Tune in Sunday at 1:00 PM ET as the Los Angeles Lakers take on the Toronto Raptors. I'll be liveblogging for your enjoyment. That's right, I'm doing this one. Tell your friends.
HELLO! And welcome to my first liveblog of the season. You might see more typos than usual here because my two kids are bouncing off me like pinballs as I try to do this. You try to do better with a 4-year-old kicking you in the back as you try to type.
Rod Black just informed us that Andrea Bargnani wil not be playing today, and I found out earlier that Sonny Weems will sit out today with a sore back.
Matt Devlin is rocking a spectacular hair helmet today. It's absolutely breathtaking.
The big news for Lakers fans these days is the return of Andrew Bynum after missing the first 24 games recovering from knee surgery.
@jayheartsshell Be more specific. If there's a Smith on either of these rosters, that's news to me.
Considering that Joe Smith has played a whopping 25 minutes all season, I doubt he's going to get significant playing time with the Lakers unless there are a bunch of injuries.
@Fid I'm curious to see if Triano will start Kleiza or Julian Wright in Sonny's place.
The starting lineup for the Raptors: Jose Calderon, DeMar DeRozan, Linas Kleiza, Ed Davis and Amir Johnson
The starting lineup for the Lakers: Derek Fisher, Kobe Bryant, Ron Artest, Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol
It's safe to say that the Lakers' starting lineup has a significant advantage at every position except for point guard.
The last time these two teams met on a Sunday afternoon, the Raptors won 106-105 on Sunday, Jan. 24 last season
@jayheartsshell Nope, and I don't think Phil Jackson plans on starting him at all this season.
We're about to get underway at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Earth
Amir Johnson puts it on the floor and drives and scores to give the Raptors an early 2-0 lead
Artest drills a jumper, we're tied at 2.
Calderon's hits an open jumper, 4-2 Raptors
D-Fish drills a trey, 5-4 Lakers
Amir with the wet jumper, Raps up 6-5
Artest in the post, scores over Kleiza. Lakers up 7-6
Lakers and Raptors exchange misses, Kobe is 0-for-2
Nobody could miss in the first couple of minutes, now nobody can hit, 8:44 in the first quarter, Lakers up 7-6
Ron-Ron goes to the free throw line, hits both, Lake Show up 9-6
Kleiza scores on back-to-back possessions. Raptors take a 10-9 lead
@Immy Nope, Bargnani's out today
Surprisingly, Kobe is only the second-leading career points per game player against the Raptors. Iverson has the highest average.
Kleiza is on fire! He sticks another jumper and the raptors are up 13-11.
Amir draws a charge from Artest.
