Dream Matchup

Los Angeles, CA

Titans collided at Staples center Monday night. Decades earlier it was Martin Luther Kings' dream, this time it was a dream pairing, showcasing two of the leagues top talents. The 32-8 Lakers overcame the 31-8 Cleveland Cavaliers, 105-88. Lebron James brought his usual arsenal of weapons to town, sparking the crowd with a huge left handed tomahawk jam over Lamar Odom, and added 23 points in the loss. James shot just 9-of-25 from the floor with Bryant guarding him most of the night. Kobe had a similar scoring line with 20 points on 9-of-22 shooting, but proved why he's the games best closer, scoring nine points at the start of the fourth quarter to propel the Lakers to victory. Fans were visibly excited to watch this star matchup and the atmosphere in the building was electric. Even Lebron took some time to comment on playing versus Kobe,

"It's always great when you go against the best, " James said. "It brings out the best in you. He's one of the ultimate competitors in our game today, and I enjoy going against him."

The NBA is definitely a league in which teamwork is necessary to win, and in this contest, there was no contest. The Lakers supporting cast outplayed their Cleveland counterparts and it resulted in a statement making win. Pau Gasol put up a pretty easy looking 22 points, while Sasha and 'Drew each added 14, and D Fish chipped in 11. 

Both teams entered the night banged up with injuries. Although the Cavaliers are  currently suffering the most, the Lakers have dealt with their fair share. Cleveland had to play without starting center, Zydunas Ilgauskas (left ankle), and guards, Delonte West (right wrist) and Eric Snow (left knee). That trio makes up 33 points of the Cavs scoring average when they are healthy. Los Angeles, also plagued by the injury bug,  just recently got back Lamar Odom (hyper extended right knee) and Sasha Vujacic (back spasms) as well as F Luke Walton (injured right foot) who did not play missing his ninth in a row. Walton is scheduled to play in Wednesday's road game vs the Clippers. Lakers G Jordan Farmar is still recovering from MCL surgery on his left knee. Just two minutes into the first quarter, Kobe Bryant injured the ring finger on his shooting hand.

"I just dove for the ball, and the finger just popped out," Bryant answered after the game. "I was scared, I thought I was done. It felt like I had two fingers on one, it was just disgusting. Gary (Vitti, Lakers trainer) just popped it back into place. Not fun." When asked after the game how the finger bothered him, Kobe replied, "A lot, I played with some pain, obviously. I tried to adjust as I went along, I just tried to play through it. it's just throbbing right now." 

A day of rest, and a day that will go down in history, and then the Lakers travel down the hallway to play the Clippers. Many of the Lakers players, including Kobe Bryant were and are supporters of newly inaugurated President Barack Obama. President Obama 

is an avid basketball player himself. There are even early rumors that he will replace the old White House bowling alley with a new basketball court. The President was known to play morning pick-up games while on the campaign trail.