Just when the Los Angeles Lakers appeared to have fallen apart as of late, Kobe Bryant took the game into his own hands and scored 65 points as his team defeated the Portland Trailblazers. It required about 50 combined shots and an overtime, but the effort was enough for his team to get the win. Kobe’s 65 points is more than 33+ NCAA teams have managed to score so far throughout NCAA March Madness.

Ohio State survived a scare from Xavier in their second round matchup. The #1 Buckeyes were losing to #9-seeded Xavier, but a three-pointer at the end of regulation put the game into overtime. Greg Oden fouled out with 30 seconds left in the second half, but Mike Conley was enough for the Buckeyes to get and lead and win the game.

The Cleveland Cavaliers finally got their chance to boo traitor Carlos Boozer. The Utah Jazz’s starting power forward had yet to play a game in Cleveland since leaving his former team. In a dismal, low-scoring game, the Cavaliers were able to hand the Jazz their fourth-straight defeat. Carlos Boozer shrugged off the crowd after scoring 19 points and getting 14 rebounds: “It wasn’t even that bad. They had a lot of signs. I saw a couple of them. Chants were OK. They could have been more creative with their chants. It was good though.”

Mark Cuban thinks he’s found the missing key for his NBA championship contenders. “We don’t have that one intimidating force,” he said. Shaquille O’Neal and Michael Jordan have earned a combined 10 championships in the last 15 years, and both are competitors who’ve shown their intensity on the floor — something Cuban knows the Dallas Mavericks don’t get from Dirk Nowitzki.