverick Carter. ... Shaquille O'Neal (calf) was out again for Boston, while the Heat said Udonis Haslem (foot) still "isn't ready" to return from November foot surgery. ... Pierce played 33 minutes, giving him 4,259 in his Celtics playoff career, passing Dennis Johnson (4,258) for seventh in franchise history. ... Heat guard Mike Bibby's steal with 41 seconds left in the first quarter was his 100th in 87 playoff games.

It all goes wrong for Lakers in 93-88 loss at New Orleans

L.A. is outrebounded and outhustled by smaller Hornets, who tied the series at 2-2. Kobe Bryant is injured near the end of Game 4 defeat that guarantees that Lakers will have to return to Louisiana for Game 6.

The season that won't stop teasing Lakers fans reached a new level — annoyance. And fear.

The Lakers and their alleged reputation — two-time defending champions, second-seeded team in the Western Conference — were scoffed at again by the New Orleans Hornets.

There was absolutely no trepidation as Chris Paul ripped through the Lakers in a 93-88 Hornets victory that evened the first-round playoff series at two games each Sunday night at New Orleans Arena.

Paul had 27 points, 15 assists and 13 rebounds to become one of the few players ever to get a triple-double against the Lakers in 712 playoff games. Rajon Rondo had one last year.

It gets worse from there.

Kobe Bryant did one of the few interviews ever conducted in a trainer's room, sitting on a padded table after sustaining what the team officially called a sprained left ankle, though Bryant indicated it was more of a foot injury.

He was injured while defending Willie Green with 1:32 to play. He was moving across the lane when his foot buckled under him without any contact.

Two crutches were propped against the wall in the trainer's room. He then used them to leave the arena and board the team bus.

"It's going to take a lot to stop me to play," Bryant said. "We'll make sure we stay on top of it."

He said he would undergo treatment on the plane ride back to Los Angeles immediately after the game. The team was planning an MRI exam or X-rays as a precaution.

After getting hurt, Bryant walked stiffly around the court for a minute before giving Shannon Brown an "I'm good, I'm good" when the reserve guard approached him.

The Lakers might not be so good. At all.

Game 5 in the best-of-seven series is Tuesday at Staples Center. Like it or not, the Lakers have to return here for Game 6 on Thursday.

They were thumped by the smaller Hornets, getting outrebounded, 39-32, and pummeled in second-chance points, 20-4.

"We got punked out there on the court tonight and gave them 20 second-chance points," Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said.

Bryant had 17 points — none in the first half — on woeful five-for-18 shooting. He also had eight assists and six rebounds.

"Very uneven game," Jackson said. "Didn't score the first half. Didn't shoot well for the ballgame. Trevor [Ariza] did a great job on him."

It was a strange first half, with neither Bryant nor Paul scoring until Paul beat Bryant on a crossover with 1:04 left in the second quarter.

Bryant was 0 for 7 from the field by halftime, going scoreless in the first half of a playoff game for the first time since May 2004 against Minnesota.

Bryant didn't score until making a floater in the lane 2:32 into the third quarter.

The Lakers trailed at halftime, 49-45, after leading by nine in the first quarter.

The best scoring battle wasn't between Bryant and Paul (four points at the half), but between the guys who changed teams within an hour on that wild day in July 2009.

Ron Artest and Ariza each had 16 points in the first half. Artest didn't score in the second half. Ariza finished with 19 points.

Pau Gasol had another subpar game, scoring 16 points but taking only four rebounds in 36 minutes.

The Lakers' big men keep getting stuck on Paul after bad switches, center Andrew Bynum three times in the third quarter.

It was reminiscent of the Lakers' loss in Game 1 when they got caught with a big man on Paul eight times. (Quick reminder: They lost that game, 109-100.)

Late in the game, the Lakers were within two points and Paul was defended well by Bryant, but Paul found Jarrett Jack for a jumper in the lane as the shot clock expired with 9.3 seconds to play. The Hornets led, 90-86. It was Jack's first two points of the game.

New Orleans Coach Monty Williams tried just about everything before the game, even showing his players the "Battle at Kruger," a wildlife video on YouTube in which a young buffalo gets attacked by lions, falls into a watering hole, gets attacked by a crocodile, dragged back out of the water by the lions and eventually rescued by its buffalo herd.

"Don't give up, you know," Williams said. "The calf lived. It was getting attacked for three, four or five minutes and it lived."

Gasol plays through criticisms, helps the Lakers take 2-1 lead

NEW ORLEANS—For much of the Lakers’ 100-86 Game 3 win in the opening-round series against the Hornets here, we seemed destined for another round of what’s-wrong-with-Pau-Gasol stories. He was just 2-for-4 in the first half, with four points and four rebounds, looking like the spectator-ish Gasol that got through the first two games of this series with just 16 total points, 11 rebounds and 21.1 percent shooting.

But at the end of the third quarter, Gasol got mad. He’d been hit with a traveling violation with 42.8 seconds to go in the third, a call that he could only shake his head over. The next time down, he thought he had an easy two points over Hornets big man D.J. Mbenga, but the play was waved off, the refs having called a foul on Willie Green before the shot. Gasol disagreed.

  He roared his frustration, his neck stretched, his mouth clenched, his tendons visible. He stepped to the free-throw line, made the sign of the cross—he probably need a little absolution after the foul words that flashed across his head in the wake of the call—and made both free throws.

“Just trying to explode a little bit and get myself going, be a little more aggressive out there, more explosive out there, get my body to explode,” Gasol explained. “That’s kind of what I tried to do on that play. I didn’t think I got fouled on that first play, I guess they called it. Then I exploded and finished well even though it didn’t count. I continued to play and got myself going out there.”

Did he ever. Too long playing the powerless forward in this series, Gasol started the fourth quarter by sinking a—believe it—3-pointer that bounced a five-point Laker lead back to eight at 10:52. He was posted up on the left block on the Lakers’ next possession and found Steve Blake for an open 3-pointer that pushed the lead to 10. He had a shot blocked by the Hornets’ Emeka Okafor, but grabbed the rebound and followed with a layup. He then nailed a 13-foot jumper from the left post at 8:36, and in just a little more than two minutes, Gasol almost singlehandedly pushed that five-point lead into a 14-point edge that the Hornets had no chance of cutting into.

Gasol’s final line: 17 points on 7-for-13 shooting, 10 rebounds and four assists. Not exactly a soft set of numbers—and not exactly a surprise to his teammates.

“He is going to continue to play,” forward Lamar Odom said. “He is tough. He doesn’t get enough credit for that, how strong he is mentally, the way he just keeps playing, keeps playing, keeps playing. He is going to get his shots.”

Of course, Gasol doesn’t always get his shots. There are nights—and there were plenty this season—in which he takes too few attempts, in which he is too satisfied to be a facilitator rather than an in-the-paint force. What’s odd about Gasol’s case, though, is that it only takes a bad game or two for folks in Lakerland and all over the league to start questioning his intestinal fortitude. The “soft” label gets thrown around in Gasol’s vicinity more often than anywhere outside a Charmin factory, which is pretty remarkable considering the guy has won two championships with L.A. and has had a stellar international career as the leader of the Spanish national team, one of the three most successful teams of this generation.

“You have to understand how much basketball he has played,” Odom said. “Since he came here, the Finals, the World Championship, the Olympics, the Finals, the Finals. He hasn’t had too many bad games in between those. So, an off night, so what?”

At this point, there has been so much discussion about Gasol and his supposed softness that he is able to tune it out. What he cares about, he says, is taking a bad game and getting better the next time out. He was better in Game 2 than in Game 1. He was even better in Game 3. Naturally, he’s expecting good things in Game 4.

“I don’t think I have to prove anything, really,” Gasol said. “I think people know the kind of player that I am and what I’ve done. You can have a couple of tough games, bottom line, if the team wins that is ultimately what is important. I was upset the first game, my performance, didn’t contribute enough to have a chance to win that game. Second game, I think it was better even though I struggled shooting, but I was more aggressive and made plays in different aspects. Today, better game. Sunday, I hope I will continue this line, this ascending line.”

Bynum injured as Lakers snap 5-game losing streak(video)

The Los Angeles Lakers snapped a five-game losing streak with a 102-93 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday, but the win was marred by a knee injury to starting center Andrew Bynum.

The 23-year-old, who has undergone three knee surgeries in as many years and missed the first 24 games of the season, hyper-extended his right knee in the second quarter and sat on the court for a few minutes before limping to the locker room.

Bynum will undergo an MRI scan on Wednesday but the team sounded confident he would be on the court for the playoffs. Bynum had been a key component in the Lakers' 17-1 stretch before the recent losing stint.

"I went in at halftime to talk to him and he said: 'I'm going to be alright,'" Los Angeles coach Phil Jackson told reporters during the game. "I think he has a good idea about it because he's been through this before."

Kobe Bryant scored 27 points against the Spurs, who rested Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, as the Lakers (56-25) pulled into a tie with Dallas for the second seed in the West.

With the game tied 83-83 midway through the fourth, Los Angeles went on a 19-5 run to finally put away San Antonio, who had long clinched the top seed in the conference.

The Lakers, the defending NBA champions, can secure the second seed with a season-finale win against the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday.

Lamar Odom, who will be starting in Bynum's place against the Kings, finished with 23 points. Pau Gasol added 17 points and 17 rebounds but the Lakers are still searching for the form that took them to two consecutive NBA titles.

"The playoffs (are coming) at a perfect time for us," Odom said. "We need a little break to recuperate, watch tape and get better."

Kobe Bryant's season-high 42 key as Lakers outlast Suns in 3OT

LOS ANGELES -- When the Los Angeles Lakers led Phoenix by 21 points in the third quarter, Kobe Bryant and Lamar Odom were pretty sure their night would end quickly and tidily.

After three overtimes, 276 combined points and multiple heart-stopping moments, Bryant and Odom were just grateful to stagger out of Staples Center with a victory in a once-in-a-decade thriller.

Bryant scored a season-high 42 points, Ron Artest got five of his 18 points in the final 2 minutes of the third overtime, and the Lakers outlasted the Suns for a 139-137 win Tuesday night in an enormously entertaining rematch of last season's Western Conference finals.

"I wish we would have put them away when we should have," said Odom, who had a season-high 29 points and 16 rebounds. "But we found a way to win, and that's all that matters."

Pau Gasol added 24 points, including two tying free throws with 2.5 seconds left in the second overtime in the Lakers' 13th win in 14 games since the All-Star break.

Channing Frye scored a career-high 32 points and hit three tying free throws with 1.1 seconds left to force double overtime for Phoenix, and Steve Nash had 19 points and 20 assists in the Suns' fifth loss in seven games. Even worse, the Suns had to fly home after the game to host Toronto on Wednesday night.

"We have resolve. We play hard, and we compete like crazy," Suns coach Alvin Gentry said. "We were playing a helluva basketball team tonight, a team that's playing better than anybody in the league right now. They're 13-1 since the All-Star break. We had a chance to do something special, and we didn't quite get it done, so obviously it hurts."

Both teams traded improbable last-second heroics in what turned into just the fourth triple-overtime game for the Lakers since they moved to Los Angeles. The Lakers hadn't hosted a triple-OT game since 1969.

"I'm tired. I want to go home," said Odom, who played over 55 minutes while filling in for suspended center Andrew Bynum. "I'm in the mood for pancakes."

Phoenix rallied from an enormous deficit in the second half and another nine-point hole in the final 3 minutes of regulation, forcing OT on Grant Hill's 3-pointer with 31 seconds left. Bryant and Vince Carter both missed last-second shots.

"I was trying to get it to Steve, and somehow the ball made it back to me and I made the shot," said Hill, who scored 11 points before fouling out. "At that point, we had fought pretty hard to get back in the game. They had a big lead in the second half, and we managed to get it to overtime. As bad as it feels, we just have to regroup and get ready for our game tomorrow."

Frye, who played 57 minutes, hit three free throws to even the first overtime when Odom intentionally fouled him an instant after his shooting motion began. Frye then added a go-ahead 3-pointer with 52 seconds left in the second OT.

Gasol coolly replied with two tying free throws for Los Angeles, and Bryant prevented Hill from taking a last-second shot, forcing triple OT.

"We told these guys Phoenix plays great when they come into our building," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "They had some good runs here over the years, but we eventually prevailed."

Bryant hit a 3-pointer with 2:10 left in the third overtime before Artest made a steal and dunked -- a rarity for the ground-bound defensive specialist -- to put the Lakers up 135-132. Artest then made a fallaway jumper, and Carter missed a jumper, allowing Bryant to finish it off with a floating 11-footer with 14 seconds left.

"That was crazy, but we were just trying to hang on," Artest said. "That was like a heavyweight fight, trading punches."

Bryant and Artest came up with the big late baskets in the Lakers' fifth straight victory, but the stakes were higher for the 10th-place Suns, who are scrapping to return the playoffs. The Lakers, sitting in second place in the West, already clinched their woeful division Sunday, taking a 14-game lead over the Suns.

Two days after playing a deliberate game in an 84-80 win over Portland, the Lakers ratcheted up their tempo to the Suns' preferred speed -- and it nearly cost them. The Lakers led 89-68 with 4:45 left in the third quarter, but Aaron Brooks' 3-pointer cut the lead to 97-96 with 9:18 to play, completing a 28-8 run that began with three 3-pointers by Nash.

After Phoenix tied it at 101 with 6:53 left, the Lakers scored the next nine points before Phoenix's 11-2 run to end regulation, capped by 3-pointers from Frye and Hill.

Bryant appeared to be moving fluidly on his sprained ankle after Jackson confirmed it was "much better" than last week.

The Lakers played their second straight game without Bynum, suspended for a flagrant foul on Minnesota's Michael Beasley last week. His shotblocking inside presence was minimally important against the Suns, who play almost entirely on the perimeter.

Game notes

Brooks returned for the Suns after serving a one-game suspension Sunday for throwing a ball at an official. ... Both teams wore their Spanish-language jerseys on Noche Latina. ... Fans included Leslie Mann, Chris O'Donnell, Mindy Kaling and directors Oliver Stone and Michael Bay.

Lakers give one away against the Heat, 94-88

Eight-game winning streak ends with poor play down the stretch.The Lakers could have finally wished their fans a Merry Christmas, along with a belated apology for their behavior back in December.
Instead, they gift-wrapped a game Thursday and handed it to the Miami Heat.
The Lakers' messy last two minutes led to Miami's 94-88 victory and ended two streaks at once — the Lakers' eight-game surge and the Heat's five-game skid.
There was no getting even for a humiliating loss to Miami on Christmas Day after Kobe Bryant committed two late turnovers and missed two long three-point attempts, one from 28 feet at AmericanAirlines Arena.
Bryant wasn't the only one at fault. Ron Artest missed an open layup attempt with 1:04 left.
Merry March, Miami.
Or as Andrew Bynum said in his own way, "We tricked it, for sure. We definitely had an opportunity to win this game and we gave it away."
Their game Saturday in Dallas is more important to the Lakers, but this one was taken plenty seriously.
Bryant warned teammates the previous day not to stay out late in always-rocking South Beach and to make sure the game was the focus of their trip to Miami.
He had 24 points on a poor shooting night (eight for 21) and was still angry about it 30 minutes after the game. So he returned to the court and shot a slew of three-pointers and mid-range jumpers as three Heat ball boys fetched rebounds and fed him passes.
His Lakers T-shirt was wet with sweat by the time he finished. He played almost 40 minutes in the game and stayed on the court for more than an hour afterward.
"It's my job," Bryant said. "This is what you're supposed to do if you're not feeling comfortable with something and you feel like you can tweak some things."
The game ended feebly for a team that had been playing so robustly, beating Portland, Oklahoma City, San Antonio and Atlanta on the road since the All-Star break.
Bryant started it by coughing the ball up to Dwyane Wade, who fed LeBron James for a dunk and 90-88 lead with 1:27 to play.
Then Artest missed his easy shot.
Then Bryant lost the ball out of bounds while going up for a shot down low.
Then he lofted an off-balance, 28-foot, three-point attempt.
By the time the misfires were added up, the Lakers had lost, though Coach Phil Jackson took the blame. As everyone knows, he rarely calls timeouts and often still has one or two in his pocket for end-of-game situations. This time, he called his last one with 46 seconds to play and the Lakers down by four.
"I really took responsibility for screwing up the end of the game," he said. "I had no timeouts…"
As for Artest?
"I should have made the layup, but they grabbed my arm, I got hit in my head, and then, well, goaltending too possibly, right?" Artest said. "But that's an excuse, man. I should have made the layup."
The Lakers initially thought the Heat took the rebound with the ball still in the cylinder but stepped back from their thinking after conferring with their video coordinator.
The Heat couldn't be happier, ending a five-game losing streak that tugged on the franchise and its celebrated trio of All-Stars.
"This was a very big game and we had everything riding on it," said Heat forward Chris Bosh, who complained about his touches earlier this week and had 24 points on 10-for-17 shooting Thursday.
James had 19 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. Wade had 20 points.
The Lakers still have a chance to make their four-game trip highly successful. The overachieving Mavericks beckon.

Defending champion Lakers send Spurs message

The Los Angeles Lakers might not catch the NBA's winningest team for the No. 1 seed in time for the playoffs, but they handed the San Antonio Spurs a blunt reminder that the Western Conference is still theirs to surrender, beating San Antonio, 99-83, in a blowout Sunday. 

 It was the seventh straight victory for the Lakers. Coach Phil Jackson concedes that San Antonio's 61/2-game lead in the West might be too big to overcome with 18 games left. But the Lakers still made a few marks.

One is emphatically ending San Antonio's franchise-record home winning streak at 22 games. Another is beating the Spurs for the first time in three tries, including last month's stunning loss in Los Angeles when Antonio McDyess tipped in the winner as time expired

Chicago 87, (at) Miami 86: Derrick Rose scored 27 points, Luol Deng capped an 18-point effort with two free throws that put Chicago ahead for good. It was the fourth time since Feb. 24 where Miami held a double-digit lead and ultimately lost.

(At) Oklahoma City 122, Phoenix 118 (OT): Russell Westbrook had 32 points and 11 assists, James Harden matched his career high with 26 points as Oklahoma City overcame an off night from scoring leader Kevin Durant (18 points, 3-for-14).

New York 92, (at) Atlanta 79: Amare Stoudemire scored 26 points and Landry Fields added 15 as New York won easily. Carmelo Anthony, who was poked in the eye in the first quarter and later hit in the head in the first half, finished with 14 points, his lowest total since New York acquired him in a Feb. 22 trade.

(At) Philadelphia 125, Golden State 117 (OT): Andre Iguodala had his second straight triple-double with 15 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists to carry the 76ers.

New Orleans 96, (at) Cleveland 81: David West scored 23 points, and Chris Paul had 13 points and 11 assists in 26 minutes before being carried out on a stretcher after hitting his head. Paul was chasing a loose ball when he hit his forehead on Ramon Sessions' right shoulder and immediately fell to the court.

Memphis 104, (at) Dallas 103: Zach Randolph made a high-arching 17-footer with 0.3 seconds left, capping a comeback from 18 points.