Kobe and Nash will make a great duo. That’s what the numbers say anyway.

Nash had the highest assist percentage in the NBA (53.1) and made the most passes to spot-up shooters (389) in the pick-and-roll last season. More often than not, 62 percent of the time, Nash passed the rock in the two-man game, and his Phoenix Suns teammates shot 51 percent on those passes.

“With Nash taking over primary ballhandling duties and Kobe handling the ball less, expect the Lakers to get more open shots and shoot the ball at a higher percentage, including Kobe,” wrote Ryan Feldman and Rachel Eldridge of ESPN Stats & Info. “Kobe doesn’t get open very often, but when he does he’s a highly efficient shooter. If Nash is able to get open shots for Kobe, expect the Lakers to be a strong contender.”

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[Editor's note: The two interesting, or curious, developments in the John Wall injury recovery process is that he is looking into getting his own personal trainer to help with his knee, etc. issues, per the Washington Post's Michael Lee, and that he has shut himself down for an indefinite amount of time. Wall speaks with CSNWashington's Chris Miller in the video below. -Kyle]

[After last week’s Wizards loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, I asked Derek Fisher, Ron Artest and Shannon Brown their impressions of John Wall's game. Wall did not play in the defeat, but had a stellar outing in their previous match up in LA.

Brown commended of Wall’s ability, Fisher heaped high praise on John’s character, and Artest had a comedic response. -Adam]

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{photo by Adam McGinnis}

News broke during the Los Angeles Lakers’ 103-89 victory over the Washington Wizards that Lakers guard Sasha Vujacic will likely be traded to the New Jersey Nets. Via CBS Sports:

The first step, agreed to in principle Tuesday, is a three-team trade in which the Nets get a first-round pick from the Rockets and another one from the Lakers. New Jersey sends Terrence Williams to the Rockets and Joe Smith to the Lakers, who send Sasha Vujacic to the Nets, the people familiar with the framework of the deal said.

Vujacic, nicknamed the “Machine”, had fallen out of the Lakers’ rotation this season with the new additions of Steve Blake, Matt Barnes and the improved play of Shannon Brown.

The trade cannot officially go through until Wednesday, so Lakers’ coach Phil Jackson was unable to comment in his post game presser, but he did slyly remark that they could us a big guy named John Doe in a hypothetical question about adding Joe Smith.

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[via Washington Wizards FaceBook]

Because I didn’t have a better title. Because I love late-starting West Coast games. Because I usually stay up late anyway. Because I’m excited to watch this match-up. Because Al Thornton sports jammies in SoCal. That’s Juice for ya.

LINKS.

For tonight’s Wizards-Lakers game, I did a Q&A with Andy Kamanetzky of the Land O’ Lakers blog on ESPN LA … you should go check it out.

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So Mike James has been written about a couple times lately. And with everything else that’s going on, it’s nice to talk about non-legal, non-14-29 record, basketball-related items. But first, here’s a run-down of everything that’s going on (can’t help myself) …

Such as Javaris Crittenton finally appearing in court, pleading to a misdemeanor gun possession, and being sentenced to one-year probation and a $1,250 fine all in about half-a-day. Oh, and since Gilbert Arenas has owned “hundreds” of guns, we found out about him making fun of Crittenton’s gun because it was little. Good one.

What else? Well, Crittenton’s day in court only created more contradictions, brought to you by Dan Steinberg, and not clarity. My favorite one … the idea the Crittenton dealt with fearing for his life with an unloaded gun. Can we all agree that Javaris got rid of the bullets before turning in the gun? Ok, I’m making an assumption, but that seems like where the smart money is.

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flickr/kris247

“How dare us (the Lakers) be complacent and lackadaisical in regular season game,” said Derek Fisher from the podium during his NBA championship winning press conference.

What regular season game was D-Fish speaking of in reference to the turning point of the Lakers’ season? Why, an early December ’08 meeting against the Washington Wizards in the Verizon Center of course.

[Continue reading on NBC Washington.com]

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It was like that part in Hoosiers when Coach Norman Dale discretely asked the ref to kick him out of the game so that Shooter the Drunk could take over with a chance at redemption. Last night against the Lakers, there was no drunk, the Jazz just had their final run squashed, and Jerry Sloan asked the ref to kick him out by calling him a mutherfucker. Could Sloan’s coaching career be over? Not like Hoosiers at all.

@ Mohawks Meeting Swarth

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