Jan 15, 2013, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant (24) reacts against the Milwaukee Bucks at the Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports

The Bucks started out yet another game flat, and Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard went to work on them both early and often.  The duo evenly split 62 points in a 104-88 hammering of Milwaukee.

Bryant hit Howard with crowd-pleasing alley-oops on the game’s first two possessions.  In fact, the Lakers made eight baskets en route to a 23-12 lead midway through the first quarter.  Seven of those baskets were layups, dunks or three-pointers.  All eight were assisted.

The Lakers’ five starters out-assisted the Bucks’ starters by a 24-7 margin.

Ball movement was an issue all game long for the Bucks, save for when Beno Udrih (14 points, 7 assists) and Mike Dunleavy (10 points) were in the game.  The Lakers picked at the scabs of the Bucks’ greatest weaknesses, and in those few moments when they didn’t, Kobe opened new wounds by taking — and making —  turnaround fallaways of a daring level of difficulty.

Still, the Bucks had their moments.  Larry Sanders pinned and erased a Kobe layup at the rim.  Brandon Jennings converted a four-point play.  The Bucks bench outplayed their ghastly Lakers counterparts, erasing the early double-digit deficit and earning Milwaukee a 44-41 lead with 5:20 left in the first half.

But Jennings and the starters for both teams re-entered soon after, and the Lakers took control again.  Jennings had just one assist for the game and his shooting touch for the game wasn’t anywhere good enough to justify that approach.  Kobe Bryant guarded him for much of the game and his ball pressure disrupted the Bucks’ offensive rhythm.  On the other end, Howard had his way with the Bucks, partly because Sanders got into foul trouble early.

Jan 15, 2013, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard (12) dunks the ball against Milwaukee Bucks forward John Henson (31) at the Staples Center. The Lakers defeated the Bucks 104-88. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports

Ersan Ilyasova muscled his way to five very physical and competitive rebounds in the first quarter before mostly shrinking from the spotlight the rest of the game.

John Henson played 18 minutes and took his lumps both inside from Dwight Howard and out from Antawn Jamision, who hit three three-pointers. In the case of Jamison, though, Henson was shading in a step to lend help to beaten defenders when the kick-out passes found the Lakers’ backup power forward alone from long range.

Samuel Dalembert converted a few shots inside and rebounded well (five in 12 minutes). However, he was not effective defensively and committed one backbreaking turnover that was tantamount to a Lakers outlet pass.

The Bucks wasted an effort where they had sizable advantages on the offensive glass (21 to 8) and fouls (20 to 14), but it’s obviously easier to horde a bunch of offensive rebounds while shooting 36% from the field.

The second half saw the two teams combine for 13 of the game’s 19 turnovers as the game escalated into an up-and-down race of miscues worthy of the tears of James Worthy.

A few tweets

Beat writer for the Lakers (17-21) dismisses the Bucks (19-18) as a crappy team.  He may have a point, but still…

Lakers need more of these home wins against weak teams to make the playoffs. Sunday was a good start, tonight was a solid second step.

— Mike Bresnahan (@Mike_Bresnahan) January 16, 2013

The Bucks defense was a mess for most of the game, and the alley-oops to Howard early totally crushed the normally effective Bucks’ help defense.

The combined FG total for @dwighthoward & @kobebryant vs Bucks: 26 for 37 (70.3%). — Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) January 16, 2013

This does seem like a pattern:

@brewhoop Roscoe’s the night before a game probably isn’t genius.

— Wis Sports Pulse (@WisSportsPulse) January 16, 2013

Pics of the Night:

The Lakers had a defensive breakdown on an off-ball screen, sending two people with one Buck on the strong side, and leaving Mike Dunleavy all alone…  Like body-odored pariah level alone.

There are a lot of fourth walls in Hollywood, but I wasn’t expecting one at midcourt.

Jan 15, 2013, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard (12) and guard Steve Nash (10) celebrate against the Milwaukee Bucks at the Staples Center. The Lakers defeated the Bucks 104-88. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports

File this one under 'Things We'll Hopefully See Less Of In 2012-13' . Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE

NBA.com:  The Lakers are getting Dwight Howard in a four-team deal.

Denver gets Andre Iguodala from Philly and Jason Richardson from Orlando, while the Sixers haul in Andrew Bynum, who like Howard, only has one year left on his contract.

The Magic salvage Arron Afflalo, Al Harrington, Nikola Vucevic, Moe Harkless, plus lottery protected first-round picks from each of the three teams in the swap. Lottery-protected picks for Dwight Howard?  Good job, good effort.

How does this impact the Bucks? In a short-sighted way, it bumps them up a notch on the playoff ladder. They are now a better team than Orlando, despite the Magic owning them in head-to-head games last season.  Howard against the center-less Bucks of 2011-12 was a disastrous mismatch. Now, the Bucks have beefed up the center position, and Dwight won’t be there to torment them.

The trade also bumps the Lakers’ salary up by about $2.8 million, putting them near $98.5 million for the upcoming season.  Given that the new collective bargaining agreement implemented a $1 for $1 penalty for exceeding the luxury tax threshold for the 2012-13 season and that the tax number is set at $70.3 million, the Lakers will be paying approximately a tax of $28.5 million.

According to Larry Coon’s NBA CBA page, half of the luxury tax pool goes to revenue sharing and half is evenly split into equal shares among non-taxpaying teams.  The Bucks will be slurping up that money — from the Lakers and other high-salary, high-revenue teams — on both of the NBA’s small-market teats.

Also, if I’m John Hammond,  I start calling Orlando GM Rob Hennigan about Afflalo right now while he’s still in ‘blow-it-up-and-tank’ mode.  Orlando’s current bigs are Gustavo Ayon, Glen Davis, Al Harrington, and Nikola Vucevic. Maybe Hennigan would take Drew Gooden plus a young big in a swap for Afflalo.  I’m not saying that it is a fair or likely trade. It isn’t. But it can’t hurt to ask, right?

Ran into Carlos Delfino today. He didn’t want to go into specifics on eve of huge USA game but said he WILL sign w/NBA team after Olympics

— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) August 9, 2012

Yahoo.com via AP:  Delfino and the Argentinian men’s basketball team get their shot versus Team USA tonight.  Carlos gets a chance to show his suitors and the teams that overlooked him in free agency what they may have missed.

Possible destinations for Delfino after the Olympics include Houston and Boston.  The Celtics, though, don’t have much to offer except for the veteran’s minimum, Doc Rivers’ love, and the playing time that went to Mickael Pietrus last season. (And if the Bucks effectively swap wingmen with the Celtics, Peaches for Carlos, then… well, I just don’t know what to say.)

In a way, the Bucks blew it with Delfino.  They needed one more shooting guard/small forward type to hit threes, play smart, and play defense, i.e., someone to replace Delfino.  They didn’t want to overvalue him. Smart!  But the summer market for him was soft.  As teams scooped up the higher-priced talent, they filled out their rosters and their open salary-cap space, and in the end, Carlos was still there.

In fact, he was there for the taking at a cheap price. Why not have him ‘replace’ himself?

So what did the Bucks do? They let him walk.  What is worse, they miffed him by not even feigning interest.  He claims that he aggravated his injury trying to help Milwaukee in their playoff hunt and I don’t doubt him.  I saw him in one game in April taking the floor in warmups trying to get loose.  He looked awful, and he simply could not move or shoot or do anything athletic on a basketball court.  It was a wonder why he was even out there.  Plus, he was doing it with fewer than ten games prior to free agency — a noble, selfless effort.

Argentina’s ‘Golden Generation’ has put in many selfless efforts over the years.  Manu Ginobili, Luis Scola, and Delfino, among others, have sublimated their own personal goals on ‘win at all costs’ squads at international competitions over the years.  Tonight, they get a chance for one final hurrah against the US.

At the very least, it’s good theater.

Journal Sentinel: Joel Przybilla is officially in the fold.  He likes lunch and he says everything you would expect to hear from a veteran reserve player.

(Przybilla) said a lunch meeting he had last week with general manager John Hammond and coach Scott Skiles helped sway his decision.

“You can tell when someone wants you to be part of something special,” the 32-year-old center said. “I think it’s going to be a very good team. If some nights I don’t play, I’m willing to accept that.

“We have a lot of young bigs and I can help teach the game at this point in my career.”