Mar 22 2008
Lakers Are Peaking At The Right Time
After an injury to Pau in New Orleans and a rough start to the toughest road trip in 20 years the Lakers have got their groove back. LA have won their last three games, 2 of which were on the road against 2 of the top Western Conference teams and all of this without Pau, Bynum, Ariza and Mihm.
The first win came against Dallas on March 18th, a game in which the Lakers came out of the gates with a passion I have not seen in a long time. This enabled them to get ahead by as much as 25 points early in the 3rd quarter. Dallas however made a very admirable job getting back in the game. They were able to cut that 25 point lead to 2 and had a chance to win the game with a Dirk 3-pointer at the end but the shot did not fall. The final score was LA 102- 100.
The second win came against the hottest home team in the NBA the Utah Jazz. Utah had won 19 straight games prior to the game and was trying to set a franchise record of 20 games against LA. This would not materialized because LA had a purpose and that was to break the streak and redeem Fisher. In case you guys didn’t know, Fisher was a Jazz last year but went to LA because his daughter had a rare cancer disease and could get much better medical care in Los Angeles. The Jazz organization let him get off his contract for his family and Fisher signed with the Lakers. The Utah fans however believe that Fisher had “other” motives and booed him on his first return to Utah back in November. The Lakers took this personally and they came out with vengeance against the Jazz and led the whole game. They led by as much as 24 and never let Utah in the game. The final score was LA 106 Utah 95.
The third win came last night against the lowly Supersonics, a game in which LA was expected to win and won. Lakers dominated the entire game jumping to 10-0 start and never looked back. EIGHT Lakers were in double-figures and just out-played, out-thunk, out-maneuvered, out-everythingged the Sonics for complete ownage. I actually fell asleep during the 4th quarter knowing it was gonna be a W. The final score was LA 130 Seattle 105
The Lakers are now on top of the West again with a record of 48-21 a game ahead of both the Hornets and the Rockets. Pau is espected back as soon as tomorrow’s game against Golden State. Andrew should be back in 2 weeks, which means he’ll have about 6 games to play in the regular season before the playoffs start. Mihm and Ariza are also on their way back to the squad which means we are peaking at just the right time.
LA has 13 games left, 9 of which are gonna be home game. There’s gonna be tough games down the stretch starting with a back to back game against Golden State tomorrow and Monday. They play Dallas at home on April 4th and will finish the season against New Orleans on April 11th and a back to back game against the defending champs the Spurs on April 13th and 15th. It’s gonna be a very important stretch but if Bynum and Gasol come back and start gelling during the regular season we’re going to be unstoppable come playoff time.
(Image: ESPN.COM)
