The Lakers are again at the top of the West tied with Houston at 46 - 21. Pau Gasol is out indefinitely and Bynum is expected back by the first round of the playoffs. If Ariza can come back as well, the Lakers would be at full strength but would still need a couple of games to gel and play together. There has been concern that Kobe, Pau, and 'Drew haven't played together yet. I'll put it like this: Pau gelled with the team almost immediately playing out of position. There's no reason that bringing young 'Drew back to a team he's played for at the positions he plays should be a huge cause for concern. A bigger concern may be finding a way to make sure that the bench players that have stepped up during our bouts with injury don't lose focus like V. Rad.
Check the following from Charley Rosen (whose book about the 71-72 Lakers is a great read) when asked which two players he would take from today's NBA to build a team around:
That's easy.
Kobe Bryant, because he's a better shooter and defender than LeBron James, and can easily play both wing positions. Not to mention Kobe being one of the game's greatest clutch performers.
Tim Duncan, for his versatility and his championship-attitude. TD is a jack-of-all-trades and master of every one.
Kobe and TD would provide an inside presence as well as an outside one — and would enable a team to play inside-out basketball. Having them both on the floor would also discourage defenses from double-teaming either one.
There's no other possible combo that comes close.
Big win at Dallas last night though we almost blew a 21 point halftime lead. 
These are the kind of games where you don't know which team walks away with the most (besides the win of course). Do the short-handed Lakers realize the accomplishment of coming out with a victory over a playoff bound team or do they realize they lost all but 2 points of a 21 point lead? Does Dallas hang their heads for losing to a team missing it's two big men or do they realize that each of their past two losses could have gone either way? I don't know. But in the competitive West right now, the win is all that matters. I'll let the Zen Master put together the mental gymnastics!
Congrats Houston on your run! And bigger congrats to those happily living in Lakers land knowing our streak is still THE STREAK!
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