Wake-up Call: Kobe Bryant, Celtics, Lamar Odom, Kings, David Beckham

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First things first: The best thing this morning, the day after the Andrew Bynum-less Lakers beat the Celtics in Boston in overtime, is seeing the photo of the actor Paul Pierce being stopped by Kobe Bryant on the cover of LAT Sports. Yet maybe even better is the caption that ends with: Pierce didn’t need a wheelchair to continue. What a hoot. The refs weren’t fooled, no matter how much Doc Rivers wants to complain. Sweet. Pierce belongs in Hollywood. Here is Bill Plaschke’s take on the game. And here is how the Boston Globe’s Bob Ryan saw it. And here is Lamar Odom talking about free throws with Plaschke.

Speaking of acting: Odom was a guest on Dan Patrick’s show this morning and was asked about his forays into acting, including ‘Entourage’ and ‘Arliss.’ Said Odom with a laugh, ‘Yeah I’m really wide in my range. I always play myself.’ Does anyone on the Lakers team have an entourage? ‘We’ll be each other’s entourage. We’re the Lakers. We’re a rock band.’ He also talked about the referees in last night’s game and thought they did a good job keeping things in check. ‘It was crazy ... we were in each other’s faces.’ Odom also thinks Bryant is taken for granted. But does Odom expect to be in the NBA Finals? ‘Yes,’ he said. Does he expect to win it? ‘Yes,’ he said.

Winning ways: The Kings beat the Washington Capitals last night, 5-4, and it wasn’t an accident. They are consistently scoring, finally. Here are the highlights, and the voices you hear are the Kings’ own play-by-play Hall of Famer Bob Miller and analyst Jim Fox, the same Jim Fox who graciously blogged live for us from the first two games of this road trip.

Bye-bye Becks: If you missed Grahame Jones’ take on David Beckham, it’s worth a look. As Grahame puts it, this should teach the MLS a lesson. The Becks circus is moving on. As Grahame writes:

-- Debbie Goffa
Pop-up photo: The Celtics’ Paul Pierce lets out a yell after being stopped by Kobe Bryant. Credit: Charles Krupa / Associated Press