Can't Get Over the Hump

The Lakers lost yet another hump game last night. They win last night, there's a sense of arrival, a galvanizing of their momentum. It's like when you're at a black jack table. You've won a few hands in a row so your bet is pretty big. The dealer shows a 6 and you've got 2 jacks. Then the dealer flips and he has a five under there and what does he pull? A facecard. A King to be exact.

You win that hand, you're pocketing some chips. Or maybe you're off for some prime rib followed by the titty bar. Sky's the limit. But if you lose, you're back to where you started. Not necessarily down. You basically still have your buy in. But now you also have that demoralizing feeling that you're running in place.

I think Luke said it best:

"That was one we've got to have. That's what all the top teams in the West do, win when they're supposed to. Until we start winning them, we're going to be a step behind Dallas, Phoenix and San Antonio."

Losses like these are tough. Not too sure how many of these we can take. But at least the Lakers get a chance to put the loss further into the past tonight.

Oh and by the way, I blame last night's game squarely on Joel Mutherfucking Meyers. True to form, he came through with two grade A jinxes last night:

1) With the Lakers up 11 after a Kobe layup, Joel says something to the effect of:

"Wow, what a third quarter by the Lakers!"

Only to be reminded by Stu that,

"Well, the quarter ain't over yet, let's see how they close it out."

What happened next? A 16-0 Cavaliers' run at the end of the third and the beginning of the fourth.

2) The whole game Joel was making giddy remarks about Derek Fisher's physical advantage over Daniel Gibson. How he can just over power him to going to the rim and get any spot on the floor, etc. And what happened at the very end of the game? A loose ball foul on Fisher grabbing a rebound over Daniel Gibson. Was it a bull shit call? Yes. Then why did they call it? Because Fisher's 'physical advantage' over Gibson made an incidental contact seem much more brutal than it actually was.

Thanks Joel, you rat-bastard.