The Lakers are back in the Finals against their old rivals, but we have to wait until Thursday so that the TV schedule is optimum for the NBA. The Angels and Dodgers are heading in opposite directions, but both face teams that have fallen flat on their faces this season.

NBA

Lakers

• at Boston, Thursday, 6:00, ABC
• at Boston, Sunday, 6:00, ABC

The Lakers have made it back to the Finals for another edition of their traditional rivalry with the Celtics after a Western Conference Finals that was way easier than many people thought it would be. Unfortunately for the Lakers, the Celtics are a much better team than the Spurs this season. Longtime stars Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce are still looking for their first championships, meaning the Celtics will be just as hungry as the Lakers, and more talented. I expect the Lakers to lose a hard-fought series.

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The Dodgers didn’t fair well in the Windy City. They got blown out of town by the Cubs, getting swept in the three game series in Wrigley Field. They lost 1-3 in the first game, 1-3 in the second and 1-2 in the rubber match against the Cubs. The offense has been non-existent in the last six games for the Dodgers. They have scored a total of seven runs in those six games. Not very good and even if they got great pitching, not nearly enough run support to win any games.

After being swept by the Cubs last series the Dodgers we’re looking for some better luck against the Mets on Thursday. They didn’t get it. The Dodgers dropped the first game of the four game series in Queens 4-8 and have lost six of the last seven games. The upside for the Dodgers is that they scored four runs; which is a offensive outburst for them. The bad news is that Brad Penny gave up five earned runs in four innings, so the Dodgers were behind from the start of the game. They still have three more games against the Mets and who knows maybe a win might come out of it.

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Clayton Kershaw reared up for the 0-2 pitch - a 95 mph fastball. St. Louis Cardinals lead-off man Skip Schumaker swung but had no chance as the ball snapped into Russell Martin’s glove. Strike three.

A roar erupted from fans around Dodger Stadium. It was what the they had been waiting for. All the hype, all the anticipation had finally arrived at Chavez Ravine, and Kershaw was at the center of it. Not bad for a rookie making his major league debut.

But 20-year-old left hander is no ordinary rookie for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was the top pitching prospect in their system coming into the 2008 season - and for good reason. Since being drafted seventh overall by the Dodgers in the 2006, the phenom has struck out 264 batters in just over 202 minor league innings. His 2008 minor league numbers are as follows: 56 1/3 innings, 40 hits, 12 earned runs, 18 walks, 64 strikeouts, .203 batting average-against, 1.92 ERA, 1.03 WHIP.

According to MLB.com, Martin said, “He has electric stuff.”

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You win some you lose some, that’s the nature of the beast. Teams expect to lose games in a 162 game season, that’s a no brainer. They just hope that they win more than they lose. At some point in the season your team is going to have winning streaks and losing streaks there’s nothing much a team can do, but go out and play. Eventually things will square away.

That seems to be the case for the Dodgers right now. They started out great, then they hit a bump in the road, then they went back up winning seven games in a row. Now they seem to be hanging in there, winning and losing evenly. Such was the case with the last two series.

The Dodgers started the weekend facing the Angels having lost 7 of the last eight games against them. They didn’t fare much better this time around. They faced Joe Saunders in game one and lost 4-2. Kuroda actually pitched well enough to win, but things came apart for the Dodgers when Bennett threw the ball all the way to the warning track, on what should have been the last out of the 4th inning, allowing a run to score. The Angels never gave up the lead after that. The second game the Dodgers won 6-3 behind Dewitt’s 2 run home run, four shut out inning by Kuo and Saito saving the game in the 9th. It was only the second win in eleven tries against Angels. The third and final game they lost 10-2, thanks to Lowe giving up seven runs in five innings.

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The Lakers are now facing their first adversity of the 2008 playoffs. It will be interesting to see how the team responds to losing twice in Utah. The Angels and Dodgers meet in Anaheim for the first of their two yearly series. Both teams are coming off rough weeks.

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It is early in the season, but early troubles are hard to get over sometimes. Fans can sense when their team isn’t doing great and start to get worried no matter how early in the season it is. Fans can only hope that their team has a turn around and the faith from the fans paid off.

What a difference a week makes. The Dodgers after struggles on the mound and the plate have had quite a turn around. They had a winning streak of eight games and kicked off the home stand by taking two of three from the Mets. Now they are sitting three and half games out of first place. Much better than being second to last in the division.

The Dodgers started the home stand on Monday against the Mets. They took the first game 5-1. Rafael Furcal started things off with a bang hitting a lead off home run and the rest of the offense followed. Kemp and Dewitt also hit home runs to back Billingsley to his second win of the season. The Dodgers took the second game 5-4. Blake Dewitt hit an inside the park home run (one of the most exciting plays in baseball) that put the Dodgers ahead for good. The Dodgers received a great performance from their reliever Kuo who struck out eight and kept the Mets bats in check. The Dodgers were all ready to sweep the Mets in the third game with their ace Penny taking the mound, but it wasn’t meant to be. Brad Penny struggled and gave up ten runs in what eventually was a 12-1 shellacking.

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You gotta love those good ol’ Dodgers, always gambling for charity. Today from 6:30-8:30pm the Dodger’s will be participating in a poker tournament to raise funds for charities that provide aid and assistance to the survivors of the crisis in Darfur. The event will be hosted, by Oscar-nominated actor Don Cheadle and World Series of Poker Champion Annie Duke.

Dodgers James Loney, Scott Proctor, and Gary Bennett will all me in attendance for the “Ante up for Africa,” celebrity poker tournament. During the game participants and donors will be able to bid on Dodger Tickets and autographed merchandise in a silent auction. All proceeds go towards the charity. Other celebrities scheduled to attend are Sugar Ray Leonard, Shannon Elizabeth, and Donnie Wahlberg, among others.

The Event will take place at the San Manuel Indian Bingo & Casino located at 777 San Manuel Blvd. Highland - Map.

Photo by Jam Adam

The Lakers look like they might be the best team in the NBA right now. They continue their playoff run this week. Both the Dodgers and Angels have been hot lately, and look to build off their recent success.

NBA

Lakers

• vs Utah, Wednesday, 7:30, TNT
• at Utah, Friday, 6:00, ESPN
• at Utah, Sunday, 12:30, ABC

The Lakers rolled over the Jazz 109-98 on Sunday in a game that dragged horribly near the end, with 24 fouls called in the 4^th quarter. The Jazz probably won’t go down that easily in the rest of the series, but the Lakers seem to be peaking right now and may be able to make it through the series without too many issues. Something to look out for is the Jazz’ success at home – they lost only four games at EnergySolutions Arena over the entire regular season, although Houston did win there once in the first round.

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Looks like all the Dodgers needed was a good tongue lashing from me. They straightened up and started to fly right, well at least this week. Hopefully they can keep it up for the rest of the season or at least until the All-Star break.

The Dodgers ended the week off on the right foot, sweeping the series against the Rockies. The Rockies had been struggling going into the series and the Dodgers took advantage of it. They beat them 8-7, 11-3 and 3-2. The first game went a lucky 13 innings with the Dodgers winning it on a walk-off sacrifice fly from Russell Martin. The second game in the series was an easy win for the Dodgers. Brad Penny turned in one of his best pitching performances (7 innings/3 earned runs). He was backed up by 10 runs in the first inning, with four of those runs coming on Matt Kemp’s first career grand slam. The third game in the series needed extra inning , James Loney drove in Rafael Furcal with the winning run in the 10th inning.

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The Lakers continue their march through the first round. Both baseball teams have put together good weeks and look to continue their success. We have one of our last chances to see a Los Angeles sports icon, Oscar de la Hoya, who has found himself an easy fight. Find out about all of this week’s big sporting events in L.A.

NBA

Lakers

• at Denver, Monday, 7:30, TNT
• vs Denver, Wednesday, time TBA, ESPN (if necessary)
• at Denver, Friday, time TBA, ESPN (if necessary)
• vs Denver, Sunday, time TBA, ABC (if necessary)

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What once started as a promising season is now turning into a glimpse into the future, if the Dodgers don’t make a change for the better.

The Dodgers are 22 games into the season and are a sub .500 team, 409, to be exact. They don’t look so good right now. In fact they’re so bad that the lowly Giants are 1.5 games above them. The Giants were predicted by many to finish last in the NL West, but so far it looks like the Dodgers (if they don’t improve something) will be near or at the bottom of the division.

I think that more than anything, the Dodgers need to improve their starting pitching. Penny and Lowe are the only two of the five starters that have a winning record. Even Penny (3-2) and Lowe’s (2-1) records aren’t that good. Teams expect more out of their top two starters, especially from their ace.

Many will be quick to point to the offense as the problem; how they haven’t been scoring all that many runs. Even though that is a good point, of the 13 loses they have only scored 1+ runs 6 times, less than half. But, in those loses the Dodger pitchers have given up 85 runs. Do the math, 85/13=6.5 that’s a 6.5 ERA, high for any team. It’s hard to stay in the game if your team is almost always trailing from the start. The Dodgers will need to fix the pitching and that’s the bottom line. [ Read The Full Story -> ]

The Lakers begin the playoffs this week after a superb weekend showing. Also in the playoffs are the Ducks, who had a miserable week, falling into an 0-2 hole. The Dodgers and Angels both have a full slate of games against opponents they should beat.

NBA

Lakers

• vs. Sacramento, Tuesday, 7:30, FSW
• vs. Undetermined Playoff Opponent later in week

The Lakers wrapped up an extremely impressive week with victories over both New Orleans and San Antonio over the weekend. They currently hold the number one seed in the West and the tiebreaker over the Hornets, their nearest competition. The Tuesday game against Sacramento should be a tune-up for the postseason, which begins on Saturday. The Nuggets are the most likely opponent for the Lakers, though they could still face Dallas or Golden State. Both Denver and Golden State pose easy matchups for the Lakers, but Dallas would be a little tougher. Either way, the Lakers should make it through to the second round with no real problems.

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