A walk in the park for Toronto turned into a nightmare, as LA Lakers pulled off the upset in today's showdown. As usual after a surprise loss, the finger pointing came after the game in the Toronto locker room. "Coach didn't really bother preparing us for this game. We'd already been watching films of our next opponent," said Wright.

Bob acknowledged that was true, but said "our next opponent is three times as good as LA Lakers. Of course we dedicate more time to preparing for them. I'm not faulting Wright, but if the rest of the team had played as hard we'd have won this game easily. It was a lack of effort, not preparation."

LA Lakers coach Andreas Helmle could care less whose fault it was. "We're thrilled to get the win. They can make all the excuses they want, but we were the better team out there today."

LA Lakers was led by Monroe (12 points, 25 boards, 1 assists, a block), Sanchez (25 points, 1 assists, a block), Crandell (22 points, 6 boards, 1 assists). Toronto was led by Wright (8 points, 20 boards, 3 assists, a steal, a block), Murray (23 points, 3 steals), Chavis (13 points, 5 boards, 0 assists, a steal, 2 blocks).

LA Lakers ended their losing streak at 5 games, and jump to 20-37 and 14-15 at home. They remain at #4 in the Pacific and stay at #14 overall in the Western Conference. Toronto fall to 31-22. They hold at #2 in the Atlantic and hold at #4 overall in the Eastern Conference.

box score LA Lakers* roster Toronto roster