Kobe Bryant scored 28 points in yet another dynamic performance
against the Knicks, and the Los Angeles Lakers pulled away in the
fourth quarter for their ninth straight victory over New York,
99-82 Thursday night.

Pau Gasol had 16 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for the
Lakers, who have won two straight after a 0-2 start to the
compressed season.

Carmelo Anthony scored 27 points in his first showdown with
Bryant since joining the Knicks, and Amare Stoudemire had 15 points
on 4-for-17 shooting as New York again struggled down the stretch
in the middle stop of a three-game West Coast road trip.

Steve Blake scored 11 points and hit two big 3-pointers while
the Lakers opened the fourth quarter with a 17-3 run, taking a
22-point lead and forcing the Knicks to miss nine of their first 10
shots while committing seven turnovers. Bryant didn’t even need to
score in the fourth quarter, contributing three assists as Los
Angeles roared away.

The Lakers have dominated this rivalry between the signature
teams from the nation’s two largest cities in recent years, winning
every meeting since February 2007 with Bryant averaging more than
34 points per game.

Tyson Chandler had 13 points and 11 rebounds in his hometown for
the Knicks, whose nine-game skid against the Lakers is their
longest current stretch against any opponent.

New York opened the season with a gritty win over Boston on
Christmas Day, but lost to Golden State on Wednesday. The Knicks’
frustration showed in technical fouls for each of their Big Three,
who incessantly argued calls despite New York’s 41-22 free throw
advantage.

Josh McRoberts scored 10 points for the Lakers, who made 23 of
their 32 shots before halftime for their highest shooting
percentage in one half in nearly 13 years. New York pulled within
eight points heading into the fourth quarter, but then committed
five turnovers in the next 2 1/2 minutes as reserves Blake and Matt
Barnes led the Lakers’ runaway.

Although Bryant is playing with a torn ligament in his right
wrist that requires a brace whenever he isn’t playing, the 13-time
All-Star’s latest injury is doing little to slow him. He has scored
at least 25 points in each of the Lakers’ games so far, and he
shredded the Knicks’ spotty defense.

The Lakers were the only team to begin the season with three
games in three nights, losing the first two before routing Utah on
Tuesday for new coach Mike Brown’s first victory. Although the
Lakers struggled early, they’ve been downright dominant on defense
in the past three games at home, showing they’re already picking up
the finer points of Brown’s defense-based system.

The Lakers, who held the Knicks to 31.3 percent shooting, will
get even better on defense with center Andrew Bynum wrapping up his
season-opening four-game suspension for his misbehavior in last
spring’s playoff finale. He’ll be in the lineup for the Denver
Nuggets’ visit to Staples Center on Saturday afternoon.

The Lakers returned from their first day off with a sharp first
half, taking a 16-point lead in the second quarter with crisp
offensive execution that frequently left behind the Knicks. Anthony
scored 18 points in the half with six field goals _ the same number
managed by all of his teammates combined.

Los Angeles’ bench missed just one shot in the first half, and
nobody in a gold uniform missed more than two.

Bryant scored 13 points in the third quarter, even banking in a
long 3-pointer while getting fouled on a four-point play late in
the period, but the Knicks trimmed Los Angeles’ lead to 80-72
heading into the fourth.

NOTES: The Lakers made 77.1 percent of their shots in the second
half against Orlando on March 21, 1999. … Baron Davis is
traveling on the West Coast with the Knicks, but not playing while
resting a herniated disc in his back. The veteran guard grew up in
Los Angeles. … Former Lakers broadcaster Spero Dedes returned to
Staples Center for the first time since abruptly leaving Los
Angeles during the summer to work for the Knicks. … Fans near
courtside included USC QB Matt Barkley, Angels ace Jered Weaver,
Willie McGinest, actress Kaley Cuoco and Richard Lewis, who sat in
with the Lakers’ radio broadcast team.

The New York Knicks stopped by the Staples Center to take on the Los Angeles Lakers December 29 and the Lakers were not hospitable to the their East Coast visitors, beating them, 99-82. The Lakers smothered the Knicks and showed that their new coach, Mike Brown, is not about “Showtime” but he leans towards a different method of winning.

The New York Knicks Amar’e Stoudemire pumped up the fans before the 2010 season.
Photo by: Chamber of Fear WIkimedia Commons

The final score was not indicative of the pace of the game. Despite the Lakers falling just short of breaking through the century mark, defense was the key to the Lakers beating the Knicks. The Lakers pounded the Knicks into submission and sent them on their way to Sacramento with their tail between their legs.

This was the second game of a three-game West Coast swing for the Knicks, who lost to the Golden State Warriors, 92-78, in Oakland December 28. Now after going down in defeat to the Lakers, the Knicks will now travel back to Sacramento to take on the Sacramento Kings on New Year’s Eve. The NBA scheduler must have it in for the Knicks with those travel arrangements.

The Knicks, playing their third game of the season with the Lakers and their first back-to back of the season, looked slow and frustrated most of the game. There were several dumb fouls on the Knicks side, including an ill-advised foul on Kobe Bryant as he threw up and hit a three-point bomb from long-range.

The Lakers are not lighting up the scoreboard as they have in year’s past. This Lakers team is going to play grind-it-out basketball every game. The days of 120 point Lakers games is over and the Mike Brown era has begun.

The Knicks have added depth in the last few days with their pick up of Jeremy Lin and through the off season with the key additions of Tyson Chandler and Baron Davis. Davis has not played due to a back injury but Chandler is in the news for his comments about Mark Cuban and the Dallas Mavericks

Chandler has been in the news since he made it clear the Mavericks are positioning themselves for the 2012-2013 season. Chandler spoke before the Knicks embarked on their three-game trip and said the Mavericks roster strategy was a major reason for him signing with the Knicks this off season.

The win over the Knicks was a huge boost to the Lakers because they did not have Andrew Bynum under the basket for this game. The Lakers are a much better team when a healthy Bynum is wreaking havoc under and above the rim. Get ready for a patented Los Angeles Lakers hot streak early in the season.

*Todd Jacobs is a native Southern Californian and longtime Los Angeles Lakers fan since the early ’70s.

Sources:

ESPN Clubhouse: Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks stats and news.

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

By Jared Smith

– College Sports Writer

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Dec 28, 2011 – After earning a dramatic season-opening victory over the Boston Celtics on Christmas Day the New York Knicks begin a three-game, West Coast road trip Wednesday, as the Knicks visit the Golden State Warriors (1-1) and the ORACLE Arena (10:30 p.m. ET on MSG). After the contest, the Knicks (1-0) will then play at the Los Angeles Lakers, Thursday (10:30 p.m. on TNT), and at the Sacramento Kings, Saturday (8 p.m. on MSG).

On Wednesday, New York will search for its second consecutive victory to start the season, a feat that hasn’t been accomplished by the franchise since 1999. The game will be a reunion with former Knick Mark Jackson, who’s now the Warriors head coach, and could be the debut of newly-acquired guard Jeremy Lin, who was claimed off waivers Monday and will return to the Bay Area where he played last season.

On Thursday, the Knicks will travel to Staples Center to play the Lakers (1-2), who will be playing their fourth game in five days. On Tuesday, behind 26 points from Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles earned a 96-71 victory over the Utah Jazz and snapped a two-game losing streak.

The West Coast swing ends Saturday, when New York visits the always rowdy Power Balance Pavilion in Sacramento, CA. The Kings (1-1) will be coming off a Thursday match up with the visiting Chicago Bulls. As of Wednesday, guard Marcus Thorton is the squad’s leading scoring with 20.5 points per game.

Here’s the New York Knicks’ upcoming schedule:

For more on the New York Knicks visit the SB Nation blog Posting And Toasting.

Read More: Kobe Bryant (G – LAL), New York Knicks, Golden State Warriors, Sacramento Kings, Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks at Golden State Warriors, Dec 28, 2011 10:30 PM EST

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Former National Basketball
Association player Cuttino Mobley sued Madison Square Garden LP,
parent of the New York Knicks, alleging that the team
discriminated against him based on what it perceived to be a
disability.

Mobley, who hasn’t played since the 2008-09 season, says
the Knicks ended his career by having him declared medically
ineligible to play because of a heart ailment, according to the
complaint filed today in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

The Knicks said in a statement that Mobley’s lawsuit has no
merit.

Mobley, 36, was diagnosed in 1999 with hypertrophic
cardiomyopathy, a thickening of the heart wall, according to the
complaint. He had been medically cleared every year, by every
team he played for, subject to his signing a waiver of
liability, according to the document.

The Knicks, who were aware of his condition, agreed to
waive a physical examination of Mobley prior to trading for the
shooting guard in 2008, according to the complaint.

Instead of sending Mobley to the cardiologist who had
treated him for many years, the Knicks selected Mark Estes and
then Barry Maron who, according to the suit, were well-known
opponents of allowing players with Mobley’s condition to play.
Both said Mobley shouldn’t play.

The Knicks saved about $19 million by having Mobley
declared medically ineligible to play because insurance paid the
player’s salary, according to the complaint. The salary also is
forgiven from luxury tax payments, which teams pay for being
over the roster spending limit.

“The Knicks’ actions effectively deprived Mobley of the
ability to play professional basketball, not only for the
Knicks, but for the rest of his career,” according to the
complaint.

Mobley hasn’t officially retired and several teams
expressed interest in signing him but backed out because he had
been medically disqualified from playing for the Knicks,
according to the complaint. The teams weren’t identified.

The Knicks said in their statement that on the day of his
retirement, “Cuttino publicly stated that he had no choice but
to follow the advice of the doctors and step away from the
league.”

“Although we understand Cuttino Mobley’s frustration with
the effects of his illness, we are extremely disappointed in his
recent actions,” according to the team statement.

Mobley seeks unspecified monetary damages, 25 percent of
which he said he would donate to the Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy
Association.

The disease killed Reggie Lewis of the Boston Celtics and
Hank Gathers of Loyola Marymount University. The Knicks acquired
Eddy Curry in a 2005 trade with the Chicago Bulls, who had asked
the player to take a DNA test to determine whether he was
susceptible to the condition. Curry had missed games due to an
irregular heartbeat.

The case is Mobley v. Madison Square Garden LP, 11-08290,
U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

To contact the reporter on this story:
Scott Soshnick in New York at
ssoshnick@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Michael Sillup at msillup@bloomberg.net

Michael Jordan is amongst the most vocal of NBA owners when it’s come to initiating a better revenue-sharing system, as his Charlotte Bobcats struggle to compete financially with the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks. In terms of stylish, personalized air travel, though, it’s safe to say that MJ has just about every owner beat. Even you, Mark Cuban.

This, via Yardbarker, is the guy’s plane. It features a North Carolina-blue tail fin, the “6″ and the “23″ in its tail number refer to the amount of NBA championships he won and Jordan’s number, and it has his own logo on it. Just in case MJ gets confused on the tarmac:

Perhaps those familiar with the wonderful world of aviation (especially as “PanAm Fever” grips the country) can help us identify the type of plane it is in the comments section. All we can tell is that having your initials worked into the plane’s identification (as you can see by the “N236MJ” on the plane’s left jet engine) is pretty dope.

(And, no, “PanAm Fever” is not a real thing.)

Related: Charlotte Bobcats, Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks