This week in Lakerdom has been both sad and historic. Earlier today Dr Buss was laid to rest at Forest Lawn cemetery in Hollywood. The Wednesday night victory over Boston was undeniably stirring, but now the grind of the home stretch kicks in. It remains to be seen whether the Lakers can compete with that same verve without the surge of emotions that Dr Buss's passing unleashed.

The Lakers' playoffs hopes are still not what anyone would call "good." To illustrate: the Blazers are just a half-game behind the Lake Show even though they've lost six in a row. Houston sits three-and-a-half games ahead of the Lakers, Utah five and Golden State five-and-a-half. It's still the regular season for the purple and gold, the "win to survive" portion of the schedule has already kicked in.

The Lakers and Blazers split their first two matchups and will play once more after tonight.