"The time has come."

— Ricky Ricardo, I Love Lucy

THE OPPONENT

THE KEY BATTLE

MUSICAL INTERLUDE

"Los Angeles, I'm Yours" by The Decemberists.

INTERESTING SIDESHOW

And nothing has been made more clear. Other than that we now know El Flaco won't be the starting small forward on opening night.

WILD GUESS OF THE EVENING

REAL TALK

Knowing that Martin will match up with Bryant in a completely meaningless game is really weird. And it's a complete lose-lose for Martin. If he scores 30, it means nothing because it's preseason. If he stinks, he got shut down by Kobe IN THE PRESEASON. Therefore, rule No. 1 of "weird Martin-Kobe preseason match-up": I will not discuss Martin or Kobe in the post-game recap at all tomorrow. No matter what. Martin could ride into warmups on a talking pygmy goat who says terrible things about Kobe's mother and I, Th. Ziller, Esq, will not write a word about it.

DETAILS