Notes, quotes and things picked up on the run from coast-to coast and all the stops in between and beyond.

Los Angeles, CA– Who would have thought both the Lakers and the Clippers would be leading their first round NBA Payoff series 3-1 going into the fifth game? They are.

If the Lakers think they are having trouble with the feisty Denver Nuggets their next opponent, the Oklahoma City Thunder, will be those sweepers—the dominating Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden and the rest of those Oklahoma City Thunder players. The Thunder swept the defending NBA Champion Dallas Mavericks with a 103-97 victory Saturday.

The Lakers were blown out by the Denver Nuggets, 99-84 Saturday in the Mile High City. Andrew Bynum reverted back to his lack luster play and admitted he wasn’t ready to play. In game 4 Bynum finally acted like a pro and scored 18 points and seven rebounds. In that Monster game Bynum had ten blocks, a triple double and tied Kareem Abdul Jabbar’s franchise rebound mark. Bynum admitted he wasn’t ready to play in the first half.

Well, Dr. Jerry Buss shouldn’t feel like paying Bynum for his first half play. Grow up Bynum; the world can’t wait for you. In Game 4, Bynum bounced back with 19 points.

Two of the Nuggets who really stuck it to the Lakers were JaVale McGee, the son of former USC women star, Pamela McGee and Kenneth Faried. The duo combined for 30 rebounds and 28 points as the Lakers limped into the locker room.

By the way, Pamela and her twin sister Paula McGee, Cheryl Miller, the veteran NBA broadcaster, and Cindy Cooper led the Lady Trojans to back-to-back NCAA championships in the 1980s.

The L.A. Dodgers’ Matt Kemp had a blazing month of April with a MLB leading .417 batting average, 12 homers and was tied with the Texas Rangers’ Josh Hamilton with 25 RBIs, the most in the majors at the time.

How stupid can the New York Knicks’ superstar Amare Stoudemire be with his team’s playoff series on the line? He was so upset after LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and the rest of the Miami Heat socked it to the Knicks, 104-94 to take a 2-0 lead in the first round. Stoudemire broke the glass on a fire extinguisher because he was upset.

The Knicks needed Stoudemire with his MVP teammate Derrick Rose out for the rest of the playoffs with an injured knee. How stupid can Stoudemire be, with the Knicks playoffs hopes on the line?

You have to count the L.A. Angels of Anaheim’s Tori Hunter and Vernon Wells as two of the defensive saviors of Jered Weaver’s 9-0 no hitter against the Minnesota Twins on May 2. Both Hunter (2) and Wells (1) came up with three of the Twins hardest hit balls to save Weaver’s no-hitter.

Serena wins, 6-3, 6-1 by defeating Elena Vesnina and big sister Venus lost to Angelique Kerber, 6-4, 6-1 and bowed out of the Madrid Open.

Tiger Woods didn’t make the cut in his last outing, but he is set to tee it up starting today (Thursday) in the Players Championship. Vijay Singh is also entered.

The New Jersey Nets’ Baron Davis is out of the playoffs with a torn cruciate and medial collateral ligament in his right knee. Davis is the former L.A. Clippers and UCLA star.

The new Los Angeles Dodgers owners cheered and walked the stadium at Dodger Stadium as the team gave them their first victory 9-1 over the San Francisco Giants. Magic Johnson’s face appeared on the Dodger Stadium video screen and shouted “Magic! Magic! Magic stood up and saluted the 43,713 fans in attendance.

The Lakers Pau Gasol, Jordan Hill (12 points and 11 rebounds) in game 4, Matt Barnes, Ramon Sessions (12 points) and Steve Lake (10 points) deserve some merit badges for their play in game 4.

And the beat ends.

Brad Pye, Jr. can be reached at switchreel@aol.com