Howard looked pretty much recovered from his back surgery, running the court, dunking alley-oops, and blocking shots. He’s still got some rust to shake off but, all-in-all, a good debut.

For LAKER fans the last play of the 1st half is what should be remembered going into the season: MWP throwing a half-court pass to Gasol who then found Bryant for a long two at the buzzer. A bang-bang play that highlighted one of the strengths of the team.

Nash got his ankle stomped on due to a poor pass by Bryant in the backcourt. He went to the locker room for treatment, but came back out to play some more. Here’s hoping it’s nothing serious.

The bench is the weak link by far, although some played well in spots. Ebanks and Meeks hit a few shots, yet the whole bench was again in minus territory point-wise. Jamison played the most minutes (18) of the bench crew, but was held scoreless. How bad was it? Two of the top three scorers on the Kings were reserves. That just ain’t going to cut it. And three of the top four scorers on the Kings are guards, highlighting the lack of defense at that position for the LAKERS.

Just play ball man.