Lakers Don't Quit! Smokin' the Mavericks 101-98

A Benched Walton: Luke takes some time out of his busy schedule to visit with the Dallas Bench; "hey guys, let's be friends...did you know that I'm ranked 3rd in the NBA for 3-point shooting? ...no, really."

Lakers made New Years resolutions this year, but to quit smoking the competition was not one of them. The Lakers lit up the court as a fuming Cuban (Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks) looked on. Speaking of a hot Cuban, the Lakers fans were stoked to see the fresh Lakers bench get hotter than a Cohiba cigar, truly unbelievable. Lakers were definitely hot tonight, there was no denying that, by beating the team with the best record in the NBA.

So should we be surprised by this win? It did live up to all the hype...all this and without Lamar Odom and Kwame Brown. The Lakers deserved this 4th straight win, and Phil Jackson was also deserving of his 900th career victory.

Kobe Bryant had 26 points, eight rebounds and six assists and Luke Walton scored 21 and outscored Dallas 7-2 by himself to move the Lakers within two points with five minutes left; Sasha worked his magic with a career high 16 points (3 of the most important in last 28.5 seconds) and played incredible defense. Ronny Turiaf (I haven't seen his much enthusiasm on the Lakers since Tyron Lue) added 13 points and Smush Parker scored 11.

Deepest team in the league? The Lakers bench is so deep we drowned the Mavericks in there own tears; and even that couldn't put out the fire that was raging at the Staples Center tonight, way to go Lakers!