Originally Posted by latimes.com

Lakers are flashy enough

On a night when 'Lights Out' is more than a slogan, L.A. reverses its own early power failure to beat Nets, 99-93, and improve to 8-1 at Staples.
By Mike Bresnahan, Times Staff Writer
November 27, 2006

Lakers 99, Nets 93

- A two-for-one deal at center
- Scholarship, and Marge, are keeping Chick's memory alive
So far, it really is Lights Out at Staples Center.

Some of the swagger has been restored to the Lakers' home court, where games had been lost at a surprising, perhaps even numbing rate over the previous two seasons.

But a home-court authority has again been established, the latest indicator a 99-93 victory Sunday night over the New Jersey Nets that made the Lakers 8-1 at home this season.

Phil Jackson playfully joked about the "Lights Out" campaign when it was introduced at the start of the season, saying tongue-in-cheek that the increased, intensified lighting on the court might provide a home-court edge.

Originally Posted by dailynews.com

Brown providing 'big presence'

BY ROSS SILER, Staff Writer
Article Last Updated:11/26/2006 11:13:52 PM PST


The challenge for Kwame Brown always has been to slow down when he's on the court, to avoid rushing his moves with the ball in his hands.

Then a shoulder injury left Brown uncertain about how long he would take to get up to speed this season.

It was an injury that cost Brown not only the starting center job but also the season's first seven games. The shoulder still is not pain-free, but Brown now has delivered in three consecutive games for the Lakers.

The Lakers were better late than early in a 99-93 victory Sunday night over the New Jersey Nets at Staples Center. Brown built on his fourth quarter from Friday's game at Utah to finish with 13 points, nine rebounds and two blocks in 25 minutes.

Originally Posted by ocregister.com

Bryant's balancing act pays off

He scores 19 points and hands out 10 assists in a whole team effort against New Jersey.
By KEVIN DING
The Orange County Register
LOS ANGELES – Not to diminish the game-long, constant-contact defense that probably resulted in as much of Vince Carter's perspiration as Kobe Bryant's being absorbed into that white, No. 24 jersey, but the end is where it's at for Bryant.

The Lakers guard, who relishes delivering in the clutch against all late-game pressures, miscalculated the last laps in the Lakers' previous. It featured a fourth-quarter collapse, a quiet Bryant down the stretch and a loss in Utah.

Originally Posted by nj.com

Nets: Kobe gets help from Brown as Lakers take care of Nets
Monday, November 27, 2006
BY DAVE D'ALESSANDRO
Star-Ledger Staff
LOS ANGELES -- Now they're not sure what to think.

They dominated the first 15 minutes, turned Kobe Bryant into a passer as they had planned, forced Lamar Odom into a lousy shooter, and were down by two measly points with 4:40 to go.

Originally Posted by dailybreeze.com

This time, Bryant lets mates pick up slack
L.A. rallies to defeat the Nets after Kobe hands out 10 assists and Odom steps up.
By Elliott Teaford
DAILY BREEZE

The Lakers seemed primed for disaster Sunday night.

Kobe Bryant kept misfiring and then kept looking for others when the New Jersey Nets defense grew too tight around him. Vince Carter, in the first half, and Jason Kidd, in the second, guarded Bryant in suffocating fashion.
Sharks Cove

But then a funny thing happened.

Bryant's teammates stepped up for a change when he could not lead them, taking a 99-93 victory from the Nets at Staples Center. The Lakers turned a 12-point deficit in the second quarter into an 11-point lead by early in the fourth quarter.

Originally Posted by latimes.com

Scholarship, and Marge, are keeping Chick's memory alive

By Steve Springer, Times Staff Writer
November 27, 2006

Lakers 99, Nets 93

- Lakers are flashy enough
Marge Hearn had arthroscopic knee surgery last summer but was walking a day later.

Kidded that she had come back from the procedure quicker than Kobe Bryant, the 89-year-old widow of Lakers announcer Chick Hearn replied, "Much quicker."

Like her husband of nearly 64 years, Marge never runs out of snappy responses.

It has been more than four years since Hearn died after 42 years behind the Lakers microphone, but Marge remains a fixture at Lakers games, still a loyal fan and still diligent about keeping her husband's memory alive and his wishes fulfilled.