Sean

<h3 class="entry-header">Mile high win</h3>
<p><a href="http://lakersblog.latimes.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2007/12/06/kobe_iverson.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href, '_blank', 'width=345,height=425,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,t oolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,st atus=no,left=0,top=0'); return false"><img width="225" height="277" border="0" alt="Kobe_iverson" title="Kobe_iverson" src="http://lakersblog.latimes.com/lakersblog/images/2007/12/06/kobe_iverson.jpg" style="margin: 0px 5px 5px 0px; float: left;" /></a>
Now this is what Lakers fans have been looking for over the last couple weeks.&nbsp; The struggling purple and gold, playing their second game in two nights (technically, Minnesota is so bad that playing a game a night after beating them may not really count as a back-to-back, but putting that aside for a minute...) went into Denver and put together 48 minutes of solid hoops, <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=271205007">enough for a 111-107 win Wednesday evening</a>.&nbsp; Call it a Tale of Two Stars.&nbsp; Allen Iverson ran circles around the Lakers to the tune of <a href="http://www.pe.com/sports/basketball/breakout/stories/PE_Sports_Local_B_lakers_06.35e707e.html">49 points through three quarters</a>, while <a href="http://www.ocregister.com/sports/bryant-denver-jackson-1936256-bynum-points">Kobe battled remnants of stomach flu, a bruised shoulder, and foul trouble</a>, limiting him to only 13.&nbsp; That all changed in the fourth.&nbsp; When Kobe helped put the clamps on A.I. (special kudos to Trevor Ariza for his work in that area, too), then came alive offensively.&nbsp; <a href="http://www.dailynews.com/lakers/ci_7646760">12 points over the final 12 minutes,</a> helping L.A. take back the lead after momentarily losing it.&nbsp; </p>
<p><a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=271205007">But as the box will show</a>, Kobe wasn't the only story for L.A.&nbsp; <a href="http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-lakers6dec06,1,6559326.story?coll=la-headlines-sports">Three Lakers had 20+ points</a> (Kobe, Vlad, Fisher), L.O. had 17/7/4, and Andrew Bynum, while he was kept quiet offensively, contributed with some massive defensive plays down the stretch.&nbsp; This, no doubt, was a true team win.&nbsp; </p>
<p>Less exciting, at least to Phil Jackson, is the new league rule that will for some nationally televised games <a href="http://www.dailynews.com/lakers/ci_7646776">have coaches wearing microphones and allow cameras into the locker room just before tip time</a>.&nbsp; PJ doesn't like the <a href="http://www.latimes.com/sports/basketball/nba/lakers/la-sp-lakerep6dec06,1,1408792.story?coll=la-headlines-sports-nba-lakers">Orwellian intrusion into the inner sanctum</a>, it seems.&nbsp; Plus, he has to watch his language.&nbsp; </p>
<p>Jackson, never afraid to take a little jab here and there at a player, <a href="http://www.pe.com/sports/basketball/lakers/stories/PE_Sports_Local_B_lakers_notes_06.35e775e.html">to ok a jab here and there at a player</a>.&nbsp; </p>
<p>Jason Kidd wasn't around for New Jersey's loss Wednesday night to the Knicks, ostensibly because of migraine headaches.&nbsp; That, though, might simply have been a smokescreen <a href="http://www.nypost.com/seven/12062007/sports/nets/knicks_give_nets_migraine_310402.htm">in what was really a trade-me-or-extend-me protest.</a>&nbsp; A strike, if you will.&nbsp; &nbsp;One in which he was clearly trying to send a message <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-kidd120507&amp;prov=yhoo&amp;type=lgns">(Perhaps, &quot;Send me to Cleveland.&quot.</a>&nbsp; Of course, whenever &quot;Kidd&quot; and &quot;trade&quot; are mentioned in the same sentence, the Lakers come up, too.&nbsp; <a href="http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkxMDYmZmdi ZWw3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTcyMzAzNTcmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZU VFeXk2">But if he wouldn't do it last year, given Andrew Bynum's improvement this season, there's no way Mitch Kupchak will send him to Jersey now.</a></p>
<p>Those of you who don't like John Hollinger <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/playoffodds">might change your mind after reading this</a>.&nbsp; Excellent news for the Lakers.&nbsp; Why even play the last sixty+ games?<br /></p>
<p>In case <a href="http://dberri.wordpress.com/2007/12/04/andrew-bynum-is-getting-even/">this feature created any confusion</a>, perhaps it's time to clear it up.&nbsp; <a href="http://www.sportshubla.com/2007/12/06/for-the-record-andrew-bynum-is-not-better-than-kobe-bryant-in-real-life/">Andrew Bynum is not better than Kobe Bryant.&nbsp; </a></p>

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