Now, unless the Lakers have a complete catastrophic meltdown they will wind up with the top seed in the West for the third year in a row. With the bottom of the west wilder than a Will Smith blockbuster, the Lakers probably won’t know their first round opponent until the final days of the regular season. Potential match-ups include San Antonio, Portland, and Oklahoma City, all three of which are teams without much of a low-post presence. This should give Bynum and Walton some time to get their legs back and up to game speed. This will be important with second round match-ups between Utah or Denver looming.
I don’t want to sound like a complete sourpuss, because last night’s win was an emotional performance that allowed the Lakers to show some grit. For a team that is used to answering questions concerning its toughness this is a positive thing. If Los Angeles is able to play the way they did last night in the playoffs they are going to be tough to beat come playoff time, and throwing Bynum and Walton back into the rotation is going to help tremendously. Last night won’t mean anything in June, but it was a good first step.
[phpbay]Kobe V, 3[/phpbay]
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