Text messages from press row...

They’d already won at Boston and Cleveland, so the Lakers’ Thursday night victory at San Antonio wasn’t their most impressive road win, but it ranks among the top five, at least. . . .

This one might reverberate. . . .

As TNT’s Charley Barkley noted at halftime, with the Lakers threatening to turn it into a Texas-sized blowout, “They wanted to send a message tonight: Y’all can’t beat us.” . . .

Not without Manu Ginobili. . . .

Evidenced anew by his Wednesday woofing at Kobe Bryant, Ron Artest might be loopy, but he’s never boring. . . .

It was clear from the opening tip at Staples Center that Thursday’s game meant more to Taj Gibson and USC than it did to California, but in the end it almost didn’t matter. . . .

Feisty Daniel Hackett, who delivered in the clutch for the Trojans, is fun to watch even when he doesn’t. . . .

Tiger Woods, making his first start in a stroke-play event since winning the U.S. Open in June, announced before Thursday’s opening round of the CA Championship, “I’m ready to win. That’s why I’m here.” . . .

After round one at Doral, it’s going to be an uphill battle. . . .

Regarding Bud Collins’ description of the atmosphere at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden as “friendly and festive,” reader Tony Cox of Los Angeles e-mails to note, “I suppose that description is quite different if your name is Venus or Serena Williams.” . . .

Imagine the fuss if projected No. 1 NBA draft pick Blake Griffin followed the lead of fellow Oklahoma star Courtney Paris, who told a Senior Night crowd she would repay the cost of her scholarship if the Sooners failed to win the NCAA championship. . . .

If Alex Rodriguez returns to the New York Yankees in 7 1/2 weeks or less, he would be back in time for the Angels’ first visit to the new Yankee Stadium late next month. . . .

Running back prospect Bryce Brown of Wichita, Kan., still considering USC and a handful of other schools, originally said he would reveal his college choice Thursday, but when it was pointed out to him that the Big 12 and state high school basketball championships would dominate the headlines in Kansas this week, he postponed his announcement until Monday. . . .

Rick Neuheisel got bad news this week when Joe Boisture, a 6-foot-6 quarterback from Saline, Mich., announced that he had picked Boston College over UCLA. . . .

Peter Pocklington, arrested Wednesday in Palm Desert on fraud charges, is a former owner of the Edmonton Oilers who, despite his teams’ winning five Stanley Cup championships, will be forever vilified in Canada for trading Wayne Gretzky. . . .

Kings fans, of course, didn’t mind. . . .

The pitching coach for the Netherlands, which bounced the favored Dominican Republic from the World Baseball Classic, is former Angels right-hander Bert Blyleven, who was born in the Netherlands but grew up in Garden Grove. . . .

Noting that his Mt. Rushmore of L.A. sports would include wordsmiths Vin Scully, Chick Hearn, Dick Enberg and Bob Miller, reader Nick Gonzales of Baldwin Park e-mails to say, “They’ve helped bring sports and sports heroes into our lives.” . . .

As has a Hamilton High graduate named Al Michaels. . . .

By the way, Enberg’s one-man play about the late Marquette basketball coach Al McGuire makes its Southland stage debut April 9-12 at the El Portal Theatre in North Hollywood. . . .

Sled dogs in the Iditarod are forced to run 1,150 miles, roughly the distance between Los Angeles and Seattle. . . .

“Jockeys,” an oddly intriguing reality series focusing on the work and lives of Chantal Sutherland, boyfriend/fellow jockey Mike Smith and five other Santa Anita riders, wraps up its inaugural season on Animal Planet tonight, but production on a second season debuting in August already is underway. . . .

NASCAR Sprint Cup points leader Jeff Gordon, asked by Bon Appetit magazine what three things are always in his refrigerator, listed water and pomegranate juice (“which I use to make my nutritional shakes”) and added, “I love Spanish olives too.” . . .

But not, presumably, in his shakes. . . .

March Madness: In the pre-shot clock era, North Carolina State defeated Duke, 12-10, in the semifinals of the 1968 Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, stalling throughout. . . .

Unimpressed, announcer Bill Currie told his audience that the game was “about as exciting as artificial insemination.”

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jerome.crowe@latimes.com