Lakers Beat Nets to Go 4-0 On Road Trip So Far
I know basketball is a game of runs, but this is downright silly. One night after going on a 20-0 run against the Pistons, the Lakers go on 16-0 run in the third to go up by 22 points, only to let the Nets come back within 3 points in the 4th. One man saved the Lakers.
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That man was unconscious. 36 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. A scorching 14-19 from the field (73%!) from the field. No, not Kobe Bryant. The man is Pau Gasol.
“Gasol was great,” Nets coach Lawrence Frank said. “You can make an argument that this guy is the best second-best player on a team in the NBA.” Somebody frame that quote and send it to Pau. He can look at it for inspiration or laughs, whatever fits his mood at the time.
While I’m not going to sit here and pretend that having the rookie Brook Lopez (who finished with an impressive 16 points, 10 rebounds, and 8-11 from the field himself), and Josh Boone (Josh who?) guard Gasol was a ridiculous mismatch, you can’t deny that Pau is a bonafide all-star. The last all-star Kobe has played with was Shaq.
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When Kobe started the game ice-cold, then tweaked his right ankle and finished an atrocious 5-19 from the field for 14 points (although he did string three 3-pointers together to help momentarily go up by 22 in the 3rd quarter), the Lakers didn’t panic. Pau Gasol was still manning the pivot post, Odom and Ariza were still making the right plays.
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In a strange, strange way, the injury to Andrew Bynum has helped these Lakers get tougher on defense, and play more as a team on offense. They have shaken the deamons that they “need’ Bynum for toughness and offensive firepower. So when Baby B does stroll in at the start of the playoffs (I’m refusing to believe otherwise), the team will be that much stronger.
