The New Orleand Hornets were killed by the Utah Jazz last night as they decided to make the final playoffs push more interesting. They decided to give the Los Angeles Lakers a chance to reclaim the #1 seed for the playoffs. The Lakers appreciated the gesture, but imposed to have things their way.

Why beat the Blazers, come within one half game of first place, potentially win the conference and play the tough Denver Nuggets or Golden State Warriors when you can instead finish 3rd and play either the lowly Houston Rockets or the team that you’ve beat three out of four times this season, the Phoenix Suns.

Even though this theory seems to be completely logical, if you believe in George Carlin logic, the Lakers were dominated by the Blazers and dug themselves into a hole once again. This was their chance to take advantage of a situation, and they failed again. There were two key points in this game that changed everything.

1. The Flagrant I foul against Lamar Odom was a ridiculous call. I’m fully expecting the call to be overruled by the NBA Leagues office and expect the Lakers to come away with an apology. Both Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol went up to block a shot by Brandon Roy, and due to the momentum of Roy, and the body contact of both Lamar and Pau, Roy came down hard on the floor on his back. The only reason it was called a Flagrant was because the impact of Roy hitting the floor was so strong. Again, it was only strong because he was high in the air, and his legs got taken out form under him as he would’ve landed on either Pau or Lamar’s foot. Result: 2 free throws, and the ball gives the Blazers just enough cushion when the Lakers are on the verge of making a big run.
2. The Lakers do what they have to do, come back, are within three points with under 2 minutes, and the defense collapses allowing Brandon Roy to penetrate to the basket, and not only pick up the foul but also make the easy bank shot. Three points bring the lead back to six and the Lakers are not able to escape this deficit. Back to the drawing board.

With the Clippers, Hornets, Spurs, and Kings remaining on the schedule, the Lakers will have to play hard to get anywhere at this point. Time to get to work.