Let the rivalr- 

Nope, sorry. We weren't playing the Boston Celtics.  We were the playing the Sacramento Kings. A young team that has a future no doubt, four or five years from now.

Let's be honest though, as much as the Kings faithful were confident in the upset and the "we will show the League who the Kings are," the Lakers had this one in the bag before it started. 

Usually, players will warm up and then take about one or two minutes to sign stuff for the fans. Not this time. Aside from Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol acknowledging the fans with a smile or quick wave, all the Lakers fans were left to take pictures.

And let me tell you, did I ever. (Crappy camera, just FYI)

There were lots of Laker fans in attendance. I would say there were a good 30-35% pro-Lakers crowd.  The way the Kings hype-crew riled up the crowd was nice. It gave the arena a playoff type atmosphere, especially in the first half. Definite buzz in the crowd. A few cowbells were also heard, and I have to give props to this guy who wouldn't stop using the bell all game long.

Anyways, here are some pictures of the Lakers warming up.

Odom stretching out. I was about five feet away from the court, so my pics are nice. (U mad?) 

Luke Walton was getting some shots up, and he looked like he was going to play. Derek Fisher and Matt Barnes also out.  Matt Barnes is taller than I thought, and he's very lanky too.  The Great One, Brian Shaw was also getting some shots up. I am proud and honored to say, I've witnessed Brian Shaw shoot in person. He was still making threes and some funny fans behind me were screaming "Suit up Shaw, you still got another year!!"  Classic.

As previously mentioned, Mr. Intangibles was there. His play in the 4th Quarter sealed the game for the Lakers. As soon as he hit that layup and was fouled, all the Kings fans started to leave.  I wondered why they were leaving early, and even asked.  I tried to get the chant going, but alas, there were no Arsenal supporters to help.

Here are some pictures of Pau warming up and stretching out. The Lakers that did not come out were Kobe, Ron, Stevie B, Shannon,Sasha, Ebanks and Caracter. I don't know why the last four weren't out there.

At this point, we were told to return to our seats. Luke Walton was the last player on the court and I stayed to take a few pics of him. I really thought he was going to play.

Video Time:

Warming Up Video

Warming Up Video 2

Luke Walton 

Kobe "The Black Mamba" Bryant

That concludes my little post here. I'm hungry now, gonna get some cookies. 

You guys know how the story turned out. I'll let Dex take it from here.