Blatant and HORRIBLE officiating at Laker games.

[GreenFaith1819]

Well, LA will "probably" make the playoffs...

...and then get a sound thumping at the hands of either the Spurs or OKC.

No way that Brooks or Pop let their squads lose to Lakers.

In the back of my mind, I kinda thought that TOR would lose that game on some questionable calls.

[GreenFaith1819]

Credit to Kobe, though....he was MONSTROUS......

I think when you get THAT kind of momentum from Kobe, that helps the refs swallow their whistles.

[SCeltic34]

Didn't see the game, but looking at the box score:

Kobe had as many free throws as the entire Raptor team - 16.
Raptor fouls: 27.  Laker fouls: 14.

Gotta give Kobe credit for those incredible 3's he made.  This type of bias certainly doesn't come as a surprise though.  I've been hoping that Houston and Utah (and GSW) continued to win enough games to keep LA out of the playoffs, but I think we're going to have to settle for watching LA get knocked out of the 1st or 2nd round.. 

[Chelm]

Didn't see the game, but looking at the box score:

Kobe had as many free throws as the entire Raptor team - 16.
Raptor fouls: 27.  Laker fouls: 14.

Gotta give Kobe credit for those incredible 3's he made.  This type of bias certainly doesn't come as a surprise though.  I've been hoping that Houston and Utah (and GSW) continued to win enough games to keep LA out of the playoffs, but I think we're going to have to settle for watching LA get knocked out of the 1st or 2nd round..

Kobe was amazing at the end of that game.  Seriously.

That being said, they'll fall in the first round.  If they managed to make it out of that, it means they beat a quality opponent and I wouldn't bet they'd lose in the 2nd.

[Lightskinsmurf]

I know I wouldn't want to face the lakers in the first round.

[alley oop]

Trust me.  If they miss the playoffs the spin will be that they ran out of time and next season they'll start fresh with all the players on the same page.  That story will come out the next day.

Dwight Howard says he's been texting with Phil Jackson. And there's talk of Jeanie Buss, Phil Jackson's wife, possibly mounting a change in the running of the team. Imagine the media coverage of that.

[SparzWizard]

I can see the Lakers eliminating the Spurs in the first-round. They just don't have the right size to cover Dwight Howard.

And Steve Nash is going to torch a hobbling Tony Parker.

If they do make the playoffs, I hope they get the 7th seed and get bounced by OKC Thunder in the first-round.

[RMO]

I can see the Lakers eliminating the Spurs in the first-round. They just don't have the right size to cover Dwight Howard.

And Steve Nash is going to torch a hobbling Tony Parker.

If they do make the playoffs, I hope they get the 7th seed and get bounced by OKC Thunder in the first-round.

One reason why I almost wouldn't mind seeing them make the playoffs as a low seed.  If Phil Jackson is still a possibility it would be a lot easier from a PR standpoint to fire D'Antoni and hire Jackson if they miss the playoffs.  If they end up making it after it looked for a long time like the season was done it would look pretty bad, not to mention giving the impression the organization was in disarray (two coaches fired in less than a year).