Sigh. Another game squandered by the LA Lakers. Perhaps the players were already dreaming of the debauchery that's gonna go down in Las Vegas this weekend for the annual All-Star game. Whatever it was the Lakers gave another one away, and have extended their losing streak to 5 games, the longest of Hall of Fame coach Phil Jackson's career. Their overall record is now 30-24, having lost 11 of their last 15 games. Easily their longest slide of the year.
The game featured an exciting head-to-head between the league's two brightest stars in Kobe and LeBron. Kobe outscored LeBron in the last meeting, but the Cavs go the W. This time around LeBron (38 pts, 4 rebs, 3 ast, 3 stls) outplayed Kobe (34 pts, 6 rebs, 5 ast, 2 stls) AND got the W. Two of LeBron's points came off a steal which lead to a spectacular dunk that wowed the LA crowd. The biggest problem I saw for the Lakers was their lack of rebounding, and their inability to stop the Cavaliers from getting in the paint, resulting in too many layups or easy put-backs. They failed to get a rebound off a free-throw miss by LeBron James which killed any chance they had at tying or winning the game.
I'm not too worried about the Lakers, yet. I don't think they should be judged until they are fully healthy. It's only been Lamar Odom's 6th or 7th game back from a knee sprain, and although he my physically be healthy enough to play, mentally he needs to feel comfortable landing on that knee again. It's surprisingly clear how vital Luke Walton is to the offense. He is a great passer and knows the triangle offense as good as any other Laker. Of course Kwame Brown is needed to help rebound the ball and play defense, something Andrew Bynum is still learning how to do.
The Lakers will play their next game on February 21st against the Portland Trailblazers.
1 comment:
Nice balanced coverage of the Lakers, Kilgore; you're certainly not a homer!
I agree, L.A. shouldn't be judged until everyone's back. However, I'm afraid you'll find that even when healthy, the Lakers are barely a playoff team in the loaded Western conference.
No matter what Kobe says about chemistry, the Lakers need another star to win. They simply aren't talented enough to beat Dallas, Phoenix, or San Antonio. Kevin Garnett could change this. I don't know why Mitch Kupchak hasn't offered Minnesota any two or three players they want in exchange for K.G. What say you?
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