Taking the floor after a thunderous ovation during lineup introductions, Gasol scored his team's first points on a tip-in and then added two free throws, another put-back and a pull-up jumper before getting his first rest midway through the first quarter.
He finished with a team-high 24 points and 13 rebounds on Thursday night, good enough to help the Lakers to a comfortable 108-93 victory over Chicago.
"I really wasn't expecting to be as effective as I was tonight," Gasol said. "I just had fun, took advantage of the opportunities and went to the glass pretty well. My teammates found me a couple times, and my legs felt a little better than I thought."
Conditioning was Gasol's primary concern before the game, yet Jackson left him on the floor for 34 minutes.
Gasol showed nary a hint of pain while but occasionally looked fatigued as he jogged up-court, admitting afterward he was "a little sore" and got winded "pretty quick."
"I was glad we had a nationally televised game because the timeouts were a little longer," he said, smiling.
]]>"I still don't believe I should have lost that much money," he said before Thursday's game.
The league suspended Artest 73 games after he went into the stands in Detroit, costing him approximately $5 million in salary. Artest estimated he lost an additional $2 million in endorsements as a result of the incident.
"I would still like to have a million or something back," Artest said. "I didn't bring no controversy into the stands, the stands brought the controversy to me. So that's what is frustrating for me still to this day. I didn't start it."
]]> Although Artest insisted he's still "the same old person" in spite of the brawl, his actions suggest otherwise.Not only did he reveal early this season that he's seen a sports psychologist since last season to help him cope with his anger problems, he's also made peace with the man who provoked him by throwing the cup of soda at him five years ago.
Artest got John Green's phone number from a mutual acquaintance on Twitter, calling him at home to apologize for his role in starting the brawl.
The two men have tentative plans to do some community service work together next offseason, possibly in either Detroit or Los Angeles.
"He's my boy," Artest said. "He says, 'Hey Ron, what's doing?' Like nothing had happened."
]]>Nonetheless, Andrew Bynum is confident Bryant and Gasol will leave enough scraps for him to continue his early scoring surge.
"I may have to be a little more efficient, but I think so," Bynum said. "Whoever gets down there first, that's who eats."
In the nine games Bynum played without Gasol so far this season, he has looked like the all-star he hopes to become, averaging 20.3 points and 11.8 rebounds and producing eight double-doubles.
"I wouldn't expect anyone is going to have the same numbers now that Pau is back," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "Everybody's has to give up something, but the team should gather something from that as an overall factor."
]]>Bench coach Ron Roenicke, pitching coach Mike Butcher, third base coach Dino Ebel, first base coach Alfredo Griffin, hitting coach Mickey Hatcher, bullpen coach Orlando Mercado and bullpen catcher Steve Soliz will return in 2010.
The Angels won their fifth AL West title in six years, then swept Boston out of the division series before losing to the New York Yankees in the ALCS.
— The Associated Press
What is a facet rhizotomy? Well, that's a good question.
After a few minutes of Internet research, here's what I can tell you:
Facet joints are small joints located in pairs on the back of the spine that provide stability to the spine and allow the spine to move and be flexible. The goal of a facet rhizotomy is to provide pain relief by "shutting off" the pain signals that the joints send to the brain. The pain relief experienced by most patients who have this procedure lasts months or even years.
]]>Well, after Wednesday's practice Gasol teasingly fired back, defending his acting on the episode and adding "I think most of the population enjoyed it."
Gasol also mimicked Jackson's "acting" in his T-Mobile commercials in which the coach silently holds a cell phone toward the camera. To his credit, Jackson took the ribbing as well as he typically dishes it
"He has to get back at me a little bit, I think," Jackson said, chuckling.
"Same thing it was when it initially came out," he said after today's practice, when asked his reaction. "The DA's office said I didn't do anything wrong. It's just a very unfortunate situation. It's sad, really. But it's just something you have to deal with. I've dealt with it, and still obviously dealing with it. It'll handle itself."
He was asked if he felt a need to clear his name.
"I don't think there's anything to clear," he said. "The DA's office said so. I just let the system take its course and it did, and obviously this is a different matter than what happened initially."
Tequila's original claim following the Sept. 6 incident was that Merriman grabbed her, choked her, shook her, knocked her down and refused to allow her to leave at the end of the evening. The lawsuit alleges assault, battery, false imprisonment and emotional distress, and also accuses Merriman of having anger issues and a drug problem.
Asked about the drug allegations, Merriman said: "I don't even want to get into all that stuff. That's just for people to read. Obviously that wasn't part of the original incident. That's just something to be talked about ... It has nothing to do with what's really going on. The DA's office cleared everything. And everything was put on the table then. It's the same situation now. So I really have to let that take its course."
"It's a sad and unfortunate situation. Being a pro figure, sometimes you've got to deal with things. I'm going to let it take its course, and my lawyers and everyone will take care of that."
]]>Tucker suffered an ankle injury in a win at the New York Giants two weeks ago. He appeared in seven games as a reserve and was inactive for two others.
Tucker was given a five-year contract before the 2008 season despite having played in only six career regular-season games.
Also Wednesday, the Chargers signed offensive tackle Corey Clark from the practice squad to the active roster. To take Clark's place on the practice squad, the Chargers signed offensive tackle Gerald Cadogan, a rookie out of Penn State.
— The Associated Press
"I don't know about definitely," he said, smiling. "Who knows what could happen so I won't say that. I don't want to jinx it. I'm saying everything felt great and I can't think of any reason why I wouldn't be able to play tomorrow."
Gasol participated in a full practice on Wednesday, pronouncing his strained right hamstring pain-free and fully healed afterward. Lakers coach Phil Jackson said he plans to start Gasol and play him roughly 25 minutes against the Bulls.
The biggest concern for Gasol is his conditioning after practicing just twice since sustaining the injury on Oct. 10. Asked if he would call his fitness "OK," he smiled and said, "OK would be generous."
]]> "I don't think it will take me long because because it's never been an issue before, but I think it will take a little time, maybe a couple of games," he added.While Gasol's low-post scoring and passing will undoubtedly help jump-start an offense that has occasionally been stagnant without him, perhaps the biggest impact will be allowing Lamar Odom to return to the second unit.
Odom was a stabilizing force for the bench last season, providing scoring, passing and leadership.
"You have a player that can facilitate for others and you have a player that teams have to deal with on the low post," Kobe Bryant said. "He calms things down a lot. Guys don't feel the pressure to create all the time. He can do it for them."
]]>The Lakers had spoken to Gaffney's agent this week upon learning that Luke Walton would miss at least the next six weeks with a pinched nerve in his back.
They don't see the need to add to their already bloated payroll right now, however, instead preferring to either give Adam Morrison Walton's minutes or rotate Kobe Bryant to small forward and play Shannon Brown more frequently at shooting guard.
"We felt like at that position we were a little overloaded," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "I'm hoping to get Adam some minutes."
If more injuries arise in the front court and the Lakers aren't comfortable Morrison can handle meaningful minutes, it sounds like Gaffney remains a viable option.
The Lakers liked the 6-foot-8 former UMass star before making him their final cut in training camp, and at the rookie minimum, he would come cheaper than a veteran free agent, even with a $50,000 buyout from his Israeli pro team.
]]>