Since the return of 2008 lottery pick Kevin Love, the Minnesota Timberwolves (3-19) have been playing much better basketball to beat Denver in Colorado and Utah at home before narrowly losing to New Orleans and Toronto.
Coached, of course, by former Lakers assistant coach Kurt Rambis - who will receive his championship ring in a pregame ceremony - the Wolves are steadily improving at running the triangle offense. As such, the Lakers (17-3) will be fairly familiar with what Minnesota is trying to accomplish, but as assistant coach Brian Shaw described (video above), they don’t know the Wolves as well as Rambis knows the Lakers.
L.A. is shooting for its 11th straight win, which would match the team’s longest streak since 2003-04, when the team didn’t lose from March 13 to April 2.
It’s a different New Orleans Hornets team that L.A. beat 104-88 on Nov. 8, and not for the better.
Chris Paul has been out for seven straight games with a sprained ankle, and Peja Stojakovic is expected to miss his second straight contest for personal reasons.
Meanwhile, the Lakers have both Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum in the starting lineup after both big men missed the first matchup with N.O., as the Lakers relied instead on 26 first half points from Kobe Bryant to put that game out of reach.
Jim Cleamons joined us to talk about the impact of those player additions and subtractions, to explain how the Hornets are different with head coach (and general manager) Jeff Bower and how L.A. can continue its recent stretch of outstanding basketball.
Phil Jackson Pregame
Jackson talked about how New Orleans plays differently under Jeff Bower (and assistant Tim Floyd) than it did under Byron Scott, which he said isn’t easy to do after training camp. While some of the offensive sets they run are different, Jackson said the primary noticeable change is in the Hornets’ defense.
He added a few other thoughts:
- Chris Paul’s injury offers the N.O. staff a good chance to see what Darren Collison - who bypassed Bobby Brown on the depth chart - can do.
- Kobe Bryant will be featured on the post, where he had great success on Devin Brown last time these teams met.
- Derek Fisher’s improved shooting coincides directly with Pau Gasol’s return.
And finally, Jackson used a Karl Marx quote I used for two college papers to describe how people root for their football teams, particularly the New Orleans Saints (subject of a question): “”Religion is the opiate of the masses.” Essentially, replace “religion” with “sports.”
Assistant coach Jim Cleamons joined us to preview the New York Knickerbockers (3-10), who won two consecutive games before falling to Boston in overtime most recently.
Cleamons explained why the Knicks remain dangerous and can beat anyone on any given night, talked about dealing with Mike D’Antoni’s offense and how the Lakers plan on controlling tempo.
Anytime you want to check out the highlights from a Lakers game, you can click on our Gameday Page and watch from there.
The win against Oklahoma City featured so many fun moments - courtesy in large part of Kobe Bryant and Shannon Brown - that we wanted to make sure you didn’t miss it.
Take a peek if you didn’t catch Kobe’s behind-the-basket surprise, left-handed buzzer beater or Brown’s crazy alley-oop (and more) the first time, or if you just want to watch again.
Assistant coach Jim Cleamons joined us after Sunday shootaround to talk about the Houston Rockets, whom L.A. beat in overtime 103-102 in overtime on Nov. 4.
Cleamons explained how Houston runs its offense in the absence of Yao Ming, Tracy McGrady and Ron Artest, explained why L.A. was able to keep point guards Aaron Brooks and Kyle Lowry out of the paint in Texas and detailed what the Lakers expect from Andrew Bynum, who is averaging nearly 21 points and 12 rebounds per game.
PHIL PREGAME
In his pregame press conference, Phil Jackson said that the Lakers will again look to hold down Aaron Brooks, keep the Rockets off the offensive glass and find ways to get the ball inside to Andrew Bynum, Kobe Bryant and Ron Artest. He added that the Rockets are a very good “hustle” team that can win games by outworking teams.
Finally, Jackson repeated some of the same Trevor Ariza answers he offered in Houston (essentially, that Ariza demonstrated scoring ability last season but the explanation for his 19.4 points per game was more about opportunity to take more shots) and that he expected the STAPLES Center crowd to react “very favorably” when Ariza was presented with his championship ring.
Phoenix has officially returned to seven-seconds-or-less basketball.
“They seem to have their swag back,” said assistant coach Brian Shaw. “They’re getting the ball up court, getting into early offense and shooting the heck out of the ball, especially from the three-point line.”
Playing the lead role in Phoenix’s show is Steve Nash, whom Shaw said is back “playing at an MVP level” in topping the NBA’s assist chart with 12.6 per night, not to mention 17.6 points. With newcomer Channing Frye playing “center” on the perimeter, Amare Stoudemire on the block and wings Grant Hill and Jason Richardson operating at Nash’s will, the Suns are leading the NBA in scoring, field goal percentage, three-point percentage and are second in assists.
Of course, it’s not like the Lakers can’t score. On the contrary, they’ve managed to average the eighth most points in the league despite the absence of offensive wizard Pau Gasol, and can do a bit of running and gunning themselves. Yet Shaw stressed that L.A. can’t get too wrapped up in how Phoenix wants to play, instead focusing on using its respective advantages (Andrew Bynum or Kobe Bryant in the post, for example).
For more on that, courtesy of Shaw, just click on the above video.
Assistant coach Jim Cleamons sat down with us after shootaround to talk about L.A.’s Sunday evening matchup with Chris Paul and the New Orleans Hornets, detailing how to go at the shifty point guard, the addition of Emeka Okafor and elements of the Hornets’ Princeton offense.
We also learned from Phil Jackson that Pau Gasol (hamstring) would be inactive for the sixth straight game, while Andrew Bynum (elbow) would be active but would very likely miss his second-straight contest.
Jackson went on to discuss the contributions of D.J. Mbenga and Josh Powell, the two reserves charged with picking up the collective slack left by L.A.’s two regular starters. He seemed impressed with Mbenga’s play, which has come despite a nagging injury around his hip/groin area, and credited another hard working offseason for Powell’s continued improvement.
On paper, the Memphis Grizzlies are among the most interesting of squads.
While they rank 7th in the NBA in scoring and have three players averaging at least 20 points (O.J. Mayo, Rudy Gay and Zach Randolph), they are 30th (that’d be last) in the NBA in points allowed (115.2) and 29th in both opponent field goal percentage (50.5 percent), three-point percentage and assists per game. Translation: they don’t play good defense.
There’s a reason, after all, that Memphis is 1-4 on the season.
Lakers assistant coach Brian Shaw put it like this: the Grizzlies play offense downhill and defense up hill.
Yet that doesn’t mean they aren’t dangerous, particularly in the likely absence of starting center Andrew Bynum (elbow) and power forward Pau Gasol (hamstring), both of whom are listed as doubtful.
For more on the matchup, check out our (above) pregame video with Shaw.
Lakers.com’s Ty Nowell had the camera rolling during Pau Gasol’s post-practice workout on Thursday afternoon, which shows the nimble seven-footer to be moving quite well.
Over on the main website, we took a closer look at Gasol’s hamstring and Andrew Bynum’s elbow, with video from the two seven footers, plus Phil Jackson and Lamar Odom.
Anytime you want to check out the highlights from a Lakers game, you can click on our 
