Last night was a very good example of why we think the Lakers are going to win the whole thing this year. The Lakers, with a hurting Kobe Bryant, went into Utah and delivered the knockout punch. What was so impressive about this Lakers win is this…they were determined and focused.
Look at the fiasco with Boston and Cleveland. That series ought to be shown to people with sleep disorders. What a bad bad series that is. It is going seven games because they both look incompetent. With the Lakers it is different. They came out focused and jumped on the Jazz quickly.
Then in the fourth quarter they withstood a furious Jazz rally to hold on for the win. That is a sign of a team that is well coached, hungry, and with the knowledge on how to win. Lesser teams would have lost last night to the Jazz, the Lakers are not that type of team.
Utah had only lost five games at home all season! Five games. They are a very talented tough team. The Lakers took care of business like they should have. And you have to remember that the Lakers first loss in Utah was by five points. The second loss was in overtime. So the Lakers went into a tough tough place to play…and handled themselves EXTREMELY well. That bodes well for the Lakers no matter who they play.
They have a tough opponent coming up no matter who wins the San Antonio-New Orleans series. I think the Lakers would probably rather play the Spurs than the Hornets. Mainly because it seems easy to wear the Spurs down, especially when the Spurs are on the road. But either way, the next series should be really interesting.
As of now it doesn’t look like anyone can beat the Lakers in a seven game series. And one more point, since the Lakers finished the Jazz off in six games they get to rest. They can REALLY thank the NBA for being ignorant in the playoff scheduling! The Spurs and Hornets don’t play game seven until Monday! How ridiculous is that! The Lakers will not be playing another game until Wednesday. That gives them four full days of rest….rest any team could use right about now. But more importantly it gives the best player on this planet, Kobe Bryant, a chance to get healthier.