If the Heat lose the finals…

Clippers aren’t quite that dumb.  I don’t think so, at least.

L.A Clippers recieve

Championships have always defined success for the Lakers and that is always the goal, but this year they may be under more pressure than ever. Typically that pressure brings out the best in Kobe Bryant; we’ll see if his teammates can respond in a similar way.

News And Notes: Like Monday, there was a fair amount of activity around the league. Here’s a quick look at what’s gone down:

Steve Nash scored 13 points and Metta World Peace added 12 as the Lakers lost their second straight preseason game by double digits. Pau Gasol had eight points on 3-of-12 shooting, but Portland surged to a 13-point lead in the third quarter while the Lakers’ three healthy starters were still playing.

“I really think it fits the players we have,” Goran Dragic said before handing out 9 assists in the 30 minutes he played in his first outing back in Phoenix. “Especially with a player like Luis Scola, who’s a really good passer from the high post.”

Johnson took advantage of Blazer defensive help and slow recovery in bagging 4 of 7 shots – including 3 of 4 from behind the arc – to contribute a dozen points off the bench in his Phoenix debut.

Morris, looking very much like a player who put in work during the off-season, led the Suns with 14 points. Markieff also collected four quick fouls in the first half, looking very much like the player from last season on the defensive end./ij;’089908

Olshey went to work right away preparing for the NBA draft, and went on to land guards Damian Lillard and Will Barton and center Meyers Leonard. Olshey also won a chess match with Minnesota to keep Batum, who was a restricted free agent.

Now Green is expected to stick small forwards like LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony on defense and pick and choose his spots on offense. That’s a change from earlier in his career, when Green was able to shoot practically at will with the Thunder (after hitting 38.9 percent of his 3-pointers in 2008-09, he decided to take an additional 65 attempts the following season, but ended up making just 33.3 percent).

“Just being here with an Indiana Pacers jersey, it’s unbelievable,” Green said. “This is a really good fit for me; everybody is still young, we’re a playoff team, and I couldn’t be in a better place. Indiana is the home state of basketball and this organization is trying to change its image.

Most of those released were not familiar names, but Darius Johnson-Odom was cut from the Los Angeles Lakers, and Adam Morrison and Koby Carl were cut from the Portland Trail Blazers.

“I want to thank the Blazers’ organization for giving me a chance,” Morrison told CSNNW.com. “I’m sorry things didn’t work out, but I wish them nothing but success. Right now, I’m just going to talk to my agent and see where to go from here.”

“Yeah, I love it! I’m going to make everybody eat their words, man,” Waiters said. “That’s the biggest thing. I’m not worrying about anything that is going on. Like I said, I’m young, it’s a learning experience for me. At the end of the day, I’m just going to play my game and continue to work. The sky’s the limit for me.”

“I’ll tell you this man, he hit a jump shot, a three, the other night in practice,” Smart said. “He hadn’t been taking them in games, when we scrimmaged. And he finally hit one, so not only as a coaching staff were we all waiting for that to happen in a game more than anything else, but when he hit it in practice, the entire team erupted because of that. So, yes, you can see it. He has to do that in order for the defense to respect what he can do when he puts the ball on the floor.”

If being without him for the first five-to-six weeks of the regular season is the price they have to pay to have him to be completely healthy the rest of the year, it would be well worth it. If Nowitzki were to get surgery on Oct. 23, a week from today, a maximum recovery time of six weeks would have him back sometime in early December. That would keep him out roughly 20 games.

To put it lightly, the first 10 years of Eddy Curry’s NBA career have not gone smoothly since the big man was taken with the fourth overall pick by the Chicago Bulls in the 2001 NBA Draft. Two years ago, he found himself out of shape and out of the league, a drastic fall from grace after averaging double figures for six straight seasons with the Bulls and New York Knicks. The veteran spent the 2010 season on the proverbial scrap heap, but was determined to revitalize his career and image.

The onus is now on Harden to prove that he is a max player. He’s a good player, yes, and until he choked in the NBA Finals last season he was quite a force for the Thunder. The reality, however, is that Harden is not currently a max player, and unless he takes several steps forward this season his next contract will not reflect a maximum offer. Houston is the perfect place for him to prove he should get that kind of consideration, as the Rockets are team lacking veteran direction at the moment.

– if he can find his rookie shooting form. Add in the return of three-point shooting wing Alan Anderson and the likelihood of sharpshooter Jose Calderon finding additional minutes in a two point guard lineup, and Ross’ opportunities to use his skill were under threat from day one. This Raptors’ training camp and preseason has been very competitive.