to one of the most disappointing collapses we have seen from our team to date.  

Ouch.  That one really hurt...!  I guess we could take solace in the thought that we played them that well despite the fact that Kaman was FAR from being himself, Mardy was physically unable to contribute, and Camby was not completely recovered from his ear infection.  We could also think about those extra pingpong balls we get this summer for tanking a game we knew we already won...  On second thought, no.  It hurt that the team collapsed down the stretch.  (And what was up with Gordon inbounding the ball towards the end of the game?  Thornton usually takes that responsibility because Gordon is better at getting separation from his defender).  We really could have used that win to help make sense of this lost season.  I'm telling you folks that my mind was spinning at which of the many highlight plays from the Clips when they show the recap on ESPN.  (My TIVO rewind button was worn out from just watching some of those plays over and over again.)  I was imagining what Thorpe would be saying about EJ in his contribution towards tonight's win.  Instead, the focus of the ESPN recap would be either all about the phenom that is Lebron James or the ineptness of the OTHER LA team.  Thorpe would likely say that EJ doesn't deserve to be in consideration for ROY because he isn't able to close out games like this for his team.  Damn it.  (I would have preferred my first line on this blog to read as follows:

to the coming out party of the best player in this year's draft.)

The team play for the first 3 1/4 quarters was a site to behold.  At an earlier post I was rooting for EJ to have a special individual game, but I'd take those 3 1/4 quarters any time.  (Not that EJ didn't provide us with several memorable moves--his quick first step and that developing crossover is formidable.)  Al did his thing too.  His dunk of Kaman's miss used to occur with regularity earlier in his career but he seemingly forgot about it all these games.  I hope he doesn't forget about this really good habit again.  Ok...I can't focus on what to say and I'll probably just start ranting again...Damn.  I really wanted this win.