Sure. Should they be content with people like Omri Cassipri and Matt Barnes talking smack to the likes of Kobe Bryant? Of course not. Still, the games won’t mean the same to the Lakers until the playoffs. And then I expect the juggernaut (that we all know lurks within the Lakers) to show itself.
The Lakers have a decent lead on the Mavericks and the Nuggets, and they would be wise to keep them in their rear-view mirror. As it stands now, the Mavericks and the Nuggets would have to go through each other (with the Lakers presumably waiting for them at the end of the tunnel). This, coupled with home court advantage for any series in the West is huge. With Phil Jackson being 982-0 in a series when his teams have won the first game, how big is Game 1 if it’s in Staples Center as opposed to the Pespi Center?
The Lakers play 8 of their final 14 games on the road. Of those 14, they play Denver, San Antonio, Houston, Oklahoma City, and Atlanta on the road. They have Portland (Our first round opponent, if playoffs started today) and Utah at home during that stretch.
It’s not a favorable schedule. However, it iss a good stretch run to get their minds right for the grueling stretch that is the NBA playoffs. As long as we hold on to our lead in the Western Conference (and a 4 game lead with 14 to go is a pretty solid lead at this point), the Lakers will be sitting as well as we could expect come play-off time.
We nitpicked these guys last year. (I thought the world might end when a Yao Ming/Tracy McGrady-less Rockets pushed the Lakers to a 7 game series). During the Denver series, we thought they again might be exposed as a soft team, unable to stand up to a neighborhood bully. Thankfully, we were wrong. Very, very, very wrong.
The Los Angeles Lakers are the most talented team in the league. Talent, as we all know, doesn’t win championships. However, 11 guys out of the 12 on our roster has won NBA gold. They know what it takes to win a championship. It’s something that isn’t replicated by anything other than winning gold. It’s an advantage that the Lakers will carry into the playoffs that not a lot of pundits hit on.
Will they be able to pull it off? I think so–but I’m no oracle. As Kobe says, “The jury is still out.” And that, my friends, is the beauty of sports.
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