NBA Roundup: Welcome To Kobeland

Notes on Sunday's games in the National Basketball Association ...

• Are You Not Entertained?. It looks like the Lakers have figured out that the only way to rescue what's left of their season is to let Kobe Bryant take every shot. At least some are saying that, including T.J. Simers, of course. "That's right, the ball hog is back, and just in time to make it worth watching the Lakers again, unless you're really into the titanic struggle being waged between Denver and the Lakers to avoid being the No. 7-seeded team and getting spanked by Phoenix in the first round." Bryant followed his 65-point performance vs. Portland on Friday with 50 points on Sunday against the Timebrwolves, making him the first Lakers player with consecutive 50-point games in 44 years (Elgin Baylor, 1962). LA beat Minnesota 109-102.

• Pistons Misfire. The postmortem of Detroit's loss to Dallas included this telling line: The Pistons were 2-for-8 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter, hitting only eight of 20 shots from the floor. Richard Hamilton missed five of those free throws as the Mavericks won 92-88, ending Detroit's five-game winning streak. Dirk Nowitzki had 28 points for Dallas.

• If The 76ers Had Kobe, They Could Have Sent It To Overtime. So much for the 76ers resurgence. Yao Ming had 24 points and Tracy McGrady 21 as Houston beat Philadelphia 124-74. That's 50 points for the non-math inclined. It was the biggest home loss in franchise history for Philadelphia.

• Everyone's Doing The Turkoglu. Hedo Turkoglu scored 20 points to lead Orlando over Miami 97-83, breaking the Heat's nine-game winning streak and run of 14 straight home victories. Or, as Miami coach Pat Riley said: "We just got rolled."