For all practical purposes, all roads leading to the NBA title must first go through Miami. Not LA, not Chicago, and surely not Boston. In fact, close to 75% of the GMs polled have said that the Miami Heat are the clear favorites to be crowned the 2012 NBA Champions. Feeding off a heavy dose of uncontested 3-pointers (9-18 for 50%), the Miami Heat kept the Los Angeles Lakers at arms-length for most of the night and cruised to a 98-87 win at the American Airlines Arena.

King James showed Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers that he's capable of carrying the Miami Heat all by himself. All rights reserved. Copyright 2010 Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

After a dismal first half that saw the Lakers accounting for only 37-points, the Heat continued to build upon their domination with active hands, quicker reactions off the ball and some more poor shooting by the Lakers. Lebron James (31 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists, 4 steals, 3 blocked shots) was a one-man wrecking crew, but King James got plenty of help from his supporting cast with Chris Bosh (15 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal) and Shane Battier (11 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 blocked shot) more than making up for the absence of Dwayne Wade.

Miami’s lead ballooned to 77-56 at the end of the 3rd period as Kobe Bryant (24 points on 8-21, 7 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 steals) suffered through another difficult night, thanks to an aggressive Heat defense that started with Battier and often ended up with the Black Mamba being double-teamed, forcing him to pass the ball out to his equally cold perimeter shooters. The game further spiraled out of control as the Laker bench was unable to get any stops or put any points on the scoreboard themselves.

About the only bright spot for the Lakers was Pau Gasol (26 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 blocked shot), who found himself relatively unguarded as the Heat concentrated their defensive efforts on Kobe and Drew. Andrew Bynum, (15 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocked shots) never really got engaged into the flow of the game and at times looked disinterested as Miami pummeled the Lakers on the glass.

The Lakers cut into the sizable Miami lead and drew within 92-79 with just over 3-minutes to play behind a 3-pointer by Kobe. Kobe drained another trey, this one banking home, then stole the ball for an easy dunk and suddenly the score was 94-84. But Miami was never really in danger as James dropped in a floater over Bynum and the Heat made it 5-straight wins over the Lakers. Matt Barnes (3 points on 1-6, 4 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 blocked shots) and Derek Fisher (2 points on 1-5, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal) could not alleviate any pressure off of the constant double-teams and had their hands full trying to contain James and Mario Chalmers (10 points, 6 assists1 steal) themselves.

Even out-of-shape Eddy Curry (6 points, 3 rebounds in6-minutes) made the Lakers look bad in his first appearance of the season. If Mike Brown was licking his chops before the season started, he better start praying that help is on the way soon. The Lakers looked old, unsure and worst of all, uninspired. Freeing themselves of the confines of the triangle should have allowed for a more free-flowing offense, but instead it has pointed out the glaring shooting deficiencies and lack of athleticism on this team. Other than Kobe, no one is capable of creating on his own. And without Kobe, this team is not capable of picking up the slack when he has an off-night from the field. GM Mitch Kupchak has his work cut out for him, and hopefully he can pull another rabbit out of his hat, this time preferably before the trade deadline.

Monday night’s match-up against the Dallas Mavericks was less about redemption for past playoff woes, and more about healing a fresher wound. It also marked the return of Lamar Odom (as well as Khloe Kardashian) for the first time since being dealt to the Mavs after a trade attempt to New Orleans was nullified by David Stern. In the process, feelings were hurt, accusations were thrown, and the next thing you know, the Lakers were suddenly without the services of last season’s 6th-Man-of-the-Year while the Mavs added a ball player who still doesn’t quite grasp his new role with the team. The hurt may not surface as often, but the raw emotions associated with them were still evident as Staples Center stood and saluted one of their own.

Lamar (10 points on 4-12, 4 rebounds, 2 assists) got a rousing standing ovation and a bear-hug from Derek Fisher (13 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals) when he entered the game with 7:32 remaining in the first quarter. He acknowledged his long-time supporters and immediately went to work by knocking down his first jumper from the perimeter over Pau Gasol (8 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block). As for the game itself, the Lakers seemed to be playing with a chip on their shoulders looking to prove that last season was just an anomaly never to be repeated again. But maybe even more nervous than Odom were the Lakers themselves. Starting with a heavy dose of kicking the ball inside, the Lakers could not get anything to fall for them. But they persevered and continued to pound the ball inside, and it finally began to pay off as Dallas started to fatigue under the constant duress.

It seems like only yesterday that Lamar Odom was winning the 6th-Man-of-the-Year award. Copyrights may apply. All rights reserved.

Andrew Bynum (17 points, 15 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block) and Josh McRoberts (7 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal) connected for an alley-oop play to put the Lakers ahead 23-21, after a horrendous start that saw both teams struggle from the field. After being held scoreless in the first period, Kobe Bryant (14 points on 7-21, 7 assists, 3 rebounds, 3 steals, 1 block) returned to the line-up just as Dirk Nowitzki (21 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist) began to heat up with back-to-back fallaway jumpers, giving the Mavs a slim 30-25 lead. Kobe got his first bucket of the game after Shawn Marion (7 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block) inadvertently threw him the ball for a breakaway gimme. The Lakers managed to limp into halftime ahead 39-35 after trailing for most of the first half, thanks to some cold shooting by the Mavs, who went 3-15 (20%) from long range.

Matt Barnes (9 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists) got the Lakers off on the right track but Dallas stormed back behind some solid D and retook the lead, 45-43. Dirk began finding the range and started commanding the ball while the Lakers became jump-shot happy allowing Dallas to gobble up the rebounds. Play deteriorated further as both coaches brought in their second units. The cold shooting continued to plague the Lakers as Dallas slowly extended their lead to 51-45. The Lakers managed only 7-points in the period on 3-19 shooting. Fortunately, Dallas only scored 16-points themselves, otherwise this game would have been over.

McRoberts gave the fans something to cheer about with his reverse slam off the lob pass from Metta World Peace (2 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal) to open the final period of play. Jason Kapono (2 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist) found a wide-open Bynum under the hoop to draw the Lakers to within 55-52 with 8:59 to go. The Lakers got a much-needed defensive stop, then Kobe converted on an “and-1″ but failed to hit the free throw to tie the score. Kobe’s jumper from the elbow after a Vince Carter (6 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals) driving toss-in kept LA close but unable to regain the lead. Fisher’s steal on Nowitzki and Barnes subsequent free throws finally gave them the lead at 60-59. The 37-yr. old Fish then snared a rebound, was fouled and dropped a pair of free throws, then stole the ball again resulting in his breakaway lay-in to put the Lakers in control 64-59 and forcing Dallas to call time-out.

Fisher was on a roll as he nailed a jumper but Dirk finally stopped the bleeding with one of his own. Nowitzki found himself going to the line with regularity and the German did not flinch as he easily made his way around the Spaniard. With 2:01 remaining, Bynum’s turnaround bank shot gave the Lakers a 70-65 advantage as Dallas went with their small line-up. Dallas got a much needed offensive put-back from Ian Mahinmi (9 points, 10 rebounds, 1 steal). The Lakers were unable to score at their end, but Dirk was forced into a traveling violation with just 0:38 seconds on the clock and the Lakers clinging to a 70-68 lead. After another Kobe miss, Jason Terry (7 points, 7 assists, 1 rebound, 1 steal) quickly tied the score with a floater down the middle of the lane.

With all eyes on Kobe with 9.9 seconds to go, the Black Mamba deferred to the hot-hand and delivered a perfect pass to a wide-open D-Fish who nailed the 3-pointer with 03.1 ticks on the clock. Carter’s desperation shot at the end of regulation bounced harmlessly away as El Presidente put himself at the forefront once again, securing the Lakers 73-70 win. The Lakers travel to Miami for a game against the Heat on Thursday followed by a back-to-back at the Orlando the following night.

The LA Clippers have generated a lot of buzz ever since they pried Chris Paul away from the grip of NBA Commissioner David Stern. Instead of quietly building on the success of Blake Griffin’s inaugural campaign, the Clips decided to step out of the kiddie pool and dive head-first into the deep end. In addition to CP3, they were also the winners of the Chauncey Billups amnesty sweepstakes. Couple that with the free agent signing of versatile small forward Caron Butler and the re-signing of athletic, shot-blocker extraordinaire DeAndre Jordan and suddenly the prospect of simply making the playoffs wasn’t good enough. Projections of a deep playoff run and dare we say it, a red, white and blue championship banner hanging in Staples Center suddenly had Clipper Nation bowing in reverence and kissing the ring on Donald Sterling’s hand.

Clippers Nation has had more to cheer about with the addition of superstar CP3 and veteran Chauncey Billups. Copyrights may apply. All rights reserved.

But through all of the trumpeted fanfare, amid sports talk radio dialogue of taking over the city, and even as the Clips were neck-and-neck in the standings with their purple and gold neighbors, one thing remained to be proven, and that was accomplished Saturday night with their 102-94 thumping behind Chris Paul’s 33-points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds and 3 steals. This may still be a Lakers town, but one thing was proven beyond a doubt. These Clippers are for real, as in verified, double-checked and tested. Not only did the Clips take away the Lakers tremendous advantage on the boards (50-42), not only did they nullify their disparity with points-in-the-paint (38-40), but they beat the Lakers at their own game, never relinquishing the lead during the entire contest.

Not even Kobe Bryant (42 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals) could prevent the Clips from exacting their third consecutive win (2-preseason, 1 regular season) of the abbreviated season against his 16-time champs. But Kobe got very little help from his “supporting” staff as the Clips wrecked havoc by feasting on a heavy diet of pick-and-pop from both CP3 and Billups (19 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists). And for good measure, Blake Griffin (22 points, 14 rebounds, 5 assists) had plenty of signature oohs and ahhs to please Clipper Nation while also agitating the Laker players.

Neighbors are not always friendly with one another and this affair was no different. Mike Brown did not appreciate Griffin pushing Darius Morris (7 points, 4 assists, 1 steal in 24-minutes) while the rookie was in midair after dunking the ball. To make matters worse, the whistle had already blown and the play was dead. Morris landed awkwardly while Brown had to be restrained from rushing the court after Griffin. For his trouble, Brown was assessed a technical foul and the mood out on the court went even sourer. Unfortunately for the Lakers, they could not channel their emotions into better play whereas the Clips continued to build on their lead.

Pau Gasol (14 points on 7-17, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block) was pushed so far off the block that he became a jump-shooting non-threat. Andrew Bynum, the other half of the Lakers formidable front line (12 points on 6-13, 16 rebounds, 4 assists) was double- and triple-teamed whenever he got the ball, forcing the Lakers into a hurried and ineffective offense. Without Kobe carrying the entire offense, the Lakers would easily have been blown clean out of the water. Even the recent good play of Matt Barnes (6 points on 1-6, 2 rebounds, 2 assists) and Derek Fisher (7 points, 4 assists, 1 rebound) hit rock bottom against the peppier Clips.

With Mo Williams out of action (sore right foot), Randy Foye (10 points, 2 rebounds) responded nicely while trying to harass Kobe out on the wings. And with the Lakers without the services of Steve Blake, other than Morris, who picked up the bulk of the minutes, the Laker bench managed only 6-points and 5-rebounds. Hardly championship material for a team laden with veterans and ample leadership. If nothing else, this was a good wake-up call for the Lakers. And as for the Clippers, this was as good a win as they’ve ever had.