Sport and Cinema.com

The Lakers, after a surprisingly testy series that went the distance against Houston, now have a short turnaround, unlike their Jazz series, and face a hot and well-rested Denver Nugget team starting tonight in Los Angeles.

The late Chick Hearn, longtime voice of the Lakers, must be going crazy in hoop heaven.

Of his many phrases that describe any element of play for a given moment, the most apt for the Lakers as they head into today’s showdown with the Rockets would be- ‘defense on vacation’, ‘my grandmother could guard him, and she can’t go to her left’, or ‘they couldn’t beat the Sisters of Mercy’