Los Angeles Is Burning: Short preview for this game because: 1) I spent yesterday at the Long Beach Grand Prix, watching races and drinking Tecate, topped off by a Bad Religion concert (and really, one of the better ones I’ve seen, despite the fact it was still light out), so let’s just say this morning, I’m not at my sharpest mentally; 2) Still no home computer after last week’s literal meltdown, something being remedied this week.

About the Clippers: I didn’t catch their loss to Sacramento the other night, but I did catch what had to be one of their best games of the year, the win against Phoenix last week. The Clips create match up issues for the Mihm-less Lakers because you need to defend both Kaman and Brand on the low block – Brown can do a pretty good job on one of them, likely Kaman, but that leaves Odom, Cook and maybe Turiaf to defend the other strong guy on the block. The Clips would love the Lakers to double Brand off the point, because Cassell can still kill you from the outside if he gets a good look. Same goes with Radmanovic.

The one break for the Lakers is Maggette is not expected to play. Look for plenty of Ross on Kobe – he did a great job defensively against the Suns. The Clippers can be given trouble by penetrating point guards, which means some more offensive load may fall to Smush. Also, good interior passing and quick ball movement around the perimeter can get you looks against the Clips.

Laker’s thought: Phil Jackson said in the LA Times this morning he’s rather face Phoenix instead of San Antonio in the first round because the flight is shorter. I can think of a few other reasons too. But with the Lakers tied with the Kings, the way you get the seven seed is win games like this one.

Playoff Preview: If the playoffs started today, this would be your first-round match up. Turns out the playoffs don’t start for a few weeks. Right now, the Lakers are the seven seed, one game up on Sactown in eighth. The Lakers drop a few more like last night and Sacramento keeps beating the likes of San Antonio, the order could change.

But, for fun, let’s say it will be the Lakers and Suns in Round 1. I still don’t think tonight’s going to be the best playoff preview, with the Lakers in the second game of a back-to-back after an emotional loss.

Beating The Suns: Phoenix is not on the top of their game right now, they are just 4-6 in their last 10. And the Clippers the other night showed how a team can expose the holes in the Suns — the question is if the Lakers have the personnel to do it.

Kevin at Clipperblog put it very well — the Suns’ “offense” is really about having athletic guys who create match up problems because they are so quick (especially off the dribble). Combine that with a savvy point guard and you can jut let them improvise and run a bunch of pick and rolls and space the floor. But the Clippers and other teams have shown you can knock the Suns off rhythm.

First, the Clippers went tall and long. With Sam Cassell out, Shaun Livingston was at the point and his length disturbed both Nash and Raja Bell. Quinton Ross did the same thing as Livingston’s backcourt mate. Now, Smush is long, as is Kobe, but can they have that same impact? That long-on-defense thing also extended to the frontcourt — Odom, Kwame, Cook and George are going to have to deal with Boris Diaw and Marion. What the Clippers did well was limit dribble penetration — something basically every Sun player can do — and force them to beat them from the outside, with good rotations so those looks weren’t all clean (Nash is shooting 47.2% from beyond the arc in the last 10 games, so going under picks is unwise).

Second, on offense the Clippers pounded the ball inside, using Brand primarily but also Kamen and others. It forced the Suns to collapse their defense, slowing their break. More importantly, when the Suns defense did collapse, Clipper perimeter guys hit their threes.

It can be done. The question is can the Lakers do it? We’ll get into this a lot more as the playoffs near. (Of course, all that may end up having to be about how to beat the Spurs, a harder task if you ask me.)

In appreciation: Sometimes on this blog I’ve tended to focus on the play of the role players, the defense, and the other things needed to make this team good, and almost taken for granted what Kobe does.

We can’t. He’s been amazing, bringing energy and passion every night, while taking on a crazy amount of the offense (he has a usage rate of 35.5% this season, by far the highest in the league). Last night was a perfect example — people will look and say “he was just 13 of 32” and miss the 14 free throws he took or the 8 rebounds he grabbed, second highest on the team. Last night Kobe’s true shooting percentage was 55%, a great number considering the amount of offense he takes on (and has to some nights as the team just defers to him).

I don’t think he’ll win the MVP (honestly, there is no standout candidate, you can make a good case for Dirk, Wade, Nash, LeBron), but that shouldn’t take away from what may have been his best season ever.

On the other end of the spectrum: No matter how good a game he is having, there ends up being about two or three times a game I end up just yelling “damn it Kwame.”

About that loss last night: That hurt, but today I’m trying to look on the bright side of how they fought back. It would have been nice not to have had to come from way back, but that they did (using the big lineup) is a good sign.

That said, I will ask this question: On the final play in regulation, the 0.6 second shot, Kobe got a pretty good look. But Odom was wide open, alone in the corner. What would you rather have, that Kobe shot or Odom open? Walton never gave Odom (who ws waving his arms around) a glance. Should he? I think the Lakers need to get someone besides Kobe to take some of those last-second shots, and better an open Odom than Walton on a running three.

That said, Walton and Devean George gave the Lakers good minutes last night (Walton was a team high +11).