"Here's what I saw the other night in the second half against the Clippers: The Ball Hog came to the conclusion he had to win the game if the Lakers were going to prevail.

It was as if he didn't notice the Lakers' 7-footers were on the court; everyone else was invisible as well.

The offense began and ended with Kobe Bryant scoring or not. Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol, who stand closest to the basket, combined for 10 shots in the second half; Bryant had 17.

Someone might say Bryant was just trying to keep his record intact of scoring 40 points or more, but not this time."