Lakers’ win over Miami a signature victory

Game stories

--The Times’ Mike Bresnahan highlights Kobe Bryant’s effort in the Lakers’ 93-83 victory Sunday over the Miami Heat.

--The Orange County Register’s Kevin Ding argues the Lakers had the right recipe for beating Miami.

--The Miami Herald’s Joseph Goodman faults the Heat for playing without much energy.

--The Daily News’ Elliott Teaford notes how Bryant got revenge on Dwyane Wade giving him a broken nose by lighting him up on the court.

--The South Florida-Sun Sentinel’s Ira Winderman notes how the Lakers outmuscled the Heat.

Notebooks

--The Times’ Bresnahan and the Daily News’ Teaford focus on Metta World Peace’s elevated play against Miami.

--The Miami Herald’s Goodman details how the Heat miss Chris Bosh.

Sidebars

--The Times’ Ben Bolch documents Dwyane Wade’s struggles against the Lakers. Bolch also ranks the Lakers at No. 9 because they struggled against elite teams. (Note: These rankings were written before the Miami win.)

--The Times’ Baxter Holmes explains why John Kuester’s return to Detroit on Tuesday might be awkward.

--The Orange County Register’s Kevin Ding reports Lakers trainer Gary Vitti plans to meet with the innovator of the basketball mask, Detroit-based Jerry McHale, to look into a possible upgrade from the mask Bryant has been wearing to protect his broken nose.

--ESPN Los Angeles’ Ramona Shelburne talks to Kuester at length about his firing from the Pistons.

--Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar argues UCLA needs to follow John Wooden’s ideal better for ESPN.com.

--Yahoo! Sports’ Marc Spears reports the Lakers are targeting Cleveland’s Ramon Sessions, Utah’s Devin Harris and Portland’s Raymond Felton.

--ESPN.coms’ Brian Windhorst credits the Lakers for taking advantage of their size.

Columns

--The Times’ Bill Plaschke argues the Lakers still need to make a trade before the March 15 deadline.

--ESPN.com’s J.A. Adande notices the Lakers’ confidence has grown.

--ESPN Los Angeles’ Dave McMenamin credits Bryant for overcoming all the adversity he has endured.

--The Daily News’ Jill Painter notes how James’ hard foul against Bryant last week in the All-Star game helped rally the team together.

--The Orange County Register’s Mark Whicker notices World Peace looking like Ron Artest.

--Fox Sports’ Chris Tomasson argues the Heat severely struggled without Chris Bosh.

--Fox Sports’ Jason Whitlock argues Bryant is nowhere near on the same level as Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan.

Blogs

--ESPN Los Angeles’ Brian Kamenetzky breaks down the Lakers’ victory over Miami.

--Pro Basketball Talk’s Matt Moore notes how Bryant got his revenge on Wade.

--Lakers.com’s Mike Trudell provides a running diary of the Lakers-Heat game.

--Forum Blue and Gold’s Darius Soriano believes the Lakers are rounding into form.

--Silver Screen and Roll’s C.A. Clark credits the Lakers for having some fight in them.

Radio Interview:

I joined 1430 ESPN Radio’s Guy Haberman to talk about what the Lakers’ victory against Miami means.

Tweet of the Day: “Do I think the Lakers can beat the Heat or Bulls in the Finals? No. OKC? Not now. But I do like them in a 7-game series over everyone else.” -- ArashMarkazi (ESPN Los Angeles’ columnist Arash Markazi)

Rick Friedman Reader Comment of the Day: “Five things to take from Lakers’ victory over the Heat 1. Chris Bosh absent was big 2. Kobe is still d’ man. 3. Ron world peace Artest need to show up more often 4. The Lakers weren’t playing back to back or away game 5. Miami didn’t have a speedy point guard.” -- Nojazz2005