The Lakers just cannot hold on to a proper center since Shaq ditched us! I of course made that sound more dramatic that it actually is, the span has only been a few years, but come on right? Never mind just the centers, injuries in general have been hurting us forever. You all know the huge injuries this year, Bynum and Ariza going down. But those turned out to be good injuries – if they had not gone down, we would not have Pau Gasol right now and we would still have... I don't want to say his name.

Even if you caught the Friday night Laker game in New Orleans, you still might have missed the big story, and it wasn't us losing. It happened in the first few minutes: Pau sprained his ankle when awkwardly landing on Radmanovic while Kobe was dancing. Pau quickly left the game with support from others. They then told us he wouldn't be back for the remainder of the game, then later told us the x-rays came back negative but that he wouldn't be able to play the rest of the road trip. It all seemingly began to worsen by the second.

The thought of Pau being out for a few games was a terrible idea. Until the Hornets game, Pau had played 18 full games with us, 15 of which we won. Before Pau came, but after Bynum got hurt, that span of 8 games, we only won 3. I'm not counting those first two February games where we destroyed both the Raptors and the Wizards, because Pau was with us in spirit and the other guy already left. But 3 of 8 without our good centers! The thought haunts us! Even though we were, and still are, No. 1 in the West, we are only 4 games from being No. 8! 4 games! The West is so tight that if we were to lose 4 straight games while everyone else were to win 4 straight, we'd be out of the Playoffs!

If that doesn't scare the crap out of you, then I don't know what will, maybe go watch Prom Night when it comes out or something, haha. But if you are in fact getting scared, stop thinking about it. Who said we were going to lose 4 straight? Who said the Rockets wouldn't lose 4 straight instead and get off our case? And that's where today's game comes into play. The Rockets are riding, get this, a 21-game winning streak. 21! That's the second longest, ever (Lakers are first with 33!). Yao's been out for the last 9 games, and they've won all of them. And to hype this game up even more, they are tied with us for the best record in the West (though we're still No. 1), and we're probably the first team they'll be playing that is actually a challenge!

Today's game was supposed to be a regular old, Sunday afternoon, KCAL9 road game, but that was before everyone realized the streak the Rockets would get on. Now it's been bumped up to a mid-afternoon game, pushing Hornets/Pistons up by 3 hours, and on ABC. That's national! But unfortunately, it hasn't been hyped as much as it should've been. Well at least not like the last time networks were added to a game, I'm talking of course about the Patriots/Giants, Week 17 NFL Network game. Now that thing was hyped. But that was football, it's much more organized than basketball. But hyping the game isn't what matters, it's what happens after the Lakers destroy the Rockets in a few hours that matters; the Lakers will be hyped beyond anything so far - and without Pau?! When he comes back in a week and Bynum comes back in the Playoffs, we'll be unstoppable! haha. And even if the Rockets do win today, they never do anything in the Playoffs anyhow - perhaps the Warriors will get back-to-back 8 seed vs 1 seed beat downs, haha. And don't forget, the last team to have a big streak like this was the Mavericks last season, and they sucked hard in the Playoffs, ask those same Warriors. So just in case the Rockets do go on to win today's game, they won't being going anywhere. But why do I keep saying the Rockets might win? Kobe will not let this huge opportunity of a game pass through his fingers. He and his boys are going to take control today, even without Pau. It's gonna be a great game, doozy-worthy even. 12:30, KCAL9/ABC. Have fun! Take care everyone. see u.