TWO STEVE'S WITH LAKERS

Winds out of the north to contend with

here in then Antelope Valley today as I sit

down to type. Must be around 60 MPH.

Trash cans skitter on down the street.

Noises of  (what?) hitting the house.

But....enough wool gathering. Yes!

We beat the Memphis Grizzlies.

Steve Blake on the floor and Steve Nash

still out with his hamstring nagging him.

Two Gasol's on the floor however. Pau

got knocked in the face even at one

point by his brother Marc on a dive

for the ball. It was a mighty close

game with ending score of: 86-84.

Kobe Bryant made 24 points and had

nine assists. Pau Gasol added 19 points

and Dwight Howard hit a free-throw

with 4.1 seconds left for the Lakers.

In fact, he had 9 points and 10 rebounds,

while Earl Clark and Antawn Jamison each

contributed 13 points. Metta World Peace

is still out of commission. The two teams

traded the lead down the stretch of a tense

4th. quarter. Pau went for a driving layup

with 1.36 then to play, with Lakers back

ahead and Howards' one free throw it did

the trick and we won. Not so on Sunday

however. Playing at noon, the Clippers

have sailed away with first Pacific title.

Our Lakers now have surely taken a huge

hit. A changing of the guard so to speak.

The Clippers played well but now our Lakers

are no longer in the 8th place seed.

We have taken a dive and landed in 9th place.

Fatigue may have played a part and injuries

to players most certainly did as well.

So now the Utah Jazz (41-37) have the edge

over the Lakers (40-37) and the one main item

to mention is that now the Clippers have swept

the edge over the regular-season series

with the Lakers for the first time since the

1974-75 season when they were the

Buffalo Braves..Sunday's score was:

Clippers 109, Lakers 95. Up next is the

game set for Tuesday vs. New Orleans.

This game is to be played on home court

at Staples Center. Rest up..play hard guys!

Babs Wells