Dynamic Defensive Duo!

Los Angeles, Ca

In a tale of two locker rooms, you can see two teams as different as apples and oranges. The Lakers and Clippers share an almost identical statistic for scoring margin at 20 points per game. Difference is the Lakers, 4-0 are winning, and the 0-5 Clips are definitely not. It doesn't appear to be on their immediate horizon as they face the new look Rockets tonight. After sloppy play and a poor shooting effort Wednesday night, the Lakers flexed their defensive muscle late in the game. Going on a 22-0 run in the fourth quarter relying heavily on a defense that lacked in the opening quarters. The big man in the middle, Andrew Bynum, dominated the boards all night, tying a career best 17 rebounds. He also looked good altering shots and amassing 4 blocks on the night. More important was the level of confidence he displayed. Going to the bench late in the game, Bynum appeared comfortable and even joking with teammates. He seems much more outgoing on and off the floor. Trevor Ariza, a defensive specialist, played his role well. He finished with 2 steals and seemed to always be in the right spots. I think its time to start conjuring up nicknames for Ariza, maybe Slash, who seems to move so well without the ball for the Lakers on both ends of the court. Ariza even slammed home an errant shot attempt by Kobe in the early goings of the the second quarter. The duo of Bynum and Ariza seem to be coming into their own quickly, promising for Lakers fans that saw their team fall short to a stronger defensive Celtics team in the NBA finals, five months ago.

Now the Lakers keep practicing and playing inter-squad games until they host Houston, Sunday night at 6:30. The rockets won the season series last year, 2-1, with the last win culminating in their 22 game win streak, which was snapped a day later by Boston. Houston holds a 3-2 record so far this season. 

El Segundo, Ca

A day after beating the Florida Panthers 3-2 at staples, Erik Ersberg seems to be locking up his spot as number 1 goaltender in Los Angeles. Coach Terry Murray, again giving him the nod for Saturdays match up with the St. Louis Blues. In beating the Panthers the Kings snapped a five game losing streak, and kept the skid going at five straight losses for Florida. The Kings, although tied for last with Dallas in the Pacific division, should remain optimistic about the young season. They are among the league leaders in a few key stats. Ranking 5th in penalty killing, 1st in shots allowed at 24 per contest, and 6th in face offs won. This leads me to speculate, that if they can put the puck on net and get more production out of their scorers, they could easily be one of the top tier teams. Dustin Brown also leads the league in hits, which seems to be the attitude of the team this year, trying to be tougher for a full 60 minutes.