Los Angeles Clippers @ MindSay 
Category: Sports
OK, so it wasn't Game Eight in the ongoing series between the Phoenix Suns and my LA Lakers, but it was impressive.
No Kobe.
No Kwame.
No problem.
Lakers win 114-106 last night in the NBA season opener.
My heart tells me we can go 82-0 but my head is thinking more like 55-27. That's 10 games better than last year and given how much the team improved during the season under Phil, there's no reason they can't pick up where they left off last April.
Beat the evil Suns, Clippers, Warriors and hated Sacramento Kings enough times this year and they're division winners guaranteed a top 3 seed in the playoffs.
Anything less is a disappointment.
Ron Artest may be on the move, finally.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that the Indiana Pacers were close to dealing Artest to the Clippers for Corey Maggette. The newspaper's source? Atlanta Hawks forward Al Harrington, who used to play for the Pacers.
Harrington told the paper that he heard from people in Indiana that the trade was close to being finalized. That would finally end the turbulent era of Artest in Indiana.
"Yeah, that would get it out of the water and off the Internet and all that nonsense," Harrington told the J-C. "But I've known for a couple of weeks now that nothing was going to happen with me. [Hawks general manager Billy Knight] told me that if there was going to be anything done he'd let me know. So it's been off of my mind for a while now."
One of the NBA’s greatest talents, Artest also is one of the league’s most mercurial personalities. The 26-year-old was placed on the inactive list by the Pacers earlier this month and was subsequently fined $10,000 by the league for publicly requesting a trade. Artest missed the bulk of last season after being suspended in November for attacking fans in the stands in Detroit.
Harrington told the J-C that he expects Artest to make whatever team he joins dangerous.
"Any team with a sane Ron Artest is going to be tough to deal with," Harrington said. "Any team with he's on with his mind right, is going to the playoffs and is going to make some noise. So it'll be good for Ron and for the Clippers."
Artest told the Indianapolis Star that he wasn't sure what to think of the rumors.
"You hear about them, but you never know what's true," he said. "I'm just waiting to find out which team I'll be playing for."
In late December, Pacers president Larry Bird went public with comments that he felt “betrayed” and “disappointed” by his All-Star forward, and that Artest had to be traded.
“I think enough is enough,” Bird told the Indianapolis Star. “I think Ronnie will do fine, but not here.”
“I don’t know if this is the right wording, but I felt betrayed,” Bird said. “We’re disappointed. Things happen, maybe it’s a good thing. He’s a very talented player. I always liked working with him and how he went about things on the basketball court. He’s a top-12 player in the league, but we’re in a situation where we have to move on.”
Pacers CEO and president Donnie Walsh told the Rocky Mountain News that 10 teams were still in the running for Artest and will "narrow it down in the next couple of days."
The Rocky Mountain News also cited a source saying that the Nuggets were among the top three candidates to get Artest, and another is the Minnesota Timberwolves.