Catch me on "California Life" on Channel KHIZ (UPDATE)

You can see my story on Capistrano Valley pitcher Tyler Matzek tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. on channel KHIZ. He's one of the best high school players in the country, and he's a potential Top 10 pick. Check it out!

(UPDATE): Here's a direct link to the show. My story is after the Minor League Baseball one, about a 1/3 into it.

http://www.californialifehd.com/watch-show

They're Baaaaaaaaack

I guess we all know which Lakers team showed up.

No, it wasn't the team that was down 17-1 in the first quarter vs. Houston. No, it wasn't the team that gave up 20-pt leads to the Utah Jazz. No, it wasn't the team that was out hustled in Game 4 against Denver.

Yes, it was the team that Lakers fans thought were going to win 70 plus games.

They were efficient offensively (five players scoring in double figures, and 57% shooting).

They were selfless (28 team assists).

They controlled the boards (outrebounding Denver 38-27).

They played some tenacious D (limiting the Nuggets to 43% shooting, and holding Carmelo Anthony to another bad shooting night, 6-17 FG).

I mean you could really tell this was going to be the Lakers night when Luke Walton dunked over Carmelo Anthony. Everybody might hate him on this site, but he was fantastic when he spelled Ariza (10 points, three assists).

As good as Walton played, it was Trevor Ariza's coming out party. Ariza led all Lakers with 10 points in the 1st quarter. The Denver Nuggets foolishly left him open beyond the arc, and he made them pay, as he's shooting 48% from three in these playoffs.

He also had to guard the Nuggets best player Carmelo Anthony and helped limit him to a horrendous 22-of-79 shooting or only 27.8% his last four games.

The Lakers small forwards played great, but their superstars showed up as well.

Kobe Bryant controlled the game by orchestrating the triangle offense to a tee. Players were constantly moving off cuts and screens, which means a lot of assists to go around. The Black Mamba finished with 35 points (12-20 FG), and 10 assists.

Pau Gasol was simply the excellence of execution. Gasol finished with 20 points (8-12 FG), 12 rebounds, and six assists. He played like he wanted that "Gasoft" label off his wide shoulders, and he's got one more round to prove the naysayers wrong.

Also, the bench showed up with 40 points, and they actually hit their free throws...how about perfection on 24 of 24 shooting.

The Lakers defeat the Nuggets in back-to-back games, and took two out of three on the road to do it.

Lakers fans have waited one long excruciating year to come back to the NBA's promised land. Now is the time to rise up and unleash this inner Lakers beast on the East.

Baseball Playoffs: Mater Dei Defeats Hobgood and Norco

Newly crowned player of the year Matt Hobgood gives up seven runs to the Monarchs, losing 7-4. Cory Hahn hit two HRs including a grand slam. MD advances to Semis. Highlights & Interviews with Hobgood & Hahn.

Softball Playoffs: Pacifica's Season Ends vs. Santiago

The Mariners were shut out 1-0 against Santiago/Corona in the quarterfinals of the D I playoffs. Interviews with Head Coach Mark Campbell & winning pitcher Kamerin May.

Analyzing Game 5 of the WCF

Teamwork. Together. Totality. The Lakers could be eyeing their 30th NBA Finals appearance with a 103-94 victory over the Denver Nuggets. L.A. goes up 3-2 in the Western Conference Finals, and they did it because of their unselfish play, most notably Kobe Bryant.

Number 24 did what needed to be done. He only took 13 shots (not a typo, I assure you), and didn't even lead the team in shots attempted. In fact, he didn't even have a basket in the 4th quarter.

The Black Mamba made sure that the ball moved into the post. Especially in the early going when it was clear that the Lakers were trying to dump the ball into Andrew Bynum as much as possible.

Kobe's best play occurred with 1:02 remaining in the 4th as he passed up a wide open three to get Lamar Odom a AND ONE opportunity.

He finished with 8 assists, but Kobe did have some bad turnovers, 7 of them as a matter of fact, but when you're one of the primary ball handlers, that comes with the territory.

Now, the person who did take the most shots on the team was Lamar Odom. Yes, the same L.O. that I thought the Lakers had to file a missing persons report for. From the get-go Lamar played with a renewed intensity as he put up 9 shots in the 1st half, yet he only converted on 3 of those shots, because of The Birdman baby! He finished 7-for-15 and became the missing 3rd wheel that the Lakers have needed in this series. But his big impact was on the defensive end.

Odom finished with 14 rebounds and 3 blocks. When everyone was questioning if the Laker bigs were ever going to show up, he sucked it up and gave it everything he had. His back was killing him, but he was able to shoulder the load for his team.

“I know his back has been killing him even if he might be saying otherwise to you guys,” teammate Luke Walton said. “He really muscled through it tonight. He ended up being huge for us.”

Lakers fans were used to seeing Lamar Odom put up those kind of numbers in last year's playoffs, but L.O. hurt his back in Game 4 of the Houston series, and hasn't been the same since. Will he continue to keep playing with such ferocity? No, Lamar is as inconsistent was any player I've ever seen, and who knows how long his back can hold up.

As for the other Lakers, Shannon Brown was phenomenal in his role of backing up Derek Fisher off the bench. While Fisher finally found that long lost shot of his, he couldn't keep out of foul trouble, committing silly reach fouls.

"Downtown" Shannon Brown didn't take a three but his shot with the shot clock winding down in the 4th, broke the back of the Denver Nuggets. Brown was fading away to his left, and threw up a prayer, and luckily for the former Michigan State Spartan, his prayer was answered.

Brown's defense on Chauncey Billups is something that cannot be understated as well. His on-ball hawking of the former Finals MVP was key to him only taking 7 shots in a quiet game.

All these aforementioned Lakers played great, but Trevor Ariza was the most efficient player on both ends (just look at this line: 12 pts, 5 reb, 4 ast, 2 blks, 1 stl, and 0 turnovers). His defense on Carmelo Anthony was outstanding as well, since it's really noticeable when Luke Walton is guarding Anthony, because 'Melo can get whatever he wants against the Wrong Walton.

Finally, looking forward to Game 6, the Lakers will probably get blown out of the building. The Nuggets will play with maximum effort, and their role players will play with fire. I don't expect JR Smith to go 3-for-13 shooting or Nene to foul out and be a non-factor.

The Lakers will need Game 7 to try and close out this very good Nuggets team.

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