The Lakers were beaten last night in Oklahoma City in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals, and beaten badly – sort of like the last conference semifinal game they played. And speaking of that game, one scene near the end last night looked awfully familiar.

Well, Kobe tried, even if you couldn’t say the same for the rest of the Lakers in their 113-96, Game-7-forcing loss to the Nuggets last night. If only the trying didn’t occasionally take on the form of the flagrant foul you’ll see after the jump.

There’s really nothing else to say: Christian Eyenga said it all in one gesture after LA’s 113-96 loss (it was actually much worse than the final score would have you believe). Game 7 is Saturday in Los Angeles.

Kobe Bryant missed this morning’s team shootaround with gastroenteritis, and the team’s not saying whether or not he’ll play in tonight’s Game 6. Gastroenteritis, I found out five seconds ago, is basically the flu. Which means…

Denver’s Danilo Gallinari briefly mistook basketball for soccer in the 4th quarter of his team’s Game 4 loss to the Lakers, and the Nuggets are now in a 3-1 hole heading back to LA. The outbreak of flops in this year’s playoffs have been well documented, but this may be the most dramatic after-the-flop sell I’ve seen thus far. Acting jobs like these, where a player writhes in pretend pain after the actual contact, are usually reserved for European soccer. Now, they’re creeping their way into the NBA. No bene.

Amazingly enough, this is not a technical in the NBA, although it may be a first. The Nuggets and Lakers playoff game was interrupted by a woman who wandered on the court, seemingly in search of a quick convo with the Nuggets’ Ty Lawson.

Jordan Hill was coming into his own. A week ago, he had his best outing as a Laker to date, and opened the playoffs yesterday with a double-double against the Nuggets. But all that might be forgotten after an ugly accusation surfaced today.

America: we’d like you to help us figure out why Andrew Bynum was such a dick to this poor reporter. Leave your guesses in the comments.

Yup, you heard right: Andrew Bynum had 30 boards. Oh, yeah, he cursed in the post-game interview too.

It’s getting real in the field, y’all. Video of the latest blast after the jump.