After rolling out to a 5-1 start in December, the Sixers dropped a 93-81 decision to the Lakers on Friday night that was closer than the score might indicate.

Spencer Hawes and Andre Iguodala each dropped a team high points. Hawes added 13 boards and five dimes. Iggy had six rebounds and six assists.

The Lakers came into Philly and dropped the Sixers, 93-81, behind Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol.

For the Lakers, Lamar Odom had a game-high 28 points to go with eight boards and three assists. Pau Gasol added a double-double of 19 points and 13 boards.

Kobe Byrant, bothered by his injured pinkie, didn’t have a point until he scored in the final 90 seconds of the first half. He finished with just nine points.

The Sixers, as they have done so many times against the top teams this year, made a game of it. They had a five-point lead entering the fourth quarter and looked to be in position to finally get that signature win in the Doug Collins era that would proclaim this young squad is improving and needs to be taken seriously.

For now, the Sixers need to continue feasting on average and poor NBA teams and put themselves in position to remain in the playoff hunt. They will get a chance to finally drop a good team when they travel to Orlando on Saturday. Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson will be waiting for Jrue Holiday and company.

Mets fans are so low these days that they count a Phillies World Series loss as a win for their squad of chokers.

Hug a Mets fan today; they need it.

Little Scotty from the blog More Hardball dubbed the Phillies loss “Christmas in November.” He mentioned how happy and elated he was that the Phillies got to their second straight World Series, but came up a Hideki Matsui bat short of back-to-back titles.

Umm, dude, the Phillies were still playing, something your pathetic team hadn’t done since June. Oh, and the team that won the championship was your cross-city rival. Have fun walking down Times Square among the Yankee faithful.

Seriously, Mets fans rooted for the Yankees? That would be like me rooting for the Patriots to beat the Giants in the Super Bowl two years ago. Didn’t happen. I didn’t give a flying Beltran who won that game. Either way, it hurt, because I am an Eagles fanatic.

As pitiful as it sounds to root for the Yankees, the Mets fans have displayed even lower levels of self worth during the postseason. They rejoiced when they discovered that Kobe Bryant grew up a Mets fan while living in Lower Merion, Penn.

A Flushing, NY, Mets fan site called Kobe being a Mets fan “an added bonus” to the Phillies losing to the Dodgers in Game 2 of the LCS. There are numerous other examples of this in the blogosphere.

That is how pathetic the Mets fandom has become these days. They are lower than Clippers fans these days. I honestly feel sorry for them, having been there myself in the mid 90s.

Do your good deed for the day and hug a Mets fan. They are desperate for attention and affection.

Nobody was really surprised when Kobe said he’d “rip the hearts out” of Philly fans when the Sixers faced the Lakers in the 2001 NBA Finals.

OK, he played for the Lakers. What was he supposed to say? He’d like for Philly to have a parade?

Kobe Bryant grew up a Mets fan while living in Philadelphia.

During Friday’s NLCS Game 2 in Los Angeles, TBS reporter Craig “GQ” Sager  approached Kobe during the game to ask him how he felt habing the Dodgers and his hometown Phillies facing each other.

According to Sager, Kobe said, “It’s not weird. I’ve lived in Los Angeles for 14 years now.”

Then, he revealed this nugget: “Kobe said he grew up a New York Mets fan; he wanted me to tell Ron (Darling) that he still has your baseball card.”

Kobe was a Mets fan? While growing up in Philly? Seriously, that’s horrible parenting by Joe Bryant. You can’t raise a New York fan no matter where you live.