Your humble correspondent only caught maybe 20 minutes, in bits and pieces, of the HUGE MONSTER WIN over the evil nonbastardized children of favor down the hallway, aka the LA Lakers, accomplished with considerable aplomb by our heroes of this heralded story, yes your hometown former san diego & buffalo residents, your, mine, our (drumroll) LA Clippers. Forgive me, I am still away from the Alf Manor and my tivo (media crack) and comfortable nestled on the windward side of Oahu with my wife, daughter, and parents on a beachfront vacation property, and thus the ocean and a ping pong table were calling, variances in volume and intermittency notwithstanding, as well as that pesky thing known as work. I was able, though, to cop a squat in front of the idiot box for the grand finale, though, followed by Sam’s feelgood courtside chat with Cheryl Miller. So good to see Sam back and actually contributing. Corey Maggette went absolutely apeshit ballistic. Elton looking like a cold assassin in the clutch yet again. And speaking of cold assassins, Kobe did it that otha level style for 3 quarters and then beautifully disappeared in the 4th in an intricate web of ostentatiously awe inspiring clipper defensive orchestrations. And thus was born an exact numerical tie with Golden State, with the clippers holding the tie-breaker vis a vis their better record within the division for a possible ticket punching into the NBA playoffs, which would be the first time they’ve accomplished said feat for a 2nd straight year since 1993. and wouldn’t you know there’s not much time for back patting and breath catching as the Portland Trailblazers are in town, the dangerous type of team with just about nothing to play for yet with not quite enough of a crappy record that there’s much point in tanking anything. If I were will robinson I’d be looking over my shoulder for screaming robots, let’s just put it that way. Clips need to take care of biz tonite and notch this one on the bedpost for the gipper. There are no such things as gimmes, but this is mos def a game that should be won ie not lost. Signing off for now, see you later unless you see me first. Mahalo, Aloha, or fill in your salutation or lack thereof here. Go clips.