The Lakers were able to come away with a huge 20-point victory against the Dallas Mavericks on a night that largely belonged to ex-Laker Shaquille O’Neal. The 101-81 was a performance that brought about nostalgia, frustration due to the rare glimpse at this team’s potential, and smiles to the faces of Lakers fans and legends everywhere.

Before getting into the game, it must be mentioned that it was great to see Shaq’s jersey retirement. Kobe’s video, Phil’s speech, Jeanie’s speech, Shaq’s speech, and Shaq’s jersey being unveiled with the Superman theme song being played in the background — all really cool and fun to catch. I did notice that Shaq is the first Laker to have his jersey retired with the new design, essentially ushering in a new generation of Lakers greats. Seeing Shaq’s jersey hanging up there with the likes of other Laker big men like Kareem and Wilt is a testament to how great and consistent this franchise has been throughout not only the course of my lifetime, but the lifetime of my father and will likely continue through the lifetimes of our children. While Dr. Buss is no longer with us, Shaq’s jersey, and those that were already hanging, will be a everlasting reminder of what he was able to accomplish as an owner and the standard that this organization will strive to live up to — and now, Shaq is forever immortalized as a part of that Forum Blue and Golden Standard.

Of course, there was also a basketball game played. It was a game that many felt was a must-win for this Lakers team if they still wanted to consider themselves in the hunt for the 8th spot out West. Not only did the Lakers win, we got and idea of how good this team could have been, and probably should have been all season. Here are a few observations from tonight’s game:

• Kobe Bryant played a brilliant basketball game. He set the tone for the game early, looking to attack the rim and looking for his teammates. He picked his spots, found open teammates, and saw a couple of jump shots fall early that got him into a good rhythm. While some of the other guys weren’t knocking down the open looks he got for them (Steve Blake, Earl Clark and Antawn Jamison all missed open looks after kickouts or swing passes from Kobe in the first quarter), Kobe continued to look for them throughout the game. Kobe finished the first quarter with one assist, and finished the game with 11. He also recorded 11 rebounds and 23 points. Kobe needed 18 shots to get his 23 points, but there were very little qualms with his shot selection. A few of his misses came at the end of the shot clock, and a couple of them were just Kobe being Kobe, but for the most part, he was on top of his game offensively. And even with a triple double, the most impressive part of Kobe’s game was the work he put in defensively. It was one of the rare nights over the last three or so years where he was keyed in both on and off the ball — and the defense as a whole looked a whole lot better because of it. Kobe wasn’t caught sinking into the paint looking to play free safety while loosing his man for open looks on the perimeter. Instead, he played helpside from two passes away, and rotated over to his man when the ball was being swung back to his side. He had a the huge block on Brandon Wright who was looking to dunk and picked off a few passes. All in all, this was one of the best games for Kobe this season, and he nearly played every second. It was hard not to expect a huge night from Bean on Shaq’s night, and he definitely delivered.
• The starting front court of Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol both showed up big for the Lakers tonight as well. The two combined for 38 points and 22 rebounds. Howard finished with a solid 24 and 12 line — and in Shaq-like fashion — he hit his free throws when they counted. When the game was still in doubt with just over three minutes left to play in the 4th, the Mavs went to the Hack-a-Howard strategy and Howard made them pay, going 6-8 from the line during that stretch and helped the Lakers extend their lead instead of watching it crumble like similar situations this season. Pau was phenomenal defensively. The Spaniard was assigned the tough task of defending Dirk Nowitzki, and essentially did a great job on him. Along with Earl Clark, they were able to crowd Dirk for the most part and not allow him to get off quick shots on the catch. Clark struggled a bit with staying on his feet during those Dirk pump fakes, but Pau did a fantastic job staying home and forcing either a pass to a lesser scoring threat or forcing a tough jump shot over a 7-footer’s arms. Dirk finished with 11 points (!) and needed 13 shots (!) to get those 11 points. Dirk hit a couple of tough jumpers, but there are nothing but good things to say about how Pau and Clark defended the German and his glorious beard.
• Speaking of Clark, it was nice to see him have a big game after three consecutive nights without recording a point. With about three minutes left to play in the 3rd quarter, OJ Mayo drained a three pointer to cut the Lakers lead to five after it had been pushed to 16 only four minutes before. After a D’Antoni timeout, Kobe missed a 3-pointer and Clark grabbed the offensive rebound and scored. 7-point lead. On the next possession, Clark drilled a 3-pointer. 10-point lead. On the next possession, Earl Clark dropped a dime to Jodie Meeks. 12-point lead. In a three-minute stretch to end the third quarter, Clark scored five points, grabbed two rebounds, recorded an assist and a block. More importantly, he gave the Lakers the momentum back going into the fourth quarter. I can’t emphasize how much his energy was needed on a night that the Lakers were playing short-handed and with guys playing heavy minutes. It was nice to see him have a great game, he needed it more than anyone else. His 17 points12 rebounds and five blocks are all highs for him in the last 20 games.

It was a great night of basketball on a historic occasion. The Lakers were able to keep pace with the Jazz and distance themselves a bit from the Mavericks. While the playoff race is far from over with seven games left — five against teams that are playoff bound — tonight was a huge win and something that can be built upon. Once again, congratulations to Shaq. We were spoiled for the eight years he was a Laker, we’ll never see another quite like him.

Going into their game against the Sacramento Kings, the Laker had lost four of five games. And it seemed bad going in with Kobe Bryant (foot) and Steve Nash (hip/back) nursing injuries. It started badly, too, as Nash went out after two minutes and didn’t return for the rest of the game.

But the Lakers played some great all-around ball after the first quarter as they stifled the Kings to 61 points in the last three quarters and won the game, 103-98.

What was really nice to see was some ball movement by the Lakers. 28 assists overall by Los Angeles. Saw a couple of high-low plays between Pau Gasol and Dwight Howard and saw Kobe Bryant make some wonderful decisions with the ball whenever the Kings threw the farm at him. Kobe would end up having 14 assists (to go along with those 19 points and nine boards) and Gasol helped out on the dishing with 10 dimes.

Dwight looked jazzed the entire game, looking especially active in the third quarter, and protecting the rim against the Kings. He went for 24 points (10/14 shooting), 15 boards, and five blocks in what was probably one of his top five games this season. As for the rest of the team, Steve Blake (15 points), Jodie Meeks (14 points), and Antawn Jamison (10 points) provided some great support for the stars.

What was also great for the Lakers? They tied a season-low with seven turnovers in this game. This is the kind of game the Lakers are capable of but we wonder if it’s too late.

The Kings got off to a great start and looked ready to run the Lakers out of the building. But the Lakers really took it to the Kings in the third quarter, as they forced Sacramento to commit six turnovers and held them to 18 points. While the Kings still got some easy putbacks that were baffling, the Lakers played a great game on both ends in three quarters.

We probably would’ve been talking overtime had the Kings made a better play than DeMarcus Cousins putting up three-pointers in the waning seconds of the game. Those moments probably reminded some people of when Dawson from Dawson’s Creek forgot his best friend, Pacey’s, 16th birthday. They were basically thinking, “Why are you stupid?!” The Boogie Wonderland saga continues.

Utah also won earlier today so, while the Jazz and the Lakers have identical 38-36 records, they do own the tiebreaker. The Lakers really have to step it up in the last eight games of the regular season, which is probably the reason Kobe Bryant played all but 22 seconds. He knows what’s at stake at this point.

And speaking of Kobe, congrats to him passing Wilt Chamberlain for fourth overall in the NBA all-time scoring list. He has 31,434 points now and can pass Michael Jordan for third on the list (Jordan is 858 points ahead of Kobe). Maybe by then, we can start comparing Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan, right? Right?!

In any case, the Lakers have the Dallas Mavericks on Monday. The Mavericks are 1 1/2 games behind the Jazz and the Lakers so this is a very important game for both squads.

Now let’s hope the Lakers can repeat this kind of performance against Dallas. As always, I am skeptical.

But for tonight, let’s all enjoy this win.

Tonight’s win in Minnesota wasn’t an easy one to watch. While the 120-117 win is valuable in terms of this team holding off the Mavericks and making the post season, it isn’t exactly the kind of performance you’d like to be seeing heading into the post season either.

The first half of the game was eerily sloppy. They turned the ball over at an alarming rate, 15 times in the first 24 minutes. When they weren’t turning the ball over, they were playing some decent basketball, running the offense through their bigs Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol who combined for 21 points and 18 rebounds on eight-for-13 shooting. Kobe, although turnover happy, was in facilitator mode early and often in the first half and was the last of the Lakers starters to record any points. Antawn Jamison also came off the bench and had a productive first half with 12 points on 4-6 shooting and four rebounds.

Defensively, the Lakers were much improved from their last two outings, but still left much to be desired. Bryant seemed a bit more locked into running his guy off the line and closing out on shooters. They also did a better job of keeping guards (Rubio, Barea) out of the paint in the first half. When the perimeter defense did break down, Howard and, to some extent, Gasol both did a great job of protecting the rim. The ‘Wolves shot 17-of-47 in the first half, which is just above a .360 clip. A lot of Minnesota’s missed shots were a open looks that just didn’t fall, but regardless, the Lakers defense did seem much improved on the night.

In the third quarter, the Lakers played a much cleaner game. The first two possessions of the third were turnovers, but they only finished the quarter with three total turnovers. The offense moved from playing inside-out to Kobe taking over (16 points in the 3rd), but the lack of turnovers allowed for a 41-point third and pushed the lead from four to 12 going into the fourth — and would have remained the same had Howard and Gasol received more touches.

However, the defensive struggles returned for the Lakers in the third, and would eventually spill over to the fourth. Barea and Rubio started getting into the paint while Dante Cunningham and Chase Budinger continually found themselves wide open — a 17-footer for Cunningham and the corner three for Budinger — were what continued to give the Lakers issues.

Regardless, the lead stayed at about 3-possession deficit for much of the second half. But in Laker-Like fashion, the Lakers couldn’t hold their lead and were a non-called foul on a Ricky Rubio desperation three away from seeing the game go into overtime after pushing their lead to 14 points. In the last six minutes of the game, the Lakers gave up 25 points and lost the rebound battle 16-3. SIXTEEN TO THREE. And while it took the Wolves 23 shots to get their 25 points in the final six minutes, the Lakers afforded them nine extra possessions with two turnovers and giving up seven offensive rebounds. Nicola Pekovic, Budinger and Rubio all scored nine points in the final six minutes while the Lakers as a team shot three-for-eight in that same time.

Of course, the ‘Wolves explored the Hack-A-Dwight option for a full minute and cut at 12-point lead to seven during that minute span, but the Lakers never really regained control of the game.

It was an ugly win, but a win nonetheless. They’ll have another opportunity to prove that they can win on the road tomorrow night in Milwaukee with a Bucks team that poses a lot of match up problems for this Lakers game. It’ll be interesting to see how they respond after an ugly win despite a few very good individual performances.

Pictured above is the Warriors shooting chart for the first half. As you can see, besides the above the break three from the left wing and the area right above the right elbow, the Warriors were red hot from the field. This hot shooting led to 63 first half points and a 23 point lead for the home team. This was a deficit the Lakers were never able overcome, thus falling to the Warriors 109-103.

Don’t let the final score fool you. The Lakers were beat handily in this game and were it not for coach Mike D’Antoni playing Kobe the entire 2nd half and pushing Dwight and Nash for 21 and 20 out of the final 24 minutes respectively, this game wouldn’t have been anywhere near that close. The final margin was the result of a late game push, but that Lakers’ run like putting lipstick on a pig and didn’t amount to much besides more tired legs for this team to carry on the rest of their road trip.

Make no mistake, this game was lost early on the weakness of the Laker defense. The Warriors guards had a field day working in isolation and coming off screens, getting open to shoot the jumpers that they’re very capable of hitting. In the game preview I mentioned that Klay Thompson is a very good, but streaky shooter and he proved me right by coming out red hot and not missing once he got space to fire off his jumper. His back court partner, Steph Curry, was nearly as good, hitting all types of step back jumpers and leaners when working in the P&R and in isolation. And when it wasn’t Curry or Klay, it was longtime Lakers’ killer Jarrett Jack who hit shot after shot, twisting the knife with each floater over the outstretched arms of Dwight Howard.

Ultimately, the Warriors game plan — as it is most nights — was quite simple. They picked out the Lakers weaker individual defenders and isolated them to get their shots. When Curry was on Nash, they’d go that route. When Jamison checked in, they attacked him with David Lee and then Harrison Barnes. When the Lakers went small with the Nash/Blake back court, they attacked with Klay Thompson against whichever small guard picked him up. On and on this went for the entire first half and the Lakers had no answers for how to stop it. Dwight Howard tried to step up and slow penetration but all that happened was the ball got passed around — either to a diving big man or back out to the perimeter — and an open shot was given up.

It’s nearly impossible to win when your defense is that bad for even short stretches of a game, so when it’s for an entire half you might as well pack it in and go home.

The Lakers did fight back, turning around their own poor offense to score 36 points in the 3rd quarter. But their defense wasn’t much better than it was early in the game, giving up 31 to the Warriors to only shave off 5 points from their 23 point halftime deficit. So, even though the Lakers had the aforementioned 4th quarter run, it didn’t much matter as the team didn’t nearly do enough early to get a win.

A few additional notes:

• Pau Gasol is clearly still limited physically. He was moving around the floor poorly and was barely jumping to get rebounds in the 1st half. He looked better to start the 3rd quarter, but the bar was so low early on even that slight improvement didn’t lead to a capable performance. He hurt the Lakers on both sides of the ball in this game and while I appreciate him trying to come back as quickly as possible, it’s clear he’s no where near the level he was at right before his injury.
• Ron left this game at halftime with a strained knee and didn’t return. When we have more information we’ll pass it along. Hopefully it’s nothing serious. That said, the injury bug is feasting on the Lakers this year.
• Antawn Jamison looked okay physically in playing with his bum wrist, but didn’t shoot well at all. Tough to say if the wrist was really bothering him, but his 1-5 shooting for 5 points was especially painful considering how much he gave back on the other end of the floor.
• When Jamison is playing that poorly on D and can’t find his offense, I’d have liked to have seen more Earl Clark. Clark competed hard on D in  that first half, stringing together a few good possessions on Harrison Barnes. Clark’s no savior and he later had issues with Jack and Lee, but his effort on D stood out.
• The Lakers lost this game on D, but their offense is once again out of sorts. They started the game with three straight post ups and then looked out of synch in their P&R game for long stretches in the first half. It’s going to take time to integrate Pau back into the mix and right now they’re showing the struggles of trying to fit in a major piece who still isn’t quite right fitting for what D’Antoni prefers to do on that side of the ball.
• From the 3rd quarter of the Wizards game to halftime of the Warriors game the Lakers were outscored 125 to 83. Not good. Easy to see why they lost both games.
• Kobe and Nash were both aggressive in looking for their shots in this game, but both ended up shooting less than 50% from the filed. Nash finished 9-19 while Kobe shot 11-27. Kobe did get to the FT line 16 times (making 12) but most of the night saw him missing shots from all over the floor. Hard to say if his ankle is still bothering him, but he lacked burst in being able to get by his man in isolation and ended up settling for a lot of contested jumpers. Obviously that’s not ideal. As for Nash, he was good in attacking with his jumper out of the P&R but in the 2nd half his legs looked dead and he missed several shots including two jumpers quite badly.
• With Nash and Kobe shooting a combined 46 times (and Meeks taking 14 himself — while making only 5) there weren’t a lot of shots left for other guys. Dwight had 8 FGA’s and 6 FT attempts in this game and could have used a few more of both. The Warriors were playing him one on one most of the night and while Bogut is a good defender, Dwight got him out of the game with foul trouble in the 2nd quarter but the Lakers rarely went to him with Festus Ezeli on him. Seemed like an opportunity missed.