Last night’s game had it all, some good, some not. It was solid in spots and completely rudderless in others and in the end, there were even moments of brilliance. Kobe caught fire in the fourth quarter, Pau found his assertiveness and in the end, a victory over New Orleans on a night when Utah lost to Oklahoma City. This was a much needed win. The Lakers are up in Portland tonight – the second half of a two-game back-to-back plus the fact that they’re 6 & 25 in the Rose Garden is just a bit worrisome.

Sam Amick for USA Today on a resurgent Pau Gasol.

Brian Kamenetzky at the Land O’Lakers has a podkast and transcript, the zen of Pau.

Drew Garrison at Silver Screen and Roll writes about last night’s two-man give and go with Kobe and Pau.

Mike Bresnahan at the L.A. Times looks towards the challenges posed by tonight’s game. Also Mike plus Eric Pincus from the Times on Metta’s fast return.

Mark Medina for Inside the Lakers writes about the load Kobe’s carrying, trying to will the team into the playoffs.

Anybody who knows me knows that Craig Sager and Phil Jackson are two of my favorite fictional characters. Here, Aaron McGuire from Gothic Ginobili does it up right.

Dave McMenamin at ESPN has an injury update for Steve Nash and Jordan Hill.

This just had to be included – Eric Freeman from Ball Don’t Lie supplies video from MWP’s ‘too sexy for my cat’ speech last night.

Ross Gasmer from Lakers Nation has some Mike D’Antoni quotes from last night.

One of the things I miss most about Phil Jackson is the two-finger whistle. There were times when his bemused refusal to call a time out could frustrate and in all honesty, he seemed to lose his team’s dedication at the end of his last run. Still, he had the ability to focus and organize his teams. There’s something to be said for system basketball. The Lakers increasingly strayed from classic triple-post principles in the later-model Phil lineups but they still operated out of certain fundamental concepts. The injury factor has been joined at the hip with a lack of framework this season and while there are reasons offered, it doesn’t change the fact that a central tenet of coaching is unity. Tonight, the Lakers bring their chances to the Rose Garden – four games to go, four games for the right to continue playing.

So here we are, seven games to go, the home stretch!. It’s the same place we were on Wednesday except today’s Friday. Plus, it’s game day – tonight’s visitors to Staples are the Memphis Grizzlies, currently 5^th in the west, with a 51 & 24 record, on a four-game win streak and trying to get into the top half of the bracket. The Lakers meanwhile are in 8^th place, a half-game up on the Jazz. None of this should be a problem, right? Good. I didn’t think so either. Here’s some links:

Ramona Shelburne at ESPN writes about the difficult choices ahead for Lakers management. Thank you for the bright and happy news on a day when we are feeling supremely confident about the playoffs.

Patrick Michael for the Yahoo network looks at the possibility of New Orleans playing spoiler for those vying for the eighth and final spot in the west.

Brian Kamenetzky from the Land O’Lakers on Dwight Howard’s defensive numbers (along with a great embed from Drew at SS&R).

Drew Garrison for Silver Screen & Roll reports that Steve Nash won’t be suiting up tonight. Blame Drew – he’s the messenger.

Actuarially Sound for Silver Screen & Roll feels that the Lakers’ playoff hopes rest on Dwight’s shoulders.

Andrew Khatchaturian from Beyond the Final Score examines the idea that an overcrowding of star players has hindered the Lakers this season. This hopefully guarantees the win tonight since Nash and Metta are out.

Wait, hold on – Dave McMenamin from ESPN says Metta’s already off his crutches and excited about returning to action sooner than anticipated. Metta had knee surgery last week and was predicted to be out for six weeks. Mister Peace does not live by other people’s rules, man. It is on!

I didn’t find any new articles today about Kobe which could mean that he’s planning to go stealth tonight and annihilate the Grizzlies for daring to think they can come in here and pad their win streak on our backs. There was however a great piece by Darius yesterday about Kobe and off-ball defense.

Anyway. I haven’t had lunch yet and have a rending headache. Which may account for the sparse and loopy nature of today’s links post. So summation – Friday, top of the home stretch, we will enjoy a monumental and sustained run through the rest of the season and into the playoffs, stunning the sports world and assorted national media types who will quickly regroup and say they knew it all along. That is all.

It hasn’t been a good season for the Los Angeles Lakers. We all know this. It has been chronicled every which way and will be chronicled some more before all is said and done. Some nights are are still about the win however and sometimes even more. The Lakers opened and closed the game strong, preserving a chance to make the playoffs. And to Mark Cuban’s great consternation, they basically ended that same chance for the Dallas Mavericks.

If ever there was a time for this year’s model to show up it was last night – Shaq was in the house to have his jersey retired, Phil Jackson was there to present the honors and Jerry West and other Laker legends were there as well to watch, witness and smile. There were subtexts aplenty and a shaky start to the third quarter as Dallas went on a run – I don’t even want to contemplate what a loss would have felt like given the circumstances. Credit Earl Clark for generating a run of his own – the Lakers did plenty of things right in the fourth and won it in a romp.

Dave McMenamin for ESPN, on Kobe’s maxed-out minutes – he’s had a total of 79 seconds rest on the bench over the past two games.

Ramona Shelburne for ESPN, on Dwight stepping up in crunch time and the challenges posed by Shaq.

On a night that saw fans cheering loudly for Phil Jackson, Kelly Dwyer for Ball Don’t Lie credits Shaquille for keeping things on point with a classy speech.

Drew Garrison for Silver Screen and Roll, recapping the Lakers win and Kobe’s triple-double.

Marc J. Spears for Yahoo Sports writes about the respect that Kobe Bryant now has for his former foe.

Kurt Helin for ProBasketballTalk, on Mark Cuban and his ‘first housewife’ dig at Phil Jackson.

Brian Kamenetzky for the Land O’Lakers, relives an iconic Kobe-to-Shaq moment in Game 7 of the 2000 Western Conference Championship against Portland, with a classic Chick Hearn narration.

Serena Winters for Lakers Nation provides post-game clips from Kobe Dwight.

***

It was the closing seconds of the game and the Lakers were up by a ton. There was virtually no chance the Mavericks were going to mount a serious challenge – their plodding hack-a-Howard had run its course and failed to make a difference. Kobe was still in the game though and while his motivation to play so much and so spectacularly is understood, the question still becomes at what cost and why the gamble? The Los Angeles Lakers have been absolutely decimated by injuries this year. They are flying into the home stretch on shredded wings and fuselage.

Seven games left. The same win/loss record as Utah but the Jazz hold the tiebreaker. Thankfully, the Lakers have a couple days to rest before facing Memphis on Friday. Hopefully, Steve Nash will be back for the last leg of a season that has left most observers scratching their heads. Buckle them up for the end of a bumpy ride.