Kobe's Heroics Not Enough, Again

The Lakers' first losing streak, and Denver begins losing some of its shine.

• Nashty Nash: At one point, things were going so well for the Nuggets that coach George Karl compared his new point guard, Chauncey Billups, to Barack Obama. They've lost three in a row now. The point guard his team went up against last night, Steve Nash, had himself a hell of a game (16 points, 11 assists) and put the nail in the Nuggets' coffin in the last three minutes with his shooting. “I’ve seen him do it so many times,” George Karl said of Nash. “Nash is Nash. He’s special.” • D-Rose for Governor: In a battle of elite point guards, it was Derrick Rose who came out on top against Deron Williams. Rose, the super rook, led the Bulls to a 106-98 win over the Jazz, leaving his counterpart no choice but to declare that Derrick is no longer a rookie, but one of the NBA's very best floor generals. Um, yeah.

• 41 up, 3 down: For the first time this season, the LA Lakers (21-5) have lost two games in a row. Unsurprisingly, both losses came on the road. The good news for the team from Hollywood - if you can call it that - is that they had a chance at the very end, but came up short. Kobe had a big game with 41 points, but it was the balanced scoring on the Orlando side (plus some clutch free throw shooting) that led the Magic to the win.