Luke Walton News

Tony Gaffney shoots over Rhode Island's Delroy James, left, and Keith Cothran, Feb 2009.

The Oklahoma City Thunder gave the Lakers nearly all they could handle earlier this month, but Los Angeles was missing a key part of its championship team.

Ita s clear that the Lakers are not getting as much help off the bench as they did a year ago.

Today's practice centered mostly around learning injury statuses for various players, a task that later received a surprise goosing with news that Luke Walton is expected to miss a minimum of six weeks with a pinched nerve in his back.

The never-ending "hamstring watch" finally ended. Pau Gasol was back. After two setbacks and almost five weeks of limping around on the most scrutinized leg muscle of the season, Gasol returned to the Lakers, looking as if he had never left them.

Most of the available Lakers news was noted Monday night on the blog. Start with Kobe Bryant's balky groin, aggravated in Sunday's loss to the Rockets .

The Pistons begin a four-game road trip tonight . This will be a tough stretch, and Ia TMd consider winning two of the games a rousing success.

Coach Phil Jackson blamed Pau Gasol's budding acting career for the strained right hamstring that sidelined the 7-footer for the 11th consecutive game on Tuesday night.

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Los Angeles Lakers forward Luke Walton will miss at least the next six weeks with a pinched nerve.

Kevin Ding: Lamar Odom's TV special is on one week, Pau Gasol's TV gig is on the next, and throughout it all, Ron Artest's Twitter accounts are on fire as the Lakers' show transcends the basketball court.

The Denver Nuggets served notice on two fronts with their dismantling of the Los Angeles Lakers: Last year was no fluke and this year they're legit.

It was the first time during the regular season that the Lakers and Denver Nuggets have met since they faced each other in the Western Conference finals.

Barney and Robin's romance falters, and Lily comes up with a scheme to break up the unhappy couple that involves a little help from Robin's celebrity friend, Alan Thicke .

Early season supremacy in the Pacific Division is on the line Thursday when the reigning NBA champion LA Lakers play host to a streaking Phoenix team at Staples Center.

Kobe Bryant torched OJ Mayo and the Grizzlies all night long , and helped put the game away for good when he returned in the fourth quarter.

Normally, we don't focus on what the opposition says unless it relates to the purple and gold, but here it's hard to resist.

Neither one of them complained when their playing time diminished. Instead, Shannon Brown and Luke Walton worked harder.

Kobe Bryant scored 28 points, Shannon Brown added 15 and the Los Angeles Lakers thrived again without their top two big men, beating the New Orleans Hornets 104-88 Sunday night.

An MRI exam revealed that Andrew Bynum avoided serious injury, but has a strained right elbow, making him doubtful for Friday's game against the Grizzlies.